Abstract:

The objective of this study is to look into the question of wine and amphora production during the Roman period in the area of the ager Tarraconensis and the River Ebro (possibly corresponding to the territorium of Dertosa). We attempt to link the archaeological evidence of agricultural processing equipment (presses and deposits) to the production and distribution of amphoras. An early production of Dressel 1 amphoras has been documented in the Late Republican period, although the evidence we have so far confines it to the Alt Camp and possibly the area of Dertosa (the Mas d’Aragó kiln). However, the largest production corresponds to the Early Imperial period. During the time of Augustus, workshops were opened in the ager Dertosanus, in the eastern part of the ager Tarraconensis (Darró, El Vilarenc) and at La Canaleta (Vila-seca), where Oberaden 74 amphoras were manufactured. Nevertheless, it was in the full Julio-Claudian period when the figlinae in the Baix Camp area began to operate, producing Dressel 2-4 and 7-11 amphoras. This production was linked to the Tarraco wine referred to in the Latin written sources and, archaeologically, it appears to have continued at least until the end of the 2nd and beginning of the 3rd centuries.