The purpose of this dataset is to provide access to all the data collected during the study of 22 plaster samples from varius fish-salting vats discovered at the archaeological site of Portopalo di Capo Passero (Sicily, Italy). The site has a long and complex chronology, from the 5th century BC to the Late Roman period (4th–5th century AD), including multiple phases of occupation. All the vats were coated with lime plasters that were sampled and analysed by chemical, mineralogical, and petrographic techniques (OM, SEM-EDS, XRD, XRF, IC). The dataset includes a brief description of the samples with sampling points and the methodology used. The analysis results are divided by technique and organized in different folders.

The excavations and sample collection were carried out within the framework of the ARCHEOFISH project (P18-FR-1483). This work is part of the activities of the PhD FI-SDUR 2022 (5635I22) contract of Genea Girimonte in the PhD program “Sociedad y Cultura: Historia, Antropología, Arte y Patrimonio” at the University of Barcelona, the I + D projects RACAMed II (PID2020-113409GB-I00) and GARVM IV (PID2022-138814OB-I00) financed by the Spanish Ministry and the Agencia Nacional de Investigación, the MEDUSA of the Plan Complementario de Ciencias Marinas of the Junta de Andalucía and part of the Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia (2023 call).

.raw files are the unprocessed format for mineralogy analysis. These can be used in various programs, such as DIFFRAC.EVA (Bruker software for the diffractometer used) or others.