TY - JOUR
T1 - African terra sigillata from Henchir Es-Srira archaeological site, central Tunisia: Archaeological provenance and raw materials based on chemical analysis
AU - Baklouti, Siwar
AU - Maritan, Lara
AU - Laridhi Ouazaa, Néjia
AU - Mazzoli, Claudio
AU - Larabi Kassaa, Samia
AU - Joron, Jean Louis
AU - Fouzaï, Boutheina
AU - Casas Duocastella, Lluís
AU - Labayed-Lahdari, Moufida
PY - 2015/3/1
Y1 - 2015/3/1
N2 - © 2014 Elsevier B.V. Terra sigillata from the Henchir Es-Srira archaeological site in central Tunisia was analysed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and chemical data were statistically treated by multivariate (principal component and cluster) analyses, which defined a geochemically homogeneous reference group. According to our results, potsherds from Henchir Es-Srira are compositionally compatible with the six reference samples from the same site already published in the literature, and form a single group. A larger reference group is now well established for this site. In addition, comparisons with previous data from other sites in both northern and central Tunisia show that terra sigillata from Henchir Es-Srira is chemically more similar to that of the northern sites than the central ones. Neutron activation analysis (NAA), an extremely valuable tool for provenance studies, was also performed on a set of selected potsherds from Henchir Es-Srira and clay materials collected nearby, with the aim of identifying the possible clayey raw materials used for this ceramic production. Comparisons of both bulk chemical composition and trace and rare earth element (REE) patterns show that most of the objects were locally produced from a Neogene base-clay, probably collected from the "Saouaf Formation".
AB - © 2014 Elsevier B.V. Terra sigillata from the Henchir Es-Srira archaeological site in central Tunisia was analysed by X-ray fluorescence (XRF), and chemical data were statistically treated by multivariate (principal component and cluster) analyses, which defined a geochemically homogeneous reference group. According to our results, potsherds from Henchir Es-Srira are compositionally compatible with the six reference samples from the same site already published in the literature, and form a single group. A larger reference group is now well established for this site. In addition, comparisons with previous data from other sites in both northern and central Tunisia show that terra sigillata from Henchir Es-Srira is chemically more similar to that of the northern sites than the central ones. Neutron activation analysis (NAA), an extremely valuable tool for provenance studies, was also performed on a set of selected potsherds from Henchir Es-Srira and clay materials collected nearby, with the aim of identifying the possible clayey raw materials used for this ceramic production. Comparisons of both bulk chemical composition and trace and rare earth element (REE) patterns show that most of the objects were locally produced from a Neogene base-clay, probably collected from the "Saouaf Formation".
KW - African terra sigillata
KW - NAA
KW - Reference groups
KW - Statistical treatment of data
KW - Tunisia
KW - XRF
U2 - 10.1016/j.clay.2014.12.020
DO - 10.1016/j.clay.2014.12.020
M3 - Article
SN - 0169-1317
VL - 105-106
SP - 27
EP - 40
JO - Applied Clay Science
JF - Applied Clay Science
ER -