The Fabrics of the Rural Economy: Peasant Ceramic Networks in First Centuries B.C.E./C.E. Roman Tuscany (20 min)

Presenters

Mark Van Horn, University of Pennsylvania

Abstract

This paper presents the first results of my petrographic study of over 300 Roman coarse ware ceramics and clay samples. These ceramics, excavated from nine proximal sites consisting of 12 archaeological phases from the Roman Peasant Project, evidence a complicated network of coarse ware manufacture and dissemination in the rural Roman landscape of southern Tuscany during the first centuries B.C.E./C.E. This network provides evidence for a volume of exchange higher than was previously ascribed to Roman peasants, consisting of coarse wares traded alongside both fine wares and amphorae.

Earlier studies of Roman ceramics traditionally focused on two types: fine wares (especially terra sigillata) and amphorae. Epigraphic stamps allow the production and dissemination of these vessel types to be more easily traced across the empire. Coarse wares, a third major ceramic group and among the most common archaeological finds, lack stamps or other overt evidence of long-distance exchange. This results in a tendency for scholars to assume that these vessels, often cooking or tablewares, were manufactured locally or at the location of their use and deposition. Though this may seem true when compared to the vast distances Arretine wares or Dressel amphorae were shipped, these distances obscure similarly complex regional networks of the production and dissemination for many coarse ware ceramics. The assumption of hyperlocal production and use for coarse wares often implicitly separates them from any sense of ancient economic value or modern analytical utility. I propose instead that locally focused and data-driven studies argue against both common notions of peasant autarky and the irrelevance of coarse wares. Rather, I contend that peasants engaged with the wider Roman economy in both local and transregional ways. From my study, I conclude that coarse wares offer an exceptional and often under-utilized source of data for Roman archaeologists.

  AIA-5G