The Roman Ceramics of Salobrena (Granada-Spain) and their Raw Materials

Abstract

ABSTRACTNineteen roman ceramic sherds found near Salobreña (Granada, Spain), in the western coast of the Mediterranean Sea, as well as different ceramic clays from the surroundingsare studied. Both clays and ceramic sherds are characterizad by X-ray diffraction and spectrometry, differential thermal analysis, and scanning electron and optical microscopies. A good number of the ceramic pieces, among which some “Terrae Sigillatae”, have a composition similar to that of the local clays and, thus, have been probably manufactured at Salobreña. Only a few of them have a foreign origin. For most of them, the firing temperature was about 800-850 °C, although some have been produced at 900-1000 °C, and some others at 1000-1100 °C. It is concluded that Salobreña appearsto have been an important settlement just in the third century of the Christian era.