Abstract:

The North African olive oil import during the Roman Imperial Period has its precedent in the Republican Period, as it is proved by Ancient Tripolitanian amphorae distribution. Recently, several studies have shown that the exportation to the Western Mediterranean was more intense than it was previously believed. Amphorae have been found in large numbers throughout the territory ranging from Carthago Nova to the southern coast of Gallia. However, their presence in Hispania Ulterior has hardly been recognised. In this paper, it is suggested that this gap was due to the lack of research, which in Andalusia‘s case has favoured studies on the indigenous amphoric productions. I analyse Ancient Tripolitanian amphorae presence through a bibliographical compilation, as well as in quantitative studies in the context of the Andalusian coast. The study confirms a wide dispersion of the Tripolitanian olive oil, which reached practically the entire Iberian coast to the Tagus Valley, although in a smaller percentage, with the exception of the mining settlement of La Loba (Córdoba). Despite the scarcity of available data, a hypothesis on the commercial dynamic is formulated.