A characterization study of some of the earliest ceramic building materials from sites in Rome and its surrounding area

Summary

Roman roof tiles and architectural terracottas constitute an important resource for the study of the architectural development of early Rome, through the detection of different sources and perhaps workshops in the region of the Roman capital. Unfortunately, the location of possible clay sources available to the Roman tile-makers has been obscured due to the city’s extensive urbanization. However, a drilling project in the area of the Roman Forum and other sites offers important evidence of clayey levels in an ancient valley close to the River Tiber and access to these has permitted their integrated study by means of petrography and chemistry.

So far 132 tiles and architectural terrracotas dated between 7th - 6th centuries B.C. have been studied by means of petrographic and chemical analysis (INAA). More than half of them come from 11 sites in Rome and the rest are from the broader region.

The integration of the petrographic and chemical approach has allowed the identification of four main ceramic fabric groups and some smaller subfabrics. Their comparison with the raw materials, as well as to tile wasters recovered from the area of Tarquinia, shed light on ancient tile production and distribution.

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This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 80th Annual Meeting, San Francisco, CA (2015)   •
• Advances in the Method and Application of Ceramic Petrography: international perspectives on key archaeological questions, Part I

Keywords

Spatial Coverage