Materials and technological choices in ceramic production of Medieval Almería (al-Andalus): clays, glazes and colorants

This article presents the archaeometric characterisation of a collection of medieval pottery (11th–12th centuries) from two documented pottery workshops in the city of Almería. The study focuses on common pottery used for cooking, tableware, water storage, as well as pottery associated with production processes. This type of material is widely represented in the archaeological record, but is rarely characterised from a technological and compositional perspectives. The research combines various archaeometric analysis techniques: optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectrometry (SEM–EDS), X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thin-section petrography. The aim is to identify and characterise both the ceramic bodies and the glazes used. The results allow us to establish compositional and technological differences between the various analysed functional groups, as well as recognising production patterns linked to specific pottery contexts. The main contribution of this study lies in the definition of a reference archaeometric model for medieval ceramic production in Almería. This model can be used in future research to identify and characterise ceramic materials from urban and productive contexts in the south-east of the Iberian Peninsula.