Carolingian pottery from the northeastern Catalan counties

The sixty ceramic individuals studied in this project were recovered in Empúries, Besalú, and Rosselló counties (Catalonia). These ceramics dated to the 10th—11th centuries AD belong to a historical period related to the creation and consolidation of the Catalan Counties. This period is poorly studied from an archaeological point of view, so there is little information about ceramic production and distribution, which this research aims to change by identifying the provenance and manufacturing techniques. Also, to reveal if there existed a shared technical tradition on both sides of the Albera range. For this purpose, the ceramic sherds have been chemically and mineralogically characterised. Their microstructure and sintering state have been determined, and petrographic analyses have been performed too. This archaeometric study has also considered both historical and archaeological data. Analyses of the ceramics have comprised, among others, X-ray fluorescence (WD-XRF) and X-ray diffraction (PXRD). Results confirm distribution patterns and the evidence of similar technical traditions in different Counties. Finally, the contrast with the database enables us to relate some of the individuals analysed in this study to some others from the area of the County of Empúries dating from the Visigoth period (7th—8th centuries) according to their exceptionally high concentrations of Na2O. The data for the latter 5 Visigoth ceramics are also included.