Archeologia del vetro a Bari: dallo scavo allo studio archeometrico

The study of glass from the archaeological investigations carried out in Bari since the end of the 1980s is still in progress, particularly for the area of the Citadel. This paper focuses on the study of the typological and archaeometric analyses (LA-ICP-MS) of artefacts dating to the Byzantine period (9th-11th centuries). This study allows to reconstruct the commercial connections between the city, which at this time was seat of the Catapanate of Italy, and eastern regions of the Mediterranean. In particular, the finds from the praetorium of Bari include high-level imports from the Egyptian area, then under the control of the Abbasids and direct contact with the centre of the Byzantine Empire and Asia Minor. Two rare examples of soda ash glass are attested in southern Italy before the 12th century.