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Setting the technological patterns in the Neolithic pottery production of central Apulia
No full textThe 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
A multidisciplinary approach to the study of Early Neolithic pyrotechnological structures. The case study of Portonovo (Marche, Italy)
Get PDFThe 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
Silica polymorphs characterization in pre-industrial silica-alumina refractories and their technological meaning: preliminary results
No full textMultianalytical investigation of pigments in the Madonna della Croce wall painting (Triggiano, Italy)
No full textThe Madonna della Croce portrait is painted on a lunette, previously detached from a wall of unknown origin and now preserved on the right of the main altar in the Madonna della Croce church, in Triggiano (Bari, Italy). The wall painting, which depicts the Virgin and Child with St. Sebastiano and St. Rocco with their symbols of martyrium, was realised by a local artist who worked between 1550 and 1570 in the town.
The numerous legends about the wall painting, mixed with historical events, talk about miraculous healing stories which has strengthened the strong relationship of the Triggiano inhabitants with this religious symbol, such as they built a dedicated church and chose this Virgin as patron Saint of the town.
The presented research mainly focusses on the investigation of pictorial layers of this painting by a non-invasive multianalytical approach. Firstly, shape, size and optical features of pigments have been observed using a portable digital microscope equipped by a polarizing filter. By means of a portable spectrophotocolorimeter, colour of painting areas has been measured and expressed in the CIEL*a*b* system and for each of them reflectance spectra of visible light (400-700 nm) have been recorded. The identification of pigment composition has been carried out by FORS (fiber optic reflectance spectroscopy) and XRF (X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy). Produced spectra have been compared with databases available in literature.
Results have provided information about features and compositions of pigments, highlighting the use of red ochre, yellow ochre and carbon black for red and yellow paintings and for black profiles; in addition, mixing of red ochre and green earth and mixing of carbon black, lime and yellow ochre have been revealed respectively in correspondence to green background and blue Virgin mantle, as attested in other Apulian wall paintings (Fioretti et al. 2020; Fioretti et al. 2020)
Sonificazione delle strutture cristalline per la didattica museale
No full textCrystal structures sonifications for museum education
This paper presents a new teaching strategy for museum settings that uses sonifications of crystal structures obtained through a novel scientific method developed by the authors. The method associates chemical and crystallographic parameters (kind of atom, periodic table group, periodic table period, distance of an atom from the axis of symmetry, etc.) with musical ones (duration, pitch, timbre, dynamics) making the order of the atomic arrangement of the atom of the crystal structure perceptible through sound. Each crystal structure, such as ice, calcite, aragonite, diamond, graphite and others, is represented by a unique melody accompanied by videos illustrating the symmetries of the elementary cells of the crystals. The aim of the strategy is to integrate cognitive and emotional pro- cesses, creating an effective learning system for museum settings. The sonifications have been implemented in the itineraries and open laboratories of the University of Bari’s Earth Science museum and are currently the subject of studies and projects in the STEAM field
THE LITHOTHEQUE ROLE IN THE LITHIC RAW MATERIALS STUDIES. THE CASE OF THE ITALIAN SILIBA
No full textChert artifacts represent one of the most durable product manufactured by the humans and their recovery and characterisation
allow to assess new data on the technological and cultural features of prehistory civilizations. The geographic identification
of procurement area of lithic raw materials is essential in the reconstruction of the social and economic behaviours of the
communities. In this view, a significant role is played by the lithotheques since they include lithic samples coming from
variable spread geographic area and constitute a valuable comparison tool for provenance studies of archaeological finds.
An Italian example of lithic collection is SiLiBA, the lithotheque of the Earth and Geoenvironmental Sciences Department of
the University of Bari Aldo Moro. It consists of about 1500 samples of geological cherts collected from outcrops, sites and
mines mainly in the Apulia (Southern Italy) region and across southern Italy (Basilicata, Sicily), Croatia, Serbia, Switzerland and
Iraqi Kurdistan, belonging to formations from the Cretaceous to the Quaternary Period. The strength of the collection is its
database, reporting the petrographic, colourimetric, geochemical and micropaleontological features, obtained by a dedicated
non-invasive investigation protocol (NM-PCI). Such results represent a fingerprint for each samples and make the SiLiBA
lithotheque an essential reference point in the identification of provenance of lithic raw materials transformed by the prehistory
local humans for the producing of chert objects.The SiLiBA database is constantly evolving and new lithic samples are collected
and investigated and original data are produced and recorded in the database. This last consists of report sheets containing,
together with the results of the NM-PCI investigation, other several information such as photographs, geographic coordinates,
geological outcrop description. A website dedicated to the presentation of the lithotheque will soon be online, even if the
complete database is already available for consultation by the scientists and archaeologists on request
PROVENANCE OF CALCITE TEMPERED “SERRA D’ALTO” COARSE WARE IN SOUTH EASTERN ITALY: PRELIMINARY RESULTS
No full textForty samples of Mid-Late Neolithic “Serra d’Alto” coarse pots (V millennium BC) tempered with spathic calcite were analyzed by petrographic, mineralogical and chemical methods to confirm the hypothesis of widespread technological models of production in different areas in south eastern Italy. The analyzed samples were excavated in different archaeological sites across Tavoliere Plain, Murge Plateau and Bradanic Through areas, namely Masseria Fragennaro, Cala Colombo, Santa Barbara, Sette Ponti, Masseria Candelaro and Grotta Scaloria (Apulia) and Trasano (Basilicata).
Almost all the coarse wares were produced using eluvial or colluvial deposits in a carbonatic area tempered with speleothemic calcite. The amount of calcite temper seems to be quantized according to different recipes. LA-ICP-MS analysis of over 30 spathic calcite inclusions per thin section revealed some chemical homogeneity within the same sample and interesting differences among samples from the same site with different pottery fabric.
Although the number of the analyzed samples was not sufficient to clearly define characteristic fabrics or reference groups, our preliminary results suggest that the calcite tempered Serra d’Alto coarse ware was produced in different sites, starting from different raw materials and using different processing. The strong similarities in technological processes in different sites clearly show a large network of middle-distance exchange of formal and technological production techniques between many Neolithic communities, located in different geographical areas of South Eastern Italy. LA-ICP-MS analysis of calcite inclusions seems to be a promising route to discriminate the provenance of these ceramic vessels.
Keywords: Serra d’Alto ware, calcite temper, LA-ICP-MS
Scambio di modelli o di oggetti. Analisi archeometriche su ceramiche Serra d'Alto da contesti VBQ in Emilia occidentale
No full textMODEL OF PRODUCTION OF FINISHED POTS EXCHANGE. ARCHAEOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF SERRA D'ALTO POTS FROM SMP SETTLEMENTS IN WESTERN EMILIA. This study aims to explore the issue of circulation in Northern Italy of finished pots of Mid-Late Neolithic ‘Serra d’Alto’ ware, rather than of production model of this ware. The 32 potsherds were analyzed by means of petrographic analysis and they can be divided into 13 different fabrics for their composition and grain-size distribution. Fine ware was produced using local Eocene and Oligocene clays, while almost all the coarse ware was tempered with spatic calcite clasts. The differences observed in thin section point to a common paste processing for fine and coarse wares which must have occurred in different places with different raw materials. The data suggests a polycentric production based on a common technological background. The hypothesis of circulation of finished ceramic pots was not validated while a widespread technological model probably occurred in different areas of Northern and Southern Italy.SCAMBIO DI MODELLI O DI OGGETTI. ANALISI ARCHEOMETRICHE SU CERAMICHE SERRA D'ALTO DA CONTESTI VBQ IN EMILIA OCCIDENTALE. Nella formazione e nello sviluppo delle culture del Neolitico pieno dell’area padana s’intrecciano radici locali, condivisioni di tratti comuni a vasti ambiti culturali ed elementi francamente esogeni, in particolare dal mondo Serra d’Alto, spesso rielaborati e fatti propri. Intento del contributo è verificare sulle produzioni in ceramica figulina rinvenute in contesti emiliani eventuali specifiche affinità di ordine tecnologico con le produzioni Serra d’Alto dell’Italia meridionale, già oggetto di sistematiche indagini archeometriche
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