Pina Franco
I hold a doctorate from the University of Southampton which focused on Portus. I specialized in the study of Roman ceramics.
Location I live in Southampton (UK)
Activity
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Hi Lorna, you may access the PhD thesis through this link:
http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/362725/
I hope this helps. P -
Sharon, I would like to thank you so much for your comment to my thesis. I truly enjoyed working on the amphorae from Portus, especially carrying out fabrics and petrological analysis. The aim was to differentiate between different Libyan and Tunisian production centres and to ‘quantify’ their importance at a very important consumption site such as Portus-Rome...
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Pina Franco replied to Pamela Ruben
Yes Alex. Thank you
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Pina Franco replied to Pamela Ruben
I am posting some references:
Salomies O. (2002) People in Ostia. Some Onomastic Observations and Comparisons with Rome. In C. Bruun and A. Gallina Zevi (eds) Ostia e Portus nelle loro relazioni con Roma. Roma, pp135-159.
Meiggs, R. (1973) Roman Ostia. (In particular Chapter 2: The People, pp214-234).
Cébeillac Gervasoni (1996) Gli Africani ad Ostia,...
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Pina Franco replied to Pamela Ruben
Hello Alex,
I would be careful with translating Latin names on Google. There are studies carried out in the field of Latin onomastics and it is important to consider these. A number of scholars have looked at the origin of the people from Ostia by studying their names. There are studies about immigration to Ostia, such as the important work of Meiggs (1973)... -
Pina Franco replied to Pamela Ruben
(Continued)
Importantly, we don’t need to forget the settlement at the Isola Sacra. This is a triangle land located between the Fossa Traiana and the Tiber itself. At the Isola Sacra there is the evidence of an outstanding necropolis: ‘la Necropoli di Porto’... -
Pina Franco replied to Pamela Ruben
Hello Pamela and Alex,
The workforce may have lived at Ostia or nearby Portus. In a blog of mine I mentioned the importance of the North African town-port of Sullecthum (central Tunisia) trading with Portus-Rome at the end of the 2nd century AD, according to the amphora evidence from Portus. Most of the Africana 1 type traded to Portus was manufactured at... -
Pina Franco made a comment
Hi Pete,
if you scroll down you will find a comment by Graeme with a link to phase 6 plan of the site showing where the burials are located -
Pina Franco replied to Patricia Howarth
Hello Patricia,
The burials have been found in many areas of the site. -
Pina Franco replied to Lynette Wood
No problems
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Pina Franco replied to Bill Dodds
Hi Bill,
I would like to add that it is important to consider what is happening in this period, historically, and that the fate of Portus needs to be understood in conjunction with that of the City. Rome was sacked two times, in 410 AD and 455 AD, while the Vandals had conquered North Africa in 439AD. While the Vandals ruled North Africa, the annona policy,... -
Pina Franco replied to Pina Franco
Hello Steve,
I think we need to consider that these burials were Late Antique in date, 5th and 6th centuries AD, and likely to be Christian, although they could have been people from different backgrounds working at Portus or living nearby. However, the buried might be associated with the Late Antique settlement at Portus, and the people working at the site.... -
Pina Franco made a comment
Hi Joan,
The amphorae were broken and the body placed in one half part of these, and covered with the other broken half, or with additional amphora sherds if necessary. If the bodies were wrapped in a cloth it is difficult to say because this is a perishable material. -
I noticed however, in an urban workshop, that the decoration, especially the painting, is done by women. I have posted a blog on how amphorae were manufactured.
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Hi,
The decoration on the Roman fine wares could have been moulded, applied or stamped. Regarding the moulded decoration, the decorated terra sigillata was made in ‘relief moulds’. These were made of ceramics into which clay was poured to obtain a new vessel. This technique enables us to create ceramic in series. Regarding the applied decoration, leaf... -
Pina Franco replied to Lynette Wood
Hi Lynette,
After the remains have been excavated these are processed as the other finds. They are cleaned from the soil with a toothbrush, and left to dry for a while. Brushing the bones has to be done very gently because they are so fragile. Then they are bagged according to body features for example, legs, harms, and so on. The skull is usually protected... -
Hello Annely,
I have posted a blog on aspects of manufacturing techniques of North African amphorae and how such techniques can inform us about the people making the amphorae, for example how they were organized. I looked in particular at Tunisian and Libyan amphorae.... -
Pina Franco replied to Bill Dodds
Hi Bill,
Yes. The function of the different areas of the port and of the port itself changed in the later 5th century AD. It seems that the commercial function of the port contracted in this period, according to archaeological excavations and to the study of North African imported amphorae. There is indeed a clear decline in imported amphorae from North... -
Pina Franco replied to John Lord
Hi John,
The presence of Late Antique burials at Portus needs to be understood with what was going on at Portus in that period. The site, and function of the buildings were certainly not the same as in the previous periods such as in the Trajanic and Severan phases, period of building and warehouses expansion and of boom of commercial activity, especially... -
Pina Franco replied to Ellen Spiro
Hi Tuija, more than one amphora vessel might have been used for containing and covering the body. This was the case with adults. See my comment to Sally’s question above.
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Pina Franco replied to Sally Davis
Hi Sally,
The amphorae were recycled for use in burials, they were not specially made. Usually the amphora-burial contexts may encompass one (for a baby) or more than one amphora. The context illustrated in the picture (context 3068) is made up by two different types of amphorae, the Tripolitana 2 type and the Africana 2 later variant, which date to the 5th... -
Pina Franco made a comment
Hello Gisli, amphorae could have been discarded, such as at Monte Testaccio, the artificial hill along the Tiber within Rome itself made up by broken amphora sherds (mainly Spanish), or they could have been reused. The important thing for archaeologists is to understand how the amphorae enter the archaeological context, what are the anthropogenic (or non...
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Amphorae were wheel thrown or also manufactured by adding sausages of clay: coils, and then shaping these on the wheel. According to ethnographic study, this latter technique is very common in manufacturing in particular large size vessels. I personally observed this technique in southern Tunisia where they still make large vessels. And Roman amphorae were...
