Roman pottery production in Civitas Tungrorum,central Belgium,during the first–third centuries ce

Aspects of Roman pottery production at the workshops of Kontich, Tienen, Rumst, Grobbendonk and Clavier-Vervoz in the Civitas Tungrorum of central Belgium are explored. A total of 150 wasters from five sites were studied macroscopically, as well as via a combination of thin-section petrography, geochemistry and scanning electron microscopy, in order to gain insights into ceramic technology and aspects of the organization of production. Particular emphasis was given to the individual technological sequences and shared strategies of raw material selection, paste preparation and firing employed at the five adjacent sites. The integration of petrographic and geochemical data permitted the establishment of compositional reference groups for the Roman kiln sites of Civitas Tungrorum, which can be used to track their products within the surrounding landscape.     

An Efficient Search Strategy for Site-Selection Decisions in an Expert System

This paper describes an algorithm for spatial search, which is used in an expert system for site selection. The algorithm, named ProfMat, is able to find the best site in the area of interest even when the number of possible sites is large and many decision criteria are involved. Compared to commonly used search procedures, ProfMat improves the efficiency of spatial search in two ways. First, the best site is identified through an iterative rather than a linear process of selection and evaluation of optional sites. Second, an area is searched by narrowing down the focus to increasingly smaller areas and, thus, sites are evaluated as much as possible groupwise. The ProfMat procedure is illustrated by analyzing the problem of retail site selection. A comparison with alternative search procedures shows that ProfMat considerably reduces the evaluation costs needed to find the best site. The implementation of the algorithm in an expert system shows how ProfMat can be used in combination with specialist's knowledge to solve site-selection problems. The efficiency of the procedure allows considering large sets of optional sites, so that it may improve the quality of the outcome.     

Production technology and knowledge transfer of calcite-tempered grey ware bowls from 2nd- to 5th-century ce Noricum (Austria)

Aspects of 2nd- to 5th-century ce Roman production technology and knowledge transfer in southern Austria (known as Noricum) were examined. With no evidence for workshops identified in the study area, 44 grey ware bowls from two sites at Aguntum and Lavant were studied macroscopically, and combined with optical microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, prompt gamma activation, neutron activation and scanning electron microscopy, in order to understand whether one (large) workshop supplied these bowls, or whether the bowls were produced by several (small) workshops nearby. Combined with information from the geological background, the results were used to tentatively indicate the production location. The results indicate that the grey ware bowls from Aguntum and Lavant were produced by local workshops nearby. The bowls were manufactured with similar clay sources, tempered with crushed calcite-marble rocks from the Tauern Window, their surface smoothed and burnished, and fired between 800 and 850°C in a reducing atmosphere of an open fire. This is taken to suggest that Roman potters, who were located at Aguntum and Lavant, shared strategies of raw materials selection, paste preparation, finishing and firing, and transferred technological knowledge through time.