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6.5 Amphorae by Fabienne Olmer

Forty-five amphora fragments were recovered from nine different locations in the three study areas. Apart from one rim, two handles and one shoulder, most of the finds were body sherds. All but two are imports from Italy or Spain, Dressel 1 wine amphorae and Dressel 20 olive oil vessels being the commonest forms. Four of the Dressel 1 can be attributed to the Albinia kilns in Etruria. Other wine amphorae from Italy - all represented by single sherds only - included Graeco-Italic and Dressel 2-4 and Lamboglia 2. One Spanish sherd can be identified as Pascual 1; three other Tarraconensian sherds could be from either Pascual 1 or Dressel 2-4.

Lamboglia 2 is relatively uncommon in Gaul, although there are a number of other findspots in Saône et Loire (Olmer 1997); the form does not, however, appear in equivalent numbers in surrounding areas, perhaps suggesting that Burgundy was a privileged recipient of the type (Loughton 2003). The latest finds from Gaul appear to date to the two decades after the Gallic War (Loughton 2003, 183).

The largest group of amphora sherds came from L'Haut des Champs, which was walked more than once. Finds from here included sherds of two Gaulish amphorae, one an import from Narbonensis, the other from the kilns at Gueugnon 40km downstream. The workshop at Gueugnon produced flat-bottomed amphorae that closely resemble Gauloise 3 and 4 forms (Olmer 1996); production appears to have started in the later 1st century AD.

In addition to the above, three small sherds of Dressel 1 were collected in a hollow way at Poil, north of Le Carzot farm, during the geophysical survey of the rectangular enclosures. At least 100 Dressel 1s were found in the 1984-5 excavations nearby at Le Quart du Bas (Olmer 1997).

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