La produzione di ceramica da fuoco di San Giusto (Lucera, Foggia): dall’approvvigionamento della materia prima alla commercializzazione del manufatto, Atti della VII Giornata di Archeometria della ceramica

Fortuitously discovered during the construction of the dam on the Celone stream, San Giusto site has been object of an emergency intervention in 1995, followed by 4 seasons of stratigraphic excavation, since its definitive submersion in year 2000. In 1999, the archaeological investigation brought to light the evidences of several handcraft activities, like wine and grain production and wool and leather treatment. The discovery of a ceramic kiln is of particular importance because it testifies the local production of ceramics as well. Within the structure, numerous fragments of globular jars with external flutes, rounded base and small handles have been found, reasonably produced during the last firing process developed in the kiln before the abandonment. The archaeometric analysis have been thus finalized to the “reference group” creation, in order to establish the identity card of San Giusto production and to make available a further instrument to determine the provenance of other ceramic of unknown origin. Optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence, inductively-coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry, scanning electronic microscopy, were applied to the study of the 52 ceramic samples (36 globular jars found within the kiln and 16 from the archaeological site) and 14 samples of fluvial sediments, occurring in the territory nearby the archaeological site. The analytical techniques applied to the research provided both the chemical and mineralogical-petrographical characterization of the ceramic sherds, of raw sediment and of their granulometric fractions (sand, coarse silt, fine silt and clay). The localization of the production site, the typological analysis of the ceramic production and the geological study of the surrounding territory further provided the necessary information to reconstruct the production cycle. The production of the jars implied the local supply of fluvial sediments, avoided a complicate elaboration of the paste (using as received sediments), used a low firing temperature (between 600°C and 750°C) and was surely finalised to satisfy, at least, the local market.