Production and Circulation of the Proto-historical specialized ceramic typologies in Madonna di Ripalta (Foggia- Italy).

The Proto-historical site of Madonna di Ripalta (Foggia-Italy) furnished a rich quantitaty of both geometric amnd proto-geometric figuline pottery related to the final bronze-early iron age. The kind of shapes and decorations is particularly rich and the good conditions of conservation allow a precise cultural setting. These specialized production were characterized by high firing temperature by the utilization of the lathe and pointed decoration. Archaeometric analyses have been performed on each sample. The chemical, mineralogical and petrographical characteristics of the ceramic samples were analysed. The analyses have been carried out in order to locate the production centres; so analyses were carried out also on traditional "impasto" ceramic, hand moulded and fired at lower temperature and the results were compared with those of the same ceramic typologies from different sites of the region.