Long before the Christian era, Greek colonies existed on the Spanish coast at Rhodas, Denia, Emporium (Ampurias), Saguntum (Murviedro), and elsewhere. Pottery of good design and workmanship was manufactured at these towns, and strongly influenced native art. Bowls and other objects showing such an influence were discovered by M. Bonsor in his recent excavations. Another powerful influence was that of Rome. Roman potteries existed in the suburb of Seville called Triana, and in the provinces of Cáceres and Badajoz. Mérida was also an important centre of this industry, and vessels which were used in sacred rites, such as the _aquiminarium_, the _prefericulum_, the _simpulum_, and the _urnula_, were discovered here not long ago. The name "Saguntine ware" was given by the Romans to a kind of pottery which seems to have been made along the Spanish littoral extending southward from Saguntum. Fragments of this pottery, which closely resembles the Arezzo ware,[61] are found in shoals upon the sites of Roman towns, particularly Tarragona. These _barros saguntinos_, or (as Hübner prefers to call them) _barros tarraconenses_, have been divided into four classes, namely, white, grey, red (covered with a dark red varnish),[62] and yellow striped with red. This ware is commonly adorned with garlands, animals, hunting-scenes, divinities, games, or religious ceremonies, and also bears, in nearly every case, the potter's name or mark; _e.g._ ALBINVS F ("Albinus fecit") or OF. ALBIN ("officina Albini"). More than two hundred marks have been discovered which were used by potters of Ampurias alone.