In questo studio sono state integrate osservazioni tipologiche, condotte su forme a vernice nera rinvenute a Palermo, Termini Imerese, Monte Iato e Marineo, con i dati ricavati dalla caratterizzazione mineralogica, petrografica e chimica degli impasti. I 55 campioni selezionati appartengono a due forme : un piatto («Lamboglia 36 » , serie 1310-1320 di J.-P. Morel), tra i più comuni nella Campana A di I e II secolo a. C. ; ed una coppa di produzione locale o regionale, attestata (fine IV-III secolo a. C.) in insediamenti della Sicilia nord-occidentale, che è stata utilizzata anche come «gruppo di riferimento » chimicopetrografico. Sono stati distinti due gruppi composizionali, da ascrivere uno all’area del Golfo di Napoli, l’altro ad ambito produttivo locale, che per le caratteristiche mineralogico-petrografiche e chimiche è riferibile alle Argille di Ficarazzi (periferia orientale di Palermo). Ad entrambi i gruppi appartengono reperti del piatto Lamboglia 36, ma solo al secondo i campioni della coppa.

The aim of this work is to examine whether it is possible to find chemical markers that allow a distinction to be made between the imported black glossed ‘Campanian A’ and the Sicilian imitation (end of fourth to first century bc) of these productions by carrying out quantitative chemical microanalysis of the slip using the SEM–EDS technique. The efficiency of the proposed analytical method has been tested on a set of ceramic samples corresponding to Sicilian black gloss imitations whose ceramic body has already been characterized petrographically by thin‐section microscopy and chemically by XRF. The analytical data point to Na2O as a suitable chemical marker to distinguish between original ‘Campanian A’ imported from the Gulf of Naples area and Sicilian imitations of the same forms of Hellenistic pottery. In order to verify the above result, the enrichment factors (EFs) between the raw clays, the corresponding ceramic body and black gloss slip were calculated. Some differences in the patterns of EFs between original ‘Campanian A’ and Sicilian imitations were recognized and explained. Therefore, the obtained results can help to accomplish a first distinction between imported and local material on a firm analytical basis, working on a statistically significant number of individuals.

This paper suggests a methodology to assess, through quantitative indicators, the public transport based accessibility inside an urban area. Such indicators derive from two functions, one called the "activity function", allowing for the presence of generators and attractors of mobility and another termed the "impedance function", measuring the generalized cost of public transport journeys. The proposed method was tested and applied to a zone on the outskirts of Palermo (capital of the Sicilian Region), to evaluate the effects of a new tram line, which is under construction and will be activated by the end of 2012. The study shows that such a line is not sufficient to enhance significantly the accessibility of this zone except near the tramway. Therefore, to reach a high level of accessibility in the whole study area minimising, at the same time, the public transport operating costs, it could be better to plan an integrated system in which the tram service is supported by new bus lines or novel routes of the existing ones. Today, many European cities face the shortage of public funds, which raises the issue of efficiency for local policy actions. Given the above, we intend to provide the local town authorities with methodological tools to improve public transport performance and consequently accessibility, under severe budget constraints, by the re-organization of the service and a better exploitation of existing facilities.

In this paper,we discuss the results of an artefact survey and a sampling collection in the indigenous settlement of Terravecchia di Cuti, in the chora of the Greek colony of Himera (Sicily). The whole area of the town was gridded with squares of 10x10 m to isolate functional areas and identify the most interesting zones for new archaeological samples. The survey was carried out in two fields (9400 m 2 ), counting and recording all findings. Only diagnostic pottery and figured pottery, antefixes, loom weights, millstones and so on were collected. We can observe, analysing in detail our results for both fields, that functional areas could not be isolated, perhaps because the urban and social organisation of the settlement did not provide for clear distinctions. The multi-functionality of everyday objects, also, does not allow us to recognise these areas. Finally, we must consider the effect of decades of ploughing carried out on the site.

Che l'acqua sia fondamentale per l'esistenza e la sopravvivenza di una città è un fatto ben noto, e in antico città e insediamenti minori facevano fronte alle loro esigenze attraverso pozzi e cisterne che sfruttavano soprattutto le acque piovane, probabilmente in un contesto ambientale contraddistinto da maggiore piovosità rispetto ad oggi. 1 È altrettanto noto però che l'adduzione di acque sorgive, lo smaltimento ed il drenaggio di quelle superficiali, e più in generale la gestione della risorsa idrica incidono talvolta nella selezione dei luoghi dove fondare città, ne condizionano l'assetto urbano anche in funzione della necessità di irreggimentazione e smaltimento. Si tratta di un tema dalla forte connotazione interdisciplinare, 2 da tempo anche in Sicilia oggetto di studi e ricerche in città e comprensori caratterizzati da articolati sistemi idrici urbani, cui sono talvolta connesse cisterne ed edifici monumentali, e da acquedotti e condotte che solcano per chilometri il territorio.A titolo esemplificativo, ma non esaustivo, basti

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ABSTRACT:The paper presents a digital approach to the reconstruction and analysis of two small-sized fragments of louteria, a kind of large terracotta vase, found during an archaeological survey in the south of Sicily (Italy), in the area of Cignana near the Greek colony of Akragas (nowadays Agrigento). The fragments of louteria have been studied by an image-based approach in order to achieve high accurate and very detailed 3D models. The 3D models have been used to carry out interpretive and geometric analysis from an archaeological point of view. Using different digital tools, it was possible to highlight some fine details of the louteria decorations and to better understand the characteristics of the two fragments. The 3D models provide also the possibility to study and to document these archaeological finds in a digital environment.