Investigating the firing technologies of Part-Roman potsherds excavated from Kuriki (Turkey) using thermal and vibrational spectroscopic techniques Murat Bayazit a, *, Iskender Işık b , Ali Issi b a Department of Ceramics, Faculty of Fine Arts, Batman University, Central Campus, 72060 Batman, Turkey b Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Dumlupınar University, Evliya Çelebi Campus, 43100 Kütahya, Turkey A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 4 February 2014 Received in revised form 12 March 2015 Accepted 12 March 2015 Available online 14 March 2015 Keywords: Archaeometry TG–DTA FTIR Part-Roman potteries Kuriki (Turkey) A B S T R A C T This work focuses on the firing technologies for representative Part-Roman potteries excavated from Kuriki (Turkey) using thermogravimetric differential thermal analysis (TG–DTA) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). X-ray diffraction (XRD), ceramic petrography, micro-Raman spectroscopy and colorimetric analyses were also performed as complementary techniques. TG–DTA results suggested that the potsherds were produced mainly with clay minerals rich in organic and calcareous materials. Absence of any intensive endothermic or exothermic effects on the DTA curves above 1000  C indicated to a maximum firing temperature of 900–1000  C for the samples. The FTIR and XRD results show that the potsherds include quartz, feldspars and plagioclase as major phases, clay and carbonated minerals as minor phases. Iron minerals (e.g. hematite, magnetite) were also identified by FTIR, micro-Raman and XRD analyses. According to our results and the absence of any ceramic kiln in the mound so far, it can be concluded that simple firing techniques (e.g. pit firing or bonfire) ending in an oxidative atmosphere have been used in the production of the Part-Roman potteries in Kuriki. ã 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Kuriki is located at the intersection point of the Batman Creek and the Tigris River near the village of Oymataş, 15 km to Batman city (Turkey) [1]. The Tigris River generates the territories of Mesopotamia along with another important river, the Euphrates. Taking the advantage of the rivers (e.g. transportation, fishing, agriculture), Mesopotamia has hosted significant civilizations throughout the history [2]. Besides, it would be thought that such river beds may provide the raw materials (gravel, sand etc.) for pottery production. The geology around Batman and the two neighboring cities (Diyarbakır and Mardin) also provides hints for identifying the raw material resources. As the rocks surrounding the mound consist mainly of marble and limestone (for Batman– Diyarbakır and Mardin, respectively), it can be predicted that the calcareous materials would be the main components for the pottery production in Kuriki [3–5]. The previous archaeometric studies carried out for the pottery of the first settlement layer (dated to the first millennium AD) of the Kuriki Mound showed that the main resources of the raw materials were volcanic and sedimentary rocks (e.g. basalt and limestone, respectively), and the firing temperature mostly did not exceed the range of 900–950  C indicating to a simple firing technique [6]. Such results were directive for further research in elucidating the pottery production technology and probable commercial links with other residential areas in upper Mesopotamia. As one of the ancient sites in upper Mesopotamia, Kuriki had a strategic position due to its location at the junction point of the river and the creek. The archaeological excavations at the Kuriki Mound started in 2009 and four different archaeological settle- ment layers were unearthed: the Late Chalcolithic (end of the 4th millennium BC and the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC), the 1st millennium BC, Part-Roma (end of the 1st millennium BC and the beginning of the 1st millennium AD) and the 1st millennium AD periods [7]. Due to the limited archaeometrical research on ceramic findings belonging to the Part-Roma period and since the whole mound will be flooded by water after completion of the Ilısu Dam collaborative and multidiscipline work within an archaeo- metry project became mandatory. Providing significant knowledge with regard to the social and cultural features of ancient civilizations, provenance studies of potteries mainly depend on investigating raw materials and the * Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 488 2173617; fax: +90 488 2173601. E-mail address: m.bayazit@hotmail.com (M. Bayazit). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.vibspec.2015.03.002 0924-2031/ ã 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Vibrational Spectroscopy 78 (2015) 1–11 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Vibrational Spectroscopy journa l homepage: www.e lsevier.com/locate/vibspec