Un bouchon de bois du Ier s. après J.-C. recueilli dans la Saône à Lyon et la question du tonneau à l'époque romaine

Abstract

A branded fir stopper was founded in the neck of an amphora of the 1st century, in the river Saône, in Lyons. This stopper is to be seen as a barrel stopper which had been reused. This discovery gives an important clue for the file which combines two complementary topics : the contents of the amphorae made in Lyons and the use of the barrel in the trade of the 1st and 2nd century. The name Uritti(us) branded on this stopper must be connected to the comtemporary prints on Betican oil-amphorae; it suggests that the Lyons amphorae should have contained hispanics products imported in bulk as the inscriptions "muria hispana" or "garum hispanum" painted on some of them, suggested it already. A critical study of archaeological data about the barrel leads to a revision of the idea which was mostly based upon iconography, and according to which this container starts to play an important part from the 3rd century only. But it shows that the barrel plays a prominent part in the ancient trade as early as the 1st century.