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The introduction of agricultural practices fostered the development of specific technologies for the new subsistence practices and the production of new artefacts. Pyrotechnological structures such as ovens are part of the Neolithic equipment and accompanied the spread of agriculture from the Near East across Europe and the Mediterranean Sea. Ovens located within settlements – mainly domed, above-ground structures – have been traditionally linked to cooking and baking. The function is usually deduced from techno-morphological traits, although experimental approaches or ethnoarchaeological observations have often been used. This article aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of the multidisciplinary approach to understand the function of fire structures. An integrated methodology that combines archaeological analysis, archaeometry, and experimental archaeology has been applied to study the underground ovens of the Early Neolithic site of Portonovo (Marche, Italy) dated to the sixth millennium BCE. Samples of hardened sediment of archaeological ovens’ inner surface and selected pottery fragments were analysed through X-ray powder diffraction to estimate the temperature reached. A life-size replica of an underground oven was then created to perform firing experiments, including pottery firing. Samples of the oven’s walls and experimental vessels were analysed with the same method, and the values were compared. Our results indicate that the Portonovo ovens are potentially multifunctional structures, built for about 700 years, always with the same technique exploiting the natural soil’s insulating properties.

International audience; This work aims at studying the manufacturing and technology peculiarities of Apulian red figure (4th − 3rd century BCE) production from Arpi. In particular, the relationship between the red figure production from Arpi with coeval pottery of different classes retrieved in the same contexts in Arpi is investigated, as well as the connection between the red figure production from Arpi and same class vases from different Apulian sites. This goal has been achieved through widening the archaeometrical studies so far performed to red figures finds from two more tomb complexes in Arpi – i.e. tomb of the Niobids vase and 4/2004 tomb – and also organically reorganizing the so far obtained experimental data on Arpi findings of various ceramic classes. The systematic characterization of red figure vases was obtained by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), Powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD) and Raman Spectroscopy. Analytical data allow to define the elemental and mineralogical composition of ceramic pastes and identify pigments and coatings.The results allow to validate the archaeological hypotheses that Arpi red figure production is different from the one from other Apulian areas and that pictorial experiences were shared among tombs, domus and ceramic production in Arpi.

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During the Neolithic period, near the North-Eastern coast of the Gargano promontory (Apulia Region, Italy), an important network of mines represented the most ancient European example of systematic exploitation of primary chert sources. These high-quality raw materials were traded between prehistoric communities living on both sides of the Adriatic Sea. However, the Gargano promontory is not the only area of the Apulia Region with chert sources. Secondary sources of the Tavoliere plain deposits and primary sources of the Southern Apennines must be considered in addition to the Gargano chert-bearing limestones. This paper provides an overview of chert sources distribution in the Gargano and Tavoliere plain through a chert sources map based on up-to-date geological and archaeological information. The map represents the first lithic procurement mapping in the Region and it is a very useful tool for planning sampling activities and detect the potential chert sources exploited in Neolithic times. The map was used for sampling pebbles near the coast and inland of the investigated area. A non-destructive multi-parametric protocol for chert investigations (NM-PCI) method was applied to all the collected secondary samples. The results were compared at first with those of the Gargano mines. The output of the partition around medoids (PAM) procedure shows, as a general trend, that primary sources are well grouped, while secondary sources show less clear compositional fingerprints. However, the features of the coastal and inland pebbles are quite different.

International audience; Since 2014, the Centre Jean Bérard of Naples and the Università degli Studi of Salerno, in collaboration with the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per le Province di Barletta-Andria-Trani e Foggia resumed the study of Arpi’s Daunian settlement. The goal was to specify the phases of frequentation and abandon, as well as the use of the domestic spaces, and the interactions between the residential zone, the cult areas, and the funeral places. Previous research data and the study of rural and urban landscapes’ dynamics were used for this task. The research initially focused on the resumption of the so-called «mosaic of lions and panthers» domus’ documentation, studied by Marina Mazzei in the 90’s. It was progressively extended to all data related to Montarozzi area, located in the south-east part of the Arpi settlement. The combined study of structures, necropolis’ nucleus, roads and water supply/draining systems, enabled us to extend the research, little at a time, from a single context to the Montarozzi neighborhood, and eventually to the whole settlement area. The cultural and environmental transformations of the settlement in contact with the colonial cities, the North Greeks, and the Romans, were thus traced back throughout the evolution of the Daunian house from the end of the 5th century to the 2nd century.

Northern Apulia has primary and secondary chert sources which were exploited in prehistory. During Neolithic period, on the north-eastern coast of the Gargano promontory, an important network of mines represented one of the most significant primary chert sources in the Adriatic area. However, easily accessible secondary chert sources are available in the Tavoliere plain in several synthems from the southern Appennines chain to the Gulf of Manfredonia. This work provides an overview of chert sources distributed in the Gargano and Tavoliere plain by means of a combination of up-to-date geological and archaeological information. Moreover, the lithic industries of eight Early and Middle Neolithic settlements were sampled in order to understand the procurement strategies of chert or tools used by communities settled in the Tavoliere plain. A non-destructive multi-parametric protocol for chert investigations (NM-PCI) method was applied to all the collected Gargano mines and secondary chert from the Tavoliere area. The results obtained demonstrate a high percentage of secondary chert used in the investigated sites, and the exploitation of mined chert essentially for the production of blades. In this latter case, provenance from the mines of Maiolica Fm is more frequent than that from mines of Peschici Fm. The polygenic nature of the pebbles occurring in the different synthems is the consequence of different sedimentary histories, as witnessed by the difference in the lithological array between inland and coastal synthems, and makes difficult any attribution to a specific source. If on the one hand these results further testify the circulation of mined Gargano chert in the Tavoliere plain in the Early Neolithic, on the other hand they demonstrate that the secondary coastal pebbles, especially those of southern Gargano lithotypes, were largely used, even in inland settlements. Moreover, these results suggest the exploitation of other primary cherts of the southern Gargano. This underlines the importance of further archaeological and geological investigations to better understand the exploitation and circulation of chert in Northern Apulia and in the Adriatic area.

A nondestructive multiparametric protocol for chert investigations (NM-PCI) was developed to provide objective criteria for raw material procurements and provenance investigations of archaeological cherts. For this purpose, macroscopic and mesoscopic characteristics (structures, textures and paleontological contents) were used to describe the main visible chert features as well as colourimetric and geochemical data acquired with portable devices. Data handling was performed by means of cluster analysis multivariate statistics, with an appropriate selection of algorithms to process and visualize mixed data matrices (partitioning around medoids (PAM), t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE)). The protocol was applied to chert samples from the Gargano Promontory (Italy, Apulia) mining complex located in the districts of Peschici, Vieste and Mattinata. These mines, exploited for approximately four millennia, constitute an exceptional prehistoric record of mining archaeology and, above all, a key tool to understand the Neolithisation process throughout the Adriatic region. A map of the primary and secondary chert sources of the Gargano Promontory was produced to manage field sampling of mine structures. Waste materials were selected for the geologic samples of the five mines. Due to their inaccessibility, the samples from two mines consisted exclusively of waste materials. The NM-PCI proved able to discriminate most of the analysed mines and is well suited to provenance investigations of archaeological lithic industries. Compared to previous geochemical studies, the nondestructive method proposed here improves geological resolution, allowing the discrimination of cherts within the same formation.

The island of Antiparos belongs to the Aegean volcanic arc. The obsidian outcrops here contain pieces of excellent tool-making quality, but of small size making the raw material less attractive. Geological samples collected at Soros beach, at Blaco and Mastichi, in the southern part of the island, were analysed using Optical Microscopy, XRF (whole rock) and SEM-EDS (glass and microliths-microphenocrysts). The results obtained demonstrate the potential for distinguishing the Antiparos obsidian from other major central-western Mediterranean sources in an absolutely non-destructive way, using an XRF spectrometer or alternatively with an SEM equipped with an ED spectrometer.

Routine pottery analyses (optical microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray fluorescence) and digital image processing of polarised light photomicrographs were used to answer questions on the provenance and technology of pottery assemblages belonging to Late Acacus hunter–gatherers (ca. 10,200–8000 cal BP) and Pastoral herders (ca. 8300–4650 cal BP) from Takarkori rock shelter (SW Libya, central Sahara). This integrated analytical approach on potsherds was combined with the characterisation of local clayey sediments to identify different local and proximal sources for coarse and fine sediments exploited for pottery production. Two main fabric groups (i.e. Q* and QF*) were identified among the analysed potsherds, where the sediments from the Takarkori area are compatible with the quartz-dominated fabrics (Q*). The local fabric QVe shows evidence of dung addition. Pottery with plutonic non-plastic inclusions (QF*) points to provenance from the southern edges of the Tassili n’Ajjer and is more frequent in Late Acacus and Early Pastoral layers. New insights into pottery production and circulation between Early Holocene Saharan hunter–gatherers and Pastoral communities, as well as into modes of occupation of Takarkori rock shelter, are provided.

Human communities at the transition between the Eneolithic period and the Bronze Age had to rapidly adapt to cultural and climatic changes, which influenced the whole Mediterranean. The exact dynamics involved in this crucial passage are still a matter of discussion. As newer studies have highlighted the key role of climatic fluctuations during this period, their relationship with the human occupation of the landscape are yet to be fully explored. We investigated the infilling of negative structures at the archaeological site of Tegole di Bovino (Apulia, Southern Italy) looking at evidence of the interaction between climate changes and human strategies. The archaeological sedimentary deposits, investigated though geoarchaeological and micromorphological techniques, show the presence of natural and anthropogenic infillings inside most structures. Both human intervention and/or natural events occurred in the last phases of occupation of the site and its subsequent abandonment. The transition to unfavorable climatic conditions in the same period was most likely involved in the abandonment of the site. The possible further impact of human communities on the landscape in that period, testified by multiple other archives, might have in turn had a role in the eventual change in land use.

Grotta dei Cervi (Apulia, Southern Italy) is the most important European figurative art site for its Neolithic red and brown paintings found in the various galleries of the cave. It was frequented with particular intensity between an advanced phase of the Early Neolithic (first half of the sixth millennium BCE) and continued up to the end of the Bronze Age (last centuries of the second millennium BCE). Among the more than thirty thousand finds, some ceramic shards had black residues on them. These residues were sampled so that molecular and isotopic investigations could be carried out. GC–MS-MS and EA–IRMS after fractionation of the samples allowed us to identify bitumen on some archaeological potsherd remains and to identify its geographic source by comparison with geological samples from Majella and Selenice, two deposits located respectively in Italy and Albania and known to have been exploited since Neolithic times. All the bitumens from Porto Badisco correlate with each other and with the Selenice geological samples. Isotopic fingerprints strongly support the biomolecular evidence and confirm the Albanian origin of the archaeological bitumen. The data presented herein provide the first evidence of export and trade of raw bitumen across the Adriatic Sea from Selenice to Apulia during the Neolithic age thus bringing back to the fifth millennium BCE the transport of bitumen across the Adriatic Sea in the central Mediterranean area.

In the present study we analyse the human skeletal remains of 10 of the 12 inhumations brought to light in the Neolithic ditched village of Passo di Corvo (VI millennium B.C., Foggia, Apulia, Italy), excavated between 1966 and 1980. The burials were identified as primary inhumations during the excavations, but we observed intentional peri mortem lesions (cut, chop and scrape marks) on some of the bones, attesting practices of defleshing and possibly of dismemberment. These findings indicate that the funerary rituals of the Neolithic people of Passo di Corvo included cadaver treatment practices that were impossible to postulate without a careful observation of the bones. This study highlights the importance of anthropological analysis even in the case of apparently clear contexts.

The paper presents archaeometric analyses (OM, XRPD and XRF) of Greek imports, Greek-type pottery, local reference materials of Orientalising Period (7th century BC) from the modern city of Policoro (Basilicata), in the area of ancient settlement of Siris/Polieion along the Ionian Sea coast. The 34 potsherds can be divided into eight different fabrics for their composition and grain-size distribution. Fabrics IC, ICP, ICC and ICA (n = 27) can be ascribed to the use of a Ca-rich clay, while fabrics QA, IGC, Q and IA (n = 7) to the use of a Ca-poor clay. Pottery made of calcareous clay can be associated with four clay samples from the local marine Plio-Pleistocene clay and fluvial deposits, with significant elutriation as inferred from its very fine texture and chemical variability. Pottery made of non-calcareous clays shows very different non-plastic inclusions (mudstones, chert and quarzarenitic as well as calcareous clasts) which suggest non-local production, with different imports from Greece, such us Corinthian amphorae, Subgeometric pottery and surprisingly also firing pots (chytrai). The Ca-poor samples show a general low to medium sintering (500

The X-ray fluorescence technique using peak intensity ratios of trace elements is one of the faster, less expensive and less invasive methods for obsidian sourcing. Moreover, XRF peak intensity ratios are particularly useful when the artifact is slightly altered, particularly affecting the alkali cations, or when its surfaces are covered with a fine film of carbonate deposits formed while the sample was buried. The limitation of this technique results from the dimensions of the obsidian samples: very small obsidian samples, nowadays about 1 cm in size, are difficult to measure given the very few X-rays emitted by their surface. An aluminium holder closed with a very thin Mylar© polyester film was prepared and the specimen, positioned at the centre of the surface of the Mylar film, was placed in the XRF spectrometer. The use of recent technology XRF apparatus equipped with a 4 kW Rh anode X-ray tube coupled with an accurate measurement of refined X-ray characteristic lines, that exclude the X-ray background contribution, of five trace elements (Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb), made it possible to determine the source geological outcrop of archaeological obsidian samples as little as 7 mm and as light as 40 mg. A database of peak intensity ratios, background and interference free, of five trace elements was produced for obsidian samples from Monte Arci, Palmarola, Lipari, Pantelleria, Gyali and Melos. This database may be used by other laboratories provided the X-ray intensity of the trace elements Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb are measured as net intensities, that is purified from the contribution of the background and from interelemental interferences. A comparison between data obtained with two spectrometers, of different generation and differently calibrated, confirmed the possibility of obtaining a database that can be shared with other laboratories. The proposed XRF method was tested on Neolithic obsidians from four Apulian sites (Ripa Tetta at Lucera, Palestra ex G.I.L. at Foggia, Pulo di Molfetta and Grotta di Santa Barbara at Polignano a Mare), whose source outcrops had been also determined by SEM-EDS.

In Upper Nubia (currently northern Sudan), the art of making pottery has a very ancient and durable tradition, dating back to the early Holocene and preceding the introduction of a food-producing economy. Ethnographic case studies have demonstrated that this tradition has been preserved in many areas of the country. This paper presents a comparative study of ancient and modern traditional ceramics from four prehistoric sites at Sai Island, in the river Nile, and a present-day workshop located in the nearby village of Abri. The aim of the study was to investigate any diachronic changes in the selection of clayey raw material and the technological processes of the manufacturing sequence. The study combined macroscopic and analytical approaches and examined a large set of ceramic and local clay samples by means of petrographic (OM), mineralogical (X-ray powder diffraction; XRPD) and chemical (X-ray fluorescence; XRF) analyses. The resulting data underline a remarkable continuity in raw material sourcing and composition, as well as in many technological processes, from the ceramic assemblages dating from Abkan cultural horizon ( c . 5500 BCE) until to the present-day production in Abri. This continuity emerged after a preceding discontinuity, indicated by a different selection of clay raw material and tempers in the oldest production dating to the Khartoum Variant horizon ( c. 7600–4800 BCE).

The results discussed in this paper represent an initial overview of the Mid-Late Neolithic Serra d’Alto pottery of the Murge area. A petrographic comparison of pottery samples from various contexts (caves and settlements) demonstrate a local production in every Neolithic archaeological site considered here. The frequent occurrence of the same fabrics in different contexts suggests the circulation of technological models. Ongoing research at a larger number of Neolithic sites in the same area will confirm or refute the preliminary observations presented here.

La Mission archéologique « Italie du Sud » a été créée en 2000. Dès sa création, elle n'a pas été attachée à un site en particulier, mais elle a été conçue comme un soutien du Ministère des Affaires étrangères aux recherches archéologiques françaises effectuées en Italie Méridionale. Depuis le début, la Mission a concentré ses travaux sur deux thématiques en synergie avec les axes du projet scientifique du Centre Jean Bérard, USR 3133 du CNRS et de l'École française de Rome : « Aux marges des colonies grecques » et « Artisanat urbain et vie économique antiques en Italie méridionale ». Les actions du programme ont porté au cours du quadriennal 2016-2019 sur 4 sites archéologiques majeurs : Cumes et Pompéi en Campanie, Arpi dans les Pouilles et l’Incoronata en Basilicate.

Dans le cadre du programme sur « Arpi. Formes et vie d’une cité italiote » que conduit depuis 2014 le Centre Jean Bérard en collaboration avec l’Université de Salerne et la SABAP de Foggia, les recherches ont porté en 2017 et 2018 sur l’ensemble des fouilles réalisées à l’occasion des grands travaux effectués sur le site de 1969 à 1992. Il s’agit, d’une part, de la construction du tronçon Bologne-Canosa de l’Autoroute Adriatica A14, d’autre part, de l’implantation, à partir des années 80, d’un réseau d’irrigation pour le compte du Consorzio per la bonifica della Capitanata. Cette dernière a abouti à la découverte, le 19 mars 1992, de la mosaïque « des Lions et des Panthères ». Un des enjeux de ces deux dernières années était de procéder à la cartographie encore jamais réalisée des vestiges mis au jour par le creusement des tranchées SAFAB et d’évaluer le type d’informations que la distribution des tombes pouvait fournir, comme à Gioia del Colle par exemple, sur l’organisation de la ville, tant du point de vue topographique que chronologique. Avec celle des domus, la topographie des nécropoles constitue en effet, comme le soulignait E. Greco en 1996, un des phénomènes les plus significatifs de la structuration de cette grande agglomération. Le croisement des informations fournies par l’emplacement des tombes, leur chronologie, leur typologie et leur mobilier complète les connaissances sur les transformations urbaines et sociales. À défaut de nouvelles fouilles, ces données précisent l’organisation de l’espace urbain en aidant à replacer le quartier d’habitation de Montarozzi dans l’histoire du site. Deux missions, en décembre 2017 et en juillet 2018, ont permis de traiter la documentation d’archive et le mobilier afin de mettre à jour la base de données sur les découvertes réalisées à Arpi.

International audience; In the framework of the reassessment of the Neolithic Square-Mouthed Pottery series from locus P8, Lare 2 cave (Saint-Benoit, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, South-eastern France), two sherds were identified as possible replicas or importations of fine painted ware (i.e. figulina) from Serra d'Alto contexts (Southern Italy). Combining geological and chemical methods (thin section analysis, microprobe, XR diffraction, XR fluorescence and Scanning Electron Microscopy), a transdisciplinary study was designed for the characterization of the archaeological ceramics and the identification of the clay resources used in their manufacture.The results allow the authors to discount production using a local clay resource. Instead, they support the hypothesis that pottery was traded over a distance of 1200 km, from southern Italy to the Alps. This new data highlights the demand for the products of the Serra d'Alto workshops, which mastered kiln production, as well as the spatial extension and the intensity of intercultural networks during the Early/Middle 5th millennium BCE, a time of increasing social complexity in Europe.

The discovery of remains of daub, especially burned, is very common in Italian pre- and protohistoric sites. This collective work aims to summarize the researches carried out over the last thirty years in Italian contexts of the Late Prehistory, from the Neolithic to the Iron Age. The subjects considered in this paper will be the selection of raw materials and their preparation, the realization of the timber frame or of the the wattle, the putting of the raw earth on the frame and the technical interactions. A number of case studies will be taken into account, in order to draw up a synthesis of the different techniques attested in Italian territory, looking for geographical or chronological constants or variables. The methodological approaches implemented by the various authors will be taken into account.

Tra dicembre 2015 e gennaio 2016, sono state svolte indagini archeologiche preventive nel sito neolitico di Masseria Acquasalsa (Lucera, FG), a seguito di un intervento di sostituzione di una condotta idrica che intercettava, in località Acquasalsa, un insediamento neolitico, già noto in letteratura, circondato da due fossati concentrici. Le operazioni di scavo, descritte in questo contributo, hanno portato alla luce due tratti del fossato perimetrale più interno, nei saggi II e IV, una porzione del fossato perimetrale più esterno, intercettato nel saggio VI, un compound posto tra i due fossati, nel saggio I, ed altri due compounds interni al villaggio, emersi nei saggi II e III, dove sono state individuate altre strutture minori. Ad una prima disamina del materiale ceramico, le testimonianze archeologiche, messe in luce in corso di scavo, potrebbero ricondursi ad un momento datato tra una fase avanzata del Neolitico Antico ed una iniziale del Neolitico Medio.

Apulian red figured pottery is part of the most recognizable and appreciated artworks of Italian cultural heritage. The initial objective of the research was checking the non-authenticity of some parts of two important Apulian red figured vases, stored in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples and subjected, through the ages, to several unrecorded restorations. The results obtained, in addition to achieve the set goal, revealed the non-authenticity of the whole upper part of one of the two vases, supplied further knowledge on nineteenth century restoration techniques, for these vases never adequately described, but mostly underlined how the answers to the archeological questions can only arise from a detailed characterization of the materials, succeeded by a scientific multi-technique strategy. Specifically, the complete chemical–physical characterization of the samples was accomplished by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies.

International audience

This study describes the results of petrographical, mineralogical and chemical analyses carried out on coarse tempered cooking pottery, sampled in the archaeological sites of Herdonia , Posta Crusta (Ordona, FG) and San Giusto (Lucera, FG). From the latter site, two fragments of a pottery kiln, coeval with sherds (IV and V centuries AD), were also investigated. Two groups of clayey sediments of different nature (alluvial and marine) sampled in the neighbouring of the archaeological sites were also analysed. By means of the petrographical analyses, all cooking pottery and the two kiln fragments were grouped in the same coarse tempered group, characterised by the scarce presence of trachytic and glassy fragments, anhedral and zoned augitic pyroxenes and feldspars. PXRD analyses show an abundant presence of quartz and feldspars, followed by pyroxenes and variable quantities of calcite and hematite. Among clay minerals, illite plus muscovite are more abundant than smectite. XRF analyses data display SiO 2 , Al 2 O 3 , Fe 2 O 3 and K 2 O as main oxides, with variable quantities of CaO. In the case of the clayey samples, petrographical investigations on thin-section of psammitic fractions outlined the differences between Argille subappennine (Marine group—Pleistocene) and the alluvial deposits of Celone River (Alluvial group—Holocene). The occurrence of volcanic products, chert, garnet, quartzarenites and limestones in the archaeological materials and in the alluvial samples, let us suppose that cooking pottery was made with alluvial clayey silt. The apparent chemical discordance between pottery and alluvial samples bulk compositions can be due to textural and compositional variability of the alluvial deposits. All ceramics were fired in oxidising conditions, although in many cases a “dark core” was still present. Textural features, observed through petrographical microscope, and PXRD analyses suggested a firing temperature between 600 and 800 °C.

Mid/Late Neolithic Serra d’Alto ware was widely diffused in southern Italy during the fifth millennium BC and shows homogeneous formal and technical features. Its wide distribution and frequent occurrence in funerary or cultual contexts have led many scholars to emphasise its exchange value. The issue of the circulation of finished pots rather than of a production model in different areas of Southern Italy, is explored by means of petrologic, mineralogical and chemical analyses of pottery samples from Apulia, Basilicata and Calabria. The mineralogical and chemical components of the Apulia and Basilicata samples fit very well with those of the Plio-Pleistocene silty clays of the Bradanic Trough, although major and trace element concentrations are significant in distinguishing different sub-groups of pottery related to their precise geographical setting. Calabrian pottery shows the exploitation of a local non-Apulian clay source. The strong similarities in technological processes and the formal analogies between pots found at distant Neolithic sites all over southern Italy does not correspond, then, to an actual exchange of finished pots produced in Apulia or Basilicata. A large network of middle-distance exchange of formal and technological models of production, between many Neolithic sites located in different geographical areas, is therefore proposed. Les céramiques Serra d’Alto du Néolithique moyen-final sont largement répandues dans le Sud de l’Italie au Vème millénaire av. J.-C. et présentent des caractéristiques de formes et de techniques homogènes. La large diffusion de ce type de céramique et sa présence fréquente dans des contextes funéraires ou cultuels soulignent l’importance de sa valeur d’échange. La question de la circulation dans différentes régions du Sud de l’Italie de vases finis plutôt que de modèles de production est étudiée par des analyses pétrologiques, minéralogiques et chimiques d’échantillons venant des Pouilles, de Basilicate et de Calabre. Les composants minéralogiques et chimiques des échantillons provenant des Pouilles et de Basilicate correspondent bien à ceux des argiles silteuses du Plio-Pléistocène de la Fosse Bradanique, bien que la concentration en éléments majeurs et en éléments traces permette de différencier significativement des sous-groupes de poteries en fonction de leur aire géographique. La poterie de Calabre montre l’exploitation d’une source d’argile locale différente de celle des Pouilles. Les fortes analogies entre les procédés technologiques et les analogies de formes entre des vases trouvés sur des sites néolithiques distants dans tout le Sud de l’Italie ne correspondent alors pas à un réel échange de vases finis produits dans les Pouilles ou en Basilicate. Un riche réseau de moyenne distance d’échanges de modèles de production technologiques et de forme, entre de nombreux sites néolithiques situés sur différentes aires géographiques, est donc envisagé.

Il presente contributo si propone di presentare i risultati delle indagini archeologiche svolte nel sito neolitico di Masseria Acquasalsa, a seguito del progetto, realizzato dall’ Acquedotto Pugliese S.p.a., per l’intervento di manutenzione straordinaria relativo alla sostituzione della terza tratta del terzo tronco della condotta primaria per la Capitanata, nel territorio comunale di Lucera (FG). L' apertura di sei saggi di scavo ha permesso di intercettare le seguenti strutture: un tratto di fossato perimetrale esterno (saggio VI), il fossato perimetrale più interno (saggi II, IV), tre compounds (saggi I,II, III) ed una probabile canaletta di età storica (saggio V). L'analisi tecnologica e tipologica del materiale ceramico, proveniente dalle strutture indagate, ha consentito di inquadrarle in un periodo compreso tra una fase finale del Neolitico Antico ed una iniziale del Neolitico Medio, quest'ultima probabilmente corrispondente al periodo di più assidua frequentazione del villaggio.

International audience; La pubblicazione del catalogo della mostra omonima, allestita presso il Museo del Territorio di Foggia, è l’occasione per aggiungere una nuova pagina alla storia delle ricerche condotte ad Arpi e legate al grande lavoro portato avanti dall’archeologa foggiana Marina Mazzei. Si tratta anche di un’ulteriore tappa del progetto Arpi Project: abitare la città che ha coinvolto, dal 2014, la Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per le Province di Barletta-Andria-Trani e Foggia, il Centre Jean Bérard di Napoli e l’Università degli Studi di Salerno nelle ricerche sull’insediamento daunio allo scopo innanzitutto di precisare, attraverso il recupero dei dati delle ricerche pregresse e lo studio dei paesaggi rurali e urbani occorsi nel tempo, le dinamiche di occupazione e la destinazione d’uso degli spazi domestici e i rapporti tra l’abitato, le aree di culto e gli spazi funerari. Insieme ai quartieri abitativi, la topografia delle necropoli costituisce uno dei fenomeni più significativi della struttura di questo grande abitato. Negli ultimi anni le ricerche si sono concentrate sugli scavi realizzati nel territorio di Arpi in occasione dei grandi lavori pubblici condotti tra il 1969 e il 1992, in particolare durante la messa in opera della rete idrica del Consorzio di Bonifica della Capitanata, a partire dagli anni ’80. La mostra presenta i risultati preliminari della ricerca condotta sulle tombe scoperte durante gli scavi effettuati dal settembre 1991 al marzo 1992, attraverso l’esposizione di una selezione di contesti funerari che copre un ampio arco cronologico compreso tra la seconda metà del VI e la prima metà del III secolo a.C.

International audience

International audience; The Daunian site of Arpi is located in the alluvial plain of Tavoliere in Apulia. The first testimonies of an occupation date from the Iron Age, but the agglomeration starts to grow in importance especially from the IVth century BC onwards. The site is delimited by an agger that covers 1000 ha; it protects a space welcoming not only the habitat, but also necropolises and lands devoted to agriculture and pasture. All the data provided by the topography of tombs, their typology, their items, their chronology and the anthropology fulfil our knowledge on the urban and social transformations that happen in one of the greater Daunian cities between the VIth century BC and the IInd century AD.; L’insediamento daunio di Arpi è situato nella piana alluvionale del Tavoliere delle Puglie. Le prime attestazioni di un’occupazione del sito risalgono all’età del ferro, ma è soprattutto a partire dal IV secolo che l’agglomerato daunio acquista importanza.L’insediamento è definito da un aggere che delimita un’area di 1000 ettari e la cui prima fase è datata al VI secolo a.C. Quest’ultima è destinata a contenere non solamente l’abitato o gruppi di abitazioni, ma anche le necropoli e gli spazi riservati all’agricoltura e al pascolo. Lo studio incrociato dei dati forniti dalla localizzazione delle tombe, dalla tipologia, dai dati antropologici, dai corredi funerari e dalla cronologia, completa le conoscenze sulle trasformazioni urbane e sociali che interessano uno dei più grandi insediamenti dauni tra la fine del VI secolo a.C. e il I secolo d.C.

International audience; Arpi is an unfortunately great emblematic case of clandestine excavations, as Marina Mazzei pointed it out in the exhibition organized with Daniel Graepler in 1996, Provenienza:sconosciuta!, thus the Arpi settlement is a very good example to reflect on the methods, tools and objectives of recontextualization. In 2014, was initiated by the Centre Jean Bérard and the University of Salerno with the Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio for the Provinces of Barletta-Andria-Trani and Foggia a project aimed at georeferencing the different excavation interventions conducted over time; it allowed to study the domestic and funerary contexts for the reconstruction of the city. It made it possible to increase our knowledge about the testimonies, the associations, the function and the circulation of the different ceramic productions in their last context of use, highlighting, unfortunately, also the important destruction of data due to illicit excavations. The knowledge framework established through the work of F. Tinè Bertocchi, E.M. De Juliis and M. Mazzei has recently been completed and expanded thanks to the recovery of old and new contexts, the restoration and study of objects, and their inclusion in both the chronotypology of the Arpanian tombs and the stratigraphy of the site.Our paper will give an updated synthesis of the existing documentation that offers new perspectives on the relations between production and commissionning in Arpi; it will allow us to specify some steps of the cultural evolution of the Arpanian society between the end of the 4th and the first decades of the 3rd century BC. The ultimate goal is to provide an up-to-date cartography of the painters and workshops present in Arpi in which to attempt to 're-contextualise' some of the numerous vases dispersed on the art markets, acquired by collectors and resold to museums outside Italy. For instance, the volute krater attributed to the Painter of Arpi displayed at the Tampa Museum in Florida, coming from the Tomb of the Vase of the Niobids and of which a fragment is preserved at the Civic Museum of Foggia. There are numerous artifacts among those recently recovered and fortunately being studied at Aarhus University in Denmark that could perhaps find a context of origin. The project to create a 'Museum of Saved Art' in Foggia for the recovered vases could offer a venue for the recovery of these contexts.; Caso emblematico del saccheggio clandestino, come ben evidenziato da Marina Mazzei nella mostra organizzata con Daniel Graepler nel 1996, Provenienza:sconosciuta!, l’insediamento di Arpi offre l’occasione di riflettere sui metodi, gli strumenti e gli obbiettivi della ricontestualizzazione. Il progetto avviato nel 2014 dal Centre Jean Bérard e dall’Università di Salerno con la Soprintendenza Archeologia, Belle Arti e Paesaggio per le Province di Barletta-Andria-Trani e Foggia, finalizzato alla georeferenziazione dei diversi interventi di scavo condotti nel tempo e allo studio dei contesti abitativi e funerari per la ricostruzione della città, ha permesso di affinare le conoscenze sulle attestazioni, le associazioni, la funzione e la circolazione delle diverse produzioni ceramiche nel loro ultimo contesto di utilizzo, evidenziando, purtroppo, anche l’importante perdita di dati dovuta agli scavi illeciti. Il quadro finora delineato per la ceramica apula dai lavori di F. Tinè Bertocchi, E.M. De Juliis e M. Mazzei è stato recentemente completato e ampliato grazie al recupero di vecchi e nuovi contesti, al restauro e allo studio degli oggetti, e al loro inserimento sia nella cronotipologia delle tombe arpane sia nella stratigrafia del sito.L’intervento propone una sintesi aggiornata della documentazione esistente che offre nuove prospettive sui rapporti tra produzione e committenza ad Arpi e permette di precisare le tappe dell’evoluzione culturale della società arpana tra la fine del IV e i primi decenni del III secolo a.C. L’obiettivo ultimo è di fornire una cartografia aggiornata dei pittori e delle officine presenti ad Arpi nella quale tentare di ‘ricontestualizzare' alcuni dei numerosi vasi dispersi sui mercati dell'arte, acquisiti da collezionisti e rivenduti a musei fuori dall’Italia. Si pensi all’esempio ben noto del cratere a volute attribuito al Pittore di Arpi oggi al museo di Tampa in Florida proveniente dalla Tomba del Vaso dei Niobidi e di cui un frammento è conservato al Museo Civico di Foggia. Numerosi sono i reperti tra quelli recentemente recuperati e fortunatamente in corso di studio all’università di Aarhus in Danimarca che potrebbero forse ritrovare un contesto di provenienza. Il progetto di creare a Foggia un “Museo dell’Arte Salvata” per i vasi ritrovati potrebbe offrire una sede di valorizzazione per il recupero di questi contesti.

International audience

International audience

Archaeozoology is the study of the animal remains found in archaeological excavations. Its primary purpose is to reconstruct the relationship between human communities and animals in the past. One of the most current research topics concerns the study of husbandry practices that involve seasonal mobility of human pastoral groups with their domestic animals (cattle, sheep and goat) which can be exploited for primary (meat) and secondary products (milk, wool). Mountain pasture and transhumance are historical phenomena directly related to the exploitation of livestock; they can be analysed through archaeological data. Depending on different geographical areas, the movement of livestock usually occurs between lower valleys and higher pastures that are seasonally exploited, as typically happens in the Alpine area. This type of movement is called “mountain pasture” and represents an integrated exploitation of natural resources; it concerns the movement of animals a few months per year towards uncultivated grassland areas, such as those generally located in mountains above the vegetation limit, to increase ploughed areas and make the economic level of a community more sustainable. In turn, the practice of transhumance has to represent a form of specialization, as it needs people dedicated almost exclusively to the care and the movement of livestock. The characteristics of the pastoral activities varied through time according to geomorphology, the relationship between agricultural and pasture areas, demographic pressure, the socio-political development of ancient communities and the relationships between different groups. Written sources testify to the practice of transhumance in ancient time, although the length of seasonal movements cannot be exactly identified, above all in relation to the movements practiced in prehistoric times. The first form of transhumance that was carried out in ancient time is scarcely visible in archaeological contexts. Unfortunately, the archaeological indicators of pastoralism and transhumance are quite faint: the presence of enclosures, stables or other functional areas connected to pastoral activities are hardly traceable, although encouraging research in this direction are being carried out in Trentino and in the Austrian Alps areas. According the evidences, prehistoric paths were of different extension, maybe partially coincident with those used in historic times. Some information on pastoralism and the seasonal movement of livestock practiced by ancient communities can be detected by the study of animal remains, such as cattle and caprines mortality profiles that can indicate which products were exploited, although an integration with other data is always desirable. This paper summarizes past and recent results of recent research on the subject and suggests directions for future research on the topic of ancient transhumance.

International audience