Abstract

p. 128


Texte intégral

1The archaeological site of Montans, in the Tarn region, is generally considered to be one of the most important centres of the gallo-roman pottery industry. The renown of the site and its potters is based upon an extensive production of Samian-ware vessels. Excavations carried out in the 19th century, and more recently in the 1970s, located the principal kilns and potters, workshops and revealed that several other pottery types were being produced. Oil lamps constitute part of this relatively unknown group of pottery types. So far lamps have been found at twenty-nine different locations on the site: they form a corpus of 908 lamps in various states of preservation. Although a number of lamps were not found in a stratigraphic context,’ the majority (779) come from well-dated archaeological layers covering the 1st and most of the 2nd century (15-175 A.D.).

2That lamps were part of a local indigenous industry is demonstrated both by the archaeological context in which they are found (mostly rubbish pits), and the types encountered. A local origin is confirmed by analysis of the clay used in their manufacture. The potters clearly put little value on either the originality or the quality of their product. They proceeded by making moulds from lamps already in use, available through the Roman world’s trade net-work. Thus their work involved producing counterfeit copies of lamps made by well-known potters. In some cases a completely faithful copy was achieved by imitating not only the shape and decoration but also the potter’s signature. In many cases partial copying has given rise to some highly original lamps. The moulds are often imperfect and their mediocre quality suggests a hasty production where little attention was paid to detail.

3Between 15 and 175 A.D., the potters produced twelve different types of lamps: lamps with a nozzle decorated with birds’heads ; lamps without handles, with triangular nozzle decorated with scrolls ; lamps with handles and a triangular nozzle decorated with scrolls ; lamps with rounded nozzle decorated with double scroll ; lamps with an applied handle ; lamps with a rounded nozzle with single scroll decoration ; lamps with single scroll decoration on the nozzle and with side flanges ; lamps with degenerated scrollwork and side flanges ; lamps with a short rounded nozzle and no scrollwork; lamps with rounded nozzle; lamps with a channel (Firmalampen); « Hapax » (any type not found in standard reference catalogues). Precise dates have been obtained locally for all these types. When these dates are compared with those generally observed elsewhere for the original lamps, it is clear that the Montanais potters were quick to copy popular lamp styles.

4Oil lamps were a secondary product both in terms of their quality and the quantity produced. The Montanais potters seem to have been primarily interested in the commercial rather than the artistic value of the lamps.

5908 lamps or fragments are presented following the same order that has been chosen for the typology of Part One (Chapter 3). Each notice includes : an inventory number, the place of the find, a description, technical observations and sometimes a mention about the decoration, the signature or bibliographical references.

6131 decorations are gathered under the following themes : animals, mythological subjects, everyday life scenes, floral and geometrical patterns. Each notice includes : a description, the order number of the lamps fitting the description and bibliographical references.

798 potters’signatures or marks have been listed out of which 13 haven’t been identified, being unreadable. The 85 others have been classified according to the way they have been stamped on the lamps (carved or in relief).


Le texte seul est utilisable sous licence Licence OpenEdition Books. Les autres éléments (illustrations, fichiers annexes importés) sont « Tous droits réservés », sauf mention contraire.