The Application of X-Ray Diffraction to the Characterization of Clay Samples from the Tuxtla Mountains, México

Summary

In this project I applied X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques to characterize the mineralogical composition of 11 clay samples collected from the Tuxtla Mountains, in the vicinity of Matacapan, Veracruz, México. These samples had already been analyzed through X-ray fluorescence (Pool 1990), and the data generated by XRD was compared to the already existing elemental analyses of these clays and of ceramics from the region. In this way, I attempt to distinguish minerals added to these clays in the form of temper during cultural processes of ceramic production, from naturally occurring inclusions. Also, through the mineralogical characterization of clay samples, I seek to more clearly define areas of resource procurement for ancient potters. Based on the XRD results, it was possible to identify a general mineralogical profile of the clay samples from the area surrounding Matacapan, as well as to highlight some intra and inter-group patterns and relationships in the mineralogical composition of these clays. Also, the XRD results support the findings obtained from XRF analyses of the clay samples. Future work will focus on comparing the data presented here to petrographic thin sections of these clay samples and on a comparison with XRD analyses of pottery produced at Matacapan.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)

Keywords

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