La cerámica de época romana en "Oiasso"-Irún

Abstract

The principal aim of this study was to identify and classify the ceramic material recovered during different archaeological interventions carried out at the Roman site known as Oiasso (Irun, Gipuzkoa) between 1992 and 2012. The volume of material recovered totals approximately 128,000 fragments. The working method used was the British system developed by the Museum of London (Orton & Hughes 2013). While not yet commonly employed on the Iberian Peninsula, this method has become increasingly popular over recent years. The system is based on an analysis of the paste or fabric of the recovered fragments, and only turns to the traditional typological and decorative analyses later on. In addition to being very large, the collection studied here is also interesting due to the widely different nature of the contexts in which the fragments were recovered, with domestic, industrial and harbour-related specimens being identified, along with more specialist uses linked to thermae. The collection is also interesting due to its chronology, which ranges from just before the change of era to the beginning of the 5th century AD (approximately). Within this time frame, the best-documented period is that ranging from 90 AD to 150 AD, from which considerably more material has been recovered than from any other century. This large volume of information provides clearer insight into the use and consumption of pottery in the Oiasso settlement. One of pottery's main values is its ubiquity, since it is a material present at almost every Roman site. It is also fairly indestructible in comparison with other archaeological materials such as wood, leather and bone, etc. Moreover, thanks to the analysis of the paste/fabric, complemented by typological and decorative analyses, it is possible to determine where the artefacts were made, regardless of the size of the fragment recovered...