Application of a Multi-Analytical Toolset to Characterize the Ancient Pottery from Kottapalayam, Tamilnadu, India Using Spectroscopic Techniques
R. Ravisankar *
Post Graduate and Research Department of Physics, Government Arts College, Thiruvannamalai-606603, Tamilnadu, India
G. Raja Annamalai
Department of Physics, Shri Krishnaa College of Engineering & Technology, Mannadipet, Puducherry-605501, India
A. Naseerutheen
Department of Physics, C. Abdul Hakeem College, Melvisharam-632509, Tamilnadu, India
A. Chandrasekaran
Department of Physics, Global Institute of Engineering & Technology, Vellore-632509, Tamilnadu, India
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
The aim of this paper is to assess the full potentialities of spectroscopy techniques in the art work investigation and to explore the capabilities in the determination of the chemical and mineralogical composition of ancient pottery excavated from Kottapalayam village, Karur district, Tamilnadu. Spectroscopic techniques such as FT-IR. X-ray diffraction, thermal gravimetric analysis and scanning electron microcopy (SEM) coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX) are utilized in this work. The constituent of the minerals is identified with help of FTIR and compared with XRD. The combined mineralogical results showed that the pottery samples from Kottapalayam were fired in between 800ºC-850ºC. The microstructure and elemental composition of the pottery sample were evaluated from their microphotograph by Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) along with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX). The results are discussed and the conclusion is drawn.
Keywords: Ancient pottery, firing temperature, FT-IR, XRD, TG-DTA, SEM-EDX