Mineralogical Approaches to Archaeological and Cultural Heritage Materials

Dear Colleagues,

In this Special Issue of Minerals, we would like to gather papers that show the potential of mineralogical studies (e.g., petrography, mineral geochemistry, X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, spectroscopy) to approach the composition of a wide diversity of archaeological materials such as ceramics, metals, pigments, stone artifacts, and sediments. The main objective is to demonstrate that the mineralogical characterization of these artifacts is crucial to address aspects related to the origin of the raw materials used in their manufacture and the technological processes applied by craftspeople.

This Special Issue is wide open to all those researchers who want to delve into the role of mineralogical analyses in the characterization of materiality. Therefore, works that develop methodological approaches; compositional analysis of artifacts; studies of the physical properties provided by minerals; and, of course, studies focused on interpreting the social and symbolic roles that minerals play in both ancient and contemporary human societies will be welcome.

Prof. Dr. Adrián Durán Benito
Guest Editor

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• archaeometry
• ceramics
• glazes
• metals
• sediments
• stone
• pigments
• mineralogy
• petrography
• geochemistry

1. Title: Terracotta artefacts from Anxa-Angitia: an archaeometric insight into ancient craftsmanship

    Authors: Gilda Russo, Francesca Falcone, Emanuela Ceccaroni, Michele Ciulla, Stefano Di Giacomo_, Silvano Mignardi

    Abstract: The objective of the project is the archaeometric study of the statue of the enthroned deity and fragments of anatomical (feet, hands, heads, legs, eyes, ears, male and female genitalia) and figurative (bovine, pigs, and horses) votive terracotta objects, found at the archaeological site of the large city-sanctuary of Anxa-Angitia (Abruzzo, Italy), the current Luco dei Marsi.

The deity statue whose dating is based on stylistic analysis, dates to the late 3rd - first half of the 2nd century BC.

It was found during an excavation campaign conducted by the Superintendence for Archaeological Heritage of Abruzzo (2003) in the sacred place, dedicated to the deity Angitia.

The statue represents a woman seated on a throne, classifiable in the category of maternal deities, which, due to its characteristics, can be considered the refined work of a highly skilled and experienced Magna Graecia artisan, who worked on commission for local clients. It is made of pinkish-brown clay, with abundant large calcite inclusions. The hands, the tip of the left foot, most of the head, and some parts of the throne are missing. Immediately after the discovery, the statue has undergone restoration.

The votive objects were certainly produced near the Fucino sanctuary, as evidenced by the numerous artisanal environments and substantial remains of kiln waste found both inside and outside the ancient sanctuary.   

This is the first archaeometric study conducted on artifacts from the archaeological site of Angitia. The characterization of the terracotta used to make the statue of the deity and the votive objects will allow us to make a comparison between local and non-local production of these artifacts, establish the technique (production and cooking) and if the statue was made on-site as votive objects, reconstructs any trade related to the forge territory. These objectives will be achieved by a multi-analytical approach: analysis of thin sections with a petrographic microscope, X-ray powder diffraction (XRPD), SEM-EDS, μ-Raman, and ATR-FTIR. In case the statue still shows traces of pigments in the folds of the himation and the throne, visible at the time it was found by archaeologists, we might try to identify their chemical nature by using p-XRF analysis.