The Ovoid Amphorae in the Central and Western Mediterranean: Between the Last Two Centuries of the Republic and the Early Days of the Roman Empire

Cargo amphorae crossed the Mediterranean in vast numbers, carrying the products on which ancient households and markets depended. During the final centuries of the Roman Republic, several related types with distinctive oval-shaped bodies appeared across the region. Their shapes, places of manufacture and archaeological findspots offer clues to how production and exchange were changing as Roman power expanded.

The specialists gathered in The Ovoid Amphorae in the Central and Western Mediterranean follow production from places including Brindisi, North Africa and the Guadalquivir valley, then trace vessels found in Italy, Gaul and farther afield. Studies examine a shipwreck near Styra, finds at Ostia and Pompeii, and traces of organic contents preserved in some containers. These pots are evidence of journeys made by goods, techniques and people—not just a classification problem for ceramic archaeologists.