Fornaci per la produzione di terrecotte figurate in Sicilia. Costanti e distribuzione spaziale. Il caso di Camarina

Surveys carried out on the Archaic to the Hellenistic-Roman production places for pottery and terracotta artifacts in Sicily show a rich variety in terms of typology and topographical location. This variety raises questions on the reasons that govern their location and spatial concentration; nevertheless it is interesting to verify if this situation corresponds to a diversification of the production in terms of either production capacity or specialization of products. It is, however, an investigation complicated by the different data at our disposal. Still not clear is actually the relationship established between the general grid pattern of the city and the production centers and between these latter and the information we possess about the origin, the development and the consumption of individual classes of materials. Nevertheless, on the basis of the carried examination, the Sicilian craftsmen seem to work, mostly, in small situations; they mainly respond to the needs of the community in which they live and its immediate area of political as well as commercial influence. This aspect had to have an impact on the location of the production places. There is, in fact, a close relationship between the production places and the direct consumption of the artefacts, suggested by the choice to place the kilns in prominent points of the urban area, close to the sacred areas, the cemeteries, and along the main accesses and routes of the city.