Amphora

Dressel 2/4 amphora from Tarragona, with a small molding at the bottom of the lip.

During the archaeological monitoring of some works for the renewal of the spill on the road of Reconquista Street, located at the southeast end of the ancient Caesaraugusta site, a set of 18 amphorae was found (Galve and Paracuellos, 2000; Escudero and Galve, 2013, 170). Its location under a wall and its position upside down, slightly inclined, and leaning on each other, made clear the purpose of raising the ground and facilitating the drainage of an area of the city that until recently was subject to flooding from the Huerva River. . The excavation was carried out on February 11 and 12, 1998.

In level b of the excavation, a set of 18 amphorae were documented. According to the typological classification, the following forms have been distinguished: 9 Dressel 2-4 from Tarragona, 4 Pascual 1, 1 Pascual transitional, 1 Dressel 10, 1 Dressel 9, 1 Haltern 79 and 1 Eastern Dressel 2-5. The drawing of the amphorae corresponds to Alfredo Blanco.

According to the origin of the containers, in this case confirmed from the ceramic pastes, a vast majority of Hispanic containers appear, and especially from Tarraconense (14 amphorae), Costa Bética (2), Guadalquivir Valley (1 ) and Eastern Mediterranean (1). As can be seen, there is a predominance of amphorae from the Tarraconense coast, a region conducive to contacts given its proximity and the ease of river communication through the Ebro River.

Regarding the diversity of contents of the containers, the majority of amphorae are for wine (15), excluding an amphora like the Bética Haltern 70 which is a multipurpose container (wine, olives, muria), but in this case it would contain a type of salting - muria - (1), as can be seen from reading its titulus pictus. The rest of the amphorae are two other containers of salted fish from the Betic coast (2).
Within the Vinarian amphorae, the set of Dressel 2-4 amphorae has at least three "appellations of origin" from Tarragona, Layetana and Lauronense. Regarding the wine from the Tarraco area, Plinio the Elder (NH defines them as very abundant: "The Lacetano vineyards of Hispanias are famous because of the great abundance of wine they produce, but the Tarragona and Lauronense vineyards are famous for their finesse, just as the Balearic vineyards can be compared to the best in Italy" (Carreras et alii, in press).

It may be an amphora from the Tarragona area. Its profile recalls some examples from the workshops of the Ebro River itself, such as Aumedina and Mas del Catxorro (as illustrated by Revilla (2008, 199-201, fig.6 and 8) in his repertoire of productions from the workshops of the southern sector. from Tarragona (Carreras et alii, in press).