Dentro le stive. Analisi dei residui organici dalle ceramiche di tipo egeo da Roca

We present the results of Organic Residue Analysis (GC-MS) from 15 Aegean-type vessels – mainly closed shapes – from the Bronze Age fortified settlement of Roca Vecchia in Southern Apulia. These analyses have been carried out in the frame of a wider project aimed at investigating some aspects of the production, exchange and use of ceramics at Roca Vecchia. Residues have been identified in all 15 vessels and can be referred to five organic products, variously mixed: animal fats, plant fats/oil, waxes, resins, fruit and/or fermented fruits. For some of them, trace element analyses (NAA) point to a provenance from Crete (Chaniá), Greece (Achaea/Elis) and Apulia. Several vessels, including a large closed-shape recipient imported from Achaea/Elis (In-Pot 1), contained a resinated wine. It seems that wine was sometimes mixed with other ingredients, such as dairy products; this practice is documented in the Iliad, as well as in Greek, Italic and Etruscan contexts. Organic residues in some vessels testify to different contents in the same pot. This is the case, for instance, of the stirrup jar from Western Crete In-Pot 3, which contained resinated wine and plant oils, or of the Minoan stirrup jar In-Pot 10, which had plant oils but also wine/vinegar and ruminant adipose fats. Sulphur has been identified in different samples. Even if it has been primarily interpreted as an ingredient of grape juice derivatives, it could also be interpreted (such as in the case of In-Pot 15) as the result of the ritual practices carried out in the Cult Center of Roca Vecchia.