Navegación y comercio cerámico en las áreas septentrionales de Hispania en época altoimperial: rías y estuarios

Abstract

In recent years we have witnessed a real awakening of Roman archaeology in the northern areas of Hispania. One of the most important aspects is the study of trade and the exchange of products from the Roman era through maritime transport, which contributes considerably to the transfer of new Roman cultural patterns in this area. Taking into account the geographical characteristics of the northern areas of Hispania, rias and estuaries, aquatic spaces protected from winds and cur-rents, constitute privileged settings for the transport, loading and unloading of products of all kinds, among which ceramic ves-sels are one of the main testimonies. Among them we have an important group of ports, anchorages, docks, and other maritime enclaves. In Roman times, with the opening of the Atlantic and Cantabrian coasts to Roman navigation, these places functioned as support points for deep-sea and cabotage navigation, as well as for the so-called segmented navigation, which combined the two modalities. These coastal settlements also functioned as true redistribution and cargo-breaking centres, channelling the cir-culation of products to inland areas following the courses of the rivers and interconnecting with the most important land routes.