Question Home

Position:Home>History> Ancient piece of pottery?


Question: Ancient piece of pottery!?
I was visiting Rome several years ago & while at the Coliseum, I was watching an archaeological dig!. One of them handed me a cracked piece of pottery they had just unearthed!. I've been storing it in a shadow box & I'm not sure it even legal to have this! Regardless, who can I take it to so I can find out more about it, i!.e!. how old it is, etc!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
You would have to show it to an expert!. Even then its possible a shard alone might not have enough detail to conclusively id it!. Pottery anywhere covers thousands of years and different cultures typically!. If you have any idea what level the dig was on though, it is likely the shard is from that period!. Pottery is one of the artifacts that tend to stay in situ!. Unless complete, it stays where it was broken and discarded!. Coins and weapons and such can migrate thousands of miles and thousands of years from where originally lost!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

unless your piece of pottery has some VERY distinctive markings on it, the only person who can tell you the answers is the archaeologists who were working the dig!. Did the person who handed it to you say anything!? Did they give you expressed permission to keep the artifact!? Monetarily, It's probably worthless,as they have found tons of broken roman era pottery!. Scientifically it is worthless, because you have removed it from the rest of the artifacts without cataloging it in relation to where it was found and what other objects were near it!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Should have asked them at the time! See if your local university has a classics or archaeology department, they may be able to help you!.

Italy has gotten very possessive of its antiquities lately; you may just want to keep it to yourself!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Eh I'd say a big museum on pottery in Chicago, New York, etc!.Www@QuestionHome@Com