The Distinctive Role of Chemical Composition in Archaeometry. The Case of Apulian Red Figure Pottery

Abstract

Correlation of the scientific approach to the archaeological investigation and vice versa is considered, for at least the past 30 years, as the best strategy to answer questions in cultural heritage. Many archaeological queries have merged archaeological and scientific studies and have been carried out with a multidisciplinary approach that uses complementary analytical techniques. Here, we focused our efforts on outlining the strong relevance of elemental composition in chemistry and mineralogical investigations to answer important archaeological questions in the case of Apulian red figure pottery. This ceramic class is the most important quantitative handcraft production group of figured pottery in Magna Grecia and the most widespread and commercialized production from the third quarter of the fifth century to the end of the next century. The results obtained indicate that, by exploring chemical elements in the ceramic mixture, it is possible to extract information about provenance, manufacturing processes, originality and restoration techniques.