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Kairouan and the medieval ceramic industry in Tunisia: New data from compositional analysis of glazed and unglazed wares from the sites of Bulla Regia and Chimtou

Occari, V; Fenwick, C; Möller, H; Quinn, PS; Freestone, IC; Sacco, V; von Rummel, P; (2025) Kairouan and the medieval ceramic industry in Tunisia: New data from compositional analysis of glazed and unglazed wares from the sites of Bulla Regia and Chimtou. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports , 66 , Article 105245. 10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105245. Green open access

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Abstract

The technology and provenance of 50 medieval glazed and 15 unglazed ceramics (9th-12th c.) from Bulla Regia and Chimtou (ancient Simitthus), in the Medjerda Valley, Tunisia, have been characterised using thin section petrography, LA-ICP-MS and SEM-EDS. All ceramics appear to have been made in Tunisia, except for two samples which are imports from Palermo (Sicily). The bodies of most of the glazed and unglazed wares have very similar compositions and were likely manufactured in central Tunisia (Kairouan region) and then traded to the two sites. Manufacture local to the two sites seems to have been limited to handmade wares and perhaps lamps. The production of both glazed and unglazed wheelmade wares using central Tunisian clays suggests a model in which Kairouan was a major production centre and distributor of ceramics. The data suggest that different Kairouan workshops may have specialised in different types of wares. The identification of smaller chemical and petrographic groups may indicate the existence of other unlocated regional production centres which were secondary to Kairouan as a source of ceramics for the northwest Medjerda Valley. All glazes are lead based, containing varying amounts of alkalis. The majority of the glazes are translucent, with just three that are tin-opacified. It is suggested that the source of lead used for glazing was scrap lead metal with a complex life history, originally obtained from the reduction of litharge produced as a side product of silver extraction and showing signs of subsequent recycling.

Type: Article
Title: Kairouan and the medieval ceramic industry in Tunisia: New data from compositional analysis of glazed and unglazed wares from the sites of Bulla Regia and Chimtou
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105245
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105245
Language: English
Additional information: © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Keywords: Medieval Tunisia, Ceramic production, Glaze technology, LA-ICP-MS
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Institute of Archaeology
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of S&HS > Institute of Archaeology > Institute of Archaeology Gordon Square
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10209539
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