Editing Amphora (section)

==History==
===Prehistoric origins===
[[File:Banpo amphora.jpg|thumb|right|Amphora found in [[Banpo]] (China), made by the [[Yangshao culture]]; 5000–3000 BC; [[Guimet Museum]] (Paris)]] 
Ceramics of shapes and uses falling within the range of amphorae, with or without handles, are of prehistoric heritage across Eurasia, from the Caucasus to China. Amphorae dated to approximately 4800 BC have been found in [[Banpo]], a [[Neolithic]] site of the [[Yangshao culture]] in [[China]]. Amphorae first appeared on the [[Phoenicia]]n coast at approximately 3500 BC.

In the Bronze and Iron Ages amphorae spread around the ancient [[Mediterranean Basin|Mediterranean]] world, being used by the [[Ancient Greece|ancient Greeks]] and [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] as the principal means for transporting and storing [[grape]]s, [[olive oil]], [[wine]], [[Vegetable oil|oil]], [[olive]]s, [[cereal|grain]], [[fish]], and other agricultural products.<ref name=Adkins196/> They were produced on an industrial scale until approximately the 7th century AD. [[Barrel|Wooden]] and skin containers seem to have supplanted amphorae thereafter.

They influenced [[Chinese ceramics]] and other East Asian ceramic cultures, especially as a fancy shape for high-quality decorative ceramics, and continued to be produced there long after they had ceased to be used further west.

===Ancient Greece: fancy shapes for painting===
{{Further|Ancient Greek vase painting|Pottery of ancient Greece}}
[[File:Amphora Athens Louvre A512.jpg|thumb|upright|Large late Geometric Attic amphora; 725–700 BC; [[Louvre]] (Paris, France)]]

Besides coarse amphorae used for storage and transport, the vast majority, high-quality painted amphorae were produced in Ancient Greece in significant numbers for a variety of social and ceremonial purposes. Their design differs vastly from the more functional versions; they are typified by wide mouth and a ring base, with a glazed surface and decorated with figures or geometric shapes. They normally have a firm base on which they can stand. [[Panathenaic amphora]]e were used as prizes in the [[Panathenaic Festival]]s held between the 6th century BC to the 2nd century BC, filled with olive oil from a sacred grove. Surviving examples bear the inscription "I am one of the prizes from Athens", and usually depict the particular event they were awarded for.

Painted amphorae were also used for funerary purposes, often in special types such as the ''[[loutrophoros]]''. Especially in earlier periods, outsize vases were used as grave markers, while some amphorae were used as containers for the ashes of the dead. By the Roman period vase-painting had largely died out, and utilitarian amphorae were normally the only type produced.

====Greek amphora types====
Various different types of amphorae were popular at different times:

=====Neck amphora (c. 6th–5th century BC)=====
On a neck amphora, the handles are attached to the neck, which is separated from the belly by an angular carination. There are two main types of neck amphorae:
* the [[Nolan amphora]] (late 5th century BC), named for its type site, [[Nola]] near [[Naples]], and
* the [[Tyrrhenian amphorae|Tyrrhenian amphora]].
There are also some rarer special types of neck amphora, distinguished by specific features, for example:
* the [[Pointed amphora]], with a notably pointed toe, sometimes ending in a knob-like protrusion
* the ''[[Loutrophoros]]'', used for storing water during ritual ceremonies, such as marriages and funerals.

=====Belly amphora (c. 640–450 BC)=====
In contrast to the neck amphora, a belly amphora does not have a distinguished neck; instead, the belly reaches the mouth in a continuous curve. After the mid-5th century BC, this type was rarely produced. The ''[[pelike]]'' is a special type of belly amphora, with the belly placed lower, so that the widest point of the vessel is near its bottom. The ''pelike'' was introduced around the end of the 6th century BC.

=====Panathenaic prize amphora=====
Another special type is the [[Panathenaic amphora|Panathenaic prize amphora]], with [[black-figure vase painting|black-figure]] decoration, produced exclusively as prize vessels for the [[Panathenaia]] and retaining the black-figure technique for centuries after the introduction of [[red-figure vase painting]]. Some examples bear the inscription "ΤΩΝ ΑΘΗΝΗΘΕΝ ΑΘΛΩΝ" meaning "[I am one] of the prizes from [the goddess] Athena". They contained the prize of oil from the sacred olive tree of the goddess [[Athena]] for the winners of the athletic contests held to honour the goddess, and were evidently kept thereafter, and perhaps used to store wine, before being buried with the prize-winner. They depicted goddess Athena on one side (as seen on the second image on this page) and the athletic event on the other side, e.g. a scene of wrestling or running contest etc.

<gallery widths="145px" heights="200px">
File:Terracotta Panathenaic prize amphora MET GR147.jpg|[[Panathenaic amphora|Panathenaic prize amphora]] for runners; {{Circa|530 BC}}; terracotta; height: 62.2&nbsp;cm (24{{fraction|1|2}} in.); [[Metropolitan Museum of Art]] (New York City)
File:Hellenistic Glasamphora from Olbia Antikensammlung Berlin 3.jpg|Greek amphora; 2nd half of the 2nd century BC; glass; from [[Olbia]] ([[Corsica and Sardinia|Roman-era Sardinia]]); [[Altes Museum]] (Berlin)
</gallery>

===Ancient Rome===
[[File:Roman Holy Land 1st-3rd century AD lead pilgrim's votive amphora "Ampulla".jpg|thumb|right|Miniature Roman Holy Land 1st–3rd century AD lead pilgrim's votive amphora "Ampulla"]]

By the Roman period utilitarian amphorae were normally the only type produced.

The first type of Roman amphora, Dressel 1, appears in central Italy in the late 2nd century BC.{{sfn|Panella|2001|p=177}} This type had thick walls and a characteristic red fabric. It was very heavy, although also strong. Around the middle of the 1st century BC the so-called Dressel 2-4 starts to become widely used.{{sfn|Panella|2001|p=194}} This type of amphora presented some advantages in being lighter and with thinner walls. It has been calculated that while a ship could accommodate approximately 4500 Dressel 1, it was possible to fit 6000 Dressel 2–4 in the same space.{{sfn|Bruno|2005|p=369}} Dressel 2-4 were often produced in the same workshops used for the production of Dressel 1 which quickly ceased to be used.{{sfn|Panella|2001|p=194}}

At the same time in [[Cuma (Italy)|Cuma]] (southern Italy) the production of the ''cadii cumani'' type starts (Dressel 21–22). These containers were mainly used for the transportation of fruit and were used until the middle imperial times. At the same time, in central Italy, the so-called [[Spello]] amphorae, small containers, were produced for the transportation of wine. On the Adriatic coast the older types were replaced by the Lamboglia 2 type, a wine amphora commonly produced between the end of the 2nd and the 1st century BC. This type develops later into the Dressel 6A which becomes dominant during Augustan times.{{sfn|Bruno|2005|p=369}}

In the Gallic provinces the first examples of Roman amphorae were local imitations of pre-existent types such as Dressel 1, Dressel 2–4, Pascual 1, and Haltern 70. The more typical Gallic production begins within the ceramic ateliers in [[Marseille]] during late Augustan times. The type Oberaden 74 was produced to such an extent that it influenced the production of some Italic types.{{sfn|Panella|2001|p=194}} Spanish amphorae became particularly popular thanks to a flourishing production phase in late Republican times. The ''[[Hispania Baetica]]'' and ''[[Hispania Tarraconensis]]'' regions (south-western and eastern Spain) were the main production areas between the 2nd and the 1st century BC due to the distribution of land to military veterans and the founding of new colonies. Spanish amphorae were widespread in the Mediterranean area during early imperial times. The most common types were all produced in Baetica and among these there were the Dressel 20, a typical olive oil container, the Dressel 7–13, for [[garum]] (fish sauce), and the Haltern 70, for [[defrutum]] (fruit sauce). In the Tarraconensis region the Pascual 1 was the most common type, a wine amphora shaped on the Dressel 1, and imitations of Dressel 2–4.

North-African production was based on an ancient tradition which may be traced back to the [[Phoenicia]]n colony of [[Carthage]].{{sfn|Panella|2001|p=207}} Phoenician amphorae had characteristic small handles attached directly onto the upper body. This feature becomes the distinctive mark of late-Republican/early imperial productions, which are then called neo-Phoenician. The types produced in [[Tripolitania]] and Northern Tunisia are the Maña C1 and C2, later renamed Van der Werff 1, 2, and 3.<ref>Van der Werff 1977-78.</ref> In the Aegean area the types from the island of [[Rhodes]] were quite popular starting from the 3rd century BC due to local wine production which flourished over a long period. These types developed into the ''Camulodunum'' 184, an amphora used for the transportation of Rhodian wine all over the empire. Imitations of the Dressel 2-4 were produced on the island of Cos for the transportation of wine from the 4th century BC until middle imperial times.{{sfn|Bruno|2005|p=374}} Cretan containers also were popular for the transportation of wine and can be found around the Mediterranean from Augustan times until the 3rd century AD.{{sfn|Bruno|2005|p=375}} During the late empire period, north-African types dominated amphora production. The so-called African I and II types were widely used from the 2nd until the late 4th century AD. Other types from the eastern Mediterranean (Gaza), such as the so-called Late Roman 4, became very popular between the 4th and the 7th century AD, while Italic productions ceased.

The largest known wreck of an amphorae cargo ship, carrying 6,000 pots, was discovered off the coast of [[Kefalonia]], an [[Ionian Islands|Ionian]] island off the coast of [[Greece]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/roman-shipwreck-kefalonia-fiskardo/index.html|title=Biggest ever Roman shipwreck found in the eastern Med|last=Buckley|first=Julia|date=2019-12-16|website=CNN Travel|language=en|access-date=2019-12-17}}</ref>