Characterisation of archaeological pottery: The case of "Ionian Cups"

The aim of this study was the microscopic and mesoscopic characterisation of archaeological pottery findings addressed to the identification of the manufacturing techniques. The samples under study were ‘‘Ionian Cups’’ sherds, coming from Poira, an archaeological site in eastern Sicily (South-Italy). These cups represent a ceramic typology widely diffused in the Mediterranean Area in archaic age (VI–V century BC). The identification of the production sites of these materials, originally manufactured in Greek-Eastern area and then largely diffused in Magna Graecia, is still an open question. Here, the microscopic structural characterisation was obtained by Fourier Transform Infrared absorption (FT-IR) measurements, which permitted us to determine the mineralogical phases present in the artefacts. Furthermore, Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS) measurements permitted the characterisation of the size distribution and surface characteristics of the mesoscopic aggregates formed by the minerals.