Archaeometry 37 (2)

The study addresses the chemical variations for Roman samian wares manufactured during various periods at different workshops within the Lezoux production centre. Instrumental neutron activation analysis and inductively coupled plasma spectrometry were used to determine the chemical constituents of the pottery. The two techniques were evaluated based on the capacity of each to identify the same compositional groups for Lezoux samian with the use of multi-variate statistics. The compositional analysis redefines and clarifies how potters used the clay sources at the site to produce fine wares. The results indicate that the majority of potters from different workshops at Lezoux shared the same clay source during the second century AD.

Research into the dates of timber used for art-historical objects has provided a large data set on which to test standard dendrochronological techniques. Some 177 sets of tree-ring measurements, originally analysed by the late Dr J M Fletcher at Oxford University, have been re-examined independently in the tree-ring laboratories at the University of Sheffield and the Museum of London Archaeology Service. The results show a high level of agreement between laboratories. In contrast, many of the dates produced by Fletcher are not confirmed. The two different approaches described here also resulted in remarkably similar internal groupings of the dated material. These groupings probably reflect the provenance of the timbers and suggest that two different areas of the eastern Baltic supplied the bulk of material, with smaller quantities of panels originating in Britain and Central Europe.