Abstract
Petrographic microscopy is a venerable geological technique that has been used in the service of archaeology at least since the 1930s (e.g., Shepard, 1936, 1939). Compared to newer, sophisticated, “high-tech” approaches to the study of the compositional analysis of ceramics (e.g., neutron activation or acid extraction), petrography surely rates the appellation “old fashioned.”The goal of this chapter is to describe and evaluate critically the current status and potential of ceramic petrography as an approach to the compositional analysis of archaeological ceramics, especially in light of the increasingly widespread and successful application of newer technologies for determining the elemental composition of ceramics that might be seen as rendering petrography obsolete (useful earlier reviews of ceramic petrography may be found in Freestone, 1991 and 1995; Peacock, 1970; Williams, 1983).
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Stoltman, J.B. (2001). The Role of Petrography in the Study of Archaeological Ceramics. In: Goldberg, P., Holliday, V.T., Ferring, C.R. (eds) Earth Sciences and Archaeology. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1183-0_11
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