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not available all the time. For Athenians hamsi wls
imported from a distant source and consumed in summer,
out of season . Like palamut, hamsi. as mentioned above,
is caught in winter and pickled to be consumed in
summer. Pickled or salted hamsi cotld easiiy have been
preserved for two years. Since they were imported from
a particuiarly distant piace, and pickled in jars during a
p{lrticulrr season. its price m11 have been higher
compared to the other cheap salted tish sold in the streets
of Athens, which was possibly locally caught and salted
on a large scale, but sti1l affordable.
In sum. as Braund has pointed out (1995: 167), the lack
of literary evidence should not lead us into thinking that
fish, including hamsi, was not caught, salted and traded
fiom particular regions to Athens. The archaeological and
modern data allor'v us to argue that. in antiquitv, as the
main tish supply of the Black Sea. lmmsi was caught.
salted and exported in abundance especially from lake
Maeotis. the Kerch strait and the province of Trapezus.
This probably brought considerable profit to the
economies of these regions. This phenomenon can be
compared with the case of Byzantium. We shouid take
into consideration that pelamys. a kind of tunny which
comes second after hamsi in terms of the amount of the
tvpe of fish caught in the Black Sea, was saited in
Bvzantium in large quantities and this made a large contribution
to its econom.v. Besides. the sulsatnenta and gtutun
of pelant.vs from this citv were praised in antiquity.
Although hamsi does not appeer to have been valued as
much, since it was a species of small-fiy, this should not
mean that it was not imported to the citl,ofAthens. In thct.
as an abundant, cheap but tasty and healthv fish favoured
particuiariy by the common peopie of Athens, it may have
been imported tiom the Black Sea out of pref-erence and
consumed in large amounts. I think r,ve should not assume
that the Athenians ahvays imported exotic or luxury lbod
items from distant places. The individual Greek merchants
had good reasons to import plentifiri, cheap. but at the
sane time high-qualitv tbod items. especiail,v in times of
need, r.vhich thev could sell easily, as they apperled to the
taste and pocket of a consicierable portion of Athenian
societv. Hrunsi sulely constitutecl an important tbod
export t'rom the Blacli Sea in ar.rticluitv.
Biltliography
Anotrym. l()75: Hotnsi Buh!tttm ilrruc Pr.tltutsit,ali
Hukkrtdn Ritpot' (Rcport ri' tlrc Potuttiql Erpor'-
!utiotr of lTatn irl. D.P.T. Yuyul (a publication of the
Department o1' State Planning). Ankara
i\schcrson^ N. l9!l-5: Bluck Sau: Tlrc Birtltplctce of'Civil-
i.str/iott turi Burburi snr. L,ondon
Ilcl