Roca vecchia (Melendugno, LE). Il rinvenimento di uno stampo eucaristico ligneo

The Rocavecchia site is located on a promontory along the Adriatic coast of Salento, about 23 km south-east of Lecce. During the Middle Ages the settlement was characterized by an orthogonal urban pattern, typical of French bastides. The asped church was erected between the end of XIII and the XIV century in the center of the settlement, and shows a single aisle; the lateral rather small chapels are the result of subsequent modifications. Very close to the church and next to one of the chapels is a well, from which a large quantity of ceramic and wood remains were recovered, including the ancient bread stamp studied in this contribution. The features of the find and its preservation (due to the constant presence of ground water inside the well) offers a rare opportunity to study these kinds of wooden artefacts that survive. The wooden bread stamp, the only one known for this area, shows the formula IC XC NI KA that underlines the connection to the Byzantine rite. The discovery allows us to add new elements to the panorama of bread stamps that circulated in the Salento area which, currently, can be considered to be the territory with the highest number of these finds.