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    Roman settlement in Sardinia: archaeometric contribution to the excavation of Santa Filitica Villa (Sorso, Italy)

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    The complex settlement of Santa Filitica, which is located in north-western Sardinia, consists of the remains of an imperial Roman villa (and its annexed thermal plant). The site was reutilized from late 5th-6th century A.D. until Byzantine period (Rovina, 2003). Its complexity therefore makes it a particularly interesting site for reconstructing the history of Sardinia during a poorly known time span. This work focuses on archaeometric investigations conducted on ceramics (pottery and bricks), slags and mortars in order to characterize their composition, structure, provenance and technology. The results obtained from a combination of techniques (thin section Optical Microscopy, X-Ray Diffraction, X-Ray Fluorescence, Scanning Electron Microscopy), in addition to the statistical analysis, allowed us to formulate hypotheses about the provenance of raw materials or of pottery and on manufacturing tradition of the workshops. Among the findings pottery, bricks, mortars and slags reveal an heavy use of local raw materials including marly clays and local lime, as major content of the mortars, and iron ore. Noteworthy are the textural and chemical features of the Santa Filitica slags that, contrary to what was thought, point to blooming and forging at the same location. The abundance of wüstite and the absence of tapping-derived features also suggests (Miller et al., 1995; Senn et al., 2010) a low-efficacy reducing process and low-efficacy iron extraction, and the limited skills of the local smelters, which work, although not episodic, aimed to satisfy only local needs (Mameli et al., 2014)

    La circolazione di ceramiche da mensa e da trasporto tra X e XI secolo: l'esempio della Sardegna alla luce di recenti indagini archeologiche e archeometriche

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    This paper presents an archaeological and archaeometrical study of pottery from excavations carried out in the old Sassari (Sardinia-Italy). The analysis of the ceramics is based on contexts dated between 10th and 11th century, particularly, on painted pottery, amphorae, Forum Ware and Sparse Glazed. The aim is to identify trade relations of this part of Sardinia in a period still unknown. The resulting data contrast with the traditional isolation that is attributed to Sardinia in the central Middle Ages and show, however, trade relations with central and southern Italy and Islamic Sicily

    FIRST FINDING OF EARLY MEDIEVAL IRON SLAGS IN SARDINIA (ITALY): A GEOCHEMICAL–MINERALOGICAL APPROACH TO INSIGHTS INTO ORE PROVENANCE AND WORK ACTIVITY

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    At Santa Filitica, a Roman settlement in north-western Sardinia occupied until the 9th century AD, archaeological excavations have found the remnants of a furnace consisting of a semi-circular base made of stony slabs and tiles bound with clay. The furnace is attached to awall of Roman age. Layers of the 6th century AD, bearing several variously oxidized slags, were found close to the furnace. These findings firstly testify to an iron works in Sardinia, within a well-defined context. XRPD and SEM–EDS mineralogical and textural analyses suggest that the slags derive from a bloomery and smithing work that was the first evidence of this type documented in Sardinia during the Early Middle Ages. Chemical analyses (performed with ICP and INAA) of rare earth elements and trace elements in two slags and in two Sardinian iron deposits allow some conclusions to be drawn on the local provenance of the ore. Our comparison of the Sardinian findings and some slags representative of archaeological smelting sites in front of Elba island―the largest and long lived ironworking sites in the Mediterranean―also improves the methodology with which iron slags derived from different ores are compared
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