Archaeological research in rural areas of late antique Apulia and Lucania let it possible to outline important phenomena of selection and restructuring of villas: some residences are characterized by accentuated displays of luxury, others are specialized in agricultural productions and manufacturing. In many cases, a close relationship between the pars urbana and the pars rustica seems no longer to exist. Especially between the late 6th and 7th century, the transformation of residential villas into places of production is well documented. Ceramic kilns, decantation basins, lime kilns, metalworking and dolia have been found in residential rooms, sometimes showing planned forms of reoccupation. In some cases, the level of the artisanal specialisation, the architectural solutions adopted, the quality of the material culture and the patterns of economic activities are associated with new and dynamic types of settlements.

Faragola and Canusium potters used Ca-rich clays—widely available nearby—for the production of build- ing materials. The clayey materials were used as received, before being fired in the local kilns at temperatures between 600 and ~1000 ° C. No technological distinctions were made in relation to the type of object to be produced (tile, brick, etc). The investigated productions are compositionally distinguish- able from both coarse wares for cooking and fine table ware produced in the same archaeological sites. A fine clayey ma- terial, very similar to that used for table ware, was supplied for the production of these building materials, which are chemi- cally, mineralogically and petrographically very similar among themselves. Hence, the Faragola and Canusium bricks and tiles cannot be easily discriminated but the presence/ absence of volcanites and volcanic glass represents an effec- tive discriminating factor, able to indicate areas of different supplies within two main deposits: the Pleistocene marine and alluvial terraced deposits, typical of northern Apulia.

Lo studio dei materiali ceramici, metallici e vitrei, il riesame complessivo delle stratigrafie tardoantiche e altomedievali e la lettura integrata degli indicatori bioarcheologici di alcuni contesti della Puglia centro-settentrionale (Herdonia, Canusium, San Giusto e Faragola), stanno consentendo acquisire dati di grande interesse su aspetti significativi della cultura materiale delle comunità urbane e rurali meridionali. In questa sede ci siamo soffermati sulle produzioni vetrarie ancora poco note in relazione al comparto apulo, approfondendo alcune linee di ricerca proposte in passato e introducendo elementi di novità. Nonostante alcuni progressi registrati negli ultimi anni, emerge una sostanziale carenza di studi sistematici e di progetti di ricerca mirati, parallelamente all’assenza di dati sugli impianti di lavorazione, sugli indicatori di produzione e a limitate analisi archeometriche. Sono stati presi in considerazione, in particolare, il vasellame e gli indicatori di produzione rinvenuti nella città di Herdonia. Parallelamente allo studio morfo-tipologico è stata condotta un’analisi di distribuzione spaziale dei reperti, incrociata con l’attestazione delle altre tipologie di manufatti utilizzati nel banchetto e nell’illuminazione. Pur in assenza di resti di impianti ritrovati in situ, la tipologia dei materiali rinvenuti ha suggerito la localizzazione, in ambito urbano, di un atelier secondario adibito alla lavorazione del vetro. I principali indizi sono forniti da un pane di vetro di forma troncoconica con base circolare, da scarti di lavorazione e da due frammenti di crogioli, tra cui uno caratterizzato dalla presenza di un residuo di miscela vetrosa conservatosi all’interno. Le analisi archeometriche hanno poi precisato che questa verosimile produzione locale impiega semilavorati e ricicla rottami di vetro provenienti dall’area nord-africana. Sul piano morfo-tipologico, una produzione locale può essere ipotizzata per i bicchieri/lampada Isings 106, i piatti con orlo ribattuto all’esterno Isings 45/46a, le brocche/bottiglie con filamento applicato sotto l’orlo Isings 102b, le lampade Isings 134, i calici Isings 111 e alcuni fondi a filamento multiplo.

I recenti significativi rinvenimenti di vetri incisi nei siti della Puglia centro-settentrionale hanno permesso di gettare nuova luce non solo sugli aspetti tecnico-stilistici, ma anche sulle dinamiche sociali e culturali sottese alla produzione e diffusione di questi pregiati manufatti. Particolare rilievo riveste il ritrovamento di tre esemplari di lampade vitree incise nel sito di Faragola, nel territorio dell’antica Ausculum, dove le ricerche condotte dall’Università di Foggia hanno portato alla scoperta di un insediamento rurale pluristratificato e, in particolare, di una lussuosa villa tardoantica e di un abitato altomedievale. Nel corridoio di accesso alla monumentale cenatio sono state ritrovate impilate integre le tre lampade, databili agli inizi del V sec. d.C., in stratigrafie ascrivibili alle fasi di abbandono della villa, forse accuratamente conservate per essere reinserite nel ciclo di produzione del vetro in età altomedievale. Di particolare interesse la decorazione con iscrizione incisa sulle lampade: dulcis anima pie zeses/ Α ((crux monogrammatica)) Ω. L’iscrizione, documentata frequentemente nei vetri dorati in combinazione con soggetti di ispirazione profana, pagana, cristiana e giudaica, rinvia al formulario augurale utilizzato durante i banchetti e reinterpretato in ambito funerario in relazione al rituale del refrigerium e indirettamente al simbolico convito ultraterreno. Simbolo polivalente, ampiamente diffuso in numerosi contesti espressivi, adottato da ogni ceto sociale, documentato su molteplici tipologie di suppellettili, spesso come semplice elemento decorativo, il signum Christi, potenziato dalle lettere apocalittiche, compare nelle lampade di Faragola nella sua valenza semantica ed evocativa, con valore profilattico/apotropaico. Queste lampade rientrano nel novero di quei manufatti realizzati per essere donati in particolari occasioni della vita civile e religiosa e di ricorrenze familiari della ricca e colta aristocrazia tardoantica. Considerate le molteplici problematiche ancora aperte negli studi sui vetri incisi, si tenteranno di affrontare in questo contributo i temi relativi alla committenza, circolazione e funzione di tali manufatti con riferimento ad altre tipologie documentate nei contesti apuli. Sono state prese in considerazioni le analogie più stringenti, da un lato, con le prime espressioni figurative paleocristiane dei vetri dorati di fine IV secolo e, dall'altro, con i bicchieri e le lampade di matrice orientale rinvenuti in alcuni siti del Mediterraneo che presentano una forte somiglianza sul piano tecnico-stilistico e iconografico.

The research focused on a collection of 37 Late Antique glass fragments, found at the archaeological site of San Giusto (southern Italy). The analyses performed by SEM- EDS, EMPA and LA-ICP-MS showed that all samples are constituted by natron-based soda-lime silica glass and allowed clarifying the distinction between Egyptian HIMT1 and HIMT2 productions. The comparison with the composition of the available glass reference groups was verified through three ternary diagrams (provided here for the first time). The results grouped San Giusto samples into HIMT1 (7 samples), HIMT2 (8 samples) and Levantine (13, plus maybe other 3 samples) productions. A convincing provenance assignment was not feasible for six samples only. The isotopic analyses (87Sr/86Sr and 143Nd/144Nd), performed on a selected set of ten samples, provided further information both in terms of glass technology and provenance, as well as in terms of reference groups characterisation. Particularly, the results demonstrated that nine out of a total of ten samples were made using a limestone-bearing sand enriched with variable amount of marine shells and provided further evidence for the distinction of the HIMT1 and HIMT2 groups; the latter overlapping the Levantine field in the 87Sr/86Sr versus εNd binary diagram. From a technological point of view, the importance of separating the likely ‘fresh’ materials from those intentionally recycled or coloured was put into clear evidence, especially in relation to provenance assignments. Lastly, an interesting technological feature has been observed in sample no. 9, where the composition of the main body of the vessel turned out to be different from that of the handle. This result provided clear evidence of the fact that different glass batches could have been used for the different parts of a single vessel body.

Late Antique coarse cooking wares and painted fine wares found at Herdonia (second half of the fourth century to mid-fifth century AD) and Canusium (late sixth century to early seventh century AD) have been chemically and mineralogically characterized. A total of 74 samples (40 of coarse ware and 34 of fine painted ware) was investigated through optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, neutron activation analysis and X-ray fluorescence. A new statistical method, namely the classification tree methodology, was used for the treatment of geochemical data. The characterization of the Herdonia and Canusium assemblages was combined with a review of earlier results obtained for San Giusto and Posta Crusta, in order to get an insight on Late Antique ceramic trades in northern Apulia. It appears possible to reconstruct a production pattern organized at multiple production sites, both rural and urban, that exploited similar raw material deposits, specialized in certain productions, and commercialized products at different geographical scales. Imports from outside northern Apulia may be identified for coarse wares. A likely area of production is difficult to establish; however, the northern Adriatic coast and the area of Greece may be suggested.

Twenty-six tesserae (red, orange, yellow, light amber, green, blue and white) from the balneum of the villa at Faragola (Ascoli Satriano, Foggia) have been examined by colorimetry, ICP–MS, ICP–OES and SEM–EDS. Different types of calcareous sands have been used as the source of silica (network former), also providing the stabilizing agent. A natron-type soda source served as the network modifier; however, the use of a sodium-rich plant ash and the recycling process have been hypothesized for the production of two tesserae (FT 1 red and FT 3 orange). The colouring and opacifying agents were Cu oxide (cuprite, orange), metallic copper (red), Pb antimonates (yellow), Ca antimonates (white), a mixture of copper (Cu2+) and Pb antimonates (green), a mixture of cobalt (Co2+) or copper (Cu2+) and Ca antimonates (blue). The light amber tesserae should owe their colour to iron (Fe3+) alone or associated with sulphide (S2-) and Ca antimonates. It is likely that the Faragola tesserae were locally produced in a secondary glass workshop.

A collection of 30 ceramic samples, 16 of coarse wares and 14 of fine painted wares, have been investigated by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and neutron activation analysis. Further samples of clayey sediments, both locally outcropping and found within the settling tank, have been submitted to the same analytical techniques for comparison with the ceramic collection. The results demonstrated that local clayey sediments were used as received for the production of coarse wares. The same raw materials were sieved and/or refined by decantation for the production of fine painted wares, which, in fact, provided results that were perfectly comparable with those for the clayey raw materials found within the settling tank. The Faragola productions were distinguished from the neighbouring Apulian productions according to petrographic features (the presence of leucite-bearing volcanic rocks and Mn-rich wads) and their bulk chemical composition.