Amphora Handle

Name/Title

Amphora Handle

Entry/Object ID

L.2021.23

Description

Amphora handle with portion of rim from Newstead

Use

The handle of the amphora would have been used to help carry and handle the pottery vessel.

Context

The material and crude making of the rim suggests this amphora may have been used for everyday use, and could have been used by the soldiers or their families. The short neck and squat/short handle indicates this style of vessel would have been made in the earlier phases of the fort, as opposed to those dated in the later period of the fort, that had elongated necks, and thinner more oval handles.

Collection

Historic Environment Scotland

Category

Handle
Food Preparation & Storage

Acquisition

Accession

MEL5181

Source (if not Accessioned)

Historic Environment Scotland

Notes

Loan

Made/Created

Time Period

1st - 2nd century

Ethnography

Cultural Region

Continent

Europe

Lexicon

Nomenclature 4.0

Nomenclature Secondary Object Term

Pottery

Nomenclature Primary Object Term

Factory

Nomenclature Sub-Class

Industrial Structures

Nomenclature Class

Structures

Nomenclature Category

Category 01: Built Environment Objects

Getty AAT

Concept

amphorae (storage vessels)

Other Names

Name Type

Previous Accesssion Number

Other Name

MEL5181

Name Type

Previous Accesssion Number

Other Name

TT0069

Material

Ceramic

Color

Tan

Condition

Overall Condition

Good

Provenance

Provenance Detail

From the Roman Site at Newstead

Exhibition

Permanent Exhibition

Interpretative Labels

Label Type

Exhibition Caption

Label

Amphorae were very commonly used containers for transporting food and drink in bulk around the Empire. They were carried in racks aboard ship and could be up to 1 metre tall. Sometimes they were lined with oil or rosin to make them waterproof and were sealed with cork or clay. This shape of amphora was used to carry olive oil from southern Spain.