Compositional characterization of Etruscan earthen architecture and ceramic production

Abstract

This study presents the results of new research into Etruscan technology for earthen architecture as well as ceramic production in the upper Tiber Valley in central Italy, using as a case study the Etruscan settlement of Col di Marzo (Perugia). It determines the compositional differences of the raw material employed as building material and for ceramic production by X‐ray powder diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis and differential thermal analysis (TG‐DTG), Fourier‐transform infrared analysis (FTIR) and geotechnical analyses. The research also advances the knowledge of ceramic manufacturing technology, with a focus on impasto production, at Col di Marzo between the fifth and mid‐third centuries bce and the surrounding territory on the left bank of the River Tiber. The compositional analysis of building material compared with the ceramics provides answers to questions related to their sourcing and deepens the understanding of the exploitation of natural resources.

Chemistry of 19th Century Lime Mortar on a tabique Pampango (Wattle-and-Daub) from the Philippines

“…Chemical studies on the daub material in the wattle composite are mostly related to archaeological contexts. Different analytical techniques were utilized on excavated daub samples to determine the firing temperature during production (Parr and Boyd 2002;Boyd and Parr 2007), the manufacturing techniques employed based on the composition (Amicone et al 2020;Ceccarelli et al 2020), its provenance (Taubald and Biró 2007), and its raw material similarities with other excavated ceramic vessels (Shergur et al 2003;Duwe 2005). In Portugal, where the daub material is also referred to as tabique, physical and chemical characterizations were performed on several traditional daub structures in the Alto Douro region (Pinto et al 2010a;Pinto et al 2010b).…”

Novel method of ancient pottery analysis based on radioactive isotope ratios: a pilot study

“…In many cases ceramics are the sole remains, hence is used as a primary factor in establishing the chronology for sites and complexes [2]. That is why, even in the early days of the discipline, archaeology has continued to develop methods of examining ceramic finds based on a typology of shape and decoration, macroscopic observations of the production techniques, raw materials and the supposed functions of certain forms.…”

The Etruscans: Setting New Agendas

“…Closer work with archaeological sciences such as zooarchaeology, archaeobotany, dendrochronology, and petrography, particularly in the study of periods with little or no textual evidence, is expanding the field in ways comparable to the introduction of landscape surveys in the 1950s. Research on topics such as archaeozoology and palaeobotany (Trentacoste 2016 ; Trentacoste et al 2020 ; Trentacoste and Russ 2021 ), DNA (Perkins 2017 ), textiles (see below), and technological capacity (e.g., Amicone et al 2020 ; Ceccarelli et al 2020 ; Weaver et al 2013 ) has likewise pushed the subject beyond its historic focus on typology, individual sites, and individual classes of material.…”