TRANSPORT AMPHORAS AND MARKET PRACTICES 267
Amphoras in Markets: An Historical Perspective
Various characteristics of amphoras, therefore, contribute either positively or
negatively to the process of ‘bargaining transactions’. These characteristics raise
the likelihood that transactional processes closely resembling those in modern
bazaars and other non-standardized goods markets likely pertained in antiquity,
especially for smaller scale transactions. And yet, these same features of ampho-
ras show considerable range of variation over time and space, so a consider-
ation of the evidence from an historical perspective is necessary. The following
survey highlights archaeological indications of economic, institutional change
between the sixth and fifth centuries on the one hand and the fourth through
second centuries on the other.
Constant Features
Certain elements remain largely constant. The supply to amphora-related
transactions should have come most consistently from surplus generated by
large landowners, their tenants, or other dependents, and by the produce of
public or temple-owned land. The scale and consistent availability of such
surplus, whether in diachronic or synchronic perspective, is subject to much
debate (e.g., Hopkins 1980 ; Osborne 1991 ; Foxhall 1992 ; Kron 2008b; 2011 ).
Some degree of mobility, whether in location of land ownership or ability
to travel to marketplaces, exists in all periods even if it is more often thought
of as feature of Hellenistic Greece. Price creation throughout the period in
question could have occurred with reference to coined money (likely with
increasing frequency) (Schaps 1997 ; 2004 ; Burkhalter 2006 ; Grandjean 2006 ;
Criscuolo 2011 ). To judge from visual and literary references of various dates,
haggling was a consistent element, with external intervention in the price
realm often a possibility but one best attested for the later period (Bresson
2008 : 119–26; Migeotte 1997 ). The location and physical setting for exchange
would have always varied widely: temporary market stalls, small permanent
shops, larger stoas, and other multi-purpose market buildings (Chankowski
and Karvonis 2012 ; Karvonis 2008 ; 2010 ; Rotroff 2009 ; Milbank 2002 ). While
the latter such structures are far more commonly seen in the Hellenistic com-
mercial landscape (Mayer 2012 : 38–41), smaller and less permanent struc-
tures could have housed similar marketing behaviors as occurred in the larger
buildings. Prices are reported in terms of container type and the geograph-
ically based name of the container rather than by quality or more precise
descriptions of quantity – but here too the better evidence comes from the
later period (Kruit and Worp 2000 ). Throughout the period, the exchange
itself might involve a spectrum from direct exchange between producer and
buyer to a great distance between the producer and the buyer as mediated