FIND OUT THE PRINTING MATRIX OF THE NEAPOLITAN MARKS WITH INVERSE READINGS OF THE SURVEY DATA

Abstract. The paper presents the first results of the metric and geometric investigations carried out in the analysis of the stamps on Greek-Italic amphorae of Neapolitan production, found during the archaeological excavation of Piazza Nicola Amore, in Naples, Italy.

The experiments were carried out with a view to defining a methodological process useful on the one hand to document in a digital archive the three-dimensional morphology of the artefact under investigation, and on the other to allow new readings, through a manipulation of the data that goes beyond the physical limits of the artefact itself. In particular, the research presented here proposes the topological investigation for the identification of stamps obtained from the same punch and therefore the possibility of ideally reconstructing the printing matrix.

Since the stamps left by the punches on the amphorae are impressed at millimetric depths, the stamps are not always easy to read using traditional archaeological documentation methods. The research operations therefore began with the digitisation of a substantial number of finds by means of three-dimensional, reality-based surveys of sub-millimetre detail. Before proceeding with specific correspondence analyses, the archaeological classification based on the typological similarities of the marks was of great support.