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This essay will examine the trend in imports of African potteries – notably amphorae and fine wares – in a rural zone of southern Sicily. We are dealing with the region of Cignana, not far from the coastline, where archaeological excavations documented a large settlement that experienced a big growth between the 5th and 6th centuries AD. During this period, a shift in the ceramic supply from the Zeugitana towards the Byzacena occurred. Nevertheless, the positive trend in imports persists until the last decades of the 6th century. Thereafter, it shows a decrease until the apparent interruption after the mid-7th century. New changes in the Mediterranean trading system seem to undermine the proximity exchanges between northern Africa and southern Sicily, but not the long-distance ones. At Cignana, this causes a gap in our knowledge that is still difficult to fill today. However, the discovery of a new ceramic class inspired by African prototypes of the late 7th century stimulates further reflection on the material culture of early Byzantine Sicily.

L’area del Golfo di Castellammare (Sicilia occidentale) è nota per le numerose fornaci di età romana. In questo articolo, si cercherà di ricostruire l’attività di un’officina destinata principalmente alla produzione di laterizi con bollo ΟΝΑΣΟΥ, databile fra III e I secolo a.C. Ricerche precedenti hanno permesso di riconoscere nel produttore di questi laterizi lo stesso Onasus Segestanus citato nelle Verrine di Cicerone e di localizzarne una possibile officina presso la Baia di San Cataldo. La scoperta di nuovi laterizi bollati e di scarti ceramici assume notevole importanza per una ricerca sugli ateliers ceramici del Golfo di Castellammare e della Piana di Partinico. Ne deriva un quadro aggiornato e ricco di prospettive di ricerca, relative all’espansione commerciale di Onasus nel corso del tempo e all’attività produttiva di altre fornaci, i cui manufatti potevano essere esportati o utilizzati localmente. The area of the Gulf of Castellamare (western Sicily) is well known for the several roman kilns. The aim of this paper is to reconstruct the productive activity of a workshop mainly manufacturing tiles with ΟΝΑΣΟΥ stamps, probably dating between the 3rd and the 1st century B.C. The previous researches permitted to recognize Onasus Segestanus, mentioned in Cicero’s Verrines, as the producer of these tiles and to localize a possible workshop in the Bay of St Cataldo. The discovery of new stamped tiles and ceramics wastes assume considerable importance for an investigation focused on the ceramic workshops in the Gulf of Castellamare and the Bay of St Cataldo. The result is an up-to-date picture rich in research perspectives, concerning the Onasus’s trade expansion during the time and the productive activity of other kilns, whose artefacts could be exported or locally employed.

International audience; Abstract: Trade fluctuations between North Africa and Southern Sicily: the 6th and 7th centuries AD. Cignana as a case study. This essay will examine the trend in imports of African potteries – notably amphorae and fine wares – in a rural zone of southern Sicily. We are dealing with the region of Cignana, not far from the coastline, where archaeological excavations documented a large settlement that experienced a big growth between the 5th and 6th centuries AD. During this period, a shift in the ceramic supply from the Zeugitana towards the Byzacena occurred. Nevertheless, the positive trend in imports persists until the last decades of the 6th century. Thereafter, it shows a decrease until the apparent interruption after the mid-7th century. New changes in the Mediterranean trading system seem to undermine the proximity exchanges between northern Africa and southern Sicily, but not the long-distance ones. At Cignana, this causes a gap in our knowledge that is still difficult to fill today. However, the discovery of a new ceramic class inspired by African prototypes of the late 7th century stimulates further reflection on the material culture of early Byzantine Sicily.

African Red Slip wares (ARS) are among the most common classes found in Sicily and a reliable chronological marker dated from the end of the 1st to the 7th century AD. We will here analyse data concerning the ARS wares collected during the Cignana and Himera surveys, carried out by the University of Palermo in northern and southern Sicily. The quantitative approach based on the Minimum Number of Vessels (MNV) allowed us to compare two different areas and therefore to detect differences and similarities in pottery distribution. The interdisciplinary (archaeological/archaeometric) approach helped us to improve the typological identifications of pottery and to identify with precision the origin of the imports. As a consequence, this research will help to enhance the understanding of the trade routes existing between different regions of Tunisia and Sicily during the centuries.

International audience; Among the events that occurred in Sicily during the First Punic War, the historians remember the Asdrubal's army march from Lilybaeum to Palermo across the Σελινουντία δυσχωρία. What might appear as a minor detail aroused the interest of scholars, who tried to identify this impervious region in Palermo's rugged mountains over the centuries. Nevertheless, is it possible to localize nowadays the passes the Carthaginian army crossed? This paper tries to answer this question through Palermo's mountains geomorphology examination supported by an in-deep historical and archival data analysis concerning the ancient paths linking Palermo to the southern coast of Sicily.

Questo articolo esamina le evidenza archeologiche di età romana nella Piana di Partinico, un'area ad Est del Golfo di Castellammare ricca di insediamenti rurali e ville tra cui quella famosa di Sirignano. L'area di contrada Amone, già nota per la presenza di un impianto termale e la scoperta di lacerti di mosaici policromi, si arricchisce adesso di una nuova area artigianale. La scoperta di alcuni scarti di tegole ha fornito l'opportunità per riflettere sulla possibile origine delle tegole bollate ONASOY, di cui si accetta tradizionalmente la provenienza dalla baia di San Cataldo. Viene dunque presentato un esame preliminare degli impasti ceramici provenienti da contrada Amone e baia San Cataldo. L'articolo è concluso da un'appendice in cui si analizza un banco di argille affiorante ne pressi di baia San Cataldo ed probabilmente impiegato fino ad epoca moderna da una locale manifattura ceramica This article examines the Roman archaeological evidence of Piana di Partinico, an area East of the Gulf of Castellammare, seat to farms and villas, including the famous villa of Sirignano. The area of Contrada Amone, already known for the presence of a bath and for the discovery of polychrome mosaics, is now enriched with the reporting of a craft area. The discovery of some discarded tiles has been an opportunity to reflect on the origin of the specimens branded ΟΝΑΣΟΥ, for which is traditionally accepted their exclusive production in the Bay of San Cataldo. A preliminary study of the mixtures of the ceramic productions of the sites of Contrada Amone and Baia di San Cataldo is therefore presented. In support of these analyses, the compositional characteristics of a bank of blue clay, recognised in the Bay of San Cataldo and probably used in local ceramic production from antiquity to the modern era, are given in the appendix.

International audience; What is the relationship between science and communication? And how important are cultural dissemination tools for the research survival? Recently, the archaeological study has undergone a substantial change, thanks to the introduction of non-invasive digital surveying techniques as well as physical and chemical analyses. It became therefore necessary to form a new archaeologist able to use them and to dialogue with new professional figures that move in the same direction. Also, it’s essential to promote the communication expert figures, which linked the scientific world and the public at large. Actually, Digital storytelling is a learning tool increasingly used by museums to enrich their offer through emotional experience and participatory processes. Digital storytelling is based on the idea of combining the oldest and most traditional form of communication and transmission of the knowledge with the newest means of communication and of sharing information: different forms and types of digital multimedia devices.

This paper offers an overview of the archaeological evidence known along the Eleuterio valley, in northern Sicily.

International audience; In many parts of Sicily, the Late Antiquity represents a period of strong transformation in settlement patterns and landscapes. These changes occur also on an area 20 km SE from Agrigento, on the southern coast of the island: this is the territory around the imperial villa of Cignana (2nd-3th century AD), where the University of Palermo carried out some surveys from 2007. During the surveys more than 30 new topographic units of Late Antiquity were detected: some of them are big and accurately dated, others are small and difficult to interpret. Usually, they have located in easily accessible places, close to springs and the road system. Principally African pottery allows us to follow the transformation and to detect continuity or decline in respect of the previous phases. Some sites already inhabited during the early and middle imperial age endure and grow in size, others disappear. Four of them become large villages between the 5th-6th cent., as shown by the number and variety of African imports, and in some cases persist until the early 7th, albeit reduced. After this moment the settlement patterns change totally: long-life sites are abandoned and the countryside is apparently unpopulated. Feeble traces of life are provided by few sherds of Rocchicella cooking pots (8th - early 9th) and handle with deep groove. What are the causes of this transformation in the Cignana landscape? Could socio-political, economic, or climatic changes explain it? Maybe our knowledge about medieval pottery, especially common ware and local productions, is still too limited to understand these changes?

Ce projet de recherche se fonde sur une étude typologique et archéométrique des matériaux d’époque romaine-impériale collectés pendant les prospections, surtout les céramiques africaines importées en Sicile entre la fin du Ier et le VIIe siècle apr. J.C. On ne va pas se concentrer sur une seule classe de céramique mais on va analyser globalement tous les objets manufacturés (amphores, sigillées, vaisselles culinaires, communes, lampes) en adoptant une approche diachronique correspondant à l’entière période de circulation de ces céramiques. L’objectif est de reconstruire les contacts économiques entre les deux provinces et individualiser l’origine des différentes productions. Nous allons essayer de déterminer les routes maritimes, les systèmes de distribution à l'échelle micro-régionale, les tendances du marché local et les différences dans la circulation des mêmes produits entre ville et campagne, sans oublier les aspects culturels.

International audience; The rural settlement of Viticchié was found during the Cignana project, an archaeological survey carried out by the University of Palermo in collaboration with the Soprintendenza of Agrigento in the area around the Roman villa of Cignana (20km SE from Agrigento). Among over 200 new sites identified since 2007, Viticchié stands out from the others by the large number and the variety of pottery referable to a wide chronological range (3rd BC – 7th AD). In this paper, I will talk about the imports from Africa during the imperial age that represent the most common finds on this site. In many cases typology and fabrics allow us to distinguish different production and ateliers.

Between 1927 and 1930, Pirro Marconi investigated a small rectangular structure near house Filippazzo, in the central urban area of Akragas. The presence of a bothros and fragments of female figures with stephane suggested the presence of a small sanctuary or temenos for chthonic deities. The little news published by Marconi and the vague indication of location made us forget the existence of this sanctuary for many years. However, a survey carried out in 2016 allowed to identify the remains of Marconi’s structure, partly covered by ground. At the same time, other little-known structures have been identified. In some cases, their function is still unknown

Powerpoint presented during the master dissertation

National audience; Powerpoint presented during the Eleuterio project conference

International audience; Powerpoint presented during the Sixth International Conference on Late Roman Coarse Wares, Cooking Wares and Amphorae in the Mediterranean: Archaeology and Archaeometry Land and sea: pottery routes, 24-28 May 2017, Agrigento

International audience; PowerPoint presented during the DAAD international workshop for MA and PhDs, 19-22 April 2016, Augsburg University

International audience; Between 1927 and 1930, Pirro Marconi investigated a small rectangular structure near house Filippazzo, in the central urban area of Akragas. The presence of a bothros and fragments of female figures with stephane suggested the presence of a small sanctuary or themenos for chthonic deities. The little news published by Marconi and the vague indication of location made us forget the existence of this sanctuary for many years. However, a survey carried out in 2016 allowed to identify the remains of Marconi’s structure, partly covered by ground. At the same time, other little-known structures have been identified. In some cases, their function is still unknown.