JAIME MOLINA VIDAL AND DANIEL MATEO CORREDOR

THE ROMAN AMPHORAE AVERAGE CAPACITY (AC)

Summary. This paper presents a methodological tool of statistical correction to

assess the capacities of different Roman amphorae, whereby ceramic values are
transformed into amounts of transported product. Based on scaled drawings of
1281 Roman amphorae, individual vessels’ capacities have been calculated by
applying a CAD software to the inner profiles. Each vessel has been classified
according to amphora types and the mean for each type has been calculated to
produce a coefficient called Average Capacity (AC). The estimated capacities
are highly reliable and show narrow confidence intervals. Therefore, they can
be applied immediately as a correction factor in studies of quantification of
amphorae aimed at characterizing trading dynamics. As such, we expect that
future statistical studies of amphorae will include this statistical coefficient to
produce more precise and reliable analysis of assemblages and, consequently,
more accurate research on the Roman economy.

INTRODUCTION

The quantitative study of amphorae has become a necessary tool for understanding the
ancient Roman economy. Amphorae are valuable since they were the most commonly used vessels
in sea and river trade for the transport of mass consumption products such as wine, oil, salted fish
and fish sauces, and their frequent occurrence in archaeological sites and their high levels of
standardization make them a great source of information and focus of analysis.
Proof of this is the growing use of quantitative analysis of amphorae assemblages to
determine trading dynamics (some of the most recent studies include: Carreras and Morais 2011;
Olmer 2013; Fernández 2014; Opait and Paraschiv 2013; Rizzo 2014; Mateo 2016). The huge
impact of new statistical applications for estimating economic growth in antiquity and some of its
main indicators (e.g. Lo Cascio and Malanima 2005; Lo Cascio 2007; Temin 2013; Bowman and
Wilson 2009; 2013; Wilson 2009; 2014, Scheidel 2012; Brughmans and Poblome 2016) makes it
essential to define more reliable statistical parameters. Quantification in archaeology started in the
1970s with the New Archaeology. However, it was in the 1990s that quantitative ceramic analysis
specifically was consolidated through several studies establishing standardized methods of pottery
quantification (e.g. Tomber 1989; 1993; Pollard 1990; Orton et al. 1993, 172; Arcelin and Tuffreau-
Libre 1998). Since then, different methodological contributions and specific applications have
appeared over the years, yielding remarkable results and offering new tools for the systematization

OXFORD JOURNAL OF ARCHAEOLOGY 37(3) 299–311 2018

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