THE BLACK POTTERY OF SOUTHEASTERN
MINAS GERAIS, IRON OXIDES REDUCTION
IN ARCHAEOLOGICAL CERAMICS
The main archaeological ceramic tradition in central Brazil is called Aratu-Sapucai. This classification was
casted in the late 60's to describe a ceramic culture initially found at the South of Bahia and Minas Gerais
States of Brazil. It was lately also found in Goiás State. One of the characteristics of this ceramist culture is a
black/grey ware. This color characteristics were initially attributed to the presence of graphite or charcoal in
the clay body. Fernandes (2001) conducted tests that proved that these colors were due to the reducing firing
of the common red, iron rich clay.
The technique of firing ceramics in a carbon rich
atmosphere (or low oxygen ) is known by many
archaeological cultures in South America, the
product of this technique is the Black Pottery.
The Aratu Sapucai Culture is known for the
production of a peculiar kind of Black Pottery.
On the site Ceramica Preta, Itapeva, Minas Gerais
and in other sites of the region, only the small and
thin pots are produced with complete reducing
firing. The bigger vessels presents some oxidation
A mixture of techniques that may be described as:
Complete reduction
External reduction
Internal reduction
Black Heart
Complete Oxidation
There are some sites classified as Aratu-Sapucai
where the sherds found are completely oxidated
while in others, there is a proportion of 68% of
reduced ceramic sherds (HENRIQUES JUNIOR,
2006). There are cultural differences in the firing
technology of the tribes grouped in this
archeological ceramist tradition that may be
highlighted by the study of the firing technique
tradition.
The effects of the reducing firing may be external
and/or internal to the wall of the vessel as the direct
result of the operatory chain of firing the ceramic
body. Archaeological data (ALVES, 2009) indicates
that the ceramic firing of these groups took place on
bonfires,
o
reaching the pots a maximum temperature
of 550 C. This temperature could be ovepassed by
burning an organic load inside the pots.
There are not many studies of reduction fired
archaeological ceramic in central Brazil, some
archaeologists still consider that the Black Pottery
found in the Aratu-Sapucai sites are firing accidents
or due to low quality of firing.
This kind of technique found in some sites
indicates an intentional and controlled use of the
carbon rich atmospheres in part of the Aratu-Sapucai
ceramic industry. This show differents kinds of
traditions on firing that could indicate cultural
subgrups on Aratu-Sapucai ceramic tradition.
M.Sc. ALEXANDRE H. DELFORGE
Boudouard’s Diagram
(Adapted from WALKER (1986)
THE MAIN IRON OXIDES AND COLOURS
PRESENT IN NATURAL CLAY BODIES:
FeO = (II) Iron oxide, Ferrous oxide.
Wüstite. Graysh mineral.
Fe2O3 = (III) Iron oxide, Ferric oxide,
Hematite, Red iron oxide, Rust.
Fe3O4 (FeO Fe2O3 ) = (II,III) Iron oxide,
Ferrous-ferric oxide, Magnetite, Black
iron oxide.
FeO (OH) = Yellow iron oxide, Göethite.
Red, yellow, brown, black.
(Fe203 * H20) = (III) Hidratated ferric
oxide, Yellow iron oxide.
Carbon monoxide in temperatures below 560º C
during the reducing firing reacts with iron oxide
changing it in tree steps:
Fe2O3 > Fe3 O4 > FeO > F
Above this temperature the reaction presents only
two steps:
Fe2O3 > Fe3O4 > Fe
Delforge, 2013
The picture above shows an experiment in wich
some fresh air has slowly penetrated inside the
saggar during the cooling causing rings of
reoxidation.The saggar is the recipient where the
reducing atmosphere is produced by an organic load
and contained inside an oxidating firing bonfire.
The degree of reoxidation rises from inside to
outside. The outer red rings are completely oxidated
while the inner circle is reduced. The surface is a red
slip rich in iron oxides showing a gradient of colors
of reduction/oxidation that represents the various
iron oxides formed by the reaction with the different
atmospheres.
The middle yellowish ring was formed by a
neutral atmosphere. The low carbon oxide
atmosphere or the presence of enough free oxigen
leads to a neutral firing. This atmosphere presents
different results of oxidizing or reducing firing
reactions. It’s not possible to identify the iron oxides
only by the colors, the investigation of their nature
may reveal some cultural aspects of these cultures.
Alexandre H. Delforge is an archeological heritage manager, took his master
degree in Geographycal Information Treatment at PUC- MG and is coursing
the second semester of the doctoral programme in Archaeology at Museu de
Arqueologia e Etnologia da Universidade de São Paulo. This presentation is
part of his thesis.
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