Archaeometric study of sub-geometric pottery found in Potenza, Italy: relationship and trade between near indigenous centers

Twenty pottery fragments from indigenous sites of Torre di Satriano and Baragiano (PZ, Italy) were studied using combined analytical techniques (OM, PXRD, XRF and SEM) to characterize their production centers and to better understand their manufacturing processes. Analyzed ceramics, characterized by a sub-geometrical decoration, are dated to VI sec. B.C. when a wide local pottery production was associated to a homogeneous phenomenon of diffusion of Greek products. Torre di Satriano and Baragiano ceramics show similar petrographic features. Two groups are distinguished, a "less fine" Group 1 and a "more fine" Group 2. Mineralogical and morphological analyses suggest a firing temperature higher than 850 degrees C as confirmed by the high degree of the groundmass vitrification. The chemical similarities between the pottery of Group I and the clay samples collected around the archaeological sites (Lucanian Basin sediments), might suggest a local provenance. Furthermore, the finest ceramic of Group 2 may have been locally produced following selection and levigation processes of the clayey materials. However, the chemical composition of the Group 2 ceramics may be related to a different raw material source-area. Only one fragment may be excluded from local production since it shows a different composition corroborating the archaeological hypothesis.