Non-invasive investigation on pigments of the Aeolian Islands Neolithic pottery

The Neolithic painted pottery, spread all over southern Italy, is considered as an important chronological in-dicator for the development of VI-V millennium BC prehistoric settlements and cultural traditions. The goal of this work is to contribute to the study of this ceramic class through the chemical characterization of some samples coming from the Aeolian Islands. 16 different sherds have been selected and the pigments preserved in their decorations analyzed via non-invasive techniques: Fiber Optical Reflectance Spectroscopy (FORS), X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), Raman Spectroscopy and Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). The different pigments, some of which no longer clearly visible to the naked eye (red ochre and raw umber) were identified, while the FT-IR data provided information about the pottery differentiation.

Automated summary

The goal of this work is to contribute to the study of Neolithic painted pottery through the chemical characterization of samples from the Aeolian Islands. Analysis of 16 different sherds revealed the presence of pigments, including some no longer visible to the naked eye, and provided information about pottery differentiation using FT-IR.