Old lamps in a new province: Loeschcke type I lighting devices in Roman Dacia

Abstract

Loeschcke type I volute lamps were the first mass‑produced Roman pottery lamps, their appealing shape and unmistakable triangular nozzle along with their rich decoration ensured that they were just as easily recognizable for Roman period consumers, as they are for nowadays specialists. In Italy their production started in the mid-1st century BC and mostly ended by the late 1st century AD, being pushed out of the market by the cheaper and more practical Firmalampen developed in northern Italy. Even so, type I lamps were used in Dacia, a province founded in a period when these lamps ceased to be produced in Italy. The present study brings into discussion a number of 54 pieces, coming from various sites of the province, mainly Ulpia Traiana Sarmizegetusa as well as from several auxiliary forts. While the archaeological data is scarce and no fabrics analyses could be carried out, the present paper sets out to explore different possibilities with regard to this apparent chronological anomaly. The investigation is based on the patterns of distribution of these lamps in the province, as well as their proportion within the local lamp finds against the backdrop of the chronological evolution of production in Italy and the provinces.