Sienese archaic maiolica: a technological study of the ceramic bodies and coatings

The aim of the present study is to reconstruct the production technology of Sienese 'archaic' majolica in the early decades of the 14th century AD. The integration of archaeological data with archived data revealed the presence of numerous workshops, suggesting that the Sienese tradition of majolica production was well developed up until the end of the 16th century. Sixty-seven uncoated and coated waste products were analysed. The ceramic bodies were examined by OM, XRDp, SEM-EDS, XRF, ICP-OES, ICP-MS and INAA. The coatings (enamels and glazes) were analysed by SEM-EDS and Raman microspectroscopy. The results showed that ceramics were rejected due to poor control of the firing temperature (technological wastes), faulty production technology (wastes of uncertain classification) and accidents (post-firing wastes). Finally, the analyses revealed extreme homogeneity of the ceramic bodies, indicating the continued use of the same raw material over the whole period studied. © University of Oxford, 2005.