Tracing the source and origin of earthenware stove in Kelantan State Museum by means of geochemical and mineralogical methods

Suresh Narayanen and Nasha Rodziadi Khaw and Ahmad Fadly Jusoh and Ahmad Syahir Zulkipli (2022) Tracing the source and origin of earthenware stove in Kelantan State Museum by means of geochemical and mineralogical methods. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Malaysia (73). pp. 53-65. ISSN 2637-109X

Abstract

This study applies geochemical and mineralogical methods to determine the source and origin of the raw materials used to manufacture the earthenware stove in Kelantan State Museum, Kota Bharu. The stove is claimed to be the most unique pottery made in Kelantan but details regarding its place of manufacture and technology are missing due to the poor recording and cataloguing system used by the museum in the past. Three analytical methods employed in this study were X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and Thermogravimetric (TGA) analyses. The results of the analyses were compared with the compositional data of raw clay samples obtained from Sungai Galas and Tumpat, two well-known traditional pottery manufacturing localities in Kelantan. In addition, clay samples from Ulu Kelantan were also included in this study to check whether the stove has any similarity with the chemical contents of prehistoric pottery found in the Nenggeri Valley of Kelantan. The results of the analyses showed that the composition of the earthenware stove has closer similarity with the clay samples extracted from Sungai Galas compared to the samples from Tumpat and Ulu Kelantan. Major minerals found between the earthenware stove and clay from Sungai Galas are quartz, albite, muscovite, microcline and cordierite. Furthermore, Thermogravimetric analysis confirmed that the stove was fired below 600 °C, corresponding to the traditional bonfire-firing technique employed by the Mambong potters in Sungai Galas. On the basis of geochemical and mineralogical results, this study concludes that the earthenware stove in the Kelantan State Museum is a product of Kampung Mambong made of clay sourced from Sungai Galas and fired at low temperatures between 400 – 600 °C, probably using the open-firing technique.

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