Supply and Demand: Adaptable Patterns of Sourcing Ancient Roman Brick at Cosa and Gabii (10 min)

Presenters

Christina Cha, Florida State University

Abstract

The intended function of Roman brick stamps remains open to debate, but the information contained in the stamps is useful for answering queries about the transport of brick supplies across a multivariate trade network. Each type of epigraphic stamp is designed to be unique, making them highly identifiable in the archaeological record. The names provided on the stamps demonstrate the prodigious number of parties involved in the brick industry, and give evidence to notable periods of organizational turnover. This study further utilizes these brick stamps to identify various factors that influence the movement of these goods from their place of production to final disposition.

Both the location and the specific need of a city affect the brick supply chain. This paper incorporates two case studies, at Cosa and Gabii, which have divergent patterns of when and how each obtain brick supplies for construction. The Cosans are accustomed to directly import large quantities of brick from a few suppliers named on the stamps, only on the occasion when the authorities implement a large-scale building project in the city. Otherwise, smaller construction needs entail either making use of leftover material from a previously acquired (wholesale) supply, or reusing ceramic building material from abandoned structures elsewhere in the city. The Gabines likewise exhibit a propensity to recycle their building material, but they also appear to have access to a steady supply of retail brick from an assortment of suppliers, based on the considerable number of different stamp types found that are rarely repeated. This evidence has interesting implications for how such commercial goods are moved down the supply chain. Comparing these two cities, local demand, as well as the overall distance to the brickyards of Rome, are the driving factors that determine the method and scale of moving materials through existing trade routes.