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Trichrome painted wares spread out during the Middle Neolithic (between 5000 and 4500 cal. BC) along the Adriatic side of the Italian Peninsula. The pottery production was characterized by a very fine-granulated paste defined figuline and by a decoration painted with red and black colors. This research reports the results of X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) and micro-Raman spectroscopy analysis focused on the decoration of the ceramics from two distinct geographical groups, corresponding to the village of Ripoli (Abruzzo, Central Italy) and to the Matera's caves (Basilicata, Southern Italy). A representative set of samples has been studied. XRF and micro-Raman analyses reveal that the black decoration was obtained using a black pigment based on manganese-iron oxide, whereas the red one includes iron oxides. To investigate the multilayer structure of the samples, a Monte Carlo simulation has been performed on the XRF data. The results, together with the data achieved on samples of the Serra d'Alto Culture from Matera's sites, allow to confirm previous hypotheses on the figuline production. In particular, a technological evolution is proven by the selection and control of the raw materials associated to a technologically advanced firing system. The choice of a manganese pigment is a further technological connotation of figuline potteries.

During the Middle Neolithic (between 5000 and 4500 cal. BCE) the Serra d'Alto Culture was particularly widespread in Matera's territory and in Apulia region. Serra d'Alto pottery wares consist both of a very fine yellow paste—called figuline—decorated with patterns in black, and of a medium/coarse paste. In this paper, the X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analyses of 102 samples of black painted decorated figuline pottery are reported. We analyzed sherds from six archaeological sites of Matera's area: Serra d'Alto, Trasano, Setteponti, Tirlecchia and Pipistrelli's cave, and Funeraria cave. The results show that a black pigment based on manganese has been used for the decoration of each of the Serra d'Alto samples. The exclusive presence of this material suggests a deliberate technological choice and defines a regular characteristic of Serra d'Alto pottery manufacturing. This study is part of an interdisciplinary project on painted pottery in the central and southern Italy, from Early to the Middle Neolithic period.

Plant resins, tars and organic fossil substances provide valuable insights into the ecological, environmental and cultural contexts of ancient societies. Their study offers evidence of past know-how, production systems, socio-economic networks and mobility. In this paper, we present new data from 16 sites located in the North-West Mediterranean that provide new insights into the exploitation of these substances for their adhesive and hydrophobic properties throughout the Neolithic (6000-2500 cal BCE). The substances investigated are discussed in the light of their molecular composition, their uses and manufacturing processes. Spatial analyses were also performed to elucidate raw material procurement strategies. This study considerably increases the body of data available from the Mediterranean and tells a diachronic story of adhesive production and use throughout the Neolithic, highlighting the variability and complexity of production systems and supply networks at different spatial scales. While most adhesive and hydrophobic substances were probably collected locally, birch bark tar was very likely transported across long distances to reach Mediterranean coastal sites. Birch bark tar exploitation intensified in South-Eastern France during the Middle Neolithic, while the Late Neolithic is characterised by a diversification of the substances employed and their range of uses: bitumen, birch bark tar (pure or mixed with Pinaceae resin, beeswax and possibly fat/oil) were important materials that were used for a variety of purposes. Pure Pinaceae exudates were exclusively employed for waterproofing pottery. We also highlight the standardisation of birch bark tar production for adhesive manufacture observed in Provence during the first part of the 4th millennium cal. BCE., The authors thank the French National Research Agency (ANR) for the funding of the project Exsudarch (2010-2014, M. Regert dir.) which allowed extensive diachronic interdisciplinary investigations on plant exudates and tars as well as researching the biogeography of plant raw materials. We are also grateful to the Academy 5 of the IDEXJEDI from UCA (Université Côte d’Azur), to the MSHS sud-est, to the CNRS-INEE and to the CEPAM for funding the research project ARCHEOPLANTES (2018-2020, M. Regert dir.). The results presented here were obtained during the PhD of Maxime Rageot, funded by the PACA Region, the CNRS and the Université Côte d’Azur; may they find here the expression of our sincere thanks. We are grateful to Nolan Ferar for proofreading the article. Finally, we would like to thank the two reviewers for their constructive suggestions which helped to improve the quality of this article.

Pottery-manufacturing sequences can act as proxies for human migration and interaction. A good example is provided by the �spiralled patchwork technology� (SPT) identified at two key early farming sites in the Ligurian-Provencal Arc in the north-west of the Italian peninsula. SPT is distinct from the ceramic technology used by early farmer communities in south-east Italy that shows technical continuity with the southern Balkans. Macroscopic analysis and micro-computed tomography suggests the presence of two communities of practice, and thus two distinct social groups in the northern Mediterranean: one of southern Balkan tradition, the other (associated with SPT) of as yet unknown origin. The identification of SPT opens up the exciting possibility of tracing the origins and migrations of a second distinct group of early farmers into Southern Europe

Analyses of organic residues preserved in ceramic potsherds enable the identification of foodstuffs processed in archaeological vessels. Differences in the isotopic composition of fatty acids allow differentiation of non-ruminant and ruminant fats, as well as adipose and dairy fats. This paper investigates the trends in milk use in areas where sheep and goats are dominant in the faunal assemblage and in some sites from the Linearbandkeramik culture. Sites include: Colle Santo Stefano, Abruzzo, Italy, and the Oldest to Young Linearbandkeramik sites of Zwenkau, Eythra and Brodau, Saxony, and Wang and Niederhummel, Bavaria, Germany. More than 160 potsherds were investigated including cooking pots, bowls, jars, and ceramic sieves. The lipid residues presented provide direct evidence for the processing of ruminant and non-ruminant commodities at Zwenkau and Eythra, despite the absence of faunal remains at the sites. No dairy residues were detected in potsherds from LBK sites, except in a ceramic sieve at Brodau. Lipids from non-ruminant and ruminant fats, including from dairy fats, were detected at the site of Colle Santo Stefano showing a reliance on dairy products during the first half of the sixth millennium at this site; where sheep and goats were the major domestic animals.

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In the field of cultural heritage, the study of the materials used by the artist is useful both for the knowledge of the artwork and for conservation and restoring interventions. In this communication, we present results of some decorations analysis obtained by the use of two complementary laser techniques: micro-LIBS and micro-Raman spectroscopy. With both techniques it is possible to operate in a practically nondestructive way on the artwork itself, without sampling or pretreatment. Micro-Raman spectroscopy gives information on the molecular structure of the pigments used, while micro-LIBS can give quantitative information about the elemental composition of the same materials. In this paper, qualitative results are reported obtained on the study of some Neolithic potteries coming from the archaeological site of Trasano (Matera); the fragments show decorations in different colors, red, black, and white. The aim of the study was detecting whether the colored decorations were made by using added pigments or came from the manufacturing process.

International audience; The site of Colle Santo Stefano in the Fucino Basin (Abruzzo, Italy), relates to the central Adriatic phase of the Neolithic complex of ceramica impressa (Impressed ware), which dates to the first half of the 6th millennium CAL B.C. This paper focuses on bone points, which comprise the main category of bone tools present (189 out of 272 total bone tools). A comprehensive study including technological and use wear analyses resulted in the identification of two main types of points which were used mainly to work on or with plant fibers.

Iron and trace elements, such as rare-earth elements, scandium, rubidium, cesium, tantalum, thorium and uranium were determined by instrumental neutron activation analysis in geological samples of obsidian rocks from the Mediterranean Area and in obsidian artifacts found in some prehistorical human settlements in Italy. REE patterns and discriminant analysis allow a firm identification of the source material of artifacts, thus confirming and implementing fission track data of the same artifacts and rocks on the origin of the obsidian rock used to mould the artifacts.

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