Review of Coins and Samian Ware

Abstract

It is no secret that samian ware plays a key role in dating the archaeology of the western Roman Empire; the ubiquitous brown, orange and red-slipped sherds are distinctive and abundant enough for detailed study, which has in turn yielded valuable information concerning chronologies of production and deposition from the 1st century AD onwards. Since dates inferred from samian deposits have obvious implications for the dating of other artefact classes and sites, it is clear that a critical reassessment of the foundations of samian chronology is a task of considerable importance for Roman archaeology more generally. Addressing this task is one of the main aims of this monograph, a much anticipated revised edition of Anthony King’s 1985 PhD study of the chronology of samian ware in the northwest Empire during the late 2nd to mid 3rd centuries AD.