Bárkányi Ildikó – F. Lajkó Orsolya (szerk.): A Móra Ferenc Múzeum Évkönyve 2017., Új folyam 4. (Szeged, 2018)
Régészet
Walter - Fintor - Skultti The preliminary petrographic examination of the diluent used for Sándorfalva-Eperjes The preliminary petrographic examination of the diluent used for a late Sarmatian micaceous-pebbly ceramic from Sándorfalva-Eperjes Dorottya Walter - Krisztián Fintor Dr. -Ágnes Skultéti Dr. The micaceous-pebbly ceramic - which was formed using a hand-operated pottery wheel - is a new type of ceramic which appeared during the late Sarmatian period, at the end of the 4th century and the beginning of the 5th and which can also be found among the artefacts uncovered from the late Sarmatian settlement in Sándorfalva- Eperjes. The settlement in Sándorfalva had a total of 161 pieces of ceramic fragment diluted with a micaceous-pebbly materiel, most of which are fragments of former cooking pots. The settlement must have had the means to make ceramics, this is evidenced by the presence of a pottery workshop and an adjacent kiln and ceramic slag found inside the objects. It is debatable however, whether the micaceous-pebbly ceramic was produced locally or was the finished product transported to the settlement, the identification of the diluent used for the ceramic also raises questions. The present study is the first archaeometric publication of research concerning micaceous-pebbly ceramics. Our purpose is to identify the diluents mixed to the argillaceous base material of the ceramic from Sándorfalva-Eperjes. First, the ceramic and ceramic slag had been put under a macroscope, then they were subject to thin section petrographic examination, which was followed by an analysis using a Raman spectroscope in order to clarify the resulting data. Based on the results, we recognized the following diluents in particular in the examined ceramic sample: monocrystalline quartz, mica (muscovite, biotite], ceramic slag and ceramic fragments. Various sizes of irregularly shaped particles with slightly jaggy edges that appear in the ceramic's pattern prove dilution via slag, which serves as a new result in late Sarmatian pottery. In relation to dilution via micaceous material, there are no minerals (mica, gneiss, rhyolite or other mineral diluent) on the surface or near the surface of the immediate geological environment of the dig site, which would explain the high quantity of micaceous particles (muscovite, biotite) appearing in the sample.The high quantity of singular, large sized and self-shaped micaceous particles observed within the ceramic might suggest a short term transportation via a river or to foothill debris near the riverbank. In the broader environment of the examined samples, in the territory of Romania, micaceous gneiss appears in multiple areas according to the geological map. It is possible, that these minerals were transported as the Maros river's alluvium close to where the ceramics were made. Based on our current data, it can be assumed based on the spatial spread of quarries containing micaceous-pebbly ceramics, that their centers of production or the workshops where they were created had been concentrated in close proximity to the rivers Kőrös, Tisza and Maros. 145
