Fish Preservation Works at Fish Migration Grounds during the Roman Era, in the Western Mediterranean and theBosporus Stretch of the Black Sea: An Archaeological Study

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Lecture of Greek and Roman Archaeology ,Department of Archaeology Faculty Of Arts,Tanta University (EGYPT)

Abstract

Together with wheat, wine and olive oil, preserved fish played a prominent role in the Roman economy, figuring highly in production, import and export. Fish curing and preservation plants were established not only at fishing sites where the fish was plentiful but all across the empire, especially inland, where preserved fish was available year round and at prices that suited every class of society. Many plants were found, the most important being in the western Mediterranean east of the Atlantic and in the Black Sea. Despite the proliferation of these plants’ remains in the western Mediterranean, however, evidence in the Black Sea, where some ruins were wiped out while others have not been discovered yet, is relatively scarce. This drove the researcher to compare the information available to her on the western Mediterranean with the Black Sea ruins with the aim of filling the gaps. Through an analytical examination of the plants at both locations, the researcher concluded that fish preservation flourished in the first and second centuries AD but had practically disappeared by the fifth century. She also concluded that many factors important to this business or required by it went into the choice of location. Plants that had an outstanding location became centers of large-scale production and export, while those less propitiously positioned were content with local production or even, due to additional factors, stopped producing preserved fish altogether.

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References

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