Il laterizio nei cantieri della Puglia centro-settentrionale tardoantica e medievale tra reimpieghi e nuove costruzioni

The brick in late antique and medieval central and northern Apulia between reuse and new productions In Roman times, in central and northern Apulia, the use of clay in construction was not intensive, but reserved for specific functions. Production seems to be concentrated in the internal areas and linked to the major urban and rural settlements. The crisis in the sector takes place in the Late Antiquity, with different times among the various sites; in the towns production stopped between the 3rd and 4th centuries AD, except for Canosa, where in the 5th and 6th centuries an exceptional manufacturing of bricks for the building, managed by the Church, flourishes. In some rural contexts workshops of specific clay artefacts are also activated in the restructuring phases between the 4th and 5th centuries AD, to integrate reused bricks and tiles. With the exception of Faragola, production seems to have stopped in the early Middle Ages. In the advanced 11th and in 12th century when tiles reappear in the stratigraphies, but perhaps also new constructions employ bricks (Serracapriola), the manufacturing restarted. From the 13th century the use of newly made terracotta elements becomes more evident in various contexts, culminating in the construction of the Lucera fortress, undertaken by the Angevin rulers in the last quarter of the century, built largely with modular bricks, molded in the workshops planted on site and in the surrounding area. The elaboration of a mensiochronological curve of bricks for Lucera from the 14th to the 19th century made it possible to outline interesting and peculiar dynamics of the brick industry over the long term.