Julio-Claudian lusitanian amphorae: a perspective on selected contexts from Olisipo (Lisbon, Portugal).

Abstract

The Roman city of Olisipo (Lisbon) was one of the main harbours on the Atlantic façade, with a major role in the circulation of Mediterranean products to the northern provinces. In the Julio-Claudian period it emerged as a major producer of fish products that were packed in amphorae. To analyse and discuss Lusitanian amphorae from this specific period, eight well-dated contexts from excavations in Lisbon (some published, others unpublished), dating from Tiberius to Nero, will be presented. The study of these contexts shows, on the one hand, that amphorae of early Lusitanian type were a major presence, certainly from Claudius or the early days of Nero, and, on the other hand, that the first amphorae presenting the characteristic forms of typical Dressel 14 appear in the stratigraphy only from the AD 60s onward. As far as their petrography and provenance are concerned, the macroscopic characteristics of the fabrics of these amphorae revealthat the majority of them must be assigned to the Tagus/Sado basins. Nevertheless, amphorae from other areas of the province, namely Peniche (on the western Atlantic coast) are also present, mainly from the principate of Claudius onwards.