Alessandra Pecci

• PhD in Medieval Archaeology
• Professor at University of Barcelona

Este libro es el resultado de una investigación multidisciplinaria en la que han participado la Universidad Hacı Bayram Veli de Ankara, la Universidad de la Calabria, la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, la Universidad de Barcelona y Restructura (Cosenza). Aborda el uso de técnicas modernas como SIG, georradar, LIDAR, termografía y petrograf...

The Penedès is one of the main wine-producing areas of the Iberian Peninsula. In order to explore the consumption and possible production of wine over time, twenty-five samples of ceramic containers from two sites (Mas d’en Boixos-1 and Olèrdola) have been analyzed with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Wine biomarkers have been identified in c...

Between 2019 and 2022, the complete excavation of the cargo of the late Roman wreck of Ses Fontanelles (Palma de Mallorca, 4th century A.D.) was carried out. It has allowed the complete preservation of the vessel and a cargo made up of 300 amphorae circa, with their original palaeocontents, still sealed and with the opercula in situ. In addition, t...

Between 2014 and 2019, a research project has been carried out in the Hellenistic city of Tamuda (Tetouan). A generalised level of abandonment has been documented in the Eastern Quarter (80s BC), with a multitude of complete amphorae, both imported and of local-regional production (Western Mauritanian I-IV). The archaeometric study (GC/MS) has veri...

Esta investigación parte del interés por definir el contenido de recipientes cerámicos españoles usados por siglos como envases de productos agrícolas que eran exportados de España a sus colonias americanas. Para ello hemos analizado una serie de fragmentos de botijas que se encontraron en los niveles estratigráficos coloniales del Centro Histórico...

En esta contribución se presenta una primera aproximación al cargamento del pecio tardorromano de Ses Fontanelles hallado recientemente en la isla de Mallorca (islas Baleares, España). Una primera campaña de excavaciones realizada en 2019 permitió obtener una muestra significativa de los materiales que transportaba la embarcación. El estudio tipoló...

The civitas Olerdola was an active border town between the 10th and 11th centuries during the expansion of the county of Barcelona towards the South, to Tarragona and the Ebro River. Archaeological research in recent years within the framework of the ECLOC project (2014-2017 and 2018-2021, funded by Generalitat de Catalunya) has identified producti...

The paper presents the results of an interim analytical approach to the Late Roman shipwreck of Ses Fontanelles recently found in the island of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain). The excellent state of preservation of the hull and the cargo, including amphorae with painted inscriptions (tituli picti), and its location in shallow waters offshore of...

Bringing together a wide array of modern scientific techniques and interdisciplinary approaches, this book provides an accessible guide to the methods that form the current bedrock of research into Roman, and more broadly ancient, wine. Chapters are arranged into thematic sections, covering biomolecular archaeology and chemical analysis, archaeobot...

This paper presents the results of the mineralogical, petrographic and chemical study of different archaeological samples related to terracruda sculptures and other elements that were part of the architectural decoration of the Buddhist sites of Tepe Narenj and Qol‐e‐tut (Kabul, Afghanistan ‐ 5th to 11th centuries CE). The main objective of the stu...

The Busa delle Vette site was investigated as part of the UPLanD project, focused on the archaeology of pasto- ralism, to shed light on the lifeways of pastoral groups during the summer months. The site is composed of a hut and some enclosures located on a glacial cirque at 1850 m asl, in the Dolomites (Veneto, Italy), dating back from the Late Ant...

The paper presents the results of an interim analytical approach to the Late Roman shipwreck of Ses Fontanelles recently found in the island of Mallorca (Balearic Islands, Spain). The excellent state of preservation of the hull and the cargo, including amphorae with painted inscriptions (tituli picti), and its location in shallow waters offshore of...

The aim of this research is to investigate the efficiency of combustion structures, the fuels used, the structure maintenance and the range of related domestic activities. An experimental programme was carried out in which replicas of archaeological Iron Age combustion structures were put to work. Based on the available archaeobotanical records, va...

Belarte Franco, Maria Carme; Pastor Quiles, María; Mateu Sagués, Marta; Portillo, Marta; Saorin, Carme; Pecci, Alessandra; Vila, Sílvia; Gomar, Ada, 2023, "Experimental combustions conducted at the Iberian Citadel of Calafell (Tarragona, Spain) between 2021 and 2022", https://doi.org/10.34810/data581, CORA.Repositori de Dades de Recerca, V1

Presentem el projecte TRANSCOMB [Estudi transdisciplinari i experimental d’estructures de combustió a la Mediterrània occidental durant la protohistòria (primer mil·lenni aC)]. En el marc d’aquest projecte, hem implementat una metodologia específica per a l’estudi de les estructures de combustió que inclou anàlisis interdisciplinàries (antracologia...

Deadline 9 February 2023

The Bronze Age site of Ca’ Baredi / Canale Anfora near Aquileia (municipality of Terzo di Aquileia), NE Italy, is currently being investigated by the University of Udine within the framework of a project which aims at reconstructing the cultural landscape in the area before Roman Aquileia was founded. Over several annual campaigns, a couple of spec...

EXARC Journal 2022/2 https://exarc.net/ark:/88735/10640 Within the project “Transdisciplinary and experimental study of firing structures in the western Mediterranean during Protohistory (1st millennium BC)”, the TRANSCOMB project is an experimental research programme conducted at the Ciutadella Ibèrica (Iberian Citadell) of Calafell Archaeologica...

This work presents the results of archaeobotanical examinations of fragments of monumental terracruda sculptures from the Buddhist sites of Tepe Narenj and Qol-e-tut (Kabul, Afghanistan—5th to eleventh centuries CE). The results indicate that different plants and parts of plants were intentionally added to the clay mixtures. In particular, we ident...

The complex originally called Villa B (“of Lucius Crassius Tertius”) located in present day Torre Annunziata, Italy, was not a villa but rather a kind of emporium focused on the handling of wine and perhaps other agricultural products. If Villa A, located on a high cliff 300 meters to the west, was, at the time of the eruption, an abandoned seaside...

Resumen: El proyecto que presentamos se centra en el estudio de uno de los barrios centrales de Teotihuacan, ubicado en un área que se encuentra al este de la Calzada de los muertos, entre el río San Juan y la Pirámide del Sol y en la búsqueda del centro de este barrio. En este proyecto se ha propuesto el uso de una combinación de técnicas de inves...

In 2018, during excavations of an opus reticulatum complex that may have functioned as a villa rustica or agricultural processing center in its initial occupational phase in the late 1st c BCE/early 1st c CE, the Marzuolo Archaeological Project uncovered two large cylindrical cement-lined tanks sunk into the floor of a room paved with opus signinum...

Hydraulicity is a well-known characteristic of mortars and plasters from the Roman, Late Roman, and Medieval periods, while the use of hydraulic mortars in pre-Columbian Mesoamerica and Central Mexico in particular, has not received equal attention. To address this issue, in this paper, we discuss the problem of hydraulicity and suggest a method to...

This work presents the results of the study of a fragment of architectural terracruda sculpture from the Buddhist archaeological site of Tepe Narenj (Kabul, Afghanistan, fifth-ninth centuries CE) through X-ray micro-computed tomographic analysis. This technique offers great potential for the study of artworks that, due to their nature, condition, o...

Amphorae are key materials in the investigation of the production and transport of goods in ancient times. For the Roman period, many typologies of amphorae are standardised and there are hypotheses concerning their uses and contents mainly based on the shape, provenance, tituli picti and, when preserved, the solid contents. However, there are stil...

Vitis vinifera L. ssp. vinifera i.e. grapevine is one of the most ancient and precious fruitbearing plants in the world. It played a prominent role in complex historical societies around the Mediterranean. Today, it is commonly accepted that the modern cultivars of Vitis vinifera are the result of the domestication of Vitis vinifera L. ssp. Sylvest...

This article argues that a holistic approach to documenting and understanding the physical evidence for individual cities would enhance our ability to address major questions about urbanisation, urbanism, cultural identities and economic processes. At the same time we suggest that providing more comprehensive data-sets concerning Greek cities would...

The early consumption of wine or other grape derivatives (such as vinegar or must) is suggested from organic residues analysis conducted on Bronze Age pottery recovered from two sites in north-eastern Italy, Pilastri di Bondeno (Ferrara) and Canale Anfora (Aquileia, Udine). Pilastri is part of the Terramare culture of the Po plain, from which the a...

Amphora reuse is an inconvenient truth: the topic has received little attention in Roman studies, even though it certainly happened, and potentially on a huge scale. What was the effect of amphora reuse in the past? What data and methods can archaeologists use to evaluate it? How does the phenomenon affect our ability to interpret Roman amphora dis...

Between 2008 and 2012 Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and the University of Cadiz carried on a joint projet aimed at analyzing the exploitation of fish resources in the Vesuvian area.The paper deals with the study of the so-called Bottega del garum (I 12, 8) and in particular with the analysis of all the amphoras in the yard, that were ready to be...

The POMEDOR project gave the opportunity to investigate the provenance and contents of some of the main types of Middle and Late Byzantine amphorae, for which we had very little information so far. This paper presents the first results obtained by residues analyses on amphorae of types Günsenin III and IV, which were widespread in the Mediterranean...

This paper reports the findings of an archaeometric study performed on 14 architectural earthenwares from the archaeological site of S. Omobono, located in the historic center of Rome (Italy). The archaeological site, accidentally discovered in 1937, includes the remains of a sacred area previously occupied by two temples, one of which was converte...

The work shows the results of a multi-analytical study performed on twenty-nine brick samples taken from Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (Turkey). Hagia Sophia, one of the most important historical buildings in the world, has a very complex construction history. This complexity is also reflected in the materials that were used for its construction. The ma...

Twenty-six samples of mortar used for various construction applications (joint mortars, floor mortars, filling mortars and plasters) were collected from different areas of the archaeological site of Pompeii (Campania - Sothern Italy). The mortar samples belong to various historical periods covering approximately 2000 years, from the 2nd century BC...

Medieval rock-cut wine presses and cellars in Olèrdola (Barcelona). A recent discovery Núria Molist, Xavier Esteve, Gisela Ripoll, Alessandra Pecci, Jordi Farré, Yolanda Peña The archaeological works carried out in the last decades in the medieval city of Olèrdola (Alt Penedès, Barcelona) come into view some presses of different types both inside...

Food in Mexico is an very important national symbol. Multiple historical sources express the importance of food among prehispanic groups. Interdisciplinary researches with archaeometric, archaeological, anthropological and historical perspectives, are necessary to approach to this important area of the domestic life in the past. Over the past decad...

During the excavations carried out in Via di Mercurio (Regio VI, 9, 3) in Pompeii, in 2015, some red, green, black, and brown wall painting fragments were found in the preparatory layer of an ancient pavement which was probably built after the 62 AD earthquake. These fragments, derived from the rubble, were used as coarse aggregate to prepare the m...

Within an interdisciplinary project to study Istanbul’s Hagia Sofia, a georadar survey was carried out in the central nave to assess if the deformations of the structure previously observed could be related to a differential behavior of the subsoil caused by architectural remains underneath. This study faces an unusual challenge since it was necess...

The aim of this article is to focus on the technology of archeological plasters at Teotihuacan (Central Mexico), from the Classic Period (200–650 A.D.), focusing in the study of Teopancazco, a neighborhood center in the city. Petrographic and chemical analyses by OM, SEM-EDS, and LA-ICP-MS were conducted to characterize samples from different const...

In this paper, we propose the application—for the first time in the Mediterranean area—of the combination of the study of chemical residues in floors and ceramics, with the aim of providing information about the activities carried out in archeological buildings. We chose the Garum Shop at Pompeii to test the method. In fact, due to the peculiarity...

Please, consider submitting a paper for session #440 at the next EAA. The call for paper ends on February 15th. Submission to be made through the conference website: https://eaa.klinkhamergroup.com/eaa2018/

This paper presents the results of an inorganic and organic approach to Roman amphorae found at the rural Roman site of Sa Mesquida (Mallorca). A set of amphorae were discovered in some rooms of the earlier phases of the villa. These amphorae were assigned to a general Tarraconensian and Italic provenance on a macroscopic level. In order to verify...

El patrimonio cultural puede ser estudiado a través de la aplicación de metodologías científicas diversas que utilizándolas eficientemente y de manera interdisciplinaria, son capaces de descubrir información normalmente oculta a los ojos de un observadr "común". POr otra parte estas metodologías de estudio se pueden emplear no sólo en materiales ar...

Chemical residues preserved in floors can be considered anthropic activity markers. In fact, residues are strictly related to the activities performed and reflect their spatial distribution. We present a synthesis of the work carried out over the last few decades in Mexico and Italy related to the study of chemical residues in floors. Residues can...

This study shows the results of a multidisciplinary collaboration between the University of Calabria (Italy) and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), about the compositional characterization of some mortars taken from Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (Turkey), one of the most important buildings in antiquity. Twenty samples of joint mortars...

A multiproxy approach based on archaeobotanical, organic residue and isotopic analyses was carried out on materials from 12 Medieval archaeological sites in Tuscany (central Italy), in order to provide a diachronic overview of local diet in rural and urban sites from the mid-eighth to the fourteenth centuries AD. Archaeobotanical analyses were appl...

Under the aegis of the ongoing international Oplontis Project we carried out organic residue analyses on thirteen samples from eleven Dressel 2–4 amphorae recovered at Villa B at Oplontis (Torre Annunziata, Southern Italy) in order to identify their content and to characterize their visible lining. Although the content of Dressel 2–4 amphorae is us...

Desde la época prehispánica el pulque ha sido una de las bebidas más importantes del Altiplano Central de Mesoamérica. Su consumo perduró a través de la época colonial y actualmente continúa siendo popular en algunas partes, pero está en riesgo de desaparecer en otras.

This paper presents the results of inter-disciplinary work drawing on archaeobotanical and archaeometric studies to trace the agroforestry landscape and the supply economy at the vicus of Thamusida in north-west Morocco at the border of the Roman Empire. The available data indicate the self-sufficiency of the settlement in both forestry and agricul...

Dear colleagues, We would like to draw your attention to the session Anthropic activity markers: Archaeology and Ethnoarchaeology that we are organising at the next SAA conference, the 82nd SAA Annual Meeting to be held in Vancouver, Canada (March 29-April 2, 2017; http://saa.org/AbouttheSociety/AnnualMeeting/tabid/138/Default.aspx). This will be t...

As part of the ethnoarchaeological study carried out by S. Burri and A. Durand on the way of life of current charcoal burners in Morocco, archaeometric analyses of samples from the floor of a hut in Naour were carried out in order to identify the presence of chemical concentrations. These analyses were performed in order to understand the chemical...

Organic residue analysis was carried out on kitchen wares from a Medieval household at Paphos (Cyprus) in the framework of the POMEDOR Project, which aims to gain insight into food practices in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Medieval period. The samples were selected from a household assemblage which included nearly two hundred table, cooking...

Hagia Sophia is one of the oldest and most complex existing monuments. Many unanswered questions are still open on the historical and constructive evolution of this monument. The boundaries between the different construction phases and the details of the masonry and materials used in the various phases are still not defined with precision.The therm...

Human activities produce different evidences that can be identified by the naked eye or through the application of techniques. The concept of anthropic marker (AM)-models of accumulation and distribution of proxies and materials from a particular activity-can be used as an interpretative tool. Ethnoarchaeology and experimental archaeology, drive th...

This paper shows the application of an integrated approach to the study of the use of ceramic wares and of the food prepared and consumed in the Medieval Hospital of Santa Maria della Scala in Siena (Central Italy). This approach takes into account data obtained by the archaeological and archaeometrical study of ceramic vessels and the investigatio...

This paper presents the first results of the CORONAM (COntent of ROmaN AMphorae) project, an informal international research network on amphorae and the history of Roman trade. Samples of several Keay 25 (Africana 3) subtypes were analysed in an attempt to determine vessel content. Visible residues from the interior of vessels as well as ceramic sa...

First brought to notice in the 1980s as a variant of African cookware, Uzita 48.1 has since come to be included in the morphological range of this type of pottery. Since appearing as the subject of a monograph in 1993, the number of fragments identified has grown twenty-fold, most of them located on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula...

As a part of the international project for the examination of the Hagia Sofia monument, carried out by an interdisciplinary team from the University of Calabria and the University of Mexico, varied techniques were applied, including 3D laser scan, thermography, mortar analysis and georadar (Cura et al. 2014). The building has a very long and comple...

As a part of the international project for the examination of the Hagia Sofia monument, carried out by an interdisciplinary team from the University of Calabria and the University of Mexico, varied techniques were applied, including 3D laser scan, thermography, mortar analysis and georadar (Cura et al. 2014). The building has a very long and comple...

As part of an international project for the examination of the Hagia Sofia monument, carried out by an interdisciplinary team from the University of Calabria and the University of Mexico, varied techniques were applied, including 3D laser scan, thermography, mortar analysis and georadar (Cura et al. 2014). The monument has a very long building hist...

Glazed ceramics have not typically been sampled for organic residue analysis because the glaze is not porous; therefore, it is commonly believed that these ceramics cannot absorb substances. Although this is partially true, the aim of this paper is to demonstrate that the glaze may exhibit imperfections due to the production process or the use of c...

This paper presents the results of the compositional study of 29 samples of mortar from the so‐called “Garum Shop” (I, 12, 8) at Pompeii in Southern Italy. The characterization of the samples yielded information on the raw materials used in the mixtures, the production technology of mortars, and the building phases. It was carried out through polar...

Organic residues analysis is an important tool in archaeological research because it sheds light on aspects of the daily life of the past. In particular, it allows us to obtain information on food production, consumption and trade. In this paper we present the results of residue analysis performed on ceramic vessels from the archaeological site of...

First brought to notice in the 1980s as a variant of African cookware, Uzita 48.1 has since come to be included in the morphological range of this type of pottery. Since appearing as the subject of a monograph in 1993, the number of fragments identified has grown twentyfold, most of them located on the Mediterranean coast of the Iberian Peninsula a...

All results of the ERAAUB team in recent years

Since 2009, through an international collaboration with Cambridge, Cornell and Messina Universities, the Philosophiana Project has investigated the Roman to medieval topographical, architectural, functional, economic and environmental transformations at the site of Sofiana in central Sicily, only 6 km as the crow flies from the Roman "Villa del Cas...

Multi-analythical approach for the diagnostic at Hagia Sophia: a 3D multimedia database proposal (Ayasofya da bazı tanı yöntemleri kullanılarak elde edilen bulgular için bir: 3D multimedya veritabanı önerisi), in “Ayasofya Müzesi Yıllığı