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The important discoveries at the recent archaeological excavations at Punta d'Alaca site in the west side of the Vivara island (Campania region) highlighted the presence of a Bronze Age thriving settlement attesting the development of a flourishing ceramic production, mainly specialized in the manufacturing of common wares. The archaeometric study performed on twenty representative samples by means of chemical and minero-petrographic techniques revealed that pottery was produced in-situ; however, locally-manufactured vessels here coexisted with imported ones. Coarse-textured, local potteries were made by low-CaO clays mixed with volcanic temper consistent with the volcanic products of Campanian volcanoes. The firing (likely a pit firing) was done in rough conditions, as proved by mineralogical evidence that suggest variable firing temperatures. In fact, low firing temperatures (

Ceramic building materials (CBM) are interesting archaeological items for gathering the material culture identity and urban setting of the ancient populations since their production is generally related to the local availability of clayey raw materials and advancements of technological skills of ancient makers. This paper investigates the Hellenistic and Roman productions of ceramic building materials from the archaeological site of Témesa on the Tyrrhenian coastline of Calabria region (southern Italy), a settlement where a flourishing ceramic tradition has been attested for all of its occupation phases, from the late Archaic to the Roman period. Here, the local availability of clayey and sandy raw materials permitted the development of a thriving worksite. A combined study of mineralogical, petrographic and micropaleontological features of archaeological samples and geological raw materials collected nearby the archaeological settlement, permitted to constrain the raw materials sources, and investigate the technological level achieved between the second half of the 4th century BCE and the 3rd century CE. This study highlighted that most of CBM was made by mixing sands from a nearby fluvial deposit with upper Miocene clayey raw materials. Chemical composition and micropaleontological investigation of the foraminiferal content of archaeological samples and clays validated the possible exploitation of local raw materials. Textural parameters and the mineralogical assemblage of temper grains, characterized by the peculiar presence of metamorphic lithics, also attested the use of Savuto river sands. Ceramic technology accounts for a firing process at reasonably high temperatures, evidencing the good technological level of production. Moreover, the presence of samples characterized by mix-designs and mineralogical assemblages consistent with geological materials from Campania region witnesses the importation of ceramic materials from other sites, suggesting the existence of operating trades as already attested for other sites of Tyrrhenian coast.

A stratigraphic analysis applied to the architectural remains of the medieval domus Apicii (Calvi, Benevento) allowed to define four main building periods characterized by different materials and masonry techniques. Intense biological colonization and other damage pathologies affect the building geomaterials. A quantitative evaluation of the conservation state of the monument accounts for a moderate to a very severe damage, with a progressive damage index (DIprog) up to 3.3 value. The results of this multidisciplinary investigation represent an important starting point for an ethically acceptable making-decision process within a modern restoration and conservation of the monument.

The use of vibrational spectroscopy is gaining more and more relevance in the field of the identification and characterization of Cultural Heritage materials. In this frame we propose and discuss a copious collection of Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra acquired in external reflectance (ER) mode (4000–400 cm−1), which is a non-destructive and inexpensive analytical technique. Up to 192 spectra were collected, processed and made free-available to the scientists and professionals working in the Cultural Heritage sector. Color and inclusions, optical anisotropy, polymorphism and isomorphism, water content, crystallinity index, polyphasicity are some properties that have driven to rationale of the paper for discriminating groups of geomaterials usually found in studies aimed at the valorization and conservation of Cultural Heritage. Finally, this study offers a robust opportunity to beginners who intend to use ERFTIR as a tool in the field of qualitative and non-destructive mineralogical analysis.

An interdisciplinary study, involving geologists, chemists and pedologists, started aiming at identifying a "Geo-Pedo-Fingerprint" (GPF) univocally linking the wine to its origin, namely, the Piedirosso vineyards growing in the Campi Flegrei volcanic area. The focal point of this research was the characterization of the whole parent material-soil-vineyard-wine system, achieved by correlating the elemental pattern - with special reference to micro-nutrients and Rare Earth Elements (REEs) - and Sr isotopic ratios, to identify a reliable and convenient 'GPF', as a guaranteed indicator of wine provenance. A representative soil/Piedirosso vineyard system was identified and characterized. Samples from each soil horizon as well as from vine branches, leaves, grapes and wine were collected and analyzed. All samples were analyzed by multi-collector inductively coupled mass spectrometry (MC-ICPMS) to determine their 87Sr/86Sr isotopic composition, by ICP-Quadrupole MS to measure multi-elemental composition including REE, and by X-Ray Powder Diffraction (XRPD) for the quantitative evaluation of the mineral phases occurring in soil samples.Statistical analysis (Hierarchical Cluster Analysis, Factor Analysis) revealed the existence of separate correlations of element distribution between: i) soil, as nutrient pool source, and vegetative compartments, i.e. branches and leaves, as biochemical yards for nutrient elaboration and marshaling, ii) vegetative compartments and the productive compartment, i.e. grapes as the metabolic outcome of the vine, and, iii) the productive compartment and its artifact produced by man, i.e. wine. However, no sequential correlation of elements from soil to wine did appear, likely because clusters of elements were discriminated due to the varying takeup and fractionation processes in plants, as well as during vinification processes. Therefore, none of the investigated elements was a liable 'GPF' as a candidate tracer from soil to wine.In contrast, the use of a petrogenetic tracer such as 87Sr/86Sr isotopic composition provided satisfactory responses. In fact, the values of such a ratio within the entire studied chain vary in a very small range from 0.7076 to 0.7084, thus falling within the typical range for volcanites of Campi Flegrei (0.7065-0.7086). These results currently represent the only study focusing on a geotracer, such as the 87Sr/86Sr isotopic ratio, linked with a pedological survey to identify the volcanic Campanian wine-producing chains from soil parent material-to-wine. © 2013 Elsevier B.V.

The Via Lepanto site is one of the best examples showing how the Vesuvian region was partially reconstructed and earlier re-occupied after Vesuvius's eruption in the year 79 AD. The large amount of ceramic finds illustrates the typology in use in this area during the IV and V century AD. Analyses were focused on table and cooking ware productions. Archaeometric data were obtained using chemical and minero-petrographical methods (OM, XRD, XRF and SEM). Grain size measurements using Image Analyses on thin sections and a geochemical comparison with clayey deposits outcropping in the Campania region permitted the identification of the raw materials used for these pottery productions. XRD and SEM completed the data set, establishing the protocols used for pottery production in the Pompeii area during Late Roman period. The Via Lepanto site was part of an exchange network of markets with a periodic frequency, where locally produced and imported pottery was sold, indicating a flourishing network of exchanges spanning short, medium and long distances.

Detailed stratigraphical, archaeological, micropalaeontological, archaeometrical and petrochemical analyses of samples from trenches and boreholes at insula of Casti Amanti, in Pompeii, allowed a faithful reconstruction of the recent environmental evolution of the site. The present data clearly indicate the alternation of both subaerial and shallow marine conditions during Holocene times. Taking into account the relative local sea level variations, a similar to 30 m ground uplift event in the last 6 kyr (with an average vertical uplift rate of similar to 5 mm/yr) was inferred for the first time.