Exploring the coroplasts “techne” in Greek architectural terracottas: an archaeometric approach

Architectural terracottas represent a key element in the history of ancient Greek architecture; morphological variations, technical features and decorative motifs occur over the time, especially during the archaic period (Winter, 1993). In the western Greek colonies, different styles of roof revetment and decoration are known; among them, the so called “Siceliote system” and “Selinus system”. The numerous fine architectural terracottas fragments found in the South-Eastern area of Sicily during the archeological excavations strongly suggest the existence of important local workshops. However, even if the archaeologists have extensively described this class of artifacts, the scientific debate about fabrics, raw materials supply, manufacturing technology and decoration systems is currently open. One of the most interesting problem concerns the frequent presence of coarse-grained volcanic inclusions in the ceramic paste; this feature seems to be peculiar of many Sicilian architectural terracottas, as testified by several fragments found at Gela, Siracusa and Lentini. Worth of note is that this feature is observable also in area where volcanic rocks don’t outcrop suggesting that it is probably due to technological reasons. Another significant aspect regards the painted decoration technique of the revetments (i.e. firing phases, pigments, etc.) (Rescigno & Sampaolo, 2005). Even if preliminary studies on some Geloan architectural terracottas specimens have provided really promising results (Barone et al., 2015), the drawing of a complete scenario on the manufacturing features of the regional Sicilian roof revetments needs further investigations. In order to achieve this goal, we have studied numerous decorated sima and geison fragments and acroteria specimens coming from some of the most important temples of Siracusa and Lentini. Materials have been analysed from petrographic, mineralogical (XRD) and chemical (XRF) point of view. Additionally, in-deep analyses have been carried out on volcanic inclusions, taking advantages from a methodological routine based on clinopyroxenes chemical composition obtained through Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with Energy-Dispersive Spectrometry (SEM- EDS) measurements (Barone et al., 2010). Finally, an analytical characterization of the polychrome decoration of surfaces has been obtained by performing SEM-EDS and micro-Raman spectroscopy measurements. All the analytical data have been therefore discussed and compared with the results obtained on Geolan materials in the light of the archaeological interpretations, providing a detailed overview on the local tradition of architectural terracottas production. References Barone, G., Belfiore, C.M., Mazzoleni, P., Pezzino, A. &Viccaro, M. (2010): A volcanic temper based approach for provenance studies of archaeological ceramics from Southern Italy. Journal of Archaeological Science, 37, 713-726 Barone, G., Mazzoleni, P., Raneri, S., Spagnolo, G. &Santostefano, A. (2015): Coroplastic art in Sicily: an investigation on provenance and manufacturing technology of the Greek architectural terracottasfrom Gela (Italy), 13th European Meeting on Ancient Ceramics, EMAC2015, Athen, September 24-26, 2015. Rescigno, C. & Sampaolo, V. (2005): Appunti sull’impiego del colore sulle terrecottearchitettoniche capuane. Mediterranea : quaderni annuali dell'Istituto di studi sulle civiltà italiche e del Mediterraneo antico del Consiglio nazionale delle ricerche, già Quaderni di archeologia etrusco-italica, II, 133-164. Winter, N.A. (1993): Greek Architectural Terracottas: From the Prehistoric to the End of the Archaic Period, Clarendon Press, 360 p.