Le anfore di Spello nelle Regiones VI e VII

Abstract

AMPHORAE OF SPELLO TYPE IN REGIONES VI AND VII‘Amphorae of Spello type’, produced in inland central Italy during the first and second centuries AD, form part of the Italic production of wine containers of the early and middle Imperial periods, alongside production in the central-southern tyrrhenian area (‘Falernian amphorae’) and in the central-southern adriatic area (‘Forlimpopoli amphorae’). In this paper the preliminary results of an archaeological and archaeometric study undertaken of fragments of amphorae of Spello type, found in various locations in Regiones VI and VII, are presented. This is the first phase of a research project aimed, firstly, at the morphological characterization of Spello amphorae, through the construction of a typological classification, and, secondly, at the identification, in mineralogical terms, of the vessels produced at Spello, the only certain centre of production, and in other possible production areas in the central part of peninsular Italy. The data which have emerged from this research allow us to map the areas of production and the distribution of this particular ceramic vessel, and also to create a reference database which will form an invaluable starting-point for further research in the near future.