Minero-petrographic investigation on Roman pottery found in a dump in the workshop area of Cumae (southern Italy)

Abstract

The focus of this work is the archaeometric investigation of ceramic wasters found in a dump in the workshop area of Cumae that are mostly represented by important production indicators of pottery produced in the Augustean-Tiberian period. The fragments belong to different ceramic classes and productions, such as: pompeian red ware, common cookwares, parts of kiln vault, thin-walled pottery, terra sigillata, large container, bar, and graue Platten. Provenance of the raw materials used for each ceramic class and processing techniques were assessed via a multi-analytical minero-petrographic approach, which includes polarised light microscopy with modal analysis, chemical analysis (XRF), mineralogical analysis (XRPD), microstructural observation via SEM and SEM-EDS for microchemical analysis. All cookwares show different levels of firing and contains non-local temper from the Somma-Vesuvius area, marked by leucite-bearing scoriae and garnet. The geochemical comparisons with clays from the region allowed for definition of the likely clay raw materials sources, in particular for terra sigillata. Most of the samples were locally produced, except for a specimen of graue Platten which, on the contrary, is an exotic sample.