Abstract
A long tradition of handmade pottery production in Ancient Thrace resulted at the beginning of the Iron Age (ca. 1100 BC) in the appearance of several main vessel shapes of low variability which continued being produced also during the Roman period until the 4th c. AD.
Ceramic petrography and WD-XRF analyses of selected samples of such handmade vessels from the rural settlement of Yurta-Stroyno, dated to the Roman imperial period (2nd-4th c. AD), identified two dominant fabrics which were called, based on their mineralogical composition, dioritic and granitic.
Possible clay sources for both fabrics are available in the region. There is a higher abundance of the clays similar to the granitic fabric, with the most suitable clay sources just next to the settlement, while the dioritic clays are located about 30 km to the west of Yurta-Stroyno.
The vessels made of the two fabrics have no morphological distinction, and there seem to be no technological differences either, as shown by the analysis of 3D reconstructions obtained by computed tomography and 3D scanning. The lipid analyses conducted on a sub-sample of ten pots identified fat and plant residues inside some of the vessels as well as evidence that vessels might have been exposed to high temperatures, above 300 °C.
Some of the samples also have indications for potential beeswax impregnation. The results of the combined analyses suggest that two main clay sources located in the hinterland of Yurta-Stroyno were used for the handmade pottery production during the Roman period.
Production centres located in their vicinity were using the same technology for pottery making, producing vessels of the same morphology. The organic residues found inside the pots seem to be related to cooking and food preparation over a fire, and/or to their function as liquid containers.