ANALYSIS OF ANCIENT-POTTERY FROM THE PALATINE-HILL IN ROME

A program of compositional analysis using neutron activation has been performed on samples of Roman fineware from the Palatine East excavati ons in Rome at the University of Illinois' TRIGA reactor. These experi ments are ultimately intended to assist the authors in advancing the u nderstanding of the organization of pottery production and distributio n in central Italy during the late Roman imperial period (4th-5th c. A D). The objectives of this paper are 1) to present an archaeological b ackground of two regionally-produced finewares, 2) to discuss the meth ods of sampling, irradiation and data analyses, and 3) to demonstrate the preliminary results of our investigation, which included the analy ses of Plio-Pleistocene clays from the Janiculum Hill in Rome.