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
Petrography the microscope is fairly subtle, but also mechanistic - it would be possible to develop an identification key that would allow a computer to do it. The more difficult and skilful part of optical petrography is identifying the interrelationships between grains and relating them to features seen in hand specimen, at outcrop, or in mapping. Separation of the ingredients of a crushed rock powder to obtain pure samples for analysis is a common approach. It may be performed with a powerful, adjustable-strength electromagnet. A weak magnetic field attracts magnetite, then haematite and other iron ores. Silicates that contain iron follow