Technological and geochemical study of two red-figured vases of unknown provenance

Abstract Two red-figured vases, kindly provided by the Carabinieri Corps for Protection of Cultural Heritage, Cosenza Unit (Calabria, Italy), were characterised from petrographical,morphological, mineralogical, and chemical viewpoints with the aim of establishing the definite origin and source area of archaeological artefacts. It was obviousthat one of the vases had undergone restoration, which is not documented.On the basis of stylistic criteria, it was not possible to assign precisely the site of production of the figured vases.Petrographic analysis, scanning electron microscopy(SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies were carriedout with the aim of identifying technological features and defining the nature of coatings. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) revealed that some protective productshad been used in previous restoration processes on someportions of one of the two finds.The samples have similar features: fine texture of the ceramic body, and black gloss painted directly on it. One of the samples is characterised by the black coating typical of both Attic and Locrian pottery. A study of their composition excluded the possibility that they are of Greek production. Inductivelycoupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) datarevealed that they come exclusively from the Locride area in Calabria, Southern Italy.