Small Daily Vices: A Group of Clay Pipes in Post-Medieval Spoleto

Since 2007, the northern courtyard of the Rocca Albornoziana of Spoleto, in Umbria (Italy) has undergone a series of archaeological excavations carried out by the CISAM Foundation (Centro Italiano di Studi sull’Alto medievo) in collaboration with medieval archaeologists from Sapienza University of Rome. The excavation activities are a continuation of previous work, during which an apsidal building and a cistern were discovered. Over the past few years, the archaeological excavation has focused on the cistern, from which large amounts of pottery, metal, glass, bone and leather materials comes, finds that can be dated between the 15th and the 19th century. These finds can be associated with post-medieval phases, when the area was affected by the disordered presence of a series of rooms annexed to the 14th century fortress, later transformed into a prison in the 19th century. In this work, we wish to focus our attention on a group of clay pipes, which have both achromatic and glazed surfaces. This study will investigate a category of finds still little studied in Italian contexts, both from the point of view of the analysis of shapes and decorations, and in terms of their production and use.