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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 October 2013
The necropolis of the city of Tharros in Sardinia has been extremely prolific in tomb furniture, and many lamps have been found there. Over forty lamps from this site are in the collections of the British Museum. All were acquired at the same time, and most of them were said to be from tomb groups. The groups containing lamps are Tombs 1–10, 12, 16, 18–19, 22, 26, 30–31, 33, 60–63, 65–71 (the tomb numbers for the whole collection run from 1–33, 50–57, 60–63, and 65–71; there are thus several gaps in the sequence).
The great majority of the British Museum lamps from Tharros are of Athenian manufacture and with the recent publication of Howland's book on lamps from the Agora these can be dated very accurately. But unfortunately such is the indeterminate nature of the tomb groups themselves that these lamps cannot be used to date the objects said to have been found with them. As will be seen in the brief descriptions given below in the Catalogue, many of the objects found in a given tomb are in almost impossibe chronological juxtaposition to one another, and few tomb groups, if any, can be regarded as homogeneous (except perhaps the Roman tombs 50–57 with glass cinerary urns and brittleware pottery, which, being lampless, do not concern us here). But looking at the objects from the tomb groups with lamps as a whole, one might put forward the following remarks.
2 Howland, R. H., Greek Lamps and their Survivals, 1958.Google Scholar
3 I know of only a few Etruscan lamps, for example, BMC Lamps no. 3 from the Polledrara Tomb (which might have been for funerary use only) and the ornate lamp in Cortona Museum (Giglioli, , L'Arte Etrusco, pl. ccxxxGoogle Scholar). Also one in Berlin, and one in Naples, , JHS lx 46, 47.Google Scholar
4 Officer's Report vol. 56 (Jan.–May 1856); extracts quoted with permission of the Trustees of the British Museum.
5 Christie and Manson, Sale Catalogue, 1–2–3 June 1857. Catalogue … Collection of Antiquities … Found in the Necropolis of Tharros …, the property of the Commandant Barbetti. Although a larger collection, it realized less than half the price paid by the British Museum for its purchases from Tharros. This indicates that the latter's price was enhanced by its division into tomb groups. Incidentally, the 400-odd coins in Christie's sale plus the 80 in the B.M. collection add up suspiciously near to the ‘500 monnaies anciennes’ mentioned in Barbetti's description of the objects offered to the Museum. I am grateful to Messrs. Christie for allowing me to see this catalogue.
6 JBAA vii (1852) 239 ff.
7 This possibility was put forward by Tamelli, A. in MA xxi (1912) 168.Google Scholar
8 The numbers given to the lamps here are not intended to supersede their B.M. Catalogue and Registration numbers; they are for the purposes of this article only.
9 The dates given for the Punic lamps and pottery are only approximate and are based on comparisons with those in P. Cintas, Céramique Punique. It is apparent from this publication that dates are inclined to vary with place of origin and the excavator.
10 The tomb numbers quoted in BMC Lamps are for the most part wrong.
11 The terms ‘glaze’, ‘paint’, and ‘dressing’ cover all fired-on colouring matter.
12 The term ‘found with’ is used for convenience only in the brief descriptions of the various objects said by the Register to be from a particular tomb group.
13 I find Howland somewhat confusing here: one could wish for a greater difference between his Types 24c prime and 25A prime.
14 On pl. 9 of BMC Lamps the lug appears on the right—the image of this lamp (and the others on the same plate) has been reversed in the reproduction process. This has happened also to pls. 7, 8, and 14.
15 O Arqueòlogo Português, Nova Serie ii, pl. 34. 64.
16 Wheeler, R. E. M., London in Roman Times 65, fig. 15, 7.Google Scholar
17 Information kindly supplied by Professor Marvin C. Ross.
