Marisia - Maros Megyei Múzeum Évkönyve 34-35. (2014-2015)
Book Review
190 Book Review fragment of an over life size gilded bronze statue, the archaeological researches carried out by Lajos Nagy in 1929 or Melinda Kaba in 1960-1962 identified other features (e.g. possible pottery workshop, pits, post-holes, wall fragments) too that existed before the period of the macellum. The most complex chronology of the area, however, was given by Klára Póczy. Based on her excavation in 1965, she delimited different phases of the land use beginning with a period earlier than the first half of the 2nd c. A.D until the 4th c. A.D. The authors of the monographs, however, did not take for granted the archaeological reports and interpretation, and they revised every single archaeological information from the documentation of these excavations, collecting the different pieces of informations in a single and standard system. As suggested in the subtitle of the monograph (Applying news methods for old excavation materials), the old excavation methods and results were transferred into an up-to-date, “new” field of interpretation. Thus, every archaeological feature was given a standard stratigraphical unit number (SU) and the relation between these contexts was established by a complex Harris-type matrix (chapter 8). As a result of this effort, a much larger chronological sedation could have been defined, delimiting seven different phases of the area. As a matter of fact, the construction of the macellum can be dated to the phase 5, in the second half of the 3rd c. A.D. which represent one of the latest land use phase of the parcel and with the smallest quantity of recorded archaeological material. The book is composed of thirteen chapters which cover all aspects related to the researched area and the archaeological material found within its perimeter: 1. Introduction (p. 5-7); 2. History of research (p. 7-13); 3. Methods of the works - excavation documentations (p. 13-15); 4. Excavations in the area of the macellum (p 15-24); 5. The problem of identifying the pottery workshop and storeroom in the macellum area (p. 33-38); 6. Considerations for the analysis and identification of finds (p. 39-43); 7. Finds (p. 43-47); 8. Architectural and chronological conclusions (p. 77-89); 9. Abbreviations (p. 89- 91); 10. Bibliography (p. 91-101); 11. Catalogue of objects (p. 101-139); 12. Appendix (p. 139-143); 13. Tables (p. 153-198). After a short introduction, chapter 2 summarizes the researches and excavations carried out in the area, presenting the results and the exact location of each campaign. The detailed presentation of the different site documentations can be found in chapter 4 where all data are critically reevaluated. The data offered by the old excavations are followed by a wide discussion concerning the existence of a pottery workshop in the area of the macellum as it was handled earlier by Lajos Nagy and Klára Póczy (chapter 5) as a certainty. Based on the close examination of all the possible ceramic waste material and finished products the authors are, however, more precautious in this matter, claiming that no direct evidence could be pointed out - on the basis of the find material - for the existence of a workshop in the perimeter of the macellum, and the kiln unearthed during these excavation cannot be used as proofs in this context. According to the authors the large quantity of ceramic products of the same type, could argue, instead, in the benefit of a storeroom or shop in this area that might be supported by the commercial character of the respective zone, too. Chapter 6 contains the methodological basis of the find processing, focusing only on the ceramic material. The following chapter (chapter 7) is a hard attempt to identify and analyze the find material from different archaeological campaigns. The emphasis, however, falls almost exclusively on the pottery finds which are widely discussed and presented, while small finds of other material are only briefly described, without any thorough analysis. This could partially be explained with the preference of the authors for ceramic vessel products, as part of their main field of research. On the other hand, the scarce number of small finds permit only farfetched conclusions. The synthesis of the old and new results, one can find in the last descriptive chapter (chapter 8) where the archaeological finds are precisely correlated to the consecutive phases and a larger chronology is created. The elegant monograph, both aesthetic and in quality, of the Hungarian archaeologists is a noteworthy synthesis of different archaeological interpretations in time and a very good example for the current need to reevaluate older results in a very modern, up-to-date manner. It may also serve as a good model for future researches based on older investigations as it uses a standard and perseverant methodology both in find processing and in the evaluation of the documentations. On the other hand, the present monograph is the first exhaustive publication of the famous macellum area at Aquincum, and in this respect it will, hopefully, benefit from large interest in the Roman provincial research.
