Amphora Wreck

A shipwreck identified and dated chiefly by its cargo of amphorae, the two-handled clay jars that carried wine, olive oil, fish sauce (garum), and grain across the ancient Mediterranean. The amphora type, stamp, and form let archaeologists fix a wreck’s origin and date without other diagnostic finds; the Dressel typology, built from Roman examples, is the standard reference. Madrague de Giens off Hyeres, France, a 1st-century-BC carrier of roughly 6,000 to 7,000 Italian wine amphorae, is the textbook case.