Production and Transport of Goods in the Roman Period: Residue Analysis and Wine Derivatives in Late Republican Baetican Ovoid Amphorae

Amphorae are key materials in the investigation of the production and transport of goods in ancient times. For the Roman period, many typologies of amphorae are standardised and there are hypotheses concerning their uses and contents mainly based on the shape, provenance, tituli picti and, when preserved, the solid contents. However, there are still many amphora types that have to be investigated in order to better understand the economy of the regions where they were produced and filled. This is the case of the amphorae object of this paper: the so-called ovoid amphorae of Hispania Ulterior/Baetica. This paper presents new results of an interdisciplinary investigation aimed to discover the commodities contained in ovoid amphorae. This amphora type and its specific use have never been investigated, except for a preliminary test. Here, organic residues analysis of twenty-four amphorae produced in two different locations in Hispania Ulterior/Baetica (Bay of Cadiz and the Guadalquivir Valley) and excavated at the site of El Olivillo in Cadiz (Spain), are presented. The findings suggest that the majority of the amphorae were coated with abundant pitch derived from Pinaceae trees and that most of them contained grape derivatives, although other products were also identified. Not only is this documentation of Hispania Ulterior/Baetican wine production in the late Republican period important, but the use of ovoid amphorae for carrying wine is somewhat unexpected because it is usually thought that amphorae of this type in southern Italy and in the Corinthia probably carried olive oil.

Automated summary

This paper presents new interdisciplinary research results on the commodities contained in the ovoid amphorae of Hispania Ulterior/Baetica. The study found that the majority of these amphorae were coated with pitch from Pinaceae trees and contained grape derivatives, shedding light on wine production in the region during the late Republican period. This use of ovoid amphorae for carrying wine is unexpected, as it was previously thought that similar amphorae types in other regions were used for olive oil.