POTTERY: A LOOK INSIDE

Physico-chemical analysis undertaken by the Grupo de Investigación Cervitrum (CSIC) on samples of pottery from Casa Montero revealed interesting manufacturing information.

This pottery was made from illitic clays, sometimes associated with smectites, which had a non-plastic component with a particle size ranging from a few micrometers to 2.5 mm. The mineralogical composition of the clay is associated with the weathering of a predominately granite area. This mineralogy is geologically compatible with that seen at Casa Montero. Thus, this pottery may have been of local origin. Given the mineralogical phases detected, it was probably fired at around 700-750°C. The frequent colour changes in the clay matrix indicates scant control of the firing atmosphere; this pottery was, therefore, probably, made in a some non-permanent furnace.