From Byzantine Pithoi to Modern Cypriot Pitharia: permanence, on very long term, of the shaping techniques and uses In the Byzantine Empire, the most common solution for food preservation was to store dry and liquid substances in large earthenware jars which the use is very old in the Mediterranean. These large containers, no removable when they were full, are designated in the text by the terms πίθος / πίθοι or πιθάριον / πιθάρια. These jars were found in excavations in domestic or commercial contexts on several sites in Greece, Turkey and the Black Sea. The information provided by the archaeological reports delivers unequal information and dating is often problematic due to the long period of use of such immovable containers. They have rarely been the subject of typological study. The Byzantine historical sources - agronomy treaty, hagiography, acts of Athos - confronted to medieval estate inventories, modern travelers' accounts and ethnographic studies in Cyprus provide information on the manufacturing process of the pitharia, their capacity and their use. Archaeological data and written sources show the permanence, on very long term, of the shaping techniques and uses.