La ceramica domestica

Domestic pottery (Coarse and Fine Wares) recovered during the Aïn Wassel excavation (campaigns 1994-1996), has been completely re-examined graphically and typologically for this publication. Between 2013 and 2014 its documentation has also been integrated by recording unstudied sherds stored in the cisterns-magazines of Thugga. Apart from Ceramic Building Materials and Amphora sherds, which are discussed separately, the analysed pottery assemblage concerns 8233 fragments. The most represented pottery class, with more than half of the whole amount, regards Common Ware. Smaller quantities of sherds belong, in decreasing order, to Kitchen Calcitic Ware, African Red Slipped Table Ware, African Cooking Ware (plain and decorated forms), Lamps, Late Painted Ware and Hand Wheel Byzantine Ware. Very few sherds from surface layers refer, finally, to the Medieval and Modern periods. Among the mentioned fragments amount, 1250 forms could be identified. Only a few of them, however, preserve half or more of their profile. Properties of forms and fabrics, as well as documented types, reveal that the collected pottery agrees with published contemporary and geographically close contexts. Proof of a capillary distribution of this kind of locally or regionally produced Common, Kitchen and Fine Wares comes, beyond published excavation contexts, from survey campaign results of Trento University around Thugga and Thubursicu Bure, carried out between 1994 and 2014. Some special attention may be paid to the class redefined Rouletted African Kitchen Ware with interesting casserole and bowl examples. At present not well known, the appearance of the class might be related to the late C5 Sigillata and African Cooking Ware productions located principally in central Tunisia, in the El Gattar Valley. The African Red Slipped Ware concerns both, D1 fabric, produced between 4th and 7th century AD in the pottery-making centre of El Mahrine, and D2 fabrics of unknown North Tunisian centres. A very small amount refers to C fabrics of Central Tunisia and only one shard to E fabric of Southern Tunisia. As explained in the first part of this volume, the Aïn Wassel farm was built between the late 6th and the beginning of the 7th century AD and was abandoned by the beginning of the 8th century AD. Finds and inscriptions in this area demonstrate anyway that the place was occupied at least from the 1st century BC. Also the farm excavation bared a considerable quantity of residual pottery concerning earlier phases, especially referring to the 4th and 5th centuries AD. It has to be outlined that more than 70% of the documented African Red Slipped Table Ware turns out to be residual in the excavated context. The following discussions about the Domestic pottery of Aïn Wassel will be divided in sections regarding the different classes of material. Within the sections they will be broadly distinguished by function and by typology. The concluding archaeological and archaeometrical observations aim at putting this North African rural hinterland into context by focusing on supplying systems and consumption patterns in the Byzantine West.