Compositional analysis of glazed earthenwares from eighteenth-century sites on the northern Gulf Coast

Compositional classification of colonial-era ceramics using neutron activation analysis has heretofore focused primarily on majolicas from Spain and Mexico. In order to expand the chemical database to include 18th-century French ceramics, 186 sherds from Old Mobile and nearby sites on the north-central Gulf Coast have been analyzed, including faïence blanche, faïence brune , Mexican majolicas, and several types of coarse earthenwares. Quantitative analysis of 23 elements provides a basis for distinguishing French and Spanish-colonial earthenwares, as well as suggesting some preliminary chemical groupings of French faïence.