“The transport amphora is probably the object that is most commonty encountered in ancient shipwrecks. It is a container with specific characteristics and shape, which facilitated its safe storage in superposed rows inside the ship holds. The pointed toe was used for wedging the upper layer of amphorae between the necks of the amphorae of the lower layer, so as to reduce the possibility of cargo displacement during the journey.
one of the main causes of shipwecks in antiquity, In the Archaic, Classical, Hellenistic and Roman periods, the variations in shape of transport amphorae denote specific regional produce (Thasian, Rhodian, Chian, Koan, Corcyrian etc). They were principally used for the transport of liquids, such as wine and olive oil, but also possibly for solids, such as salted products.” (National Archaeological Museum in Athens information accompanying the Antikythera Shipwreck exhibition)

Exhibited at the Archeological Museum of Nikopolis, Epirus, Greece.