As part of the INSTAP Archaeological Excavation Manual series, Thin-Section Petrography of Ceramic Materials provides a concise overview of the history and application of the practice while detailing how this type of petrographic analysis can benefit archaeologists in the field. When thin-section analysis is employed as part of a thorough, multi-disciplinary study of ceramic materials, it provides a wealth of additional interpretative data to archaeologists, allowing for more accurate interpretations of the past, especially regarding pottery production, provenance, variations in technology...

From the introduction: A water separation, or flotation, machine is an instrument that divides soil into three components: the material that floats (called flot or light fraction), the stones and other heavy portions that do not float (called residue or heavy fraction), and the particles that either dissolve in water or become suspended in it and are washed away. The primary purpose for utilizing such a device is the recovery of organic remains, such as charred seeds, charcoal, or small bones, which would otherwise be permanently lost. However, the machine is of great value for archaeological...