Technological fingerprints of Black-Gloss Ware from Motya (Western Sicily, Italy)

Black-Gloss Ware artifacts, unearthed at the Phoenician-Punic site of Motya (Sicily, Italy), dating back from the end of 6th to the early 4th century BC, have been investigated. Mineralogical, petrographical and chemical characterization has been performed to elucidate the technological aspects, to distinguish locally manufactured pottery from those imported and to provide information on raw materials used for their production. A multi-analytical approach based on optical microscopy, μ-Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction investigations has been used. Results show that the internal body is composed of quartz, K-feldspar, plagioclase feldspar, pyroxene, mica, gehlenite and hematite. In addition, magnetite, hercynite and amorphous carbon occur in the black gloss. On the basis of these mineralogical assemblages, we can infer that the ceramic artifacts were exposed to similar firing temperatures and fO2, i.e. estimated T in the range 950–1100 °C under oxidizing–reducing–oxidizing conditions.