Regional and Interregional Exchanges in the Eastern Mediterranean during the Early Byzantine Period. The Evidence of Amphorae

International audienceOur knowledge of the typology of eastern Mediterranean amphoras during Late Antiquity has seen a spectacular evolution over the last few years. These advances make amphoras accurate indicators for the chronology of stratigraphy at a number of Mediterranean sites. The appearance of new amphora types, revealed by the most recent surveys, and their integration into a more complex typology, underline the dynamism of production especially in the Near East (Cilicia, Phoenicia, Syria, Palestine). The commercial success of certain products, especially wine, from the beginning of the Vth century, widespread in all the regional areas which participated in long-distance trade in Late Antiquity, offers testimony of a new way of production and of a successful commercial reconversion. The precise definition of production areas is the new goal of specialists interested in the organization of the centers of production in the East. This is difficult to establish because of the paucity of data concerning amphora workshops which depend on random finds in archaeological surveys. However, comparison of different sources (texts, iconography, typology) enables the reduction of possible areas and the evaluation of their place in the mechanisms of trade and diffusion