Raman study of rusty oil spotted glaze produced in Linfen kilns (Shanxi province, AD 1115–1368)

The Linfen kiln complex, one of the most representative Shanxi kilns, is famous for its oil spotted glazed ware production. In this work, micro-Raman spectroscopy was applied to analyze nature rusty spot pattern a bowl fragment from kilns. Crystals polygonal shape found in spots at glaze surface and around bubbles cross-section were identified as hematite. Their distribution suggests that nucleation seeds small crystals are carried toward by rise during heating step firing. Raman spectra combined with energy-dispersive spectrometry (EDS) measurements also suggest Fe ions hematite partially substituted, causing variation band position full width half maximum (FWHM) spectra. Dendritic ?-Fe2O3 brown areas black glaze, well pseudobrookite tens microns glaze. degree polymerization (A500/A1000) calculated 1.85, indicating firing temperature lower than 1300°C, consistent archaeological data.