Stato della ricerca e degli studi

Abstract Excavations carried out in Scoppieto (Umbria), in the town council of Baschi, on the left banks of the Tiber, are bringing to light important structures related to a settlement belonging to the pre-Roman (from the end of the IV century BC) and Roman Age (till the beginning of the V century AD). The excavations are in progress and the most ancient stages are still unknown. The archaeological research project, begun in 1995 by the University of Perugia (direction M. Bergamini), has especially studied the layers of the first Imperial Age. It is now evident that from the middle Augustan reign the settlement was occupied by a pottery factory devoted mainly to the production of terra sigillata vessels and lamps; a great amount of material has been given back, which denotes an intense productive activity. The production of “terracotta” lamps was very important, with its great variety of ornamental themes and also of terra sigillata vessels, mainly plain, but also decorated with reliefs and appliques. The presence of the craftsmen’s trademarks allows us to understand their diffusion which, thanks to the use of the fluvial transport, involved many places located near the course of the Tiber and, above all, Rome and the main centres located on the Mediterranean coast. More than 50 craftsmen worked in the factory during the I century AD and this represents the first archaeologically documented case in Italy of a productive structure in which every phase of the productive process was carried out by an organization of craftsmen who used common structures The production was in the artistic taste of the Julio-Claudian Age and of the Flavian Age and was carried on till the end of the I century AD. The discovery of the Roman pottery factory of Scoppieto has underlined the importance of the Middle Tiber Valley in the Roman Age for what concerns the production and trade of pottery destined to the markets of Rome and of the Mediterranean coast. The productive function of this geographical area, favoured by the presence of clay and of the river, is confirmed by mineralogical and petrological studies which have also shown the production of opus doliare before the beginning of the productive activity of the pottery factory.