[Chemical composition analysis of early neolithic pottery unearthed from Xiaohuangshang site, Zhejiang Province and Jiahu site, Henan Province by energy disperse X-ray fluorescence].

The major elements in the early neolithic potteries unearthed from Xiaohuangshan site, Zhejiang Province and Jiahu site, Henan Province were determined by energy disperse X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF). The results show that the chemical compositions of the potteries from these two sites possess obvious regional features respectively. Compared with the specimen from Jiahu site, the potteries from Xiaohuangshan site have the common feature of ancient Chinese southern ceramics with high silicon and low aluminum contents. Simultaneously, the chemical composition of Xiaohuangshan pottery samples nearly unchanged from its early stage to the last stage. This phenomenon indicates that the source of the ceramic raw materials of Xiaohuangshan site was stable, and the continuous improvement of its pottery quality was mainly due to the progress in sintering techniques. However, the chemical composition of Jiahu potteries changed a lot in its three different periods. This change occurred because a large number of admixtures were added to the pottery bodies to improve their operating performances. These results also show that the improvements of pottery making techniques in different Chinese areas may have their own evolution directions respectively for the different geographical environments.