Sem-Eds Analysis as a Rapid Tool for Distinguishing Campanian a Ware and Sicilian Imitations

Abstract

The aim of this work is to examine whether it is possible to find chemical markers that allow a distinction to be made between the imported black glossed ‘Campanian A’ and the Sicilian imitation (end of fourth to first century bc) of these productions by carrying out quantitative chemical microanalysis of the slip using the SEM–EDS technique. The efficiency of the proposed analytical method has been tested on a set of ceramic samples corresponding to Sicilian black gloss imitations whose ceramic body has already been characterized petrographically by thin‐section microscopy and chemically by XRF. The analytical data point to Na2O as a suitable chemical marker to distinguish between original ‘Campanian A’ imported from the Gulf of Naples area and Sicilian imitations of the same forms of Hellenistic pottery. In order to verify the above result, the enrichment factors (EFs) between the raw clays, the corresponding ceramic body and black gloss slip were calculated. Some differences in the patterns of EFs between original ‘Campanian A’ and Sicilian imitations were recognized and explained. Therefore, the obtained results can help to accomplish a first distinction between imported and local material on a firm analytical basis, working on a statistically significant number of individuals.

Distinctive Volcanic Material for the Production of Campana A Ware: The Workshop Area of Neapolis at the Duomo Metro Station in Naples, Italy

“…Furthermore, the chemical composition of the CA is very homogeneous, with distinctive average values of CaO (4.6 wt.%), SiO 2 (60.3 wt.%), and other major oxides and trace elements showing only slight variations. A very similar and homogeneous chemical composition of the CA finds, from Naples and other sites, has already been noted in other studies (Picon, ; Hedinger, Soricelli, & Schneider, ; Morel & Picon, ; Mirti & Davit, ; Montana et al., ). Therefore, the existence of a production with well‐defined characteristics can be further strengthened.…”

Assessing Hellenistic to nomadic cultural patterns through pottery in ancient Termez, Uzbekistan

“…Similar recipes to those identified within group S1 have been recognized in the red, brown and black slips of coeval tableware of Hellenistic tradition produced in Kampyr Tepe (Martínez Ferreras et al, ). Moreover, these recipes are equivalent to those found in the coatings of some contemporary Mediterranean productions, including the Campanian A wares from south Italy and Sicily, which are characterized by high amounts of alkali metals and low concentrations of alkaline earth metals (Montana, Tsantini, Randazzo, & Burgio, ).…”

“…These firing conditions would have been equivalent to those identified in the pottery production at the nearby site of Kampyr Tepe dated to the Seleucid and Greco‐Bactrian periods (Martínez Ferreras et al, ). Therefore, it appears that the oxidizing–reducing–oxidizing single firing cycle, characteristic of some black coated pottery productions from the Mediterranean (i.e., Attic and Campanian A and B wares), was not performed by Bactrian potters (Maniatis, Aloupi, & Stalios, ; Montana et al, ). As far as the firing process is concerned, a technological association can be established nevertheless between the black and grayish slipped wares analyzed and the Campanian C wares produced in Sicily in the Hellenistic period (Mirti, ; Mirti & Davit, ), which also present black or grayish coated surfaces over grayish ceramic bodies.…”

Tableware in the Hellenistic Tradition from the City of Kampyr Tepe in Ancient Bactria (Uzbekistan)

“…This pattern has been also documented in other coeval imitations of black glossed Hellenistic wares, such as the Campanian A wares produced in north‐western Sicily (Montana et al . ). In most of the samples, however, slips are characterized by depletion of CaO and MgO and the enrichment of K 2 O (Groups 2 and 3).…”

“…This can be explained to some extent by the refinement of the clays by elutriation, which removed coarser components such as carbonates (Montana et al . ). This pattern is observed in Group 2, comprising three reddish wares (KPT‐12, ‐13, ‐14) and one black‐slipped krater (KPT‐16) (Fig.…”