Late Antiquity Roman ceramics from archeological excavations in Faenza (Italy)

Between the end of the year 1994 and the beginning of 1995, two excavations inside two palaces of the eighteenth century in the historical center of Faenza (Italy) were completed. A continuity of use was revealed from the Republican age to the late Antiquity, when Faenza was positively affected by the vicinity of Ravenna, the new capital of the Roman Empire. The Late Antiquity ceramic material recovered in the two palaces can be macroscopically subdivided into two groups depending on the paste characteristics: fine ceramics and coarse ceramics. Thirty samples were selected to undergo archaeometric investigations aimed at their characterization from the microstructural, mineralogical and chemical point of view.