Scientific Analysis of the Ceramic and Kiln-furniture Shards Unearthed from the Kiln Sites of Liao Dynasty in the North of Chifeng City

Twelve ceramic and kiln-furniture shards unearthed from the four kiln sites of Liao dynasty (辽代) in the north of Chifeng(赤峰) city were chemically analyzed using LA-ICP-AES method.The results suggest that two kinds of glazes were applied on these ceramics,one was high-fired calcareous glaze and the other was low-fired lead glaze.The ceramic bodies can be divided into two types also,one is made of calcareous clay and the other is made of clay with high alumina content.In addition,the only ware with high-fired glaze was made of high alumina clay,other wares with low-fired lead glazes were all made of calcareous clays.The results also indicate that the ceramic making of Liao dynasty had been influenced by the ceramic technology from the north of Northern Song Dynasty(北宋) and the Near East or Central Asia simultaneously. According to the statistical analysis,the ceramic bodies and kiln-furniture wares from the same kiln site have the similar chemical compositions,which indicates that the raw materials of these four kiln sites were all local provenances.