LE ROZIER
Lozère, France.
On the SW
boundary of the department where the Tarn and Jonte
rivers meet, 20 km from La Graufesenque and 30 km
from Banassac. A large quantity of terra sigillata was
found here, and excavations in the early 20th c. located
several furnaces. Molds, trinkets, and many bowls were
found; they are now in the Musée Fenaille at Rodez. Recent excavations have identified ceramic types and a number of potters.
As at Banassac, the earliest strata contain evidence of
the manufacture of painted ware with a white slip. Terra
sigillata is the most plentiful; it has a delicate, homogeneous paste and the varnish is similar to that of La Graufesenque. The bowls have thin sides. The turned forms
are: 15, 18, 22, 24, 27, 33, and 46. Carinated bowls predominate in the molded forms, their profile and decoration dating them from Tiberius to the Flavians. Cylindrical bowls of Form 30 are less plentiful, and appear to
date from Claudius' reign. A few hemispherical bowls of
Form 37 mark the decline of the workshop.
A cylindrical form with a decorated footstand occurs
frequently, and 12 different ovolos have been listed, all
of them on molds; they also occur at La Graufesenque
and Banassac. The potters include Arcani, Bio, Celsi,
Elvi, Felic, Germani, Martialis, Paullus, Sabin, Caelus,
and Bassus. The Le Rozier factory appears to be contemporary with La Graufesenque and strongly influenced by
the Rutenian potters.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Weyd, “Un atelier de céramique du Ier
siècle,”
Bull. Soc. Lozère (1903) 104-5; (1904) 14, 60-61; F. Hermet,
La Graufesenque (1934); P. Peyre,
Les
ateliers du Rozier (mimeo 1968).
P. PEYRE.
