Abstract
The present paper is a brief review of the techniques based on thermal analysis applied in the context of the characterization of art and archaeological objects, exemplified by various case studies. Thermal analysis methods as TGA correlated with scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis (SEM-EDS) and porosity measurements were used to investigate the thermal behavior and surface morphology of some ceramic pieces taken from the archaeological site of Sacidava. Upon progressive heating in a static air atmosphere and in the temperature range 20-800 °C, all investigated materials present three main successive processes, associated with dehydration and thermo-oxidative degradations. Clay minerals, as the main material for the production of ceramics and pottery, exhibit some characteristic reactions (dihydroxylation, decomposition, transformation) during firing (heating effects) and several thermoanalytical criteria can be used to reconstruct the previous production conditions.