0000000000189391
AUTHOR
Evanthia Tsantini
Ethnoarchaeometric Study of the Traditional Cooking Ware Production Centre of Pabillonis (Sardinia): Investigating Raw Materials and Final Products
Ethnoarchaeometry can be used to test assumptions in ceramic provenance studies. Within the Late Roman Cooking Wares (LRCW’s) commercialised in the Western Mediterranean some fabrics such as Fabrics 1.2, 1.6/1.7 and 1.9 (Fulford and Peacock, 1984) have been proposed to have a Sardinian origin. This motivated a specific project to explore the nature of cooking pottery on the island and the raw clays as well as the production technologies that have been used traditionally for their manufacture. In this paper, the traditional cooking pottery making in Pabillonis (Oristano province) was studied. First, a field survey in the area of Pabillonis was undertaken in order to locate the raw materials …
The production of traditional building materials in Oristano (Sardinia, Italy)
The study of ceramic-making communities which employ traditional practices can provide insights into the raw materials and techniques used over the centuries in a particular territory. The archaeometric study of ceramic products and of the raw materials used in their production is an effective complement to the existing ethnographic information. This paper focuses on the brick and tile making tradition of Oristano, a town in Central-Western Sardinia (Italy). Applying a combination of techniques, it includes an extensive analysis of traditional handmade and early industrial bricks and tiles, and a study of the local clays that may have been used as raw materials. Although we were unable to s…
Ceramic Ethnoarchaeometry in Western Sardinia: Production of Cooking Ware at Pabillonis
Ceramic ethnoarchaeology has been used to explore fully the chaine operatoire and to understand all of the stages and factors involved in pottery production, such as raw material selection or paste recipes used by the potters. This work presents the results of the application of compositional analysis undertaken in the village of Pabillonis (western Sardinia, Italy), the main cooking ware production centre of the island. Pottery and local clays have been characterized using a combination of analytical techniques. By integrating the ethnographic information and the archaeometric approach, it was possible to reconstruct the operational sequence, exploring the relationship between the processi…
SEM-EDS ANALYSIS AS A RAPID TOOL FOR DISTINGUISHING CAMPANIAN A WARE AND SICILIAN IMITATIONS
The aim of this work is to examine whether it is possible to find chemical markers that allow a distinction to be made between the imported black glossed ‘Campanian A’ and the Sicilian imitation (end of fourth to first century bc) of these productions by carrying out quantitative chemical microanalysis of the slip using the SEM–EDS technique. The efficiency of the proposed analytical method has been tested on a set of ceramic samples corresponding to Sicilian black gloss imitations whose ceramic body has already been characterized petrographically by thin-section microscopy and chemically by XRF. The analytical data point to Na2O as a suitable chemical marker to distinguish between original…
Flos Tectorii degradation of mortars: An example of synergistic action between soluble salts and biodeteriogens
Abstract The definition of Flos Tectorii, originally suggested by F.S. Brancato in the 1980s’ (Brancato, 1986), refers to a unique form of deterioration identified on both aerial and hydraulic mortars used in the external walls of historic and contemporary buildings. It is clearly recognizable due to the development of peculiar concentric (occasionally sub-circular) macroscopic forms. At present, there is still a lack of information about the full interpretation of this phenomenon regarding the interaction between the different physicochemical and biological factors that lead to this particular type of degradation. The present study was aimed to examine whether the specific mineralogical an…
Strength of pre-Roman amphorae: Comparison of the different types
Abstract Given that amphorae were used for storage or for long and/or short distance transport, they must have been able to retain their content and, at the same time, be able to resist important load during transport. This paper concerns aspects of the techno-functionality of pre-Roman Iberian amphorae. The basic performance requirement concerned here is the mechanical strength (transverse rupture strength: TRS). Strength is related to the adequacy for storage or short and/or long distance transport that, up to now, is only assessed by typological identification or archaeological evidence. Experimental implementation on actual archaeological material has confirmed that strength increased w…
Ceramic production at Selinunte (Sicily) during the 4th and 3rd century BCE: New archaeometric data through the analysis of kiln wastes
Abstract A set of 37 overfired ceramic samples was collected from the dump of two kilns sited in the productive area FF1 in the acropolis of Selinunte (south western Sicily), being specifically active in the period 409–250 BCE. The ceramic samples were analysed by thin-section petrography and chemical analysis, with the aim to establish a valuable ‘reference group’ representative of the ceramic produced at Selinunte during the Punic phase. The petrographic and chemical analyses allowed to state that the ceramic manufactures from the kilns operating in the FF1 insula are characterized by rather homogeneous textural/compositional features. The daily-use common ware here produced is characteri…
Caracterización arqueométrica de cerámicas comunes y de cocina tardoantiguas del asentamiento rural de L?Horta Vella (Bétera, Valencia) : evaluación de posibles producciones regionales e importaciones
Diversos contextos cerámicos recuperados en las excavaciones de L’Horta Vella (Bétera, Valencia) han proporcionado evidencias sobre la ocupación de este asentamiento rural en la Antigüedad Tardía. En este artículo, se presenta un estudio arqueométrico realizado sobre parte de este conjunto cerámico, en particular sobre una serie de cerámicas de cocina y comunes que fueron relacionadas, en un estudio arqueológico inicial, tanto con posibles producciones locales/regionales como con importaciones. Las cerámicas fueron analizadas mediante diversas técnicas arqueométricas para su caracterización petrográfica, mineralógica y química. Los resultados ofrecen información importante sobre su provenie…