Clays from the Bay of Naples (Italy): new insight on ancient and traditional ceramics De Bonis, Alberto Cultrone , Giuseppe V. Grifa, Celestino Langella, Alessio Morra, Vincenzo Bay of Naples Raw materials Experimental firing Archaeological pottery Traditional pottery The features of two clayey raw materials from the Bay of Naples and their fired products were investigated via minero-petrographic and physical techniques. Clay preparation and firing dynamics were performed following a process similar to that performed by ancient and traditional potters. A high-CaO marine clay from Ischia was mixed with different amounts of volcanic temper in order to replicate most common ware. These mixtures show a fair mechanical resistance starting from relatively low firing temperatures (>850ºC). The addition of temper resulted in different technological characteristics. A low-CaO weathered pyroclastics from the Sorrento Peninsula was prepared to simulate heat resistant and refractory ceramics. Fired products are characterised by a less resistant ceramic body up to 1000ºC compared to Ischia ceramics. Despite worse strength these ceramics show a porous structure, yielding better refractory performances. 2025-06-02T06:29:09Z 2025-06-02T06:29:09Z 2014 journal article Journal of the European Ceramic Society, 34, 3229-3244 https://hdl.handle.net/10481/104393 10.1016/j.jeurceramsoc.2014.04.014 eng http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ open access Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internacional Elsevier