Local production and imitations of Late Roman pottery from a well in the Roman necropolis of Cuma in Naples, Italy

Abstract

Archaeological excavations performed in a funerary complex in Cuma (Campania region, Italy) unearthed excellently preserved common wares dated to the third century A.D. Archaeometric analyses were focused on Campanian pitchers, Aegean‐like cooking pots, and pyriform pitchers, the latter recorded for the first time in an Italian context. The local pitchers were manufactured with a high‐CaO clay (CaO = ca. 12 wt.%) and local volcanic temper, fired at ca. 800–850°C, as suggested by the presence of calcite. The Aegean‐like pots and the pyriform pitchers were made with low‐CaO clay (CaO ≤ 4.0 wt.%) mixed with a calcite‐bearing temper, along with volcanic and siliciclastic grains, and fired at 800–950°C. The comparison with raw materials inferred that local vessels were made with low‐CaO basinal clays which outcrop in the northern Campania region, and sands from the shoreline north of Cuma where carbonate, siliciclastic and volcanic phases mix together. Our results suggest that the Phlegraean Late Roman workshops produced their traditional vases along with imitations of Aegean‐like pottery. Thus, microregional production responded to a market demand requiring shapes and styles similar to imports from the eastern Mediterranean, with which commercial trade was still quite active.

5th-Century BC Himera and the Campanian Connection: Petrographic and Archaeological Studies on Western Greek Amphorae from Poseidonia and Elea Unearthed in the Necropolis of Himera

“…Microstructural analysis provided some technological clues. In particular, the negatively skewed grain size distribution along with the weak bimodality occasionally shown in the density plots ( Figure 7) pointed out the addition of temper [31,34]. The moderate sorting of particles, the shape, and their relatively small size (mostly fine sand with MGS not higher than c. 670 µm) indicate a good selection of the temper used for the mixture.…”

“…This parameter in sedimentology is based on the effective diameter determining the grain size of a class obtained by sieving [33]. The circularity value (C = 4π (A/P 2 ), where A = area, P = perimeter) was considered as a shape descriptor [34,35].…”

“…As a hypothesis, the supra-regional distribution of Poseidonia's 5th-century BC amphorae has been attributed to Elea [1], also in view of the absence, at Poseidonia, of a suitable harbour [60] (pp. [34][35]. Notwithstanding and by contrast to Poseidonia, Elea's 5th-century BC coinage appears to be very weak and characterised by a low circulation of proper money-as well as of the amphorae-outside the city's territory [61], which seems to contradict an intensive involvement in 'international' trade.…”

Petrographic Markers for Archaeometric Identification of Montjuïc Sandstone, the Flagship Stone of Barcelona (NE Spain)

“…Actually, other 12-13th century pottery productions from Barcelona are known to have travelled to Provence [66,70] though these were identified on account of their typology and paste features. The markers commonly used for provenancing pottery are based on typological or technological features [71][72][73], particular mineral inclusions or paste textures (actually only rarely truly related to a single possible geographical origin). The particularity of Montjuïc sandstone are the K-feldspar clasts with authigenic overgrowths, those along with other less exclusive features (i.e., chalcedony, quartz overgrowths) provide a potentially powerful tool for tracking Montjuïc temper in pottery.…”

Clay source and firing temperatures of Roman ceramics: A case study from Plovdiv, Bulgaria

“…Nevertheless, evidence of using Ca‐rich clay for the production of Roman pottery do exist. In their post, Germinario et al () describe local pitchers from Naples dated to the 3rd century CE made of clay with Ca levels comparable to the yellow clay from Plovdiv (JGL in Table ). In our case, however, contrasting hypotheses explaining the difference in Ca content in supposed raw clays and the pottery sherds could be suggested.…”