Reference Collection

The Archaeology and Geology Departments of Ghent University are proud to announce the launch of the online open-access reference collection FLEPOSTORE: Flemish Pottery & Stone Reference collection. It can be consulted online at: https://flepostore.ugent.be

The reference collection focuses on pottery and stone found at archaeological sites and in historic buildings in Flanders, dating from prehistory to the pre-industrial era. The aim is to collect and give access to diagnostic reference material from archaeological and geological contexts whose provenance is known with certainty. This includes pottery from pottery production contexts and clay and stone from quarries or natural outcrops.

In this way, FLEPOSTORE makes the identification and provenance determination of these geo-materials accessible and aims to bridge the gap between education, research and society in an interdisciplinary way. Flepostore is therefore intended for all stakeholders: students, researchers, heritage professionals and anyone interested in geo-materials in an archaeological and historical context.

The materials are made accessible online by means of high-quality macro and microscopic photographs, detailed descriptions and geographical information. All samples are archived offline in a physical collection. The collection is not static and therefore, in the future, efforts will be made to expand and further improve the documentation.

The project was funded by an FWO-Hercules project for Medium-Scale Research Infrastructure. The reference collection could only be created thanks to the numerous contributions of many different partners & colleagues. We would therefore like to thank them for their contribution.