Punic amphora stamps and graffiti found in the area of "Los Chinchorros" (San Bartolomé Street, Cádiz)

Abstract

The salvage excavations carried out during 2007 and 2008 conducted and directed by M. L. Lavado in the area popularly known as “Los Chinchorros”, outside the walls of the modern city of Cadiz, allowed the recovery of archaeological data from the south of the urban area of Gadir/Gades. This new data attested the presence there of the archaic Phoenician necropolis, Punic fish salting facilities and other artisanal and funerary areas dating to the Roman period. The contexts excavated in relation to the Punic and late Punic fish processing activities provided an outstanding amount of artifacts, including a large number of amphorae and fragments of glazed tableware documented in some dumping pits. Among these materials, the presence of several amphorae stamps, both local and of Carthaginian origin, stands out, as well as several graffiti engraved on tableware vessels. The limited number of marks of these types that have been studied in the area of Cadiz bay, as well as the epigraphic and iconographic content of the stamps and their relationship with artisanal contexts have motivated a specific analysis, providing new insights about phenomena of complex historical interpretation such as the stamping of amphoras. Eight unpublished marks are discussed, five corresponding to the activity of local pottery workshops, and three more (biliteral epigraphs in two of the cases) that can be linked to Carthaginian transport containers.