I just looked up "amphora" and learned this: "characteristic shape and size which fit tightly against each other in storage rooms and packages, tied together with rope and delivered by land or sea. "
I never thought about the nesting characteristics of that shape as a way to maximize transportation efficiency.
My view is, there were no ties on them, they were placed in a bed of wheat (which was also shipped around the Med, but not economical in and of itself) -- hence the pointy end, which made it practical to extract the wine shipment piecemeal. After set in place, the jars were 2/3 buried in wheat. AFAIK, there's no evidence for tying them, and the wheat would have kept them stable, kept them from cracking in rough seas, and would have left them available. And the wheat would be also a saleable product.
Oh, and the wine would be long gone, bummer, diffused into the sea water long ago. The jars themselves probably bore marks indicating contents, which may still be visible. Also, some success has been had identifying former contents by residues, even after long submergence. The jars themselves are generally only found whole on wrecks, as they were not typically reused, apparently, see the "Monte Testaccio" topic for more about that.
I didn’t know teens could swim
I never thought of that either.
Thanks for posting that.
I never thought about the nesting characteristics of that shape as a way to maximize transportation efficiency.
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Think aluminum beer cans, light and compact.