2.2. Dressel 1 amphoras

Typology

Cylindrical amphora with angular shoulders and long straight handles, generally oval in section. There are two sub-categories:

DR1A: Short triangular rim with short spike.
DR1B: Collared rim with longer, slightly flared, spike.

Commonly stamped on rim or neck; generally small square or rectangular stamps with one or two letters or symbols.

Fabric and technology

Peacock (1971) defines three fabrics. Fabric 1 is the product of a wide geographical region and varies in detail; generally red or light red with a white or cream slip, hard, with inclusions of quartz, feldspar, and occasional black grains and composite rock fragments. The most characteristic (fabric 2) ware is dark brick-red (Munsell 10R 6/8) with white or off-white slipped surfaces (Munsell 10YR 7/1 or 8/2) abundantly tempered with distinctive `black sand' (identified as green augite). This `black sand' fabric is shared by Pompeian-Red ware 1 (PRW1) Dressel 2-4 amphoras and other coarse wares, e.g. Camulodunum 139 and seems to be a product of the Pompeii-Herculaneum region. Augst TG 12-13

Capacity

24l.

Date

The conventional dates for the production of the Dressel 1A amphora is pre-Caesarian (i.e. pre-50 BC), with the Dressel 1B type appearing shortly before the middle of the 1st century BC. However, it has been argued that this chronology is too late and that the Dressel 1A is essentially a product of the 2nd century BC (Parker 1992, 32). The Dressel 1B was produced until c. 10 BC; the date of the latest tituli picti on the form is 13 BC. The British assemblage includes both the Dressel 1A and 1B variants.

Source

Italy, principally Etruria, Latium and Campania, where numerous kiln sites are recorded. The Dressel 1B form is also produced in different wares in small quantities in Provence and the Rhône valley (Laubenheimer, Odiot and Leclère 1989; Sabir et al. 1983) but the distribution of these vessels is not known.

Contents

Principally wine, including some of the most celebrated crus of antiquity, such as Falernian and Caecuban. A minority carried defrutum, olives, nuts and other products. The contents may be recorded on painted inscriptions on the amphoras.

Distribution

Extensive distribution around the western Mediterranean; very large number of wrecks carrying these amphoras, particularly along the coast of Provence and Liguria (Parker 1992, fig.8). In Gaul, abundant in the Rhône-Saône valley system, and widespread (but thin) on 1st cent. BC sites in the north and west. A few examples on Augustan military sites along the Rhine and in Switzerland. The British distribution is in two parts: the south-west (Dorset, Hampshire) and south-east (Kent, Essex, Hertfordshire). The DR1A is more common in the south-west, rarer in south-east.

Aliases

Augst class 3. Peacock and Williams classes 3 (Dressel 1A, Ostia XX) and 4 (Dressel 1B, Ostia XX, Cam. 181, Callender 1).

References

An extensive literature. Sealey (1985, 21-6) gives a thorough survey, with references. For the petrology and sources: Peacock 1971; Hesnard et al. 1989. For the Gaulish and British distribution: Galliou 1982; Fitzpatrick 1985. The Bibracte collection of Dressel 1 stamps (one of the largest outside the Mediterranean) is reported in Laubenheimer and Rodriguez 1991.

Bibliography

Fitzpatrick 1985 Fitzpatrick, A. P., The distribution of Dressel 1 amphorae in north-west Europe, OxfordJA, 4, 3, 305-40, 1985.
Galliou 1982 Galliou, P., Les amphores tardo-républicaines, Corpus des amphores découvertes dans l'ouest de la France, 2, Brest, 1982.
Hesnard et al. 1989 Hesnard, A., Ricq, M., Arthur, P. R., Picon, M. and Tchernia, A., Aires de production des gréco-italiques et des Dr. 1, in Amphores romaines et histoire économique: dix ans de recherche, Collection de l'École Française de Rome, 114, 21-65, École Française de Rome, Rome, 1989.
Laubenheimer, Odiot and Leclère 1989 Laubenheimer, F., Odiot, T. and Leclère, H., Sous Auguste, un atelier de potiers italianisant à Saint-Just (Ardèche), in Mélanges P. Lévê que 2, 295-329, 1989.
Laubenheimer and Rodriguez 1991 Laubenheimer, F. and Rodriguez, C., Les amphores de Bibracte. Le matériel des fouilles anciennes, Documents d'archéologie française, 29, Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, Paris, 1991.
Parker 1992 Parker, A. J., Ancient shipwrecks of the Mediterranean and the Roman Provinces, British archaeological reports. International series, 580, Tempus Reparatum, Oxford, 1992.
Peacock 1971 Peacock, D. P. S., Roman amphorae in pre-Roman Britain, in The Iron Age and its Hill Forts. Papers presented to Sir Mortimer Wheeler, M. Jesson and D. Hill ed., University of Southampton Monograph Series, 1, 161-88, University of Southampton, Southampton, 1971.
Sabir et al. 1983 Sabir, A., Laubenheimer, F., Leblanc, J. and Widemann, F., Production d'amphores vinaires republicaines en Gaule du Sud, DocAMerid, 6, 109-13, 1983.
Sealey 1985 Sealey, P. R., Amphoras from the 1970 excavations at Colchester Sheepen, British archaeological reports. British series, 142, BAR, Oxford, 1985.