Building a step by step result in archaeometry. Raw materials, provenance and production technology of Apulian Red Figure pottery

18 Late Apulian red figure vases coming from Arpi (Foggia) have been investigated aiming at assessing the provenance and identifying the workshops, vital in order to draw a complete map of the production centers. Samples have been analyzed by Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS) and Powder X-ray diffraction (XRPD) to define the elemental and mineralogical composition of ceramic pastes, identify pigments and coatings The results allowed the identification of raw materials and technological features of vases, indicating the use of a very accurate manufacturing process, from the choice of raw materials to the refining, making and firing of the vase. With regards to the decorations used, the high artistic quality of the vases is associated with extreme care being taken in the search for the most suitable raw materials and their conscious use to create three-dimensional effects and to make the different types of brightness found on the materials. All this begin to highlight a differentiation of production according to the client’s social rank. Indeed the archaeological study of vases from Arpi analyzed so far, all coming from tombs referable to aristocratic classes, has confirmed that there was an increasing number of socially high-ranking clients for red figure vases from the second half of the 4th century BCE in Arpi, in towns such as Canosa and in the other towns in the Daunia area (i.e. Ascoli Satriano).