Although wine was unquestionably one of the most important commodities traded in the Mediterranean during the Roman Empire, less is known about wine commerce after its fall and whether the trade continued in regions under Islamic control. To investigate, here we undertook systematic analysis of grapevine products in archaeological ceramics, encompassing the chemical analysis of 109 transport amphorae from the fifth to the eleventh centuries, as well as numerous control samples. By quantifying tartaric acid in relation to malic acid, we were able to distinguish grapevines from other fruit-based products with a high degree of confidence. Using these quantitative criteria, we show beyond doubt that wine continued to be traded through Sicily during the Islamic period. Wine was supplied locally within Sicily but also exported from Palermo to ports under Christian control. Such direct evidence supports the notion that Sicilian merchants continued to capitalize on profitable Mediterranean trade networks during the Islamic period, including the trade in products prohibited by the Islamic hadiths, and that the relationship between wine and the rise of Islam was far from straightforward.

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The ware called Taches Noires was developed in Albisola (Liguria, NW Italy) during the 18th century. In just a few years, it spread all over the Mediterranean (Italy, France, Spain, Tunisia, and Greece) and also in the New World (Canada, the Caribbean Islands, and Mexico). The success of the Taches Noires ware was so massive that it was soon copied by Spanish and French workshops. A collection of Catalan imitations and Ligurian imports found in Barcelona were analysed and compared to previously existing data from Barcelona productions, as well as reference samples from Albisola. The study proved the presence of both local imitations and original Albisola imports. The analysis showed a homogeneous product of high technical quality for the Albisola pottery. On the contrary, the local imitations presented a greater diversification in the choice and manipulation of the raw materials, probably related to the existence of different workshops engaged in the manufacturing of these products. Nevertheless, for one of the local groups, ceramists adopted a glaze recipe similar to the one used in Albisola, clearly indicating a direct transfer of knowledge, and possibly of potters, from Albisola to Barcelona.

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he Early Neolithic site of San Sebastiano di Perti is the only open-air site of the Impressed Ware Culture so far discovered in Liguria. It is located in the Finalese area, on a river terrace along the Pora Valley. One radiocarbon AMS date of 6760±45 BP (GrA-25715) was obtained from two caryopsis of Hordeum vulgare. he ceramic assemblage consists of 123 potsherds mainly decorated with impressions from Cardium shell and with implements; six representative samples have been submitted for thin-section analyses. he petrographic characteristics of the inclusions are consistent with those of the acid metavolcanites and metasediments of the Permo-Carboniferous basement and of the Miocenic limestones outcropping in the area. A local production and the use of raw materials of luvial origin (from the Pora River) can be hypothesised. he San Sebastiano production difers in textural, compositional and technical features from other ceramic contexts of neighbouring cave sites of the same chronology and Culture studied so far. In particular, it is important to point out the absence at San Sebastiano of fabrics with crushed calcite temper, that are on the contrary frequent, for instance, at the Arene Candide Cave.

Hexagonal neo-formed crystallites have been observed in thin section of different medieval and post-medieval lead-glazed ceramics. Although they are clearly visible in thin section using plane polarized light, their plate shape makes them barely seen on the polished cross sections. Basal sections have never been found on the polished sections and only few transversal very thin sections could be seen. In this case, the morphology resembles acicular and it is not possible to analyze them properly by SEM-EDX because the crystals are very thin and the glaze surrounding is analyzed as well. Micro-Raman microscopy was carried out directly on the polished thin sections. This technique allows specific areas as small as 1 μm in diameter to be analyzed and it is able to characterize inclusions that are not found on the glaze surface. However, the wavenumber features observed cannot be assigned to a specific compound. The thickness of the crystallites (a few hundred nanometers) seems to be responsible for the low sensitivity of the Raman instrumentation. 15 × 15 μm 2 micro-X-ray diffraction patterns using synchrotron radiation (SR-μXRD) in transmission geometry were obtained from the crystals using the same thin section preparation. SR-μXRD was able to localize the crystallites and avoid the overlapping signals corresponding to other mineral phases. In this way, the hexagonal crystallites present in the glaze have been unambiguously identified as hematite crystallites. Finally, some replications were made under laboratory-controlled conditions to determine the firing conditions in the formation of those crystallites. The presence of hematite coexisting with melanotekite indicates a firing temperature <925°C, while the presence of only hematite suggests a firing temperature >925°C ARTICLE HISTORY

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The Port-Vendres 4 shipwreck is evidence of coastal export trade between Hispania Citerior and Narbonne in 40/30 BC. The cargo is made up of a particular assemblage of Roman wine amphoras (Pascual 1, Dressel 1B and Lamboglia 2) destined for Gallic markets. Archaeological and archaeometric analyses conducted on a selection of the amphoras allowed the provenance of the cargo to be identified as Hispania Citerior and the central-southern Tyrrhenian coast of Italy. Iluro and/or Baetulo are proposed as the ports of departure, enabling the reconstruction of the trade route and the historical and economic significance of this shipwreck.