Reverse Engineering of Corinthian Pigment Processing and Firing Technologies on Archaic Polychrome Ceramics
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Reverse Engineering of Corinthian Pigment Processing and Firing Technologies on Archaic Polychrome Ceramics Item Type text; Electronic Thesis Authors Klesner, Catherine Elizabeth Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 27/09/2021 23:32:12 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/625903 REVERSE ENGINEERING OF CORINTHIAN PIGMENT PROCESSING AND FIRING TECHNOLOGIES ON ARCHAIC POLYCHROME CERAMICS by Catherine Elizabeth Klesner Copyright © Catherine Elizabeth Klesner 2017 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2017 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR The thesis titled Reverse Engineering of Corinthian Pigment Processing and Firing Technologies on Archaic Polychrome Ceramics prepared by Catherine Elizabeth Klesner has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for a master’s degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that an accurate acknowledgement of the source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: Catherine Elizabeth Klesner APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: Pamela Vandiver 5/1/2017 Pamela Vandiver Date Professor of Materials Science and Engineering 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First and foremost, thank Professor Pamela Vandiver for her help and guidance with this work. Professor Mary Voyatzis has helped not only stylistically dating the sherds, she has guided me through the archaeological literature on Protocorinthian and Corinthian pottery. Dr. Kenneth Domanik, in the Electron Microprobe Lab in the Lunar and Planetary Sciences Department, and Dr. Paul Wallace of the Imaging Cores at the University of Arizona have provided invaluable technical assistance, advice and training. Professor B. G. Potter is thanked for collection on the Raman analysis. Lastly, I would like to acknowledge and thank the people who have provided samples for this study. I acknowledge the work of Dr. Marie Farnsworth who assembled and studied the Greek sherd collection in the 1950’s, and Charles Williams who first directed attention to it. I also thank Emilio Rodriguez-Alvarez and Jay Stephens for access to their clay collection from Corinth, and Dr. Eleni Aloupi-Siotis for the samples she made to replicate Greek purple pigments. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................................................... 11 I – INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 12 PROBLEM STATEMENT ............................................................................................................................ 13 A HISTORY OF CORINTH PERTINENT TO THE STUDY OF POLYCHROME CERAMICS ............................... 15 CERAMICS IN THE BRONZE AGE THROUGH THE GEOMETRIC PERIOD .................................................... 19 CERAMICS IN THE PROTOCORINTHIAN THROUGH CORINTHIAN PERIOD ................................................ 25 REVIEW OF TECHNICAL STUDIES OF CORINTHIAN CERAMIC PRODUCTS FROM THE ARCHAIC AND CLASSICAL PERIODS ............................................................................................................................... 33 REVIEW OF TECHNICAL STUDIES OF DECORATIVE SLIPS ON ATTIC CERAMICS FROM THE ARCHAIC AND CLASSICAL PERIOD ................................................................................................................................. 36 II - METHODS AND PROCEDURES .................................................................................................... 40 INVENTORY OF SAMPLES ANALYZED ..................................................................................................... 41 SAMPLE SELECTION ................................................................................................................................ 42 ANALYSIS OF DECORATIVE PIGMENT COMPOSITION AND MICROSTRUCTURE ...................................... 45 Microstructure Studies Using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) ................................................ 45 Chemical Analysis Using Electron Probe Microanalysis (EPMA) ..................................................... 45 Mineral composition analysis using Raman spectroscopy ................................................................. 48 DETERMINATION OF FIRING TEMPERATURE – METHODS AND PROCEDURES......................................... 49 Analysis of Ceramic Body Microstructure Using SEM ....................................................................... 49 Analysis of Archaeological Samples and Corinthian Clay Using Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) ...... 49 PURPLE SLIP REPLICATION EXPERIMENTS .............................................................................................. 52 III – RESULTS .......................................................................................................................................... 54 CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND MICROSTRUCTURE OF MODERN CORINTHIAN CLAY AND ARCHAIC FINEWARE CORINTHIAN CERAMIC BODIES ............................................................................................ 54 DETERMINATION OF MAXIMUM FIRING TEMPERATURE BY INFRARED SPECTROSCOPY AND SCANNING ELECTRON MICROSCOPY ........................................................................................................................ 56 CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND MICROSTRUCTURE OF POLYCHROME SLIPS .......................................... 60 Composition and Microstructure of the White Slip............................................................................. 62 Composition and Microstructure of Corinthian Red Slip ................................................................... 63 Composition and microstructure of the Attic and Corinthian black decorative slips ......................... 65 Composition and microstructure of the Corinthian purple decorative slips and replica purple pigment ................................................................................................................................................ 68 Optical Properties of the Slips as a Function of Chemical Composition ........................................... 74 IV – DISCUSSION .................................................................................................................................... 76 COMPOSITION OF CORINTHIAN CLAYS ................................................................................................... 76 VALIDITY OF FTIR ANALYSIS FOR FIRING TEMPERATURE DETERMINATION ........................................ 84 Kinetic considerations ........................................................................................................................ 90 Determination of Firing Temperature by Scanning Electron Microscopy ......................................... 91 POLYCHROME SLIPS ................................................................................................................................ 92 Similarity of Clay Sources for White Slip and Ceramic Body............................................................. 92 Formation of the Red Slip ................................................................................................................... 93 Mineral Composition of the Corinthian Black Slip ............................................................................. 95 4 Firing Conditions and Cycles ............................................................................................................. 97 Raw Materials and Processing Required to Produce the Purple Slip ................................................ 98 V – CONCLUSIONS AND PLAN FOR FUTURE WORK ................................................................ 100 FUTURE WORK ...................................................................................................................................... 104 APPENDIX A – FARNSWORTH CERAMICS .................................................................................. 106 PHOTOS OF SAMPLES ANALYZED IN THIS STUDY .................................................................................. 106 APPENDIX B – FTIR AND RAMAN DATA ...................................................................................... 116 FTIR ...................................................................................................................................................... 116 Corinthian Clay Sample ...................................................................................................................