This thesis is based around detailed analysis of an assemblage of newly excavated material from the Paphos Theatre site in SW Cyprus. Before presenting the new work, the academic context into which it must fit is investigated. This process of re-evaluating past work sets up a framework within which the new material would be expected to fit. In fact, research on Late Roman Cyprus is not as advanced as might be expected after over seventy years of excavation. This is most particularly the case for fundamental principles like typology and chronology for the local ceramics and glass. A review of past and current excavations shows that the typology of Cypriot Red Slip ware is widely used around the Eastern Mediterranean as a dating tool for deposits containing this distinctive Fine ware. This makes it essential that it be confirmed to be a reliable and substantially correct construct. Unfortunately, a re-analysis of the foundations of the Cypriot red Slip ware typology and chronology reveals many uncertainties and establishes the necessity for new material from secure deposits to help refine current typologies. The artefact assemblage from Area Three at the Paphos Theatre provides just such an opportunity. A combination of a series of sealed deposits, a high density of artifacts and identifiable coins has enabled a comprehensive study to be achieved. A major collapse, probably an earthquake, sealed a paved street and drainage system in the trenches and this episode can be pinpointed to around the mid to late fifth century by the coin evidence. Most interesting is the fact that the dating suggested by the coins does not match the dating usually assigned to the associated pottery and glass. After establishing the reliability of the coin evidence, the study of the other artefacts offers new ideas about the dating and typology of the local Cypriot Red Slip ware, Cooking ware, Lamps and Glass. In fact an analysis of all the pottery from the site suggests that the chronology of Cypriot Red Slip ware and Cooking ware in particular needs to be pushed back to focus on a floruit in the fourth and fifth centuries. This is at least one hundred years earlier than current typologies that focus on the mid sixth to seventh centuries. This analysis provides some reliable fixed points, for both local pottery and glass, earlier in the Late Roman sequence upon which future work can be built.

This thesis is based around detailed analysis of an assemblage of newly excavated material from the Paphos Theatre site in SW Cyprus. Before presenting the new work, the academic context into which it must fit is investigated. This process of re-evaluating past work sets up a framework within which the new material would be expected to fit. In fact, research on Late Roman Cyprus is not as advanced as might be expected after over seventy years of excavation. This is most particularly the case for fundamental principles like typology and chronology for the local ceramics and glass. A review of past and current excavations shows that the typology of Cypriot Red Slip ware is widely used around the Eastern Mediterranean as a dating tool for deposits containing this distinctive Fine ware. This makes it essential that it be confirmed to be a reliable and substantially correct construct. Unfortunately, a re-analysis of the foundations of the Cypriot red Slip ware typology and chronology reveals many uncertainties and establishes the necessity for new material from secure deposits to help refine current typologies. The artefact assemblage from Area Three at the Paphos Theatre provides just such an opportunity. A combination of a series of sealed deposits, a high density of artifacts and identifiable coins has enabled a comprehensive study to be achieved. A major collapse, probably an earthquake, sealed a paved street and drainage system in the trenches and this episode can be pinpointed to around the mid to late fifth century by the coin evidence. Most interesting is the fact that the dating suggested by the coins does not match the dating usually assigned to the associated pottery and glass. After establishing the reliability of the coin evidence, the study of the other artefacts offers new ideas about the dating and typology of the local Cypriot Red Slip ware, Cooking ware, Lamps and Glass. In fact an analysis of all the pottery from the site suggests that the chronology of Cypriot Red Slip ware and Cooking ware in particular needs to be pushed back to focus on a floruit in the fourth and fifth centuries. This is at least one hundred years earlier than current typologies that focus on the mid sixth to seventh centuries. This analysis provides some reliable fixed points, for both local pottery and glass, earlier in the Late Roman sequence upon which future work can be built.

Cette thèse a pour objectif premier de fournir une documentation complète des différentes céramiques à glaçure plombifère antiques signalées dans les contextes archéologiques de Gaule méridionale et de la vallée du Rhône. L’inventaire a mis en lumière l’existence de six groupes de production de céramiques à glaçure plombifère durant une période comprise entre la fin du Ier s. av. J.-C et le milieu du IIIe siècle apr. J.-C. Ces céramiques proviennent d’Asie Mineure, d’Italie septentrionale, des ateliers de Lyon et de Saint-Romain-en-Gal, du centre de la Gaule, d’Italie centrale et de l’atelier du Capitou (Hérault). Chaque catégorie de céramique fait l’objet d’une étude détaillée. Ce travail s’est focalisé surtout sur les céramiques à glaçure plombifère d’Italie centrale. Un nouveau classement typologique est ainsi proposé à partir de céramiques issues des contextes gaulois et romains. Certaines formes récurrentes indiquent l’existence d’un commerce - certes réduit - de ce type de céramique en Méditerranée occidentale au cours des IIe et IIIe siècles. L’étude des ateliers du Latium, couplée à des analyses archéométriques et aux dernières découvertes archéologiques, permet de localiser avec précision les centres de production de céramiques à glaçure plombifère dans la région de Rome (Nuovo Mercato Testaccio et Janicule).Cette étude apporte une meilleure connaissance de la fabrication, de la chronologie, des lieux de production, de la diffusion et du statut de cette catégorie de céramique si particulière. L’échelle géographique et chronologique large permet d’entrevoir les transferts de la technique de la glaçure des ateliers d’Orient à ceux d’Occident. / This PhD thesis aims firstly at providing full documentation about the various lead-glazed potteries reported in the southern Gaul and the Rhone Valley contexts. The inventory has pointed out the existence of six ceramic production groups over a period spending between the end of the first century B.C and the middle of the third century A.D. Ceramics come from Minor Asia, northern Italy, Lyon and Saint-Romain-en-Gal’s workshops, the center of Gaul, central Italy and Capitou's workshop (Hérault). Each ceramic category is the subject of a detailed study. This work is mainly dedicated to lead-glazed ceramics of central Italy. Investigation of consumer contexts leads to re-examine the classification of these ceramics and changes dating. A new typological classification is proposed. Some recurrent forms indicate the existence of a real trade - even reduced - of this type of ceramic in western Mediterranean area during the second and third century. The work done on Lazio's workshops, coupled with archaeometric analyses and recent archaeological discoveries, allowed the precise location of lead-glazed ceramic production centres in the Rome area (Nuovo Mercato Testaccio and Janiculum).This study of lead-glazed potteries from the southern Gaul and the Rhone valley, and more generally of the western Mediterranean basin, provides a better understanding of the production, chronology, productions sites, trade and status of this so peculiar category of ceramic. This research work based on large geographical and chronological scale, allows us to understand the process of glaze technology transfer from Eastern workshops to those of the Western workshops.