The taste of Romanitas. Evidence of innovation in the culinary practice at Nora between the first century BC and the second century AD (original) (raw)
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SOMA 2012 Identity and Connectivity. BAR International Series 2581, 2013
Nora is in southern Sardinia, on a peninsula of the Gulf of Cagliari. Due to its location between Africa, the Iberian Peninsula and the Italian Peninsula, its cultural ties are many and diverse. The town played an important role as a crossroads in the region from Phoenicia until Late Antiquity. It was a Phoenician, a Punic and, finally, a Roman town. Most of its contacts and cultural exchanges were with Africa, the land beyond the sea that was linked with Nora on a continuous basis. The Romans arrived in the 3rd century BC and ruled over a Punic town; several traces of Punic influences are present in the Roman town, on the pottery, the epigraphy, the construction techniques, the onomastics, even on the political organisation and religion. The Romans used the same agricultural resources in the territory, as well as the mines and quarries. The Republican occupation of the territory was similar to the Punic and marked a continuity with the Punic period. Continuity and exchange between the Punic and Roman societies were also present in everyday life in the subsequent centuries: even in the 3rd century AD, the inhabitants of Nora used a casserole dish that was similar to a Punic form. Contact with Africa still continued in Late Antiquity, when local common ware imitated African Cooking Ware and also African Red Slip Ware. Evidently everyone wanted to use African ware and was inclined to buy even products of differing quality or to imitate pottery to achieve this aim. Reciprocity continued with the Vandals, when contacts with Africa were expanding and Roman commercial routes were taken over and used by the Barbarians. The Norenses seem to have lived through a culture in transition between African and Roman usages. Keywords Nora, Sardinia, Roman period, Late Antiquity, African influences, mediation, epigraphy, building techniques, onomastics, writing systems, pottery.
Living in Nora (Province of Cagliari - South Sardinia) melting pot of culture
Nora is in southern Sardinia, on a peninsula of the Gulf of Cagliari. Due to its location between Africa, the Iberian Peninsula and the Italian Peninsula, its cultural ties are many and diverse. The town played an important role as a crossroads in the region from Phoenicia until Late Antiquity. It was a Phoenician, a Punic and, finally, a Roman town. Most of its contacts and cultural exchanges were with Africa, the land beyond the sea that was linked with Nora on a continuous basis. The Romans arrived in the 3rd century BC and ruled over a Punic town; several traces of Punic influences are present in the Roman town, on the pottery, the epigraphy, the construction techniques, the onomastics, even on the political organisation and religion. The Romans used the same agricultural resources in the territory, as well as the mines and quarries. The Republican occupation of the territory was similar to the Punic and marked a continuity with the Punic period. Continuity and exchange between the Punic and Roman societies were also present in everyday life in the subsequent centuries: even in the 3rd century AD, the inhabitants of Nora used a casserole dish that was similar to a Punic form. Contact with Africa still continued in Late Antiquity, when local common ware imitated African Cooking Ware and also African Red Slip Ware. Evidently everyone wanted to use African ware and was inclined to buy even products of differing quality or to imitate pottery to achieve this aim. Reciprocity continued with the Vandals, when contacts with Africa were expanding and Roman commercial routes were taken over and used by the Barbarians. The Norenses seem to have lived through a culture in transition between African and Roman usages.
Otium, 10, 2021
The analysis of the stratigraphic contexts of the Mediterranean, relating to the centuries between the Middle Imperial Age and the period defined as Late Antiquity, is a particularly interesting and stimulating subject. In recent times, this topic has seen a proliferation of studies by archaeologists in different settings. As far as the most peripheral territories of the Roman Empire are concerned, the social and economic dynamics linked to the production and importation of goods, such as pottery and other household objects, can be decoded through the analysis of these urban and rural contexts. Among the features that certainly attract more interest, it is worth mentioning here the coexistence of coarse and cooking pottery of local production with products imported by sea and by land from other territories. This work aims to analyze some of these aspects, focusing on some stratigraphic contexts relating to the 3 rd-8 th century A.D. of the municipium of Nora (South Sardinia).
H. Todorava, M. Stefanovich, G. Ivanov (eds) The Struma/Strymon River Valley in Prehistory. Proceedings of the International Symposium STRYMON PRAEHISTORIKUS, Kjustendil, Blagoevgrad (Bulgaria) and Serres – Amphipolis (Greece), 27/9-1/10/2004. Gerda Henkel Stiftung, Sofia, pp. 397-420, 2007
The paper discusses the tableware ceramics from the Middle and Late Bronze Age levels of the prehistoric settlement mound of Thessaloniki Toumba. We analyse the qualitative and quantitative changes in the morphological and technological features of the various wares and we examine their relationship to the various social practices during which the ceramic vessels were possibly used. Furthermore, we examine the variability in the patterns of production and consumption of the pottery in relation to the habitation patterns and the material culture of the site. The aim is to investigate the social meaning and social impact of the ceramic changes during the different phases of the Middle and Late Bronze Age. The main characteristics of the shapes, sizes, surface treatments and decoration of the pottery are presented for each period and an attempt is made to relate particular vessels and wares to particular aspects and social occasions of consumption. The primary features that characterize the tableware are the co-existence of traditional and innovative morphological and technological characteristics and the increasing differentiation of the ceramic assemblage implemented mainly through the introduction of different handmade varieties of decorated vessels, such as the incised and matt painted wares and through the partial adoption of wheel made decorated pottery, which followed the Mycenaean style. We propose that these changes were mainly related to the transformation of the etiquette of feasting. Furthermore, we suggest that the festive occasions related to food and drink consumption were important for the reproduction and change of the social order in the community and we try to demonstrate how the various tableware vessels and their features and meanings were actively employed in the course of specific social processes developing in the community.