The Testaccio Mount in Rome is an artificial mound composed almost entirely of fragments from over 24,000 broken olive oil amphorae from the Roman Empire period. 80% of the amphorae fragments are from the Baetica province in present-day Spain, indicating it was a major supplier of olive oil to Rome. The amphorae fragments provide precise economic information about olive oil trade, with inscriptions recording details like weights, traders, and places of origin. Archaeological investigations of the mound and analyses of the amphorae fragments have revealed much about the large-scale, organized olive oil trade and distribution network between Baetica, other Roman provinces, and Rome.

1. TESTACCIO MOUNT
AND ITS RELATION WITH THE ROMAN PROVINCE
OF BAETICA
By Roxana Denisa
2nd of Bachillerato, group B.

2. Location
Testaccio Mount is an artificial mound located in Rome, near the east bank of the river Tiber and the Horrea Galbae, warehouse in
the southern part of ancient Rome, where the state-controlled reserve of olive oil was stored in the late 2nd century AD. It has a
height of near 50 metres, though it was probably considerably higher in ancient times, and covers an area of 20,000 square
metres.
Aerial view of Testaccio Mount.

3. Chronology
The oldest parts of Testaccio Mount are at the bottom of the mound, so it is difficult to say with any certainty when it was first
created. Deposits found by excavators have been dated to a period between approximately 140 to 250 AD, but it is possible that
dumping could have begun on the site as early as the 1st century BC.
Testaccio Mount in the late 19th century. Painting of Testaccio at the end of the 19th century.

4. Origin
It is composed almost entirely of fragments of broken amphorae dating from the time of the Roman Empire and it contains the
remains of an estimated 24,750 amphorae. These amphorae were fees paid to Rome and almost all of them came from the
Baetica province (present Andalusia, Spain), and they contained one only product: olive oil. The rest of them came from
Tripolitania, a former province of Libya and Byzacena (Tunisia), Gaul and some regions of the Italian Peninsula.
Dressel 20 amphora and Tripolitania amphorae, respectively.

5. The amphorae arrived to Rome’s harbour, where the oil was probably decanted into bulk containers. Then, empty amphorae were
probably carried up the mound on the backs of donkeys or mules and then broken up. Finally, lime was sprinkled over the broken
pots to neutralise the smell of rancid oil.
Discard amphorae in Testaccio Mount.

6. Structure
The archaeological excavations indicate that this artificial mound was not a haphazard garbage dump, but it was a highly
organised and carefully engineered creation. The mound was raised as a series of level terraces with retaining walls, made of
nearly intact amphorae, which were anchored in place.
Terraces on Testaccio Mount.

7. Baetican amphorae
Amphorae were the main container for transport and storage in Antiquity. 80% of amphorae found in the Testaccio correspond to
Baetican vessels, classified as Dressel 20. Due to its morphological features, Dressel 20 amphora was an excellent container for sea-
transport: strong, large and with globular shape, not common in other types of amphorae. This amphora weighted around 30 kg and
had a carrying capacity of 70 kg. They were between 70 and 80 cm high and their diameter, around 60 cm.
Dressel 20 Amphora.

8. Why the Romans found it necessary to dispose of the amphorae in this way? One possibility is that the Dressel 20 amphora may
have been unusually difficult to recycle or maybe it broke into large curved fragments that could not be reduced to small shards, so
discarding them was cheaper.
Amphorae wall.

9. Inscriptions
Inscriptions were written on many Roman amphoras. The epigraphy on Baetican amphoras was done in two stages: stamps and
incised marks (graffiti) before firing and painted inscriptions (tituli picti), written in black or red ink while amphoras were being filled
or afterwards.
Baetican stamp referred to a family of producers of oil from the 3rd century AD. It comes from Las Delicias, a oven near Ecija.

10. Stamps provide with information about the owner of the olive-oil and sometimes they refer to the olive-oil producer or the oven
where the amphora was made. Graffiti ante cocturam are generally characters or numbers and they indicate groups of amphorae
and sometimes they show the day or year of production and the name of who controlled it. Painted inscriptions (tutili picti) indicate
tara, net weight and the trader name. The State civil servants regulated that the written information was correct and then they
wrote down the place of control, weight, and name of officeholder.
A Dressel 20 amphora with examples of tituli picti and potters' stamps found at Testaccio Mount.

11. The tituli picti on the Testaccio Mount amphorae tend to follow a standard pattern and indicate a rigorous system of inspection to
control trade and deter fraud. This has allowed archaeologists to determine that the oil in the vessels was imported under State
authority and was destinated to the people of Rome or to the army. Moreover, these data made the Testaccio Mount the biggest
record of the Roman Empire’s economy and it included precise information about the trade of one of the basic food in the
mediterranean diet: olive oil.
Painted inscriptions with red ink on a Tripolitania amphora. Tutili picti on a Dressel 20 amphora.
http://archaeospain.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/current-world-archaeology-testaccio.pdf

12. ARCHAEOMETRIC ANALYSIS
This analysis’ purpose is to clarify the place of production of the amphorae and to find connections between Baetican amphoral
workshops and the amphorae found in Testaccio. For that, amphorae found in the Testaccio Mountain and amphorae found in
some towns in the Baetica were compared.
Amphora on an exhibition in Rome.

13. Baetican and Testaccio amphorae were made using the same technology and employing the same kind of clay from the river
Guadalquivir, refined and baked in ovens with a temperature between 650 and 800º C. This demonstrates that the origin of half of
the amphorae of the Testaccio came from six Baetican towns: Cerro de los Pesebres, Romero, La Catria, El Tejarillo, Malpica,
Parcela de los Galves.
Amphorae process of production. Evolution of the Baetica oil-amphorae during the Roman Empire.

14. The Baetica province
The Roman province of Baetica was one of the major olive-oil suppliers. Olive-oil was produced, as well as amphorae, in a region
between Cordoba, Seville and Ecija. This area included many isolated towns, but unified by the River Guadalquivir.
Location of the Baetica province in the Roman Empire.

15. Amphorae production
Along the river banks, more than one hundred pottery workshops have been found, what reveals that ovens worked for nearby
villas. Excavations have shown that ovens were arranged in rows and operated at the same time. They had a round shape,
reached a height of 6 meters and were built with broken sherds of amphorae.
Ovens in Tejarillo and Arva
(Seville), respectively.

16. Commercial network
The Empire's frontiers were extended further away in the Mediterranean sea and continental Europe, so governors had to
organise such a large territory and feed Rome and the administrative and military system. In this redistributive system, the
Baetican olive-oil, paid as tax, also reached the Empire's frontiers, since it was part of the legions’ supply. That is why Baetican
amphorae are so common in Britain and the Germanic-Danubian frontier.
Map of Britannia that shows the density of imports of Dressel 20 from the Baetica

17. Contribution
The huge amount of amphorae at Testaccio Mount illustrates the enormous demand for olive oil of imperial Rome. It has been
estimated that the hill contains the remains of as many as 24,750 million olive oil amphorae, into which some 6 billion litres of oil
were imported. Moreover, the amphorae have provided with a lof of information about the evolution of the trade between the
Iberian Peninsula, the north of Africa and Rome.
Routes of the olive oil from Baetica.
The Roman Empire exploited the resources of the Iberian Peninsula, both
agriculture and mining, and established its economic structure there.
Hispania imported products, but lots of Hispanic goods were distributed
across the Empire, such as olive oil, wine or garum. In addition, the Roman
provinces in Hispania had to pay taxes to the Roman Empire, in order to
maintain the Roman legions and administration.

18. Archaeological investigations
The first archaeological investigation in the Testaccio Mount began in January 1872 under the German archaeologist Heinrich
Dressel, who developed a classification for ancient amphorae, based on his investigation at Testaccio Mount. Afterwards, the
archaeologist George Edward Bonsor observed the huge presence of Baetican amphorae in Testaccio Mount. Further important
work was carried out in the 1980s by the Spanish archaeologists Rodríguez Almeida, José Remesal and José María Blázquez, in
collaboration with the Dipartamento di Scienze della Terra of the University of Rome.
Heinrich Dressel George Edward Bonsor

19. SOURCES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Testaccio
http://ceipac.gh.ub.es/MOSTRA/e_expo.htm
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monte_Testaccio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Titulus_pictus
http://jbcarpio.blogspot.com.es/2012/04/anforas-y-criminales.html