Vinum picenum and oliva picena II : further thoughts on wine and oil presses in Central Adriatic Italy

This paper is a continuation of a previous article by the author on Roman wine and oil production in central Marche and northern Abruzzo, published in this journal in 2011. In essence, it reflects on what five years of complementary research have contributed to our knowledge on the wine and oil business in this area between the Late Republican and the late antique period (2nd century BC-5th century AD). Through a substantial expansion of the original press database and a fresh blend of both older and newer data, the author further stresses the importance of this sector in central Adriatic Italy, while at the same time expanding our view on how it is is represented archaeologically. In doing so, he revisits and refines several key-aspects of this topic, such as the chronology and layout of the production plants, as well as their relationship with wider processes of colonisation, urbanisation and agricultural exploitation in Roman Italy