Black Glazed Pottery

The study of the ancient black ceramic coating that decorates the surface of Classical and Hellenistic pottery from Attica and other main production centres in the Mediterranean has been the subject of more than three centuries of research. The physicochemical characterisation and analysis of the black glaze/gloss (BG) with the use of a broad spectrum of analytical techniques has gradually revealed its nature as an iron-based glass-ceramic material. At its best, it is coloured by polycrystalline nanoparticles of magnetite or mixed magnetite/hercynite spinels, dispersed in the amorphous K-aluminosilicate phase doped by Fe2+/Fe3+. We discuss the technique to produce the BGc (black glass-ceramic, hereafter), known as the “iron reduction technique”, with emphasis on the 3-stage firing under oxidising-reducing-oxidising (ORO) conditions as well as the latest analytical results through XPS, high-resolution TEM, SR-micro XRD and XANES. The discussion is based on data and research experience accumulated over the years from the application of conventional techniques (such as SEM-EDS and hhXRF) on ancient samples, laboratory reproductions and contemporary full-scale reproduction of similar artefacts. We show that the parameters affecting the quality of the BGc (sheen, colour, micromorphology) depend on the nature of the clay-slip, the application process, the ORO firing scheme and weathering mechanisms due to burial in humid terrestrial or marine environment. The proposed analytical protocol for the routine characterisation of the micromorphology and the analysis of the BGc and the ceramic body involves the use of non-destructive or minutely destructive techniques with special emphasis on the pottery sample classification and documentation.

Colonia optimo iure dedotta del 101-100 in territorio confiscato ai Salassi nell’alta valle della Dora Baltea, lungo l’itinerario obbligato per i valichi delle Alpi Graie e Pennine, Eporedia fornisce un t. p. q. di sicuro riferimento per le suppellettili ceramiche in uso nel nuovo insediamento. La ceramica a vernice nera costituisce l’indicatore privilegiato del processo di romanizzazione di questo settore nord-occidentale della Gallia Cisalpina. Il materiale qui esaminato, per i 2/3 circa reperito in scavi stratigrafici recenti, risulta assegnabile in piccola percentuale a produzioni etrusco-settentrionali della cerchia della Campana B / Aretina a vernice nera. Largamente preponderanti sono i prodotti nord-italici, in gran parte riconducibili alla classe c.d. “poröses Fabrikat”. Analisi archeometriche eseguite da Maurice Picon suggeriscono una possibile produzione locale a v.n. e in “presigillata” alla fine del I sec.a.C.  Infine, i dati forniti da contesti stratigrafici consentono, nell’ambito di un arco cronologico di poco più di un secolo, di proporre datazioni più puntuali per singole classi e forme vascolari.

The results of the archaeological work carried in the eastern area (Zone 4) of the El Palao oppidum in Alcañiz (Teruel) since 2003 to 2008. Excavation has allowed the documentation of the Republican and Early Empire period town planning phases.

Resum
El present treball recull els vernissos negres localitzats en els contextos de culte del turriforme esglaonat de Son Ferrer, a Mallorca, tant de les produccions de Campaniana A com del repertori formal de la Campaniana B, etrusca i calena. Les troballes s’han comparat
amb altres jaciments mallorquins i menorquins, que han fornit dades sovint encara inèdites. El conjunt denota un darrer ús a la necròpolis de peces prèviament emprades en altres àmbits socials. El seu ús funerari es pot atribuir a rituals de comensalitat.

Abstract
This paper presents the black-glazed tableware assemblage from the Son Ferrer turriform cult contexts, in Mallorca, mainly Campanian A and B (Etruscan and Calene) wares. Finds are compared to some others in Mallorcan and Minorcan sites, which have yielded data, in some cases, unpublished so far. This assemblage responds to a latest employment, in
the cemetery, of vessels previously used in a different social context. The funerary use can be linked to comensality rituals.

l objetivo fundamental de este estudio consiste en mostrar el periodo de cambios que trajo la conquista romana de la Meseta Sur y su posterior romanización (s. III a.C.– s. I a.C.). Creemos que, durante esta etapa tardorrepublicana, se produjeron importantes transformaciones en el territorio de las ciudades de la zona, relacionadas a su vez con el decisivo conflicto sertoriano (82 a.C– 72 a.C.) y la cerámica de barniz negro itálica. Y todo ello, tomando como base el estudio de una ciudad romana y su amplio territorio: Consabura (Consuegra, Toledo).

Famous as the homeland of Odysseus, Ithaca has been a preferred research area for archaeologists. However, the archaeology of Ithaca has been severely biased by its Homeric focus. As a result, Late Archaic and Classical Ithaca remains poorly understood. This biased research agenda combined with the lack of visible remains of monumental public architecture have created the impression that Classical Ithaca was an isolated backwater. This thesis aims to partially redress the balance. At Polis valley, northern Ithaca, relatively rich deposits of Late Archaic and Classical occupation have come to light. Six assemblages of fine ware pottery, Ithacan and imported, provide important insights on the hitherto unknown local pottery production and development, its relations to the Western Greek pottery tradition as well as the influences from the well-known pottery production centres of Athens and Corinth. The contexts of behaviour in which the pottery participated likely represent activities of communal feasting in the open and during daylight, followed by an arranged exposure of the leftovers on the surface. The social significance of the pottery is then investigated and it is argued that the local elite largely regulated pottery production and imports of foreign ceramics as strategies for maintaining the established social hierarchy. Furthermore, the depositional practices of the pottery may reveal a complex negotiation of social behaviours and concepts, such as insularity, acculturation, identity and connectivity. The final conclusion is that the local widely-connected seafaring elite deliberately cultivated a culture of austerity and traditionalism in order to maintain its power over the community, and the manipulation of fine ware pottery played a major role in the success of this strategy.

Ceramicd d uernice nerd e cerdmica grigia La ceramica a vernice nera recuperata nel corso degli anni in localitàTesa proviene sia dall'area dellavilla (MI 1), che dalla zona a prevalente destinazione produttiva e funeraria (MI79), mentre la ceramica grigia risulta per ora documenrara solo nella frequentazione di MI 11. In questa sede sono stati presi in considerazione i pochi materiali diagnostici pervenuti2. Essi provengono sia da ricognizioni e raccolte di superficie, che dai sondaggi effettuati nel 1970-1.971 dalla Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell'Emilia Romagna (cfr. schede).