a. badescu, m. negru, r. avram - the amphorae of kapitan ii type in dacia (rcrf acta 38, 2003,...

7/25/2019 A. Badescu, M. Negru, R. Avram - The Amphorae of Kapitan II Type in Dacia (RCRF Acta 38, 2003, 209-213)

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##### KAPITN II AMPHORAEINROMANDACIA

The study of amphorae in Roman Dacia is still at its begin-ning. In recent decades several articles and studies have beenpublished,1but the majority of this category of pottery isstill unpublished. In this article we present the knownKapitn II amphorae discovered in Dacia, and some unpub-lished examples.2

Typology (figs. 12)

For a long time the Kapitn II amphora was considered asonly one type, without any variants.3Its shape is well known.It has a slender ovoid body, vertical rim, tubular neck andbase. The handles are usually higher than the rim level.

Detailed analyses shows that the body can be more or lesscurved, the shoulder more or less rounded and the base mayrange from cylindrical to conical. These details could beuseful in future for the identification of production centres.

A.1 Popilian IV (no. 1)

The biconical body is shorter and more curved than the norm;the rim is vertical and has an internal seating; the neck isshorter than usual; the ears are below the level of the rim;the bottom is tubular and vertical; there are broad corruga-tions on the neck and body. The paste contains gravel and is

brick-red in colour.The only example, almost intact, was found in Romula,4

where it was dated between the end of the 2ndcentury ADand the first half of the 3rd. This type of amphorae has noparallels in Dacia.

A.2 (nos. 217)

This comprises amphorae with a slender ovoid body; themaximum diameter is close to the top of the body; the earsrise above the rim; the neck and bottom may be cylindricalor conical. Some differences in the shapes of necks and bodymay provide the means to divide this type in two subtypesand variants.

A.2.1 Brukner XV, pl. 163,70 (nos. 24)

The body is slightly ovoid; the ears rise above the rim; therim is very small in diameter; the neck is cylindrical. Oneexample has conical hollow base. They have a paste thatcontains sand and mica; the colour is brick-red.

Examples of this kind were found at Enoeti-Acidava(2)5and Romula (34). They were dated at the end of the 2nd

century AD and the first half of the 3rd(34), and in the 2nd3rdcenturies (2).

Similar examples were discovered in Pannonia atSirmium.6

Mircea Negru, Alexandru Bdescu and Romeo Avram

KAPITN II AMPHORAE IN ROMAN DACIA

REI CRETARI ROMAN FAVTORVM ACTA 38, 2003

A.2.2.1 Kapitn II Zeest 79b Popilian 4

A.2.2.1 Peacock/Williams Class 47 Ostia VI

A.2.2.1 Robinson M 237 (nos. 512)

The body is slightly ovoid and has a marked shoulder; theears rise above the rim; the rim is vertical with a chamferedinner edge; the neck is slight and conical. The paste con-tains sand (5, 8), sand and mica (7, 11), or sand and gravel(6). They are brick-red.

These examples were discovered at Crmpoia (5), Jidava(6, 9), Romula (7), Rcari (8), Dierna (10),7Gresia (11),and Tibiscum (12).8They were found inside the Romancamps, in a barrack (6), or a pit (7). The rim diameters range

from 55 mm (7) to 73 mm (11).They were dated at the end of the 2ndcentury AD and thefirst half of the 3rd(5, 7, 11), first half of the 3rdcentury (6),2nd3rd centuries (8), between 240245 (9), end of the 3rd

century (12) and from the end of the 3rdcentury to the 4th

century (10).This kind of amphora has analogies in Moesia Inferior

at Histria,9in Pannonia at Mursa10and Aquincum,11in Italyat Capo Ognino12and Ostia13 , in Gaul at Bavay14 , in Greeceat Athens,15Corinth,16Olympia17and Knossos,18and in thenorth Black Sea Shore at Semenovska.19

1 GH. POPILIAN, Contribution la typologie des amphores romainesdcouvertes en Oltnie (IIeIIIe sicles de n..). Dacia 18, 1974,137146. POPILIAN 1976. A. ARDE, Amfora roman nBanat. Tibiscum 8, 1993, 95140.

2 We are grateful to Professor Constantin C. Petolescu for the per-mission to publish here the amphorae discovered at Jidava Ro-man camp.

3 ZEEST1960, 114 type 79. KAPITN 1972. BRUKNER1981,185. PEACOCK/WILLIAMS1986, 193194, class 47. DYCZEK1999, 113. VILVORDER/SYMONDS/REKK2000, 481.

4 POPILIAN1976, 44 pl. XV,201.5 C. PREDA/A. GROSU, Cercetrile arheologice din aezarea civila

castrului roman de la Enoeti-Acidava (Piatra-Olt, jud. Olt).Arhivele Olteniei N.S. 8, 1993, 50 pl. VII,4.

6 BRUKNER1981, 185 pl. 163,70.74.7 BENEA1996, 9193; 303 fig. 9A,1.8 BENEA2000, 435 fig. 1,1.9 SUCEVEANU2000, 173174 pl. 84,7.

10 BRUKNER1981, 185 pl. 163,69.11 KELEMEN1990, 178179 fig. 7,67.12 KAPITN 1972, 248 fig. 4.13 PANELLA1973, 596. PANELLA1970, pl. XXXIX,544.14 VILVORDER/SYMONDS/REKK2000, 481 fig. 3,1.15 ROBINSON1959, 106 pl. 28,M 237.16 K. W. SLANE, East-west trade in fine wares and commodities: the

view from Corinth. RCRF Acta 36, 2000, 311 fig. 14,f.17 MARTIN2000, 429 fig. 1,4.18

J. W. HAYES, The Villa Dionysos Excavations, Knossos: The Pot-tery. Annu. British School Athens 78, 1983, 155 fig. 25,26.19 ZEEST1960, 114 no. 79b pl. XXXIII.


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M. NEGRU, A. BDESCU, R. AVRAM #####

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Fig. 1: Kapitn II type amphorae discovered in Roman Dacia. Scale: 12.51:8; 3.4.6121:4.


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Fig. 2: Kapitn II type amphorae discovered in Roman Dacia. Scale 1:4.


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20 I. STNG, Locuirea romanruralde la Grla Mare, jud. Mehe-dini. Drobeta 8, 1998, 35 fig. 8,7.

21 SUCEVEANU2000, 173174 pl. 84,5.22 BRUKNER1981, 185 pl. 163,71.23 KELEMEN1990, 177 fig. 7,1.24 KELEMEN1990, 177 fig. 7,4.25 ROBINSON1959, 69 pl. 15,K 113.26 ZEEST1960, 114 no. 79a pl. XXXIII.27 BENEA1996, 9193, 303 fig. 9A,3.28 GH. BICHIR, Geto-dacii din Muntenian epoca roman. Biblioteca

de Arheologie 20 (Bucureti 1984) 39 pl. XXV,11.29 I. T. LIPOVAN, Amfore, chiupuri i ulcioare romane de la Ampelum.Apulum 31, 1994, 229 pl. II,4.

30 PANELLA1970, pl. XXXIX,545.31 GH. BICHIR, Continuitatea n Dacia dup retragerea roman.

Aezarea din secolele IIIIV de la Stolniceni-Rmnicu Vlcea(Buridava roman). Thraco-Dacica 9, 1988, 107108 fig. 10,29.

32 KELEMEN1990, 181 fig. 8,20.33 VILVORDER/SYMONDS/REKK2000, 481 fig. 3,2.34 KAPITN 1972, 248 fig. 4.35 BRUKNER1981, 185 pl. 163,74.36 POPILIAN1976, 44.37 Ibid.38 Ibid.39 Ibid.40 BENEA2000, 435.41 Ibid.42 POPILIAN1976, 44.43 PANELLA1972, 93. PANELLA1973, 599. LAUBENHEIMER1990,

141. DYCZEK1999, 113. LEMATRE2000, 476. MARTIN2000, 429.

A.2.2.2 Zeest 79aBrukner XV, pl. 163,71

A.2.2.2 (nos. 1317)

The long neck is almost cylindrical; nos. 13, 14and 16are

distinctively thin-walled.The rim-diameter ranges between

70 mm (14) and 81 mm (16). The paste contains sand and

mica; the colour is brick-red. These examples were found at

Romula (13), Jidava (14), Rcari (1516) and Grla Mare(17).20Except that found in the villa rustica of Grla Mare,all were discovered inside Roman forts.

They were dated at the end of the 2ndcentury AD and the

first half of the 3rd(1314), and in the 2ndand 3rdcenturies(1517).

Similar examples were discovered in Moesia Inferior at

Histria,21in Pannonia at Mursa22 , Dunapentele23and Aquin-

cum24in Greece at Athens,25and on the north coast of the

Black Sea at Pantikapaion.26

Bases of amphorae

In many instances, only base-fragments of this kind of am-

phora have been found. Because only few amphorae were

discovered intact or almost intact, it is difficult to realise a

correlation between the bases found and the types described

above. But a typology of these bases could be a starting-

point for future research in this regard.

The base-fragments could be classified in few types and

variants. All have a tubular, almost cylindrical profile.

B.1.1 (nos. 1819)

Short hollow tubular base, corrugated. The paste contains

sand and mica; the colour is brick-red. Fragments of thiskind of base were found in Romula (18) and Dierna (19).27

They were dated at the end of the 2ndcentury AD and the

first half of the 3rd(18) and from the end of the 3rdcentury to

the 4thcentury (19).

B.1.2 (nos. 2021)

Short cylindrical tubular base. The paste contains sand and

mica; the colour is brick-red. These were found at Romula

and were dated at the end of the 2ndcentury AD and the first

half of the 3rd.

B.2.1 (nos. 2224)

Cylindrical tubular base. The paste is brick-red. The base-

diameter was 80 mm (22).

These were discovered at Jidava (22), Coloneti-Mrunei(23)28and Ampelum (24).29They were dated at the end of

the 2ndcentury AD and the first half of the 3rd(22), 2nd3rd

centuries (24), and from middle of the 3rd century to the

beginning of the 4th(23).

A similar example was discovered at Ostia.30

B.2.2 (nos. 2531)Small narrow truncated hollow base. The paste contains sand

and mica (2530); the colour is brick-red (2528, 30). They

were dated at the end of the 2ndcentury AD to the first half

of the 3rd(25, 2730), first half of 3rdcentury (26), end ofthe 3rdcentury and beginning of the 4th(31).31

Similar examples were found in Pannonia at Aquincum,32

in Britain at Colchester33and in Italy at Capo Ognina.34

B.3 (nos. 2, 32)

Truncated base. The paste contains sand and mica. Two ex-

amples were found, at Enoeti-Acidava (2) and Romula(32). They were dated at the end of the 2ndcentury AD and

the first half of the 3rd(32) and in the 2nd3rdcenturies (2).A similar example was found at Sirmium35in Pannonia.

Other discoveries mentioned in the literature are from

Slveni,36Sucidava,37Cioroiu Nou,38Rnov,39Potaissa,40

Izma41and in the Museum of Cluj.42

Conclusions

Area of discoveries; routes of importation (fig. 3)

In Roman Dacia these amphorae have been found especially

in the southern part, between the Lower Danube and the

Carpathians Mountains, and seldom inside the arc of the

Carpathians (Transylvania).

This kind of amphora occurs in the archaeological sites

set on the Roman roads along the Danube (at Sucidava,

Orlea, Grla Mare, Dierna), the limes transalutanus (atCrmpoia, Gresia, Jidava and Rnov), the Olt River (atSlveni, Romula, Enoeti-Acidava, Stolniceni-Buridava),Jiu River (at Rcari), and Timis River (at Tibiscum). It seems

that they were transported by sea and along the Danube untilthe points where the Roman roads began in the north. Also,

we observe that they were mostly used to supply the Roman


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army. Most of them were found in Roman camps, few in

civilian settlements of Roman forts (Enoeti-Acidava,Buridava, Tibiscum) and rural settlements (Coloneti-Mrunei, Cioroiul Nou, and Orlea).

Purpose

The majority of researchers have considered that this kind

of amphora was used for the transport of wine,43but others

remain uncommitted.44

Chronology

In the Roman camps of the limes transalutanus(nos.5, 6,

9, 11, 22, 2527), and at Romula (1, 3, 4, 13, 18, 20, 21, 28

32) they were dated from the end of the 2

nd

century AD tothe first half of the 3rd. At the Slveni Roman camp, on thelimes alutanus, they were found in the level dated from AD

205 to 251. At Jidava one fragment was found in a level

dated between 240245 (9). In other Roman camps (2, 8,15, 16, 24) they were dated in the 2nd3rdcenturies. The lat-est discoveries are from the end of the 3rdcentury (12), mid-

dle of the 3rdcentury and beginning of the 4th(23), and from

the 3rd4thcenturies (10, 19).

Centres of production

As a general rule, archaeologists have observed that this

class is more frequent in the Eastern Mediterranean areaand less so in the West.45As a result, it is thought to have

been produced around the Aegean Sea,46in the western part

Fig. 3: Map of discoveries.

1Ampelum. 2Tibiscum. 3Dierna. 4Grla Mare. 5Izma. 6Cioroiul Nou. 7Rcari. 8Orlea. 9Sucidava. 10Slveni. 11Romula. 12Acidava-Enoeti. 13Buridava. 14Gresia. 15Crmpoia.

16Coloneti-Mrunei. 17Jidava. 18Rnov.

44 PEACOCK/WILLIAMS1986, 194. TYERS1996, 102.45 PEACOCK/WILLIAMS1986, 193. TYERS1996, 102.46 VILVORDER/SYMOND/REKK2000, 481.47 J.-Y. EMPEREUR, Les amphores compltes du muse grco-romain

dAlexandrie: importations et productions locales. In: J.-Y.Empereur/Y. Garlan (eds.), Recherches sur les amphores grecques.Actes Coll. Internat. CNRS, Athnes 1012 Septembre 1984. Bull.Corr. Hellnique Suppl. 13 (Paris 1986) 398 (Milet). PANELLA1972, 92. PANELLA1973, 598. LAUBENHEIMER1990, 141. U. OUTSCHAR, Produkte aus Ephesos in alle Welt? Ber. Mat. sterr.Arch. Inst. 5 (Wien 1993) 4652 (Ephesus).

48 LEMATRE2000, 473.49 For comments on some analytical results, see V ILVORDER/SYMOND/

REKK 2000, 481. R. TOMBER/J. DORE, The National RomanFabric Reference Collection (London 1998) 109. J.-Y.EMPEREUR/M. PICON, Les rgions de productions damphoresimpriales en Mditerrane orientale. In: M. Lenoir/D. Mancorda/

C. Panella (eds.), Amphores romaines et histoire conomique:dix ans de recherche. Actes Coll. Sienne, 2224 mai 1986. Col-lect. cole Franaise Rome 114 (Rome 1989) 233. PEACOCK/WILLIAMS1986, 194195.

of Asia Minor47or somewhere in the Eastern Mediterranean

region48 . At this moment, we have to subscribe to these opin-

ions, and we consider that future chemical and petrological

analysis49will play a decisive role in the determination of

producing centres.


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a. badescu, m. negru, r. avram - the amphorae of kapitan ii type in dacia (rcrf acta 38, 2003,...

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