Technologies of Transition: Pottery Production and Specialization in Early Rome and Its Neighbors. Neutron Activation Analysis of Regional Assemblages and a Mineralogical‐Petrographic Study of Impasto Chiaro‐Sabbioso

ABSTRACT The following paper investigates ceramic production and signs of specialization in Rome and the wider region during the early first millennium bce , through an archaeometric approach using Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA), and complementary techniques. A total of 274 ceramic samples from six archaeological sites —four in Rome (Sant'Omobono, Caesar's Forum, Regia, and Palazzo Canevari), Gabii, and San Giovenale—were analyzed using NAA to reconstruct regional compositional patterns and production networks from the 8th to the 6th centuries bce . Within the NAA dataset, a subset of 15 samples belonging to a particular production, namely Impasto Chiaro‐Sabbioso pottery, was further investigated through thin‐section petrography (PLM), X‐ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD), and Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM) in order to refine interpretations of raw material selection, paste preparation, and firing technologies. Prevailing theories hold that specialized ceramic production was already established by the 8th century bce ; yet our results suggest that only at the very beginning of the 6th century bce , when clear evidence for widespread standardized recipes and specialized production strategies emerges. This suggests that early ceramic production in central Italy was characterized by flexible and overlapping technological traditions rather than by rigid specialization.