CERAMED Project - Objectives


General
The project aims at the thorough understanding of all stages involved in the production of (5) important categories of ancient Mediterranean decorated ceramics (Attic black and red, Terra Sigillata, Nabatean, Majolica and Iznik) with a view to enable either
(i) the contemporary production of technologically authentic museum quality reproductions or
(ii) new high quality ceramic artifacts inspired by ancient designs and using the ancient techniques and materials, both at a reasonable cost and with due consideration to present day health and safety regulations.

The ancient ceramic types listed above fall into two categories:
(i) Clay slip based decoration (Attic black, Terra Sigillata, Nabataean)
(ii) Polychrome glazed decoration (Majolica, Iznik)

Specific
The specific scientific and technological objectives, for category (i) above i.e Attic black, Terra Sigillata, Nabataean, concern
· the detailed identification of the raw materials used
· the recovery in detail of the manufacturing process
· the possible improvement through the application of modern scientific methods and technologies in order to lower the cost and preserve the quality of modern production and/or reproduction

while for category (ii), i.e. polychrome glazed ceramics (Majolica, Iznik) the scientific and technological objective will focus on
the improvement of the manufacturing process through the development, where possible, of non toxic (lead free) glaze formulations which will be optimized for each specific decorated ceramic type.

To meet these objectives the project relies on the use of microscopy and spectroscopy techniques (OM, analytical SEM, TEM, XRD, XRF, ICP, IR and Raman, etc) combined with extensive experimentation in reproduction guided by a scientific methodology. This requires the close collaboration of materials scientists, technologists, craftsmen and archaeologists from all countries involved. The progress towards meeting the objectives can be verified throughout all phases of the work by referring to the experimental logbooks in combination with actual specimen production samples and full-scale reproductions. Further verification will be provided by the deliverables for each work package as detailed below.

A final objective of the project is to disseminate the results of the research to the market (both the supply and demand side) by sensitising the public to the importance of technologically authentic reproductions of archaeological value objects and by encouraging young craftsmen to experiment with technologically authentic ancient manufacturing techniques by making available to them the necessary know how.