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Indigenous fine tablewares (both plain and with painted geometric patterns/decorations) were widely diffused in western and central Sicily between the seventh and the fifth centuries BC (Gargini 1995; Spatafora 1996; Trombi 1999; Campisi 2003 However, the considerable recurrence of shapes and decorative subjects inhibits the identification of specific production centres merely on the basis of stylistic and morphological analyses. Therefore, the extent of the distribution of objects manufactured in different workshops cannot be fully appreciated, and the network of ceramic trade in Archaic Sicily is acknowledged only in terms of the relationships between the Phoenician and Greek colonies and the native hinterland. To date, any kind of transaction patterns involving only indigenous centres still remains unknown.

Three pre-mixed powdered clay-based (earthen) plasters produced in Europe and specifically designed for wall undercoating were analyzed in this paper. These materials are commercially available and successfully employed in green building practices all over the world. Their compositional and textural characteristics, as well as plastic behaviour were investigated through a multi-analytical approach: X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), polarized light microscopy (PLM), X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRFS), scanning electron microscopy equipped with an energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS), mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), grain-size distribution (GSD) and semi-empirical tests (Atterberg Limits, Linear Shrinkage). In addition, a natural earth (a terra rossa red soil sampled in north-western Sicily), theoretically appropriate for the production of earthen plaster, was subjected to the same analytical routine and compared with the three commercially available pre-mixed products. The achieved results allowed to individuate the compositional and textural features that primarily influence the performances of the studied earthen plasters. The obtained data are expected to be also useful in directing the selection of raw materials for local manufacture of specifically designed innovative products.

Ethnoarchaeometry can be used to test assumptions in ceramic provenance studies. Within the Late Roman Cooking Wares (LRCW’s) commercialised in the Western Mediterranean some fabrics such as Fabrics 1.2, 1.6/1.7 and 1.9 (Fulford and Peacock, 1984) have been proposed to have a Sardinian origin. This motivated a specific project to explore the nature of cooking pottery on the island and the raw clays as well as the production technologies that have been used traditionally for their manufacture. In this paper, the traditional cooking pottery making in Pabillonis (Oristano province) was studied. First, a field survey in the area of Pabillonis was undertaken in order to locate the raw materials used. Moreover, representative samples from final products were also collected in a traditional workshop. All the materials (clays and pots) were analysed in order to determine their chemical, petrographical and technological characteristics. The final aim was to reconstruct the paste recipe used by the local potters for cooking vessels. Moreover, this approach can give a feedback of the characteristics of the production to be used in the study of the LRCW’s of supposed Sardinian origin.