Tin-glazed ceramics production and trade in Italy and Spain through multi-technique archaeometric investigation

This PhD thesis investigates the technology and materials used to produce tin-glazed ceramics in Italy and Spain from the 13th to the 18th centuries CE. Using an interdisciplinary archaeometric approach, the study aims to reconstruct cultural and commercial exchanges that influenced the development of tin-glazed earthenware across the western Mediterranean and to offer reliable reference data for the fast and non-invasive analysis of these artifacts directly in museum contexts. The interdisciplinary approach combined scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS) to characterise the stratigraphy, microstructure, and chemical composition of the ceramic samples, alongside thermal ionisation mass spectrometry (TIMS) used for the determination of the lead isotopic signature, providing insights into the origin and commercial dynamics of lead, a key raw material used as a flux in tin glaze production. Additionally, hyperspectral imaging (HSI) analysis was conducted on the glazes and colours of tin-glazed ceramics, constructing a dataset on tin-glazed ceramics as a reference tool for the non-invasive and in situ analysis of the colours of glazed pottery preserved in museums.