Good ideas are rarely new. Container ships revolutionized liner shipping in the 1960s and 70s. Nevertheless, the idea of carrying cargo in easily handled standardized containers goes back at least 2,000 years.
I was reminded of this when reading about the recent discovery of a shipwreck found near the fishing port of Fiskardo on the north coast of Kefalonia, Greece, dating between 1 BC and AD 1, according to Greek researchers. The upper portion of the 34-meter Roman ship is gone, but its cargo of an estimated 6,0000 amphorae is in remarkably good shape. The Daily Mail notes that the Fiskardo shipwreck is one of the largest four found in the Mediterranean Sea, and the largest yet found in the eastern Mediterranean.
An amphora is a distinctive type of clay container usually with two handles, a narrow neck, and often a pointed base. It was widely used in early Mediterranean shipping to carry both liquids and dry goods. While they are commonly associated with wine, they were also used to transport grains and other goods that needed protection from the weather. They came in a variety of different sizes ranging from 5′ tall to less than a foot high. Most were around 3′ tall and carried around 100 pounds of cargo. The pointed end made them easy to sit upright in sand or soil and they could either be carried by one or two persons using the handles or be rolled up a ramp to the ship for loading. Continue reading →