Panel 3.29 – Production and distribution of Roman pottery


Organiser/Chair:

  • Archer Martin (Universität zu Köln)

Paper abstracts

1. Georg A. Th. Pantelidis (TU Darmstadt) 

Regional patterns of pottery use and distribution in times of political and economic change: A case study from Acarnania in Western Greece
In the course of the romanization of the Eastern Mediterranean territories since the 2nd c BC, the Hellenistic kingdoms and koina were transformed successively into Roman provinces, resulting in massive changes in all areas of life for the population. Against this background, the Greek landscape Acarnania is a promising area of research: It is located just south of the gulf of Actium, where, after the battle between Octavian and Antony in 31 BC, extensive regional transformations took place. According to written sources, large parts of the Greek population were moved to the newly founded city of Nikopolis by means of synoikismos and rural land use was restructured. The paper deals with the material culture of this epochal transition, which can be directly linked to a historically documented system change and focuses its effect on the distribution and use of ceramic vessels in Acarnania. Based on the development of three specific pottery classes (tableware, cooking utensils and terracotta lamps) from the 2nd c BC to the 2nd c AD, it is shown that ceramic artefacts are a direct information source to describe both the production (manufacturing technology, design, etc.), as well as the consumption (need, function, use, etc.). The continuity and change of certain technical and economic variables of artefacts indicate which patterns of the regional economy continued to be practiced and those that were abandoned after the regional system change, owing to the foundation of Nikopolis.

 

2. Kamila Nocoń (Jagiellonian University in Kraków)

Cooking pottery as a missing link in the regional patterns of distribution. Case study based on cooking pottery from the Agora in Nea Paphos (Cyprus)
Pottery distribution may reveal an information about ancient trade and economy that has not been discussed by literature sources or another archaeological data. Traditionally, the regional distribution patterns are based on table ware or amphorae studies. In recent years a growing research on cooking pottery shows that also this category of pottery may be a relevant source of an information. This is well illustrated by kitchen and cooking pottery from the Agora in Nea Paphos (Cyprus), unearthed during the excavation yielded by Jagiellonian University in Kraków. Methodically provided excavations as well as systematically studies of the assemblage of cooking pottery coming from well stratified contexts, shows a new links in circulation of goods in Hellenistic and Roman periods. The aim of this paper is to present the distribution patterns in Cyprus itself, with special emphasis on regional connectivity. Moreover, the regional exchange in the Eastern Mediterranean will be discussed from a diachronic perspective.

 

3. Mongi Nasr (Faculté des Lettres et Sciences Humaines de Sfax, Tunisie)

L’atelier de céramiques de Sidi Aïch (Vicus Gemellae): productions et commercialisation
La contribution que j’ai l’honneur de vous proposer sera consacrée aux dépotoirs de l’atelier de céramiques de Sidi Aïch, situé à environ 36 km au nord-ouest de la ville de Gafsa, l’antique Capsa. Ces dépotoirs renferment un matériel aussi riche que varié. Son étude nous a permis d’établir des typologies propres à cet atelier (vaisselle de table, poinçons décoratifs, lampes, vaisselle culinaire…). L’importance de ces typologies découle du fait qu’elles viennent combler un véritable manque auprès des chercheurs s’intéressant aux productions régionales et locales des ateliers continentaux. En effet, elles représentent des outils indispensables non seulement pour déterminer les différents types de céramiques produits par cet (s) atelier (s), de détecter son rôle et son poids économique, de délimiter son espace vital et de dévoiler ses circuits préférentiels, mais aussi pour réduire l'espace du chaos qui règne dans les dépotoirs des autres sites de notre région (la Byzacène du Sud-ouest). Un chaos dû à l’existence d'une forte proportion de produits de Sidi Aïch mêlés aux produits d’autres petits ateliers locaux, ce qui rend toute tentative de les appréhender sans connaître les productions dudit atelier une véritable perdition dans une situation labyrinthique. Enfin, l’étude de ces dépotoirs nous a offert l’occasion de proposer une chronologie approximative quant à l’activité de cet atelier et de distinguer deux notions : « période de production » et « apogée de production ».

"L’atelier de Sidi Aïch (Vicus Gemellae) : productions et commercialisation" (Fulltext)

 

4. Sergiu Matveev (Moldova State University)

Roman pottery kiln from the 3rd-4th centuries in the prut and dniester interfluves
The establishment of the Sântana de Mureş-Černjachov culture in the north-western Pontic area at the end of the 3rd century BC marked the beginning of a new stage in the evolution of the barbarian world in the region. This evolution was strongly determined by influences from the provincial Roman world. One of the great achievements of this entity was the making of ceramic vessels, which in their quality competed with those imported from the Empire.
The purpose of this paper is the study of the problem of pottery craft through the barbarian pottery kilns at the Danube border of the Empire, in the space between the Prut and the Dniester Rivers. Of the 1150 archaeological sites belonging to the sedentary population of the first half of the 1st century BC known in this area, ceramic kilns or kiln groups were discovered at only 18 sites. Usually they are part of the kiln type with grill or two-chamber kilns, separated by the support of the grid on the middle wall or central pillar in two variants. The small number of known complexes, compared to the number of settlements and ceramics made in such installations, has marked the historiographical discourse of the 20th century, but also of the last two decades. The place and role of the Roman Empire in the context of the given issue is to be reassessed to determine the degree of technology transfer or own contribution of the barbarous environment to the production of fine and coarse ceramic assortment.

"Keramische Verbrennungsöfen der römischen Tradition des III.–IV. Jahrhundert n. Chr. zwischen Prut und Dniester" (Fulltext)

 

5. Leah Reynolds (Cardiff University)

Pottery and exchange at the imperial fringe: the case of Wales
As a region which was largely aceramic before the Roman Conquest, pottery in Wales has received relatively little attention. Where attempts at analysis have been made it has generally been in relation to larger, military assemblages - yet almost all excavated rural sites of the Roman period produce pottery in a region which supported a relatively limited local production into the Roman period.
This paper will therefore consider the evidence of continental and British regional imports at Welsh rural sites to identify the extent to which rural sites were engaged in Roman networks of exchange at the imperial fringe and how far these consumption practices reflect active engagement by the local population. It will also consider methodological approaches and the difficulties of studying Romano-British ceramic exchange in a region with comparatively little pottery, and how one can meaningfully engage with the data.

"Pottery and Exchange at the Imperial Fringe: Samian Ware at Rural Settlements in Wales and the Marches" (Fulltext)