The transportation of amphorae, tableware and foodstuffs in the Middle and Late Byzantine period

Collective data show a high increase in the number of Late Roman/Early Byzantine shipwrecks in the Aegean, but a dramatic decline in the rest of the Mediterranean. A second even greater increase is reported for the 12th-13th centuries AD. In absolute numbers, Byzantine shipwrecks rival in the Aegean those of the Hellenistic and Roman periods. The intention of this paper is to examine Byzantine shipwrecks with cargoes of amphorae, focusing on their chronological and spatial distribution and their contents, as well as to put a spotlight on the consignments of glazed tableware favored by markets from the middle of the 12th century onwards.