American Academy in Rome - Fautores Abstract - Di Giuseppe et al & Bousquet et al

POTTERY PRODUCTION IN THE MIDDLE TIBER VALLEY IN THE REPUBLICAN AND EARLY IMPERIAL PERIODS

H. Di Giuseppe, F. Felici, R. Witcher

AND

POTTERY PRODUCTION IN THE MIDDLE TIBER VALLEY IN THE IMPERIAL AND LATE ANTIQUE PERIODS

A. Bousquet, S. Fontana, H. Patterson, R. Witcher, S. Zampini

One of the most important objectives of the Tiber Valley Project, directed by Helen Patterson, has been the restudy of all the material collected during the South Etruria Survey. This survey undertaken between the 1950s and 1970s by Ward Perkins and his team covered an area of land (ca. 850 km2) situated in a strategic position for the supply of the Roman market. The quantity and the exceptional quality of the pottery - never fully studied before- have offered an unique opportunity to reconstruct production and economic activity in the Middle Tiber Valley.

Over the last four years a team of twelve specialists has completed a detailed re-examination of this collection of material. The first results demonstrate the potential of such an approach to the analysis of production and distribution across wide geographical and chronological scales. Of particular interest is the identification of evidence for the production of fine pottery (Black glaze wares, Italian Terra Sigillata, Thin walled pottery), common wares and amphorae from the third century BC to late Antiquity. Further, the quantification of material and clay fabric analysis allow us to hypothesize the local production of vessels of all periods, for which we have no other direct evidence.

A GIS system, developed for the Tiber Valley Project (Rob Witcher) and containing data for more than 3500 settlements is particularly useful for visualizing and analyzing the distribution of the local wares. The Veientan, Faliscan and Sabine ceramics, in part already studied by Th. Peña, can now be inserted into a wider understanding of pottery distribution in this area. Different patterns of trade are emerging to link the two banks of the Tiber, Rome and the coast. Finally, the possibility of associating the pottery with precise settlement typology allows us to propose hypotheses about the organization of production and the social forces involved.