Le rotte di importazione del vetro ad Egnatia in età tardoantica (secc. IV- VI)

The city of Egnatia, crossed by the Via Traiana, was an important commercial port on the Adriatic coast of Apulia. During late antiquity, the influence and prestige of the bishop, also documented by the presence of several churches, favoured a particular prosperity of the centre and the renewal of the urban fabric. The porticoes of the square, for example, located in the NW sector, were divided into rooms for commercial use, frequented between the end of the 4th and the end of the 6th century. The typological and archaeometric analyses (LA-ICP-MS) of the glass artefacts found in the porticoed square and in the area of the early Christian basilica, in particular, has allowed us to ascertain the commercial receptivity of the site, underlining how the city was open to the import of goods produced with Egyptian and Palestinian glass, as well as a majority supply of Roman glass. If the presence of products made with Egyptian glass is usual in southern Italy, the importation of artefacts made with Palestinian glass is less frequently represented. Their presence in Egnatia links the city to the trade routes.