Ancient Pompeiopolis has been under intensive excavations by a multinational team since 2006. Stu... more Ancient Pompeiopolis has been under intensive excavations by a multinational team since 2006. Studies on its coarse wares (amphorae, kitchenware and storage vessels) have already been published. The overwhelming dominance of certain Levantine amphora-types, mainly LRA 4, as well as the presence of special lids with roots in the Levant, strongly suggest the existence of a 'trade diaspora' originating in that region. This specific type of trade diaspora has also been epigraphically documented at Puteoli, Ostia and Rome. As we lack this category of evidence at Pompeiopolis only pottery can enlighten us in this regard.
Résumé: Le projet archéologique multidisciplinaire Leptiminus vise l’étude de cette ville portuai... more Résumé: Le projet archéologique multidisciplinaire Leptiminus vise l’étude de cette ville portuaire moyenne dans l’est de la Tunisie On trouvera ici le résumés des opérations de 1999: fouilles, surveys et analyse des résultats. Les fouilles ont mis à jours plusieurs fours et un atelier de céramique qui permettent de mieux comprendre la fabrication de la poterie destinée au marché local et celle destinée à l’exportation. Une fouille d’urgence à la limite sud est de la ville a précisé notre connaissance des cimetières situés dans cette section. La prospection a permis de déceler de nouveaux sites ruraux d’habitation et production agricole. Des études de la géologie, la flore et la faune éclairent l’histoire environnementale du site. Enfin la céramique, les matériaux de construction et les débris résultant du travail du métal détaillent l’image générale du site.
The authors present a small ceramic collection sheltered by the archaeological museum of Mangalia... more The authors present a small ceramic collection sheltered by the archaeological museum of Mangalia. The large variety of wine, olive oil, and fish product amphorae suggested by this modest pottery collection confirms the extensive trade network established by this city not only with Pontic centres but also with many eastern Mediterranean areas during early and late Roman times. The kitchen ware also displays a large variety of pots, casseroles, and frying pans. They attest to the advanced level in cookery reached by the Callatian society and the diversified trade connections that allowed it to import Aegean and west Anatolian cooking vessels, while others were locally or provincially made. Callatis, the only West Pontic city, considered by Strabo 1 as deserving of the name πόλις, unfortunately, has not been systematically studied. We have an adequate culture-historical presentation of the evolution of the city from Archaic to late Roman times due only to a few literary testimonia and...
The paper presents pottery and other artefacts discovered during rescue excavations in the centra... more The paper presents pottery and other artefacts discovered during rescue excavations in the central part of Kerch, Crimea. Especially important is a deposit of broken trade amphorae, tableware and other pottery, dumped in a shallow pit (Pit 2). Trade amphorae dominated in the whole deposit. Among the33 identified containers the vast majority (30) were of Aegean, Levantine and eastern Pontic origin, followed by two local, Bosporan fish amphorae and one Late Roman A (LRA) 2 olive oil amphora. The fine pottery is represented by nine imported vessels and fragments. The majority of these dishes are the so-called Late Roman C (LRC) or Phocean Red Slip (PhRS) ware, produced in the north-eastern Aegean coastal area, mainly in Phokaia. Two vessels represent a recently isolated group called Late Roman Pontic Burnished (LRPB) ware of unknown provenance and distribution embracing exclusively the Black Sea basin. The rest of the discovered artefacts constitute much less numerous table amphorae an...
Zahariade Mihail, Opaiţ A., Opaiţ Cristina, Suceveanu Alexandru, Topoleanu F. Şantierul arheologi... more Zahariade Mihail, Opaiţ A., Opaiţ Cristina, Suceveanu Alexandru, Topoleanu F. Şantierul arheologic Independenţa (Murighiol) / Le chantier archéologique Independenţa (Murighiol). In: Materiale şi cercetări arheologice, N°16 1986. A XVI-A sesiune anuală de rapoarte, Vaslui 1982. pp. 180-186
In memoriamVivien SwanAn exhaustive presentation of one of the most important Chian amphora works... more In memoriamVivien SwanAn exhaustive presentation of one of the most important Chian amphora workshops that manufactured amphorae of Dressel 24similistype, as well as ampullae, unguentaria, basins and funnels (vessels and equipment related to the olive oil industry), is followed by an analysis of the origin and evolution of this type since the Hellenistic period in the Chios–Erythrai–Kyme area. These discoveries bring to light the organisation of the amphorae workshops in this region, the same type of kiln being in use until the present day. Petrological and chemical analysis of the Chian and Erythraian fabrics, together with the identification of some Chian Dressel 24similisamphora stamps on the lower Danube and Pontic market, also sheds new light on the flourishing olive oil industry of the central Aegean area during the Early Roman period.
Deep-water shipwrecks provide an opportunity to investigate ships away from the destructive dynam... more Deep-water shipwrecks provide an opportunity to investigate ships away from the destructive dynamics of coastlines and approaches to harbors where most ancient wrecks to date have been found. Such exploration expands the potential for finding wrecks of periods for which relatively few are known. One such period is the 6th and 7th c. in the E Mediterranean. Studies of cargo assemblages from the few known wrecks of the later Roman period reveal a partial picture of interlinked and overlapping trade networks that incorporated major and minor ports in the adjacent provinces.1 Various trading modes may be discerned, including cabotage, short-haul trade, inter-regional commerce, and private long-haul trade. Largely missing thus far are the wrecks of ships that participated in the annona transport, the “backbone of Late Roman shipping”.2 Each year, an enormous fleet of private ships under state contract hauled thousands of shiploads of Egyptian grain from Alexandria to Constantinople for p...
In 2010–2011, two ancient shipwrecks were discovered and documented by the E/V NAUTILUS expeditio... more In 2010–2011, two ancient shipwrecks were discovered and documented by the E/V NAUTILUS expedition near Knidos at the western tip of the Datça peninsula in southwest Turkey. High-resolution imagery from both wreck sites permits a preliminary analysis of their cargoes. Knidos K was carrying three variants of Rhodian amphorae, while Knidos J, with its hull remains partially exposed, was carrying medium and large variants of the same amphora type. Kilns that manufactured these amphorae in the 1st and 2nd century AD are known in Rhodes, its Peraia, and in Caria. In spite of numerous discoveries of Roman Rhodian amphorae on land over the past four decades, however, shipwrecks with the same amphorae are rather rare. The type has been identified as singletons or in small groups on a few shipwrecks, and a few badly plundered sites appear to represent cargoes. Knidos J and K add important information regarding the local networks involved during the initial stages of distribution. The modest size of these ships would have allowed them to sail into and out of the many bays, harbors and makeshift ports that dot the coastlines of the Datça and Bozburun peninsulas. We speculate that they were loaded near their place of production and were destined for a large emporium such as Knidos or Rhodes to offload their consignment for transshipment elsewhere in the Empire but foundered in a heavily-trafficked maritime corridor known for occasional bad weather and navigational challenges.
Ancient Pompeiopolis has been under intensive excavations by a multinational team since 2006. Stu... more Ancient Pompeiopolis has been under intensive excavations by a multinational team since 2006. Studies on its coarse wares (amphorae, kitchenware and storage vessels) have already been published. The overwhelming dominance of certain Levantine amphora-types, mainly LRA 4, as well as the presence of special lids with roots in the Levant, strongly suggest the existence of a 'trade diaspora' originating in that region. This specific type of trade diaspora has also been epigraphically documented at Puteoli, Ostia and Rome. As we lack this category of evidence at Pompeiopolis only pottery can enlighten us in this regard.
Résumé: Le projet archéologique multidisciplinaire Leptiminus vise l’étude de cette ville portuai... more Résumé: Le projet archéologique multidisciplinaire Leptiminus vise l’étude de cette ville portuaire moyenne dans l’est de la Tunisie On trouvera ici le résumés des opérations de 1999: fouilles, surveys et analyse des résultats. Les fouilles ont mis à jours plusieurs fours et un atelier de céramique qui permettent de mieux comprendre la fabrication de la poterie destinée au marché local et celle destinée à l’exportation. Une fouille d’urgence à la limite sud est de la ville a précisé notre connaissance des cimetières situés dans cette section. La prospection a permis de déceler de nouveaux sites ruraux d’habitation et production agricole. Des études de la géologie, la flore et la faune éclairent l’histoire environnementale du site. Enfin la céramique, les matériaux de construction et les débris résultant du travail du métal détaillent l’image générale du site.
The authors present a small ceramic collection sheltered by the archaeological museum of Mangalia... more The authors present a small ceramic collection sheltered by the archaeological museum of Mangalia. The large variety of wine, olive oil, and fish product amphorae suggested by this modest pottery collection confirms the extensive trade network established by this city not only with Pontic centres but also with many eastern Mediterranean areas during early and late Roman times. The kitchen ware also displays a large variety of pots, casseroles, and frying pans. They attest to the advanced level in cookery reached by the Callatian society and the diversified trade connections that allowed it to import Aegean and west Anatolian cooking vessels, while others were locally or provincially made. Callatis, the only West Pontic city, considered by Strabo 1 as deserving of the name πόλις, unfortunately, has not been systematically studied. We have an adequate culture-historical presentation of the evolution of the city from Archaic to late Roman times due only to a few literary testimonia and...
The paper presents pottery and other artefacts discovered during rescue excavations in the centra... more The paper presents pottery and other artefacts discovered during rescue excavations in the central part of Kerch, Crimea. Especially important is a deposit of broken trade amphorae, tableware and other pottery, dumped in a shallow pit (Pit 2). Trade amphorae dominated in the whole deposit. Among the33 identified containers the vast majority (30) were of Aegean, Levantine and eastern Pontic origin, followed by two local, Bosporan fish amphorae and one Late Roman A (LRA) 2 olive oil amphora. The fine pottery is represented by nine imported vessels and fragments. The majority of these dishes are the so-called Late Roman C (LRC) or Phocean Red Slip (PhRS) ware, produced in the north-eastern Aegean coastal area, mainly in Phokaia. Two vessels represent a recently isolated group called Late Roman Pontic Burnished (LRPB) ware of unknown provenance and distribution embracing exclusively the Black Sea basin. The rest of the discovered artefacts constitute much less numerous table amphorae an...
Zahariade Mihail, Opaiţ A., Opaiţ Cristina, Suceveanu Alexandru, Topoleanu F. Şantierul arheologi... more Zahariade Mihail, Opaiţ A., Opaiţ Cristina, Suceveanu Alexandru, Topoleanu F. Şantierul arheologic Independenţa (Murighiol) / Le chantier archéologique Independenţa (Murighiol). In: Materiale şi cercetări arheologice, N°16 1986. A XVI-A sesiune anuală de rapoarte, Vaslui 1982. pp. 180-186
In memoriamVivien SwanAn exhaustive presentation of one of the most important Chian amphora works... more In memoriamVivien SwanAn exhaustive presentation of one of the most important Chian amphora workshops that manufactured amphorae of Dressel 24similistype, as well as ampullae, unguentaria, basins and funnels (vessels and equipment related to the olive oil industry), is followed by an analysis of the origin and evolution of this type since the Hellenistic period in the Chios–Erythrai–Kyme area. These discoveries bring to light the organisation of the amphorae workshops in this region, the same type of kiln being in use until the present day. Petrological and chemical analysis of the Chian and Erythraian fabrics, together with the identification of some Chian Dressel 24similisamphora stamps on the lower Danube and Pontic market, also sheds new light on the flourishing olive oil industry of the central Aegean area during the Early Roman period.
Deep-water shipwrecks provide an opportunity to investigate ships away from the destructive dynam... more Deep-water shipwrecks provide an opportunity to investigate ships away from the destructive dynamics of coastlines and approaches to harbors where most ancient wrecks to date have been found. Such exploration expands the potential for finding wrecks of periods for which relatively few are known. One such period is the 6th and 7th c. in the E Mediterranean. Studies of cargo assemblages from the few known wrecks of the later Roman period reveal a partial picture of interlinked and overlapping trade networks that incorporated major and minor ports in the adjacent provinces.1 Various trading modes may be discerned, including cabotage, short-haul trade, inter-regional commerce, and private long-haul trade. Largely missing thus far are the wrecks of ships that participated in the annona transport, the “backbone of Late Roman shipping”.2 Each year, an enormous fleet of private ships under state contract hauled thousands of shiploads of Egyptian grain from Alexandria to Constantinople for p...
In 2010–2011, two ancient shipwrecks were discovered and documented by the E/V NAUTILUS expeditio... more In 2010–2011, two ancient shipwrecks were discovered and documented by the E/V NAUTILUS expedition near Knidos at the western tip of the Datça peninsula in southwest Turkey. High-resolution imagery from both wreck sites permits a preliminary analysis of their cargoes. Knidos K was carrying three variants of Rhodian amphorae, while Knidos J, with its hull remains partially exposed, was carrying medium and large variants of the same amphora type. Kilns that manufactured these amphorae in the 1st and 2nd century AD are known in Rhodes, its Peraia, and in Caria. In spite of numerous discoveries of Roman Rhodian amphorae on land over the past four decades, however, shipwrecks with the same amphorae are rather rare. The type has been identified as singletons or in small groups on a few shipwrecks, and a few badly plundered sites appear to represent cargoes. Knidos J and K add important information regarding the local networks involved during the initial stages of distribution. The modest size of these ships would have allowed them to sail into and out of the many bays, harbors and makeshift ports that dot the coastlines of the Datça and Bozburun peninsulas. We speculate that they were loaded near their place of production and were destined for a large emporium such as Knidos or Rhodes to offload their consignment for transshipment elsewhere in the Empire but foundered in a heavily-trafficked maritime corridor known for occasional bad weather and navigational challenges.
Theoretical and practical courses about Roman pottery organized at the "Babes-Bolyai" University ... more Theoretical and practical courses about Roman pottery organized at the "Babes-Bolyai" University from Cluj-Napoca between 15th to 19th of May 2017
KOINÈ ET MOBILITÉ ARTISANALE ENTRE LA MÉDITERRANÉE ET LA MER NOIRE DANS L'ANTIQUITÉ, 2018
The authors present three Roman shipwrecks, Knidos H, S, and R, recently identified in deep water... more The authors present three Roman shipwrecks, Knidos H, S, and R, recently identified in deep water off the Datça peninsula in the southeast Aegean. High-resolution imagery allows substantial analysis of their cargoes. Knidos H was carrying between 1,300 and 1,500 amphorae, mostly of Agora M 54 type, accompanied by few Cilician imitation of Coan amphorae (Dr 2-4) and others belonging to the crew: Dr 24 similis, Knidian, and Agora G 199. Knidos S, a smaller ship, was transporting a mixed cargo of wine amphorae, including Agora G 199, Cylindrical amphora type I (previously believed to be Aegean), and a new variant of olive oil amphora Dr 24. Knidos R is represented by a small assemblage of amphorae (Dr 24, Cretan, and possibly Mendean types). Kitchen and drinking vessels that belonged to the crew were found on all three shipwrecks. The amphora evidence indicates that the ships sank in th e first half of the 2nd century A.D. These discoveries illuminate Roman trade networks in the eastern Mediterranean and Aegean region, particularly between Cilicia Pedias and one or more unknown Aegean emporia at the political and economic height of the em pire. The Straits of Rhodes and the waters around the Bozburun and Datça peninsulas served as a constricted maritime corridor between the southeast
The authors present three Roman shipwrecks, Knidos H, S, and R, recently identified in deep water... more The authors present three Roman shipwrecks, Knidos H, S, and R, recently identified in deep water off the Datça peninsula in the southeast Aegean. High-resolution imagery allows substantial analysis of their cargoes. Knidos H was carrying between 1,300 and 1,500 amphorae, mostly of Agora M 54 type, accompanied by few Cilician imitation of Coan amphorae (Dr 2-4) and others belonging to the crew: Dr 24 similis, Knidian, and Agora G 199. Knidos S, a smaller ship, was transporting a mixed cargo of wine amphorae, including Agora G 199, Cylindrical amphora type I (previously believed to be Aegean), and a new variant of olive oil amphora Dr 24. Knidos R is represented by a small assemblage of amphorae (Dr 24, Cretan, and possibly Mendean types). Kitchen and drinking vessels that belonged to the crew were found on all three shipwrecks. The amphora evidence indicates that the ships sank in th e first half of the 2nd century A.D. These discoveries illuminate Roman trade networks in the eastern Mediterranean and Aegean region, particularly between Cilicia Pedias and one or more unknown Aegean emporia at the political and economic height of the em pire. The Straits of Rhodes and the waters around the Bozburun and Datça peninsulas served as a constricted maritime corridor between the southeast
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Papers by Andrei Opait
wreck sites permits a preliminary analysis of their cargoes. Knidos K was carrying three variants of Rhodian amphorae, while Knidos J, with its hull remains partially exposed, was carrying medium and large variants of the
same amphora type. Kilns that manufactured these amphorae in the 1st and 2nd century AD are known in Rhodes, its Peraia, and in Caria. In spite of numerous discoveries of Roman Rhodian amphorae on land over the past four decades, however, shipwrecks with the same amphorae are rather rare. The type has been identified as singletons or in small groups on a few shipwrecks, and a few badly plundered sites appear to represent cargoes. Knidos J and K add important information regarding the local networks involved during the initial stages of distribution. The modest size of these ships would have allowed them to sail into and out of the many bays, harbors and makeshift ports that dot the coastlines of the Datça and Bozburun peninsulas. We speculate that they were loaded near their place of production and were destined for a large emporium such as Knidos or Rhodes to offload their consignment for transshipment elsewhere in the Empire but foundered in a heavily-trafficked maritime corridor known for occasional bad weather and navigational challenges.
wreck sites permits a preliminary analysis of their cargoes. Knidos K was carrying three variants of Rhodian amphorae, while Knidos J, with its hull remains partially exposed, was carrying medium and large variants of the
same amphora type. Kilns that manufactured these amphorae in the 1st and 2nd century AD are known in Rhodes, its Peraia, and in Caria. In spite of numerous discoveries of Roman Rhodian amphorae on land over the past four decades, however, shipwrecks with the same amphorae are rather rare. The type has been identified as singletons or in small groups on a few shipwrecks, and a few badly plundered sites appear to represent cargoes. Knidos J and K add important information regarding the local networks involved during the initial stages of distribution. The modest size of these ships would have allowed them to sail into and out of the many bays, harbors and makeshift ports that dot the coastlines of the Datça and Bozburun peninsulas. We speculate that they were loaded near their place of production and were destined for a large emporium such as Knidos or Rhodes to offload their consignment for transshipment elsewhere in the Empire but foundered in a heavily-trafficked maritime corridor known for occasional bad weather and navigational challenges.