Archaeometric Characterization of the Ferrería Style Pottery (El Carmen de Viboral, Colombia): Raw Materials and Firing Conditions

Jimenez, Elizabeth; Sanchez, Luis Carlos; Arnache, Oscar

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17931355.

Vol. 56 (2025), pp. 207–220 •

1.44 MB

RESEARCH ARTICLE

Archaeometric Characterization of the Ferrería Style Pottery (El Carmen de Viboral, Colombia): Raw Materials and Firing Conditions

Elizabeth Jiménez,¹ Luis Carlos Sánchez,^2* Oscar Arnache ¹

(1) Grupo de Estado Sólido, Instituto de Física, Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia
(2) Grupo Avanzado de Materiales y Sistemas Complejos (GAMASCO), Universidad de Córdoba, Montería, Colombia

* luiscarlos@correo.unicordoba.edu.co (corresponding author)

Read & Download PDF

Abstract

A multi-analytical study was conducted on archaeological pottery samples from El Carmen de Viboral, Antioquia, Colombia (5th century BCE–3rd century CE), belonging to the Ferrería style, which is associated with the region's pre-Hispanic agricultural societies. X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA-DTG), Vickers microhardness measurements, and Mössbauer spectroscopy were employed to determine the chemical composition, morphological, and mineralogical characteristics of the pottery sherds. The results indicate that the pottery was primarily made from non-calcareous clays. The presence of mineral phases, such as silicates, is characteristic of a low-temperature firing process. Additionally, the identified silicate phases contain iron in both the divalent (+2) and trivalent (+3) oxidation states, suggesting variable redox conditions during the manufacturing process.

Keywords

Ferrería-style pottery, 57Fe Mössbauer spectrometry, XRD, SEM-EDS, FTIR, Colombia.

Cite as

Jiménez, E.; L.C. Sánchez; O. Arnache. 2025.
Archaeometric Characterization of the Ferrería Style Pottery (El Carmen de Viboral, Colombia): Raw Materials and Firing Conditions. Arqueología Iberoamericana 56: 207–220.

Search this article

Other Persistent Identifiers

PURL: purl.org/aia/5623. ARK: ark:49934/400, ark:49934/400.

Received: October 29, 2025. Accepted: December 3, 2025. Published: December 16, 2025.

Declarations

Competing interest: The authors contributed equally to the study and read and approved the final manuscript.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the Ceramic Museum of the Cultural Institute of the municipality of El Carmen de Viboral, Antioquia, for the supply of the archaeological pieces. They also want to thank the Colombian Institute of Anthropology and History (ICAHN) for authorization to perform the different analytical tests on the pottery fragments. This work was financially supported by the Solid State Group (GES) at the University of Antioquia in the framework of the SIIU 2022-52570 project. This project was partially funded by the Universidad de Córdoba in the framework of the FCB-05-23 project. E. Jimenez and O. Arnache want to thank the Instituto de Cultura y Patrimonio de Antioquia (ICPA) in the framework of the Convocatoria departamental de concertación de museos 2021 for the partial financial support.

References

Bayazit, M. et alii. 2014. Spectroscopic and thermal techniques for the characterization of the first millennium AD potteries from Kuriki-Turkey. Ceramics International 40(9): 14769-14779. Google Scholar.

Benedetto, G.E. et alii. 2002. Infrared spectroscopy in the mineralogical characterization of ancient pottery. Journal of Cultural Heritage 3(3): 177-186. DOI. Google Scholar.

Botero, S. 2001. Del depósito a la referencia, de los fragmentos cerámicos al patrimonio arqueológico. Revista de Extensión Cultural 44: 53-64. Medellín. Google Scholar.

Botero, S. et alii. 2017. Arcilla y cultura: nuevos y viejos datos sobre la cerámica prehispánica en la cuenca alta de la quebrada Piedras Blancas (Antioquia-Colombia). Boletín de Antropología 32(54): 224-251. Google Scholar.

Castillo, N. 1995. Reconocimiento arqueológico en el Valle del Aburrá. Boletín de Antropología 9(25): 49-90. Google Scholar.

Castillo, M.A. et alii. 2022. Magnetic, structural and Mössbauer study of soils from an ancient mining area in Huancavelica-Peru. Hyperfine Interactions 243: 3. Google Scholar.

Chukanov, N.V. 2013. Infrared Spectra of Mineral Species. Springer. Google Scholar.

Chukanov, N.V.; A.D. Chervonnyi. 2016. Infrared Spectroscopy of Minerals and Related Compounds. Springer. Google Scholar.

Daghmehchi, M. et alii. 2017. Thermal analysis of ancient ceramics using the microchemical and microstructural alterations of foraminifera. Materials Characterization 130: 81-91. Google Scholar.

Daghmehchi, M. et alii. 2018. Mineralogical and thermal analyses of the Hellenistic ceramics from Laodicea Temple, Iran. Applied Clay Science 162: 146-154. DOI. Google Scholar.

Drebushchak, V.A. et alii. 2007. Thermogravimetric investigation of ancient ceramics. Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry 90: 73-79. Google Scholar.

Drebushchak, V.A. et alii. 2011. The mass-loss diagram for the ancient ceramics. Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry 104: 459-466. Google Scholar.

Fabbri, B. et alii. 2014. The presence of calcite in archeological ceramics. Journal of the European Ceramic Society 34(7): 1899-1911. Google Scholar.

Feliu, M.J. et alii. 2004. Application of physical-chemical analytical techniques in the study of ancient ceramics. Analytica Chimica Acta 502(2): 241-250. DOI. Google Scholar.

Gomathy, Y. et alii. 2021. A preliminary study of ancient potteries collected from Kundureddiyur, Tamil Nadu, India. Microchemical Journal 165: 106100. DOI. Google Scholar.

Hunt, A.M.W., ed. 2017. The Oxford Handbook of Archaeological Ceramic Analysis. Oxford University Press. DOI. Google Scholar.

Ion, R.M. et alii. 2010. Thermal analysis of Romanian ancient ceramics. Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry 102(1): 393-398. Google Scholar.

Iordanidis, A. et alii. 2009. Analytical study of ancient pottery from the archaeological site of Aiani, northern Greece. Materials Characterization 60(4): 292-302. Google Scholar.

Keller, R. et alii. 2005. Mineralogy, 57Fe Mössbauer spectra and magnetization of chalcolithic pottery. Physics and Chemistry of Minerals 32: 165-174. Google Scholar.

Kotryová, B. et alii. 2016. Thermoanalytical investigation of ancient pottery. In AIP Conference Proceedings 1752: 040016. DOI. Google Scholar.

Kostova, B. et alii. 2024. Archaeometric study of pithoi from Bulgarian archaeological sites. Scientific Culture 10(3): 57-76. DOI. Google Scholar.

Kramar, S. et alii. 2012. Mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of Roman pottery from an archaeological site near Mošnje (Slovenia). Applied Clay Science 57: 39-48. DOI. Google Scholar.

Lucas, H.B. et alii. 2018. Archaeological pottery from Nasca culture studied by Raman and Mössbauer spectroscopy combined with X-ray diffraction. Vibrational Spectroscopy 97: 140-145. Google Scholar.

Mangueira, G.M. et alii. 2011. A study of the firing temperature of archeological pottery by X-ray diffraction and electron paramagnetic resonance. Journal of Physics and Chemistry of Solids 72(2): 90-96. Google Scholar.

Maritan, L. et alii. 2006. Influence of firing conditions on ceramic products: Experimental study on clay rich in organic matter. Applied Clay Science 31(1-2): 1-15. DOI. Google Scholar.

Martínez, V. et alii. 2018. Pottery in Hellenistic tradition from ancient Bactria: The Kurganzol fortress (Uzbekistan, Central Asia). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 21: 1044-1054. DOI. Google Scholar.

Obregón, M. 1999. De los tiestos a los textos. Elementos para un análisis al respecto de las categorías clasificatorias de la cerámica arqueológica en Antioquia. Boletín de Antropología 13(30): 166-178. Google Scholar.

Oliveira, L.S.S. et alii. 2020. Archeometric study of pottery shards from Conjunto Vilas and São João, Amazon. Radiation Physics and Chemistry 167: 108303. DOI. Google Scholar.

Palanivel, R.; S. Meyvel. 2010. Microstructural and microanalytical study (SEM) of archaeological pottery artefacts. Romanian Journal of Physics 55(3-4): 333-341. Google Scholar.

Papachristodoulou, C. et alii. 2006. A study of ancient pottery by means of X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, multivariate statistics and mineralogical analysis. Analytica Chimica Acta 573-574: 347-353. DOI. Google Scholar.

Rathossi, C.; Y. Pontikes. 2010. Effect of firing temperature and atmosphere on ceramics made of NW Peloponnese clay sediments. Part I: Reaction paths, crystalline phases, microstructure and colour. Journal of the European Ceramic Society 30 (9): 1841-1851. Google Scholar.

Ricci, G. et alii. 2016. A multi-spectroscopic study for the characterization and definition of production techniques of German ceramic sherds. Microchemical Journal 126: 104-112. DOI. Google Scholar.

Santos, G. 2014. Prospección e inventario arqueológico de la Vereda Betania, Municipio de El Carmen de Viboral, Antioquia. Unpublished investigation report. Instituto de Cultura y Patrimonio de Antioquia (ICPA). Google Scholar.

Seetha, D.; G. Velraj. 2015. Spectroscopic and statistical approach of archaeological artifacts recently excavated from Tamilnadu, South India. Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy 149: 59-68. DOI. Google Scholar.

Shortland, A.J. et alii, eds. 2009. From Mine to Microscope: Advances in the Study of Ancient Technology. Oxbow Books. URL. Google Scholar.

Shoval, S.; Y. Paz. 2013. A study of the mass-gain of ancient pottery in relation to archeological ages using thermal analysis. Applied Clay Science 82: 113-120. DOI. Google Scholar.

Stratis, J.A. et alii. 2011. Thermal, chemical, and mineralogical characterization of ceramic tobacco pipes from Cyprus. Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry 104(2): 431-437. Google Scholar.

Velraj, G. et alii. 2015. FTIR, XRD and SEM-EDS studies of archaeological pottery samples from recently excavated site in Tamil Nadu, India. Materials Today: Proceedings 2(3): 934-942. Google Scholar.

Wagner, U. et alii. 1997. Formative ceramics from the Andes and their production: A Mössbauer study. Hyperfine Interactions 110: 165-176. Google Scholar.

Weber, M. et alii. 2020. U-Pb dating of zircon: A sourcing method for pottery from La Morena archaeological site, north-west Colombia. Archaeometry 62(3): 439-468. DOI. Google Scholar.

Whitney, D.L.; B.W. Evans. 2010. Abbreviations for names of rock-forming minerals. American Mineralogist 95(1): 185-187. Google Scholar.