CLASSIFICATION OF GALLO-ROMAN CERAMICS FROM THE BORDEAUX REGION BY MULTIDIMENSIONAL STATISTICAL-ANALYSIS OF THEIR CHEMICAL-COMPOSITION

Physical and chemical information concerning 144 common gallo-roman ce ramics from the North Aquitaine region of France were analysed using v arious multidimensional statistical methods. The data included twelve quantitative chemical variables and four qualitative variables: the te xture and colour of the ceramic, the place of discovery and the suppos ed period of fabrication. Principal components analysis, discriminant analysis and clustering methods were applied to the quantitative varia bles. The results confirm the hypothesis that Petit-Niort and Soubran were close manufacturing sites with very similar raw materials and tec hnological methods. Their position on the Saintes-Bordeaux trade route would explain the discovery of some of their ceramics in these two ma jor centres. Bordeaux was already an important town during that period and the potteries found there may have been, in large part, imported. Although Saintes was a manufacturing site, supplying most of the need s of the town, imports from other sites in the region cannot be exclud ed.