Potsherd: Atlas of Roman Pottery
Introduction
Wares
Mapping & Databases
Other topics
Principal amphora production sites.
Roman amphora shapes, and amphoras on wall-painting from Pompeii
W. Smith Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (London, 1875).
W. Smith Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (London, 1875).
Introduction
Amphoras were the transport containers of the Graeco-Roman world, are are usually large pottery vessels, with handles, for the storage and transportation of liquids, especially wine, olive oil and other foodstuffs. The study of the production, distribution and dating of amphoras (and indirectly the products they originally contained) is one of the most important sources for the analysis of the the Roman economy. Amphoras are commonly found in shipwrecks of the Roman period, particularly in the western Mediterranean.
| Ware | Abstract | Source(s) | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B4 amphoras | A small slender amphora with rounded shoulder, narrow neck, beaded lip and either one or two tight strap handles in a distinctive red-brown micaceous fabric. This is a long-lived type, produced in western Asia Minor from the 1st to 6th centuries AD, with a wide distribution around the Mediterranean and across the northern provinces. | 200 | 550 | |
| Camulodunum 189 (`carrot') amphoras | A small amphora with a conical `carrot'-shaped body, with horizontal ribbing on the outer surface and two small handles, in a red-brown sandy ware. The type was produced in the eastern Mediterranean, perhaps Egypt or Palestine, and widely distributed around the Mediterranean and across the north-west provinces during the 1st century AD. | 40 | 100 | |
| Dressel 1 amphoras | A tall cylindrical amphora with angular shoulders, long straight handles and a collar rim. This form is the most important Italian wine amphora of the late Republican period, with a wide distribution around the Mediterranean (with many examples from shipwrecks) and across the north-west provinces. | -150 | -10 | |
| Dressel 2-4 amphoras | A tall cylindrical amphora with angular shoulders, characteristic bifid handles and a beaded rim. This is the most important wine amphora of the early imperial period, both produced in many regions (notably Italy, Gaul, Spain and the Eastern Mediterranean, but also southern Britain) and exported widely. | 0 | 100 | |
| Dressel 20 amphoras and allied types | A large globular amphora with substantial cylindrical handles and a prominent beaded or angular rim in a characteristic granular fabric, produced in the Spanish province of Baetica from the 1st to 3rd centuries and exported in very large numbers around the western Mediterranean and across the north-west provinces. | 0 | 250 | |
| Dressel 7-11 `salazon' amphoras | A series of cylindrical two-handled amphoras in pale fabrics produced in southern Spain with a wide distribution around the western Mediterranean and across the north-west provinces during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD. | 20 | 120 | |
| Gauloise 12 amphoras | A flat-based two-handled amphora with a thick projecting rim with multiple grooves on the uppers surface. Produced in Normandy (FR) with a largely local distribution but some specimens in Britain. | 180 | 300 | |
| Gauloise flat-based amphoras | Flat-based two-handled amphoras typically in a fine-textured micaceous fabric. Produced at a large number of sites across southern France (Languedoc and Provence/FR), and very common in the north-west provinces during the 2nd and 3rd centuries. | 50 | 250 | |
| Haltern 70 amphoras | A tall cylindrical two-handled amphora with a collared rim, grooved handles and a solid spike, in a distinctive granular fabric. Produced in the Spanish province of Baetica and widely distributed across the north-west provinces during the 1st century AD. | 40 | 100 | |
| Kapitän II (`Hollow foot') amphoras | A cylindrical two-handled amphora with tapering neck and a short, hollow foot in an orange-red fabric. Probably produced in the Aegean region (GR) and widely distributed around the eastern Mediterranean, but less common in the west. | 250 | 350 | |
| London 555 amphoras | A cylindrical two-handled amphora with a groove just below the rim, handles with a groove on the outer face and a solid spike, in pale fabrics. A relatively rare type, only recently recognised as a class on sites in Britain and Gaul. | 55 | 125 | |
| Mid-Roman Campanian amphoras | A cylindrical two-handled amphora with oval-section handles and an almond-shaped rim. The class (only recently recognized) was produced in Italy and has been recorded in gaul and Britain. 3rd century AD. | 200 | 300 | |
| North African cylindrical amphoras | Cylindrical two-handled amphoras of various forms in red fabrics with a distinctive white wash on the outer surface. Produced in Tunisia and widely distributed around the western Mediterreanean and across the north-west provinces from 2nd to 5th century AD. | 140 | 550 | |
| Pascual 1 amphoras | A cylindrical two-handled amphora with a tall collared rim in either dark red or pale cream-coloured wares. Produced in Catalonia (ES), and more rarely in southern Gaul (FR), and distributed across the north-west provinces during the 1st century AD. | 0 | 40 | |
| Rhodian (Camulodunum 184) amphoras | A two-handled amphora with peaked handles, a cylindrical neck and beaded rim. Produced on the island of Rhodes (GR) and adjacent parts of the Asia Minor, and widely distributed around the Mediterranean and across the north-west provinces during the 1st and 2nd centrury AD. | 0 | 150 | |
| Richborough 527 amphoras | A short cylindrical amphora with small handled and an almond-shaped rim with coarse rilling on the outer body, in a distinctive ware with a greenish tinge and abundant inclusions of volcanic glass. Produced in the Eolian Islands (near Sicily/IT) and distributed around the western Mediterreanean and across the north-west provinces during the 1st to 3rd centuries AD. | 20 | 230 |
URL: http://potsherd.net/atlas/Class/AMPH •
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