Investigation of ancient Harappan faience through LA-ICP-AES and SR-μ CT

Abstract

Faience (glazed quartz) production is one of the complex craft techniques used by artisans to create high-status goods for elite consumers during the Harappan Phase, 2600–1900 BC. In this study, some faience objects selected from Harappa site, Pakistan were analyzed by LA-ICP-AES and SR-μ CT. The results suggested that these faience objects can be divided into two groups by using different flux: sajji-khar (a kind of plant ash) and mixed alkali flux; copper and iron were used as coloring elements in the blue and red faience; the forming technology of two groups of faience was similar:these beads were firstly formed on an organic cylinder and then glazed by using the efflorescence technique according to replica experiments and the structural information revealed by SR-μ CT slices. Up to our knowledge, the results firstly and scientifically confirm that the production of the Harappan faience beads adopts the efflorescence glazing method. The research has increased the understanding about production technology of ancient Indus faience.

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