#H: the making of black-brown Etruscan ceramic, LTGS analogue

Geopolymer ‘99, 2nd Int. Conf. on Geopolymers
The making of Etruscan ceramic
(Bucchero Nero) in VII-VIII century B.C.

(Fabrication de céramique Étrusque
(Bucchero Nero) au VII-VIII siècle av. J.-C.)

by
Frédéric Davidovits (1), Alessandro Nasso (2),
Joseph Davidovits (3)
(1) Université de Caen, France
(2) Universita di Udine, Italy
(3) Geopolymer Institute, Saint-Quentin, France
( in English, en Français )

The results obtained with LTGS (Low Temperature Geopolymeric Setting of ceramic) have been surprising and very interesting from the archaeological point of view, e.g. the fabrication of ceramic whose surface is covered by an intense black color, identical in appearance to numerous European ceramics especially the Etruscan pottery of the Bucchero Nero type (630 B.C.) and Impasto marrone (650 B.C.). The Etruscan civilization florished in Italy before the creation of the Roman Empire (Tarquinia, Cerveteri, Orvieto, Veio, Chiusi). Instead of the complicated process involving temperatures of 900°C and strong reducing atmosphere, with LTGS the black color actually comes about at temperatures as low as 250°C, through a migration of black organo-mineral complexes. The optimal relationship between curing temperature, strength and black color is obtained at 450-550°C in a simple garden wood fire. The ceramics manufactured with this process are identical to the Etruscan Bucchero Nero and Impasto maronne from the VII-VIII Centuries B.C.

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