Fluttuazioni commerciali tra Nord Africa e Sicilia meridionale: il VI e il VII secolo. Cignana come caso studio

This essay will examine the trend in imports of African potteries – notably amphorae and fine wares – in a rural zone of southern Sicily. We are dealing with the region of Cignana, not far from the coastline, where archaeological excavations documented a large settlement that experienced a big growth between the 5th and 6th centuries AD. During this period, a shift in the ceramic supply from the Zeugitana towards the Byzacena occurred. Nevertheless, the positive trend in imports persists until the last decades of the 6th century. Thereafter, it shows a decrease until the apparent interruption after the mid-7th century. New changes in the Mediterranean trading system seem to undermine the proximity exchanges between northern Africa and southern Sicily, but not the long-distance ones. At Cignana, this causes a gap in our knowledge that is still difficult to fill today. However, the discovery of a new ceramic class inspired by African prototypes of the late 7th century stimulates further reflection on the material culture of early Byzantine Sicily.