Sulle tracce del cibo. Le analisi dei residui organici nelle ceramiche per la ricostruzione dei paesaggi della Puglia settentrionale tra Tardoantico e Medioevo

Within the framework of the systematic research project on late antique and medieval landscapes of North Apulia region, chemical analyses were conducted over organic residues on 50 selected pottery sherds, coming from the archaeological sites of San Giusto, Faragola, San Giovanni in Canosa, San Lorenzo in Carmignano, Montecorvino. These chemical investigations have significantly contributed to gather new information on the contents of potteries, revealing previously unknown data for the reconstruction of food consumption (animal fat derived from meat cooking, substances of vegetable origin, oil, fruits, wine, milk and cheese) and suggesting new perspectives through the comparison with the archaeobotanical and archaeozoological analyses’ results in the same sites. Furthermore, new functions have been detected due to the presence of pitch traces in a pot from Faragola, and of red lead traces in samples from San Lorenzo in Carmignano, very likely attesting painting or miniature activities.