31-43

Articles

• Weaver, Isaac
• Meyers, Gretchen, E.
• Mertzman, Stanley, A.
• Sternberg, Rob
• Didaleusky, Jane

We conducted a geochemical study to characterize the composition of ceramics, tiles, and local sediments from the Poggio Colla Etruscan archaeological site north of Florence, Italy. We consider whether these wares were locally produced, as well as address the broader question of the organization of the ceramic industry at Poggio Colla. X-ray fluorescence was used to determine sample geochemistry. We also used X-ray diffraction and petrography to infer the mineral content; thermogravimetic analysis to consider the effects of firing; and macroscopic observations for qualitative content and textures. The mineral constituents in typical Podere Funghi and Poggio Colla pottery sherds and tile fragments included abundant quartz, some feldspar, and minor amounts of mica. Lithics (including a red sandstone) and grog were also observed. Comparing groups using principal component analysis showed that the compositions of the Podere Funghi and Poggio Colla tile and pottery groups are similar but the rock and sediment specimens were compositionally different. This lends support to the hypothesis that diverse components of a ceramic industry co-existed in close proximity to the Poggio Colla acropolis, although neither a kiln nor a specific local source has yet been identified.

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία

X-ray fluorescence, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetry, petrography, provenance, principal component analysis, Etruscan ceramics

Corresponding author: Gretchen E. Meyers ([email protected]), The authors wish to express theirgratitude to the Soprintendenza di BeniArcheologi della Toscana, P. GregoryGEOCHEMICAL EVIDENCE OF CErAMIC INDUsTrIEs AT POGGIO COLLA 41Warden and Michael Thomas, Co-Directorsof the Mugello Valley ArchaeologicalProject and Ann Steiner, Director ofResearch at the Mugello Valley ArchaeologicalProject. We are grateful for fundingreceived from Franklin and MarshallCollege and the Keck Geology Consortium.The following individuals providedadditional support, assistance and guidancethroughout this project: Sara Bon-Harper,Bosiljka Glumac, Steve Sylvester and JudithChien.

1. Abbey, S., (1983) Studies in "standard samples" of silicate rocks minerals 1969-1982: Geological survey of Canada Paper 83-15, Ottawa.Aitchison, J. (1986) The statistical analysis of compositional data, Blackburn Press, Caldwell, NJ.Ammerman, A.J., Iliopoulos I., Bondioli, F., Filippi, D., Hilditch, J., Manfredini, A., Pennisi, L. and Winter, N.A. (2008) The clay beds in the Velabrum and the earliest tiles in Rome. Journal of roman Archaeology, vol. 21, 7-30.Baxter, M.J. (2001) Multivariate analysis in archaeology. In Handbook of archaeological sciences, D. R. Brothwell and A. M. Pollard (eds.), John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, 685-694.Baxter, M.J. and Freestone, I.C. (2006) Log-ratio compositional data analysis inarchaeometry. Archaeometry, vol. 48, 511-531.Bon-Harper, S. (2011). Investigating Etruscan Ceramic Production at the Podere Funghi. Etruscan studies, vol. 14, 125-140.Buccianti, A., Mateu-Figueras, G. and Pawlowsky-Glahn, V. ( eds.) (2006) Compositional data analysis in the geosciences: from theory to practice, Geological Society, Special Publications No. 264, London.Buxeda i Garrigós, J. (1999) Alteration and contamination of archaeological ceramics: the perturbation problem. Journal of Archaeological science, vol. 26, 295-313.Buxeda i Garrigós, J., Kilikoglou, V. and Day, P.M. (2001) Chemical and mineralogical alteration of ceramics from a Late Bronze Age kiln at Kommos, Crete: the effect on the formation of a reference group. Archaeometry, vol. 43, 349-371.Comas-Cufí M. and Thió-Henestrosa S. (2011) CoDaPack 2.0: a stand-alone, multi-platform compositional software, Egozcue JJ, R. Tolosana-Delgado and M. I. Ortego (eds.), CoDaWork'11: 4th International Workshop on Compositional Data Analysis. Sant Feliu de Guíxols.Didaleusky, J. (2009) Geochemical and mineralogical comparison between clays and ceramics from the Etruscan archaeological sites of Poggio Colla and Podere Funghi, Tuscany, Italy. Proceedings of the twenty-second annual Keck research symposium in Geology. April 2009, Franklin & Marshall College, A.P. de Wet (ed.), Lancaster, Pa.Fermo, P., Cariati, F., Ballabio, D., Consonni, V. and Bagnasco Gianni, G. (2004) Classification of ancient Etruscan ceramics using statistical multivariate analysis of data. Applied Physics A: Materials science & Processing, vol. 79, 299-307.Freestone, I.C. (2001) Post-depositional changes in archaeological ceramics and glasses. In Handbook of archaeological sciences, D. R. Brothwell and A. M. Pollard (eds.), John Wiley and Sons, Chichester, 615-624.Gliozzo, E. and Memmi Turbanti, I. (2004) Black gloss pottery: production sites and technology in northern Etruria, part I: provenance studies. Archaeometry, vol. 46, 201-225.Gliozzo, E., Comini, A., Cherubini, A. Ciacci, A. Moroni, A. and Memmi Turbanti, I. (2011) Ceramic production and metal working at the Trebbio archaeological site (Sansepolcro, Arezzo, Italy), Memmi Turbanti, I. (ed.), Proceedings of the 37th International symposium on Archaeometry, Springer-Verlag Berlin, 61-69.Govindaraju, K. (1994) 1994 Compilation of working values and sample description for 383 geostandards. Geostandards Newsletter, vol. 18, 1-158.Grave, P., Kealhofer, L., Marsh, B., Sams, G. K. Voigt,M. and DeVries, K. (2009) Ceramic production and provenience at Gordion, Central Anatolia, Journal of Archaeological science, vol. 36, 2162-2176.Howel, D. (2007) Multivariate data analysis of pollutant profiles: PCB levels across Europe. Chemosphere, vol. 67, 1300-1307.Krzanowski, W.J. (2000) Principles of multivariate analysis: a user’s perspective. Oxford University Press, Oxford.Maritan, L. (2004) Archaeometric study of Etruscan-Padan type pottery from the Veneto region: petrographic, mineralogical and geochemical-physical characterization. European Journal of Mineralogy, vol. 16, 297-307.Maritan, L. and Mazzoli, C. (2004) Phosphates in archaeological finds: implications for environmental conditions of burial. Archaeometry, vol. 46, 673-683.Mertzman, S. (nd) Precision and accuracy. http://www.fandm.edu/earth-andenvironment/precision-and-accuracy, accessed 3 Aug. 2012.Meyers, G.E., Jackson, L.M., and Galloway, J. (2010) The production and usage of nondecorated Etruscan roof-tiles, based on a case study at Poggio Colla. Journal of roman Archaeology, vol. 23, 303-319.Mommsen, H. (2001) Provenance determination of pottery by trace element analysis: problems, solutions, and applications. Journal of radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, vol. 247, 657-662.Nijboer, A.J. (1998) From household production to workshops; archaeological evidence for economic transformations, pre-monetary exchange and urbanisation in central Italy from 800 to 400 BC. Ph.D. thesis, Groningen University.Pecchioni, E. Cantisani, E., Pallecchi, P., Fratini, F., Buccianti, A., Pandeli, E., Rescic, S. and Conticelli, S. (2007) Characterization of the amphorae, stone ballast and stowage materials of the ships from the archaeological site of Pisa-San Rossore, Italy: inferences on their provenance and possible trading routes. Archaeometry, vol. 49, 1-22.stoltman, J.B. (2001) The role of petrography in the study of archaeological ceramics, In Earth sciences and archaeology, P. Goldberg, V. T. Holliday and C. R. Becker (eds.), Kluwer Academic, New York, NY, 297-326.Tite, M. S. (2008) Ceramic production, provenance and use–a review. Archaeometry, vol. 50, 216-231.Warden, P. G. (2009) Remains of the ritual at Poggio Colla. In Votives, places and rituals in Etruscan religion: studies in honor of Jean MacIntosh Turfa, M. Gleba and H. Becker (eds.), Brill Academic Publishers, Leiden, 107-22.Warden, P.G., Thomas, M. L. Steiner, A. and Meyers, G. (2005) Poggio Colla: a N Etruscan settlement of the 7th-2nd c. B.C. (1998-2004 excavations). Journal of roman Archaeology, vol. 18, 252-266.Weaver, I.P., Steiner, A. R., Mertzman, S. A. and Vaden, C. (2006) Ceramics from the Etruscan settlement of Poggio Colla in Tuscany: a chemical characterization and provenance study. Abstracts with Programs - Geological society of America, vol. 38.7,215.Wikander, Ö. (1993). Acquarossa VI.2. The Roof Tiles. Typology and Technical Features. Acta Instituti Romani regni Sueciae, series 4, vol. 37.Winkler, J.J., Taylor, R.H. and Warden, P.G. (2005) Ceramic production and distribution in Late Iron Age Etruria: an example from the Mugello Basin. Geoarchaeological and Bioarchaeological studies, vol. 3, 283-286.Winter, N., Iliopoulos, I. and Ammermann, A. J. (2009) New light on the production of decorated roofs of the 6th century B.C. at sites in and around Rome. Journal of roman Archaeology, vol. 22, 6-28.