Terra Nigra
Terra Nigra refers to ancient black ceramics .
In the archaeological ceramic system, Terra Nigra describes a Roman type of goods from Rhineland production during the Roman Empire , which is also referred to as "Belgian goods". These are disk-turned fine ceramics or hand-made fine ceramics, which are based on "Germanic" Latène traditions on the right bank of the Rhine, integrating Roman influences . The name is not historical, but a new creation of our time.
technology
Before firing, the leather-hard dried vessels were covered with a thick but finely divided white engobe , the surface was then polished with a spatula or smoothing stone and thus refined. The Terra Nigra owes its intense shine to this mechanical surface treatment. In a reducing fire (ie throttling the oxygen supply to a minimum) and possibly by adding smoke to the pottery kiln , the potter achieved a light gray or gray-black body and the glossy black coating.
Terra nigra vessels were often decorated with lines or wheels. Commonly also stamp ornaments in checkerboard shape and Barbotine -Ornament.
Dating
This type of goods occurs in the north-western provinces of the Roman Empire mainly in the first half of the 1st century and then gradually disappears from the inventory. In contrast to the related Terra rubra , which has a red body due to oxidising fire and is limited to the early 1st century, the Terra nigra runs occasionally up to the 2nd / 3rd century. Century. In the 4th century the technology was temporarily revived and reappeared in Trier and in the Rhine-Hessian area as "nigraware".
literature
- Helmut Bernhard : Studies on the late Roman Terra Nigra between the Rhine, Main and Neckar . Saalburg yearbook 40/41, 1984/85, 34–120.
- Karl Heinz Lenz : Fine ceramics. In: Thomas Fischer (Ed.): The Roman Provinces. An introduction to their archeology. Theiss-Verlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-8062-1591-X , pp. 290-293.
- Rainer Schreg : Ceramics from Southwest Germany. A help for the description, determination and dating of archaeological finds from the Neolithic to modern times . Teaching and working materials on archeology in the Middle Ages and modern times (Tübingen 1998. 3rd edition 2007) 168ff., ISBN 3-9806-5330-7
