2.5. Pascual 1 amphoras

Typology

Cylindrical amphora with distinctive tall vertical rim, rounded handles with narrow groove on outer face, cylindrical neck, ovoid body and solid spike. Regularly stamped on rim or near foot.

Fabric and technology

There are two fabrics:

1. Hard dark-red or red-brown fabric (Munsell 10R 4/4 to 4/6) with large white quartz and feldspar inclusions; slightly micaceous with occasional composite rock (granite) fragments. Augst TG 18
2. Soft cream or off-white fabric (Munsell 7.5YR 8/2 to 7/4) with white quartz and feldspar inclusions.

Capacity

22l.

Date

The majority of the British examples are from late Augustan-Tiberian contexts, although production may continue into the later 1st century AD.

Source

Catalonia, where there are kilns in the vicinity of Barcelona (Keay and Jones 1982). Some small-scale production of the form in southern Gaul (Laubenheimer 1985, 312-15), in different wares.

Contents

The Catalan examples probably contain Layetanian wine.

Distribution

Widespread, but thinly spread in Spain, Gaul and Rhineland; only a few examples in southern Britain (Williams 1981; Williams in Woodward 1987, 79). The type is particularly common along the Narbonne-Toulouse-Bordeaux route and in western France - see the distribution of the stamps of

M. PORCIUS

(Comas Solà 1991, 344, fig.15). There are a number of wrecks containing this type along the coasts of Catalonia and Languedoc (Parker 1992, fig.10).

Aliases

Augst class 4. Peacock and Williams class 6.

References

Pascual Guasch 1977; Miró 1987; Comas Solà 1987; Comas Solà 1991.

Bibliography

Comas Solà 1987 Comas Solà, M., Importació i exportació de vi a Baetulo: l'estudi de les àmfores, in Le vi a l'antiguitat. Economia producció i commerç al Mediterrani Occidental, Monografies Badalonines, 9, 161-75, Museu de Badalona, Badalona, 1987.
Comas Solà 1991 Comas Solà, M., Les amphores de M. PORCIUS et leur diffusion de la Léetanie vers la Gaule, in Actes du Congrès de Cognac. 8-11 Mai 1991, L. Rivet ed., 326-46, SFECAG, Marseille, 1991.
Keay and Jones 1982 Keay, S. J. and Jones, L., Differentiation of early Imperial amphora production in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Current research in ceramics: Thin-section studies, C. Johns and T. Potter ed., British Museum Occasional Paper, 32, 45-61, British Museum, London, 1982.
Laubenheimer 1985 Laubenheimer, F., La production des amphores en Gaule Narbonnaise, Centre de Recherches d'Histoire Ancienne, 66, Paris, 1985.
Meffre and Meffre 1992 Meffre, J.-C. and Meffre, P., L'atelier augustéen d'amphores et de céramiques de Sainte-Cécile-les-Vignes (Vaucluse), in Les amphores en Gaule. Production et circulation, F. Laubenheimer ed., Centre de Recherches d'Histoire Ancienne, 116, 25-35, Université de Besançon, Besançon, 1992.
Miró 1987 Miró, J., Vi català a França (segle I a.C-I d.C), una síntesi preliminar, in Le vi a l'antiguitat. Economia producció i commerç al Mediterrani Occidental, Monografies Badalonines, 9, 249-68, Museu de Badalona, Badalona, 1987.
Parker 1992 Parker, A. J., Ancient shipwrecks of the Mediterranean and the Roman Provinces, British archaeological reports. International series, 580, Tempus Reparatum, Oxford, 1992.
Pascual Guasch 1977 Pascual Guasch, R., Las anforas de la Layetania, in Méthodes classiques et méthodes formelles dans l'etude des amphores, G. Vallet ed., Collection de l'École Française de Rome, 32, 47-96, École Française de Rome, Rome, 1977.
Williams 1981 Williams, D. F., The Roman amphorae trade with Late Iron Age Britain, in Production and distribution: A ceramic viewpoint, E. Morris and H. Howard ed., British archaeological reports. International series, 120, 123-32, BAR, Oxford, 1981.
Woodward 1987 Woodward, P. J., The excavation of a Late Iron-Age tading settlement and Romano-British pottery production site at Ower, Dorset, in Roman-British industries in Purbeck, Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society. Monograph series, 6, 44-123, Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society, 1987.