Archaeometric characterization of regional late antique cooking wares from the area of Vallès (Catalonia, Spain): The case of two rural sites

Cooking and common wares in the Late Antique rural site of Plaça Major de Castellar del Vallès (Catalonia, Spain): archaeometric characterization

“…A similar range of granitic and granitic-metamorphic fabrics in the production of cooking and common wares has been reported also for other Late Antique rural sites in the area of Vallès, such as Can Gambús and Horts de Can Torras (Riutort et al 2017(Riutort et al , 2018. Utilitarian wares could have been produced locally in these sites, based on the existing archaeological evidence and the preliminary archaeometric analyses carried out so far.…”

“…The use of non-calcareous clays for pottery making was frequent in northeastern Iberia during Late Antiquity, as observed in Barcino (Buxeda Cau 2005), Iluro (Buxeda Cau 2004), and some rural sites nearby, such as Can Gambús (Riutort et al 2017) or Horts de Can Torras (Riutort et al 2018). These clays were used mainly for cookwares due to technological advantages in relation to heat conductivity and resistance to fracture (Cau et al 1997;Hein et al 2008;Müller et al 2014).…”

“…This poses a problem for the differentiation of ceramics produced at each site, as well as for the distinction between local or regional wares in each case. Further research is required to solve this complex issue, including the analysis of potential clay sources throughout the region and a combined micro-and macro-regional approach (Riutort et al 2018).…”

“…In recent years, archaeometric studies focused on the characterization of coarse and cooking wares found in Late Antique rural sites and small settlements have started to provide significant new evidence on the complexity and diversity of these regional wares in northeastern Iberia (Riutort et al 2017(Riutort et al , 2018. Ceramic contexts in these sites usually comprise large quantities and a wide variety of possible local or regional pottery.…”

Colour Transformation and Textural Change in Biotite: Some Remarks for the Interpretation of Firing Technology in Greyware Pottery Thin-Sections

“…Certainly, microscopic observation of pottery thin-sections is a common and costeffective technique nowadays extended to most archaeological studies, and it is at the basis of material science [45]. Especially in coarse wares, it contributes to explaining the provenance and technological issues of pottery groups arising from mineralogical or geochemical datasets [46,47]. Counting on accurately described petrographic groups provides valuable information in order to define strategies for sample selection and develop further characterization studies more efficiently.…”