PER UN’ARCHEOLOGIA DEL MEDITERRANEO NORD‐OCCIDENTALE POST 1500 ASPETTI TEORICO‐METODOLOGICI E CASISTICA DI CONTESTI CHIUSI SUBACQUEI E TERRESTRI DEL XVI SECOLO

This contribution aims to a broad look at the theme of closed contexts of the sixteenth century in the Western Mediterranean and identifies the need to intensify research on both closed underwater contexts (shipwrecks) and those of settlement excavations. Recent research has clarified the importance of a well-focused archival research strategy, which allows us to accurately date the wrecks and the archaeological and ceramic contexts found in them. On a large chronological and geographical scale, this perspective gives a marked improvement to the accuracy of the dating of closed contexts, in particular pottery, underwater, but also those of the archeology of the settlements.