Roman pottery from Viminacium

Abstract

The Roman conquests of these regions, in addition to a different structure of government, led to great changes, reflected in many aspects of life. The process of Romanisation, which implies the acceptance of various Roman customs, took place most rapidly in the cities, and Viminacium, as the capital of the province of Moesia Superior and the statio of the VII Legio Claudia, certainly represents a good indicator of the situation in other parts of Moesia Superior, mainly places located along the Iron Gates part of the Limes. The area investigated in Viminacium is negligible compared to its total surface area, but the long-term excavations of the city, military fort, suburban areas and necropoles, in addition to the discovery of architectural remains, have also yielded a large amount of archaeological material. Bearing in mind that the Roman Empire was a single political and trading area with an extensive network of land and water routes, products from different centres were distributed throughout the empire. The study of numerous objects of a utilitarian and ritual character allows for a rather faithful reconstruction of life in this city and its surroundings during almost four centuries of Roman domination. Ceramic vessels, as the most numerous type of finds, not only in Viminacium but also on most other sites, help us see the picture more clearly, not only in terms of the local production and import of vessels to Viminacium, but also of economic and trade relations with other areas. They enable us to follow the routes by which the products arrived, as well as to determine the time of their arrival. Vessels also represent one of the important indicators of the changes caused by the arrival of the Roman army in the area where a population at a significantly lower level of development lived, organised into several tribal communities. Vessels bear testimony not only of the adoption of new technologies for their production, but also of changes in eating habits. Thanks to them, we learn that with the arrival of military units and their supporting structures, food products that were unknown in these parts began to be consumed in Viminacium. The first to bring and use these goods were soldiers and the newly arrived population, but the new products were also accepted by the local population, in different dynamics.