Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-lrblm Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-12T07:51:17.895Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Reconstructiton of Ancient Ceramic Technology Through the Comparative Analysis of Ancient and Contemporary Potters′ Materials: A Case Study from the Central Tiber Valley of Italy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2011

J. Theodore Peña
J. Theodore Peña*
Affiliation:
Program in Mediterranean Archaeology Departments of Anthropology and Classics The University at Albany, State University of New York Albany, N.Y. 12222
Get access

Abstract

This paper presents the results of a program of mineralogical analysis aimed at the elucidation of raw material acquisition and paste preparation practices among Roman-period potters in the Orte/Vasanello area of the central Tiber Valley of Italy. A study of modern folk potters at Vasanello revealed a complex pattern of clay utilization. A selection of local clays, pottery produced by Vasanello potters, and ceramics from two Roman ceramic production sites was subjected to mineralogical analysis (x-ray diffraction, petrographic) for purposes of comparison. The results indicate that similar clay sources were exploited by potters in both periods, and that the materials obtained from these were likely employed for similar functional varieties of pottery.

Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 185: Symposium G – Materials Issues in Art and Archaeology II , 1990 , 511
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1. Varriale, D., in XV anniversario della fondazione del GAR (Atti del Convegno, Tolfa, Italy, 1978), pp. 139–144; G. F. Gazzetti, Archeologia romanistica 1, 29-35 (1979); J. T. Peña, Roman-Period Ceramic Production in Etruria Tiberina: A Geographical and Compositional Study (University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, 1987), pp. 103-134.Google Scholar
2. Sforzini, C., Studi Etruschi 59, in press (1991).Google Scholar
3. Helen, T., Organization of Roman Brick and Tile Production in the First and Second Centuries A.D. An Interpretation of Roman Brick Stamps (Acta Instituti Romani Finlandiae 9[1]), pp. 80–82.Google Scholar
4. Peia, J. T., op. cit. (1987), pp. 406-432, 514–543; Studi Etruschi 59 in press (1991).Google Scholar
5. Pefia, J. T., pp. cit. (1987), pp. 515, 521, 588–590.Google Scholar
6. Mattias, P. P. and DeCasa, G. C., in Giacimenti di argille ceramiche in Italia, edited by Veniale, F. and Palmonari, C. (Association Internationale pour l'Etude des Argiles, 1974), pp. 148–150; Carta geologica d'Italia, sheet 137.Google Scholar
7. Mattias, P. P. and DeCasa, G. C., op.cit.. (1974), pp. 149–158.Google Scholar
8. Ibid, p. 149. Google Scholar
9. Silvestrini, E. ed., Ceramica populare del Lazio (Quasar, Rome, 1982), pp. 25–28.Google Scholar
10. Moore, D. and Reynolds, R., X-ray Diffraction and the Identification and Analysis of Clay Minerals (Oxford, 1989), pp. 179–201.Google Scholar
11. PeacockPottery, D. P. S. in the Roman World: An Ethnoarchaeological Approach (Longman, London and New York, 1982), p. 63.Google Scholar
12. Lenzi, G. and Mattias, P. P., Rend. Soc. Ital. Mineral. e Petrol. 37, 267–287 (1981).Google Scholar