14 DAY TRIAL // Italian archaeologists have uncovered an ancient pottery factory, where the oil lamps that were most used throughout the old Roman empire had been produced. As with most findings in this field of research, the discovery has been made accidentally, during excavation works carried in order to raise a residential complex close to the ancient city walls of Modena, in central-northern Italy, or Mutina, as it was called back in those days.
"We found a large ancient Roman dumping filled with pottery scraps. There were vases, bottles, bricks, but most of all, hundreds of oil lamps, each bearing their maker's name," shared the archaeologist in charge of the digging operations, Donato Labate, for Discovery News.
The oil lamps were among the first mass-scale manufactured objects of the time, and the items found in the old dumping carried the names of the most famous manufacturers, like Fortis, Communis, Phoetaspi, Strobili, or Eucarpi. Their pottery goods were bought by people on three continents until the latest decades of the second century AD, with Fortis being the most trendy and successful of them. "It was indeed a commercial success. Fortis gained such a name for its lamps, that its stamp was copied and reproduced throughout the empire. It was one of the earliest examples of pirated brands," explained Labate.
This is a strong piece of evidence in favor of the long-lasting debate on the actual origin of the Fortis pottery oil lamps, although prevalent theories have previously suggested that they were made in Modena. "We know now for sure that Fortis came from Mutina. The city was a major pottery center, a cluster of pottery workshops, as the variety of brand names on the newly discovered items testifies," stated Labate.
Besides the lamps, other objects have been found at the digging site, including a well-preserved terracotta statuette showing Hercules capturing the Erymanthian Boar, as well as 14 lead bullets possibly dating from the Battle of Mutina, which took place in 43 BC (when Decimus Brutus – the one who killed Julius Caesar – and Octavian Augustus defeated Mark Antony). "This is an extraordinary discovery, since it provides unique archaeological evidence, which confirms historical accounts," shared Luigi Malnati, archaeological heritage superintendent at Emilia Romagna.