From clays to pottery: Role of geomaterials in the social - technological development of the Messina territory (Sicily, Italy) and archaeological-historical information on the main kilns

This contribution is intended to answer the question of why in teaching approaches it is important to speak about territory? The answer to the question is driven by the consideration that the territory, including the established human activities, encompasses the history, the events and the culture of the people who populated it. On this regard, it should be noted that the relationship between natural elements and human activities that refer to a given territory has a dynamic character since both influence each other and help to write the history of that place. In this framework, the proposed method is used as an interdisciplinary approach to the theme of clay minerals. These latter are hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, with variable amounts of iron, magnesium, alkali metals, alkaline earths. They are the main constituents of soils, and have been used by humans since ancient times in agriculture and manufacturing. For this reason, clays played a basic role for the human civilization process since its earliest periods. Clays are recognized amongst the most important rock products, both as raw material and in the form of pottery, bricks, tiles, terra-cotta and many other tools for daily use. This is particular evident in Sicily, where, since ancient times, the availability of local clay sources favoured the diffusion of clay-artefacts and related workshops found over the territory. This paper makes reference to a lecture addressed to university students and includes: i) the description of the main mineralogical features and properties of clay minerals; ii) a brief discussion on the role played by clays in terms of clay-artefacts production in the historical and cultural evolution of the Messina territory; iii) a description of local clay outcrops; iiii) a presentation of the main kilns over the Messina territory, and in particular of unpublished archaeological information on the S. Pier Niceto kilns. The proposed approach aims to increase the interest of students towards the significant aspects that affected the social-economic growth of the Messina’s territory and on the importance that geo-materials had in the technological evolution of its civilization process.