The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Dressel 2-4 Amphorae and Roman Trade with India: the Evidence from Nevasa

Dressel 2-4 Amphorae and Roman Trade with India: the Evidence from Nevasa
Dressel 2-4 Amphorae and Roman Trade with India: the Evidence from Nevasa
This paper examines in detail an assemblage of Roman amphorae sherds recovered from the important Indian site of Nevasa, from the point of view of origin, chronology and implications of trade between the Mediterranean and India. Roman amphorae are crucial, for they provide direct evidence for the movement of agricultural produce of great economic significance, principaly wine, olive oil and various fish products. A detailed study of amphorae can therefore provide vital evidence of the export and import of important foodstuffs not readily available from other sources. It seems likely that all but one of the 63 amphora sherds found at Nevasa belong to the late Republican/early Imperial Dressel 2-4 form, which normally carried wine. Moreover petrological analysis suggests that these vessels are almost certainly Italian in origin and can most likely be dated to between the period 20/25 BC and AD79. The trade in Italian wine to India is mentioned in the Periplus Maris Erythraei, a first century AD shipping guide to the Red Sea, Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. The amphora finds from Nevasa, and other Indian sites, provides archaeological evidence of this trade and, in addition, clearly indicates that the main thrust of the Mediterranean wine trade to India was in Italian wines. Finally, the Mediterranean chronology of the amphorae are related to the stratigraphical sequence of Nevasa and the possibility is discussed of local industries being connected with the exchange commodities of the Indo-Mediterranean trade.
0266-6030
7-18
Gupta, Sunil
2aa6ba21-8260-46a0-93a5-7ed489e78d8b
Williams, David
0bf8fa7e-be48-4f06-988f-4457b0a0f8d0
Peacock, David
346e90c3-c5bb-4e3e-8126-6feccc3cfc2f
Gupta, Sunil
2aa6ba21-8260-46a0-93a5-7ed489e78d8b
Williams, David
0bf8fa7e-be48-4f06-988f-4457b0a0f8d0
Peacock, David
346e90c3-c5bb-4e3e-8126-6feccc3cfc2f

Gupta, Sunil, Williams, David and Peacock, David (2001) Dressel 2-4 Amphorae and Roman Trade with India: the Evidence from Nevasa. South Asian Studies, 17 (1), 7-18.

Record type: Article

Abstract

This paper examines in detail an assemblage of Roman amphorae sherds recovered from the important Indian site of Nevasa, from the point of view of origin, chronology and implications of trade between the Mediterranean and India. Roman amphorae are crucial, for they provide direct evidence for the movement of agricultural produce of great economic significance, principaly wine, olive oil and various fish products. A detailed study of amphorae can therefore provide vital evidence of the export and import of important foodstuffs not readily available from other sources. It seems likely that all but one of the 63 amphora sherds found at Nevasa belong to the late Republican/early Imperial Dressel 2-4 form, which normally carried wine. Moreover petrological analysis suggests that these vessels are almost certainly Italian in origin and can most likely be dated to between the period 20/25 BC and AD79. The trade in Italian wine to India is mentioned in the Periplus Maris Erythraei, a first century AD shipping guide to the Red Sea, Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean. The amphora finds from Nevasa, and other Indian sites, provides archaeological evidence of this trade and, in addition, clearly indicates that the main thrust of the Mediterranean wine trade to India was in Italian wines. Finally, the Mediterranean chronology of the amphorae are related to the stratigraphical sequence of Nevasa and the possibility is discussed of local industries being connected with the exchange commodities of the Indo-Mediterranean trade.

Text
12071.pdf - Version of Record
Restricted to Repository staff only
Request a copy

More information

Published date: 2001

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 12071
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/12071
ISSN: 0266-6030
PURE UUID: bce68965-13a1-44ef-8de4-16284327202c

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 31 Dec 2004
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 05:04

Export record

Contributors

Author: Sunil Gupta
Author: David Williams
Author: David Peacock

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×