Cooking, cleaning, and tossing: high-resolution analysis of domestic activities at the Mid-Neolithic site of Molino Casarotto (Vicenza, NE Italy)

The Middle Neolithic lakeshore site of Molino Casarotto (4700 − 4400 cal BCE; Vicenza province, northern Italy) preserves some of the most informative deposits related to Neolithic daily life in Italy. The organisation and use of space within the Neolithic domestic contexts remain poorly understood, largely due to the limited preservation of archaeological evidence. At Molino Casarotto, however, these aspects can be explored thanks to the presence of domestic hearth rakeout layers and shell middens, which form substantial accumulations interdigitating with repeatedly renovated cooking plates. Several heated stones were recovered in association with these combustion structures. High-resolution sediment analyses (micromorphology, micro-FTIR, and XRD) allowed for the characterisation of the sediments used to construct the cooking plates, the reconstruction of combustion temperatures, and gave insights into mollusc cooking techniques. In particular, the discarded shells were likely boiled or roasted at low temperatures (< 200 °C), as indicated by the absence of microstructural alterations and the preservation of aragonite, possibly using heated stones. In contrast, thermally altered shells embedded in ash layers suggest exposure to post-depositional heating events. Eventual isotopic analyses should therefore take into account the taphonomic history of the specimens, as differential preservation may occur even across short distances. Finally, although structural remains at the site were limited, microarchaeological evidence indicates that the cooking plates were used within a sheltered area characterised by rapid and continuous sediment accumulation, with no evidence of abandonment.