PATTERNS OF AMPHORA STAMP DISTRIBUTION 211
often reused. As a result, an amphora may be found in a location determined
by its reuse and not because it was deposited there immediately after being
imported. This makes it difficult to link the find spot of an amphora to an
importing center. But this factor does not lead to serious distortions because
it appears that amphoras were reused in a confined area, not very distant from
the place to which they were imported (Lund and Gabrielsen 2005 : 164–5;
Lawall 2011a).
A substantial gap in amphora stamp studies lies in the absence of strict rel-ative and absolute chronology for most of the series. In effect, only stamps of
Rhodes and Thasos (and on a broader level those of Cnidos) can be closely
dated. Consequently, we cannot trace the fluctuations of trade with chrono-
logical precision (Davies 1984 : 274). Still, we can start by using the existing
dating methods to identify broad chronological differences while counting
stamps.
A different problem in our ability to interpret amphora stamp distributionhas been highlighted by Gabrielsen ( 1997 : 65). By the example of the donation
of 10,000 jars of Rhodian wine to Sinope in 220 BC, reported by Polybius
(4.56.1-5), we should be warned in linking amphora stamps directly and exclu-
sively with trading activities (see also Rauh 1999 : 181 note 3; Finkielsztejn
2011 ). Apparently, when evaluating stamp distribution figures, we should take
into account also activities other than trade in the same way as Davies has
pointed out five major mechanisms responsible for the distribution of coins
( 1984 : 279–80: payment for troops, subsidies/bribes/gifts, booty, taxation,
trade).
In addition, a general problem in the interpretation of amphoras in ancienttrade is that they are often too easily viewed as containers of wine and olive
oil. This often leads to false assumptions, because transport amphoras were
used for a vast variety of goods, ranging from honey and fish to pitch and alum
(Lund and Gabrielsen 2005 : 162; Panagou 2010 : 9–13; Lawall 2011b).
At the same time, it is essential to keep in mind that various goods weretransported in other forms of containers as well, such as sacks or askoi, or even
in bulk (Panagou 2010 : 8, 9). Thus, the estimation of the trading ability of a
given region cannot be based solely on stamps. Stamps offer us but a piece of
the puzzle.
Amphora Stamp Distribution
Despite the problems encountered when using amphora stamps as evidence
for ancient trade, they still provide much valuable information about export
patterns and advance our knowledge of the ancient economy. It is impor-
tant to count the number of recorded stamps at any given location because