Articles by Enrico Cirelli

The aim of this paper is to determine the degree of standardization within certain Late Roman pottery productions. This research tried to outline a methodology to determine the standardisation degree of these samples and to unravel the measurement systems used in the production process. The morphometric characterization of each fragment allowed us to create different groups with a cluster analysis. The principal component analysis providedinformation that led us to a deeper understanding of the obtained groups. The coefficient of variation allowed us to determine the standardisation degree of the productions. Once all these data are known, we can approach to the possible measurement units that ruled the analysed production systems. We selected a form well represented in the ceramic contexts identified in the excavations of the Late Antique port-canal of Classe, the Hayes 85 small bowl. This vessel was considered a rare form in Hayes’ monumental book. New discoveries of the last ten years revealed how much we still have to understand about the characteristics of Late Roman productions, trade and distribution. With this in mind, we used a statistical method to analyse the main changes in the profile of this type and its variants.

Over the past few decades Geographical Information Systems in archaeological practice and above all in urban archaeology have become a standard tool for understanding the development of late antique towns. This paper analyses the city of Ravenna as a case-study, illustrating some standard and innovative GIS applications in a city characterised by non-systematic archaeological research. GIS helped us to systematize archaeological investigations and to guide city planning. New important excavations, in Piazza Kennedy, with the discovery of the 5th c. church of S. Agnese, and other smaller trenches in the city centre, add a fundamental collection of archaeological data. The creation of new chronological evaluation maps highlighted empty research zones in the old city, where urban archaeology should focus new excavations and archaeological evaluation projects.