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The poster deals with the techniques and materials used for making inscriptions.&nbsp

Preliminary results on the ongoing non-invasive petrographic campaign in Sicily

Preliminary results on the ongoing petrographic campaign in Siracusa

Preliminary results on the material caracterization of signacula from Sicily

Additional file 1. Standardization of major (A) and minor/trace elements (B) by using 39 international mineral and rock standards (blue circles) and 11 internal ceramic standards (orange circles).

International audience; Synchrotron X-ray µ-and nano-probes are increasingly affirming their relevance in cultural heritage applications, especially in material characterization of tiny and complex micro-sam-ples which are typical from archaeological and artistic artifacts. For such purposes, synchrotron radiation facilities are tailoring and optimizing beamlines and set-ups for CH, taking also ad-vantages from the challenges offered by the third-generation radiation sources. In ancient ceramics studies, relevant information for the identification of production centers and manufacture technology can be obtained in a non-invasive and non-destructive way at the micro-sample level by combining different SR based methods. However, the selection of appropriate beamlines, techniques and set-ups are critical for the success of the experiments. Fine and varnished wares (e.g., Attic and western-Greek colonial products) are an excellent case study for exploring challenges offered by synchrotron X-ray microprobes optimized to collect microchemical and phase-distribution maps. The determination of provenance and/or technological tracers is relevant in correctly classifying productions, often based only on ceramic paste, gloss macroscopic features or style. In addition, when these vessels are preserved in Museums as masterpieces or intact pieces the application of non-invasive approach at the micro sample is strictly required. Well-designed synchrotron µXRF and µXANES mapping experiments are able providing relevant clues for discriminating workshops and exploring technological aspects, which are fundamental in answering the current archaeological questions on varnished Greek or western-Greek colonial products.

Additional file 1. Sections of the Sphinx Room: a) Vault, horizontal section b) East wall, A-A’ section, c) West wall, A’-A section, d) North wall, B-B’ section, e) South wall, C’-C section (See Figure 1 for reference). Credits: A. Blanco, D. Nepi, F. Vozzolo. Copyright: PArCo.

Additional file 2. Raking light detail images of a) the incisions used to set out the composition of the frame between the vault and the East wall, b) the brushstrokes visible on the temple on North wall.

In this work we report the results of the analysis of clay and sand raw materials collected from the Corfu island (Kanoni area, Ionian Sea). The mineralogical, petrographic and chemical data were compared with those of some archaic „Corinthian B" amphorae (late 6th – mid 5th c.BC) found in the archeological excavations at Gela (Sicily), and with those of local common wares and tiles from Sibari (ancient Sybaris/Thurii), in southern Italy. Indeed, the „Corinthian B" transport amphorae, largely diffused in the Mediterranean basin during archaic and classical periods, are supposed to come from several possible centers, including mainly Corfu and Sibari. The combination of both chemical and petrographic investigations strongly supports the archaeological hypothesis of the presence of Corfu products among the archaic „Corinthian B" amphorae from Gela.

From the 9th to the 11th century, Sicily has been part of the Islamic oecumene, the dār al-Islām. Up until now, very few studies have been carried out on the centres of pottery production of this period, and most of them concern the Emiral capital of the isle, Palermo. The archaeometric data obtained with chemical and minero-petrographic analyses on Islamic pottery found in Paternò – a town situated in the southwestern slope of Mt. Etna – has provided a certain number of issues of very important matter. The selection of the samples has been made among the archaeological finds coming from the excavation near the church of Cristo al Monte, on the hilltop, which represented the inner part of the medieval madīna. The mineralogical and chemical characterization of the ceramic body has been attained using optical microscopy on thin sections and X-ray fluorescence respectively, in order to define the probable provenance of each sample. Further information of technological matter has been provided using X-Ray diffraction on powdered samples, which furnishes mineralogical data useful to hypothesise the firing temperatures: the main task attained on this issue was the focus on the self-slipped ware with salted water, one of the main technological class in Islamic Sicily. Finally, energy dispersive X-Ray fluorescence was adopted for a preliminary investigation of pigments used to decorate the lead glazed pottery. The issues related to both the local and imported pots – the latter represented almost completely by Palermo"s products – provided some important historical and archaeological information about the means of Sicilian pottery production during this important period.

In this short paper we present the results of a diagnostic study performed on building materials of the Adrano Castle in Sicily, part of a system of watchtowers extending around the Etna Mountain. Stone materials, plasters and mortars have been studied from macroscopic point of view to produce maps of the Castle façades. The results of this study provided a fundamental contribute to the reconstruction of architectural phases interesting the Castle and the definition of relative chronology based on microstratigraphic data, greatly supporting also the restoration works in selecting compatible replace materials.

In this work, a provenance and technological investigation on cooking-ware potteries from the ancient Greek -Roman town of Akrai (Palazzolo Acreide, Syracuse, Sicily) has proposed. A multi-methodological approach have been used to study the manufacture quality of analysed materials; in detail, petrographic, mineralogical, spectroscopic, chemical, porosimetric and micro-morphological analyses have been applied. The study provides fundamental contribute in archeological issues related to circulation in Sicily of cookingware productions during Late Roman Age; in fact, the obtained results allow to recognize in the site the presence of different well-known cooking-ware Roman productions, highlighting interesting questions about the technological and manufacture properties of this class of materials.

In this paper, petrographic, mineralogical and chemical analyses have been performed on plain table-ware fragments discovered in the ancient town of Akrai (modern Palazzolo Acreide, Syracuse, Sicily) and dated between the Hellenistic and the Late Roman periods (4th-5th/6thcentury A.D.). The project is developed in the context of the archeological debate on the cultural and political process occurred in Sicily since the 3rdcentury B.C. and known in archaeological literature as Romanization. In this framework, a gradually substitution of Greek-Hellenistic materials with the Roman ones has occurred in Sicilian colonies and the city of Akrai was deepened involved in this process. As the sensitiveness of material culture to cultural and social changes, the archaeometric investigation has been focused on provenance and technological manufacture aspects of tableware production, in order to delineate the eventually changes took place in the area during the investigated period. The comparison of obtained data with numerous references local groups of ceramics allows to identify different highly specialized local productions, drawing-back the commercial movements of potteries in Sicily during Roman Age.

During the study of a pottery assemblage collected at the Sicilian site of Licata-Caduta (Agrigento), continuously occupied between the Neolithic and Early Bronze Age, some ceramics presented typologies, fabrics and surface treatments alien to Sicilian repertoires and closer to Maltese productions. Sampled for petrographic (OM) and chemical (XRF) analyses one artefact turned out to be produced in Malta and imported into Sicily. The search for its chronological and cultural placement has led to the discovery of the first certified Zebbug phase import in Sicily., peer-reviewed