Roman pottery trick I learned from a crusty old dig director in Turkey

I spent years hating Roman pottery. It all looked the same brownish-orange to me, and I could never spot the join lines or combed decoration until it was back in the lab under bright lights. Then on a dig near Antalya two summers ago, the site director showed me this simple trick. He told me to wet the sherd with a little water from my canteen. The moisture makes the surface slightly darker and the tool marks pop right out. I tried it on a nondescript piece of terra sigillata and suddenly saw a faint rouletted pattern I had missed completely. Has anyone else used this field technique, or do you have a different quick method for spotting details on coarse ware?

2 comments

2 Comments

robinf517d ago

Does the water trick work on bone dry sigillata or just fresh out of the ground?

kevin_west5d ago

Wait, you're out here dusting off pots that are already bone dry? I'd be worried about shocking the clay or cracking it, but maybe that's just me being paranoid.