Abstract
As part of the Topical Collection on the archaeometric study of ceramics, this paper focuses on terra sigillata ware. The main aims are to provide a review on the state of the art of the studies and to provide a guide to the most suitable analytical techniques. The text is divided into four main parts: (1) a brief archaeological introduction on the ancient production of terra sigillata; (2) a summary of the archaeometric studies carried out to date; (3) a reasoned list of the most suitable techniques for the investigation of the ceramic body and (4) an in-depth discussion on the most effective techniques for the study of the coating. The application of both destructive and non-destructive techniques is critically evaluated as well as the advantages and disadvantages provided by the different instrumentation, in terms of sample preparations and expected results.
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Notes
To give only a few examples: Hippocrates (Epidemics) in the 5th–4th century BC, Dioscorides (Materia Medica) in the 50–70 AD), Pliny (Naturalis Historia) in 77 AD and Galen (De compositione medicamento rum secundum locos; transl. from Greek) in the second half of the 2nd century AD.
For instance, these earths are mentioned by Avicenna and Ibn al-Baitar at the beginning of the second millennium AD or in the “Gart der Gesundheit” dating back to 1470.
The most ancient quote referring to the arretina vasa is that of Isidore of Seville in the 6th–7th century AD (Etymologiae, XX, 4, 5): “Arretina vasa ex Arretio municipio Italiae dicuntur, ubi fiunt; sunt enim rubra”. (Translation: Arretine dishes are named for the Italian city Arretium, where they are made, and they are red)
The correspondence between the Samia vasa mentioned by Pliny and Isidore of Seville and the terra sigillata is generally taken for granted but, in reality, it is just a hypothesis. Isidore of Seville (Etymologiae, XX, 4, 3 and 6): “Fictilia vasa in Samo insula prima inventa traduntur, facta ex creta et indurata igni; unde et samia vasa. Postea inventum et rubricam addere et ex rubra creta fingere (…) Samia vasa quidam putant ab oppido Samo Graeciae habere nomen. Alii dicunt cretam esse Italiae, quae non longe a Roma nascitur, quae samia appellatur”. (Translation from Barney et al. (2006): Ceramic dishes are said to have been first invented on the island of Samos, made from white clay and hardened by fire, hence ‘Samian dishes.’ Afterwards it was discovered how to add red earth and to fashion vessels with red clay (…) Some think that Samian dishes got their name from Samos, a town of Greece. Others say that there is a white potter’s earth from Italy, produced not far from Rome, that is called Samian)
The term glanzton corresponds to the English gloss and was “rediscovered” and applied to terra sigillata by Schumann, based on von Petrikovits (1951).
On the Arretine and Samian supremacy see also Pliny (Naturalis Historia XXXV, 160–161): “Maior pars hominum terrenis utitur vasis. Samia etiam nunc in esculentis laudantur. Retinent hanc nobilitatem et Arretium in Italia et calicum tantum Surrentum, Hasta, Pollentia, in Hispania Saguntum, in Asia Pergamum. Habent et Trallis ibi opera sua et in Italia Mutina, quoniam et sic gentes nobilitantur et haec quoque per maria, terras ultro citro portantur, insignibus rotae officinis”. (Translated by Rackham (1952): Among table services Samian pottery is still spoken highly of; this reputation is also retained by Arretium in Italy, and, merely for cups, Surrentum, Hasta, and Pollentia, and by Saguntum in Spain and Pergamum in Asia Minor. Also Tralles in Asia Minor and Mutina in Italy have their respective products, since even this brings nations fame, and their products also, so distinguished are the workshops of the potter’s wheel, are carried to and fro across land and sea.)
Produced, for instance at Ocriculum (present Otricoli), Mevania (present Bevagna), Tibur (present Tivoli) and Cosa (Ansedonia, Grosseto).
An online database is further available at https://www1.rgzm.de/ while basic information on types and distribution is provided by https://potsherd.net/atlas/Class/TS.
CIE is the acronym of the Commission internationale de l’éclairage (International Commission on Illumination).
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Acknowledgements
I would like to express my sincere gratitude and deep appreciation to my esteemed Professor Giuseppe Pucci for his valuable and constructive suggestions (EG). We would like to thank Alain Vernhet and Maurice Picon who showed us the site of La Graufesenque and the terrra sigillata ware (PS and CS). Helen Carruthers is kindly acknowledged for English language revision (EG,PC,CS).
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Sciau, P., Sanchez, C. & Gliozzo, E. Ceramic technology: how to characterize terra sigillata ware. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 12, 211 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-020-01137-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-020-01137-8