Abstract

PEREZ, Martina; WACHSMAN, Néstor  and  TCHILINGUIRIAN, Pablo. May be clay… Experimental archaeology and mineralogical analysis of clay sources potentially used during pre hispanic times (Antofagasta de la Sierra, Catamarca). Rev. Mus. Antropol. [online]. 2024, vol.17, n.1, pp.7-20.  Epub Apr 30, 2024. ISSN 1852-060X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.31048/1852.4826.v17.n1.42263.

We present the results of ongoing research on different clay sources at Antofagasta de la Sierra, evaluating their potential for pottery-making. It included outcrops mapping, sample collection, petrographic characterisation and experimental archaeology to characterise different clay sources in Antofagasta de la Sierra. The former allowed locating and analysing clay components and the experimentation defined clay behaviour during pottery-making, both before and after firing. Our analyses established different categories based on clay appropriateness for pottery making: highly appropriate, slightly appropriate and non-appropriate clays. According to experimentation, this difference takes place after firing, as many highly-plastic and plastic clays disaggregate and peel off generating slightly hard and disaggregated fabrics due to the presence of small to large carbonate inclusions. These results provide a reference for archaeological studies of fabrics including the composition, granulometry and abundance of inclusions naturally present in local clays. In addition, data from experimental archaeology such as malleability and plasticity, contraction rate, thermal resistance and strength will help define the processes involved in pottery manufacture.

Keywords : Experimenting; Technology; Pottery.

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