Re-dating of Chinese celadon sherds excavated on Mapungubwe Hill, a 13th Century Iron Age site in South Africa, using Raman spectroscopy, XRF and XRD

Abstract

Chinese celadon shards of the Longquan type, believed to date from the Southern Song dynasty (1127-1279 AD), were excavated in 1934 on Mapungubwe Hill, a 13th century Iron Age site in the Limpopo valley, South Africa. We studied the shards with Raman spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD). The Raman polymerization index (Ip), calculated from the spectra of the glaze of the shards, indicated a higher firing temperature than expected for the relatively calcium rich Longquan glazes of the Southern Song dynasty. XRF analysis of the glaze and XRD measurements of the bulk of the shards supported this view and dates the shards to possibly the Yuan (1279-1368 AD) or even early Ming (1368-1644 AD) dynasties. These results have an impact on the chronology of the history of the region and therefore call for further research of a comparative nature of other Chinese celadon shards excavated on archaeological sites in Africa, as well as additional carbon dates of Mapungubwe hill.