Evidence for Birch Bark Tar Use as an Adhesive and Decorative Element in Early Iron Age Central Italy: Technological and Socio‐Economic Implications

Abstract

Archaeological excavations carried out in Early Iron Age Vetulonia (northern Tuscany, Italy) brought to light a funerary urn particularly noteworthy for the presence of an unusual decoration obtained by plastering the vase surface with an organic dark grey substance, on which metal strips were originally fixed. In order to reveal the origin of such coating, it was chemically studied by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Chemical analysis not only revealed that birch bark tar was used as coating/adhesive material for the manufacture of the urn, but also allowed us to discuss the significance of the vessel in terms of eco-technological knowledge and possible cultural connections on a large geographical scale.

New insights into Early Iron Age connections between Sardinia and Etruria: Archaeometric analyses of ceramics from Tavolara

“…De Angelis, 2001;Guidi, 1980, Toms, 1996, whereas archaeometric studies are comparably limited (e.g. Interdonato, 2013;Morandi et al, 2018). This study therefore makes an initial, yet important contribution to our understanding of the multifarious ceramic production traditions of the Villanovan world and their connections to Sardinia.…”

Birch-bark tar in the Roman world: the persistence of an ancient craft tradition?

“…Birch bark may have been harvested locally where birch stands were present in mountainous areas, and perhaps encountered in the context of high altitude fir/beech forest exploitation. Alternatively, ready-to-use tar loaves may have been obtained through long-distance trade/exchange, as has been suggested for the Early Iron Age (see Rageot et al 2016; Morandi et al 2018).…”

“…2016; Morandi et al . 2018). Identified in both settlement and funerary contexts, birch-bark tar had a wide range of uses, such as repairing and waterproofing ceramic vessels, fixing clay figurines, attaching separate components of metal fibulae or other objects, and for decorating funerary urns.…”

“…2013). The fact that birch-bark tar was used to repair pottery vessels has led Morandi et al (2018) to suggest that potters themselves probably knew how to produce this material. Equally, when birch-bark tar was used in association with metal artefacts, it may be assumed that metallurgists were able to obtain it when necessary.…”

“…While the black material recovered from the hinges analysed here undoubtedly had an aesthetic role, it is unknown whether the tar formed the décor itself or whether it was used to attach metal foils to the hinges—a use observed on Iron Age funerary urns (Morandi et al . 2018). Either way, such use of birch-bark tar suggests that the quantity of material required was, presumably, low, especially when compared to the high quantities of pine resin and pitch being produced and used in the Roman period.…”