Special Issue "Ceramic Studies in Historical Archaeology: Geochemical and Mineralogical Characterization"

Dear Colleagues,

Historical Archaeology, or Post-Medieval Archaeology, is a new field of archaeological studies, which have traditionally focused on earlier history and prehistory. Recently, this situation has changed. Our modern world was changed by the arrival of Europeans into the American continents (1492) and the first instance of circumnavigation around the world (1519-1522). The growing interest in these events prompted the emergence of Historical Archaeology and the novel application of analytical programs to study their archaeological remains. The purpose of this Special Issue, “Ceramic Studies in Historical Archaeology: Geochemical and Mineralogical Characterization”, is to reinforce the development of this field by publishing papers that could significantly contribute to shedding light on the ceramic record of our recent past.

Archaeometry can shed light on the materiality of ceramics by testing assumptions and hypotheses based on chemical and mineralogical evidence and archaeological and historical information. Ceramics are complex, and their provenance, technology, and chronology indicate their functions, identities, economies, designs, arts, etc., typical of the period. Even if we cannot equate pots to people, their investigation allows us to approach the maker’s way of living and thinking. The diversity of current research reflects the ever-evolving possibilities offered by applying analytical techniques to the study of historical ceramics.

This Special Issue is open to studies that use either novel or standard analytical techniques to chemically, isotopically, and mineralogically characterize these ceramics, including pastes, pigments, glazes, and other decorative applications. It is also open to research devoted to dating inclusions in these ceramics to strengthen origin assessments. The ultimate goal is to show how chemical and mineralogical studies can contribute to the understanding of pottery, i.e., to our understanding of the transmission of ideas in the development of our world.

Dr. Jaume Buxeda i Garrigós
Dr. Javier G. Iñañez
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• historical archaeology
• provenance
• technology
• archaeometry
• chemical characterization
• mineralogical characterization