El reino vándalo-africano y la persistencia mercantil del estrecho septegaditano (mitad s. V – primer tercio s. VI)

Abstract

The settlement of the Vandals within the borders of the Roman Empire, which at first caused a partial destruction of the Western provinces, changed course after the foundation of the kingdom of the Asdingi in North Africa, a region which had a long tradition of supplying Rome with agricultural products. A little noted aspect of this transformation toward political stability was the recovery of the Mediterranean trade. A typical
example is the Strait of Gibraltar. The sea between Ceuta and the Balearic Islands was dominated by the Vandals between 455 and 534. The archaeological evidence on both sides of the strait shows that during this time the region recovered economically and the trade route between North Africa and the markets of the Orient prospered. From the region of the strait of Gibraltar came salted fish products, which were exported in a Hispanic variant of the spatheia-amphora (Keay XXV und XXVI), a North African pottery shape inspired by the Orient and possibly intended for shipment to the Eastern Mediterranean.