Byzantine Amphorae from Ephesos
Amphorae are important sources for the reconstruction of trade relationships, agricultural production and habits of consumption. They were containers for a variety of goods, in particular wine, oil, fish products and fruits, including dates and olives. Traded over long distances, they enable the reconstruction of economic networks, yet also provide decisive information about regional crop production and, to a lesser degree, also about livestock farming, in particular fish breeding. Finally, they are also indicators of the prosperity and cultural identity of consumers.
During the Byzantine era Ephesos remained integrated within a Mediterranean trade network, which allowed it to transport into the city agricultural goods over long distances in containers produced for that purpose, mostly amphorae, and also to distribute products from its own region.
The goal of the investigation is an evaluation of the amphora finds of the Byzantine period in Ephesos, taking into consideration questions of consumer behaviour of differing social classes, as well as the trade network of the city against the background of large-scale social transformations over the course of the Byzantine era. Amphorae have been selected from find-sites of various functions, and on this basis, whether a specific consumer behaviour can be deduced will be examined.
Particular attention is paid to the destructions of the 7th century. New research results attest for Ephesos, in spite of the significant decrease in population, a settlement continuum as well as a continually functioning system of harbour, city and hinterland. Agricultural production in the surroundings of Ephesos also appears to have continued unbroken and the provision of the city guaranteed. Nevertheless, wine was no longer traded in the traditional Late Roman Amphora 3, but rather in the course of the 7th century new standardised vessel forms were adopted in Ephesos, and these will be analysed as part of the project.