Ceramic Materials Based on Clay Minerals in Cultural Heritage Study

Abstract

The artifacts belonging to the ceramic heritage are mostly based on all clay types used by humans over the ages, because the sources of clays were easily available and people were interested to produce ceramics and pottery. This is the reason why the conservation of cultural heritage is of great concern. Ceramics (Greek κεράμιον Keramion) is a material obtained by shaping and firing clay. In the Romanian history, many ceramic pieces, of great diversity, have been discovered, and most of them are used in traditional house‐ holds. Ceramic materials based on clay minerals in cultural heritage (ceramic heritage) in‐ volve techniques of characterization of raw materials and ceramic objects based on clays, discovered in different archaeological sites, leading to some results about the production technology, provenance, authentication, and historical appartenance on Romanian terri‐ tory. The chemical composition of ancient ceramics and pigments decorating them, exca‐ vated from different Romanian archaeological sites, suggested a chemical composition of ceramic based on clay minerals (kaolinite, illite, and smectite), while the pigments be‐ longing to them contained red pigments (hematite or ocher), manganese oxides (brown pigments), and magnetite or carbon of vegetable origin (black-pigmented layers).