On the provenance and manufacture of red-slipped fine ware from ancient Cassope (NW Greece): evidence by X-ray analytical methods

Abstract

Energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy was used to characterize red-slipped pottery (2nd–1st century BC) from ancient Cassope, north-western Greece. The compositional data were statistically treated by principal component analysis and chemical groups were established, representing locally produced and imported items. Mineralogical investigation by X-ray diffraction indicated firing temperatures in the range from 850 to 1000 °C for most of the sherds, while one group consisted of over-fired items, possibly in excess of 1050 °C. The morphology and elemental composition of the ceramic bodies and surface slips were examined through scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The analyses revealed that different pottery groups exhibit surface slips of different nature, in terms of thickness, degree of vitrification and elemental composition. Overall, the diversity in technological characteristics of the examined sherds is indicative of the socio-economic conditions prevailing in Cassopaea during the late Hellenistic period.