Judging a Vessel by Its Surface: Investigating Production Process in Corinthian Ceramics through Use of Multiple Non-invasive Instruments

Summary

This is an abstract from the "From Materials to Materiality: Analysis and Interpretation of Archaeological and Historical Artifacts Using Non-destructive and Micro/Nano-sampling Scientific Methods" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Evidence of ceramic production techniques, such as multiphase firing utilized by 4th-century BCE Greek potters, can be observed through use of non-invasive instrumentation. Portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (pXRF), fiber-optic reflectance spectroscopy (FORS), multispectral imaging (MSI), and macrophotography are utilized in the analysis of five Corinthian ceramic vessels housed by the University of Colorado Boulder Art Museum. Each of the five vessels are previously identified as Greek ceramics ranging in production dates throughout the 6th-century BCE. Investigation of the objects provided positive evidence that four of the five vessels were most likely produced through the Corinthian multiphase firing technique. The fifth vessel, however, may have undergone a different production process. Non-invasive instrumentation allows investigators to interact with protected material culture in ways previously unimaginable.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• From Materials to Materiality: Analysis and Interpretation of Archaeological and Historical Artifacts Using Non-destructive and Micro/Nano-sampling Scientific Methods   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22926