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Medieval amphorae of the 13th and 14th century in the Eastern Adriatic
Vesna Zmaić
orcid.org/0000-0003-2215-4177
; Hrvatski restauratorski zavod, Odjel za podvodnu arheologiju, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Igor Miholjek
; Hrvatski restauratorski zavod, Odjel za podvodnu arheologiju, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Sažetak
Traditional forms of amphorae began to disappear from the Eastern Adriatic and the Black Sea in the 10th century, being replaced by new, medieval types. Volume of the container was reduced and standardized, the neck became visibly smaller, and the rim less pronounced. The handles became massive, elongated and protruded above the rim. Throughout the Middle Ages the production was in continual decline, until it completely disappeared in the 14th century. In the Western and Central Mediterranean it is almost impossible to trace the development of amphorae from as early as the 8th century. Nonetheless, several exceptions have been found in the Eastern Adriatic, along with similar examples from the Peloponnese and Southern Apulia, indicating that amphorae had not entirely vanished from the market and were still being used in certain areas and trade routes as late as the 13th and the 14th century.
In the course of a 2006 archaeological survey in Central Dalmatia, of the islet of Marara, a larger concentration of amphorae fragments was discovered, at 8–10 m below sea level. Nearly all of these fragments belonged to a type of small-sized amphora with an elongated ovoid body and a small bulge at the bottom. Massive strap handles are placed high above the rim and the surface is covered with more or less pronounced horizontal ribs, characteristic of the clay containers in the medieval period. This form of amphora is almost impossible to find in the Eastern Adriatic. Nevertheless, a similar example was discovered in the collection of the Franciscan Monastery in the island of Krapanj. Only a small fragment of the bottom is missing from the amphora, which allowed an estimate to be made of the dimensions of the amphorae from Merara. They were 39–40 cm high and 18 cm wide in diameter. An unaccentuated rim is 5 cm wide in diameter, with handles slanting upwards and then sharply bending to the shoulders of the vessel. Since no exact data exist as to the location or the context in which the amphora from Krapanj was found, a possibility of it originating from a shipwreck of Merara should not be dismissed. In the chronological division of medieval Byzantine amphorae, Ch. Bakirtzis classifies this type as Type 7, the fnal type, after which the amphorae intended for trading and transportation ceased to be produced. Bakirtzis dates them to the 13th/14th, based on an analogy with amphorae that were discovered during a renovation of the Church of the Virgin Hodegetria (Aphendiko) in Mistra, not far from Sparta. It is possible to trace such amphorae across other sites in the Peloponnese, Corinth and on the Agios Stephanos site in the south of the peninsula, where they had been found together with coins and archaic majolica from Italian workshops and therefore dated to the first half of the 14th century. A similar amphora was found during a survey of the coastal area of se Apulia, on the site of Torre dell’Orso. Although medieval ceramics furnaces that were used for producing local, mostly Apulian types of amphorae, have been found in the area, an analysis of the clay of the amphora from Torre dell’Orso and a comparison with raw material from local clay deposits, indicated that the origin of its production should be looked for elsewhere. As the amphora is similar in appearance to those from Merara and the Peloponnese, and in terms of the composition of the clay to those from the Agios Stephanos site, there is a possibility that it was produced somewhere in the Peloponnese. Throughout the Peloponnese marly clay was used in the production of pottery. It is rich in limestone, with an addition of fnely crushed quartz sand and iron oxide. The raw material of the amphorae from Merara and Torre dell’Orso had nearly the same characteristics. That alone certainly does not establish the origin of their production, but offers guidelines for further research. Many amphorae from the Peloponnese were found in the context of Italian majolica of the 13th and 14th century, which testifies to an active trade exchange that existed between the Byzantine provinces and the south of Apulia. Neighbouring Dalmatia was part of this sea trade route, as evidenced by the amphorae from Merara and similar examples from the Shallows of Lučnjak. The Shallows of Lučnjak near the island of Korčula was examined in the 2011 survey of the underwater of Dubrovnik. Amongst a substantial amount of material dating from the Antiquity and Late Antiquity, three fragments of amphorae were discovered, similar to the type from Merara, along with a body of a larger pear-shaped amphora. Amphorae of this type can be traced along the coasts of the Black Sea and the Marble Sea and across almost the entire Mediterranean. The characteristic pear-shaped body with a narrow elongated neck and the handles placed high is densely furrowed with a comb-like object. The amphora is 63 cm tall, and the widest part is 30 cm wide in diameter. Based on the chronological division of Byzantine amphorae from the territory of Turkey, N. Günsenin classified them as Type 3 and dated them to the 12th and 13th century. Ch. Bakirtzis categorized them as Type 5 and dated them to the same period. The remaining fragments of medieval amphorae from the Shallows of Lučnjak match the form and characteristics of the amphorae from Merara. Within the same context, five clay recipients containing greyish sediment were also found. A similar type of flammable clay projectiles was used in the Byzantine Empire since the 8th century. Sediment analysis showed that the recipients contained a 91.31% calcium carbonate and further suggested that they were fled with quicklime. The use of flammable weapons in the form of hand projectiles had spread during the Early Middle Ages throughout the Mediterranean and certainly continued into the 12th and the 13th centuries. It is therefore possible that the recipients from the Shallows of Lučnjak, found in the context of amphorae dated to the 13th or 14th century, represent a variety of this medieval type of weaponry.
Ključne riječi
Eastern Adriatic; shipwreck; ship cargo; Byzantine Empire; Middle Ages; amphorae
Hrčak ID:
106461
URI
Datum izdavanja:
20.12.2012.
Posjeta: 3.324 *