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Class : Mortaria
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Source : Italy
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Distribution in Britain
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| Distribution summary |
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Illustration
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Source of ware
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Roman Pottery in Britain (Tyers 1996)
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This ware is discussed on p.121-122 of Roman Pottery in Britain (1996).
Fabric code : ITMO
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National Roman Fabric Reference Collection (Tomber & Dore 1998)
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Cross-reference from this group to fabric descriptions published in
The National Roman Fabric Reference Collection (1998):
- ITA WH
- Italian White ware p.73
Illustrations of these fabrics are available only in the printed catalogue: R. Tomber & J. Dore,
The national Roman fabric reference collection. A handbook
Museum of London Archaeology Service, London. MOLAS monograph 2. (1998). |
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| Summary |
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Mortaria manufactured in central Italy during 1st and 2nd centuries
AD, with wide distribution around western Mediterranean; also Gaul,
Rhineland and southern Britain |
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Fabric and technology
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Several fabrics, but generally hard, rough textured, light brown
(10YR 6/3) or creamy-pink (e.g. 7YR 8/2) with irregular fracture;
abundant brown and red inclusions including lava, volcanic glass,
feldspar and quartz, with some dark mica. Wheel-thrown.
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Forms
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Large, heavy mortaria with flat base and wide plain flange. The
rim on earlier (1st cent. AD) examples is more down-turned than
on later specimens. Perhaps made in two sizes in the 1st cent.
AD -- c. 42 and c. 49 cm diameter (Joncheroy 1972, 22).
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Stamps
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Stamped across the rim, on both sides of the spout, and sometimes
elsewhere; up to 3 lines long and recording estate name or tria
nomina of owner or manager, and occasionally a consular date.
Some estate owners are historically attested individuals (including
members of the Imperial household or Senatorial classes) whose
dates are known from other sources.
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Chronology
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Principally AD 40-160.
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Source
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Central Italy, particularly the Rome region, but also Etruria
and Campania. Some made in the same workshops as building material,
dolia, clay baths, sarcophagi, etc.
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Distribution
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Principally Italy, but a scatter around the western and eastern
Mediterranean (Riley 1979, 295-6) and across the northern provinces;
occasional in Britain. Bricks and tile from the Italian brickyards
served as ballast in some shipping from Italy. Italian mortaria
are also found in wrecks, sometimes as a major item in the cargo
(e.g. Parker 1992, nos. 98, 374, 470).
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Aliases
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Exeter mortarium fabric FC20. Usk mortarium fabric
6.
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Bibliography
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Hartley 1973a; Hartley 1973b. For stamps: Steinby 1978.
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References
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Hartley 1973a.
Hartley, K. F., 'The marketing and distribution of mortaria' in
Current research in Romano-British coarse pottery: papers given
at a C.B.A. Conference held at New College, Oxford, March 24 to
26, 1972, ed. A. Detsicas, Research reports/Council for British
Archaeology, 10, Council for British Archaeology, London,
(1973), pp. 35-91.
Hartley 1973b.
Hartley, K. F., 'La diffusion des mortiers, tuiles et autres produits
en provenance des fabriques italiennes', Cahiers d'Archéologie
Subaquatique, 2, (1973), pp. 49-60.
Joncheroy 1972.
Joncheroy, J.-P., 'Etude de l'epave Dramont D', Cahiers d'Archéologie
Subaquatique, 1, (1972), pp. 11-33.
Parker 1992.
Parker, A. J., Ancient shipwrecks of the Mediterranean and
the Roman Provinces, British archaeological reports. International
series, 580, Tempus Reparatum, Oxford, (1992).
Riley 1979.
Riley, J. A., 'The coarse pottery from Benghazi' in Excavations
at Sidi Khrebish, Benghazi (Berenice). II, ed. J. A. Lloyd,
Supplements to Libya Antiqua, 5, Department of Antiquities,
Tripoli, (1979), pp. 91-497.
Steinby 1978.
Steinby, M., 'Ziegelstempel von Rom und Umbegung' in Paulys
Encyclopädie der classichen Altertumswissenschaft, Supplementband,
XV, München, (1978). .
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