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This paper deals with the archaeometric study of lime-based plasters found in the archaeological settlement of Scauri, located in the homonymous bay in the southwestern part of Pantelleria Island. Since 1999, archaeological surveys have led to the recovery of the huge remains of a Late Roman settlement dating back to the fourthfifth century AD. It is well known that the island of Pantelleria is entirely composed of volcanic rocks. Accordingly, the production of quicklime required calcareous rocks to be imported. Also, the selection criteria of the sandy aggregate are relevant and of interest to this study, to evaluate the achieved technological level. Within this context, a mineralogical and petrographic characterisation of the plasters was carried out using thin-section petrography, for the classification of the sand aggregate.Moreover, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy were performed to investigate the composition of the binder. The analytical results allowed the identification of different recipes for the manufacture of the studied plasters, obtained by the use of different types of aggregate (volcanic rock fragments, pumice, basaltic scoriae, and ceramic fragments) and highlighted the degree of pozzolanic reaction of the binder. Finally, the provenance of the calcareous raw material was inferred using a petrographic approach. K E Y W O R D S archaeometry, island of Pantelleria, Late Roman age, lime-based plasters, Mediterranean Sea

An ethnoarchaeometric approach has been followed to identify the textural and compositional characteristics of the ceramic pastes produced in ancient Iaitas/Ietas, an indigenous site located in western Sicily on Monte Iato, a few tens of kilometres from Palermo. This approach was primarily motivated by the lack of discovered Archaic kilns or production sites/workshops and the inability to identify reference groups. Raw clays were sampled in the territory of San Cipirello and San Giuseppe Iato (today’s municipalities both sited on the northern slopes of Monte Iato), together with representative historic tiles and bricks locally produced until fairly recently. Grain-size analysis and experimental firings were performed on the clay samples. A significant number of archaeological ceramic samples (incised and painted indigenous pottery dating back to the seventh–fifth centuries BCE) from stratigraphic excavations on Monte Iato, and hypothesized as local productions on a stylistic-morphological basis, was carefully selected for archaeometric analysis. This set of samples (90 in total, comprising raw clays, historic tiles/bricks and archaeological ceramics) underwent a combined chemical and mineralogical-petrographic analysis to identify any possible compositional matching. This approach enabled the identification of minero-petrographic and chemical markers pertinent to the indigenous Archaic pottery produced at Monte Iato, although no evidence of coeval ceramic kilns has been found so far. Local raw clay sources have been documented and some significant points of the chaîne opératoire adopted in antiquity have been noted (clay mixing and tempering practices). Attesting Monte Iato as a centre of ceramic production and defining both the microscopic fabric and the average composition of local pastes open up new perspectives in the complex issue concerning the production and regional circulation of incised and painted indigenous ceramics in Archaic Sicily.

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