La memoria delle superfici: tracce sulle ceramiche tra gesti quotidiani e cicli di utilizzo (Pompei, insula VII 14)

The study of use-wear traces on ceramic artifacts from insula VII 14 at Pompeii (7,611 fragments, excavated 2016–2024) offers new insights into the dynamics of use, reuse, and transformation of pottery between the late Republican and early Imperial periods. A total of 446 anomalies were identified on 378 fragments (c. 5% of the assemblage), classified into eleven categories and spanning the entire life cycle of the vessels: from production to primary use, and through multiple circuits of reuse. The most informative evidence derives from primary-deposition contexts, where cooking pots and pans bear soot marks and concreted residues, suggesting boiling and stewing practices. Abrasion on cups and plates indicates the repeated use of spoons and knives, in agreement with faunal and carpological data that document a diet based on both major and minor cereals, legumes, fruit, pork, and marine resources. In parallel, numerous examples of reuse—amphorae cut, perforated, or transformed into filters, plant containers, or building materials—reveal a material economy strongly oriented toward resource optimization and extended object functionality. This evidence highlights the central ity of reuse practices in Pompeian material culture and redefines ceramics not as simple waste, but as durable and versatile resources. Overall, the study demonstrates the methodological potential of use-wear analysis, which, when combined with stratigraphic and typological data, yields a more nuanced reconstruction of daily practices and economic strategies in the Roman world.