An Evaluation of the Pithoi/Dolia Found in the 2020-21 Excavations at Perre

Abstract

During the 2020-21 excavations on the northeastern slopes of the rocky areas in the southwest of Perre ancient city center, significant insights into the city’s local production activities were uncovered. In addition to discovering stone mills for grinding grain, winery facilities carved into the rock were identified, indicating that this area served as a production zone. Moreover, fragments of pithoi/dolia, large containers likely used for storing products such as grain and wine produced within the settlement, were also found. This article focuses on evaluating the pithos/dolium findings discovered in the rural settlements of Perre. Two in-situ pithoi/dolia were found partially buried in the ground, and a total of 52 pithos/dolium fragments were recovered, most of which were amorphous. Based on the rim structures of 15 pithoi/dolia, five types were identified at Perre, along with an additional sample that preserved the bottom part. The typological features of the pithoi/dolia found at Perre are explained in general terms. Finds such as ceramics and coins from the second half of the 1^st century BC to the first half of the 7^th century AD have been uncovered in Perre. Examples with typological characteristics identical to those of Perre’s pithoi/dolia can be found in Mesopotamia, the Levant, Northern Africa, and Italy, particularly in Anatolia and Syria. These examples are predominantly dated to the Late Roman-Early Byzantine Period. Based on both the typological similarities with these analogously compared findings and evidence of settlement’s production capacity, the pithoi/dolia from Perre can be dated to 3^th-7^th centuries AD.

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