Typological and chronological classification of Roman pottery from Siscia

Abstract

Tema disertacije je tipološko-kronološka klasifikacija rimskih keramičkih nalaza antičke Siscije. Keramički arheološki materijal nalazi se pri svim arheološkim istraživanjima na području rimske Siscije, današnjeg grada Siska. U interpretaciji nalaza i nalazišta keramički materijal od iznimnog je značaja. Njime se mogu pratiti društveno-ekonomske promjene na ovom prostoru koje se oslikavaju u stilu, proizvodnji, trgovini, očuvanju tradicijske kulture, svakodnevnim potrebama, prehrambenim i pogrebnim običajima. Prvi kontakti Segestana s rimskom civilizacijom kao i razdoblje nakon osvajanja, razvoja Siscije te njenog kontinuiteta i nestanka u razdoblju kasne antike može se pratiti na keramičkim nalazima nađenim pri iskopavanjima na području Siska. Iako je sisački materijal od iznimne važnosti za istraživanje povijesti prostora Panonije do sada je izostala sveobuhvatna obrada i analiza keramičkog materijala. Tipološko-kronološka analiza keramičkog materijala s novoprovedenih istraživanja uz usporedbu s do sada objavljenim materijalom iz Gradskog muzeja Sisak i Arheološkog muzeja u Zagrebu zato je od iznimne važnosti. U tezi se analizira keramički materijal s lokaliteta sv. Kvirin, istraživanja 2003. i lokaliteta Povijesni arhiv, istraživanja 2003./2004. u Sisku, koji broji više od 2000 ulomaka, oba vođena suvremenom metodologijom i stratigrafskim principima. Kontinuitet življenja na oba položaja daje značajan doprinos kronološkoj klasifikaciji keramičkog materijala. Tipološko-kronološkom klasifikacijom rimske keramike promatrane su i faze razvoja Siscije koje su poznate iz antičkih izvora. Metodologija rada temelji se na tipološko-kronološkoj klasifikaciji keramičkog materijala iz Siscije koja obuhvaća analizu tehnike izrade, analizu faktura, morfologije, dekoracije, funkcije, kvalitete izrade i kvantitete proizvodnje. Komparativnom metodom nađene su analogije s keramičkim materijalom relevantnih rimskih lokaliteta. Rad je popraćen crtežima keramike, fotografijama, grafičkim prikazima. Analiza obuhvaća izmjeru materijala, deskripciju te makroskopske analize na temelju kojih je izrađen katalog. Znanstveni doprinos je u objavi, analizi te interpretaciji rimske keramike iz Siscije čime je upotpunjena slika o najvažnijem antičkom lokalitetu panonske Hrvatske. Radom je obrađeno ukupno 502 različitih tipova svih vrsta rimske keramike. Predstavljeni su do sada poznati tipovi, kao i novi za koje se smatralo da ih u Sisciji nema, a neki od njih su jedinstveni za cijeli panonski prostor. Tipološko-kronološka klasifikacija rimske keramike prva je cjelovita objava keramičkog materijala iz Siscije. Provedena analiza keramike pridonijet će i razumijevanju graditeljske baštine i urbanizma Siscije kroz svih 7 stoljeća života grada.The typological and chronological classification of Roman pottery is the basis for the study of any Roman site. Other than finds from specific positions or specific types of pottery, the material from Siscia, the most important city in Roman Pannonia, as attested to by historical sources, has so far not been fully typologically and chronologically classified based on a complete analysis of Roman pottery. Therefore, the pottery from the territory of Siscia has not been included into expert publications to the extent that it deserves, although it is crucial for the study of the historical Pannonia. This paper was written with the goal of positioning Siscia as the point of reference for the study of the Roman period in Pannonia and the wider region. The basic analysis was conducted on pottery discovered at the Sv. Kvirin (St. Quirinus) and Povijesni arhiv (Historical archives) positions that were excavated in accordance with contemporary stratigraphic principles. Both positions are within the walls of the Roman Siscia. The Sv. Kvirin and Povijesni Arhiv positions yielded a total of 1581 pottery fragments. The typological and chronological analysis of pottery was widened by the analysis of previously published material that is kept at the City Museum Sisak and the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb. A total of 46 different kinds of publications included over 1017 pottery fragments. The typological classifications revealed groups based on one or more categories: usage (function), characteristic production technology, origin/provenience, and morphological forms. The analysis of characteristic structures, forms, modes and ways of decorating showed or indicated the produce from different well-known workshop centers, and, thereby, the provenience of pottery forms that appeared in ancient Siscia. In the typological classification, the material was divided into table ware, pottery used in food preparation and serving, pottery used for storing food and beverages, pottery of special function, ceramic figurines, and pottery used in construction. The Povijesni arhiv and Sv. Kvirin positions yielded a total of 161 fragments of thin-walled pottery, and the previously published material includes a total of 337 examples. The analyzed finds differ based on production technique, fabric, form, and mode of decoration. Based on production technique, pottery thin-walled pottery was made in a mold and/or on a potter’s wheel out of purified clay or clay paste with inclusions, and was fired in a reduction or oxidation atmosphere. Typological categories include small bowls, glasses and cups. A total of 23 types of small bowls (TWP B. 1-23), 30 types of glasses (TWP G. TYPE 1-30) and 2 types of cups (TWP C. TYPE 1-2) have been established. The analysis revealed 17 different fabrics, pointing to the diversity and the possible number of workshops, but also to the different modes off decoration and firing of thin-walled pottery in a single workshop (TWP 1- 17). The most common fabric is TWP 6 that can be ascribed to Pannonian workshops. Motifs include barbotine decorations, ribbed scales, droplets, spiral vines, floral motifs, leaves, sandy decorations and incised nets. The quantity of the recovered material could indicate the workshop in Siscia as the place of production. The following fabrics could be ascribed to Pannonian workshops: TWP 10 and TWP 5, TWP 7, TWP 11, TWP 17; the following to workshops in Italy: TWP 2, and TWP 3, TWP 9, TWP 10, TWP 12, TWP 13, TWP 15 and TWP 16. The TWP 1, TWP 4 and TWP 14 are exceptions. The TWP 1 matches the fabric of thin-walled pottery from Baetica in color, which would be the first find of Baetican pottery in the Croatian part of Pannonia. The TWP 4 fabric matches pottery from Lyon in color, but the decorations indicate connections with motifs that were predominantly used on produce from Pannonian workshops. The forms of pottery of the TWP 8 fabric suggest that they were produced in Pannonian workshops, while the motifs reveal influences from Gallia. The TWP 14 fabric can be attributed to the La Butte workshop from Gallia. Thin-walled pottery can be dated to the period from the last decades of the 1st century BC, when the first produce from Italy appeared. During the time of Tiberius and Claudius, thin-walled pottery revealed a plethora of forms, modes of decoration and imports from Italy, Gallia, Baetica and other Pannonian workshops. The appearance of thin-walled pottery can be traced up until the 2nd century, when it was dominated by types of glasses made in Pannonian workshops. Some examples can be dated to the 3rd century. The analyzed material revealed, for the first time in Siscia, the presence of pottery with a black slip, characteristic of the middle Augustan period. It is proof that Roman military and trading routes were present in the area in Octavian’s period. So far, it had been registered in the southeastern Alpine region, and not on Pannonian territory. The find from Siscia is a confirmation of the written sources. The fragments can be ascribed to the Lamboglia 5/7 type of plate (BSP. TYPE 1) that can, in Siscia, be connected to the Augustan period. Out of all the types of Roman pottery from Sisak, terra sigillata is the most thoroughly studied due to Rajka Makjanić’s paper “Terra sigillata” that was published in the series: Siscia, Pannonia Superior International Series in Oxford in 1995. The author published a total of 327 examples of terra sigillata from the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb, most of which were discovered when the Kupa riverbed was cleaned in between 1913. and 1915. (Makjanić 1995: 43). The analyzed material provides an insight into the plethora of sigillata ceramic material that reflects the importance of Siscia in the Roman Empire. The paper brings an overview of previously discovered and published types of terra sigillata, as well as an analysis of sigillata from the Sv. Kvirin and Pov. Arhiv positions. Siscia yielded finds of Italian, Gaelic, African, Pannonian and Moesian sigillata. The Italian sigillata from Sisak was made in workshops in Arretium, northern Italy and Campania, and can be divided into smooth and relief Italian sigillata. A total of 32 different types of have been found.The Sv. Kvirin and Pov. Arhiv positions yielded the following types of terra sigillata: Haltern 9, Consp. 13, Consp 14, Conp 18, Consp 20, Consp 21, Consp 24, Consp 26, Consp 27, Consp 29, Consp 34, Consp 43, Consp 43-44, Consp 48, and Drag 11. The finds can be dated to the period between the last decades of the 1st century BC and the 2nd century. The analysis of material from recent archaeological excavations of the Augustan and the Tiberian-Claudian phase of Siscia revealed large amounts of relief pottery of the Aco and Sarius types, suggesting that it was one of the most significant military and trading centers during the Early Empire. With a total of 71 finds, Siscia is the Pannonian site that yielded the largest amount of relief pottery of the Aco and Sarius types. This paper includes all examples of previously published relief pottery from the positions of Sv. Kvirin and Povijesni Arhiv, and the analysis of finds based on their form, fabric and decorative concept. The analysis of fragments from Siscia, which could be defined as belonging to a certain form, revealed a total of 31 fragments of Aco beaker and 40 examples of Sarius cups. The analysis of form and fabric revealed 2 types of Aco beaker (ACO TYPE 1a i b – 2). The analysis of decorations on Aco beaker revealed the following motifs: the Kommaregen triangles, vegetative motifs, zoomorphic decorations, ribbons/chains composed of beads, architectural elements, interweaving/weaved basket motifs, abstract motifs, and a group of undefined motifs. The analyzed material includes Aco type beaker with and without a sigillata slip. Glasses without a slip were being produced from about the middle of the 1st century BC, while the examples with a slip started to appear from the late Augustan-Tiberian period. In Siscia, the latter remained in use during Claudian times as well. Stamp include those of C. Aco C. L. Eros and Buccio Norbanus, but the analysis of stylistic and morphological features also revealed examples ascribed to the workshops of L. Norbanus or Stepanus Norbanus, C. Aco or C. Aco Diophanes, as well as the workshops of Optatus and L. Sarius Surus. In addition to the examples from northern Italian workshops situated between the Po River and Ravenna, relief pottery from workshops in Gallia was also recorded. The analysis of all published, as well as the finds from the Sv. Kvirin and Povijesni Arhiv positions, revealed 40 examples ascribed to the Sarius cup type. Due to the fragmentation of finds, one form of the Sarius cup was defined (SAR. TYPE 1). Just like on Aco beaker, a large number of decorations were noted. The concept is uniform, but specific motifs are differently grouped. The recorded motifs include: vegetative, zoomorphic, geometrical, figurative and abstract ones. The motifs are freely or geometrically distributed on the vessels. The recorded workshops include those of Clemensa, L. Sarius Surus, Ivcundus, but some forms have also been recorded that display no analogies with the previously discovered Sarius cup types. The finds can be dated to the Augustan and the Tiberian-Claudian period. Sisak yielded terra sigillata from southern Gallia - La Grafenesque, central Gallia - Lezoux, eastern Gallia, and the Rheinzabern and Westerndorf, Pfaffenhofen workshops, and can be divided into smooth and relief sigillata. The Sv. Kvirin and Povijesni Arhiv positions yielded the following types of sigillata from Gallia: Drag. 18/31, Drag 33, Drag 36, Drag 37, Drag 31, Lud Tk', Drag 43, Drag 54, and the exceptionally rare find of marbleized sigillata from the Graufesenque workshop, ascribed to the Ritt. 12 type. The import of produce from Gallia was dated to the time between the middle of the 1st and the 3rd century. In addition to the sigillata from Italy and Gallia, Siscia also yielded some African sigillata. So far, 33 examples of African sigillata have been published, and the Povijesni Arhiv and Sv. Kvirin positions yielded a total of 13 fragments. The analysis revealed almost equal amounts of vessels of productions A, C and D (30 - 35%), with 2% of finds of the A/D production. African goods reached Pannonia across the Adriatic, Italy and Noricum (Gabler 2012, Pröttel 1996, Hárshegyi & Ottományi 2013: 476-480, Gabler 1988: 32, Makjanić 1985: 50). The forms discovered in Siscia include bowls (85%) and plates (15%). According to Hayes’ typology, the following types were recorded: Hayes 3C, Hayes 14/17, Hayes 32, Hayes 50, Hayes 52, Hayes 53, Hayes 58, Hayes 60, Hayes 61, Hayes 62, Hayes 67, Hayes 70, Hayes 81, and Hayes 91. The fragments can be dated to the period between the 2nd and the second half of the 6th century. The appearance of African sigillata can be connected to the prosperous rule of Hadrian, a period from which Siscia also yielded finds of luxurious Mediterranean goods. The beginning of trade and substantial import of African goods can be connected to the period after the mint in Siscia was founded during the middle of the 3rd century, and it lasted until the mint stopped functioning at the middle of the 5th century. Pannonian sigillata appeared in the 2nd and 3rd century as a new type of sigillata ware with relief decorations. The motifs include those that are specific of Pannonian, Moesian, as well as those from different workshops, such as Lezoux, Trier, and Rheinzabern, and motifs from African workshops that were portrayed on vessels in a new way (Vikić Belančić 1967: 33-34; Brukner 1981: 30-32). Based on the analysis of relief decorations and fabrics defined in the Sisak collection from the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb, the following workshops were recorded: Viminacium-Margum, dated to the 2nd - 3rd century, and the one from Pannonia Inferior that was, due to its unknown location, marked as workshop X. However, due to recent research, the suggested location of this workshop is in Cibalae (Makjanić 1995: 73; Pl. 73, 74; Iskra-Janošić 2001: 121; Leleković 2007: 81; Ožanić Roguljić 2016: 21). The analyzed material included one fragment of relief Pannonian sigillata from the ViminaciumMargum workshop. Relief pottery was, based on the mode of surface processing, placed into a separate category of table ware. The group of relief pottery includes Adriatic vessels on a foot, as well as relief pottery from Corinth, Cnidus and Egyptian vessels. As a separate form, vessels on a foot can be ascribed to the Dragendorff 11. Based on the fabric, decorations and the slip, the analyzed material indicates that relief pottery was produced in Adriatic workshops. These finds are the first of their kind on the territory of Pannonia that have been dated to the first half of the 1st century. A special group of relief pottery includes relief pottery from Corinth and Cnidus. The relief pottery from Corinth is characterized by the form of cylindrical vessels (pyxis) with differently shaped rims (COR. REL. TYPE 1). It is dated to the period between the second half of the 2nd and the end of the 3rd century. The group of relief pottery includes a find of a relief zoomorphic handle that is being kept in the collection of the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb, and that was the handle of a relief ceramic patera portraying a ram’s head (CNID. REL. TYPE 1). Relief pottery from the workshop centers in Asia Minor and Cnidus has also been found at sites on the Adriatic, and can be dated to the 2nd century. Egyptian glazed ware forms a separate group of table ware. It was analyzed separately from other glazed pottery based on the specific category of its origin. It was included into the group of Roman pottery because of its form, which appears in Roman contexts in both Egypt and Siscia. The find of the Egyptian glazed cylindrical vase (EG. TYPE 1) is very important for the periods connected to Augustan times, and this is the first find of its kind in Pannonia and Noricum. A separate group of pottery, Pannonian slip ware, was produced in several centers in Pannonia as fine table ware (bowls, plates, and glasses, rarely lids and jugs). It was fired in an oxidation or reduction atmosphere with a grey, black or red slip. The slip can be glossy, have a metallic sheen, or can be matte. The fragment are either undecorated or decorated by rouletting (impressing small wheels or sticks) and/or stamping (Adler-Wölfl 2004: 9; Nagy 2017: 6). The Sv. Kvirin and Pov. Arhiv positions yielded 57 fragments of Pannonian pottery with a slip. The analysis established that there were 7 different fabrics of pottery in Siscia. A total of 56% of the fragments have a light to dark grey slip, and 29% have an orange to red slip. The typological analysis revealed 10 types of glasses (PSW. G. TYPE 1-10), 4 types of plates (PSW. PL. TYPE 1-4), and 10 types of bowls (PSW. B. TYPE 1-10). The analysis of stamped decorations from Siscia revealed Pannonian ware with a slip of both the southern and the western Pannonian group. The analysis helped establish that Pannonian ware was present in Siscia between the rules of Trajan and Septimius Severus. Table ware includes the group of glazed table ware that appears in the 3rd and 4th century, and sporadically also in the 5th. The Sv. Kvirin and Povijesni Arhiv positions yielded 11 fragments of glazed table ware that were typologically divided into jugs (GW. TYPE 1), a glazed patera (GW. TYPE 2), a glass (GW. TYPE 3A and 3B), and undefined forms. The glazed patera with relief decorations on the handle is, based on analogies with finds from other sites, ascribed a cult-related function, and was dated to the second half of the 2nd century. The analysis and the typological and chronological classification of Germanic tribe pottery, discovered at Pov. Arhiv. Position, make a great scientific contribution to the study of Siscia. in 6 th century during the Late Antiquity and Migration period. In addition, it was discovered in a layer that contained a repertoire of Roman pottery dated to the Late Antiquity. Two vessel fragments from the Pov. Arhiv position can be ascribed to Langobard and maybe Saxon pottery. Based on the production technology and morphology, 2 types were defined: a bowl with stamped decorations depicting a series of circles with crosses shown in the positive, and, below it, a series of ovals with striped imprints (GERM. TYPE 1), and a jug with a tubular spout (GERM. TYPE 2). Base on the datation of a ceramic vessel from Sisak into the 6th century, this find can be connected to the period between 537, when the Lombards appeared as a new force in the western territories of the Sava-Drava-Danube interfluve, and the time when they moved to Italy. The analysis of table ware, based on morphological characteristics, established types of different fabrics and provenience: glass, cup, kantharos, plate, jug/vase. The review of all published examples of each type is followed by the analysis of finds from the Sv. Kvirin and Pov. Arhiv positions. A total of 23 types of glasses (G. TYPE 1-23) were defined based on the shape of the rim, body and base. A separate group of glasses was defined to include those with ribs, dated to the period between the 2nd and the 3rd century. The analysis of previously published, as well as those from the Pov. Arhiv position, revealed 4 types of cups (C. TYPE 1-2). A special group includes the type of kantharos decorated by polished waves and zigzag decorations that can be dated to the first half of the 1st century (KANT. TYPE 1-2). The Sv. Kvirin and Povijesni Arhiv positions yielded 59 fragments of plates, and they include forms typical of the local Late Iron Age tradition, as well as Italian and provincial forms that display Italian fashion to a smaller or greater extent. The analysis of both previously published, and forms from these two positions, revealed a division into 15 types (PL. TYPE 1-15). The paper brings all previously published jugs and vases, but their typological and chronological classification was made based on the finds from the Pov. Arhiv and Sv. Kvirin positions. Due to their fragmentation, the types were defined based on the shape of the rims and necks. A total of 48 types were defined (J. TYPE 1-48). The group of pottery used in food processing, preparation and serving includes bowls, pots, mortars and lids. A special group includes kitchen ware from the eastern Mediterranean and Africa (I. MED. W TYPE 1, AFR. C. W. TYPE 1-4). Bowls are the form that makes it possible to track the preservation of the Pannonian La Tène tradition, the import of new Roman types, but also the production of new forms that were created by merging the La Tène heritage and the im