Petrography or traded from elsewhere. This kind of information, along with other evidence, can support conclusions about settlement patterns, group and individual mobility, social contacts, and trade networks. In addition, an understanding of how certain minerals are altered at specific temperatures can allow archaeological petrographers to infer aspects of the ceramic production process itself, such as minimum and maximum temperatures reached during the original firing of the pot. Petrography Petrography is a branch of petrology that focuses on detailed descriptions of rocks. Someone who studies petrography is called a petrographer. The mineral content and the textural relationships within the rock are
Ceramic petrography Ceramic petrography Ceramic petrography (or ceramic petrology) is a laboratory-based scientific archaeological technique that examines the mineralogical and microstructural composition of ceramics and other inorganic materials under the polarised light microscope in order to interpret aspects of the provenance and technology of artefacts. Samples are ground to a thickness of 0.03 mm and mounted on a glass slide. The approach relies heavily on the geological principles of optical mineralogy, thin section petrography and soil micromorphology. It combines these with an appreciation of the craft of ceramic manufacture and interprets data within an archaeological framework. Ceramic petrography is used in academic