La ceramica a vernice nera come marker della “romanizzazione” nel Grande Sud della Francia: dal Mediterraneo occidentale all’Atlantico meridional

The evolution of patterns of trade between Italy and Gaul shows that the processes of Hellenization first, and Romanization thereafter, took place in a non-homogeneous way for different reasons that we will try to understand. These reasons seem to vary depending on the areas taken into account. The study of black gloss ware from the South of France contributes to the understanding of dynamics of commercial exchange and cultural interaction in the Hellenistic-Roman period, between the coasts of the Italic peninsula and those of the Golfe du Lion (the Latin Sinus Gallicus) in western Mediterranean. The more or less conspicuous presence of black gloss ware, together with Italic amphorae, at different coastal sites as well as at inland sites of the Gallic Isthmus (in the various departments of the Midi-Pyrénées and Aquitania), testifies to the process and dynamics of acculturation, integration, or resistance and cultural denial, among the various peoples of this period and region (Greeks, Celts, Romans, Aquitans, Iberi). The focus of our attention will be on the black gloss ware produced in ancient Italy (as we will see especially in central Italy) and imported, and sometime imitated, in the Gallic regions. Data derive from published sites as well as some unpublished one. Through the analysis of the presence and distribution of these ceramics we will try to contribute to the understanding of occurrence and patterns of distribution of these vessels from the Golfe du Lion to Aquitaine, during a chronological period spanning from the III to the I cent. B.C.