Studio archeometrico delle macine in rocce vulcaniche della Puglia e zone limitrofe dall'età Arcaica all'età Romana

158 samples of volcanic-rock millstones and 1 sample of intrusive rock (gabbro) millstone were studied from both a petrological and chemical point of view. The age of the millstones ranges from the Arcaic and the Roman Period. The composition of the volcanic rocks is usually hyposilicic and alkaline. Analytical data indicate their original outcropping area. Provenance of the millstones from Orvieto, Roccamonfina, Mt. Vesuvio, Mt. Vulture, Vulcano, Lipari, Mt. Etna, Aegina, Santorini, Nisyros were therefore recognized. The results of our study are as follows. Neolithic millstones are usually made of sedimentary rocks (we found only two samples made of volcanic rocks from Mt.Vulture). The majority of the Bronze age millstones are made of volcanic rocks, all from Mt. Vulture, During the Classic-Ellenistic Period, the trade from Mt. Vulture continued, but a large number of millstones also came from Mt. Etna, Aegean and Aeolian Islands, Trade from the islands diminuished in the Roman Period, when commercial routes developed instead from Orvieto, Roccamonfina, Vesuvio.