🍷 Amphora shipwrecks

Amphora shipwrecks are sunken ancient ships with thousands of amphorae on board. Scholars use them to study the wine trade of antiquity. An amphora is a clay vessel with two handles and a narrow neck, used to carry wine, oil and other goods.

What is found on the sea floor? Ships usually sailed with cargo, and amphorae lay in rows in the hold. When the ship sank, the cargo stayed in place. Clay does not decay in water, so the vessels survive for thousands of years. From the shape and the stamps on the handles one can tell where the amphora was made and where the wine came from.

What does this tell us? Researchers see trade routes, the size of cargoes and which parts of the Mediterranean sent wine. Some of the best-known finds date to the time of the Greeks and Romans. Thanks to them we know that wine travelled great distances.

These finds help us understand how long ago wine became a commodity. They are kept in museums and show that winemaking was an important part of the ancient economy.