Italian terra sigillata in Rome and the Rome area: production, distribution and laboratory analysis

The paper presents some results on terra Sigillata; the research is part of a wider archaeological project concerning the ceramic production in Rome and Lazio between the end of the Republican period and the beginning of the imperial period. The general aims of the project are to deepen the understanding of some of the pottery from Rome and the Rome area, studying them with methods which include Archaeometry; and also to better understand the distribution mechanisms of some regional productions in central Italy and the Mediterranean area. Laboratory analyses have allowed the characterisation and grouping of ceramics on the basis of their chemical and mineralogical compositions, improving or correcting the archaeological classifications.