Firing pits and pottery production at Lugo di Grezzana (VR): using experimental archaeology for the interpretation of archaeological processes

The poster presented a PhD project in progress of the University of Trento which aims to analyse several firing pits found at Lugo di Grezzana, an early Neolithic site located in Valpantena, Italy, at the foot of the Lessini Mountains, one of the major flint source for the area. Firing pits excavated in the site have been studied in a previous work that evaluated and confirmed their possible use for pottery firing. Several hypotheses related to their use and function still need to be developed and will be listed in this work. Particular attention will be paid to ware, a class of very fine ceramic usually considered the result of firing at high temperatures. Experimental archaeology will be used as support for testing new hypotheses on pottery production and firing processes, in order to verify their technical and functional features and for a better understanding of processes involved in manufacturing and firing pottery.