Amphoras are pottery containers which were used for the storage and
transport in the Greek and Roman world. Their importance to the
original users was their contents, and to the archaeologist they offer
a direct reflection of the large-scale movement of goods, principally
foodstuffs, in the ancient world. While many are large, two-handled
and with a rounded or spiked foot, there are exceptions to all these
rules, and `amphora' is not a typological category, but rather a
functional grouping.
This paper is a survey of the principal classes of amphoras
circulating in Britain during the Roman period (1st c. BC - 4th
c. AD). The form, fabric, sources, contents and dating of each type
are described in a series of Atlas Pages, accompanied by a
series of computer-generated maps. The Atlas pages can also be
accessed through a clickable map, based on
the source of the amphoras, through a time-line, showing which types are circulating
at any period, a visual index, as well as
through a full text search. The supporting
data include a bibliography and a
database
of the distribution of these
amphoras in Britain.