Fragment of the rim of a mortar with a stamp [C(ai)] Bellici / Zmaragdi, (type CIL XV, 1, 2418), found during the excavation works of 1983 on the wreck of Punta Scifo A. It was undoubtedly part of on-board provisions. This type of a mortar, attributed to the workshops of North Syria in the region of Basit, was manufactured between the end of the III century A.D. and the beginning of the IV century A.D. (see HAYES 1967, pp. 344-345 and BLAKELY et Alii 1992, p. 204; LAJTAR 1994; YANGAKJ 2009, pp. 247-248. For a dating of the production since the mid-III century A.D., see VALLERIN 1994).
The dating of the wreck, previously not determined with certainty, was established between the end of the III century and the beginning of the IV century A.D.
The artefact does not present traces of biological degradation.
Blakely et alii 1992 = Blakely J. A., Brinkmann R., Vitaliano C. J. 1992, Roman mortaria and basins from a sequence at Caesarea. Fabrics and sources, in Caesarea papers. Straton’s Tower, Herod’s harbour, and roman and Byzantine Caesarea, R. L. Vann (ed.), Ann Arbor 1992, JRA suppl. 5, pp. 194-213.
Hayes J. W. 1967, North Syrian mortaria, in Hesperia XXXVI, 41, pp. 337-347.
Łajtar A. 1994, Ein bestempel tes keramikfragment aus bethshean (zu ZPE 95, 1993, s. 52, taf. I a), ZPE 102, pp. 269- 270.
Medaglia S., 2008, Per un censimento dei relitti antichi lungo la costa crotonese. Nota preliminare, in Ricerche archeologiche e storiche in Calabria: modelli e prospettive, “Atti del convegno di studi in onore di Giovanni Azzimmaturo (Cosenza 2007)”, Cosenza.
Medaglia S. 2010, Carta archeologica della provincia di Crotone: paesaggi storici e insediamenti nella Calabria centro-orientale dalla Preistoria all’Altomedioevo, Ricerche IV. Collana del Dipartimento di Archeologia e Storia delle Arti, Università della Calabria, Rossano.
Medaglia S., Beltrame C., Lazzarini L. 2013, La navis marmorum di età romana ‘Punta Scifo D’ (Crotone). Risultati preliminari della prima campagna di indagini subacquee, in Rivista di Archeologia XXXVII, pp. 137-165.
Vallerin m. 1994, Pelves estampillés de Bassit, in Syria 71, 1-2, pp. 171-204.
Yangaki A. G. 2009, North syrian mortaria and other Late roman Personal and utility objects bearing inscriptions of Good Luck, in «BYZANTINA ΣYMMEIKTA» 19, pp. 247- 287.