Characterization and provenance of Roman tiles from the archaeological sites of Cariati, Scala Coeli and Terravecchia (Calabria, Southern Italy)

Abstract

This paper concerns the archaeometric study carried out on a group of tiles and a brick belonging to the Roman period. In particular, the samples are dated back to the late 3rd-1st century BC and they come from the archaeological sites of Cariati, Scala Coeli and Terravecchia, in the province of Cosenza (Calabria, Southern Italy). Some of these samples are impressed with the stamps L./N. LUSIPETEL and M. MECONI, belonging to a production plant that operated in the north-central Ionian coast of the Calabria Region between the late Republican period and the Imperial age, owned to two important families of Petelia (today Strongoli). All samples were analyzed by Optical microscopy, X-ray Powder Diffraction and Energy Dispersion Microanalysis by Scanning Electron Microscope, in order to determine their minero-petrographic features and their geochemical composition, to identify the extraction area of the raw materials and the technological aspects related to the processing of the clay. In addition, the comparison between the chemical composition of the samples with the clay and the sand coming from some quarries of the Cariati area confirms that most of the samples were locally produced using raw materials from natural Pliocene outcrops.