Made in Cumae: local production and global distribution

During the period 2004 to 2006, in the village of Cuma, a stadium, built during the 2nd century BC was unearthed. It had been erected against or overlapping the inner side of the fortifications. Abandoned very early on, the construction was covered by a deposit, consisting almost entirely of ceramic production waste (thin-walled pottery, common ware and Pompeian red ware). The deposit was not composed solely of pottery, but also contained tools (at least two spacers), structural elements of kilns and possible raw materials related to pottery processing. The majority of the pottery was common ware (pans and lids), a Phlegrean production of common ware well known in literature, for which however, a precise location has never been identified. In the case of the Pompeian red ware, the production area was identified as being in both the Phlegraean and the Vesuvian area. In reference to Cumae, Pucci identified the cumanae testae or cumanae patellae - patinae with Pompeian red ware mentioned in the sources. The context is homogeneous and chronologically defined as being between the Augustan and the Tiberian age. The presence of products from Cumae in many sites of Northern Europe, as well as along the French and Spanish coast or Adriatic areas, often bearing the signature of producers known also in Cumae (Marii and Helvii), is an interesting clue to understanding the circulation and diffusion systems of local products in an international framework. This article is focused on the local production of Cumae and includes an analysis of its circulation in other sites, with reference to both productive, typological and chronological aspects.