Réseaux de production et standards de commercialisation du fer antique en Méditerranée : les demi-produits des épaves romaines des Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer (Bouches-du-Rhône)

Abstract

Off the coast of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, in the confluence of one of the ancient branches of the Rhone, eleven wrecks transporting mainly iron have been discovered. Dated from the turn of our era (the end of the first century BC - first century AD), each one delivers between 20 and 150 tons of iron which break down into eight standardized semi-finished products (types and subtypes included), sometimes stamped. We propose to specify these typological and epigraphic characteristics through archeometric studies undertaken on around fifty of these bars. Métallographie and chemical characteristics are then established in each unit. They make it possible to understand the technical reality of a complex typology and to refine our knowledge of the ferrous production networks in the Roman Mediterranean world.