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Hyperne Interactions 154: 143158, 2004.

2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.


143
Thin Section Microscopy Applied to the Study
of Archaeological Ceramics
J. RIEDERER
Rathgen-Forschungslabor, Schlo-Str. 1a, D 14059 Berlin, Germany
Abstract. For the characterization of archaeological ceramics, the study of thin sections under the
polarizing microscope is a very efcient analytical technique. There are two properties of ceramics
which can be analysed by thin sections, namely the mineralogical composition and the fabric. Both
features show a considerable variety which permits a very detailed description of ceramic wares.
With respect to the mineralogical composition, there is a wide variety of rock forming minerals,
of heavy and ore minerals, fragments of stone, fossils, organic inclusions like straw or pieces of
charcoal as well as articial inclusions like slag or crushed pottery, which dene with the temper
of the pottery in much detail. The fabric also shows considerable differences in grain size, in the
amount of temper, in the orientation of grains and other features, which provide further quantitative
data on the properties of archaeological ceramics. From this information, the material can be well
characterised, and conclusions as to the region of origin and the potters techniques can often be
drawn.
Key words: thin section microscopy, archaeological ceramics.
1. Introduction
The study of thin sections of archaeological ceramics is a traditional, but neverthe-
less very efcient approach to describe and to characterize the material properties
and the technique of manufacture of ancient pottery. Thin sections of ceramic mate-
rials provide three types of information, which help one to understand how pottery
was made in the past. First, thin sections give us precise and detailed information on
the mineralogical composition of the coarse grained temper, which varies consider-
ably from place to place, depending on the regional geology as well as the potters
habits and experience. Second, thin sections permit an accurate determination of
the percentage of temper in the ceramics, of certain properties of the temper like
the grain size and the grain size distribution, and of the number, size and shape of
pores. These data characterize the potters technique to prepare and shape the clay.
Third, thin sections may help us to estimate the baking temperature by observing
transformations of minerals at high temperature, like the transformation of calcite
into calcium silicate and of quartz into cristobalite or the formation of vitreous
compounds.
144 J. RIEDERER
2. The microscopical techniques
Thin sections of archaeological ceramics will normally be studied under a polariz-
ing transmission light microscope. If a detailed identication of the opaque ore
minerals is desired, the study of polished thin sections in reected light is the
method of choice. Moreover, staining techniques may be used, for instance, to
distinguish the different species of feldspars.
For the preparation of thin sections, thin slices of pottery, normally cut per-
pendicularly to the surface of the vessel, are polished on one side, glued with this
polished side on a glass slide by means of an adhesive, e.g., a thermosetting epoxy
resin, and then ground down to a thickness of about 0.03 mm. At this thickness
the different minerals show the interference colours which can be used to identify
them (Figure 1) under the polarising microscope.
The microscopic study of thin sections of ceramics is done between two po-
larizing foils. The foil below the thin section, the polariser, causes the light waves
to oscillate in only one direction. The foil above the thin section, the analyser, is
oriented in a crossed position. In this arrangement, light polarized by the lower foil
does not pass through the upper foil to the observers eye.
If we remove the analyser and study the cross section only under polarised
light, we observe the natural colours of the minerals and a peculiar phenomenon,
the pleochroism. This is a special property of many coloured minerals like the
amphiboles, the pyroxenes or the iron rich micas to show different orientations
of the crystals under the microscope. If the analyser is not inserted, it is possible
to estimate the refractive index of minerals, which is also a criterium for their
identication. Further the shape of minerals, the porosity, the presence of opaque
inclusions, the structure of surface layers, the transition of dark, reduced areas
into light, oxidized areas is revealed by this kind of observation. If we insert the
Figure 1. Thin sections under the polarizing microscope (left) and with inserted analyzer (right).
THIN SECTION MICROSCOPY 145
upper polarizing foil, the analyser, the minerals show characteristic interference
colours, which are an essential property for their identication. Since the interfer-
ence colours depend among other factors on the orientation of the mineral in the
thin section, peculiar structures due to different orientation of intergrown grains,
like twinning phenomena or an undulatory extinction due to a deformation by
stress become visible. The measurement of the direction of the optical axis of
a mineral or the observations of the angle of extinction permit a differentiation
between closely related minerals, like the members of plagioclase, amphibole or
pyroxene family [18].
3. The mineralogical composition of ancient ceramics
To describe the mineralogical composition of ancient ceramics, the material of the
ne grained clay matrix has to be distinguished from the comparatively coarse
grained temper, which was either added to the clay to improve its properties for
shaping and baking or which has already been part of the clay as a residue from
the original rock from which the clay developed by weathering. Sometimes it is
difcult to distinguish whether coarse grains have been added to the clay intention-
ally as a temper, or whether they were already part of the clay which the potter
got from a clay deposit. Usually, all particles that are larger than 0.01 mm and
hence still clearly visible under high magnications in the optical microscope are
considered as temper, whatever their origin.
The microscopic study of the clay matrix is difcult, since usually the parti-
cles are too small for a reliable identication. The scanning electron microscope
provides better information on the shape of the clay minerals and their alteration
during ring. But even under the limited useful magnication of the optical mi-
croscope the properties of the matrix can be characterized, e.g., by distinguishing
between dense, aky or granular clay fabrics.
The important information on the mineralogical composition of ancient ce-
ramics are obtained by the study of the coarse minerals of the temper. They are
extremely manifold both with respect to the materials which occur as a temper and
with respect to the properties of these materials. Five main groups of materials used
as a temper can be distinguished: monomineralogical particles, fragments of stone,
articial components, fossils and plant residues [9].
3.1. THE TEMPER OF ANCIENT CERAMICS
The coarser components of ceramics, either added intentionally by the potter as
a temper or already part of the clay used for manufacturing pottery, have grain
sizes which are in the same range as the grain sizes of minerals in natural rocks,
from which the clays formed by weathering. Among the minerals which are part
of the temper of ceramics, quartz predominates, since it is resistant against chemi-
cal transformation and mechanical attrition. Second in importance are feldspars, a
146 J. RIEDERER
group of minerals with different compositions and varying crystallographic proper-
ties depending on their origin, thus providing information on the rocks from which
they stem. Furthermore, there is a big variety of other silicates, like micas, am-
phiboles and pyroxenes, each of which again represents a family of minerals with
a large number of members with a considerable diversity of properties. Calcite is
quite abundant as a temper in clays which formed by weathering of limestones and
marls as well as in articially tempered clays in regions where limestones or marble
are available. Other monomineralic compounds may be of local importance, like
graphite, which occurs in certain types of early pottery from Bavaria where this
mineral was already mined in prehistoric times. Finally there are a variety of heavy
minerals, like garnets, apatite, titanite, or zircon, which may be very characteristic
for their place of origin and hence well suited for determining the provenience of
archaeological ceramics.
3.1.1. Quartz
Quartz grains provide a large number of features which are useful to characterize
a ceramic material (Figure 2). Their shape, their inclusions and their structure are
features that deserve attention. The shape varies from exactly globular particles
to angular grains with sharp edges and depends on the origin of the quartz. For
Figure 2. Varieties of quartz inclusions in archaeological pottery (2a quartz with round edges,
2b quartz with sharp edges, 2c quartz with undulatory extinction, 2d quartz with large elds, 2e quartz
with small elds, 2f quartz with inclusions of rutile).
THIN SECTION MICROSCOPY 147
instance, quartzes in Egyptian ceramics are well rounded, since they have been
transported by the desert wind [10]. Quartz in ceramics from Austria and southern
Bavaria have sharp edges since they remained close to the place where their rock of
origin decomposed by weathering [11] and thus were not rounded during transport.
Ceramics for which crushed quartz has been used as a temper, like for the stone
ware of the Rhine area and the area of Colgone, contain these angular quartz as a
consequence of their production technique [12].
The structure of the quartzes is of particular importance. They may be com-
pletely homogeneous, for instance when they were part of volcanic rocks, but they
may also show obvious signs of mechanical stress due to pressure experienced
during the formation of metamorphic rocks like schists. Quartz may be free of
inclusions, but frequently they contain, again as a consequence of their formation,
needles of rutile or akes of mica.
3.2. FELDSPARS
Feldspars, a group of potassium, calcium and sodium silicates, are quite charac-
teristic for their origin (Figure 3). The subgroup of the potassium feldspars, which
can be distinguished by their crystallographic properties and their morphology,
was formed under completely different conditions than the calcium and sodium
feldspars. The potassium feldspars comprise a variety of species: Microcline and
orthoclase occur in magmatic and metamorphic rocks, sanidine is found only in
volcanic rocks and adular was formed at relatively low temperatures in alpine veins.
In the calcium-sodium feldspars, also called plagioclases, the calcium-to-sodium
ratio, which can be deduced under the microscope from the optical properties,
depends on the type of original rock, mainly its alcalinity and hence its origin.
It could be shown that in larger geological units the optical and crystallographic
properties of potassium feldspars change continuously over a certain area, so that
by determining the direction of the optical ax angle or the triclinity, the provenance
of the feldspars within a larger massive of magmatic or metamorphic rocks can be
determined [13]. The potassium feldspars as well as the plagioclases show a wide
variety of optical features, which again can be used to characterize them and in
some cases also to nd out the rocks of origin. These features are twinning accord-
ing to different rules, zoning which is typical for volcanic feldspars, intergrowths
like myrmecitic or rhopalophyric structures, or peculiar stages of transformation
in secondary minerals [13]. Properties of this kind are closely related to special
properties of the original rocks and hence often permit one to get an idea about the
rocks which included the feldspars before weathering. For the analysis of ceramics
from northern Germany, the detailed description of the potassium feldspars, which
were part of the glacial deposits of magmatic rocks from Scandinavia, was one of
the most useful criteria for dening local materials [1416].
148 J. RIEDERER
Figure 3. Varieties of feldspars in archaeological pottery (3a microcline with grid of twinning,
3b orthoclase with perthitic inclusions, 3c twinning of microcline, 3d quartz-feldspars intergrowth,
3e twinning of plagioclase, 3f zoning of plagioclase).
3.3. MICAS
Like the feldspars, the micas form a relatively large group of silicates with related
properties, rst of all an excellent cleavage along one crystallographic plane. Due
to minute differences in their composition there are micas of different colours. The
most important species are the black biotite, the green chlorite and glauconite and
the colourless muscovite. Their size, inclusions or transformations in weathering
products may help to identify the region of origin [17]. The study of muscovite
was of importance in studies of ceramics from the northeastern part of Upper
Bavaria, i.e., Celtic ceramics from Manching and early medieval ceramics from
a cementary at Straubing, where local wares had to be distinguished from imported
wares. In both cases, the abundance and the peculiar shape of muscovite, occur-
ring in the tertiary sediments of this region, was a convincing argument for their
provenance [17].
3.4. AMPHIBOLES AND PYROXENES
Two other large groups of silicates are amphiboles and pyroxenes, which both
include dozens of dened minerals. They occur in all types of volcanic, intrusive
and metamorphic rocks, but always as well dened species. If they can be found
THIN SECTION MICROSCOPY 149
in thin sections of ancient ceramics, quite precise hints on the origin of the clay or
temper are possible.
For their precise identication a key system has been developed. The system
classies related minerals rst according to their colour or their pleochroism, which
usually covers a very broad range between colourless to dark green, dark brown or
bluish hues even in mineralogically very similar species. Minerals with similar
colours are subdivided by optical properties, like the extinction angle or the optical
axe angle. This key for the precise identication of dened minerals within a group
of related minerals has been published by several authors like Trger [18], who
distinguished species of amphiboles or species of pyroxenes, which all are common
rock forming minerals and can therefore be expected as a component of weathered
rocks in ceramics.
3.5. CALCITE
Calcite appears much more frequently in thin sections of ancient ceramics than
expected, since it should transform into caustic lime at temperatures around 700

C.
In spite of this, calcite is found in a considerable variety. There are isolated particles
of calcite, rhomboedral fragments of large crystals of marble, pieces of limestone,
fragments of shells and a large variety of microfossils. For this reason, each occur-
rence of calcite in thin sections provides important information on the provenience
of clay and temper.
3.6. THE HIGH TEMPERATURE PHASES DIOPSIDE, CRISTOBALITE AND
MULLITE
With increasing ring temperatures, some constituents of ceramics become unsta-
ble and transform into high temperature phases. At 850

C, for instance, calcite


reacts with silica to form the calcium silicate diopside. This transformation from
calcite to diopside is clearly visible under the microscope. Mullite, an aluminium
silicate, is formed at 950

C and quartz changes to cristobalite at 1050

C. The
formation of cristobalite and mullite, which are rare in archaeological ceramics,
is difcult to observe under the microscope, but quite obvious in X-ray diffraction
diagrams. The observation of these transformations provide reliable evidence on
ring temperatures.
3.7. HEAVY MINERALS
Natural rocks contain a large number of accessory heavy minerals as minute inclu-
sions, notably zircon, apatite, garnet, tourmaline, titanite, monazite, and xenotime,
which have been extensively studied in petrography, since they provide essential
information on the formation of rocks and are quite characteristic for a certain type
of a magmatic or metamorphic rock. Though they are not rare in clays used for the
150 J. RIEDERER
manufacture of pottery since they resist weathering, they are often neglected in the
study of archaeological pottery, be it by thin sections as by other techniques, like
the separation of heavy minerals.
3.8. ORE MINERALS
In ancient ceramics ore minerals, like hematite, magnetite, or ilmenite are abun-
dant, but difcult to identify in thin sections, since they are opaque and their
optical properties cannot be detected under the transmission microscope. Until now
there are hardly any approaches to characterize them under reected light by the
techniques of ore microscopy.
3.9. EXCEPTIONAL COMPONENTS
In some regions locally occurring minerals are added to improve the properties of
pottery. One example is the use of graphite to produce a black pottery in southern
Germany, where this mineral occurs in large deposits in metamorphic rocks [19].
Prehistory graphite was used locally, but also traded over considerable distances
for use in pottery making.
3.10. VOLCANIC GLASSES
In some groups of Precolumbian Peruvian and Bolivian pottery tiny akes of glass
could be detected under the microscope together with other minerals from volcanic
rocks [20]. These akes are therefore thought to be a weathering product of vol-
canic ashes or tuffs which contained them as inclusions, rather than stemming from
the remains of the working of obsidian by man.
3.11. FOSSILS
As already mentioned, fossils are quite abundant in archaeological ceramics, since
marls have been frequently used as a raw material for pottery. All the light pottery
of Egypt is made from marl, which is rich in microfossils (Figure 4). They have
been studied in detail to nd out the quarries where marl was mined in antiq-
uity [21, 22]. But not only microfossils occur in ancient pottery. One also nds
fragments of shells, snails or spikes of sea urchins [11].
Clays in southern Germany, which were deposited in a very cold climate at
the end of the diluvial period, contain high amounts of diatomaceous earth. Since
pottery made of this clay in prehistory was traded over long distances, the identi-
cation of the diatom microfossils is an excellent tool to establish their provenience.
Roman amphorae found in southern Germany were found to contain micro-
fossils from Eocene limestones occurring in southern Italy. This shows that the
amphorae were not locally made, but brought from Italy to southern Germany [23].
THIN SECTION MICROSCOPY 151
Figure 4. Fossils and inclusions of plants in archaeological ceramics (4a4d inclusions of fossils,
4e4f inclusions of carbonized plants).
The study of microfossils also turned out to be of particular importance in studies
of sherds of amphorae from the coast of Sicily. There, in the shallow sea close
to Ognina, ships sank and lost their cargo of amphorae during centuries in antiq-
uity. The provenance of these amphorae could be accurately established by the
identication of microfossils [24].
3.12. FRAGMENTS OF STONE
The temper in pottery does not consist exclusively of isolated minerals but also
of fragments of stone which either escaped conversion into clay minerals during
weathering, or were added by the potters (Figure 5). Depending on the region of
origin, practically all known types of rock can be detected under the microscope as
a temper of pottery clay and this again provides an excellent possibility to localise
the deposits, either of the clay or of the intentionally added temper.
3.13. ARTIFICIAL TEMPER
There are a few groups of ancient ceramics which contain higher amounts of
crushed pottery or slags. This kind of temper is not very common, since it does
not have better properties and since common sand and natural temper is usually
available everywhere.
152 J. RIEDERER
Figure 5. Fragments of stone and articial temper in archaeological ceramics (5a granite, 5b basalte,
5c vitreous volcanic tuff, 5d sandstone, 5e fragment of pottery, 5f slag inclusion).
Since the clay for ceramic products usuall is prepared and shaped close to the
areas where it is baked, the ground might be covered with remains of the burnt
wood. This can explain the occasional presence of charcoal particles in pottery.
3.14. ORGANIC MATERIALS
In the manufacture of archaeological pottery it was quite common that straw or
fragments of plants were added to the clay in order to increase the porosity of the
sherd owing to the voids left behind after the combustion of the organic matter
during ring. Since these fragments are enclosed by clay, they are often carbonised
rather than oxidised completely, particularly when the ring was performed under
reducing conditions. In any case, the remaining voids retain the shape of the orig-
inal plant material. Hence studies of the void structure permits an identication of
the parts of a plant used, like leaves, stalks, seeds or roots. In some cases also the
type of plant can also be identied, like the grass from a dry region or the leaves
from trees in a tropical region.
4. The fabric of pottery
The characterization of the fabric of archaeological ceramics is as important as the
description of the mineralogical composition. The fabric rst of all comprises the
THIN SECTION MICROSCOPY 153
properties of the grains of temper and the description of the pore structure. The
main properties of the mineral inclusions, which largely determine the fabric of a
piece of pottery are the grain size, the number of grains of a certain type, the grain
size distribution, the percentage of temper and the orientation of the grains [9].
4.1. THE GRAIN SIZE
It is obvious that the grain size is a very characteristic property of a ceramic
object. In archaeological pottery the grain size may vary between grains below
0.02 mm, which are no longer clearly visible in the optical microscope and which
occur mostly in dense potteries like terra sigillata (Samian ware) to grains with
sizes up to 5 or even 10 mm. The latter are, for instance, not uncommon in ce-
ramics from northern Germany, which often contain large inclusions of feldspars
from weathered Scandinavian granites. For the description of the grain sizes the
petrographic nomenclature may be used, although it does not subdivide the ner
grain sizes, which form an important part of the temper of pottery. According to
the petrological nomenclature grain sizes below 0.1 mm are called dense, those
between 0.1 and 0.33 mm are called ne grained, those between 0.33 and 1 mm
small grained, those between 1 and 3.3 mm medium grained, and those between
3.3 and 10 mm coarse grained.
4.2. THE GRAIN NUMBER
The grain number is a valueable parameter, which is as useful for the characteri-
zation of pottery as the grain size. It describes the number of grains on a certain
area, usually one mm
2
. The grain number for pottery commonly varies between 1 to
2000 mm
2
. This considerable variability is a very descriptive gure to characterise
the properties of ceramics.
4.3. THE GRAIN-SIZE DISTRIBUTION
Normally the temper does not consist of grains of just one size. Rather, grains of
all possible sizes, between 0.01 and 1 mm may be detected in an average archae-
ological pottery under the optical microscope. For an accurate description, it is
therefore necessary to determine the percentage of grains in different size fractions,
for instance in the size ranges 0.010.05, 0.050.1, 0.10.5, 0.51, and >1 mm.
The size ranges have to be adjusted to the properties of the ceramic material; a ne
grained sherd, for instance, needs a more detailed subdivision in the ne range than
a coarse grained ware.
4.4. THE PERCENTAGE OF TEMPER
The quantity of coarser grains in the clay is quite an important criterion for the
technical properties of the ceramic material. As already mentioned, it is almost
154 J. RIEDERER
impossible to distinguish between an articial temper added by the potter or nat-
ural coarser grained constituents of a clay. But often the amount of temper is of
more interest than the question whether it was intentionally added or not. Usually,
the percentage of all grains larger than 0.02 mm, the size still clearly visible un-
der the optical microscope at usual magnications, is considered as temper. The
quantity of temper varies between almost none and amounts up to 75%. Since the
temper largely consists of transparent minerals and hence appears light under the
polarising microscope and contrasts well with the darker clay matrix, an automatic
measurement is quite reliable and may be more convenient than manual counting
techniques with a point counter or similar devices.
5. The types of pottery fabrics
Since the fabric of pottery is determined by three parameters, namely the grain size,
the grain size distribution, and the amount of temper, the structural properties of
ceramics cannot be depicted in a two dimensional diagram. However, a diagram of
only the grain number versus the amount of temper already describes the fabric
of ceramics quite well. For the discussion of the results of the thin section analy-
sis of ceramics, an array like that shown in Figure 6 may be useful. This array
shows the most common fabrics arranged in columns representing increasing grain
numbers from left to right, while the grain size decreases from top to bottom. The
columns are designated 14, the rows AF. One can use this array to characterize
ceramics by types describing the fabric: Type A1 in the upper left corner has few
and big grains, while at the opposite corner, F4 represents fabrics with a high
amount of small grains.
5.1. THE ORIENTATION OF GRAINS
Clays usually contain sheet minerals like micas, which often show a more or less
distinct orientation parallel to the surface of a piece of pottery, depending from the
technique of manufacture. This orientation can be measured or just be described
qualitatively as one of the characteristic features of pottery.
Since the orientation of minerals in rocks is of a primary importance for their
classication, techniques have been developed to record this property by means of
a turntable, mounted on the microscope. With this device, which permits to turn
a thin section in all directions, the optical axis of the mineral can be brought into
a vertical position. By that the orientation of a large number of grains in one thin
section can be plotted and treated with statistical methods, to nd out for instance,
which percentage of micas is oriented parallel to the wall of a ceramic vessel,
which reveals the technique of shaping a pot or the intensity of shaping the pot on
the potters wheel.
THIN SECTION MICROSCOPY 155
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156 J. RIEDERER
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THIN SECTION MICROSCOPY 157
5.2. THE PORE STRUCTURE
Like the grain structure, the pore structure also provides information on the man-
ufacture of ceramic objects [25]. The number of pores, their size, their shape and
their orientation again are properties which vary considerably and thus are fea-
tures which should be mentioned when archaeological objects are studied. The
properties related to pores can be treated quantitatively in a similar manner as the
properties of grains.
6. Conclusions
This short survey over the coarser materials that can be detected by means of
the polarizing optical microscope in archaeological ceramics shows that a wide
variety of natural and articial, inorganic and organic, materials occur as temper.
These materials rst of all reect the properties of the local geology of the place of
manufacture of the pottery, but also the potters habits, which largely determined
the use of particular kinds of temper and the addition of articial components, in
an effort to improve the properties of the clay and to impart particular properties to
the pottery. Thus the precise description of the coarse grained inclusions of pottery
contributes to an accurate and detailed characterization of the ceramic material.
The purpose of the study of ceramics by thin sections is the precise identication
of the components of the temper, the determination of quantitative properties, like
grain size or amount of temper, to dene the fabric of the ceramic, to study the
technique of preparing peculiar surfaces, for instance by applying paints or glazes.
A special advantage of microscopic techniques is the precise identication of the
nature of mineral compounds, even in a single grain. The identication of the kind
of temper provides information on the place of manufacture. The precise denition
of existing minerals is of importance for the interpretation of Mssbauer spectra,
since, apart from the amount of iron in a mineral, also its valence state and the
position of iron ions in the crystal lattice is known. Areas in a sherd where different
atmospheres developed during the baking process, and the relation between these
zones can clearly be distinguished. Further, under the microscope transformations
of minerals by temperature in the range of the baking temperature of pottery can
be observed, contribution by that to the technique of manufacture of a certain type
of pottery.
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158 J. RIEDERER
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