Fornaci e produzioni del Golfo di Castellamare (Sicilia nord-occidentale)

Abstract

The area of the Gulf of Castellammare (western Sicily) is well known for the several roman kilns, whose functioning was deeply connected to extensive exploitation of forest and the high-quality of the clay deposits scattered throughout the territory. In this essay, we will try to reconstruct the productive activity of a workshop mainly manufacturing tiles with ΟΝΑΣΟΥ stamps, probably dating back to the late-republican period (3rd - 1st B.C.). The previous researches allowed us to recognize Onasus Segestanus, mentioned in Cicero’s Verrines, as the producer of these tiles and to localize a possible workshop in the Bay of St Cataldo. The recent discovery of new stamped tiles and ceramics wastes assume considerable importance for an investigation focused on the ceramic workshops in the Gulf of Castellamare and the Bay of St Cataldo. The result is an up-to-date picture rich in research perspectives, concerning Onasus’s trade expansion during the time and the productive activity of other kilns, whose artifacts could be exported or locally employed. Future archaeometric investigations may provide further evidence concerning the number and the available location of different workshops producing the stamped tiles and other ceramic objects circulating.