Terra Sigillata

Clyde Elledge, Session 7, 24/8/2010

General Details• “Sealed Earth”. Referring to the slip method of sealing the pottery with a fine

layer of clay giving it the smooth outer layer.• Produced in numerous locations beginning in Italy and spreading to France,

England and Africa.• Thought to be copied from Greek pottery methods.• Originally had a black surface (Campanian ware) to mimic metalware which was

used by the Roman upper class. Campanian ware began production in Italy around 4th Century BC.

• Styles and tastes changed and around 50 BC, the black ware was replaced with a slip (an iron-rich liquid clay--not a glaze) which produced a high red gloss finish when fired under a rich oxygen atmosphere.

• Sigillata was not hand made or wheel thrown, rather it was made in molds. • Production standard decreased in Eastern Gaul and Italy and production ceased

altogether around 250 AD. • T.S. From the rest of Gaul continued in production well into the 5th Century AD.• African slipware became predominant from the second century and continued

into the seventh century.• Before firing, vessels were dipped into a liquid clay slip that produced the glossy

finish when fired.

Examples of Campanian Ware

Origins of Roman Terra Sigillata

Arezzo (Italy)Arezzo is an important Italian sigillata producuction site during the mid-late first century BC.

Principal Terra Sigillata Kiln sites

-source: http://www.potsherd.uklinux.net

La Graufesenque, Millau (Aveyron, France)

View from the archaeological site of site of La Graufesenque towards the high plateau overlooking the valley of the Tarn. La Graufesenque is the most important producer of Gaulish sigillata during the first century AD.

Kiln Floor Amphoralis, Southern France.

Fire box where pottery would be placed for firingSite: Amphoralis in southern France.

Kiln drawing based upon excavation in EnglandNo above ground kiln remains but we have some idea of what the Roman kiln would look like based upon finds in England and France.

A typical mold used in East GaulSigillata was made using a mold. When the clay was impressed into the molds, elaborate designs could be created over and over again . When the clay dried, it would shrink making removal easy. Rims, handles and footings would be added later by hand.

Other means by which images were impressed upon the clay

Cylinder, stamp and incising

Potter’s stampsIncredibly important for dating pottery…Can identify individual potters, their location and the time period in which they worked.

Composition• Micro-Raman spectroscopy of ancient ceramics: a study of French sigillata wares• Micro-Raman spectroscopy was applied to the study of some French sigillata

wares dating back to the end of the 1st century AD and coming from two important Roman ceramic production centres at La Graufesenque (Aveyron) and Glanum in Saint Rémi de Provence. The differentiation between the mineralogical composition of the reddish bright slip and the porous ceramic body underneath was accomplished, confirming the previous hypothesis by the CNRS research group at Toulouse that a different and finer clay material was used for the coating. This was primarily suggested by the highly heterogeneous body matrix mineralogy due to the presence of a large variety of minerals such as haematite, quartz, rutile and feldspar species, while the slip coating was basically made of haematite alone. The phase analysis results also gave an indication of the firing for insight into the production technology: an oxidizing atmosphere and a firing range between 850 and 1000°C could be suggested, in good accordance with the acknowledged Roman sigillata pottery production procedure.

• Cristiana Lofrumento, Angela Zoppi, Emilio Mario Castellucci• Hematite is an iron-rich element (ferric oxide).

Variations of Terra Sigillata by location

• Italian TS: Arrentine from Arezzo. Other prominent locations include Puteoli, Modena and Rimini

• Italian TS was prominent from the last 1/3 of the 1st cent. BC into the first 2 decades of the 1st cent. AD.

• Samian ware from this region is of the highest quality. It is a “brighter” red that that of Gaul.

• Fine walls from this region were famous for their nearly translucent, thin walled pottery.

• NOTE: Samian Ware (term of identification only not from Samos. “Samian” was a term first used by Pliny.

• PICTURE

Variations by location• TS ware from Gaul• Production increased in 1st

century AD…expanded into Gaul following major rivers.

• Eastern Gaul was of a high quality early on.

• Evidence of production owners who owned production facilities and slaves in both Arrezo and Eastern Gaul.

• Locations grew by following rivers inland throughout Gaul .

• Southern Gaul soon became a central location for production of vessels for the Western Empire.

• Most notably amoung them would be the region of La Graufesenque. High quality items were produced in this region but have a darker red finish than the “brighter” Arrentine ware.

Still other Variations

• African Terra Sigillata, known as T.S. Clara, was produced with a more orange hue and no evident glossy finish to the wares.

Grey Sigillata

• Made with same techinques as samian ware

• Fired in a higher, less oxygen rich atmosphere

• Located in Gaul; other “copies” made in Spain as well.

• Dates much later than other sigillata (400-550 AD)

Examples found during session 7

Grey produced in Gaul

Some forms of Grey Sigillata

• Many examples found in churches in Spain and Mallorca.

• Palm motif with cross at base … dottes lines, double lines, etc.

• And…

This piece on the left that we found at Sanisera…

Once source noted that circle patterns were a Germanic influence and argued that this kind of pottery was of Northern Gaul. Another source notes the circles but does not specify a region in Gaul.1.An Introduction to the study of Terra Sigillata. By F. Oswald & T. D. Pryce, Longmans press, 19202. Siglilates Paleocristianes. (Copy of a Journal) By Jacqueline Rigoir (Eco Museum library).

Sigillata is an excellent indicator of the time period where a site was inhabited

because:• Sigillata is a very diverse type of pottery.• Due to consumer tastes, styles changed over

time.• Locations where they were made allowed

variety of style and color as well and periods of kiln production is pretty well known.

• Potter’s stamps can be traced to specific periods of time.