Cristina Fabbri

Spectroscopic techniques applied to the study of Italian painted Neolithic Potteries

In the field of cultural heritage, the study of the materials used by the artist is useful both for the knowledge of the artwork and for conservation and restoring interventions. In this communication, we present results of some decorations analysis obtained by the use of two complementary laser techniques: micro-LIBS and micro-Raman spectroscopy. With both techniques it is possible to operate in a practically nondestructive way on the artwork itself, without sampling or pretreatment. Micro-Raman spectroscopy gives information on the molecular structure of the pigments used, while micro-LIBS can give quantitative information about the elemental composition of the same materials. In this paper, qualitative results are reported obtained on the study of some Neolithic potteries coming from the archaeological site of Trasano (Matera); the fragments show decorations in different colors, red, black, and white. The aim of the study was detecting whether the colored decorations were made by using added pigments or came from the manufacturing process.

Spiralled patchwork in pottery manufacture and the introduction of farming to Southern Europe

Abstract Pottery-manufacturing sequences can act as proxies for human migration and interaction. A good example is provided by the ‘spiralled patchwork technology’ (SPT) identified at two key early farming sites in the Ligurian-Provencal Arc in the north-west of the Italian peninsula. SPT is distinct from the ceramic technology used by early farmer communities in south-east Italy that shows technical continuity with the southern Balkans. Macroscopic analysis and micro-computed tomography suggests the presence of two communities of practice, and thus two distinct social groups in the northern Mediterranean: one of southern Balkan tradition, the other (associated with SPT) of as yet unknown origin. The identification of SPT opens up the exciting possibility of tracing the origins and migrations of a second distinct group of early farmers into Southern Europe.