Fascinating! Thanks for including the reference. It’s almost unbelievable that marking food goes back so far. I assumed that was a relatively recent development.
The Romans were very innovative in the field of commerce! Stamping other goods with their workshop of origin was also common, sometimes with both a stamp for the name and for the ‘symbol’, to make it more distinct! We can trace a lot of goods in distant provinces to the other side of the Empire for that reason, with even things like (relatively) cheap plates and cups being lost in Britain, but made in North Africa or Syria!
Does the bread in the bottom middle have that stamp on top? It’s hard to make out but looks like a man-made marking.
It looks about right, resembles this example
Fascinating! Thanks for including the reference. It’s almost unbelievable that marking food goes back so far. I assumed that was a relatively recent development.
The Romans were very innovative in the field of commerce! Stamping other goods with their workshop of origin was also common, sometimes with both a stamp for the name and for the ‘symbol’, to make it more distinct! We can trace a lot of goods in distant provinces to the other side of the Empire for that reason, with even things like (relatively) cheap plates and cups being lost in Britain, but made in North Africa or Syria!