Caratterizzazione archeometrica di ceramiche graffite medievali (Port Saint Symeon Ware) rinvenute a Beirut, Genova e Marsiglia

A type of XII-XIIIth cent. painted sgraffito, different from the "graffita arcaica tirrenica" produced in Savona, has been recognised in Genoa and Marseille by means of archaeometric analyses. It can be referred to the Pori Saint Symeon ware group (Middle East production). The samples are typologically and analytically comparable with ceramics found in Beirut. The ensemble is characterised by: a good-quality transparent glaze, with high lead and low alkali contents; a white slip with abundant quartz and feldspar angular grains and a scanty clay matrix, sometimes vitrified; a fabric with Ca-rich matrix and fine-grained (0.20 mm) inclusions of sedimentary, volcanic, and metamorphic origin. The petrographic and chemical compositions of the clay bodies suggest the use of raw materials derived from fossiliferous marls in ophiolitic areas. On the ground of both analytical and archaeological results, the group could be related to one of the main production centres of Pori Saint Symeon ware, probably to be located in the region of Antioch (Turkey).