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10
MARKETS, AMPHORA TRADE
AND WINE INDUSTRYThe Case of Thasos
Chavdar Tzochev‘At once a dream and a nightmare’ is how John Davies ( 2001 : 27) has char-
acterized the potential of transport amphora evidence for economic history.
Davies’ pithy observation rightly points out both the enormous potential of
amphora studies and the well-known difficulties in using this evidence. His
review of amphora studies emphasizes two related problems. On the one hand,
working with this type of evidence requires specialized knowledge, which
makes it unattractive for some economic historians. For most ancient histori-
ans the study of amphoras appears to be a very specialized field, the domain
of a small group of international specialists communicating in their own lan-
guages (literary and figuratively). The other side of the problem is the scarcity
of analytical works, which bridge the gap between ‘raw’ amphora data and
their potential ‘consumers.’ It is true that during the 1980s and 1990s amphora
studies were dominated by debates about the problems associated with deriv-
ing economic figures and historical conclusions from amphora sherds, much
of it very pessimistic (Empereur 1982 ; Garlan 1999b: 140). Nevertheless, this
sceptical approach brought several benefits: first, it prevented misguided con-
clusions based on improper methodology, and second, it stimulated the devel-
opment of an improved methodology. After all, knowing what cannot be done
with the amphora evidence is the right place to start when trying to dis-
cover what can be done with this evidence. At the same time, there has been
a growing recognition that ‘if amphora studies are to contribute to economic