Una produzione di mortai lapidei di età altomedioevale nell’area del teatro di Marcello

Abstract

This paper considers a group of stone mortars found during excavations in the area of the Theatre of Marcellus at the end of the
1920s. The interest in this group of mortars derives from the fact that examples of similar size present carving lines that can be
connected with different steps of their production. These factors and their discovery in a specific context have led us to believe that we
are in the presence of the products of a workshop located in the Theatre of Marcellus. The limited morphological evolution of the
mortaria over the centuries does not allow for a precise dating. However, the evidence of mortars reworked from original capitals
dating back to the fourth-fifth centuries AD allows us to consider this period as a terminus post quem. The activity of the workshop
dedicated to the production of marble mortars can therefore be included among the commercial activities that gravitated around the
ancient Portus Tiberinus around the ninth century.