During the last twenty years of archaeological researches it has been possible to identify some transport containers distributed in Ravenna’s territory and in the central Adriatic regions, on the Italian side. New types of amphorae were imported and possibly produced also after the end of the Exarchate and the Pentapolis, in the regions corresponding to Romagna, Marche and Abruzzo. The main findings come from the excavations of Classe, both from the port area, from the Basilica of Saint Severus and its monastery, built around mid-ninth century, both inside the excavations conducted on the site of the Basilica Petriana, destroyed by an earthquake around the half of the 8th century and then slowly stripped until the late Middle Ages. New evidence also comes from some emergency excavations conducted in the city-centre of Ravenna. It is a number of amphorae certainly much more modest than the tens of thousands of containers that circulated in this extraordinary late-port settlement. In fact, there are about a hundred of specimens, different for both fabrics and shape, mainly of oriental origin, especially from the Aegean area, but also from other Mediterranean regions, both of Roman and Islamic tradition. From an early Middle Ages it comes, for example, an amphora with a rough inscription in Kufic characters, indicating the name of God, made in a mixture very similar to those recognizable in the Meander River valley, very ferrous and micaceous. Some similar inscriptions, painted on walls of an amphora, had already been identified in the past in the port area of Classe, even if only hypothetically. The occupation of the port area is also testified at least up to the ninth century, with housing and production facilities, in a very different landscape from that which had characterized this commercial settlement in previous centuries. The attestation of these materials shows archaeologically the presence of merchants and products of Islamic origin, among which certainly the wine, still produced and marketed by the East, because it is not subject to the Koranic prohibitions that will be established during the Abbasid Caliphate. There are also many other indicators of the circulation of men and the exchange is established on various levels with the oriental world also with regard to the artistic production along the Padanian and northern Adriatic circuits. The number of these exchanges seems to increase towards the end of the 8th and 9th centuries, with the evidence of new amphorae imported from the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Some examples of transport amphorae are also reported in the Marche, in the site of Colombarone and in the excavations of Senigallia, with some small containers probably imported from the central Tyrrhenian area, dated between the ninth and eleventh century (Rome, Cencelle). In Saint Severus at Classe were also found some of the amphorae from the Byzantine area, datable during the 11th century, as well as some specimens of Apulian amphorae, as well as some specimens with red painted slips similar to those recognized in Sicily by Fabiola Ardizzone and some fragments attributable to the type identified in Zadar and in northern Epirus. The complex was occupied until the fifteenth century and in the central centuries of the Middle Ages it was an important monastic institution, linked to the imperial family and the excavations show a strong imprint of handicraft production, of bone, glass and metal artefacts. New 8th and 9th century ateliers were planted in the Abruzzi area and in Central Italy, if the attributions of productive sites, thanks to new knowledge on amphorae types, acquired in recent years and once associated to previous periods are confirmed.
Le ricerche archeologiche degli ultimi venti anni hanno consentito di individuare alcuni contenitori da trasporto distribuiti in area ravennate e nell’Adriatico centrale, sul versante italiano, anche nei secoli successivi alla fine dell’Esarcato e della Pentapoli. I principali rinvenimenti provengono dagli scavi di Classe, sia dall’area portuale, sia dalla basilica di San Severo e dal suo monastero, costruito intorno alla metà del IX secolo, sia negli scavi condotti sul sito della Basilica Petriana, distrutta da un terremoto nel corso dell’VIII secolo e poi lentamente spogliata fino al tardo Medioevo. Si tratta di un numero certamente molto più modesto rispetto alle migliaia di contenitori che circolavano in questo straordinario insediamento portuale tardoantico. Se ne contano infatti poche decine di esemplari, diverse sia per impasto sia per forma, prevalentemente di origine orientale, soprattutto dall’area egea. Da un contesto altomedievale proviene anche un anfora con impressa a crudo un’iscrizione in caratteri cufici, indicando il nome di Dio, realizzato in un impasto molto simile a quelli riconoscibili nella valle del Meandro, molto ferroso e micaceo. Alcune iscrizioni simili, dipinte su pareti di anfora, erano state già identificate in passato nell’area portuale di Classe, anche se solo a livello ipotetico. L’occupazione dell’area portuale è del resto testimoniata fino ad almeno il IX secolo, con abitazioni e strutture produttive, in un paesaggio molto diverso da quello che aveva caratterizzato questo insediamento commerciale nei secoli precedenti. L’attestazione di questi materiali dimostra archeologicamente la presenza di mercanti e prodotti di origine islamica, tra cui certamente il vino, ancora prodotto e commercializzato dall’Oriente, perchè non soggetto alle proibizioni coraniche che saranno stabilite durante il califfato abasside. Vi sono anche altri numerosi indicatori della circolazione di uomini e l’interscambio si stabilisce su vari livelli con il mondo orientale anche per quel che riguarda la produzione artistica lungo i circuiti padani e nordadriatici. Il numero di questi scambi sembra aumentare verso la fine dell’VIII e nel IX secolo, con l’evidenza di nuove anfore importate dal Mediterraneo orientale. Alcuni esemplari di anfore da trasporto sono segnalati anche nelle Marche, nell’importante sito di Colombarone e negli scavi di Senigallia, con alcuni contenitori affusolati probabilmente importati dall’area tirrenica centrale, datati in area tirrenica tra IX e XI secolo (Roma, Cencelle). Nel sito di San Severo sono stati anche rinvenuti alcuni anforacei provenienti dall’area costantinopolitana e databili nel corso dell’XI secolo e anche alcuni esemplari di anfore pugliesi, oltre a qualche esemplare dipinto a bande simile a quelli riconosciuti in Sicilia da Fabiola Ardizzone e ad alcuni frammenti riconducibili al tipo identificato a Zadar e nell’Epiro settentrionale. Il complesso fu del resto occupato fino al XV secolo e nei secoli centrali del Medioevo era un importante istituzione monastica, legata alla famiglia imperiale e gli scavi dimostrano una forte impronta di produzione artigianale, di manufatti in osso, vetro e metallo.
Anfore medievali rinvenute a Ravenna e nell'area centro adriatica (VIII-XII secolo)
cirelli enrico
2019
Abstract
During the last twenty years of archaeological researches it has been possible to identify some transport containers distributed in Ravenna’s territory and in the central Adriatic regions, on the Italian side. New types of amphorae were imported and possibly produced also after the end of the Exarchate and the Pentapolis, in the regions corresponding to Romagna, Marche and Abruzzo. The main findings come from the excavations of Classe, both from the port area, from the Basilica of Saint Severus and its monastery, built around mid-ninth century, both inside the excavations conducted on the site of the Basilica Petriana, destroyed by an earthquake around the half of the 8th century and then slowly stripped until the late Middle Ages. New evidence also comes from some emergency excavations conducted in the city-centre of Ravenna. It is a number of amphorae certainly much more modest than the tens of thousands of containers that circulated in this extraordinary late-port settlement. In fact, there are about a hundred of specimens, different for both fabrics and shape, mainly of oriental origin, especially from the Aegean area, but also from other Mediterranean regions, both of Roman and Islamic tradition. From an early Middle Ages it comes, for example, an amphora with a rough inscription in Kufic characters, indicating the name of God, made in a mixture very similar to those recognizable in the Meander River valley, very ferrous and micaceous. Some similar inscriptions, painted on walls of an amphora, had already been identified in the past in the port area of Classe, even if only hypothetically. The occupation of the port area is also testified at least up to the ninth century, with housing and production facilities, in a very different landscape from that which had characterized this commercial settlement in previous centuries. The attestation of these materials shows archaeologically the presence of merchants and products of Islamic origin, among which certainly the wine, still produced and marketed by the East, because it is not subject to the Koranic prohibitions that will be established during the Abbasid Caliphate. There are also many other indicators of the circulation of men and the exchange is established on various levels with the oriental world also with regard to the artistic production along the Padanian and northern Adriatic circuits. The number of these exchanges seems to increase towards the end of the 8th and 9th centuries, with the evidence of new amphorae imported from the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. Some examples of transport amphorae are also reported in the Marche, in the site of Colombarone and in the excavations of Senigallia, with some small containers probably imported from the central Tyrrhenian area, dated between the ninth and eleventh century (Rome, Cencelle). In Saint Severus at Classe were also found some of the amphorae from the Byzantine area, datable during the 11th century, as well as some specimens of Apulian amphorae, as well as some specimens with red painted slips similar to those recognized in Sicily by Fabiola Ardizzone and some fragments attributable to the type identified in Zadar and in northern Epirus. The complex was occupied until the fifteenth century and in the central centuries of the Middle Ages it was an important monastic institution, linked to the imperial family and the excavations show a strong imprint of handicraft production, of bone, glass and metal artefacts. New 8th and 9th century ateliers were planted in the Abruzzi area and in Central Italy, if the attributions of productive sites, thanks to new knowledge on amphorae types, acquired in recent years and once associated to previous periods are confirmed.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
