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Experimental Archaeology - a replica of a Roman pottery kiln

Goranka Lipovac Vrkljan orcid.org/0000-0002-0613-729X ; Institute of Archaeology, Zagreb, Croatia
Bartul Šiljeg orcid.org/0000-0003-2286-7775 ; Institute of Archaeology, Zagreb, Croatia
Ivana Ožanić Roguljić orcid.org/0000-0002-0140-8011 ; Institute of Archaeology, Zagreb, Croatia
Ana Konestra orcid.org/0000-0002-7726-6515 ; Institute of Archaeology, Zagreb, Croatia

Abstract

During the spring of 2011 an experimental project of the construction and firing of the replica of the Crikvenica ceramics kiln was carried out, within which we explored and examined an optimised regime of firing ceramics in the kiln.
The holder of the “Experimental Archaeology - A replica of a Roman pottery kiln” project was the Museum of the City of Crikvenica, whereas the scientists working on the project “North Croatian Littoral in the context of an ancient defence system” from the Institute of Archaeology participated as co-workers and expert scientific consultants. Given the fact that the project is largely dependent on the implementation of knowledge in civil engineering and thermodynamics, relevant experts in mentioned areas were consulted and have contributed significantly in the reconstruction of the kiln, its construction and its operation. The entire project is supported by a colleague dr. Eleni Kaudelka Schindler, our subcontractor and an expert consultant on this project.
Initial findings that we have used in building the replica of the Crikvenica kiln have originated from archaeological explorations of the structural remains of the kiln, which we named “Ignatius,” which was excavated in 2006 and 2007, during two years of the archaeological campaign. Based on the collected technical documentation, on all its structural parts and the ground plan, drawings of the replica of the Crikvenica kiln were made.
The replica of the Crikvenica ceramics kiln was built in a 1:2 scale. Buried structures of the kiln (furnace channel and the combustion chamber) and the structure above the thread (smoke chamber, grid and an arched ceiling) were built using the same technique of alternate brick laying. The entire building material was made following an ancient recipe. Quartz sand, chaff, ground bricks and water were added to clay in ratio that can also be defined by the structure of the ceramic construction elements produced in Crikvenica.
When building the arched ceiling 1.52 m high, apertures 26 cm wide were made, four in each row and fifth on the ridge of the vault. The system of smoke openings is the most sensitive technological process on which the quality of firing ceramics depends greatly. Since the knowledge of the optimal smoke and thermal regime can be obtained only by experimental attempts, so far we have spent several firings within the replica of the Crikvenica ceramics kiln using various systems of opening smoke apertures with different actions during the process of heating the kiln.

Keywords

Crikvenica; Experimental archaeology; replica of the roman ceramic kiln

Hrčak ID:

106387

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/106387

Publication date:

12.6.2012.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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