Analisi in sezione sottile su anfore di Loppio

Seventeen samples of amphorae have been studied in thin section to give a compositional and technical characterisation of the pastes, contribute to the identication of the provenance (also using the reference database of the DISTAV) and, as for pottery sherds lacking diagnostic features, verify or improve the typological attributions. The significant variability in terms of both petrographic composition and texture of the studied assemblage points to the presence of productions derived from multiple workshops. Seven different fabrics or groups of fabric have been identified, characterised by discriminant inclusions: 1) aeolian quartz; 2) aeolian quartz associated with heavy minerals; 3) acid metamorphites; 4) ophiolites; 5) volcanites; 6) microfossils, limestones and cherts; 7) microfossils and metamorphic quartz. Also taking into account the typological data, the provenance could be located in: Tunisia (1), in Egypt or Palestine (2), in the Aegean area or in Western Anatolia (3 and 5), in the Eastern Mediterranean (4), and in more uncertain areas, among which are the Aegean sectors (6 and 7).