Greek Amphoras

Can Tacó (Montmeló/Montornès del Vallès) is a Roman Republican site dated roughly in the last
quarter of the 2nd century B.C., which was initially tagged as a military outpost, a kind of fortified
house, but recently has been defined also as an administrative centre. Its location on the top a
hill controlling some of the most important hubs of land communication in this region reveals its
importance in this period. This paper presents in detail the site, but also includes the study of three
exotic amphora stamps, whose origins and dating helps to have a better understanding of the site.

Riassunto
In quest’articolo si sostiene e si argomenta la necessità di un corpus informatizzato di bolli greci e la sua utilità per la ricerca non solo nell’ambito dell’Economia Antica ma anche in quello della Storia Sociale del mondo greco. Si presenta inoltre la banca dati relazionale elaborata dal CEIPAC, di prossima pubblicazione on-line.
Parole chiave: Informatica, Banca dati, Epigrafia anforaria greca, Anfore rodie in Sicilia, Storia economica, Storia sociale, Instrumentum domesticum, Anfora, Bollo.
Abstract
The current article aims to point out and argue the need of a computerized corpus of Greek amphora stamps as well as to prove its usefulness in the research not only in the Ancient Economy field but also in the Social History of the Greek World. It is also presented the relational database developed by CEIPAC, which will be shortly published on -line.
Key words: Information technology, Database, Greek amphoric Epigraphy, Rhodian Amphoras in Sicily, Econonic History, Social History, Amphora, Stamp.

An impressive assemblage of transport amphorae has been lately revealed in Astypalaea, the westernmost island of the Dodecanese, during rescue excavations carried out by the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Dodecanese. The amphorae had been secondarily used as burial pots in a cemetery exclusively reserved for infants. This cemetery was located separately from the ancient common necropolis, on the southwest slope of Kylindra hill below the area where the ancient city had once being standing with its citadel beneath the medieval castle.
Three thousand burial pots have been recovered so far in the infant cemetery of Kylindra, a number which is estimated that can rise up to the double until the area is fully excavated. The amphora, especially its commercial type, stands out for the most popular shape for the burial pots with 1900 samples, followed by 340 hydriae and 140 cooking pots, while only a few domestic vases of other shapes have been found. The shape of the remaining 600 burial pots cannot be distinguished for the present, due to their bad condition of recovery; however it is estimated that among them the number of amphorae will be proportionally high.
The management of this numerous collection of amphorae and other burial pots appears to be a continuous challenge for the Ephorate of Antiquities of the Dodecanese, because its housing requires spacious storerooms along with a laboratory appropriately equipped for its conservation, unavailable in Astypalaea for the time being. At the same time a research project has to be organized, in order to scientifically document the practice of infant burials in Astypalaea and additionally reveal important information about its commercial ties with the Aegean and other areas of the Mediterranean during the long lasting period of eight centuries that the infant cemetery was in use. Last but not least is the need for increasing the accessibility of the Kylindra archaeological material not only to future researchers but to common visitors as well.
This paper focuses on the management problems of the amphorae from the infant burials, along with the archaeological material from Kylindra as a whole, and proposes solutions for its conservation and safe storage which will also ensure accessibility to all those who are interested in visiting this unique collection.