ASPECTS OF ROMAN POTTERY IN CANTON TICINO (SWITZERLAND) Volume I by Christiane M. A. De ~ficheli Schulthess UNIVERSITY LIBRARY NOTIINGHAM Thesis submitted to the University of Nottingham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy May 2001 Ai miei genitori Contents SECTION I : INTRODUCTION Chapter 1 : Introduction 1 1.1. Aims of the Thesis 1 1.2. Structure 3 1.3. Methodology 4 1.4. Definition of Coarse Pottery 6 1.5. History of Research on Roman Coarse Pottery 8 1.6. History of Research on Thin walled Pottery 14 1.7. Acknowledgements 16 Chapter 2: The Geography and Archaeology 18 of Canton Ticino 2.1. Introduction 18 2.2. Geography of Canton Ticino 20 Geomorphology 20 Soils 25 Climate 28 ii Vegetation 32 Natural Resources 40 Communications 48 2.3. Archaeology of Canton Ticino 54 History of Research 54 Native Background of Canton Ticino (Iron Age) : 60 Golasecca and La Tene Outline of later Prehistory 71 The Romanization of Canton Ticino 78 Chapter 3 : Cemeteries and Settlements 89 3.1. Introduction and Methodology of Dating 89 3.2. The Sites 95 Ascona 95 Avegno 100 Cavigliano 101 Gambarogno 104 Gordola 106 Locarno 109 Locarno-Muralto 111 Locarno-Solduno 130 Losone 139 iii Maggia 151 Minusio 152 Moghegno 158 Riazzino 162 Tegna 163 Tenero 164 3.3. Vertical Stratigraphy 173 3.4. Date-range of Coins 175 SECTION II : THE MATERIAL Chapter 4 : The Forms 180 4.1. Introduction and Methodology 180 4.2. The Forms 182 4.2.1. Cups 182 Raised foot-ring cups 182 Thin walled cups 191 Cups with globular body 191 Cups with hemispherical body 196 Cups with conical body 208 Carinated cups 211 iv Cups with cylindrical body 224 Handled cups 226 Cups with globular body 226 4.2.2. Beakers 230 Beakers with globular body 230 Beakers with ovoid body 242 Beakers with conical body 265 Beakers with cylindrical body 269 4.2.3. Balsamaria 279 Balsamaria with ovoid body 279 4.2.4. Dishes 282 Dishes with inturned or out-turned rim 282 Rim rounded in section 282 Rim triangular in section 288 Dishes with straight or slightly inturned wall 292 Rim rounded in section 292 Rim triangular in section 299 Summary 300 4.2.5. Bowls 304 Bowls with globular or hemispherical body 304 Bowls with conical body 315 Bowls with low conical body 315 Bowls with high conical body 337 v 4.2.6. Jars 345 Jars with ovoid body 345 Jars with out-turned rounded rim 345 Jars with out-turned rim triangular or rectangular in section 365 Jars with rim with internal lid seating 377 Jars with horizontal rim 385 Jars with barrel-shaped body 386 Jars with cylindrical body 389 Jars with globular body 390 Handled jars 393 4.2.7. Lids 396 Lids with conical body 397 Lids with straight wall 397 Lids with curved wall 403 4.2.8. Flagons & Jugs 411 Flagons 411 Flagons with biconical body 411 Flagons with biconical to pyriform body 426 Flagons with pyriform body 433 Flagons with pyriform to globular body 444 Flagons with globular body 446 Flagons with globular flattened body 455 Flagons with onion-shaped body 456 Flagons with ovoid body 458 Flagons with barrel-shaped body 458 vi Flanged Flagons 460 Flagons with biconical body 460 Flagons with globular body 468 Flagons with globular flattened body 473 Flagons with onion-shaped body 476 Flagons with ovoid body 481 Flagons with barrel-shaped body 481 Jugs 482 Jugs with ovoid body 482 Jugs with biconical body 483 4.3. Functions, Latin Names and Graffiti 485 4.3.1. Historical Evidence 485 4.3.2. Epigraphical Evidence 499 Chapter 5 : The Fabrics 503 5.1. Classification and Analysis 503 5.1.1. Dark Fabrics 507 5.1.2. Light Fabrics 510 5.2. Histograms and Chronology 513 vii Chapter 6 : Decoration 520 6.1. Classification and Analysis 520 6.1.1. Cups 521 6.1.2. Beakers 542 6.1.3. Balsamaria 551 6.1.4. Flagons, Flanged Flagons, Jugs 551 6.1.5. Jars, Two-handled Jars, Bowls 556 6.1.6. Dishes 563 6.1.7. Lids 565 SECTION III : CONCLUSIONS Chapter 7 : Chronology 566 7.1. Introduction 566 7.2. Internal Chronology 567 7.2.1. Single Forms 568 7.2.2. Histograms 581 7.2.3. Summary 582 7.3. External Chronology 583 7.4. Summary 596 viii Chapter 8: Trade, External Relations and 626 Other Influences 8.1. Introduction 626 8.2. Production Areas 627 8.3. Local and Imported Products 637 8.3.1. Local Products 641 8.3.2. Imported Products 650 8.4. Trade and Connexions 655 8.5. Summary of the Origin of Other Selected Classes of Material for Comparison: Sigillata Ware and Glass 659 8.6. Summary of Local and Imported Products 672 Chapter 9 : Summary and Conclusions 686 9.1. Thin Walled and Coarse Pottery as Grave-goods 686 9.2. Conclusions 702 9.3. Future Work 708 ix Chapter 10 : Bibliography and Appendices 710 10.1. Bibliography 710 10.2 Appendices 794 Appendix I : Catalogue of Thin Walled and Coarse Pottery 794 Appendix II : Drawings (Pis. 1-158) 1073 Appendix III : Concordance List between Thesis Catalogue and Drawing Numbers, and Museum Inventory Numbers 1074 Appendix IV : List of Graves and Principal Grave-Contents 1128 Appendix v: List of Fabrics 1464 Appendix VI : Histograms to Section 9.1.'Thin Walled and Coarse Pottery as Grave-Goods 1483 Appendix VII : Analysis of the Pottery by Periods 1484 x Abstract This work deals with the classification and further study of Roman coarse and thin walled pottery from the Locarno region of Canton Ticino, a district of Switzerland on the southern side of Central Alps, in order to establish a reference typology and chronology which may have wider value in Ticino and the nearer regions of northern Italy. The considered pottery comes from the cemeteries and, to a lesser extent, the settlements of the Locarno region, which contains by far the largest number of burials with datable grave~goods in the Canton. The Roman graves from the region range from the beginning of the 1st century AD to the end of the 4th century AD, with a concentration during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. The analysis of coarse and thin walled pottery has highlighted the potential of information of these materials, considering various aspects such as forms, fabrics,decoration, chronology, origin and distribution. The analysis 'of the coarse pottery in the grave~goods, in association with sigillata and glass wares, and with coins, seems to suggest centres with stronger Roman influence and centres with stronger native background linked to the settlement of l.ocarno-Muralto. Parallels with finds from the Verbano region ,and western Lombardy-eastern Piemonte, in particular the area between the rivers Sesia, Po and Adda were highlighted. Lakes Verbano and Lario lead to the alpine passes and linked the Verbano area to the Raetic and Rhine regions. The same area was easily linked to main centres of the eastern Po region as far as Aquileia and Ravenna by the river Po. xi The present work is not only intended to fulfil the requirement of a British doctoral thesis, but also to satisfy current approaches in Switzerland and complement the systematic studies of other Roman artefacts of the region. SECTION I : INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 1 Introduction 1.1. AIMS OF THE THESIS Aims of the thesis are the classification and further study of Roman coarse and thin walled pottery from the cemeteries and, to a lesser extent, the settlements of the Locarno region of Canton Ticino, in order to establish a reference typology and chronology which may have wider value in Ticino and the nearer parts of northern Italy. The study area was chosen because it contains by far the largest number of burials with datable grave-goods in the Canton. Moreover, vessels from graves have more complete profiles and come from better datable contexts than vessels from settlements. These main aims involve the following procedures: 1. To study and include in a single work both published and unpublished items, in order to build a picture as complete as possible of the coarse and thin walled pottery in a defined area. Unassociated vessels are also included. Vessels, even if already published, if they could not be checked by the author, have been omitted. 2. To catalogue the vessels according to form, fabric and decoration, in order to compare them with pottery from other nearby regions and define possible links. 2 3. To analyse the presence of coarse and thin walled pottery in the cemeteries of the study area and define their relationship to other grave-goods. 4. To analyse external relations and influences in connexion with the history of the region and highlight possible local or imported classes of material. 5. To develop an internal chronology, in order to suggest a possible dating for vessels from unknown contexts. Purpose of this work is not only to fulfil the requirement of a British doctoral thesis, but also to satisfy current approaches in Switzerland. The present work is therefore intended to complement the systematic study of Roman glass ware (e.g. Biaggio Simona 1991) and other Roman artefacts such as metalwork (Bonzanigo, M. L. Unpublished). In case of the present work, however, the study area does not include all Canton Ticino, but has been restricted to the Locarno region. The main reasons for limiting the study area are the quantity of material and the geographical difference between the regions of Ticino, in particular landscape and communication routes. Moreover, the borders between Ticino and the other Swiss Cantons or Italy are merely the result of recent political events.