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The focus of this work is the archaeometric investigation of ceramic wasters found in a dump in the workshop area of Cumae that are mostly represented by important production indicators of pottery produced in the Augustean-Tiberian period. The fragments belong to different ceramic classes and productions, such as: pompeian red ware, common cookwares, parts of kiln vault, thin-walled pottery, terra sigillata, large container, bar, and graue Platten. Provenance of the raw materials used for each ceramic class and processing techniques were assessed via a multi-analytical minero-petrographic approach, which includes polarised light microscopy with modal analysis, chemical analysis (XRF), mineralogical analysis (XRPD), microstructural observation via SEM and SEM-EDS for microchemical analysis. All cookwares show different levels of firing and contains non-local temper from the Somma-Vesuvius area, marked by leucite-bearing scoriae and garnet. The geochemical comparisons with clays from the region allowed for definition of the likely clay raw materials sources, in particular for terra sigillata. Most of the samples were locally produced, except for a specimen of graue Platten which, on the contrary, is an exotic sample.

International audience; This research is part of the PON (Programma Operativo Nazionale) SINAPSIS (SIstema NAzionale Protezione SIti Sensibili), an interdisciplinary project combining archaeological and archaeometric methods. This paper focuses on frescoes from one of the 70 funeral monuments belonging to "Porta Mediana" Necropolis, a very interesting archaeological context located in Cuma, dating back to the first half of the 3rd century BCE. The study provided detailed information on pigments and colors acquired both on untreated and treated (restored) frescoes. Portable colorimetry and chemical-mineralogical (Raman spectroscopy and X-ray powder diffraction-XRPD, respectively) analyses were performed in situ and on collected samples in order to: 1) identify pigments, raw materials and provenance, 2) point out possible color changes caused by conservative treatments and/or weathering. The identified palette is typical of the Roman period; it includes both single and mixtures of two or more pigments to obtain particular hues. Moreover, the identified raw materials, such as red and yellow ochres, green frit and Egyptian blue, clearly highlighted the choice to use raw materials from local sources. The use of expensive coloring materials also suggests that the mausoleum belonged to a family or a group of people with a high social status.

International audience; The main objective of this study is to show that the abnormally high mass of some ancient bones from archaeological sites could be due to chronic ingestion of large amounts of fluoride that would have led to a serious condition called skeletal fluorosis.Fluorine being a difficult element to quantify by standard analytical methods and especially by those using portable equipment, we have evaluated the potential of LIBS in a bioarchaeological study of samples from the sites of Cumae and Pompeii in Italy.However, fluorine atomic emission lines are generally not detected in LIBS spectra of bone samples and therefore the molecular bands of CaF were exploited in our study. A regression model was established between the LIBS signal of CaF and the fluorine concentration from PIXE-PIGE analyses from a dedicated batch of bone samples.The results obtained show that the performance of fluorine quantification in bones by LIBS is very satisfactory and that it is thus possible to distinguish bones from individuals suspected to have skeletal fluorosis from those that are not.All spectra were recorded with a portable LIBS instrument and processed with software developed at IRAMAT-CRP2A laboratory.

The article is proposed as a contribution to the critique of the text of Per specula aenigmatis and Cumae by Michele Sovente. After setting a date to two unknown witnesses of the collections, the focus is on one of them, Cumae, which proves to be the editing of 1988 disappeared until today. Therefore, is offered a content description dwelling on possible reprints and variations to finally make some conclusions and philological interpretations., L’articolo si propone come un contributo alla critica del testo di Per specula aenigmatis e Cumae di Michele Sovente. Dopo aver datato due testimoni delle raccolte ad oggi sconosciuti, ci si concentra su uno di questi, Cumae, che si dimostra essere la redazione del 1988 fino ad oggi scomparsa. Si offre dunque una descrizione del contenuto soffermandosi su eventuali ristampe e varianti per infine apportare alcune conclusioni e interpretazioni filologiche.

International audience; The Tomba del Banchetto per l’Eternità discovered in 2018 by the archaeologists of Centre Jean Bérard in Cuma is one of the most outstanding funeral monuments in southern Italy dated back to the first half of the 1st century BC, both for the structure and decoration styles. The tomb has a hypogeum chamber with vaulted ceiling built with tuff blocks, decorated with a banquet scene, representing one of the rare coeval examples of figurative representations both in domestic and funerary contexts.The tomb has been the object of a wide research program that includes archeo-historical arguments along with archaeometric analyses of pigments and mortar-based materials. Moreover, three-dimensional photogrammetric survey of the entire tomb has been performed, in order to reconstruct its 3D model. The model was implemented with all the information acquired during the research with the aim of making accessible, as much as possible, the impressive tomb to the public.It allowed creating a virtual visit of the tomb, now available in two types of format: a docufilm and an app.The virtual tour was designed for painting a complete portrait of all elements featuring the discovery, reconstructing its story, from the first excavation performed by the Centre Jean Bérard archaeologists, also evoking the practices of archaeological research from scholars of the 19th century to archaeologists of the 21st century, then moving to the archaeometric campaign.Panels describing the most important results obtaining by the archaeometric research, both during in-situ campaign by means of multispectral imaging and vibrational spectroscopic techniques and in-lab analyses (Germinario et al., 2019), have been also integrated in the virtual visit of the tomb. Thus, the viewer, will make aware on pigments composition, painting techniques, raw materials used for producing the mortar-based supports as well as building technologies, along with deeply admires the stylistic peculiarities of the decoration. A background narration immersing the visitor into the detail regarding the excavation and the studies here performed is the next expected outcome that could not be addressed during this first phase but which would deserve a more universal dissemination format.

The mysteries of Mount Sibyl and the Lakes of Pilate, in the Sibillini Mountain Range in Italy, are both ancient enigmas which are still unsolved. In two previous papers, “Birth of a Sibyl: the medieval connection” and “A legend for a Roman prefect: the Lakes of Pontius Pilate”, we identified the presence of two additional, extraneous legendary layers, which are connected to the figure of Morgan le Fay and to the ancient lore concerning the burial places of Pontius Pilate. With a third paper, “Sibillini Mountain Range: the legend before the legends”, we pinpointed a number of common traits that mark both legends, the Cave's and Lake's, with at least three shared features: a legendary demonic presence; the performance of necromantic rituals; winds, tempests, and devastation which mythically arise from both sites. With the present paper we address a fourth, most significant feature which seems to mark the two sites, the Sibyl's Cave and the Lake of Pilate: they both appear to have been considered as some sort of passageways to the Otherworld, owing to the presence of specific narrative elements, such as the test bridge, that are usually found in literary works that depict visionary travels to otherwordly regions. The Otherworld and its accessibility to living men has always been an illustrious, emotional literary topic in the literary production of the Western tradition, since classical antiquity, through the advent of Christianity and across the centuries of the Middle Ages. From Homer's “Odyssey” to Vergil's “Aeneid”, from Pope St. Gregory the Great to the visionary dreams originated in medieval Ireland, and up to the legend of the Purgatory of St. Patrick, men have always been dreaming about the afterlife, its shadows, its demons and its punishments. In the present work we retrace the main literary instances of the visionary narratives on the Otherworld in the Western culture. In addition to that, we highlight the strong literary links which can be retrieved between the legendary tales of the Sibyl's Cave and the Lake of Pilate, in the Sibillini Mountain Range, and two most famous and successful narratives which depict two specific journeys to otherwordly regions: the legend of the Cumaean Sibyl, with the Lake of Avernus and the gloomy cave providing an access to the realm of the dead, and the legend of St. Patrick's Purgatory, featuring another lake, Lough Derg, and another sinister cave. In the present paper we show the recurrent contaminations of narrative themes that link the three different, and substantially unrelated, legends, in the form of a visible transfer of narrative topics and situations from the illustrious and widely-known Cumaean and Irish tales, to an Italian tale which appear to features some narrative and geographical traits in common, though set in a different setting and despite its total independence from the legendary narratives of Lough Derg and Cumae. A contamination that has travelled across the centuries of the Middle Ages, through the invisible streams of oral tales and storytelling, finally materialised within the fifteenth-century works written by Antoine de la Sale and Andrea da Barberino. The resulting, far-reaching assumption which arises from the present research work is that a legendary passageway to some sort of Otherworld might have been possibly situated, by an antique tradition that left some faint traces in the known literature, among the peaks of the central Apennines. And the landmarks for this mythical entryway would be associated, just like in Cumae and Lough Derg, to the same kind of landforms, a lake and a cave: they both would mark a sort of legendary 'hot spot' on the surface of Earth, where the mythical passageway would be located. In this framework, a number of questions are left open in the present paper: why should this Apennine site have been considered as a further entryway to the Otherworld? If our assumption is true, what sort of Otherworld was this? What sort of dreadful dream did men conceive by the Lake and Cave set in the mountains of the Apennines, in central Italy? What legend did live in this area before the medieval legendary tales about a Sibyl and Pontius Pilate settled themselves here? The highlighting of the otherwordly character marking the Sibillini Mountain Range, in Italy, may lead to an improved comprehension of the mythical nucleus of the legendary setting that inhabits those imposing mountains of Italy, opening a new path that will be fully addressed in a future, and conclusive, research paper, now under preparation. This article is Part 2 of the full paper on the above topic, and also part of an extended series of papers on the true origin of the Apennine Sibyl's and Pilatus Lakes' legends, a series that will include further papers that are about to provide additional, previously-unpublished information on the whole fascinating topic.

International audience; The study combining stratigraphy, funerary typology, funerary gifts, epigraphy and anthropological data provides new data on the Cuman society of this period; moreover, it adds further informations on funerary self-representation of diverse ethnic groups within the city. Cuma is conquered in 421 BC by the Campanians; a century after, in 334 BC, the city get the civitas sine suffragio. The acquisition in 180 BC of the right of using Latin in public acts and of trade lets suppose that the process of “Romanization” is finished at Cuma. The archaeological evidence brought to light in the last years in the northern necropolises displays a frame more articulate, where the Roman presence doesn’t appear as preponderant as what seem to show the historical sources or the urbanistic transformations of public spaces within the city. The sources on which depends our research come all from the northern funerary space. This latter extends from the North/East of the mount of Cuma to the valley that is delimited on the West by the dryed-up lake of Licola, and on the East by the hills known under the name of the Coast of Cuma. In this area, between the IInd century and the first decades of the 1st century BC, the funerary landscape reveals the presence of imposing semi-hypogeum chamber tombs with barrel vaults for multiple inhumation burials, and "parallelepiped” burials with stele, or pits with gravestones (cippus) arranged to accommodate individual cremations. Both chamber tombs and cremation burials contain inscriptions in Oscan or Latin that characterize individuals as of Oscan origin. In several cases, the names engraved in the tuff are related to families already known in Cuma and in the Phlegraean territory. The burials brought to light illustrate the cultural vivacity of Cuma, a city that, despite continuing to preserve a Greek cultural substratum and although it overlooked the Roman world, continues to be influenced by a strong Oscan component. In this type of society, which we could define as mixed, the Oscan families or the families with an Oscan origin, in addition to maintaining their cultural integrity, still hold the political and economic power of the city at this stage. Even though Heii, Modii, Auxii, Antii, Staii get closer to the Roman civilization, in the funerary ritual they "latinized", they went on representing themselves in the first decades of the first century BC according to the "Oscan manner".

EnglishA lire player sold at the auction and two bronzes from the acropolis of Cuma. Sad considerations. A small bronze appeared on the antiquarian trade has straight common features with two other examples found during regular excavations on the upper temple of the acropolis of Cumae; both of them are difficult to insert in a stylistic and productive frame. This bronze is a new illustration of the musical theme, with significant variations in the typology of the instrument represented. The aim of this short note is to show its relevance to the same workshop and to suggest that its likely origin was actually the Cumean district. italianoUn bronzetto apparso sul commercio antiquario trova stringenti paralleli con due esemplari rinvenuti nel corso di scavi regolari condotti sul tempio superiore dell’acropoli di Cuma e di difficile inquadramento stilistico e produttivo. Esso ripropone il tema della musica con significative variazioni anche nella tipologia dello strumento rappresentato. La breve nota si limita a segnalarne la pertinenza a una unica bottega e la probabile provenienza dal distretto cumano.

International audience; The french archaeological Center Jean Bérard (USR 3133 CNRS-EFR) started in 2012, in collaboration with the Archaeological Superintendence of Naples and with the support of an Italian-French team of scholars, an interdisciplinary research in order to document the wall paintings found in a roman chamber tomb discovered in 2006 in the northern necropolis of Cuma. This presentation focuses on the new data regarding the implementation of the monument conservation and enhancement program.

National audience; Les fouilles du Centre Jean Bérard, soutenues par l’École française de Rome, le CNRS, le ministère de l’Europe et des affaires étrangères et la Fondation du Collège de France ont pris en 2108 un tournant amenant une découverte exceptionnelle : une tombe peinte datable du IIe siècle avant J.-C. Exceptionnelle à deux titres : d’une part nous ne connaissons que très peu de tombes pour la période hellénistique moyenne aux alentours de Naples, d’autre part car, malgré le pillage dont cette tombe a fait l’objet, une des parois était bien conservée.

Fifty ceramic sherds of Roman Coarse Ware collected in the Forum of Cumae have been characterized from an archaeometric point of view in order to define their production technologies and the provenance of geological raw materials, potentially used for their manufacture. Results highlighted broad technological differences in terms of CaO and carbonate contents, as well as textural features of aplastic inclusions as a function of the intended uses of the ceramic artefacts. Definitely, cooking wares were made using low-CaO clays with poorly or moderate sorted inclusions arranged in a bimodal (or negatively skewed) distribution. Tablewares and other utilitarian wares were made using high-CaO clay, generally with the occurrence of carbonate fragments in the tempers. This investigation allowed for distinguishing local or micro-regional productions (i.e., Pompeian Red Ware, Colour-coated ware, Common cookware, African- and Aegean-like pottery) from the exotic ones, such as a Graue Platte fragment and some ceramic sherds belonging to African and Aegean repertoires. The wide variety of fabrics observed for ceramic materials collected in this consumption context reflects the crucial role of the Phlegraean city in the production and circulation of pottery in the whole Mediterranean area between the 2nd century BCE to the 7th century CE.

Was Cumae supplied by the collection of rainwater, widely practiced for long time in the Mediterranean area, or by a branch of the Augustan Aqueduct? The main goal of Aqua Augusta was to provide water to Puteoli (civilian) and Misenum (military) that were two of the main harbors of the Empire. However, the ruins of the branch that would have flowed through Cumae have not been excavated yet. The aqueduct structure has not been studied in detail due to the difficulty in inspecting and the missing arches. A rainfall data analysis was carried out to assess the flow and use of the water conveyed by the Aqua Augusta aqueduct to Cumae. Results indicated that rainwater was not sufficient to supply Cumae and the Aqua Augusta should have played a great role in delivering water to the city. © 2016 Elsevier Masson SAS.

Roman mortars from a mausoleum (named D46b) belonging to the archaeological site of Porta Mediana necropolis, in Cuma (Naples, Southern Italy) have been studied by means of petrographic, mineralogical and micro-chemical analyses. The aim of this research is to fill the knowledge gap regarding mortar-based materials used in Roman age within this wide archaeological site. Two typologies of mortars (bedding and coating) were collected from mausoleum’s masonry. They were lime-based with addition of pozzolanic materials, according to Vitruvius’ recipe. Raw materials, such as volcanic sand and limestones, mainly from local sources, were preferentially used as aggregate, both for great availability and good properties. As regard production techniques, the multi-layer feature of the coating mortars, once again shows the great knowledge of the building art. Each layer is the result of a precise choice, as shown by the differences both in texture and petrographic features. Data from detailed mortars characterization have infer the outstanding skill of Roman craftsmen, as already proved by extraordinary durability of buildings. The research was very useful not only to increase the knowledge of this ancient culture but also to planning conservative actions, that, through mortar reproduction or the research of suitable materials, can promote the safeguard of this invaluable heritage.

Studio archeologico di alcuni prestigiosi contesti tombali con armi e loro contestualizzazione storic-sociale anche alla luce di costrutti teoretici di tipo storico e sociale (per es. Middle Ground, Network Theory) e di paralleli con esempi di interazioni outcomers-popolazioni locali di epoca storica (Costa d'Avorio) e contemporanei (Gahna)

This study analyzes Roman Coarse Wares from the city of Cumae (Naples, Campania), over an extended period, from the II century B.C. to the abandonment of the site in the late Antiquity. After examining the available data on pottery production and circulation in this area of the bay of Naples, the unpublished assemblages from the forum are analysed. These contexts were found during the excavations carried out by the Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”, in the framework of the Kyme Project, in which two Neapolitan universities and the Centre Jean Bérard (CNRS) are involved to promote the research and the valorisation of the ancient city. New data sets collected by these different teams highlight the role of Cumae in pottery production. Some coarse wares produced in Cumae were widely traded across the entire Roman Empire, in particular the so called Pompeian Red Ware (ceramica a vernice rossa interna, céramique à engobe rouge pompéien or Pompejanisch-rote Platte). The characteristics of the site and of the coarse ware assemblages led to the adoption of a classification system fundamentally different from those used in studies on Coarse Wares made in Campania until now. Every type of pottery is analytically described and illustrated, with profile drawings and, in most cases, with the support of data provided by thin-section study. The examination of Coarse Wares discovered in the excavations of the forum of Cumae and the re-examination of available documentation about Coarse Wares finds from the city and elsewhere, leads to review our previous knowledge about the chronology of each type and production, confirming or modifying them. The collected documentation allows us to reconstruct the framework of Coarse Wares production in Cumae. Furthermore, the study of imported Coarse Wares from the forum of Cumae provided new clues for reconstructing trade evolutions in the city and in the Phlegraean Fields, strongly influenced by the vicinity of the port of Puteoli, gateway of the Roman provinces of Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean. Examining forms evolutions and their percentage of the local and imported production through centuries, we observe changes in trade and in individuals habits and how everyday objects give insights on social and economical changes at Cumae and in the Phlegraean Fields during the Early Roman Empire and the late Antiquity., Cette étude analyse les céramiques communes romaines provenant de la cité de Cumes (Naples, Campanie) sur un arc temporel très étendu, depuis le IIe siècle av. J.-C. jusqu’à l’abandon du site durant l’Antiquité tardive. Après avoir examiné les données disponibles sur la production et la circulation des céramiques dans cette région de la baie de Naples, on analyse les mobiliers inédits des fouilles dans le forum, conduites par l’Università degli Studi di Napoli « Federico II », dans le cadre du projet Kyme, un programme de recherche et de mise en valeur des vestiges de la ville antique avec la participation de deux universités napolitaines et du Centre Jean Bérard (CNRS). Les données recueillies sur le site par les diverses équipes clarifient le rôle de Cumes comme centre de production céramique. Certaines céramiques communes fabriquées par les potiers de la ville connaissent une très large diffusion et sont parmi les productions les mieux attestées dans tout l’Empire romain: c’est le cas de la céramique dite à engobe rouge pompéien (ceramica a vernice rossa interna, Pompeian Red Ware o Pompejanisch-rote Platte). Les caractéristiques spécifiques du site et de l’assemblage de céramique commune étudié ont encouragé à adopter pour ce travail un système de classification différent de celui utilisé pour les productions communes de la Campanie jusqu'à présent. Chaque type est illustré analytiquement, avec le support d’une large documentation graphique et, dans la plupart des cas, des données fournies par l’étude des lames minces. L’examen des mobiliers provenant des fouilles du forum de Cumes et le réexamen des vases attestés dans la ville et en dehors du site, ont permis la révision des connaissances antérieures sur la production et la chronologie des types, en les confirmant ou en les modifiant. La documentation recueillie permet de dégager le cadre complexe de la production de céramique commune à Cumes. En outre, l’étude des importations a fourni nouveaux éléments sur les échanges commerciaux atteignant le site et la région phlégréenne, très influencés par la présence du port de Puteoli, porte de Rome sur les provinces de l’Afrique e de l’Orient. En examinant les variations du répertoire des formes représentées et les pourcentages des céramiques communes locales par rapport aux autres productions de l’Empire au cours des siècles, il a été possible d’observer des changements dans les flux commerciaux et dans les habitudes des individus. Il s’agit d’élever le regard des objets quotidiens pour atteindre les changements sociaux et économiques intéressant le site et le Champs Phlégréens entre le Haut Empire et l’Antiquité tardive.

Dionysius of Halicarnassus ( History of Archaic Rome VII 3-11), deriving from Timaeus of Tauromenium, offers a detailed picture of the life and deeds of Aristodemus of Cumae, and describes him as a «tyrant». The aim of this paper is to demonstrate that Aristodemus, despite being a «demagogue» hated by the Cumaean aristocracy, was actually a king (βασιλeύς), with political, military and religious powers.

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International audience; In this occasion we'd like to point out the value of the results obtained by chemical analysis combined to bioarchaeological and traditional archaeological methods in order to determine the organic content of vessels and their implication in funerary ritual. Furthermore, through identification and contextualization of food and drink remains trapped in funerary sets belonging to four tombs of the indigenous necropolis of Cuma (Napoli) dated to the Iron Age, the research has led to the recognition of functional categories of proto-historical pottery.

La côte ionienne est la troisième zone géographique intéressée par les fondations grecques et, bien avant cela, depuis l’âge du bronze, par les échanges de biens entre indigènes et Grecs. Sa position géographique a favorisé les relations avec la Grèce au cours de la protohistoire, comme l’indiquent à la fois l’importation de céramique mycénienne à Termitito (Métaponte) et à Broglio di Trebisacce, juste au nord de la future Sybaris, et la production locale d’imitations de céramiques grecques. ...

Grâce à Thucydide (6, 3-5), nous disposons d’une liste ordonnant chronologiquement les fondations des colonies grecques en Sicile. Ce tableau a certes été contesté en partie par les historiens modernes, mais il reste la base. La liste commence avec la fondation de Naxos et on peut calculer les intervalles de temps entre les fondations et les présenter dans le tableau suivant : Polis Cité-mère Œciste Durée Intervalle avec la suivante Naxos Chalcis Théoclès --- 1 an Syracuse Corinthe Archias --...

Au cours de cette dernière conférence, nous allons examiner la formation d’une ville italique, afin d’essayer de comprendre les similitudes et les différences avec les cités grecques dont nous avons traité jusqu’à présent. La localisation de Pompéi et sa disparition du fait de l’éruption du Vésuve en 79 apr. J.-C. sont bien connues de tous, mais ici nous allons mettre en évidence certaines caractéristiques de son histoire la plus ancienne. Pour comprendre les origines et le développement prog...

Je voudrais d’abord donner un aperçu des connaissances historiques et archéologiques sur l’implantation grecque en Italie méridionale et en Sicile orientale en insistant sur certains épisodes que je considère être parmi les plus importants du développement des établissements grecs. Ces établissements se sont développés progressivement, selon une dialectique continue. Ils ont été fondés par des Grecs d’origines variées et ont abouti à une fusion incluant des populations indigènes, elles aussi ...

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Communication de Guilhem Chapelin, architecte, Centre Jean Bérard USR 3133 (CNRS-EFR) lors de la journée d'études : Sur les seuils de l’antiquite... Du seuil au linteau, dispositifs techniques et transformations des portes antiques. Organisée le 2 juin 2014 à l'École Normale Supérieure, Paris, par Éloïse Letellier et Sandra Zanella.; The excavation of the northern necropolis of Cumae, recently carried out by the Centre Jean Bérard (CNRS-EfR, Naples), led to the discovery of a number of funerary enclosures and tombs of different types. One entered these spaces dedicated to the rest of the deceased by passing through doors and stepping across thresholds, ten of which are still in place. The remains of these funerary space doors, which date from the 1st to the 3rd century A.D. are unusual in that they lock from the outside, unlike those of many other enclosed spaces in living areas. A morphological analysis allows them to be grouped into two large families.; La fouille de la nécropole septentrionale de Cumes, effectuée ces dernières années par le Centre Jean Bérard, a permis la découverte d’un certain nombre d’enclos funéraires et de tombeaux de différents types. On pénétrait dans ces espaces dédiés au repos des défunts en franchissant des portes et en foulant des seuils qui sont, pour une dizaine d’entre eux, encore en place. Les restes de ces portes d’espaces funéraires, qui datent du Ier au IIIe s. ap. J. C ont pour particularité que les systèmes de verrouillage de leurs fermetures s’actionnaient, a priori, exclusivement de l’extérieur contrairement à ceux de nombreux autres espaces clos dans les lieux de vie. Leur analyse morphologique permet de les regrouper en deux grandes familles.

Excavations carried out in Cuma by the Centre Jean Bérard archaeologists have uncovered a large quantity of pottery. This study is focused on cooking ware and on internal red-slip cookware, also known as Pompeian Red Ware (Rosso Pompeiano), dated from the first century bc to the first century ad. A comparison with the minero-petrographic composition of beach sands collected along the Bay of Naples coastline highlights the provenance of the temper from the Somma-Vesuvius area, marked by leucite-bearing scoriae and garnet. Petrochemical analyses allow us to distinguish two main groups of pottery characterized by different technological options based on the amount of temper and on the type of clay. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope data demonstrate improved accuracy in the production of Rosso Pompeiano, especially with regard to firing control, which was in a prevailing oxidizing atmosphere and in a narrow thermal range, between about 800 and 900°C.

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En 2011, les recherches sur la necropole nord de Cumes ont ete poursuivies grâce aux credits octroyes par le Ministere des Affaires etrangeres et europeennes. D’une part une collaboration a ete commencee avec l’University of Southampton et la British School at Rome dans le but de couvrir la zone la plus large possible par des prospections geophysiques afin de definir le plus correctement possible le contexte de nos fouilles. D’autre part, nous sommes intervenus sur trois nouveaux secteurs : l...

International audience; Research on the site of Cumae is conducted by several teams within the context of a global project led by the Archaeological Superintendence of Naples and Pompeii. The Jean Bérard Centre (USR 3133 CNRS-EFR), under the direction of J.-P. Brun and P. Munzi, is working on the necropolises and sanctuaries in the vicinity of the city. The necropolis, which extends to the north of the city, covers a period of activity that extends from the 9th century BC to the 6th century AD. Nearly 70 funerary monuments from the Roman imperial period have been listed. Among them is the A62 mausoleum, excavated in 2008, which had wall paintings still in place. The excavation was financed by the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.; Les recherches sur le site de Cumes sont conduites par plusieurs équipes dans le cadre d'un projet global piloté par la Surintendance archéologique de Naples et de Pompéi. Le Centre Jean Bérard (USR 3133 CNRS-EFR) sous la direction de J.-P. Brun et de P. Munzi, travaille sur les nécropoles et les sanctuaires des abords de la cité. La nécropole qui s'étend au nord de la cité, couvre une période d'activité qui s'étend du IXe siècle avant notre ère au VIe siècle après. Près de 70 monuments funéraires d'époque romaine impériale ont été répertoriés. Parmi eux, le mausolée A62, fouillé en 2008, qui présentait des peintures murales encore en place. La fouille a été financée par le Ministère des Affaires Étrangères et Européennes.

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International audience

The text analyses the myth of Arion the citharode and his miraculous deliverance. It is believed that the background of this myth is actually the use of stars from the constellation Delphinus in celestial navigation by ancient sea-farers on the maritime route from Magna Graecia to Greece. The author further analyses the myth of Apollo Delphinius, according to which the god assumed the shape of a dolphin and thus guided a Cretan ship to Delphi. Further he considers the use of stars from the constellation Corona Borealis in celestial navigation ; in this context he shortly addresses Theseus’ voyage to Crete and interprets it as an expedition to the Otherworld. Next, the author tries to reconstruct the foundation-myth of Tarentum based on Classical sources, in the context of Arion’ s dolphin-assisted voyage. Associated with this is the analysis of stories with the eponym-hero of the city, Taras, and Phalanthus the Spartan as the main protagonists. The article briefly mentions some other “ dolphin- riders” from Antiquity, namely Melicertes and Hermias. The final section discusses foundation-myths of Greek colonies in the Bay of Naples, again in the context of celestial navigation and open-sea voyages.

International audience; The first continental Greek colony of the Occidental Mediterranean Sea, « Kyme », who will become Roman « Cumae », is located in the Occidental border of Phlegraean Fields which is subjected to volcanism and to bradiseismic phenomena. Littoral landscape belongs to the lido of Volturno river. The harbour installations of these cities interest archaeological research as much as geographers specialists of shoreline and relative sea level. Within the framework of KYME-CUMAE programm of the Centre Jean Bérard in Naples, supervised by M. Bats (CNRS), archaeological research around the harbours of the antique Cumae was associated to a geomorphological, pedological and historical analysis of the various facets of this coastal landscape. The study of landscape modelling was based on a detailed interpretation using a multiform planimetric documentation, completed by geopedological and geoarchaeological data gathered on the field and in archaeological diggings.; La première colonie grecque continentale de la Méditerranée occidentale, « Kyme », qui deviendra la « Cumae » romaine, est localisée à la bordure occidentale des Champs Phlégréens soumise au volcanisme et au bradysisme. Le paysage littoral appartient au lido du fleuve Volturne. Les installations portuaires de ces cités intéressent la recherche archéologique autant que les géographes spécialistes des littoraux et du niveau relatif de la mer. Dans le cadre du programme KYME-CUMAE du Centre Jean Bérard de Naples, sous la direction de M. Bats (CNRS), la recherche archéologique autour des ports de l'antique Cumes a été associée à une analyse géomorphologique, pédologique et historique des différentes facettes de ce paysage littoral. L'étude des formes du paysage a été réalisée à partir d'une interprétation détaillée d'une documentation planimétrique multiforme, guidée et complétée par des observations géo-pédologiques et géo-archéologiques au sol et dans les sondages archéologiques.