Una fonderia dell’VIII secolo a.C. dal sito di Riviera Ruzante-via S. Chiara a Padova

The article provides information on the preliminary steps of the CA.RI.PA.RO. Project of Excellence “The earliest foundry of pre-Roman Padua”. It focuses on the micro-stratigraphic excavation of a block of archaeological deposits isolated from the site of Padua’s Questura/Riviera Ruzante in 2000-2001, containing part of a stratigraphic sequence related to a metallurgical workshop from the 8th century BC. This paper briefly outlines the history of the excavation, one of the most important urban excavations in Padua, and the circumstances that led to the transport of the block to the Archaeology Laboratories of the Department of Cultural Heritage of the University of Padua. It then briefly presents the excavation of the block itself, with the display of a perfectly preserved and well built substructure of ceramic sherds, and the discovery of ancient surfaces related to the working of copper/bronze and hard animal materials (especially stag antler). The pottery from the substructure is largely composed by fragments of ollae, well preserved and temporarily reassembled: the forms are discussed in terms of typology and local association, and documented through 3D reconstructions. A single vessel with applied decoration in relief, placed exactly in the centre of the substructure, is carefully studied and experimentally reproduced, to investigate its construction techniques and draw new socio-technical implications.