Mineralogical and Geochemical Constraints on the Sediment Sources of Late Stone Age Pottery from the Birimi Site, Northern Ghana

Abstract

The mineralogy and bulk chemical compositions of 15 Kintampo (Late Stone Age) potsherds from the Birimi site on the Gambaga Escarpment and eight samples of local sediment were determined with the intent of characterizing these wares and identifying the material used in their manufacture. Sediment from clay pits still used by potters north of the escarpment contains iron‐rich laterite clasts (100 × XFeOt = 100 × FeOt/[FeOt + Al2O3 + SiO2] ≥10). Sedimentary clasts in stream sediments are relatively siliceous and iron‐poor (100 × XFeOt < 10). Bulk geochemical data together with the compositions of lithic clasts (laterite, siltstone/sandstone) link the pottery to sediment sources, including escarpment sediments not presently used by Ghanaian potters. Fresh granite clasts found in some of the sherds were not found in the analyzed sediment samples, although some of their distinctive mineralogical constituents (e.g., variably barian alkali feldspar) are present. The analytical data suggest that pots found at Birimi were made locally by mixing escarpment sediment with clay and stream sediment brought in from below the escarpment. This contrasts with present‐day practice, whereby the pots themselves are imported. The place where Birimi pottery was made and the outcrop source of aluminous sediment (mudstone with an “escarpment” trace element signature) used in these wares, however, remain unidentified. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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