Oil Amphora

Ceramic amphora -type Dressel 20D- of a globular body with a pointed bottom and short, narrow, truncated cone-shaped neck, in which two handles are inserted, facing one another, solid, of a round section which form an angle of under 90º C. It has a triangular edge which is slightly grooved on the inside, a rounded edge and the mark of the potter -AGRICOL- on the upper part of a handle. The surface displays many marine concretions. It was used as an olive oil container for transport and storage. The Administration of Rome knew how to give each of its provinces the economic specialisations linked to their own resources. Olive oil from the Guadalquivir valley was one of the main exports. This trade was favoured by the navigability of the Betis, in its passage through Sevilla, Córdoba and Écija. Oil collection was carried out using a regrouping process along the river. A long chain of amphora factories is testimony to this permanent activity linked to a rational organisation of export trade. This type of amphorae was chosen by the communities of the banks of the Guadalquivir in order to transport the olive oil which they produced. The potters` workshops can be found in Andalucía in some 160 km along the river, with a progressive intensity from the lower to the upper part and with a regularity which points at the increase in oil production, as you go upstream heading towards Córdoba.