Archaeometric study of medieval pottery excavated at Stari (Old) Ras, Serbia

Abstract

A combined study of a series of polychromatic and monochromatic glazed medieval pottery shards excavated from the archaeological area of Stari (Old) Ras in southern Serbia, including petrographic and chemical analysis, powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, allowed us to clearly distinguish between two groups of ceramics. Ras pottery, made of fine-grained well-cleaned clay and characterised by a rich mineral assemblage, was produced by firing in a temperature range between 800 and 900 degrees C. Reljina Gradina ceramics were produced at similar temperatures from materials which, with regard to mineralogical and chemical composition, show clear similarity with local clay, suggesting that these samples are of local origin and production. This work is the first systematic archaeometric study of medieval pottery excavated on the territory of Serbia.