Amphorae in Roman military and civilian contexts between the Sertorian period and the mid-1st century BC in the Western Iberian Peninsula

Abstract

This study examines Roman amphorae from military and civilian contexts between the Sertorian and post-Sertorian periods in the western Iberian Peninsula. In this context, various phenomena of cultural transfer occurred, associated with the establishment and maintenance of a war front through the construction of camps and military garrisons in indigenous settlements. These developments would have involved trade and logistics aimed at supplying troops on campaign. To better understand these phenomena, we provide a diachronic reading of different chrono-typological horizons, associated with distinct trade and consumption patterns: namely, the segmented supply of products during the Sertorian period and the existence of organised supply markets in the post-Sertorian period, the latter being associated with the rise of elites in southern Iberia.