CeVICA: an online relational database for Roman and Late Antique pottery and glass in Central Italy

Comparative approaches to pottery studies are often hindered by the use of heterogeneous typologies and the difficulty of comparing assemblages published with various approaches. The CeVICA project (“Céramique et Verre de l’Italie Centrale Antique”, https://cevica.uliege.be) addresses these limitations by bringing together, within an online relational database, a unified corpus of more than 25,000 find records. It combines the unpublished material from the Piano della Civita at Artena with the pottery and glass from over 70 published excavations and surveys in the region of Rome and southern Latium, spanning from the 4th century BC to the 7th century AD. The data are organised by operations, horizon- sites and deposits, and grouped into regional horizons defined through a harmonised typo-chronological framework. This structure enables direct comparison of the assemblages and supports a coherent reading of regional ceramic developments.
The presentation discusses the structure and capabilities of the platform, the constitution of the corpus and selected examples of the contribution of CeVICA to the diachronic study of economic and cultural dynamics around Rome. Designed within an Open Science perspective, CeVICA aims to provide a reference tool for the study of pottery and glassware in central Italy.