Whilst Roman architecture has long stood as a discrete branch of classical studies, investigated for its artistic merit and cultural importance, the technical details of Roman construction have only recently started to receive considerable attention. This thesis contributes to a growing trend in Roman scholarship, that of the investigation of the processes, materials, and technologies behind the Roman built environment. The most prestigious buildings of the Empire often remain the focus of many of these studies, and so this thesis turns to explore the use of more everyday buildings and building materials, seeking a Romano-British vernacular, and investigating the processes of construction, building material production, and transport. It is argued, through using theoretical calculations of building material quantities, that even for relatively minor constructions, considerations of building material supply must have represented highly significant economic and logistical investment. To comprehend fully the subject it is asserted that building materials should not be treated, as they often are, as disparate artefacts, divided by substance into stone, ceramic, mortar, metal, etc., but rather they should be considered as related fragments of a building. They require synthetic analysis, through which a far truer understanding of the incredible effort involved in construction in the ancient world can be gained. The built environment of Roman Oxfordshire, and the Roman building material assemblage from Dorchester on Thames, are used as case studies. Primary analysis of building materials is carried out using an integrated analytical approach, combining thin section petrography with scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive x-ray analysis. The outcomes of these analyses are interpreted against a background of archaeological and historical evidence for construction and material supply, in both the Roman and later periods, in the region and beyond.

Cette étude analyse les céramiques communes romaines provenant de la cité de Cumes (Naples, Campanie) sur un arc temporel très étendu, depuis le IIe siècle av. J.-C. jusqu’à l’abandon du site durant l’Antiquité tardive. Après avoir examiné les données disponibles sur la production et la circulation des céramiques dans cette région de la baie de Naples, on analyse les mobiliers inédits des fouilles dans le forum, conduites par l’Università degli Studi di Napoli « Federico II », dans le cadre du projet Kyme, un programme de recherche et de mise en valeur des vestiges de la ville antique avec la participation de deux universités napolitaines et du Centre Jean Bérard (CNRS). Les données recueillies sur le site par les diverses équipes clarifient le rôle de Cumes comme centre de production céramique. Certaines céramiques communes fabriquées par les potiers de la ville connaissent une très large diffusion et sont parmi les productions les mieux attestées dans tout l’Empire romain: c’est le cas de la céramique dite à engobe rouge pompéien (ceramica a vernice rossa interna, Pompeian Red Ware o Pompejanisch-rote Platte). Les caractéristiques spécifiques du site et de l’assemblage de céramique commune étudié ont encouragé à adopter pour ce travail un système de classification différent de celui utilisé pour les productions communes de la Campanie jusqu'à présent. Chaque type est illustré analytiquement, avec le support d’une large documentation graphique et, dans la plupart des cas, des données fournies par l’étude des lames minces. L’examen des mobiliers provenant des fouilles du forum de Cumes et le réexamen des vases attestés dans la ville et en dehors du site, ont permis la révision des connaissances antérieures sur la production et la chronologie des types, en les confirmant ou en les modifiant. La documentation recueillie permet de dégager le cadre complexe de la production de céramique commune à Cumes. En outre, l’étude des importations a fourni nouveaux éléments sur les échanges commerciaux atteignant le site et la région phlégréenne, très influencés par la présence du port de Puteoli, porte de Rome sur les provinces de l’Afrique e de l’Orient. En examinant les variations du répertoire des formes représentées et les pourcentages des céramiques communes locales par rapport aux autres productions de l’Empire au cours des siècles, il a été possible d’observer des changements dans les flux commerciaux et dans les habitudes des individus. Il s’agit d’élever le regard des objets quotidiens pour atteindre les changements sociaux et économiques intéressant le site et le Champs Phlégréens entre le Haut Empire et l’Antiquité tardive. / This study analyzes Roman Coarse Wares from the city of Cumae (Naples, Campania), over an extended period, from the II century B.C. to the abandonment of the site in the late Antiquity. After examining the available data on pottery production and circulation in this area of the bay of Naples, the unpublished assemblages from the forum are analysed. These contexts were found during the excavations carried out by the Università degli Studi di Napoli “Federico II”, in the framework of the Kyme Project, in which two Neapolitan universities and the Centre Jean Bérard (CNRS) are involved to promote the research and the valorisation of the ancient city. New data sets collected by these different teams highlight the role of Cumae in pottery production. Some coarse wares produced in Cumae were widely traded across the entire Roman Empire, in particular the so called Pompeian Red Ware (ceramica a vernice rossa interna, céramique à engobe rouge pompéien or Pompejanisch-rote Platte). The characteristics of the site and of the coarse ware assemblages led to the adoption of a classification system fundamentally different from those used in studies on Coarse Wares made in Campania until now. Every type of pottery is analytically described and illustrated, with profile drawings and, in most cases, with the support of data provided by thin-section study. The examination of Coarse Wares discovered in the excavations of the forum of Cumae and the re-examination of available documentation about Coarse Wares finds from the city and elsewhere, leads to review our previous knowledge about the chronology of each type and production, confirming or modifying them. The collected documentation allows us to reconstruct the framework of Coarse Wares production in Cumae. Furthermore, the study of imported Coarse Wares from the forum of Cumae provided new clues for reconstructing trade evolutions in the city and in the Phlegraean Fields, strongly influenced by the vicinity of the port of Puteoli, gateway of the Roman provinces of Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean. Examining forms evolutions and their percentage of the local and imported production through centuries, we observe changes in trade and in individuals habits and how everyday objects give insights on social and economical changes at Cumae and in the Phlegraean Fields during the Early Roman Empire and the late Antiquity.

The port site of Berenike Troglodytica - located on the Egyptian Red Sea coast - served the spice and incense routes that linked the Mediterranean World (specifically the Roman Empire) to India, Southern Arabia and East Africa. In the Greco-Roman period the site was at the cutting edge of what was then the embryonic global economy, ideally situated as a key node connecting Indian Ocean and Mediterranean trade for almost 800 years. It is now located in an arid, marginal, hostile environment but the situation must have been very different 2300 years ago, at the time of its founding. At the time of elephant-hunting trips during the Hellenistic period before the inception of its important role in the global markets of the day in the Roman period Berenike would have to have looked much different to what we can now imagine. What was it like then, when the first prospectors visited this location at the time of Ptolemy II? Why this particular place, and this particular landscape setting seemed such a propitious location for the siting of an important new harbour? Given the importance of the port over almost a millennium it is perhaps surprising that very little is known about the different factors impacting on the foundation, evolution, heyday and subsequent decline of the city; or the size, shape, and capacity of its harbour. The intention of this research is to address this shortfall in our knowledge, to examine the drivers behind the rise and fall of this port city, and to explore the extent to which the dynamics of the physical landscape were integral to this story. Using an innovative Earth Science approach, changes in the archaeological 'coastscape' have been reconstructed and correlated with periods of occupation and abandonment of the port, shedding light on the nature, degree and directionality of human-environment interactions at the site. This work has revealed profound changes in the configuration of the coastal landscape and environment (including the sea level) during the lifespan of Berenike, highlighting the ability of people to exploit changes in their immediate environment, and demonstrating that, ultimately, the decline of the port was partly due to these landscape dynamics. To further explore these themes the landscape reconstructions have been supplemented by semi-quantitative analyses of a suite of variables likely to influence the initial siting of new ports of trade. These have shown that although the site of Berenike was ideal in terms of its coastal landscape potential, possessing a natural sheltered bay and lagoon system, the choice of location was not solely influenced by its environmental conditions. Additionally, a detailed review of vessels that plied Red Sea and Indian Ocean routes is presented here in order to better understand the design and functioning of Berenike's harbour. This serves the purpose of identifying unifying features that provide more detail about the size and draught of vessels and the potential capacity of the harbour basin. By using this multi-scalar approach it has been possible to reconstruct the 'coastscape' of the site through the key periods of its occupancy and those phases immediately before and after its operation. This has wide-ranging implications for researchers studying ancient ports along this trade network as a larger database will tease out more details about how influential the landscape was in the initial siting of the port and its subsequent use and decline.