Unit of Earth Sciences
Department of Geosciences | University of Fribourg
Archaeometry
of ancient ceramics
Pottery is one of the most
important sources of information on ancient cultures, because it was used daily
to store dry substances, to carry liquids and to heat liquid or solid
substances over a fire.
Pottery enters the archaeological record from
the Neolithic (in Switzerland from the end of 5th / beginning of 4th millenium
BC) and remains of major importance until now. Fascinating technological
develpoment occured through the times to improve the physical properties and
the esthetic aspect of the products.
Usually, a vast amount of broken pots are collected
during archeological excavations. These ceramic fragments are subsequently
analysed using an archeological or art-historical approach, but also by
scientific methods and the archaeometrical approache.
This site provides a general introduction on the archaeometry of ceramics and more specific outlines on our current research, our laboratory facilities, the reference groups and our recent publications.
