A large clay amphora, reportedly originating from the sea area off Torone in Halkidiki, is being exhibited for the first time at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, as part of the exhibition program titled “New Acquisitions / New Approaches” (October 1 – December 31).

It is a large commercial/transport Mycenaean stirrup-neck amphora from the Late Bronze Age—a unique specimen of its kind in the Museum’s ceramic collection—likely used for storing and transporting plain or aromatic oil. The amphora was donated to the Museum in 2018 by Elisavet Papanikolaou. Its surface, encrusted with marine organisms, suggests that the vessel had rested for years in a calm and dark marine environment, i.e., in deep waters.

“If its (alleged) origin from the Torone Gulf is accurate, then it represents the northernmost example of this type of amphora in the Aegean. In that case, is its deposition in the sea linked to an event from Mycenaean times? For example, an unknown shipwreck, anchorage, or forced disposal of cargo due to rough seas? Or perhaps to secondary movement in later times, with the vessel being transported there caught in fishermen’s nets? What do its petrographic and chemical analyses indicate about its probable origin and production center? Can we suggest a hypothetical maritime route for it based on studies of prehistoric Aegean navigation channels? Which Late Bronze Age coastal sites in the Toronean Gulf could have served as a final destination or intermediate stop along this supposed route? Ultimately, it is almost inevitable that an archaeological find not coming from a secure excavation context—such as this amphora—raises more interpretive questions than it provides clear answers,” the Archaeological Museum states, inviting visitors to explore these questions by visiting the exhibition “New Acquisitions / New Approaches.” In addition to the amphora, visitors will have the opportunity to see other objects either recently acquired and presented for the first time to both the scientific community and the public, or retrieved from storage for display through a new approach, following restoration, reinterpretation, or new scientific data.

Moreover, the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki will host an international scholarly conference on October 10–11, 2025, focusing on commercial amphorae, titled: “Amphoras and the Archaeology of Ancient Economies (8th through 1st Centuries BC) | Part 3 THESSALONIKI: Regional Production – Regional Circulation: Amphoras and Aegean Communities.”

The event aims to bring together researchers from Greece and abroad to share new discoveries with colleagues and the public, and to discuss issues related to the production, distribution, circulation, and use of commercial amphorae in the Aegean and surrounding regions.