File:Amphora (FindID 60131-18850).jpg

English: Fragment of Roman amphora. All that survives is the neck and part of the two handles. The handles have both been broken; one of the breaks look quite recent, but the other (the shortest) handle looks as though the break occurred in antiquity and the break has also been affected by the sea.

One handle extends 47.8mm from the neck of the vessel, the other only 38.7mm. The section through the handles appears to be a rough oval. Due to the fact that the vessel has been so badly damaged it is very difficult to be sure about the exact class of amphora represented. However, it most closely resembles a Class 7 (Dressel 21-22; Ostia LIV; Callender 4) (Peacock, D.P.S. & Williams, D.F., 1991, pp96-7). According to Peacock and Williams this class of amphora should have several distinctive features; a wide mouth with a single rounded rim and handles which are oval in section. However this vessel does not have what has been described as a deep groove underneath the rim. Instead this vessel has a shallow groove underneath the rim and a raised rib below this, suggesting that some sort of material could have been wrapped over the top of the vessel and tied into position between the rim and the raised rib. The rim/neck of the vessel has also been broken in recent times and a large sherd of the rim is missing as a result. The section through the broken rim clearly shows the shallow groove and the raised rib. The top opening of the amphora measures 102.36mm in diameter. Where the neck would have joined onto the rest of the vessel the opening measures 120.15mm. The vessel stands at 99.88mm and the section of the vessel appears to be uniform measuring 7.8mm thick. However the rim has a thickness of 14.59mm. 

The vessel (which was found on the beach) has been damaged and battered by the sea and is covered in salt damage and the remains of sea creatures.