Fingerprinting a production: analysis of clay technology from the Etruscan to the Roman period : case study of the Montelabate Project

The paper presents the preliminary results of an archaeometric study aiming to identify a model of pottery production in central Italy. The innovative nature of this interdisciplinary study is the establishment of a standard methodology to fingerprint pottery technology, using as a case study the results of the excavation of the Etruscan settlement of Col di Marzo and of four later Roman kilns at Montelabate (Perugia, Italy), in the framework of the Montelabate Project. The study is part of a joint project between the Department of Chemistry (Università degli Studi di Milano) and the McDonald Institute (University of Cambridge) aiming to create a conceptual and practical non-destructive methodology applying X-rays Fluorescence (XRF) and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy analyses to the study of pre-Roman and Roman clay production.