Amphora

Almost complete amphora that is missing the pivot. At a petrological level, the amphora has a ceramic paste similar to the pink variant of Rhodian amphorae. It is a hard paste, with a metallic sound, pink in color with the presence of a clear slip and calcareous grains on its surface. A petrological analysis has been carried out on a sample of its paste (Sample no.: ZAR-60895).

Bicolor ceramic fragment, with a larger internal band of pale orange color and a millimetric external band of extremely pale brown color. Relatively heterogeneous cooking under oxidizing conditions. It is hard, with a silty-sandy texture and irregular fracture. Made on a lathe. It presents relatively abundant degreasing of a very fine heterometric size that is difficult to identify with the naked eye except, perhaps, for some possible carbonate lithic fragments. Abundant porosity with fine-sized rounded pores.

Therefore, petrological analysis confirms this eastern origin, which is also confirmed by the painted inscriptions, with the presence of a Greek Phi.

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 is a variant of the eastern Dressel 2-4 but with pointed forked handles, which has sometimes been identified as Dressel 5, and which was initially produced in the Aegean area, especially the island of Kos. Chronologically it occurs during a long period between the 1st century BC to the 2nd century AD (Auriemma and Quiri, 2004). It reached western markets for the first time during the time of Augustus (Lyon, Oberaden, Neuss), only to disappear at the end of the 1st century AD or the beginning of the 2nd century AD (Avenches, Hofheim, Xanten). It is a container intended to transport the famous Greek wines (Tchernia, 1986). The eastern Dressel 2-4 amphorae are present in the inland NW sites such as Legio and Astorga, in especially significant numbers.
The eastern Dressel 2-4 constitutes the exception to the rule of a predominant consumption of peninsular amphorae in the C/Reconquista complex. It is possibly the most exotic and highest quality product ever purchased. Although Dressel 2-4 are found in low volume in the interior of the Iberian Peninsula, they appear in numerous urban centers in the NW such as Astorga, Lugo or León.