Kilns with raw clay vases outside Porta Ercolano

Raw clay vases were first found in 2012 during the excavation lead by L. Cavassa (Centre Jean-Bérard/Centre Camille-Jullian, CNRS) outside Porta Ercolano. New fragments were found in the second workshop in 2014, which led to a mention in the new section of the Soprintendenza site, Scavi e ricerche: "La bottega del vasaio sulla Via dei Sepolcri".
A more detailed version is available on the CNRS/INSHS site.

2012 interim report mentioning the raw clay vases was published here, 2013 interim report there. The 2014 interim report is forthcoming there.

Chronique des activités archéologiques de l'Ecole française de Rome

Two interim reports of last summer campaigns have been published on-line about:

• The kiln out  of Porta Ercolano in Pompeii (Via dei Sepolcri, NE, 29), by L. Cavassa, B. Lemaire, J.-M. Piffeteau.
• A new project on domestic paintings in Herculaneum, by A. Dardenay and H. Eristov.

More to follow within a few days...

Trade and connectivity in Campania - Live stream and open Q&A

Following up the previous post on Apolline Project's talk "From Neapolis’ harbour to the Apennines: coast-hinterland dynamics in AD 472 Campania" (TODAY at 10:30 CET), we like to inform you that the conference will be broadcasted online, live from Amsterdam, at the following address:
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/npapconnect
Please note that the Q&A session will be open to questions from the internet as well!

Against the idealised views of Pompeii and the trade patterns from the coast to the Apennines

For those who live in the Northern European countries and are interested in either the relationship between mankind and volcanoes or the trade patterns in ancient Campania, the next few days provide some occasions to discuss these subjects with other archaeologists (and to meet some members of the Apolline Project too).

The next two days (14-15 January) the Aarhus University in Denmark will host the conference titled:
Past Vulnerability: Volcanic Eruptions and human vulnerability in traditional societies past and present.
This conference is part of the LaPaDiS project - Laboratory for past disaster science. The full program is available here and it includes the following paper on Vesuvius:

Girolamo F. De Simone, The fragile landscape of Vesuvius: against the idealized views of Pompeii

Pompeii is generally reckoned as the ideal example of a mid-rank Roman city in the first century AD. In fact, the volcanic ashes that buried the town provide a sharp terminus ante quem, which is used to create pinpoint history. Nevertheless, the clear snapshot provided by Vesuvius generated the assumption according to which, eruptions apart, the landscape was static and acted as a sort of canvas for human activities.
This paper provides some insights into the innate fragility of Vesuvius and discusses how people reacted to the “minor catastrophes” which frequently occurred in the environs of the volcano. In particular, the paper discusses the effects of earthquakes, bradyseism, landslides, flash-floods to settlements and the human response to them, like the reconstruction and reinforcement of buildings.
In the last part, the paper will describe and discuss the issue of resettlement around Vesuvius after the AD 79 eruption, in particular the role of the cities in resettling the countryside and the social change that occurred.

Just a couple of weeks later (1-3 February), another conference will take place in Amsterdam, with the title: Island, Mainland, Coastland & Hinterland: ceramic perspectives on connectivity in the ancient Mediterranean. This meeting is part of the NPAP Project, New Perspectives on Ancient Pottery. The full program is available here and it includes the following paper:


Girolamo F. De Simone & Caterina Serena Martucci, From Neapolis’ harbour to the Apennines: coast-hinterland dynamics in AD 472 Campania

Beyond Pompeii and Herculaneum, life continued on the slopes of Vesuvius, until another eruption stroke in AD 472.  Similarly to the Pompeian eruption, the later one offers a sharp chronological marker and a vivid snapshot of the trade patterns around the volcano.
At that time, important transformations were taking place in the economy of the Mediterranean basin. Despite the Vandal conquest, the commercial network from northern Africa was still in place, but regional productions became more relevant. In Campania, most of the micro-regional products seem to be related to several workshops scattered in the Vesuvian countryside, while others might be compared with vessels attested in the Apennines. For each class, this paper provides fabrics’ visual and archaeometric characteristics, typology, and distribution.
Archaeometric analyses, matched with quantification studies, suggest new patterns of trade, which move beyond the traditional coast-hinterland economic model. In particular, overseas goods were traded following a hierarchical pattern that marginalised small centres, while local products hint to tight connectivity and preference for particular shapes, which were not attested in the cities. A third route linked the Apennines with the Vesuvian plain and shows interdependency between the two areas.
These distributional routes are mirrored by different cultural areas: among these the most relevant one is that on the slopes of Vesuvius, because it shows overall similarities with the city, but also the presence of both peculiar shapes not attested in Neapolis, and shapes peculiar of the Apennines.

RCRF - Pots under the (Sicilian) volcano

Next week will be a pretty intense one for Roman pottery specialists, since the 28th biannual Congress of the Rei Cretariae Romanae Fautores will take place in Catania, in the shadow of Mt. Etna.
For those who are not acquainted with this organisation, the RCRF is the largest (and most authoritative) international society specialising in the field of Roman pottery.

This year's congress is titled "From broken pottery to lost identity in Roman times" and it features 47 talks and 91 posters. Among these, quite a few will deal with Roman pottery in Campania; here it is a (hopefully) complete list. Please note that you can read the abstract of Apolline Project's talk (i.e. Martucci-De Simone-D'Italia), here on academia.edu.

J.T. PeÑa, The Pompeii Artifact Life History Project: Conceptual background and first season’s results.

C.S. Martucci - G.F. De Simone - S. D’Italia, Late Antique local productions between Vesuvius and the Apennines.

D. Bernal - D. Cottica - E. GarcÍa-Vargas - L. Toniolo - C.G. RodrÍguez- Santana - C. Acqua - R. Marlasca - J. Vargas - A.M. SÁez, Un contexto excepcional en Pompeya: estudio interdisciplinar de la pila de ánforas de la Bottega del Garum (I, XII, 8). 


Posters:

M. DE FILIPPO, Transport amphorae from Rione Terra, Pozzuoli (Napoli).

R. FEDERICO, Amphorae, broken amphorae and pottery fragments from a Roman villa south of Naples: Stabiae and the romanized territory until the eruption of 79. 

P. ORLANDO, Cooking Ware and Coarse Ware from Rione Terra (Pozzuoli, Naples).

A. RIBERA, Sicilian Amphorae in Pompei.

C. SUGIYAMA - T. MUKAI - M. AOYAGI, The function and use of big mortar in late Roman -the archaeobotanical research in Somma Vesuviana (Italy).

Amoenitas - Journal on Roman Villas

The second issue of Amoenitas, the journal on Roman Villas published by the Istituto Poligrafico Zecca dello Stato, is finally out. This issue encompasses several articles on Vesuvian villas (click on the pictures below to read the table of contents).
The journal can be bought here, send a message to info@apollineproject.org if you want to receive a copy of Martucci et alii's contribution on the pottery assemblage from the villa with baths of Pollena Trocchia.

Fieldwork opportunity in September

The ApollineProject is a multi-disciplinary research project which seeks to bring to light the hitherto neglected past of the area to the north of  Mt. Vesuvius. The project has several components but major excavation work focuses upon two sites; a well preserved post-79 AD Roman baths at PollenaTrocchia and an early Medieval church at Roccarainola. Those interested in adding to their experience of archaeological fieldwork and post-excavation practice will find our September programme of great interest. It involves two weeks of major excavations at the church at Roccarainola and a further two of lab work at Pollena Trocchia. The programme is ideal for students who may have limited archaeological experience but wish to gain more while working in a range of different environments. Classes will be given on working with pottery finds and there will be plenty of opportunity to work with freshly discovered material. Opportunities to engage with the archaeology of death and burial also exist as the result of a number of finds already made at Roccarainola.

Subsequently, the baths at Pollena give participants the opportunity to study the artefacts of a well preserved and large scale Roman site. What makes this opportunity different is the time-span offered to students (Roman and Medieval) and the chance to work on two very different sites in a single month long programme. However, those wishing to stay only for one of the excavations may do so. The excavations at ‘Rocca’ (the church) takes place from September 3^rd until the 16^th while the work at Pollena (bath-house) take place from the 17^th until the 30^th. Good accommodation is provided (with an internet connection) and included within the price along with all tuition. It should be noted that while food is not included, living costs in the area are very modest.

The deadline for applications is 26^th August 2012, but earlier applications will be considered and processed within two days.

If you wish to know more, you will find additional information on our website along with the application form which is submitted electronically.

http://www.apollineproject.org/dig.html 

Pottery database: FACEM

This database from Universitat Wien looks potentially very useful (thanks to Anna Kieberg for sending me the link):

FACEM
Provenance Studies on Pottery
in the Southern Central Mediterranean from the 6th to the 2nd c. B.C.

Facem (= Fabrics of the Central Mediterranean) is a database for specialists of Greek, Punic and Roman pottery. Its aim is to give an overview of production centres in the Central Mediterranean region by presenting images and descriptions of fabrics.

We are proud to present the first release of FACEM on 6th of June 2011. In this version mainly samples from the area of Magna Grecia and from the Central Mediterranean Punic area are included, and to a minor degree also fabrics from the Greek mainland and from the North- and East Aegean region which have come to the sampling area as imports.

See here for more information about FACEM, details about how to use the database, and access to a collection of PDF articles on different fabrics.

Article: Production and distribution of pottery at Pompeii, part 2.

This just out:

J. Theodore Peña and Myles McCallum, The Production and Distribution of Pottery at Pompeii: A Review of the Evidence; Part 2, The Material Basis for Production and Distribution. American Journal of Archaeology (113.2, April 2009).

Part 1 (AJA 113 [2009] 57–79) considered the production of pottery. Part 2, the present article, examines the material basis for pottery production at Pompeii (i.e., the availability and use of the raw materials) and its distribution.