About the project RED – Roman Economy in Dalmatia: production, distribution and demand in the light of pottery workshops

The main goal of the RED project is to find out as much as possible about production, distribution and demand of goods in Roman Dalmatia through most common material found in archaeological excavations – ceramics. From Late Hellenistic period when Central Dalmatia was enrolled in vivid Mediterranean trade, not only as a receiver of everything that comes from the larger center, but also as a driving force of social and economic changes establishing pottery manufactures. This social transformation was enhanced by Romans. Trade of ceramic objects (amphorae, pottery vessels, construction material) is one of the main starting points for understanding the history of the Roman economy and society. For such scientific research it is necessary to establish a project using archaeometric analysis and archaeological research and a database of ceramics. Landscape archaeology methods such as field surveys, GIS, sampling patterns and statistical analysis will be used to analyse and interpret the wealth of data. RED project will include the development of an online database of documentary, archaeological material and archaeometric samples. Aim of this project will also be to establish relations between local production and imports and to what extent was production in province Dalmatia driven by consumer demand and involvement of provincial communities within the Late Hellenistic/Republican and Imperial Roman economy.