Technology issues of Byzantine glazed pottery from Corinth, Greece

Abstract

A large assemblage of Byzantine glazed pottery from ancient Corinth, Greece was analysed by a multi-technique analytical approach in order to determine the production technology. The samples cover a long time period (10th–14th c. CE) and a wide range of the most representative wares and classes. SEM/EDS, a standard non-invasive microscopy and analytical technique, was applied in combination with Raman spectroscopy and assisted with advanced, high precision techniques (PGAA, milli-PIXE) in order to examine the ceramic body, the glaze and the clay-glaze interface of the samples. Parameters of the manufacturing process, such as the selection of clay sources, the glaze recipe, the glaze application technique and the glaze firing temperature, were examined using a combination of statistical tools and methodologies. This work comprises the first large scale physicochemical analysis of Byzantine glazed ceramics from Greece, providing information on the composition and technology of all of the major typological categories of Medieval Greek glazed ceramics. Furthermore, it highlights the significant socioeconomic changes that occurred at the -beginning of the 13th c. CE in the Byzantine Empire and their consequences in the manufacturing and distribution system of glazed ceramics.