By Xanthopoulou V., Iliopoulos I. and Liritzis I.
ABSTRACT
The provenance of ceramic artefacts is one of the fundamental issues in ceramic analysis and is related to the location a ceramic object was produced or manufactured. This, in turn, refers to the clay source from where the ancient potter exploited their ceramic raw material. Being aware of the local geology is crucial to the identification of potential raw materials for the ceramic manufacturing. Thorough examination of clays in terms of composition, plastic behavior, shrinkage and particle size, is necessary for the evaluation of their suitability for ceramic production. A combination of several analytical techniques can contribute to the iden-tification and characterization of a ceramic raw material. The choice of the proper ones depends on different factors, such as precision, cost, time, expertise, availability and the way a researcher would combine them. The present study aims to unfold the criteria of clay sampling and investigate the appropriateness of the most relevant analytical techniques for the fully characterization of ceramic raw materials and thereafter provenance of ceramics made from them.
