NAA and Moessbauer Study on the Colorative Mechanism of Yaozhou Celadon in Ancient China

The contents of 30 colorative elements in the glaze of Yaozhou celadon have been measured by neutron activation analysis (NAA) with the conclusion that iron is the dominant colorative element. It is further detected by Moessbauer spectroscopy that the iron in the glaze exists in the chemical state of structural iron (Fe2+, Fe3+) and that there is quantitative relation between the dominant wavelength of various colored glazes and the relative content of structural iron. Thus the colorative mechanism of Yaozhou celadon has been revealed entirely.