Archaeometry of Basilicata Graffita ware: provenance and technology

Ester Maria Annunziata, Grazia Lubraco, Barbara Bravo, Luca Medici

Abstract

The Graffita ware from the Moliterno Castle showed compositional peculiarities (relative to both ceramic body and glaze-decoration) that give indications on the technologies used for the itsproduction in Basilicata and on the circulation of raw materials. Different technologies seem to have been adopted for the production ofGraffita ware in the diyacrony. There is a Graffita ware characterized by a lead coating with traces of tin, containing abundant quartz and cristobalite, implying firing at high temperatures. The bright green decoration consists of a copper-based pigment with aggregates of cassiterite. The olive-green decoration consists of bivalent and trivalent iron. On the other hand, a Graffita ware with arsenic in the glaze and in the blue pigment has also been identified. The presence of arsenic suggests dating them to early 16th century. Besides, there are evidence that bone dust was intentionally used to make the engobe. A possible nonlocal provenance can be hypothesized for a fragment of Graffita ware from Moliterno Castel.

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IMEKO-TC4-MetroArchaeo2022-006.pdf

DOI

10.21014/tc4-ARC-2022.006

IMEKO TC

TC4 - Measurement of Electrical Quantities

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