TEXTURAL ANALYSIS OF ANCIENT CERAMIC THROUGH DIGITAL IMAGE ANALYSIS: APPLICATIONS ON POTTERY ASSEMBLAGES FROM A BRONZE AGE SITE IN NORTH-EASTERN ITALY

摘要

The determination of the production technology and of the sources of ancient ceramic is one of the main aims of the archaeometric analysis on ancient pottery. Variations in size, shape and proportion of non-plastic inclusions, their composition and the possible presence of diagnostic mineral crystals or rock fragments may provide useful information and may allow the characterisation and discrimination of different workshop. Recently developed on archaeological ceramic, digital image analysis (DIA) is a useful tool in the study of ceramic pastes and production technology. Here we present the results of DIA on some representative samples, selected on the basis of the petrographic analysis from a wider assemblage, found at the Bronze Age (((ⅩⅧ)th - Ⅹth century BC) site of Castel de Pedena (Belluno, North-eastern Italy). Image analysis was performed on backscattered electrons images acquired by the scanning electron microscope (SEM-BSE) in order to extract quantitative information, particularly on the quantity, grain-size distribution and shape of inclusion, as well as on the ratio between matrix, inclusions and pores. DIA was also performed on multispectral information such as that obtained by elemental chemical maps acquired at the SEM. All the different textural features and different types of inclusions were separately investigated with high accuracy and precision, and their grain-size distribution, shape and proportion were statistically treated in order to highlight different assemblages and production recipes.