Archaeometry in Vesuvian Area: Technological Features of Thin-Walled Ware

Thin-walled pottery, a fine tableware, represents a widespread class in Roman Mediterranean area between 2nd cent. BC and 3th AD. Production marks are few, so production centers are usually hypothesized on the base on quantity and homogeneity of retrieved material in different archaeological sites, or comparing samples of certain provenance with unknown ones. Up to now, this class has only sporadically been evaluated archaeometrically (Montana et al., 2003; Morandi et al., 1999; Fabbri et al., 1989). Therefore, this study is aimed at defining the compositional and structural characteristics of Roman thin-walled pottery recovered in the Vesuvian area – Herculaneum and Pompeii – to validate the archaeological hypothesis of local production and to identify production technology.A collection of 24 shards have been analysed by Optical Microscopy (OM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (EDS) and Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) with statistical treatment of ceramic bodies compositional data. Obtained results, besides to confirm the previously established archaeological hypothesis about campanian production, indicate the existence of two different production technologies. Indeed, the result of the multivariate statistical treatment highlights two markedly distinct groups, which correspond to the different finding sites of the fragments. Both clusters split themselves into two subgroups. To identify the reasons of the splitting, the fragments were examined from a morpho-mineralogical point of view. Results by OM end SEM-EDS analyses showed that finds belonging to every subgroup distinguish themselves for their surface finishing. Moreover, the presence in every sample of volcanic minerals comparable with eruptive products from Vesuvio-Monte Somma complex proves the archaeological hypothesis of a local production for this ceramic class.