Punic Amphoras Found at Corinth, Greece: An Investigation of Their Origin and Technology

Strength of pre-Roman amphorae: Comparison of the different types

“…In the frame of the mainly experimental work of Vekinis and Kilikoglou, four Punic amphorae, found in 5th century BC building, in the centre of ancient city of Corinth, excavated in 1977/1978, were tested. The compositional features of these amphorae (both chemical and petrological) were earlier published in Maniatis et al (1984). All of them were rather calcareous (≈11-14 wt.% CaO) with Cr and Ni composition comparable to the Punic amphorae products of Carthage.…”

A non-destructive technique for measuring ceramic porosity using liquid nitrogen

“…(The ASTM [2,4] recommends that for coarse-textured ceramics, the samples be boiled for 2 h. For fine-grained ceramics, it is recommended that the samples be boiled for 5 h.) The suspended weight (S ) and the weight of the saturated sample (W ) are again obtained, and the porosity calculated using the same procedures as used with the vacuum chamber method. Archaeological applications of this technique are reported in Kilikoglou et al [14], Maniatis et al [18], Shepard [27], and Steponaitis [30].…”

“…Porosity measurements have been used to develop inferences regarding the initial firing temperatures of ceramics [19,24,35], to identify functional classes of wares [18], and to evaluate the differences and similarities between manufacturing technologies and/or clay sources used in ceramic production [6,13,27,32]. Other studies have relied on porosity measurements (often in conjunction with other technological attributes) to examine how porosity might have improved or degraded vessel function [14,30,33], while still others have examined how potters might have altered manufacturing techniques to increase or decrease vessel porosity [16,17].…”

Looking through pots: recent advances in ceramics X-radiography

“…In contrast, organic inclusions (such as straw, wood, sponge, insects, seeds, shell) and the voids left by them are easily recognisable, while grog is most visible when it is of different clay from the surrounding clay body (Foster, 1985). Once particles have been characterised, their volumetric proportion and (size) distribution within the vessel can be measured and used to determine fabric groups (Blakely et al, , 1992Braun, 1982;Foster, 1985;Maniatis et al, 1984;Rye, 1977). However, success of this application is variable as Adan-Bayewitz and Wieder (1992) have shown and depends on the fabric(s) under investigation; it therefore seems most prudent to consider radiography as a suitable complementary tool rather than as a replacement of petrography and chemical analyses.…”