Better late (Roman) than never! A possible amphora fragment from 6th century Balatonlelle, Western Hungary

Abstract

This study reports on a unique finding connected to the re-examination of the ceramic assemblage recovered from the Langobard age (6th century AD) settlement of Balatonlelle, situated in the territory of the former Roman province of Pannonia (now in western Hungary). An undecorated body sherd, not picked up by either the initial typological evaluation of the ceramics or by the preliminary petrographic analysis, was now reassessed by thin section ceramic petrography and scanning electron microscopy. The new analyses revealed that this sherd contains rock and mineral inclusions originated from ophiolites, including slightly serpentinised peridotite fragments. Such rocks do not occur on the surface in Hungary, whereas they are commonly found in the Eastern Mediterranean. The presence of ophiolites in the potsherd indicates that this vessel was produced in a distant territory. The macroscopic characteristics of the sherd combined with its petrographic fingerprint suggest that this pot might have been a transport amphora produced in the Eastern Mediterranean. Although rarely found in Pannonia in the Migration Period, several amphora types, including the most frequently found LRA 1 type, were produced in numerous production centres in the Eastern Mediterranean, in territories geologically congruous with the aplastic inclusions found in the fabric of the Balatonlelle sherd. The significance of this finding is that from Langobard age Pannonia, amphorae occur only sporadically, connected mainly to former Roman settlements. While any conclusions drawn from a single sherd must necessarily remain tentative, this sherd nonetheless provides some material evidence for the existence of some sort of contact between Balatonlelle and the Eastern Mediterranean during the 6th century, be it economic, political or cultural. This study also aims to celebrate the career of György Szakmány, who was one of the key figures to establish ceramic petrographic research and education in Hungary, and trained many generations of petrographers – including the present authors. As such, it also serves as an example how ceramic petrography can bring a new dimension of information to archaeological research.