Understanding the mineralogical composition of Ancient Greek pottery through Raman microprobe spectroscopy

Abstract

Mineralogical studies using Raman microprobe spectroscopy and high-magnification optical spectroscopy were performed on sherds of pottery vessels that were used as cooking pots and water jars in Hellenistic Greece (third and second century BC). Of specific interest was the mineralogical identification of the so-called inclusions, which are phases that morphologically stand out from the fired clay matrix and result from the presence of inorganic temper in the original paste mixture. The sizes of mono- and polymineralic inclusions in the sherds range from 5 μm to 2 mm. The combined use of Raman microprobe spectroscopy and incident-light optical microscopy permits identification of specific min..