Roman ceramic production in the middle Tiber valley: archaeometric analysis of a legacy dataset (Staff-led CDA)

Roman economy research emphasises long-distance trade of high-value commodities (e.g. wine) and market integration across the Mediterranean-but such trade formed only a small component of total economic activity.

This CDA examines the abundant evidence for small-scale economic activity in the form of cheap, locally-made cooking pots.

Using samples from a newly-available dataset of ~80,000 sherds from the hinterland of Rome, archaeometric techniques (thin-section analysis, XRF) are used to identify production techniques and sources of raw materials.

Extrapolating results to the wider database will unlock the potential to map local networks of production/exchange and contribute to a reassessment Rome's economy.