The Ancient Greek Economy. Markets, Households and City-States

PATTERNS OF AMPHORA STAMP DISTRIBUTION 221

In the markets of these particular regions there seems to have been a reg-

ular demand for the goods transported in the amphoras of these six cities.

Therefore, we can assume the existence of an organized production line and

of an elaborated trade network serving these markets.

Category 4: Cities with Widest Distribution of Their Amphora Stamps

It should come as no surprise that the most extensive distribution of amphora

stamps comes from the four largest production centers of stamped ampho-

ras:  Rhodes (dated from the end of the fourth to the first century BCE),

Cnidos (dated from the late fourth to the first century BCE), Thasos (dated to

the late sixth and early fifth centuries BCE and from the early fourth to the

late third century BCE) and Cos (dated from the late fifth to the first cen-

tury BCE). Even in this category of production centers that had the widest

Production

centers

Find spots

Acanthos Chios

Hellenistic

Ephesus

(“Nikandros

group”)

Corcyra

(“Corinthian

B”)

Mende

(Hellenistic,

“Parmeniskos

group”)

Paros

Troas 5 3 2

Lesbos 3 1

Aiolis 1 1 1

Pergamon 154 26 2 1

Ionia 1 15 6 3 5

Caria 6 2

Crete 1 2 1

Rhodes 15 1 2

Cyprus 5 28 1 3 3

Levant 1 45 18 2 1 2

Egypt 12 16 2 1

Alexandria 7 160 106 9 6

Libya 1

Carthage 1

Collections 120 174 11 35 62 17

Total number of
stamps

1,190a 1,330 285 503 739 215

a According to the estimation of Garlan ( 2006 : 279), the total number of known Acanthian stamps is 1,600.