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Aegean Transport Amphoras (Sixth to First Centuries BCE): Exploring Social Tension in a Path Dependency Model

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The Critique of Archaeological Economy

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Abstract

Two aspects of the production of transport amphoras (shipping containers often for wine and oil) are considered in terms of path dependency and tensions within Greek society. Amphora shapes often align with broad geographic regions, but at times the shapes are more narrowly associated with a single polis. The geography of production is examined here in terms of the socially constructed pathways shaping amphora production. The practice of impressing names and images on amphoras before firing is often interpreted as a mechanism of civic fiscal management. Poleis often depended on their wealthier citizens for the management of complex and sometimes risky enterprises. Stability in the industry was thus achieved and yet changes to even the most complex stamping systems reveal potential tensions in the system.

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  1. Classics Department, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB, Canada

    Mark L. Lawall

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  1. Austrian Archaeological Institute, Vienna, Austria

    Stefanos Gimatzidis

  2. Austrian Archaeological Institute, Vienna, Austria

    Reinhard Jung

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Lawall, M.L. (2021). Aegean Transport Amphoras (Sixth to First Centuries BCE): Exploring Social Tension in a Path Dependency Model. In: Gimatzidis, S., Jung, R. (eds) The Critique of Archaeological Economy. Frontiers in Economic History . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-72539-6_11

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