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Ceramics take many forms, from the Upper Palaeolithic Venus figurines to the ubiquitous pottery vessels and fragments that generally comprise the most durable and diagnostic artefacts at an archaeological site. The usefulness of clay derives from its plasticity, which is a result of the chemistry of the clay minerals. Knowing how clay minerals form, what substitutions can occur in the basic chemical network structure of those minerals, and the effects of firing on water within the clay, all aid in understanding the bulk chemistry of ceramic objects. The chemistry and microstructure of ceramics can be interpreted to determine the selection of raw materials and the choice of manufacturing technology. Theoretically, the chemical composition of ceramic objects should also be indicative of the source of these materials, although the manufacturing processes can complicate the matter significantly. Trace element analysis, originally by neutron activation analysis but more recently by inductively coupled plasma techniques, is the most widely applied approach when seeking to determine ceramic provenance by chemical analysis. An example of a comparative study of ‘Rhenish’ finewares in Britain and Gaul with the more famous terra sigillata is presented here as a case study in determining the provenance of ‘Rhenish’ wares, but also to better understand the relationship between these important wares.

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