AKR-CBM-1

FACEM - provenience studies on pottery in the central mediterranean

AKR-CBM-1

fabric description

object data

archaeometry

petrography

fabric type	AKR-CBM-1
ware	Ceramic Building Materials
supposed site of production	Agrigento
certainty of arguments	archaeometric: certain, archaeological: quite certain
visual excamination of fresh break	Light yellowish clay, hard but a little bit flaky to the touch, with some visible inclusions of big size and whitish-yellow colour, medium greyish and some smaller of white colour
colour of freshly broken section (munsell)	2.5 Y 7/4
texture of freshly broken surface	granular
hardness	hard
porosity	void form: vughy; channel; void length: 0.16-1.35 ca.
inclusions	length: 0.08-2.40 ca.
sorting	unsorted
	Inclusions
calciumcarbonate	sporadic, well rounded, spherical, white, 0.08-0.83
carbonate pseudomorphoses	frequent, subrounded, spherical, whitish/yellowish, 0.04-08-1.11
reddish inclusions	rare, well rounded, spherical, reddish/pinkish, 0.48
black inclusions	singular, rounded, spherical, black, 0.40
more inclusions2	sporadic, rounded, very spherical, dark yellow, 0.08-0.40
more inclusions3	sporadic, angular; very angular, elongate, Yellow (sandy), 0.20-2.40 ca.

fabric description

object data

archaeometry

petrography

sample number	M 210/1
inventory number	AG13/183
analysis author	Giuseppe Montana - Luciana Randazzo
email	giuseppe.montana@unipa.it; luciana.randazzo@unical.it
institution	University of Palermo - Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e del Mare (DiSTeM); University of Calabria Dipartimento di Biologia, Ecologia e Scienze della Terra (DiBEST):
	Inclusions Microstructure
distribution	homogeneous
packing	medium (10-20%)
size	prevalent: very fine (0.04-0.1mm) common: fine (0.1-0.2mm) rare: medium (0.2-0.5mm)
roundness	angular
sorting	good
maximum grain size	0.3
	Mineral Inclusions
prevalent	Monocrystalline Quartz
common	Polycrystalline Quartz
rare	Orthoclase, Plagioclase, Muscovite, Accessory & Heavy Minerals (Glauconite)
	Newly Formed Phases
common	secondary calcite
	Other Compositional & Textural Features
common	Microfossils, Micritic Clots
quartz grain prevailing roundness	angular
	Coating / Slipping
thickness
conservation status
	Texture
homogenity	not homogeneous (patchy) patchy: frequent
optical activity	inactive
color
degree of sintering	well sintered
	Porosity
abundance of voids/pores	low (<10%)
orientation	none
prevalent	small (0.01-0.1mm), medium (0.1-1mm), irregular, rounded, cast
	Composition
clay composition	ca-rich
	Interpretation
estimated firing temperature	well fired
modelling of raw clay	use of wheel
refinement of raw clay	bad
refinement of temper	sieved natural sand

Cite this page as: FACEM - http://facem.at/akr-cbm-1

Distribution of fabric type
“AKR-CBM-1”

Agrigento Agrigento Agrigento Agrigento

production sampling

Representative sample for
“AKR-CBM-1”

There are 1 more sample assigned to fabric type
“AKR-CBM-1”.

First observations on western Greek amphorae produced at Akragas: Introduction The colony of Akragas has been founded by nearby Gela ca. 580 B.C.E. in the central part of Sicily?s southern coast, most probably with the additional support of people from Rhodes and Crete. Agrigento counts among the not very numerous western Greek cities expressively mentioned by several ancient authors because of their notable wine yards.

Fabrics of Akragas: Introduction Starting from the petrographical and chemical analysis of 21 samples of western Greek amphorae, 17 samples of coarse wares and ceramic building materials and seven samples of raw materials, four local ceramic fabrics have been identified: one of transport amphorae (AKR-A-1), two of coarse wares (AKR-C-1 and AKR-C-2) and one of ceramic building materials (AKR-CBM-1).