Early Medieval ceramics from the Viile Tecii archaeological site (Romania): an optical and XRD study

Abstract

Mineralogical and petrographic studies of Early Medieval potshards exhumed in the Viile Tecii archaeological site (North Transylvania, Romania) show a ceramic body composed of a microcrystalline to amorphous matrix, various clasts and voids. The microscopical features and XRD patterns indicate that illitic-kaolinitic clays were used as raw materials, together with quartzitic sands as tempering material. The ceramic vessels were obtained with the potter's wheel, but the fabric is only slightly oriented, due either to the fast modeling or to the coarseness of the clayish paste. The thermal alteration of mineral phases points to relatively high firing-temperatures, between 800 and 900°C.