Geoarcheoly, Archeometry and the Cultural Heritage

Morra

Where does this amphora come from? How was it fired? What are the raw materials used to produce it? These are some of the questions that archaeologists ask when they discover an ancient ceramic artefact. Geologists can answer them through archaeometric investigations, which consists of the application of scientific techniques to the analysis of archaeological materials and of cultural heritage goods.

DiSTAR has been involved for a long time in the mineralogical and petrographic investigation of ceramic materials. The main aim of these studies is the identification of the production sites of the artefacts and the retracing of commercial and cultural exchanges between ancient populations. But not only this: for example, archaeometric investigation can make it possible to reconstruct the conditions for the production of ancient ceramic artefacts, including firing temperatures and the treatment of the raw materials (levigation, use of temper), chosen according to the end-use of the products.

The materials studied by the DiSTAR research group are dated from prehistory to the Middle Ages and come from several archaeological sites in Campania, as well as from extra-regional contexts. In addition, many are the investigated artefacts coming from Asian and African sites.