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Raw Material Sources for the Roman Bracarense Ceramics (NW Iberian Peninsula)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

M. Isabel Prudêncio ,
M. Amália Sequeira Braga ,
Felisbela Oliveira ,
M. Isabel Dias ,
Manuela Delgado  and
Manuela Martins
M. Isabel Prudêncio
Affiliation:
Instituto Tecnológico e Nuclear, EN 10, 2686-953 Sacavém, Portugal
M. Amália Sequeira Braga
Affiliation:
Centro de Investigação Geológica, Ordenamento e Valorização de Recursos (CIG-R), Universidade do Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal
Felisbela Oliveira
Affiliation:
Gabinete de Arqueologia, Câmara Municipal, 4760-110 V. N. Famalicão, Portugal
M. Isabel Dias*
Affiliation:
Instituto Tecnológico e Nuclear, EN 10, 2686-953 Sacavém, Portugal
Manuela Delgado
Affiliation:
Unidade de Arqueologia, Universidade do Minho, 4700-320 Braga, Portugal
Manuela Martins
Affiliation:
Unidade de Arqueologia, Universidade do Minho, 4700-320 Braga, Portugal
*
*E-mail address of corresponding author: [email protected]
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Abstract

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The Bracarense ceramics are characterized by a fine, pale yellow paste covered with a brownish yellow slip. The name is derived from Bracara Augusta, the Roman town located in the north of Portugal, where this type of ceramic paste was first found and identified. Various forms with the same type of paste occur, such as imitations of sigillata, terra sigillata and thin walls from the Augustus-Tiberius period, and common ware. Later, similar ceramics were also found in other archeological sites, e.g. Aquis Querquennis (Galiza, Spain), which question the location of the production center of this type of ceramic paste.

Mineralogical and chemical analyses showed that the majority of the Bracarense shards studied differ from the common ware of the Braga region. Despite minor differences, the Bracarense shards collected in Aquis Querquennis have the same geochemical pattern as those found in Bracara Augusta, i.e. they appear to have been manufactured with the same clay type. The firing products found indicate a kaolin character of the source clay, and point to firing temperatures near 900°C. The Aquis Querquennis shards have greater Br contents, which can be explained by use-wear and/or post-depositional processes, as this site is located in a thermal-water region.

Keywords

Archeological CeramicsClaysINAAMineral TransformationMulliteProduction TechnologySEM-EDSSpinelTrace ElementsXRD
Type
Research Article
Information
Clays and Clay Minerals , Volume 54 , Issue 5 , October 2006 , pp. 638 - 649
Copyright
Copyright © 2006, The Clay Minerals Society

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