IpoTESI di Preistoria (Dec 2019)
Italian Pottery Kiln and production areas from Bronze Age to Iron Age
Abstract
Starting from a systematic survey of the "combustion structures" for ceramics attested in the Italian peninsula during the Bronze Age (2200-950 BC) and the Iron Age (950-725 BC), this Paper will propose the reconstruction of different kiln types, paying attention also to the production areas where they have been identified- The main goal is to more accurately characterize this type of evidence, underlining similarities, differences and common aspects even among different sites during the chronological period under examination. The typology presented here turns out to be an original extension of those proposed so far and is made up of five types of furnaces: Open Firing (1); Pit Firing (2); Two pits Kiln with horizontal (3.1) or vertical structure (3.2); Single deep pit with vertical structure without perforated floor (4.1) or with perforated floor (4.2); and Fixed in stonework (5) The chrono-typological articulation of kilns not only reflects technical developments, namely the shift from simple kilns during earlier periods to more complex structures in later times, but it is also related to the organization of production during the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. The simplest types turn out to be the older ones, however, they are never wholly abandoned, and they are documented alongside the more recent types (even within the same sites), probably as a response to the need for producing different ceramic classes. The installation of such more complex kiln types is therefore put in relation to more specialized forms of craftsmanship, as evidenced by the presence of proper production areas in various sites. The work presented here, therefore, allows a more precise definition of both the ceramic cooking structures and the production areas. Thanks to an original and detailed type of evidence, which compares these archaeological data with ethno-archaeological and experimental studies, we can better understand a specific class of data, that of the "combustion structures", so much present in the investigated contexts.
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