A Roman Fish-Processing Facility at Tel Dor, Israel: Reinterpreting the Roman ‘Purple Dye Factory’

Abstract

In this article we suggest that the Roman industrial complex on the coast of Tel Dor in Israel, previously interpreted as a purple dye factory, should be reinterpreted as a cetaria of similar scale to those in the western Mediterranean. We use analogous evidence from cetariae in Spain and Morocco to support this new interpretation. The identification of the Tel Dor fish-processing facility sheds new light on the participation of Dor in the globalisation of the Roman Mediterranean economy.