Caracterización y tecnología de materiales cerámicos romanos de los ss. I a III d.c procedentes del Hospital de las Cinco Llagas de Sevilla

Abstract

The aim of this work is the archaeometric characterization of the ceramics found in the archaeological excavations carried out in the Hospital de las Cinco Llagas (Seville, Spain). During the Roman occupation period of the area, three main types of amphorae -for wine, oil and fish sauces - have been distinguished, dated from the first to the third centuries AD. The selection of samples made for this study is intended as a wide representation of the dispersion in time, space and typology of the materials excavated. Three of the fourteen samples studied here were probably imported from Lusitania and the region of Campania in southern Italy. Two other amphorae groups have been distinguished, one of them produced locally and the other from a location probably close to the coast (although this has not been established with security). The mineralogy of the clays used at both sites has calcite and a very similar structure; oxidant atmospheres have been applied in all cases, and the firing temperatures of the ceramics dated from the first century AD are higher than those of the third century AD amphorae. Correlation structure analysis of the chemical composition variables and temper granulometry analysis suggests that legivation and /or decantation of clays have been used to prepare the ceramic paste of the pottery Q-II, while clay mixing or temper added to clay seems to have been used in the Q-I pottery located in the Hospital de las Cinco Llagas, of Seville (Spain).