Über mehrere Jahrzehnte sammelte und dokumentierte Ludwig Ohlenroth (1892–1959) italische Terra Sigillata mit Applikenverzierung aus über 100 Museen insbesondere in Deutschland und Italien. Sein unveröffentlichter Katalog umfasst über 800 Einzelmotive mit ausführlichen Beschreibungen und detaillierten Zeichnungen. Darunter finden sich teilweise extrem seltene, oft nur in Einzelstücken bekannte und bislang häufig unpublizierte Motive ebenso wie massenhaft belegte Bilder von Delfinen, Masken oder Rosetten. Auch über 60 Jahre nach Ohlenroths Tod geben seine Aufzeichnungen einen einmaligen Überblick über die Vielfalt und künstlerische Qualität der Applikenverzierung auf italischer Terra Sigillata.

In addition to some Italian picture lamps of the 1st century A.D., the main focus of K. Wilhelm's lamp collection is on 41 lamps of the middle and late imperial period produced in North Africa, as well as three singular plaster matrices for the manufacture of lamps with heart-shaped snout. The 32 red-tone, red engobed lamps from Central Tunisian potteries give an insight into the rich variety of snout and shoulder designs during the early phase of red-tone lamp production; they also show connections between the mirror decoration motifs and the appliquéd sigillata of the second half of the 3rd and 4th centuries. X-ray fluorescence analyses can be used to verify their production in two pottery centers.

The Archaeology of the Roman Provinces is a young discipline. As an academic subject, it has rapidly achieved great successes in the field of excavation and research and has increased our knowledge to a degree that barely keeps pace with the theoretical mastery of the results. The rapid development of scientific methods has contributed significantly to the self-assurance of the subject and opened up new perspectives for future research. Now and again it has been noted that Provincial Roman archeology has neglected its scientific foundations, methods and theories by omitting a reflection of their concepts and the validity of their findings. In the everyday research and teaching process we seldom worry about the meaning of terms such as analogy and hypothesis, chronology and periodization, or other abstract concepts. This volume deals with the basics of scientific theory, sources, methods and research aims of the subject in 140 articles. The reference book helps students to orient themselves in the language and thinking of science; but also the archaeologically interested will benefit from reading the manual.