The transport amphorae of Gela: a multidisciplinary study on provenance and technological aspects

Abstract

Mineralogical, petrographic and chemical analyses were performed on thirty-eight samples of transport amphorae found at Gela, an important Greek colony on the southern coast of Sicily. Based on macroscopic observation, the amphorae, which are datable between the second half of the 6th and the end of the 5th century B.C., were supposed to be local because of similarities to the common wares from the same site. Therefore, in order to verify the provenance of the samples, they were compared to a reference group of locally made ceramics (kiln spacers, kiln wasters, common wares, ancient mud bricks, modern bricks) and twelve samples of local clayey sediments. The results of the analyses have allowed the assignment of all the amphorae to Gela, with the exclusion of five samples, maybe produced in neighbouring sites, and to determine for the first time the archaeometric characteristics of the Geloan medium-coarse ceramics. The aim of our research has also been to investigate some technological aspects of this production, as the location of the clay sources, the methods of clay preparation, and, in particular, the causes of the typical whitening effect on the surface of the vessels.