Four (4) samples of so-called Byzantine Globular Amphorae from the excavation of the rural farm at Ain Wassel (High Tunisian Tell) have been considered for organic residue analysis via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in order to better understand the function of this type of transport and storage container and shed new light on still poorly understood trade and consumption practices in Late Antique/Early Medieval North Africa. The content of this typological group of amphorae dating to the 7th-8th(?) century AD is still unknown. Following samples of the bottom of "anfora a fondo umbonato e ombelicato" (Maurina 2019), corresponding to the type Bonifay 65 (Bonifay 2004) have been analyzed in this study: Maurina 2019, Fig. 4.9, 14-17. The obtained results are available here in tabular form.
Bibliographic references:
Maurina, Barbara. “Contenitori Da Trasporto e per La Conservazione.” In Rus Africum IV: La Fattoria Bizantina Di Aïn Wassel, Africa Proconsularis (Alto Tell, Tunisia): Lo Scavo Stratigrafico e i Materiali, edited by Barbara Maurina and Mariette de Vos Raaijmakers, 245–94. Archaeopress, 2019. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvndv6tz.8
Vos Raaijmakers, Mariette de, and Barbara Maurina, eds. Rus Africum IV: La Fattoria Bizantina Di Aïn Wassel, Africa Proconsularis (Alto Tell, Tunisia): Lo Scavo Stratigrafico e i Materiali. Archaeopress, 2019. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvndv6tz
Bonifay M., Etudes sur la céramique Romaine Tardive d'Afrique, British Archaeological Reports, 2004
In general on organic residue analysis and the concept of archaeological biomarkers, see: Evershed, R. P., Organic residue analysis in Archaeology: The archaeological biomarker revolution, Archaeometry 2008, 50, 895-924. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4754.2008.00446.x.
