Roman pottery production in the coast of Granada (Spain) in the early Late Antiquity: a scientific analysis of ceramics from the kiln site of Los Matagallares

Abstract

The kiln site of Los Matagallares (Salobreña, Granada, Spain) is one of the most important pottery production sites of the Roman period in southern Iberia, particularly for the 3rd century AD. The workshop produced a wide variety of ceramics, but focused on the manufacture of amphorae for the long-distance trade of local/regional fish products, wine, and other foodstuffs, and thus played an important role in the economy of Roman Baetica during the transition to the Late Roman Empire. A combined petrographic, mineralogical, and elemental characterisation of amphorae and other ceramics from the site, using a multi-technique approach (thin-section petrography, X-ray diffraction and wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence), allowed for establishing a compositional reference group for this workshop, as well as investigating technological aspects of pottery production at the site. The definition of a compositional reference group for the particular kiln site enabled us to identify an amphora from Los Matagallares in a consumption context in the Catalan coastal city of Mataró. More generally, it will be an invaluable tool for future studies, as it will allow for the identification of products from this prolific kiln site in consumption contexts all over the Roman world, and will aid towards a better understanding of the trade connections between production areas and consumption sites in Antiquity.