Characterization of Archaeological Artefacts Using Methods Specific to Materials Science: The Case Study of Dacian Ceramics from 2nd c. BC to 1st c. AD.

Combined analysis methods such as optical microscopy (OM), cathodoluminescence (CL) microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (SEM-EDX) have made it possible to obtain the first physico-chemical data of Dacian potsherds, exhumed at the archeological site of Ocnița-Buridava, Romania; the samples were provided by the "Aurelian Sacerdoțeanu" County Museum Vâlcea, dating from the 2nd century BC to the 1st century AD. The mineralogical and petrographic analyses revealed two types of ceramic pastes, taking into account the granulometry of the inclusions and highlighting the choice of the potter for fabricating the ceramic either by wheel or by hand. All samples showed an abundance in quartz, mica (muscovite and biotite), and feldspars.