Introduction
Italian terra sigillata is the emblematic, red-slipped fine ware of the early Roman empire, found in substantial quantities throughout the Roman world. Initially developed in Arezzo around 40–30 BCE, the market success of the ware in subsequent decades was underpinned by a range of urban and rural workshops mainly located in modern-day Tuscany, Umbria, Campania and the Po Valley (Ettlinger et al. Reference Ettlinger1990). The standardised, but rapidly changing, repertoire of vessel shapes associated with Italian terra sigillata has traditionally given it much weight in the dating of archaeological deposits. The name stamps frequently present on the interior bases of these vessels have also made them central to discussions regarding the organisation of Roman craft production and trade. These name stamps tend to be small and highly stylised in appearance, including square/rectangular, circular, crescent-shaped, planta pedis (in the shape of a foot) or tabula ansata (in the shape of a tablet with dovetail handles) frames (OCK 2000), leading Philip Kenrick to remark that “once the planta pedis frame had been invented there was an almost total lack of artistic imagination thereafter” (Kenrick Reference Kenrick and Malfitana2006: 70). The precise purpose of the stamps and the information they contain are the subject of ongoing debate. There is, however, consensus that they were not intended as simply decorative. Rather, they may have served an administrative purpose, for example in the internal organisation of a workshop, to facilitate product advertising or as a quality control measure (e.g. Aubert Reference Aubert1994; Fülle Reference Fülle1997). Given these long-standing assumptions on the role of stamps in terra sigillata production, the recent discovery of a large, highly ornamental name stamp at the site of Podere Marzuolo merits attention.
The site of Podere Marzuolo
Podere Marzuolo is situated in the modern municipality of Cinigiano (province of Grosseto, Tuscany; Figure 1), in a remote location more than a day’s walk from the nearest Roman city (Rusellae, modern Grosseto) and main traffic arteries (the coastal via Aurelia and the inland via Cassia). Archaeological excavations by the Roman Peasant Project (2012–2013; Bowes Reference Bowes2021), and subsequently by the Marzuolo Archaeological Project (2016–2024), have identified the site as a ‘minor centre’ fulfilling a range of productive and distributive functions for its immediate rural hinterland (Tol et al. Reference Tol, Sebastiani and Chiricoin press). The site developed in the early Augustan period (27 BCE–14 CE) as a planned settlement with a productive vocation (including the short-lived production of terra sigillata; Bowes Reference Bowes2021: 279–89). A large, monumental courtyard building in the site’s north-west sector, built partly in opus reticulatum (a type of wall facing that uses square stones set diagonally), provided space for several production, storage and retail activities, until it was damaged by fire around the mid-first century CE. The destruction sealed several spaces, including a smithy (Van Oyen et al. Reference Van Oyen2022) and part of the courtyard.
Location of Podere Marzuolo (left) and plan of the site with the find location of the stamp indicated (right) (figure by authors).
The stamp
The ornate name stamp was found in the north-eastern corner of the courtyard of the opus reticulatum building as part of a thick deposit containing large quantities of generally well-preserved, mixed materials that might represent the remains of a shop display or market stall active at the time of the fire. The stamp measures a maximum of 29.5mm in height and 17mm in width and is nearly complete except for the missing bottom left corner (Figure 2). The thickness of the base (5mm) and the lack of an observable base ring—which suggest that the vessel originally had a large diameter—indicate that the stamped sherd belonged to a plate or dish. The preserved stamp itself is clearly legible and has sharp edges, indicating it was made with a fresh punch, probably of a durable material such as bone or metal. The stamped image depicts what can be identified as a sacrificial or funerary altar that is rectangular in shape with a projecting cornice and base, which both appear to be decorated. The cornice is topped by a plate with dentil mouldings and a cover plate with pulvini (pillows) and front-facing rosettes or volutes on either side (with perhaps a piece of fruit in between). Across the main body of the altar runs a horizontal garland with perhaps a left-facing songbird perched on top of a twig, and possibly a piece of fruit to its immediate right. Garlands—made up of different combinations of plants and flowers—were frequently used in Roman domestic religion, particularly in association with the Lares (guardian deities). They became part of the iconography of stone and ceramic sacrificial altars and, from the Tiberian Age (14–37 CE), funerary altars, representing nature’s abundance, fecundity and prosperity (Boschung Reference Boschung1987; Sinn Reference Sinn1991).
Drawing (left), photograph (centre) and enhanced photometric stereo image (right) of the altar stamp from Marzuolo (figure by authors).
At the bottom of the altar is the name stamp, reading AV(in ligature)IL. Considering the limited space between the first letter and the border of the altar, it is unlikely that there were further characters to the left, on the part of the stamp that is missing. This reading associates the stamp with the well-documented Italian terra sigillata producer Avillius, whose products have a wide circulation, including Italy, the western provinces, North Africa and Greece, and witnessed considerable longevity, from the final decades BCE to at least the Tiberian Age (OCK 2000: no. 371). The known stamps from this workshop occur in a wide variety of shapes (square, rectangular, circular with surrounding laurel wreath, planta pedis). However, no other recorded specimens are close to matching the ornate nature of the altar stamp from Podere Marzuolo.
Discussion
The altar-shaped Italian terra sigillata stamp from Podere Marzuolo stands out in an early Roman fine-ware industry that was dominated by series production and the standardisation of shapes, decorative features and name stamps. What could have motivated the creation of a stamp that was so out of the standard repertoire in terms of size and complexity, and which must have represented a considerable labour investment in the making of the punch? Although the productive landscape of Italian terra sigillata by the mid-first century CE was characterised by a proliferation of potters and workshops, the fact that no stamps of similar size and ornamentation are known among the corpus of 36 000 catalogued examples, makes it unlikely that this ornate stamp represents an attempt to stand out within a highly competitive market. Perhaps it should be viewed instead as a representation of individuality, or the indication of a special (limited) series. In using this stamp type, the workshop that produced this vessel drew on a symbol that was common in Roman iconography (including on high-quality, mould-decorated sigillata; see Porten Palange Reference Porten Palange2004: pl. 173-4) and that connected well with the intended purpose of the vessel as part of a domestic dining set.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank Dr Tamara Lewit, Dr Ashleigh Green and Prof Eric Moormann for their valuable input in the reading and interpretation of the altar image, and the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.
Funding statement
Excavations by the Marzuolo Archaeological Project were partially funded by a grant from the Loeb Classical Library Foundation.
Author contributions: CRediT categories
Gijs Willem Tol: Conceptualization-Lead, Formal analysis-Lead, Funding acquisition-Equal, Investigation-Equal, Project administration-Equal, Writing - original draft-Lead, Writing - review & editing-Equal. Astrid Van Oyen: Conceptualization-Supporting, Funding acquisition-Equal, Investigation-Equal, Project administration-Equal, Writing - review & editing-Equal. Rhodora G. Vennarucci: Conceptualization-Supporting, Funding acquisition-Equal, Investigation-Equal, Project administration-Equal, Writing - review & editing-Equal. Thomas J. Keep: Visualization-Lead, Writing - review & editing-Equal.
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