Casgliadau Arlein

A buff amphora neck with dipinto (drawn inscription in ink). Also, a buff amphora sherd, 2 buff and red amphora fragments and a further sherd of a red sandy fabric.

Dressel 38 (Beltran IIA, Camulodunum 186c, P & W class 18). The principal contents of these amphorae were fish sauce and other salazones (e.g., garum and liquamen). Most originate at the Baetican centres of that industry (mostly the Bay of Cadiz where the clay was derived from sources at the mouth of the River Guadalete).

A minimum of eight Dressel 38 vessels were recovered at the Caerleon Legionary Museum site excavation. This, Museum Street (Telephone Exchange) 1936 excavation vessel has the characteristic iron ore inclusions of the Cadiz fabric. The type was current from the Flavian period, or slightly before, to the early/mid- 2nd century AD. The Caerleon Legionary Museum site examples are Flavian, Trajanic, or early Hadrianic in date. Cf. Amgueddfa Cymru – National Museum of Wales Accession Number 84.43H/24.1

A dipinto in ink was noted by Dr Mark Lewis during cataloguing. It is located on the lower part of the neck of the vessel just above a distinct carination at the junction of the neck and the body. It probably denotes the weight of the vessel with its contents. A less distinct line below the numerals might address the vessel to the legion:

X]XX[ LEG II A[VG