Abstract
The proposed presentation deals with a total amount of 11 kilns spacers, clay made supports used to separate the pots into the kiln, in order to let the heat homogeneously circulate into the cooking chamber during the firing phase, preventing the vessels to stick one to the other.
Specifically, these objects come from the Iron Age site of Mantova, Northern Italy. The samples have been analysed in the Laboratory of Archaeometry at Kalamata, University of the
Peloponnese, via a scholarship offered by the ARISTEAS project. The mineralogical composition of these samples was evaluated through a preliminary petrographic investigation which was supplemented by the application of X-ray diffraction (XRD); additional elemental analysis was carried out via the application of pXRF.
What can these small objects tell us about the production activities? This is the leading question of the current research.
The main information achieved through these analyses will be presented: the fabric and the chemical characterization of the samples, the firing temperatures and the firing conditions, and the level of degradation of the compositional elements due to excessive exposure to fire. The aim is to take into consideration this neglected class of material, trying to understand the traces left by pottery production at a site where firing structures or pottery workshops most probably existed, even though not found yet.