Comparing Mineral Concentrations of the Middle Chalcolithic Period Ceramics with Soil of Shahrekord District for Verifying their Origin

Objective: The present research was designed on soil of Shahrekord district to find and compare its mineral concentration with the Middle Chalcolithic period ceramics which found in the same area to determine their similarities in order to verify the origin of potteries.

Procedure: Eighty composite soil and eight particles of Middle Chalcolithic Pottery were collected from Shahrekord district and the concentration of phosphorus, copper, molybdenum, lead and cobalt were measured by using atomic absorption spectrophotometry and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), respectively.

Statistical Analysis: For comparing the mineral concentration of soil and ceramics One Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test were used at the significant level of p<0.05.

Results: The average level of phosphorus, copper, molybdenum, lead and cobalt in the soil of Shahrekord district were 11.31, 12.04, 0.06, 0.79 and 0.126 mg/kg and their average in Middle Chalcolithic Potteries were 2058, 54.11, 0.92, 9.5 and 21.25 ppm, respectively. The statistical analysis showed an obvious and significant difference between soil minerals and ceramics (p<0.01).

Discussion: This finding indicates that it is not possible to find out the origin of ancient ceramics by using the concentration of soil elements at present time. These significant differences may attribute to the burial place and the type of pottery used in the ancient kitchen.