UISPP METALAGES 2022, ANKARA (TURKEY) METAL AGES IN EUROPE AND MEDITERRANEAN: WATER SUPPLY AND WATER MANAGEMENT IN THE METAL AGES Bilkent University, 13-16 October 2022 Petrographic examination of Middle and Late Bronze Age (1600-800 BC) ceramics from the Eremita Cave in Borgosesia (Vercelli, Italy) Preliminary inferences on pottery production and exploitation of natural resources 1. Archaeological and geological context Kaltrina Igrishta 1 , Delia Carloni 1 , Marie Besse 1 FACULTÉ DES SCIENCES LABORATOIRE D’ARCHÉOLOGIE PRÉHISTORIQUE ET ANTHROPOLOGIE FACULTÉ DES SCIENCES LABORATOIRE D’ARCHÉOLOGIE PRÉHISTORIQUE ET ANTHROPOLOGIE Located on the western slope of Mount Fenera and overlooking the Alpine Sesia Valley in Piedmont region, the Eremita Cave opens at an altitude of 598 m a.s.l. and extends for 30 m 2 . The excavation revealed the cavity was frequented for burial purposes during the Middle and Late Bronze Age (1600-800 BC) (Besse & Viola, 2013; Besse et al., 2014). Mount Fenera is composed of limestone, dolomite, and sandstone bodies of the Mesozoic Southalpine Sedimentary Succession (Fig. 1). This sedimentary unit covers the Permian Magmatic Complex (felsic volcanic and plutonic rocks), which intruded into both the Serie dei Laghi Complex (amphibolite-facies metasediment and metagranitoid) and Ivrea-Verbano Zone (kinzigite sequence, mafic plutons) (Piana et al., 2017). References Besse, M., Viola, S., 2013. Gli scavi dell’Università di Ginevra alla Grotta dell’Eremita sul Monte Fenera a Borgosesia. De Valle Sicida 23, 7–20. Besse, M., Viola, S., Cattin, F., Von Tobel, C., 2014. La grotte de l'Eremita au Monte Fenera (Vercelli, Italie): nouvelles découvertes du Bronze moyen. In: Bullinger, J., Crotti, P., Huguenin, Cl. (Ed.). De l'âge du Fer à l'usage du verre. Mélang- es offerts à Gilbert Kaenel, dit "Auguste", à l'occasion de son 65e anniversaire. Lausanne: Cahiers d'archéologie romande 51, 291–296. Piana, F., Barale, L., Compagnoni, R., D’Atri, A.R., Fioraso, G., Irace, A., Mosca, P., Tallone, S., Monegato, G., Morelli, M., 2017. Memorie della Accademia delle Scienze di Torino 41, 3–143. Figure 1 Geotectonic map of the Lower Sesia Valley with location of Eremita Cave. Data source: GeoPiemonte (https://www.geoportale.piemonte.it/cms/). 2. Materials and methods The ceramic assemblage of Eremita Cave consists of 2981 mainly dating to the Middle Bronze Age and, in fewer quantity, to the Late Bronze Age (1600-800 BC). Sample selection took into account pottery type (Fig. 2), relative chronology, surface and core colours, and macroscopic classification of pastes. Petrographic analyses were performed on 28 samples using a Leica Leitz DM-RXP polarizing microscope and aimed at investigating paste composition and raw material choices. 4. Discussion and conclusions Pottery from Eremita Cave mainly contains quartz, granite-granodiorite, and volcanic rocks from the Permian Magmatic Complex (Fig. 1). The morphometry of aplastic inclusions of fabric I match the compositional characteristics of riverine sediments and highlights the possible exploitation of clay from the Sesia River. With regard to fabric II, the observed assemblage of lithoclasts corresponds to the local glacigenic deposits (Piana et al., 2017). Lastly, the composition and morphometry characteristics of aplastic inclusions of samples of fabric III possibly correlate with a residual clay developed on a granite bedrock, possibly from the Permian Magmatic Complex (Piana et al., 2017). Therefore, Middle and Late Bronze Age potters likely exploited different kinds of raw material for pottery production: riverine sediments, glacigenic deposits, and residual clays. 3. Results Pottery from Eremita Cave show the characteristics of 3 fabrics (Fig. 3):  Fabric I (2 samples, Middle Bronze Age) has a brownish-reddish and optically active matrix and channel-shaped voids (size: 0.05-0.8 mm). This paste hosts equant and elongate inclusions of quartz, biotite, granite, and plagioclase displaying rounded-to-subangular edges. Grain size distribution is unimodal.  Fabric II (1 sample, Middle Bronze Age) has a reddish-brown, optically active matrix and channels and vough voids (size: 1-10 mm). It contains equant and elongated inclusions of granite with biotite, quartzite, quartz, plagioclase, muscovite and pyroxenite with sub-rounded to sub-angular edges. Particle size distribution is bimodal.  Fabric III (25 samples, Middle and Late Bronze Age) has a brownish, optically active matrix and channel voids (size: 0.7-10 mm). This fabric contains elongated and equant inclusions of granite and granodiorite with biotite or hornblende, plagioclase, muscovite, and sandstone with sub-rounded to angular edges. Grain size distribution is unimodal or bimodal. Figure 2 Typical pottery from Eremita Cave (courtesy of Eve Derenne). Figure 3 Microphotographs of typical pastes: A) Fabric I, B) Fabric II, C) and D) Fabric III. Width of the white bar: 2 mm. Affiliations ¹ Lab. of Prehistoric Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Geneva, Switzerland B A C D