Painted and common wares from Salapia (Cerignola, Italy): archaeometric data from fourth to eighth cent. AD samples from the Apulian coast

This paper presents an analysis of the first ceramic assemblage of painted and common wares from the archaeological site of Salapia. This collection of samples from the fourth to eighth centuries AD has been analysed by means of optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and bulk geochemistry to verify whether this port town, strategically sited along the Adriatic coast, hosted a production of ceramics and, if so, to differentiate locally produced from imported specimens. Four groups of ceramics, selectively made of either sub-Apennine clays or alluvial sediments, were distinguished. The first, composed of flat-bottom amphoras, was identified as likely imported. In the remaining three groups, all consisting of tablewares, the samples were locally made, using clays which were different from each other but equally sourced from alluvial sediments. They also represent what functional ceramic production was carried out either in or quite close to the archaeological site.