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Continuity and diversity of Roman pottery production at Famars (northern France) in the 2nd–4th centuries AD: insights from the pottery waste

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Abstract

Grey and cream ware were widely produced and traded in Roman towns in Northern France (a region known as Civitas Nerviorum). A large production centre of grey and cream ware in northern France was Famars, where 15 pottery kilns functioned between the 2nd and 4th centuries ad. In order to identify the raw materials and to reconstruct the technology of grey and cream ware produced at Famars, 51 sherds found in the pottery waste, associated with kilns, were investigated by means of optical microscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectrometry, cold field emission scanning electron microscopy and electron microprobe analysis. The optical microscopy analysis allowed to define the Quartz (Qz), Microfossil-Glauconite (MFG) and Quartz-Microfossil-Glauconite (QzMFG) petrographic groups, as well as the Quartz + Argillaceous Rocks Fragments (QZ + ARF), Microfossil-Glauconite Fine (MFG Fine) and Microfossil-Glauconite + Chamotte (MFG + Chm) variants. The defining components for all groups are quartz, glauconite pellets and microfossils, but in variable proportions. The chemical data support the optical microscopy analysis and reveal the differences between the petrographic groups: Qz sherds are rich in Si and Fe, whereas MFG sherds contain more Ca, Al and K. Firing phases, as seen in scanning electron microscopy analysis, include glass, melilite, clinopyroxene and an Fe aluminosilicate. The matrix of most sherds of the MFG and QzMFG groups shows low sintering and initial vitrification, while the matrix of the Qz group displays mostly extensive and continuous vitrification. The results permitted to identify two kinds of raw materials, most likely originating from local georesources. One raw material, with high Si and Fe, was fired in a reducing kiln atmosphere in order to produce grey ware, while the other, with high Ca, Al and K, was fired in oxidising conditions in order to produce cream ware.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank the Institut National de Recherches Archéologiques Préventives (INRAP) and the Service Régional de l’Archéologie (SRA) Nord-Picardie (France) for their permission to sample the ceramic sherds from the archaeological site at Famars. Both institutions have also supported the scientific analysis of the material financially through their respective projects ‘Caractérisation des productions céramiques dans le nord du Bassin parisien’, and ‘Fanum Martis. Une agglomération à vocation religieuse, commerciale et militaire à la frontière du territoire nervien. Pagus Fanomartensis, un terroir spécifique?’. The authors also thank Dr Volker Hoeck (Paris Lodron University, Salzburg) for suggestions which helped to improve the paper, and Dr Ramona Balc (Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca) for aid in the determination of microfossils. B.B. acknowledges support by the Austrian Science Fund through the FWF project T-1085G. C.I. acknowledges financial support by the Excellence Research Program (Romanian Ministry of Education and Ministry of Research) through the UEFISCDI/CNCS project PN-III-P4-ID-PCE-2016-0229, as well as support of the Russian Government within the Program of competitive growth of Kazan Federal University. Thanks are due to Mrs Monica Mereu (Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca) for computer-assisted drawings. Finally, the authors would like to thank the two anonymous referees for their suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Classical Archaeology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Barbara Borgers

  2. Department of Geology, Babeş-Bolyai University, 1 Mihail Kogălniceanu Str, 400084, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Corina Ionescu

  3. Archeotechnologies and Archeological Material Sciences Laboratory, Kazan (Volga Region), Federal University, 18 Kremlevskaya Str, 420000, Kazan, Tatarstan, Russia

    Corina Ionescu

  4. INRAP Hauts de France, UMR 7041-ArScan, Research Unit Gama, University of Paris Nanterre, Nanterre, France

    Sonja Willems & Raphael Clotuche

  5. Department of Biology, Babeş-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Lucian Barbu-Tudoran

  6. National Institute for Isotopic and Molecular Technologies, 67-103 Donath Str, Cluj-Napoca, Romania

    Lucian Barbu-Tudoran

  7. Department of Geography and Geology, Paris Lodron University, 34 Hellbrunner Str, A-5020, Salzburg, Austria

    Manfred Bernroider

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Borgers, B., Ionescu, C., Willems, S. et al. Continuity and diversity of Roman pottery production at Famars (northern France) in the 2nd–4th centuries AD: insights from the pottery waste. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 12, 221 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-020-01113-2

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