Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jasrep One Pot's tale: reconstructing the movement of people, materials and knowledge in Early Bronze Age Sicily through the microhistory of a vessel Roberta Mentesana a, ⁎ , Giuseppe De Benedetto b , Girolamo Fiorentino c a Scuola di Specializzazione in Beni Archeologici “Dinu Adamesteanu”, Dipartimento Beni Culturali, Università del Salento, via D. Birago 64, 73100 Lecce, Italy b Laboratorio di Analisi Chimiche per l'Ambiente e i Beni Culturali, Università del Salento, Centro Ecotekne Pal. M - S.P. 6, Lecce – Monteroni, Italy c Laboratorio di Archeobotanica e Paleoecologia, Dipartimento Beni Culturali, Università del Salento, via D. Birago 64, 73100 Lecce, Italy ARTICLE INFO Keywords: Castelluccio facies Archaeobotany Birch bark tar Ceramics Ceramic petrography GC–MS Cultural biography ABSTRACT This study presents the integration of different analytical techniques and disciplines to trace the biography and microhistory of a vessel from its production to its consumption, restoration and re-use. This integrated approach allows us to discuss the movement of people, materials and knowledge in Early Bronze Age Sicily on a different perspective than the ones previously used. The vessel found at the Early Bronze Age site of Coste di Santa Febronia, in southeast Sicily (Catania), preserves a black resinous substance on the handle and wall fractures. Indeed, the substance was used to repair the vessel after it was broken. Chemical characterization of the sub- stance by GC–MS suggests the use of a heated mixture of birch bark tar and other plants to produce this glue-like material. However, the archaeobotanical study of charcoal samples from the site and paleoenvironmental re- construction for the region indicate that in the Early Bronze Age birch trees appeared only in marginal areas, such as Mount Etna, where the tree species is still present today. Mount Etna is ca. 70 km from the site of Coste di Santa Febronia, posing the question of whether the vessel or the birch bark tar was exchanged. Petrographic examination of the vessel suggests that the jar was manufactured in the areas nearby Coste di Santa Febronia and, therefore, the birch bark tar was gathered near Mount Etna or swapped amongst communities living be- tween the north Hyblaean and the Mount Etna areas. The tale narrated here through an interdisciplinary ap- proach reinforces the idea that Sicilian Early Bronze Age communities had a deep knowledge of their landscape and raw materials available. More specifically, this study enables us to shed light on the network of people, knowledge and materials between the north Hyblaean and the Mount Etna communities. 1. Introduction The Early Bronze Age (=EBA) in Sicily is a long-lasting phase (ca 2200–1450 BCE) characterised by the remarkable share of some mate- rial culture features through the island, such as the distinctive black-on- red painted ware (Castelluccio ware), and by an extensive and diversi- fied occupation of the Sicilian landscape such as on hilltops controlling main communication routes, on coastal territories or on caves (Tusa, 1983; Leighton, 1999, 2005; Doonan, 2001). These two features, ex- tensive occupation and similar material culture, have always been taken as the result of a significant mobility amongst these communities (Bernabò Brea, 1953–1954; Tusa, 1983; Cultraro, 1996, 1997; Copat et al., 2017). However, the implications of this supposed mobility in terms of knowledge sharing and materials movement have not been extensively tackled by the literature. In terms of ceramics, Copat et al. (2017), for example, have tracked the distribution of decorative pat- terns in Castelluccio black-on-red ware across central-southern Sicily, revealing that some decorative patterns are shared between distant areas and, therefore, a degree of circulation and exchange of informa- tion existed (see also Copat et al., 2008). In the same direction points the work of Mckendry (2015) who analysed some EBA ceramics from the southeast of the island. Some sites, such as Petraro (Voza, 1968) and Monte Racello (Orsi, 1898), may suggest some form of site specializa- tion linked to manufacturing activity (Doonan, 2001; Di Stefano, 2008). Other sites, such as Monte Grande (Castellana, 1998) and La Muculufa (Holloway et al., 1990; McConnell, 1995), were instead considered to function as gathering places for the neighbouring communities in oc- casion of religious festivities (Cultraro, 2004). In the last twenty years, survey campaigns have increased our knowledge of site distribution in central-eastern Sicily for this phase (Thompson, 1999; Malone et al., 2001; Ayala, 2004; Pluciennik et al., 2004; Albanese Procelli et al., 2007; Iannì, 2007; Leone et al., 2007; Biondi, 2012; Giannitrapani, 2015), but only a few have tried to interpret the data in terms of past human activities (see also discussion in Leighton, 2005; Ayala, 2012). It https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2018.03.003 Received 18 January 2018; Received in revised form 28 February 2018; Accepted 1 March 2018 ⁎ Corresponding author at: Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield, Minalloy House, 10-16, Regent Street, Sheffield S1 3NJ, United Kingdom. E-mail addresses: rb.mentesana@gmail.com (R. Mentesana), giuseppe.debenedetto@unisalento.it (G. De Benedetto), girolamo.fiorentino@unisalento.it (G. Fiorentino). Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 19 (2018) 261–269 2352-409X/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. T