African amphorae from Portus

Pina Franco supervised by

The research focuses on aspects of the North African ceramic material from Portus, Rome’s Imperial port, in particular the amphora vessels which were manufactured on a large scale in different Roman provinces, and were used to carry agricultural commodities. In this context, a major emphasis is given to those amphorae produced in North Africa and used in trade with Portus. Previous analysis has shown that North African amphorae from this site represent the largest quantity of amphorae, constituting a good data set for analysis. The aim of the study is to link the vessels to specific areas and workshops of vessel manufacture, in order to establish which major trading partners traded with Portus. Additionally the research gives an insight into the nature of the contracts between Portus and those supplying the vessels.

This paper provides a quantification of all the African amphorae traded at Portus from all of the excavated contexts. Quantification of the materials is based on a typological analysis in association with fabrics analysis.