Pottery production and consumption in Ptolemaic-Roman Egypt – CERAMEGYPT

In addition to typological studies and, in certain cases, petrographic examinations of the clay, the central element of the project lies in the characterisation of the material through the use of a portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer.
The typological study is a classic approach in archaeology providing precious information on the geographic origin and the manufacturing period of pottery through form. Petrography allows for the characterisation of the clay’s geology and thus provides important information regarding provenance.
The novel element in this project is the systematic application of XRF technology. In archaeology, chemical analyses are generally only sporadically conducted, or else only on small sample series. This project has supplied very large series of data and by comparing results obtained we have been able build up groups that correspond to different productions and workshops. We have thus been able to cross-reference several sources of information in order to successfully examine the ceramics discovered on several sites.
Group thinking along with repeated trials have led to the definition of a measurement protocol to be applied in an identical fashion by the two teams, thus providing results that can be exchanged with no discrepancies.

Key results
This project has involved the study of ceramics discovered on several types of archaeological site.
• Known sites of pottery production in Egypt, such as on the southern shore of Lake Mariout (Akademia) and the southern edges of the Alexandrian hinterland; a pottery production workshop at Buto, some 60 km south-east of Alexandria; and further afield, an identified workshop at Coptos and a presumed workshop at Tell Basta in the Delta;
• The identification of production sites through the analysis of samples from consumption sites. This involves the widespread remains of Hellenistic amphorae (from the island of Kos and the coastal towns of the Anatolian mainland, and from the city of Knidos) but also Roman amphorae discovered on a shipwreck off the Alexandrian coast (Lamboglia 2 manufactured in the Adriatic and in Campania);
• The third part revolves around a typo-chronological approach, involving a) the definition of a group of Torpedo amphorae from the site of Bahig, some 50 km south-west of Alexandria; b) the examination of a very specific category of painted pottery from the early Hellenistic period, the origin of which is disputed; and c) the characterisation era by era and specialist by specialist of the local pottery discovered on consumption sites in Alexandria that have been excavated by the CEAlex.

The end of the CeramEgypt programme does not mean an end to the scientific work. On the contrary, the task is now to benefit from this solid basis by continuing and expanding this novel approach to ceramic studies. Beyond the Franco-German collaboration, which will be maintained, contacts have been made with the Fitch Laboratory of the British School at Athens (BSA), the Demokritos centre in Athens, the Cyprus Institute of Nicosia, the Céramopôle of the Centre Camille Jullian in Aix-en-Provence (UMR 7299) and with the archaeology and archaeometry laboratory (ArAr) of the Maison de l’Orient in Lyon.
A calibration kit is being developed in order to share reference samples that have been analysed by the same machine, respecting the same measurement protocols, amongst the different laboratories using portable XRF equipment. This represents an important first step in the establishment of a network across European laboratories, with an expansion in the short term to include a Turkish and a Lebanese laboratory.
Another aspect of this development will be the uploading for open access of the laboratory data, especially the chemical analyses and petrographic descriptions of samples taken from production sites. The ANR CeramEgypt programme represents real progress with far-reaching impact on the methodology of ceramic studies through the multiplication of non-destructive XRF analyses directly on site, and the sharing of this new reference data across a wide European network.

These endeavours have led to the publication of 16 articles, the organisation of a dozen round tables, and five conference lectures. Two PhD theses connected to the project subject matter have been developed.

Pottery is traditionally one of the main fossil guides in archaeological research. Recently, however, it has been experiencing increasing attention. The reason for this is to be found especially in the multiplicity of domains in which ceramic finds can make a contribution: alongside its central function as the basis for dating excavation contexts and its many possibilities of contributing to socio-cultural investigations (e.g. in everyday life), its great potential as the material basis for posing questions in economic history has come to the fore in recent years. The current state of research for the Hellenistic and Roman period is, however, very heterogeneous. While for many regions of the Graeco-Roman world detailed and fixed chronotypologies have been developed and investigations on questions of economic history exist for some, research on Ptolemaic-Roman Egypt is largely at the beginning. On numerous excavations detailed documentation is carried out, but the interregional exchange of data is lacking so far, as are a unified terminology and chronotypology. The lack of archaeometric analyses of provenience of the pottery produced in Egypt itself is especially felt. It is precisely on these bases that reliable investigations of the production, distribution and consumption of pottery in Egypt can be carried out.

The project proposed here is designed to confront this deficit, with three research axes. In Axis A ancient pottery production centers in Egypt are to be visited in cooperation with numerous external partners and local productions to be documented according to unified standards and investigated archaeometrically. In Research Axis B a manual of Ptolemaic and Roman pottery in Egypt will be developed according to certain criteria. In Axis C statistical analyses are to be carried out on the basis of selected contexts in certain chronological horizons in order to follow general questions of economic history.
The project proposed can build upon extensive preparatory work and infrastructural measures that were created in the framework of the ANR-DFG project ‘Ceramalex – Ancient Pottery in Alexandria and its Chora’ (2011 until mid 2014). Starting from the excavation sites in Alexandria, Schedia and Marea of those proposing the project, it was possible through intensive teamwork to standardize the previously very heterogeneous approaches to the analysis of pottery (e.g. terminology, typology). Moreover, the materials characterization laboratory of the French partner has employed two specialists (a chemical engineer and a petrologist) and thus is capable of petrographic and chemical analyses with the use of a portable XRF analyser. Furthermore, a well supplied ceramic laboratory was built up at the French partner in Alexandria, which allows petrographical analyses on the one hand and on the other disposes of the only instrument currently available in Egypt for archaeometrical analyses in the form of a portable X-ray fluorescence analyser. Finally, it was possible to develop a complex database, in which a large part of the pottery found at Alexandria and Schedia has been entered. On this basis, the German-French project would now like to make an internationally effective contribution to the investigation of pottery in Egypt.