The twentieth annual meeting of the Symposium on Mediterranean Archaeology (SOMA) was held in Saint-Petersburg, Russia on 12-14 May 2016. As in the past, the symposium provided an important opportunity for scholars and researchers to come together and discuss their works in a friendly and supportive atmosphere. The main theme of the 2016 meeting is the archaeology of the Northern Black Sea. The Northern Black sea region is an area rich in archaeological sites, on the one hand, and subject to active industrial development, a rapidly growing population and the development of port and recreational facilities on the other, with an attendant growth of pollution and waste. Therefore, in addition to traditional issues related to archaeological finds in various parts of the Mediterranean, the papers focus on new ideas for the conservation and management of sites of historical and cultural heritage.

The 18th annual meeting of the Symposium on Mediterranean Archaeology (SOMA) was held in Wroclaw-Poland, 24th to 26th April 2014. Since prehistoric times the Mediterranean has acted as a stage for intense interactions between groups inhabiting regions that are now studied mainly within various sub-fields of ancient studies. In recent years, however, the development of research techniques and analytical models of archaeological evidence have identified similar historical paths that are similar, if not, in some cases, common to these disparate areas of the ancient world from West (Iberian peninsula) to East (Anatolia and Levant), from North (Europe, Black Sea Coast) to South (Maghreb and Egypt). The 18th SOMA provided a forum for presentations related to the above-mentioned topics, as well as general themes such as the role of the sea, trade, colonization, even piracy, using archaeological data collected within contexts associated with the Mediterranean Basin and the area referred to as the Ancient Near East, ranging chronologically from the Prehistoric to Medieval periods. This current volume contains 22 papers selected from the 90 presented.

Amphorae in the Eastern Mediterranean has been designed to share the subject of amphorae which were found on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey with the wider scholarly community. Amphorae from the shipwrecks discovered during underwater research, as well as the amphora specimens held in the region's largest museum, Antalya Museum, are examined. To widen the scope of the book, the Aydin Aytug collection, which consists of amphorae collected in the region, is also included. Mediterranean amphorae which have not been found during excavations and underwater research undertaken by the author's team up to now, are also presented. The amphorae and amphora-laden shipwrecks that are examined derive from the research carried out between 2011 and 2015, conducted in Antalya province in Lycia, Pamphylia and Rough West Cilicia regions, and off the coast of Silifke, which is a part of Rough East Cilicia. This research has obtained a wealth of new information, leading to a fresh look at the archaeology in this area.