Moessbauer Study of Sphero-Conical Vessels from Bolgar

Samples of sphero-conical vessels found in mass quantities in the ancient settlement Bolgar were analyzed by Moessbauer spectroscopy. Wares with relatively low annealing temperatures <500°C and having a ratio Fe par /Fe 2+ ≤ 1.11 in transmission spectra were differentiated from those with high ones. The detected value of Fe_par^3+ /Fe 2+ was considerably less than the value of 2.69 that was characteristic of raw materials for pottery production in the vicinity of the selected settlement. This indicated that other non-local sources of raw materials existed in the medieval handicraft center.