METHODOLOGY

Ceramic petrography was considered the most appropriate method for the study of such coarse amphora fabrics, as it could provide both mineralogical information regarding the vessels’ composition, which could then be associated with specific geological regions, as well as some technological information that would allow us to define and understand better the paste recipe followed for their production.

Then, wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry was used for the analysis of samples in this case prepared as glass beads, following the analytical protocol developed at the Fitch Laboratory, firstly to test the correspondence between the petrographic and elemental groupings, and also examine whether there are any other emerging elemental groupings or sub-groupings worth considering further.