Colorimetric Study of Ayla-Aksum amphorae from the Red Sea Coast of Eritrea

Colorimetric evaluation was applied on archaeological pottery from the ancient port city of Adulis in the Red Sea coast of Eritrea. Pottery samples belong to Ayla-Aksum typology, which had never been analysed by means of this technique. The experimental work focused on colorimetric measurements on different parts of the ceramic bodies to comprehend how the data can be related to fabric classification. Differences in the colorimetric parameters could provide helpful information on both technological processes of manufacture and fabric classification. Subtle variations in the colour coordinates have been detected and are interpreted in this study to ascribe differences. It has been proven that the information provided by colour measurements can be partially correlated to observations from stereo-microscopy and optical microscopy for a more in-depth description of the fabrics in the study of archaeological pottery.