Nè forni, nè matrici. Evidenze indirette per la ricostruzione di un coroplastic workshop a Katane

In 1959, during an excavation of a sewer duct in the center of Catania (ancient Katane),one of the most important votive complexes of the western Mediterranean was broughtto light. Beyond a large amount of imported and locally produced pottery, the depositcontained more than 10,000, both imported and locally produced, terracotta figurinesfrom the beginning of the 6th to the late 4th century BC. In 2011, a research project aimedto the integral publication of the coroplastic material has been undertaken by a team ofresearchers they thus far have almost completed the study of the Archaic coroplasticmaterial. The present paper intends to demonstrate how the study of the productiontechnique of both mould and handmade terracotta figurines together with the stylisticalanalysis, can provide crucial information to identify one or more coroplastic workshops,even in the absence of kilns, moulds and tools. The analysis of some technical featureswhich presuppose specific craft procedures together with the results of the archaeometricanalyses have provided the indirect evidences to suggest that a large group of figurinesoriginated in the same local workshop. The analysis of the manifacture technique allowedto make some assumptions on the sequence and organization of the production, thepossible presence of apprentices and some stylistic choises.