BUSCADOR RECOLECTA

The sample studied includes 36 handmade ceramics unearthed during the 2018-2019 excavation season at the Phoenician colony of La Fonteta (Alicante, Spain), a settlement which represents a newly constructed architectural complex dating approximately from the late 8th to the late 6th century BCE. The archaeological context of the pieces was based on their assignment to the constructive phases identified. The sample includes 16 pieces from the early phase of La Fonteta, all from dumps, and 20 from the more recent series of occupations recovered from different phases of structure collapse and waste contexts. Additionally, 10 individuals from the nearby indigenous site of Peña Negra (9th-6th centuries BCE) were also included for comparison. Regarding formal and functional variety at La Fonteta, a bulk of coarse cooking ware, bowls, storage vessels, and a few examples of burnished tableware ceramics, including a finely crafted carinated bowl, were analysed. The low representation of this latter production reflects the reality of the settlement. Finally, based on the observation of the pieces, we attempted to select a good number of pastes considered to be local due to their abundance in the archaeological record and the exhibition of characteristic traits such as buff-coloured pastes and coarse calcareous inclusions, as well as other individuals considered imported (characterised by mica-rich red to dark coloured pastes) or underrepresented in the research carried out at the site so far.

The sample studied includes 34 ceramic individuals, 25 of which come from the Convento de Santo Domingo in Cartagena, and the others belong to the indigenous styles of Malibú (recovered at Zambrano -private collection-) and Tairona (from the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta area -unknown location-). The major part of the material chosen for this study comes from the archaeological investigation at the Convento de Santo Domingo started in 2000. The date of the building is not clear. Even if there is information about the presence of a Dominican building in the western part of the city from the mid-16th century, the convent was completed only at the end of the 18th century. Most of the ceramic individuals belong to the 17th century and, therefore, to an advanced phase of interactions between colonists and indigenous people when majolica production started in Cartagena.

This dataset includes the chemical data obtained by wavelength Dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF) analysis on sugar pots retrieved in Sicily from 11th-16th cent. AD contexts. These data were collected as part of the project “SPotEU: Sugar Pot manufacture in Western Europe in the medieval and post-medieval period (11th -16th centuries AD)”, funded under the Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (grant agreement: 797242)., Chemical characterization was conducted by means of wavelength Dispersive X-ray fluorescence (WDXRF) analysis. The concentrations were quantified using an AxiosmAX-Advanced PANalytical spectrometer with a Rh excitation source calibrated by a suite of 56 international Geological Standards. Interferences were considered and the correction of matrix effects was done using PANanalytical Pro-Trace software for trace elements. The determined elements were: Na2O, MgO, Al2O3, SiO2, P2O5, K2O, CaO, TiO2, V, Cr, MnO, Fe2O3 (as total Fe), Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Sn, Ba, Ce, W, Pb and Th. Minor and major elements are expressed as concentrations of oxides in percentage by mass (wt %). Trace elements are conveyed as concentrations of elements in μg g-1. Samples are prepared according to a procedure explained in Madrid i Fernández, Marisol, and Alejandro G. Sinner. "Analysing technical choices: improving the archaeological classification of Late Republican Black Gloss pottery in north-eastern Hispania consumption centres." Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 11, no. 7 (2019): 3155-3186., The dataset also includes a file with a description of the charactersitics of each sample

This dataset includes the microstructural data obtained by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) examination on sugar pots retrieved in Sicily from 11th-16th cent. AD contexts. These data were collected as part of the project “SPotEU: Sugar Pot manufacture in Western Europe in the medieval and post-medieval period (11th -16th centuries AD)”, funded under the Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/797242)., SEM observations were performed on fresh cross-section fractures passing through the oro-aboral axis of the body wall in order to observe the microstructure. Bulk specimens were fixed on metal specimen stubs using silicone adhesive and the non-conductive ceramic specimens were made conductive. Colloidal silver paint was applied on excess silicone adhesive and lateral sides of ceramic bulk specimen. Then, the specimen surface was coated with a thin carbon film (~ 10 nm) by vacuum evaporation. The observations were made by using a FEI QUANTA 200 coupled with a microanalizer EDS: Thermo Ultradry – Pathfinder and photomicrograph taken at x1000, x2000 and x4000. The observations were performed using an acceleration voltage of 20 kV and a working distance of 10 mm. In a few cases, a JEOL J6510 coupled with an EDS Oxford Instruments Ultim Max – AZTecLive was used., The photomicrographs show the micromorphology of the pots, where the vitrification stages could be identified. The photomicrographs were taken at the bottom margin, core and the top margin of the ceramic section. Microstructures are described and discussed in: Mentesana R., Hein A., Madrid i Fernàndez M., Kilikoglou V., Buxeda i Garrigòs J. 2022. “Think globally, act locally: global requirements and local transformation in sugar pots manufacture in Sicily in the medieval and post-medieval periods”. Minerals. At the bottom of the photomicrographs, the image detection method (det), the accelerating voltage (HV), the working distance (WD), the magnification (mag) parameters and the scalebar could be found. Photomicrographs were taken at the CCiTUB of the Universitat de Barcelona., The dataset also includes a file with a description of the charactersitics of each sample.

This dataset includes the mineralogical data obtained by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses on sugar pots retrieved in Sicily from 11th-16th cent. AD contexts. These data were collected as part of the project “SPotEU: Sugar Pot manufacture in Western Europe in the medieval and post-medieval period (11th -16th centuries AD)”, funded under the Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions (grant agreement: 797242)., Sample preparation methodology: manual pressing of some of the received powder materials, by means of a glass plate to get a flat surface, in cylindrical standard sample holders of 16 or 27 millimeters of diameter and 2.5 millimeters of height. Instrument and experimental conditions: PANalytical X’Pert PRO MPD powder diffractometer in Bragg-Brentano θ/θ geometry of 240 millimeters of radius. Ni filtered Cu Kα radiation: λ = 1.5418 Å. Work power: 45 kV – 40 mA. Divergence slit of 0.5º. Mask defining a length of the beam over the sample in the axial direction of 12 millimeters. Incident and diffracted beam 0.04 radians Soller slits. Sample spinning at 2 revolutions per second PIXcel detector. Active length = 3.347 º. θ/2θ scan from 5 to 80 º2θ with step size of 0.026 º and measuring time of 100 seconds per step., The dataset also includes a file with a description of each sample.

The sixty ceramic individuals studied in this project were recovered in Empúries, Besalú, and Rosselló counties (Catalonia). These ceramics dated to the 10th—11th centuries AD belong to a historical period related to the creation and consolidation of the Catalan Counties. This period is poorly studied from an archaeological point of view, so there is little information about ceramic production and distribution, which this research aims to change by identifying the provenance and manufacturing techniques. Also, to reveal if there existed a shared technical tradition on both sides of the Albera range. For this purpose, the ceramic sherds have been chemically and mineralogically characterised. Their microstructure and sintering state have been determined, and petrographic analyses have been performed too. This archaeometric study has also considered both historical and archaeological data. Analyses of the ceramics have comprised, among others, X-ray fluorescence (WD-XRF) and X-ray diffraction (PXRD). Results confirm distribution patterns and the evidence of similar technical traditions in different Counties. Finally, the contrast with the database enables us to relate some of the individuals analysed in this study to some others from the area of the County of Empúries dating from the Visigoth period (7th—8th centuries) according to their exceptionally high concentrations of Na2O. The data for the latter 5 Visigoth ceramics are also included.

The sample studied includes 85 Inca provincial ceramic individuals, 2 experimental ceramics prepared from clays collected at Ranchillos (MDZ140) and RT285 (MDZ149), and 1 firing structure unearthed at RT285 (MDZ150). The experimental ceramics and the firing structure were included to get some information about available clays in the area. Twenty-two out of 85 are ceramics unearthed at 12 sites from the Central Western Argentina (CWA), from three different areas: Uco Valley (n = 22), Uspallata Valley (n = 35, plus the MDZ140 experimental ceramic), and the foothills south of San Juan province (n = 28, plus the MDZ149 experimental ceramic and the MDZ150 firing structure). The sample includes the possible production centres of Tambillos, in Uspallata Valley, and RT285, in the foothills south of San Juan province, their possible distribution channels, and examples of all types of Inca provincial pottery (Viluco fine or ceremonial vessels –urpu, ollas and pucos–, and utilitarian storage vessels). This archaeometric study have comprised, besides scanning electron microscopy (SEM-EDX), X-ray fluorescence (WD-XRF) and X-ray diffraction (PXRD).