Roman Amphoras of North Africa: Markers of a Pan-Mediterranean Economy

Summary

This project is centered around the Roman amphorae excavated from the Palatine East Archaeological Project. The site is located on the northeast slope of the Palatine Hill in Rome. The ceramic deposits date from the first century to about the fifth of sixth century CE. I focus on the amphorae produced in North African, specifically those of Tunisian origin. My work is hoping to better understand the geographical location of production sites of these trade vessels.

The results of this project intend to highlight the role played by specific regions with Roman North Africa in the supply of foodstuffs to the urban centers, including northern Tunisia, the Sahel, Tripolitania, and the Kabylie of Algeria, from the early to the late empire.

The project involves the classification of the rim fragments by amphora class, the characterization of their fabric by means of the evaluation of photomicrographs taken with a digital microscope with a view to determining their likely provenience, and their quantification by the estimated vessel equivalents (EVE) technique.

All of this work has been done in close consultation with Michel Bonifay’s 2004 publication, Études Sur la Céramique Tardive d’Afrique, and Simon Keay’s 1984 amphorae handbook.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 21670