Campana dish

Description

The inner surface of the plate is decorated with concentric grooves and a riffled band; the russet coating is flecked with black brown spots and stripes. It is a piece of so called Campana tableware. The name comes from the Italian province of Campagna south of Rome. However, the piece shown was imported from Lyons, France, as an analysis of the material has established. So far about 50 fragments of Campana pottery have been found in the two Celtic settlements at the Gasfabrik and the Münsterhügel in Basle; some of them come from Italy and some from Gaul, which was romanised at an early date. Other imported articles which have come to light in the settlements are fragments of amphorae, originally used to transport wine from the Mediterranean region to Basle. Campana ware, amphorae filled with wine, and other imports such as glass were the luxury goods of their time.