What is it about?
The database under preparation is intended to provide a means of reference for archaeologists, but it also addresses a wider audience.
It contains archaeological, topographical, chemical and mineralogical data, both published and unpublished, relevant to (regarding) ceramics produced in central-southern Italy (Etruria, Lazio, Campania and Sicily are the regions so far considered). A part of the database is devoted to shipwrecks which in ancient times carried amphorae and ceramics, together with victuals, through the Mediterranean Sea.

Why ceramics?
Ceramics is one of the indicators archaeologists use most to date, to reconstruct trade routes and the economic situation of sites, to know the technological level of ancient communities. Moreover, it is one of the most documented finds in archaeological sites.
The documents amassed (collected) by archaeologists over the years, scattered in a number of publications, do not always allow either to get a comprehensive view of the findings or to connect data between each other, whereas it would be very useful to be able to do so, also in order to identify new lines of research and reconsider important themes.
Database queries may concern the location of production sites (and shipwrecks), the extrapolation of the ceramics produced in a site or in an area, the linking up between archaeological data (typological, macroscopic and epigraphic data) and laboratory data. It is also possible to recover the whole bibliography about production areas and ceramics produced.

How is the database organized?
The database has a flexible relational structure for data management in tables and a simplified user interface for data entry by means of masks. The bulk of the very heterogeneous data entered demanded the creation of a complex structure for recording and the development of a methodological process for the data entry and their subsequent query. At the core of the structure there is the object (the pottery), described in its physical and typological features of the class it belongs to, the find-spot (Site table) and its production site, accompanied with graphic and photographic documentation (see image below).

The other tables contain information about the workshops (Workshop/Handicraft district table) and the kilns (Kiln table) were the objects were produced.
The object data can be linked up with the ones related to the ceramic fabric (the raw material) and to its features and production techniques (Fabric table).
Another possible link is the one to epigraphic data (Stamp table), which can be viewed straight within the mask.
As for the finds undergoing laboratory analyses, it is possible to have access to the chemical (Chemical analyses table) and mineralogical (Mineralogical analyses table) analysis results of the sample.

Who is at work?
The scientific project has arisen from an idea of G. Olcese. Cilea (Milan) is working on its implementation, thanks to the cooperation of L. Ceccarelli.
The working group of Rome (L. Ceccarelli, C. Coletti, G. Olcese), with the help of external research unit collaborators (R. Baldassarri e G. Picchi), is organizing the contents.