In this section, you will find the latest FACEM release, including new fabric data, expanded ware groups, and new production sites and regions. Check back regularly to follow how the database continues to grow through new research and forthcoming data.
The tenth release presents research on African Red Slip Ware (ARS) from four production sites in modern-day Tunisia: Bordj el Djerbi, Henchir el Biar, Oudna, and Pheradi Maius. The sites, located in the Mejerda Valley, the hinterland of Carthage, and along the northeastern Tunisian coast, offer insights into the diversity of ARS and the workshops that supplied markets not only across North Africa but throughout the Roman world.
Beyond established classification criteria, including vessel, lamp, and decoration typologies (e.g., Hayes types) and the division into ARS classes (A, C, D, E, F, G, etc.), binocular and thin section analyses allow for a more detailed characterization of its material properties, providing an additional basis for classifying finds. This combined classification approach opens new possibilities for investigating both the chronology and provenance of ARS, thereby refining our understanding of its distribution patterns.
The current issue, focusing on North Tunisian ARS D1, D2, and C/D fabrics, is the first of several planned releases covering Roman-Imperial and late antique African tableware produced between the 1st and 7th centuries CE. In addition to this anticipated chronological extension of the original core database (see Remaking of FACEM), the geographic area of ARS production also connects to FACEM’s research on Punic pottery from the Carthage region, offering opportunities to study production zones in North Africa diachronically and across different pottery wares.
Carina Hasenzagl
