provenance research on 14th-century greenwares found in singapore

Stulemeijer: Provenance Research on 14th-Century Greenwares Found in Singapore NSC Working Paper No. 9
1. Introduction
This <strong>research</strong> emerged from the idea that there must be a more scientific way to assess
<strong>provenance</strong> of ancient ceramics than the normal method of observation with the naked eye
employed by most experts. These thoughts developed over nearly fifteen years of object
conservation work in Singapore and were amplified by the volunteer work I have done with
the Singapore Archaeological Laboratory. This <strong>research</strong> is meant to strengthen the
knowledge of an active port-of-trade in the 14 th century on the island of Singapore, not
much different from present-day Singapore.
This <strong>research</strong> explores the possibilities of employing EDXRF (Energy-Dispersive X-ray
Fluorescence Analysis) to obtain an enhanced insight into the greenware ceramic
assemblage uncovered from the excavated 14 th -century layers at Empress Place and the
Singapore Cricket Club, Singapore. The scientific testing conducted for this thesis is aimed
to provide repeatable tests with a dataset, which can be analysed to investigate <strong>provenance</strong>
questions. The 130 tests conducted for this <strong>research</strong> have been compared with each other
in order to find commonalities or differences in chemical fingerprints. The 130 objects have
been put in a sorting system; though this system is subjective, no pre-testing sorting system
has been described in previous literature on the chemical analysis of ancient Chinese
porcelain. This sorting system will allow us to compare the different test results with each
other in unique ways. Test results show great promise when comparing chemical elements
and displaying the results in graphs. Though more <strong>research</strong> will be needed to draw absolute
conclusions, results of this <strong>research</strong> show that employing EDXRF for <strong>provenance</strong> <strong>research</strong> to
solve problems regarding ancient trade in Singapore is a viable option.
2. Context of the Research
In order to place this <strong>research</strong> within its context, it is necessary to define its geographical
location, chronological period, and scientific genre. The field of this <strong>research</strong> is multidisciplinary;
thus, its intellectual boundaries must be defined in conformity with the
questions which this thesis proposes to address.
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