2.10. London 555 amphoras

Typology

Slim cylindrical amphora with deep groove just below the rim, oval handles with deep vertical groove and solid conical spike.

Fabric and technology

A range of fabrics - most hard, fine textured, perhaps with powdery surface; from creamy-buff, through to orange-red, or pink (perhaps with thin creamy wash); inclusions variable - some fine quartz (may be abundant) with scatter of larger quartzite, feldspar and composite rock fragments, set in lime-rich, slightly micaceous matrix; many specimens have a `roughcasting' of coarse mixed sand applied, by hand, to areas around the base and neck. A few examples with abundant coarser inclusions, grey or grey-brown, resemble typical Baetican fabric of Dressel 20 and Haltern 70.

Capacity

13l.

Date

c. AD 55-130.

Source

Typology of the form suggests derivation from Haltern 70 and both fabric and palaeography of the inscriptions indicates Baetica as one source. The first reports of the type from France, where it is classed as Haltern 70 similis (Desbat 1987, 408), concurred with this view although subsequent petrological work favoured a source in the Rhône valley, specifically in the Lyon region (Dangréaux and Desbat 1988). The form does not appear in a more recent assessment of Lyon amphora production (Dangréaux, Desbat et al. 1992). Martin-Kilcher distinguishes a rare Haltern 70 similis form, Augst 20, from the London 555, Augst 21. The former are assigned to the Lyon region or the middle Rhône - the latter to southern Gaul or the southern Rhône valley.

Contents

Several dipinti refer to olives, some preserved in dulcia or defrutum syrup; a complete example recovered from the sea at Pan Sand (off north Kent) contained 6206 olive stones (photograph in Milne 1985, fig. 64).

Distribution

Not common, but increasing recognition of the type will extend the distribution map.

Aliases

Augst class 21. Peacock and Williams class 59.

References

Sealey and Tyers 1989; Martin-Kilcher 1994, 391-2.

Bibliography

Dangréaux and Desbat 1988 Dangréaux, B. and Desbat, A., Les amphores du dépotoir flavien du Bas-de-Loyasse à Lyon, Gallia, 45, 115-53, 1988.
Dangréaux, Desbat et al. 1992 Dangréaux, B., Desbat, A., Picon, M. and Schmitt, A., La production d`amphores à Lyon, in Les amphores en Gaule. Production et circulation, F. Laubenheimer ed., Centre de Recherches d'Histoire Ancienne, 116, 37-50, Université de Besançon, Besançon, 1992.
Desbat 1987 Desbat, A., Les importations d'amphores vinaires à Lyon et Vienne au début de l'Empire, in Le vi a l'antiguitat. Economia producció i commerç al Mediterrani Occidental, Monografies Badalonines, 9, 407-16, Museu de Badalona, Badalona, 1987.
Martin-Kilcher 1994 Martin-Kilcher, S., Die römischen Amphoren aus Augst und Kaiseraugst. Ein Beitrag zur römischen Handels- und Kulturgeschichte. 2, Die Amphoren für Wein, Fischsauce, Südfrüchte (Gruppen 2-24) und Gesamtauswertung, Forschungen in Augst, 7, Römermuseum, Augst, 1994.
Milne 1985 Milne, G., The Port of Roman London, London, 1985.
Sealey and Tyers 1989 Sealey, P. R. and Tyers, P. A., Olives from Roman Spain: a unique amphora find in British waters, Antiq. J, 69, 1, 53-72, 1989.