Abstract
Ban Chiang (
) is an extensively studied archeological site in Northeast Thailand, Udon Thani Province, which became a UNESCO world heritage in 1992. Depending on their production period ceramic artefacts show characteristic patterns at the surface which may be interpreted as iconographic motifs for the site. Two ceramic samples, excavated in 2003, from different periods were re-investigated, previously studied by Tanthanuch W., Pattanasiriwisawa W., Somphon W., Srilomsak S. Synchrotron studies of Ban Chiang ancient pottery. Suranaree J. Sci Technol. 2011, 18, 15–28 who focussed on thermal firing and redox-conditions. Shards selected for this study were sample 5412-S6E15 dated from Bronze Age (ca. 1000–300 BC) with yellow-brown, paint-free surface and a younger sample 8027 from Iron Age (ca. 300 BC–200 AD) with red painted design carrying pictorial patterns typical for the Ban Chiang ceramics. The surface material and colour of both shards was studied in detail using optical reflectance, FTIR spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffraction. Thin sections were used to determine the thickness of the red paint and the elemental composition of the surface using an electron microprobe. Chemical composition of sample 5412-S6E15 consists as oxides of elements mainly of SiO2 and Al2O3 (representing ca. 59 and 20 wt. %) and that of the red colour of the youngest sample 8027 consists mainly of SiO2, Al2O3 and Fe2O3 (representing ca. 52, 13 and 13 wt. %), the average composition adjacent to the red painted area has ca. 72 wt. % SiO2, ca. 10 wt. % Al2O3 and only 2 wt. % Fe2O3. X-ray powder diffraction, FTIR spectroscopy and optical reflectance measurements confirm hematite in the mineralogical composition of the red pigment of shard 8027.
Funding source: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
Award Identifier / Grant number: 390893796
Funding source: National Nanotechnology Center
Funding source: National Science and Technology Development Agency
Funding source: Khon Kaen University
Acknowledgements
The authors acknowledge experimental support from S. Heidrich, J. Ludwig and P. Stutz. U.B. thanks P. Zietlow, B. Mihailova, R. Vinx and J. Schlüter, who also provided reference samples, for helpful discussion. The research was conducted within the scope of the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (CSMC) at Universität Hamburg. Y.T. acknowledges support by the Research Network NANOTEC (RNN) program of the National Nanotechnology Center (NANOTEC), NSTDA, Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation and Khon Kaen University, Thailand.
Author contribution: All the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of this submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Research funding: This research was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) under Germany’s Excellence Strategy - EXC 2176 ‘Understanding Written Artefacts: Material, Interaction and Transmission in Manuscript Cultures’, project no.390893796 and support by the Research Network NANOTEC (RNN) program of the National Nanotechnology Center (NANOTEC), NSTDA, Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation and Khon Kaen University, Thailand.
Conflict of interest statement: The authors declare no conflicts of interest regarding this article.
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