Cypriot Byzantine Glazed Pottery: A Study of the Paphos Workshops

Abstract

Twenty‐five samples of Byzantine glazed pottery from two archaeological sites between Limassol and Paphos region (Cyprus), dated between the 12th and 15th century ad were studied using micro X‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X‐ray diffraction analysis. It was found that all the glazes contain lead, following the main manufacturing process of medieval pottery in the Mediterranean territory, while some of them contain tin, possibly for better opacity. Furthermore, it is shown that copper, iron and cobalt with nickel are responsible for the decoration colours. Finally, the application of principal component analysis revealed significant differentiation for some of the samples.

Technology issues of Byzantine glazed pottery from Corinth, Greece

“…Recent studies on Byzantine glazed pottery have mainly focused on the identification of the major workshops and the shift of the production centers in the 13th c. CE [5,7,8,9,10]. However, little attention has been given so far to the manufacturing processes applied and their importance for the overall understanding of the ceramic production of the period.…”

“…A multi-technique approach was followed for the thorough examination of the clay, the glaze and the clay-glaze interface ( Table 2). The combined use of different techniques enables a more comprehensive study of the archaeological material, especially when examining complex, multi-layered items such as glazed ceramics [10,13,14].…”

Cluster analysis of XRPD data in ancient ceramics: What for?

“…X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD) is extensively used to characterise ancient pottery in terms of mineralogical composition, and also to constrain the production technology, with particular focus on the raw materials used and the firing conditions, mainly temperature and firing atmosphere (Bimson, 1969;Heimann and Franklin, 1972;Grattan-Bellew and Litvan, 1978;Maggetti, 1982;Martin-Socas et al, 1989;Philpotts and Wilson, 1994;Tite, 1995;Maritan, 2004;Nodari et al, 2004;Papadopoulou et al, 2006;Prudêncio et al, 2006;Prudêncio et al, 2009;Charalambous et al, 2010;Velraj et al, 2010;Mangueira et al, 2011;Maritan et al, 2013). Possible post-depositional alteration processes can also be identified and characterised (Heimann and Maggetti, 1981;Maggetti et al, 1984;Pradell et al, 1996;Buxeda i Garrigós, 1999;Buxeda i Garrigós et al, 2001;Maritan and Mazzoli, 2004;Buxeda i Garrigós et al, 2005;Schwedt et al, 2006;Secco et al, 2011).…”

Effects of elevated levels of lead in ceramics on provenancing studies using non‐destructive PXRF: a case study in Byzantine Cypriot glazed ceramics

“…In this paper, we use a museum collection of Byzantine Cypriot ceramics to evaluate the effects of elevated levels of lead, a result of volatilisation during firing, on the potential of non‐destructive PXRF analysis to identify compositional differences in the ceramic fabric of lead glazed wares. Lead glazed ceramics were widespread in the Mediterranean during the medieval period and have been excavated from sites in eastern Anatolia, Cyprus, Syria, Armenia, Georgia, Iraq, Italy and Egypt . The sites from which the ceramics in this study were excavated are illustrated in Figure .…”

“…However, there has been little chemical analysis thus far of Byzantine assemblages. The studies that have been conducted show that the large majority of excavated ceramics were from local production and supplemented with small numbers of imports . With a predominance of locally manufactured products, Cyprus appears to differ from the mainland Levant, which used both local and imported ceramics.…”