Sourcing and processing of ochre during the late upper Palaeolithic at Tagliente rock-shelter (NE Italy) based on conven
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ORIGINAL PAPER
Sourcing and processing of ochre during the late upper Palaeolithic at Tagliente rock-shelter (NE Italy) based on conventional X-ray powder diffraction analysis Giovanni Cavallo 1,2 & Federica Fontana 3 & Federica Gonzato 4 & Antonio Guerreschi 3 & Maria Pia Riccardi 1 & Giorgia Sardelli 3 & Roberto Zorzin 5
Received: 16 June 2015 / Accepted: 21 October 2015 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015
Abstract Upper Palaeolithic yellow and red ochre samples recovered in the last 40 years at Tagliente rock-shelter in the Lessini Mountains (Verona, NE Italy) were analysed by means of conventional X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD) and compared with goethite- and hematite-based natural geomaterials coming from geological deposits within a distance of approximately 20 km from the archaeological site. XRPD allowed the yellow ochre sourcing area to be focused on the basis of characteristic and distinctive mineral assemblages. In addition, several samples clearly demonstrated that archaeological red ochre was obtained by thermal treatment of yellow ochre as shown by characteristic peak intensities, shape and the presence of maghemite (γ-Fe2O3). XRPD was a very powerful tool for a preliminary discrimination and grouping of a large quantity of archaeological ochre, in order to outline a preliminary hypothesis on the provenance area and to narrow
Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s12520-015-0299-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. * Giovanni Cavallo [email protected]; [email protected] 1
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Pavia, via Ferrata 1, 27100 Pavia, Italy
2
Institute of Materials and Constructions, University of Applied Sciences and Arts - Supsi, Campus Trevano, 6952 Canobbio, Switzerland
3
Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici, University of Ferrara, Corso Ercole I d’Este 32, 44121 Ferrara, Italy
4
Soprintendenza for Archaeological Heritage in Veneto, Operative Unit in Verona, piazza San Fermo 3, 37121 Verona, Italy
5
Civic Museum of Natural History, Lungadige Porta Vittoria, 9, 37129 Verona, Italy
down the number of samples to be studied in the next future through geochemical and structural analysis in order to confirm the proposed interpretation. Keywords Goethite . Hematite . Archaeological ochre . Lessini Mountains . Tagliente rock-shelter . Ponte di Veja
Introduction The term Bochre^ is very general and vague as it refers to a broad variety of materials having different origin and composition. From a semantic point of view, the word ochre comes from the Greek ὠχρός (ōchrós) which means yellow. According to Triat (2010), ochre has at least two possible meanings: in painting, it is used to designate a colour, and in geology, it indicates a mineral pigment composed by an individual mineral or the association of several minerals. Hradil et al. (2003) have proposed a distinction based on the chemical composition allowing oxide- and silicate-based pigments to be
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