Following Phoenician technology through red slip ware artefacts
Following Phoenician technology through Red Slip Ware artifacts
L. Fabrizi,1 A. Doménech-Carbó,2 L. Nigro,3 F. Spagnoli,3 F. Cappella,3 and C. De Vito1
1Department of Earth Sciences, Sapienza University of Rome, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
2 Department de Química Analítica, Universitat de València. Dr. Moliner, 50, 46100 Burjassot, Valencia, Spain
3 Department of Oriental Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, P.le Aldo Moro 5, 00185 Rome, Italy
Keywords:Firing conditions,
Technology, Voltammetry of microparticles, Phoenician Red Slip, pottery
The Red Slip Ware is a Phoenician prestigious ceramic production, characterized by a shiny red surface and manufactured in the Levant since the 11th century BCE [1]. This production had social and commercial value, occurring in different Phoenician archeological contexts from the Levantine motherland to the colonized territories of central and western Mediterranean [1]. In this panorama, to reconstruct the technological skills achieved in different archaeological sites could provide interesting historical and archaeometric information [1-2]. The samples, dated between the 8th and the early 6th century BCE, come from the motherland (i.e. Ramat–Rahel – Israel/Palestine) and from colonies, i.e. Motya, Sulky and Pantelleria in Italy, Tas Silg in Malta, Cádiz in Spain and Mogador in Morocco.
Optical microscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis have been performed on representative samples of Red Slip Ware to investigate the mineralogical assemblage, temperature of firing and fO2, thus exploring the technological level of production [2]. Moreover, Voltammetry of Microparticles, a micro-invasive technique, has been applied to obtain electrochemical fingerprints [3].
Based on petrographic features (i.e. porosity, aplastic inclusion distribution and matrix microstructure), the pottery sherds are divided in five groups, that reflect differences in the forming methods employed by potters. The artifacts are decorated by a Fe-enriched claysh coating with a fine-grain structure. Three different ways of application have been identified. The mineralogical assemblage and the presence of neoformation phases, as hematite and gehlenite, along with the absence of vitrification of the matrix, allow estimating the firing temperature below 900 °C, in controlled oxidizing conditions. The results, compared with geological data, permit to identify the nature of the raw materials used and to distinguish imported vessels from those local manufactured. Finally, electrochemical results highlight a grouping by different production centers and suggest discrimination between shapes and age of vessels of the same archaeological site.
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[3] F. Di Turo, N. Montoya, J. Piquero-Cilla, C. De Vito, F. Coletti, I. De Luca, A. Doménech-Carbó, Applied Clay Science,162 (2018) 305 - 310