The contents of unlabelled Ancient Roman and Egyptian amphoras reflect the smaller scale local transit of secondary domestic cargoes

The role of the amphora in classical Mediterranean and North African trade is glimpsed through titula picti and contemporary records. These documented cargoes may, however, be disproportionately represented if high value and graded goods were more likely to have been labelled or recorded. In this assessment of eight ancient amphoras, likely authentic ancient cpDNA sequences up to 87bp in length were recovered from an unlabelled North African amphora from the Medinet el Gurob harem town, which dates to approximately B.C. Using traditional PCR and cloning methods, we identify these as Vicia faba (fava bean).