Amphora

[gfish]

I've been on a Time Team watching kick recently. And it has left me wondering... why were amphora shaped that way?



It seems like a really stupid shape, particularly given their bulk carrier status.

Comments

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

Maybe they were intended to be buried in the dirt to keep the contents cool?

[catsittingstill.livejournal.com]

actually Kip says they were set into sand, about 1/3 of the way up their sides--and even carried on ships this way--apparently because ancient Greece didn't have a whole lot of flat surfaces to set large liquid-holders down on.

[gfish.livejournal.com]

Hrm, interesting. That could be a bias of modern thinking on my part. Still seems a bit odd for the Romans, though. They were so obsessed with right angle architecture.

[ilmarinen.livejournal.com]

Definitely looks like you'd be setting them down into sand. Seems a good way to keep them from moving around on you.

-B.

[beaq.livejournal.com]

The article at the URL below seems to confirm my first thought, that they are stacked on their sides in interlocking rows, each layer with necks pointing outward on both sides. Also, easy to carry.

http://www.davidgibbins.com/Museums.htm

[beaq.livejournal.com]

Especially useful if the bottom of the ship is rounded, but I don't know that to be the case.

[randomdreams.livejournal.com]

I think the bottom of most trade ships back then was filled with rock ballast, and the bilge deck over that was flat, but I'm no expert.

[sistawendy.livejournal.com]

I remember seeing an amphora stand somewhere, but I get the impression that the usual attitude in which they were stored was horizontal. You'd need an airtight plug to ship them by sea anyway, right?

[ishidav.livejournal.com]

grenade :D