Analysis of Historic Latter-day Saint Pottery Glazes by Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry

摘要

In recent years, laser-ablation (LA) systems coupled to state-of-the-art inductively-coupled-plasma mass-spectrometers (ICP-MS) have gained increased popularity in archaeology for providing chemical analyses of a variety of inorganic and organic matrices. Such analyses have enabled archaeologists to address questions concerning provenance, trade, and technology through the analysis of metals, lithics, ceramics, and other archaeological materials. One area of research that has proven particularly fruitful has been the analysis of glazes found on pottery. This paper demonstrates the feasibility of detecting different glaze recipes. We will discuss how compositional groups correspond to manufacturing locales of ethnohistorically known Latter-day Saints' potters in Utah during the late 19~(th) and early 20~(th) centuries.