Painted Canosa ceramics were examined to identify the nature of the pigments employed and their manufacturing technology. A multi-technical approach was used, comprising Raman microspectroscopy and laser ablation hyphenated to ICP-MS. The analysed samples were mainly produced for burial in tombs and were not intended for everyday use. They belong to the period that ranges from the end of the mid-seventh century to the first half of the fourth century b.C., and they were excavated from the Toppicelli archaeological district near the suburbs of Canosa (Puglia, Italy). Forthy-eight pottery fragments were available for this study. No handling of the samples is required by Raman and it is possible to excise the pigmented layer in such a way that the lacunae are not distinguishable to the naked eye due to the micrometric size of the laser spot as far as LA-ICP-MS is concerned. Their combination demonstrated to be quite useful tools for the investigation of these archaeological materials: the chemical nature of the white, red, brown, and black pigments employed in the pottery manufacture was investigated. Iron and manganese compounds were identified as the red and brown/black main colouring substances, respectively; on the other hand, whites and engobes (whitish slips) were based on kaolinite. This set of colouring substances is of importance as it enables the artisan to obtain in one oxidising firing cycle both brown, black and red paints. Finally, the finding of manganese black in these Canosa potsherds confirms Canosa was an important centre connecting near East and central Italy and Europe since pre-Roman age.
An integrated spectroscopic approach to investigate pigments and engobes on pre-Roman pottery
DE BENEDETTO, Giuseppe, Egidio;PENNETTA, ANTONIO;RIZZO, Daniela;
2011-01-01
Abstract
Painted Canosa ceramics were examined to identify the nature of the pigments employed and their manufacturing technology. A multi-technical approach was used, comprising Raman microspectroscopy and laser ablation hyphenated to ICP-MS. The analysed samples were mainly produced for burial in tombs and were not intended for everyday use. They belong to the period that ranges from the end of the mid-seventh century to the first half of the fourth century b.C., and they were excavated from the Toppicelli archaeological district near the suburbs of Canosa (Puglia, Italy). Forthy-eight pottery fragments were available for this study. No handling of the samples is required by Raman and it is possible to excise the pigmented layer in such a way that the lacunae are not distinguishable to the naked eye due to the micrometric size of the laser spot as far as LA-ICP-MS is concerned. Their combination demonstrated to be quite useful tools for the investigation of these archaeological materials: the chemical nature of the white, red, brown, and black pigments employed in the pottery manufacture was investigated. Iron and manganese compounds were identified as the red and brown/black main colouring substances, respectively; on the other hand, whites and engobes (whitish slips) were based on kaolinite. This set of colouring substances is of importance as it enables the artisan to obtain in one oxidising firing cycle both brown, black and red paints. Finally, the finding of manganese black in these Canosa potsherds confirms Canosa was an important centre connecting near East and central Italy and Europe since pre-Roman age.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
