Pottery production and distribution: the contribution of mineralogical and petrographical methodologies in italy: state of the art and future developments

The aim of the present paper is to provide a review of the contribution of mineralogical petrographic methodologies to the archaeoemtric study of pottery in Italy. After a brief history of the archaeometric research of pottery and a summary of the mainly used analytical techniques, the more relevant topics in pottery studies have been reviewed. The topics covered include: the provenance studies, using thin-section petrography and chemical analysis; the reconstruction of the technology used in pottery production, through a combination of bulk (XRD, DTA-TGA, FTIR etc.) and in situ techniques (SEM-EDS, EMPA, Raman etc.). The surface coating technology production have also been reviewed. In particular: permeable slips (engobe), impermeable slips (classic black gloss and red slip) and glassy coatings (glazes, lustre). Some future developments are also emphasized: a wider use of high resolution and spectroscopic techniques (HRTEM; Raman); more studies on the relationships between paste technology and object functionality; investigation of the changes in chemical composition and microstructure occurring as result of use and weathering of pottery during burial.