Amphora Stamps from Thasos [Hardback]

Ancient Thasos was renowned for its wine, which was heavily exported in ceramic amphoras across the eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea. Once a principal market in this trade, the Athenian Agora is now home to one of the largest collections of stamped amphora fragments from the island of Thasos, including 723 items dating from the beginning of the 4th to the late 2nd century B.C. This volume presents the Thasian amphora stamps of the Agora collection, contextualized in a broader discussion of their interpretation and chronology. The core contributions of the volume are an improved chronology of the officials mentioned on the stamps, based on a reassessment of archaeological evidence from the Agora and beyond, and an innovative study of the engravers who made the stamping dies. This volume also provides a critical review of the complex and still poorly understood system of control over ceramic production that underlies the stamping practice. A quantitative study based on 28,030 Thasian stamps highlights the major trends in the Thasian wine trade and offers insight into the role of Athens in this trade.

Contents
List of Illustrations
List of Tables
Bibliography and Abbreviations
Chapter 1. Introduction
Scope and Aims
Previous Scholarship
Terminology
Chapter 2. The Thasian Stamping System: Overview and Controversies
Officials
Fabricants
Devices
Exceptional Stamps
Systemic Changes and Variations in Stamp Composition
Chapter 3. Study of Engravers’ Hands
Introduction
Engraver E1
Engraver E2
Engraver E3
Engraver E4
Engraver E5
Engraver E6
Engraver E7
Conclusions
Chapter 4. Chronology
Methodology
Key Archaeological Deposits and Historically Fixed Points
Distinction of Homonyms
Toward a Revised Chronology
Chapter 5. The Thasian Wine Trade and the Athenian Agora: A Quantitative Study
Overview
Quantitative Analysis
Interpretation
Chapter 6. Catalogue
Chapter 7. Deposit Summaries
Concordance
Indexes

"“…dont je dirai d’emblée qu’il représente une nouvelle pierre angulaire dans le traitement et l’exploitation des timbres amphoriques thasiens.” "

Revue des Études Anciennes ()

""...this is an extremely successful publication of Thasian amphora stamps, which goes far beyond the simple presentation of the material. Tzochev refers to and appreciates the older research on the subject, but goes further, questions it and partially deviates in his result. His reasoning is easy to understand, even for non-specialists and is very well documented in the catalog.""

Bryn Mawr Classical Review ()