Roman Pottery in the Archaeological Record
Cambridge University Press
Edition: Reissue, 5/19/2011
EAN 9780521181853, ISBN10: 0521181852
Paperback, 448 pages, 22.9 x 15.2 x 2.6 cm
Language: English
This book examines how Romans used their pottery and the implications of these practices on the archaeological record. It is organized around a flow model for the life cycle of Roman pottery that includes a set of eight distinct practices: manufacture, distribution, prime use, reuse, maintenance, recycling, discard, reclamation. J. Theodore Peña evaluates how these practices operated, how they have shaped the archaeological record, and the implications of these processes on archaeological research through the examination of a wide array of archaeological, textual, representational and comparative ethnographic evidence. The result is a rich portrayal of the dynamic that shaped the archaeological record of the ancient Romans that will be of interest to archaeologists, ceramicists, and students of material culture.
Introduction
1. A model of the life cycle of roman pottery
2. Background considerations
3. Manufacture and distribution
4. Prime use
5. The reuse of amphorae as packaging containers
6. The reuse of amphorae for purposes other than as packaging containers
7. The reuse of the other functional categories of pottery
8. Maintenance
9. Recycling
10. Discard and reclamation
11. Modeling the formation of the Roman pottery record.
'Peña's book is an essential study that needed to be carried out, and its author was ideally placed to undertake this task. ... we strongly recommend that Peña's rigourous work should become a component of the training of all field archaeologists and pottery specialists involved in the study of Roman sites. Antiquity