New excavations in the Torre S. Sabina bay, 25 km north of Brindisi, Apulia, along the Adriatic coast, are being carried out since 2007, by the Department of Cultural Heritage of Salento University, in an area partially investigated in the past (1972-1983). The excavation focuses on a limited, but still intact, deposit, which is densely stratified; it was thus possible to distinguish 2 layers, which, though disturbed by wave action, seem to be in place (i.e. in primary deposition). The upper layer yielded a large number of Salento wine and oil amphorae, produced in the well-known production facilities of the area around Brindisi. Apart from these, numerous amphorae of eastern production have been identified, mainly from the Aegean (Coan, Cnidian, Thasian, etc.), and an almost entire Punic amphora, which suggest the thriving nature of the commercial network in which the Salento area was involved between the end of the 2nd and the beginning of the 1st c. BC. Together with the amphorae, a large amount of other ceramic material has been recovered. Common wares of the Roman, and especially the Late Republican, period are found in substantial quantities. Fabrics can be connected to Aegean and eastern Adriatic productions. For example, quite impressive is the quantity of Megarian bowls possibly imported from sites of the Anatolian Coast. Based on stratigraphic observations, we hypothesize that a large part of the material recovered can be attributed to a Late Republican cargo, possibly comprising amphorae, and perhaps tiles (ballast to be sold?), of local production, as well as wine amphorae from the Aegean area, which travelled together with eastern fine and cooking wares. These products probably followed a redistribution trade pattern which must have been centred at Brundisium. The eastern imports, once at Brindisi, where shipped together with local productions to be redistributed to other destinations, probably following vertical routes along the Adriatic coast.
New data on eastern imports from the cargoes of Torre Santa Sabina (Brindisi, Italy)
R. Auriemma
2015-01-01
Abstract
New excavations in the Torre S. Sabina bay, 25 km north of Brindisi, Apulia, along the Adriatic coast, are being carried out since 2007, by the Department of Cultural Heritage of Salento University, in an area partially investigated in the past (1972-1983). The excavation focuses on a limited, but still intact, deposit, which is densely stratified; it was thus possible to distinguish 2 layers, which, though disturbed by wave action, seem to be in place (i.e. in primary deposition). The upper layer yielded a large number of Salento wine and oil amphorae, produced in the well-known production facilities of the area around Brindisi. Apart from these, numerous amphorae of eastern production have been identified, mainly from the Aegean (Coan, Cnidian, Thasian, etc.), and an almost entire Punic amphora, which suggest the thriving nature of the commercial network in which the Salento area was involved between the end of the 2nd and the beginning of the 1st c. BC. Together with the amphorae, a large amount of other ceramic material has been recovered. Common wares of the Roman, and especially the Late Republican, period are found in substantial quantities. Fabrics can be connected to Aegean and eastern Adriatic productions. For example, quite impressive is the quantity of Megarian bowls possibly imported from sites of the Anatolian Coast. Based on stratigraphic observations, we hypothesize that a large part of the material recovered can be attributed to a Late Republican cargo, possibly comprising amphorae, and perhaps tiles (ballast to be sold?), of local production, as well as wine amphorae from the Aegean area, which travelled together with eastern fine and cooking wares. These products probably followed a redistribution trade pattern which must have been centred at Brundisium. The eastern imports, once at Brindisi, where shipped together with local productions to be redistributed to other destinations, probably following vertical routes along the Adriatic coast.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
