Contrary to a widely held , but misleading, belief the clay for the colloidal suspension used for the black and red figure decoration of a pot differs from the clay used for the pot’s body. In fact the “clay-paint” must display specific physico-chemical features, both in terms of its chemical composition and of its propensity to form a spontaneous colloidal suspension. A systematic survey of clay sources in Attica identified a number of clay sources that display these features. Using trace element analysis, modern reproductions using these clay sources where then compared with ancient samples in an attempt to narrow down the location of probable ancient clay-paint sources. We expect that by such a systematic comparison between well documented modern and ancient decorated pots it will be possible to answer several open archaeological questions.
