Processing of gypsum-bearing materials in the bronze age Gonur Depe archeological site (Southeast Karakum Desert)
L.Ya. Kabanova, A.M. Yuminov, I.A. Blinov
UDK
| 549.76: 902/904 | https://doi.org/10.35597/2313-545X-2024-10-1-4 | Read PDF (RUS) |
The technology of preparation of an ancient binder mixture used in construction work at the Gonur Depe archeological site (Southeast Karakum desert) is interpreted on the basis of study of its mineral composition and textural-structural features. The material is composed of thin prismatic-angular and fbrous aggregates of reduced gypsum (60–70 %) and β-bassanite (3 %) enclosed in clay-siliceous matrix (20–30 %). The mixture also contains grains of quartz (5–10 %), feldspar (up to 1%), mica (up to 1 %) and other minerals. The mixture was produced from a crushed natural gypsum stone, which was calcinated in air. In this case, gypsum is converted to β-bassanite and partly to anhydride. The morphology and sizes of mineral particle confrm the presence of the calcination stage up to 200 °C. The further addition of water to a dry mixture caused rapid thickening and cementation of the material, which could be used for whitewashing and plastering of the walls.
Keywords: archeological mineralogy, gypsum, ancient plaster mixes.
Funding. This work was supported by state contract no. 122062100023-5. The feld materials were collected in structure of the Margiana Archeological Expedition of the Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology RAS (IEA RAS, Moscow, Russia) in frame of the Collaboration between the IEA RAS and Ministry of Culture of Turkmenistan.
Acknowledgements. The authors are grateful to colleagues from the South Urals Federal Research Center of Mineralogy and Geoecology UB RAS for analytical works and help in interpretation of results.
Confict of interest. The authors declare that they have no conficts of interest.
Author contribution. L.A. Kabanova, A.M. Yuminov – conceptualization, investigation, visualization, writing – original draft, writing – review & editing; I.A. Blinov – analytical/experimental works. All the authors approved the fnal version of the manuscript prior to publication.
For citation: Kabanova L.Ya., Yuminov A.M., Blinov I.A. Processing of gypsum-bearing materials in the bronze age Gonur Depe archeological site (Southeast Karakum Desert). Mineralogy, 10 (1), 54–66. DOI: 10.35597/2313-545X-2024-10-1-4.
Received 27.06.2023, revised 04.12.2023, accepted 08.02.2024
L.Ya. Kabanova, South Urals Federal Scientifc Center of Mineralogy and Geoecology UB RAS, Miass, Chelyabinsk region, 456317 Russia; kablar39@mail.ru
A.M. Yuminov, South Urals Federal Scientifc Center of Mineralogy and Geoecology UB RAS, Miass, Chelyabinsk region, 456317 Russia;
I.A. Blinov, South Urals Federal Scientifc Center of Mineralogy and Geoecology UB RAS, Miass, Chelyabinsk region, 456317 Russia;
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