PROVENANCE OF TERRA SIGILLATA DETERMINED BY MGR-ANALYSIS

Malgorzata Daszkiewicz, Ewa Bobryk and Gerwulf Schneider

The determination of provenances of Italian Terra Sigillata by chemical analysis is limited by the great similarity of sigillata made in central and north Italy. Thin section studies do not present a better alternative because of the fine and very similar fabrics. Therefore, another method of classification MGR-analysis (Matrix Grouping by Refiring, Daszkiewicz & Schneider, Zeitschr. f. Schweiz. Archäologie u. Kunstgeschichte 58, 2001, 25-32) was applied to be more secure by using a combination of three methods. MGR-analysis is based on the fact that, under the same conditions of firing, different behavior only is related to different raw material. After experiences with fine and coarse pottery from various periods and regions a systematic refiring study was applied to thirty samples taken from a larger series of Italian sigillata already analyzed by wavelengh-dispersive X-ray fluorescence. Small fragments of the sherds attributed to Arezzo, Pisa, Puteolana, Lyon, Padana were refired at temperatures of 1000°, 1150° and 1200°C. They could clearly be classified according to their provenances. MGR-analysis also detected the samples not belonging to these groups and even more clearly characterized subgroups than chemical analysis alone. This will be shown, for example, with the products of various workshops of Gellius and of Sentius and with two chemically undistinguishable fabrics of Padana (fabrics B and C).

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