The main objective of the “Piastrina – research on bakeries in Roman Italy” project is to define, on an archaeological basis, the chronology of the transition from purely domestic to commercial bread making, following the evolution of techniques, in particular in relation to the oven, and the organisation of productive spaces. The first step towards this aim is the creation of an exhaustive catalogue, based mainly on the sites of Pompeii and Ostia, of the various types of equipment present in the workshops: mill-stones, mixers, work tables, ovens, water supply and furnishings. Using this catalogue it will be possible to propose a faithful reconstruction of the production line in bakeries. From this it will then be possible to undertake a spatial analysis of the organisation of the production areas which takes into account the available spaces and how they were used to satisfy the necessities of the production line. This analysis will be necessary at Pompeii in particular as the bakeries were located in spaces that were originally domestic and thus had to be adapted for the new activity. These problems were increased by the sismic activity which affected the city during its final years. As regards Pompeii, a production of excess flour may be hypothesized from the absence of mill-stones in some spaces which had an oven and from the existence of premises that only undertook milling. Besides, the presence of tabernae at the front of a number of bakeries suggests the sale of freshly baked bread just out of the oven. It is also necessary to consider the possible sales outlets used by bakeries which were not attached to a taberna. Together with the photometric survey which aimed to make a complete analysis of the structures of the house where the bakery IX 3, 19 20 was installed, the cleaning campaign undertaken there revealed an organization to date unknown in Pompeian bakeries. The use of opus signinum in two rooms, in one of which there was the puteal of a cistern associated with a number of lead fistulae which brought water to the house, supports G. Fiorelli’s hypothesis that these structures formed the point where grain was cleaned before being milled. Clearance in the room housing the mixer clarified how this machine had been installed: it sat in a pit cut into the floor and was held in position by a beam which supported the axle used for mixing the various ingredients of the dough.

The main aim of the “ _Pistrina_ – bakeries in Roman Italy” project is to define the chronology of the change from domestic bread making to commercial baking, based on the archaeological evidence regarding the technical developments, in particular that of the oven and the organisation of the production areas. During this campaign work continued in the trenches opened in 2008, west of the room housing the mills. Despite the heavily disturbed stratigraphy – caused by subsidence – large scale alterations were documented around the bakery in rooms 118 and 121. The water supply system, whose cisterns were identified, was modified. The installation of the bakery in this house may have occurred as a result of the consequences of the 62 A.D. earthquake. When the structures for grain processing were installed the water supply system was also modified in order to create the structures necessary for washing the grain. However, the connection to the _castellum aquae_ was not in place until the final phase of the house, following large scale restructuring work.

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.