provenance research on 14th-century greenwares found in singapore

Stulemeijer: Provenance Research on 14th-Century Greenwares Found in Singapore NSC Working Paper No. 9
The sorting for this structure started with 200 sherds for each site; in the end, 65 sherds
were retained from each site. Four sherds per individual grouping were chosen, this will
allow an equal chance for the sherds within one group to be either different or similar as the
criteria are subjective and the scientific tests will have to prove their uniformity.
After literary <strong>research</strong>, it became clear that similar <strong>research</strong> projects include an average of
50 to 60 sherds; this <strong>research</strong> includes 130 <strong>research</strong> subjects. The conclusion drawn from
this <strong>research</strong> could thus be more significant. However, the sherds are all from the overall
large site of Singapore, which in turn could be the limiting factor and render the results
merely representative for the Singapore site.
The sorting structure will allow for different angles to compare the data with each other.
No publications found up to date have included a similar structure nor have they compared
these aspects of sherds with each other. This could be an indication that this is a non-issue
in the chemical fingerprinting of objects, or it could be a unique aspect of this kind of
<strong>research</strong>. As all these sherds came from similarly shaped objects, likely to be bowls, it is
possible that they could have been used to hold a substance, which could have settled
under the glaze, as some of the glaze on the pieces showed crackling. The shape of the
objects was not a criterion but coincidence lead to the use of similar shaped sherds. It must
be noted that there are a number of sherds that are likely from large plates as well. To
eliminate any possibility of organic materials that could not be removed by steam cleaning
which might exert influence on the tests, only the outside of the sherds was tested.
Singapore’s interesting ancient history has left much archaeological evidence for future
<strong>research</strong>. This <strong>research</strong> incorporated sherds found at two sites within what is considered
the old town of Singapura. The Empress Place and Singapore Cricket Club excavations have
generated enough Greenware sherds to allow for a visually diversified sorting system using
the most objective means possible.
9. How did I use EDXRF
This <strong>research</strong> focuses on archaeological ceramics from two excavation sites in Singapore.
The non-porous Greenware sherds used are from the Empress Place excavation (EMP) and
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