Regional Production and Trade of Glazed Ceramics in Medieval Central Asia along the Silk Road

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Analyses by NAA and LA-ICP-MS of 106 ceramics excavated from archaeological sites in southern Kazakhstan has demonstrated local production of lead-glazed ceramics during the Early and Middle Islamic periods in Central Asia. The sherds, including both glazed (n=39) and unglazed ceramics (n=67), were excavated from seven medieval sites dated from the 9th to 15th c. CE and located north of the Tien Shan mountains. Compositional analysis of the ceramic pastes by NAA indicates that there are three distinct compositional groups for the lead-glazed ceramics. Comparison of the glazed ceramic NAA data to more than 1300 previously analyzed ceramics from Southwest Asia, Central Asia, and China indicates both an active local production of lead-glazed ceramics, and trade of specialty and glazed ceramics into the region from Southwest Asia. While the paste composition of the glazed groups is well defined, LA-ICP-MS data of the major, minor, or trace elements of the glazes does not distinguish the same compositional groups. Characterization by SEM-EDS and EMPA of examples of ceramics from the three lead-glazed compositional groups examines the technological variation within and between the locally produced Central Asian and imported Islamic lead-glazed wares.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 25981