Formae e cantarelli dal castello di Ariano Irpino

Archaeological researchers at the end of the nineties of the last century and 2008 have been led at castle of Ariano Irpino, a centre in the Apennine Campania. The fortress was built at the end of ninth century and then restored several times until sixteenth century, as it has been abandoned. Now the castle’s remains consist of the rests of the residential core, in which it is visible the main tower with a rectangular plan; this building has incorporated a precedent one with a circular plan. Other castle’s remains are the perimeter walls and four circular plan towers in every corner with ‘barbacane’ bases which englobed - in the second half of XVth century - as much towers with a quadrangular section. Among the numerous quantities of ceramics discovered during excavations, we have a large amount of pottery which can be identified as sugar cane vessels (so called formae and cantarelli). These moulds were found in the filler grounds which have been put on for getting up the ancient plan of the fortress both in XIIIth-XIVth century restorations, both from that which have been put on during the XVth century restoration, both still at the works which were promoted by Ferrante Gonzaga after 1532 for the last arrangement of the castle which was useful for the fire weapons’ settlement. On the strength of clear similarities with vessels from the Steri building in Palermo, it is possible to refer the Ariano’s objects to the second half of the sixteenth century. We can also hypothesize for them (or some of them) a Sicilian provenience: by the way, Sicilian sugar cane vessels in the peninsular areas of Italy are connected with the industrial policy of the Sicily under the Aragonian Crown; Sicilian producers were aiming at spreading on the Italian and European markets the sugar also in the version of the raw product to refine in the place of destination.