New Evidence for Apulian Red‐figure Production Centres

Abstract

A total of 52 South Italian red‐figure vases were subjected to neutron activation analysis. The primary aim of the study was to determine whether all Apulian red‐figure pottery datable to the period c. 430–340 bc was produced at the Greek colony of Taras, as has been widely assumed. Three chemically distinct compositional groups were isolated and compared to archaeological reference material from Taranto. The results of this comparison suggest that some Early Apulian red‐figure pottery may have been produced outside of Taras from the fifth century bc onwards.

Zn in Athenian Black Gloss Ceramic Slips: A Trace Element Marker for Fabrication Technology

“…5 Previous compositional analyses of Athenian fine ware pottery have successfully determined the geological provenance of the clay source of the body ceramic to be linked to the Amarousi region just outside modern Athens. [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] However, similar compositional studies aimed at understanding the geological origin of the slip materials have not provided such clear results 1,17,18 due to the fact that the clay-refining process alters many of the geologically relevant markers needed to determine provenance. In its most simplistic form, the refinement of a clay into a suitable slip material through a process known as levigation likely involved dispersing the clay into large vats of water and allowing the coarse grains to settle to the bottom of the tank, leaving the fine grains suspended in the solution.…”

“…Previous compositional analyses of Athenian fine ware pottery have successfully determined the geological provenance of the clay source of the body ceramic to be linked to the Amarousi region just outside modern Athens . However, similar compositional studies aimed at understanding the geological origin of the slip materials have not provided such clear results due to the fact that the clay‐refining process alters many of the geologically relevant markers needed to determine provenance.…”

An archaeometric approach to gain knowledge on technology and provenance of Apulian red-figured pottery from Taranto

“…Hence, the grouping of samples that, upon stylistic analysis, belongs to a wide chronological range, just as observed by other authors (Thorn and Glascock 2010), indicates the employ of the same, or very similar, raw material and manufacturing process for the whole span of the production. Every information achieved from this study shows that samples in cluster A underwent a more accurate manufacturing process than those of cluster B, starting from the choice of raw materials to its refining, production, and firing, made at a higher temperature and lasted long enough.…”

“…Lastly, few archaeometric works concerned the Apulian redfigured ware, absolutely insufficient to provide a clear picture about technological aspects and possible similarities/differences with the Attic production (Noble 1960;Tite et al 1982;Jones 1986;Kingery 1991;Graves et al 1997;Ingo et al 2000;Tang et al 2001;Mirti et al 2004a;Mangone et al 2008Mangone et al , 2009bMangone et al , 2013Thorn and Glascock 2010;Robinson 2013Robinson , 2014a.…”

From the kilns to the fair: producing building materials at Faragola and Canusium (northern Apulia, Italy)

“…From an archaeometric point of view, a few ceramic productions of northern Apulia have been systematically investigated, although including table ware or cooking ware or storage ware (Cioni et al 2000;De Benedetto et al 2004;Eramo et al 2004Eramo et al , 2014Gliozzo et al 2005Gliozzo et al , 2010Gliozzo et al , 2014Mangone et al 2008; Thorn and Glascock 2010).…”