Silin Coastal Villa Fish-Salting Vats
About
A coastal survey west of Leptis Magna mapped fish-salting vats built into one of the elite villas strung along this stretch of Tripolitanian shore, alongside olive presses and pottery kilns serving the same wealthy households. The Silin villa, famous today for its mosaics, sat inside a working landscape where Rome's richest African families ran salting operations alongside farming. Fifty-two ancient sites turned up along a single stretch of coastline in the 2010 survey, showing how thoroughly this shore was developed for export industry. Pliny's praise of Leptis's own garum likely drew on exactly this hinterland.
What happened here
Rows of stone vats sunk into the ground beside the sea, and the smell reaches a long way inland. Small fish and the guts of larger ones are layered with salt and left in the sun for weeks; the liquid that separates off is drawn away as fish sauce and the residue is sold cheaply as paste. Grades run from a luxury sauce that costs more than good wine down to the version bought by everyone else. Tunny is netted in season from lookout towers on the headland, and the fishing, salting, potting and shipping all happen within a few hundred metres. Amphorae are stamped with the maker's name. Towns built on this are rich, and they are built downwind of themselves.
Sources
- researchgate.net, 'A topographic research sample in the territory of Lepcis Magna: Silin'
- Schorle, 'Report on the preliminary season of the Lepcis Magna Coastal Survey', ancientportsantiques.com
Nearby
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