Late Antique Stamped Amphorae as Evidence for Imperial Policy : The Halasarna Workshop, Cos Island

The Halasarna Workshop on Cos Island reveals insights into Late Antique (5th-7th c.) imperial policy via stamped amphorae. Research finds LRA 1 stamps marked at city level, LRA 13 at state level, under imperial oversight. Excavations show Cos’s quaestor exercitus controlled LRA 13 production, offering key historical and archaeological context.

Late Antique Stamped Amphorae as Evidence for Imperial Policy: The Halasarna Workshop, Cos Island is the culmination of over 15 years of research. It suggests the administrative stamping throughout the Late Antique (5th-7th centuries) Mediterranean of amphorae known as LRA 1 at city level and of the type LRA 13 at state level. It also presents new evidence related to the so-far unique stamped amphora workshop at Halasarna in Cos, excavated by the University of Athens. The stamps are presented in a unified catalogue and comparative study with the increasing numbers of similar examples. Special attention is given to the LR 13 stamped amphorae as the Halasarna workshop offers the historical and archaeological frame to study them. The workshop started production at Halasarna in the second half of the 6th century AD and continued for 70-100 years, during which time Cos was administered by the quaestor exercitus or ''eparch of the islands'' who operated under the direct control of the emperor. Precisely this historical situation is reflected in the archaeological evidence of the LRA 13 stamps.