Micro-Raman spectroscopy was used for the analysis of painted pre-Islamic ceramics from the Kur River Basin (Fars Province, Southwest Iran). A total of 21 sherds were analysed dating from the Neolithic to the Late Bronze Age and belonging to different ceramic wares and sites. The main focus of this research was to identify the pigments used for the red and black decorations of the different ceramic wares from the Kur River Basin and to elaborate on the manganese identification and their differentiation through Raman spectroscopy.Haematite (α-Fe 2 O 3 ) and manganese oxides could be identified as the main compounds for the decoration in the different ceramic wares, except for the Bakun ware in which also carbon black could be determined as a probable pigment for black decoration using micro-Raman spectroscopy. The identification and discrimination of manganese oxides were a meticulous task due to the sensitivity of these materials to the laser power, which can provoke degradation. Nevertheless, Raman spectroscopy was successfully applied for the identification of spectral patterns of the ceramics and their attribution to several manganese oxides present in the decorative mixtures, such as jacobsite (MnFe 2 O 4 ), bixbyite (α-Mn 2 O 3 ) and hausmannite (Mn 3 O 4 ). K E Y W O R D Sceramics, Jacobsite, Kur River Basin (Iran), manganese oxides, red and black pigments

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A total of 119 middle to late second millennium bce pottery samples from six sites in the Kur River Basin (Fars, Iran) were examined to characterize these ceramics and reconstruct their manufacturing technology and the origin of the primary materials. For this, a combined study of handheld XRF and thin‐section petrography was performed. The geochemical signatures of these ceramics were defined and interpreted in their archaeological and geological framework, resulting in the determination of different production processes and clay types used for four ceramic wares (Middle Elamite, Qaleh, Shogha and Taimuran) and the identification of possible outcrops used for Shogha–Taimuran production.

This study aims to characterize the Neolithic ceramics (Mushki, Bashi and Jari wares) of the Kur River Basin and reconstruct the origin of the raw materials and manufacturing technology. Neolithic ceramics from thirteen different sites have been studied with handheld X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (hXRF) and thin section petrography. The geochemical signature of these ceramics was defined and four compositional groups were determined. The variation in these compositional groups most likely relates to the ceramic wares for the Mushki and Bashi ceramics and to the site or group of sites for the Jari ceramics. Additionally, sediment samples were studied with hXRF demonstrating the variability in the geochemistry of the area. To determine the composition of the slips used for Bashi and Jari ceramics and to compare them with the inner fabric of the vessels, μXRF spectroscopy was applied. The combination of these archaeometrical techniques indicated the use of unaltered, fine-grained and mainly alluvial clays without the addition of temper (except for chaff) for the production of the three studied wares and the use of different clay types through the Neolithic in the Kur River Basin.

Over the past 15 years the Potenza Valley Survey project investigated Iron Age to Medieval settlement dynamics in the Central Adriatic Potenza Valley. Part of this research focuses on the Roman abandoned towns of Potentia and Trea by performing an integrated geoarchaeological study of their townscape. This largely noninvasive research consists of remote sensing analysis, geophysical surveys (magnetometry, electrical resistivity, and ground-penetrating radar), and geomorphological fieldwork such as microtopographic measurements and hand augering. The chosen techniques depend on the nature of each town and are integrated with more traditionally achieved research data. This paper presents the main interdisciplinary results of work on these two Roman towns and highlights the importance of obtaining complementary data and performing hand augering as a stratigraphic control of the remote sensing and geophysical results. Insights into the character and layout of the cities, the structural influence on the surrounding area, and the human-environment interactions and dynamics through time of both Roman cities could be achieved. Moreover, the results offer guidelines for conservation strategies of these abandoned towns and their suburbium, which are necessary to protect them from present-day threats such as agriculture and tourism. In this way the paper offers an insight in the tremendous potential of well-integrated geoarchaeological investigations of partly or fully abandoned urban contexts in the Mediterranean area and beyond.

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