Characterisation and identification of fossil and mineral inclusions in Roman pottery from one site in Victoria, Gozo.

Abstract

Few pottery characterisation studies have been carried out on material from the Maltese Islands, and characterisation of local Roman coarse ware has never been attempted. This work aimed to characterise a well-known Roman period fabric from a site in Victoria, Gozo, which was thought to have been made from local clay and Greensand deposits and dated to c. end of the 2nd to mid-3rd century AD. The focus of this study was the inclusions and microfossils which could be found in the pottery. A combination of optical microscopy, SEM/EDS analysis and XRD were employed to study six pottery sherds and five Blue Clay and Greensand samples. The pottery sherds were confirmed to be made of a glauconitic fabric which may have been produced using local raw materials. Some of the samples studied contained inclusions from igneous rock which were probably imported to be used as temper for the production of pottery at this site.