The relief- and appliqué-decorated north African terra sigillata in the LEIZA

The project investigates the embedding of Christian scenes in the imagery of the genre, their meaning and their role in the process of the Christianisation of social practices. The focus is on the question of the purpose and use of the vessels, which are widespread throughout the Mediterranean region. The aim of the study is to process and evaluate the image-bearing North African terra sigillata vessels of the fourth and fifth centuries as a source for an examination of patterns of thought and action in late Roman society, for which purpose contemporaneous glass vessels will also be considered. The focus will be on their significance in the context of milling practices and festivities. A critical catalogue and a detailed iconographic study of significant image-bearing vessels and fragments in the collection of the LEIZA serve as the material basis and starting point. The analysis is mainly limited to the appliqué-decorated forms produced in the pottery centre of Sidi Marzouk Tounsi (Central Tunisia) from the late fourth century until around 430/40, as well as to model-formed relief-decorated examples from the second half of the fourth and fifth centuries. This spectrum in particular features many Christian pictorial themes, and they are represented in large numbers in the LEIZA collection.