Francis Tassaux

Evolution of the Croatian shore line between Porec and Split over the past 2000 years

Along the Croatian Coast we have carried out a series of divings, looking for geomophological and archaeological indicators of ancient sea-levels. A submerged notch, corresponding to a sea level lower by about 50 cm that the present one, can be observed in several places along the Croatian Coast between Porec and Zadar. A number of submerged archaeological remains like Roman quarries, fish-ponds, cisterns, give evidence that the notch corresponds to the sea level in Roman antiquity, 2000 years ago. South of this area, from Zadar to Split, Roman submerged archaeological remains are related to a sea level lower by about 1,50 m than the present one. We present our observations along the Croatian coastline, from Porec to Split, and discuss the possibility of a regional neotectonic effect on the last 2000 years.

Towards High Resolution Ceramic Series for Production Site Studies: The Case of Loron Amphorae (Croatia, 1st?3rd C. A.D.)

BackgroundFrom the 1st to the 3rd centuries A.D., the territory of Istria (present-day Croatia) was a prominent area of olive oil production. Archaeologists have identified the so-called Dressel 6B amphora as the main container used in the transport and trade of this oil. So far archaeology and epigraphy have helped identify probable sources of production and two workshops in Istria, and have also allowed the reconstruction of main trade routes through the identification of stamped amphorae. However, much less is known about the organization of the production of these ceramic containers, which may have been conducted on an almost industrial scale. This preliminary study demonstrates how chemical analysis using energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (EDXRF) may address this question and provide new answers and avenues of inquiry.ResultsOur study of 53 amphorae, produced during two important periods in the history of the workshop of Loron, has evidenced that even in chronologically closely related contexts of production chemical analysis could significantly separate samples according to production groups.ConclusionsThis result constitutes a very important first step towards a thorough study of the entire production history of the workshop, involving the creation of a comprehensive geochemical reference group comprising several hundred samples. This in turn will enable us to address an array of hypotheses concerning the economy and ecology of this production site, which are briefly presented in the article. The application of this methodology to the whole corpus of Istrian amphorae is then advocated in light of this study.