Petrological Analysis of the Sealings

Ninety-six burnt clay sealings from the excavations at Hellenistic Nysa-Scythopolis (Chapter 3) were the subjects of this provenience study. The aims of the study were to identify the clay and the non-plastic inclusions of the dough used for sealings, to group the sealings according to their lithology, and to determine their possible provenance. Because of the uniqueness of the artifacts and their very small size (less than 1 cm, as a rule), no petrographic thin sections could be made. Instead, petrological analysis was deemed appropriate. This entailed the examination of the fabrics under a binocular microscope at magnifications of ×