The main objective of the “ Pistrina – ricerca sui panifici dell’Italia romana” project is to define, on the basis of the archaeology, the chronology of the transition from domestic to commercial baking, following the technical developments, in particular those of the oven and the organisation of the productive spaces.

During this campaign three trenches were dug in two of the mill-rooms, the third and room 117.
In the south-eastern corner of this room, the trench revealed the two phases preceding the installation of the bakery, probably linked to a productive activity. A semi-interred dolium was found in the earliest level. The gas chromotography analysis (HRGC) undertaken on its walls identified two successive contents: oil followed by a substance requiring a pitch coating, perhaps wine.

Along the west wall of the same room, the trench begun last year was continued, despite the fact that the stratigraphy was disturbed by the collapse of a cistern. Remains of subsequent hydraulic structures were found, all pre-dating the bakery’s installation. A few elements were seen that linked these structures with those observed in 2009 in room 120.

A third trench was dug in the north-eastern corner of room 117. The earliest phase seen was characterised by an opus signinum floor decorated with white tesserae. It extended to the north and perhaps to the west. The second phase saw the reduction of this room with the construction of the north-south room. In a third phase, the room’s floor level was raised. It was only after the extension to the south that the room took its present form which it maintained until the eruption with the construction of the dividing wall between rooms 117 and 120.