Medina al-Zahra lustre ceramics : 10th century local nanotechnology or Importation from Middle East

الملخص EN

Lustre ceramics have outstanding optical properties that are due to a thin layer containing metallic nanoparticles near the glaze surface.

Lustre ceramics originated during the 9th century at the time of the Abbasid Caliphate.

At the western end of the Islamic world, the palace city of Medina Al-Zahra (13 km northwest of Cordoba, Spain) was founded by Abd al-Rahman III in 936 AD and lasted until 1013 AD.

A large quantity of ceramics has been found during archaeological excavations ; they include fragments of lustre ceramics.

Twelve selected ceramic shards with lustre decoration have been studied by non-destructive techniques (x-ray diffraction, SEM, PIXE, and RBS) in order to determine the mineralogy, chemical composition, and structure of their ceramic bodies, white glazes, and lustre decorations.

These data have been compared to other well-known lustre ceramics with the aim of finding their production center and contributing to a better understanding of the early stage of the manufacture of these luxury wares.