A. Schwedt

THE PETROGRAPHY AND CHEMISTRY OF THIN‐WALLED WARE FROM AN HELLENISTIC– ROMAN SITE AT SEGESTA (SICILY)*

Samples of Roman thin-walled ware from Segesta (northwestern Sicily), dating back to the early Imperial period, were studied by optical microscopy (OM) and Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA). Up to now, this class of Roman fine tableware has only occasionally been evaluated archaeometrically. Nevertheless, numerous production centres are believed to have been simultaneously active in the western Mediterranean area. Petrographic and chemical data seem to be in agreement with the archaeological hypothesis of local manufacture in Segesta for most of the analysed samples, through a comparison with kiln wasters and local raw materials. The effectiveness of thin-section petrography for determining the provenance of such a tiny tempered class of pottery and the integrated use of two different grouping procedures (petrography and chemistry) were also tested.

Pottery Wares from the Prehistoric Settlement at Ialysos (Trianda) in Rhodes

Among the vast amount of pottery yielded from the Late Bronze Age settlement of Ialysos (Trianda) on Rhodes, 233 samples have been selected for chemical analysis by means of Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) at the Bonn Laboratory. Thus, a rather comprehensive new data-base for pottery assemblages from Rhodes and other related production centres has been provided. Further evidence has been also suggested for the local mechanisms of pottery production and the patterns of continuity and changes from the LM IA, through to LMIB/LH IIA and LH IIB-III A1 to LH III A2/LH III B1 periods, in both the intra site and inter site relations of the island with Minoan Crete, the Greek mainland, the Argolid, Cyprus, and other eastern Mediterranean sites. The study sets the basis for further studies towards the identification of the rather complex system of the society of Ialysos and its interaction with some other yet unknown centers in the Aegean during the early stages of the Bronze Age and throughout the periods of the Minoan and Mycenaean expansion.

Neutron Activation Analyses of ‘Falke-Group’ Stoneware*

Fragments of late medieval highly decorated Falke-group stoneware have been found in excavations all over central and northern Europe. The distribution of the finds points to an origin in Saxony, but the exact centre of production is still unknown. Therefore, a set of samples has been analysed with Neutron Activation and the data compared with Saxon reference groups. The results point to production in a single workshop. The data can be clearly distinguished from all reference groups in our databank. However, the most similar group is that of Zittau, Saxony. Also, one sherd, which is typologically very similar to the Falke group, and which was made in Zittau, suggests that production was based there.