Digitalisation and Fingerprint Identification of Roman Terra Sigillata Pottery

For decades, dating of Roman Terra Sigillata pottery was assessed by visual inspection. Since the ornaments and indentations on the ceramic surface are characteristic for the manufacturing workshop in the Roman Empire, archeologists have used chronological catalogues to assign the sherds to its time period. This paper should underpin the application of image-based nondestructive testing (NDT) methods as a powerful instrument for obtaining data, which allows to extract predominant features for later classification. At first, an overview ist given to a variety of non-invasive inspection technique with particular focus on digital photography and infrared (IR) thermography. To receive enhanced spectral information, IR thermography is proposed complementary to visible light photography in an experimental study. Furthermore, different image processing techniques are applied to reveal their potential for enhanced feature extraction. Finally, the paper should give rise for the identification of the manufacturing period and the constructor's fingerprint of Terra Sigillata pottery at a later stage.