Tyritake
About
Eight shallow stone vats sat clustered together at this Bosporan Kingdom town on the Kerch Strait, built wide enough to salt whole large fish rather than fillets. Fishing and wine production carried the town's economy through the first centuries CE, once Rome extended its protection over the Bosporan kingdom. By 117 CE Tyritake had processed Black Sea fish catches for the better part of six centuries.
What happened here
Rows of stone vats sunk into the ground beside the sea, and the smell reaches a long way inland. Small fish and the guts of larger ones are layered with salt and left in the sun for weeks; the liquid that separates off is drawn away as fish sauce and the residue is sold cheaply as paste. Grades run from a luxury sauce that costs more than good wine down to the version bought by everyone else. Tunny is netted in season from lookout towers on the headland, and the fishing, salting, potting and shipping all happen within a few hundred metres. Amphorae are stamped with the maker's name. Towns built on this are rich, and they are built downwind of themselves.
Sources
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →