Terra sigillata is a term with at least three distinct meanings: as a description of medieval medicinal earth; in archaeology, as a general term for some of the fine red Ancient Roman pottery with glossy surface slips made in specific areas of the Roman Empire; and more recently, as a description of a contemporary studio pottery technique supposedly inspired by ancient pottery. Usually roughly translated as ´sealed earth´, the meaning of ´terra sigillata´ is ´clay bearing little images´ (Latin sigilla), not ´clay with a sealed (impervious) surface´. The archaeological term is applied, however, to plain-surfaced pots as well as those decorated with figures in relief.
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