This volume in the Institute of Classical Archaeology's series on rural settlements in the countryside (chora) of Metaponto presents the excavation of the Late Roman farmhouse at San Biagio. Located near the site of an earlier Greek sanctuary, this modest but well-appointed structure was an unexpected find from a period generally marked by large landholdings and monumental villas. Description of earlier periods of occupation (Neolithic and Greek) is followed by a detailed discussion of the farmhouse itself and its historical and socioeconomic context. The catalogs and analyses of finds include impressive deposits of coins from the late third and early fourth centuries AD. Use of virtual reality CAD software has yielded a deeper understanding of the architectural structure and its reconstruction. A remarkable feature is the small bath complex, with its examples of window glass. This study reveals the existence of a small but viable rural social and economic entity and alternative to the traditional image of crisis and decline during the Late Imperial period.
Author(s): Erminia Lapadula, Joseph Coleman Carter
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Year: 2012
Language: English
Pages: 279
City: Austin
Acknowledgments
Preface
1. The Farmhouse at San Biagio and the Agricultural Landscape of Basilicata in the Roman Period (Liliana Giardino)
Introduction
Basilicata under Roman Rule
2. The Excavation and Structures (Erminia Lapadula)
The Setting
The 1980 Excavation
Re-evaluation of the Site’s Occupation
Building Materials
Interpretation of the Roman Structure
Virtual Archaeology:A Proposed Reconstruction (Massimo Limoncelli)
3. The Materials: Prehistoric through the Roman Republican Period (Erminia Lapadula)
Introduction
Pottery and Other Neolithic Artifacts (Cesare D’Annibale)
Figured Pottery (Francesca Silvestrelli)
Black Gloss and Grey Ware (Eloisa Vittoria)
Banded Ware, Miniatures, and Plain Ware (Anna Cavallo)
Cooking Ware (Antonietta Di Tursi)
Transport Amphorae (Oda Teresa Calvaruso)
Architectural Terracottas (Anna Lucia Tempesta)
Coroplastic (Rebecca Miller Ammerman)
Loom Weights (Lin Foxhall)
4. The Materials: The Roman Imperial Period (Erminia Lapadula)
Study and Presentation of Material
Eastern Terra Sigillata
African Red Slip Ware
Slipped Common Ware
Plain Ware
African Cooking Ware
Cooking Ware
Transport Amphorae
Dolia
Glass Finds
Metal Finds
Milling Finds
5. Furnishings, Utilitarian Artifacts, and Coins (Erminia Lapadula)
Introduction
Personal Artifacts
Household Instruments
Spinning, Weaving, and Sewing
Lamps
Tools for Fire-lighting, Carpentry, and Woodworking
The Repair of Dolia
Window Glass
Coins (Anna Rita Parente)
6. Archaeozoology, Archaeometry, and Ceramic Analysis
The Archaeozoological Data (Joseph Coleman Carter)
A Goat Skeleton from the Roman Period (László Bartosiewicz)
Archaeometric Analyses of Metal, Glass, and Plaster (Claudio Giardino)
Microscopy of Selected Pottery Fabrics (Keith Swift with Victoria Leitch)
7. Conclusions (Erminia Lapadula)
References
Index
Illustration Credits
