L’edizione del “Quartiere degli Artigiani” e il progetto Calvatone-Bedriacum, acquisizioni e prospettive

This volume is first and foremost a tribute to the late Professor Maria Terasa Grassi, who directed the excavation project at Calvatone-Bedriacum for many years, and to Luca Restelli, the youngest member of our team who tragically died in a car accident in 2022. The volume inaugurates the Cisalpine Studies series at Milano University Press and is the culmina- tion of years of research by a team led by Maria Teresa Grassi. The text describes the history of the study and the current state of the art on the archaeology of Calvatone. It covers the urban layout of the site, our understanding of the imperial age domus, and the early evidence of the settlement befo- re the establishment of the bakery workshop. The volume mainly focuses on the baker’s production structures and breadmaking in Bedriacum, providing unpublished insights into excavation evidence and material assemblages, including millstones and ovens. The workshop can be dated to the first few decades of the 1st century AD and ceased by the end of the century. The text analyses specific contexts in detail, including a possible foundation pit beneath the bakery and a storage room. Different chapters subject ceramic assemblages and classes, including vernice nera, terra sigillata, and domestic ware, to analytical examination. An overview of ‘traditional’ (i.e. ‘La Tène style’) decorated impasto is offered, as well as an introductory study on thousands of rims of ollae that seem to be cut and reused as construction elements. Other chapters describe categories of small finds, furniture, and decorative elements. This volume marks the beginning of a new phase of the archaeological project on Bedriacum. The project is designed to deepen our understanding of the paleoenvironmental aspects and economic strategies of a rural small town and its inhabitants, including their resilience and use of circular economy. The present volume serves as a starting point for this research. Geophysics and additional excavation trenches could improve our comprehension of the intricate urban layout of this agglomeration, including potential low-density areas and urban agricultural features.