Technological and provenance aspects of Umayyad and Ayyubid-Mamluk pottery from Umm as-Surab, north-eastern Jordan: A multi-method approach

International audienceThis research deals with an archaeometric study of the pottery of the Umayyad (661-750AD) and Ayyubid-Mamluk (1171-1250AD, 1250-1517 AD) periods excavated from the Umm as-Surab archaeological site (north-eastern Jordan), using a multi-analytical approach, consisting of thin-section petrography, X-ray powder diffractometry, X-ray fluorescence spectrometry and thermal gravimetry. The data collected on ceramic fabric, raw materials, and chemical and mineralogical compositions were used to shed light on the provenance of the potsherds and reconstruct various aspects of their production technology, such as production recipes (base clay versus tempers), firing temperature and atmosphere. Chemical data were statistically treated using a multivariate method. The cluster analysis was performed using the software package of SPSS version 25 and the squared Euclidean distance in the Ward’s method. The results indicate that the samples were locally produced using the available raw materials: few samples have different recipes that might indicate a different source for them. The production technology was well controlled, using ferruginous calcareous and non-calcareous clays mixed with quartz and limestone, among others, non-plastic inclusions and fired at temperatures between 750 and 950oC