Four centuries of cooking wares at Priene: Tracing transformation in supply and trade patterns in western Asia minor (Turkey)

This paper presents the results of a diachronic and multidisciplinary investigation into the production and consumption of cooking ware in the ancient city of Priene (Turkey). Three major chronological horizons are considered, covering the fourth to the first century BCE: the late Classical/early Hellenistic period, the middle Hellenistic period, and the late Hellenistic/early Roman Imperial period. Following a thorough typological and macroscopic study of fabrics, an integrated analytical approach combining petrography and elemental analysis (wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence) was applied to investigate the main macroscopic types and fabrics that characterised cooking wares. Integration of the results from the typological study with the subsequent analyses of 90 representative samples has provided high-resolution insights into cooking ware production and consumption at Priene over the study period. In addition to tracing transformations in local and regional manufacture over time, the results show that cooking wares were imported to the city from several places and, moreover, at a scale at least equivalent to that for other categories of ceramic vessels at that time. Changes in the manufacturing technology of local and regional products and the origin of imports are discussed in the context of significant historical developments that took place in this region over the period covered by the study

Punic amphorae found at Corinth: provenance analysis and implications for the study of long-distance salt fish trade in the Classical period

The Punic Amphora Building (PAB) at Corinth, Greece, excavated in the late 1970s and dated to the mid-5th century BC, provided a remarkable archaeological context for the study of trade connections between Classical Corinth and the Punic West, based on the finding of hundreds of Punic amphorae and associated fish remains. The first studies indicated that these amphorae were mostly imported from the Straits of Gibraltar region, although the exact area/s of provenance remained undetermined. The recent macroscopic restudy of these amphorae suggested the existence of several fabrics, most probably associated with different production sites in southern Spain and/or northern Morocco. In order to verify this hypothesis, a provenance analysis of this material was performed. A total of 178 amphorae from Corinth's PAB were analysed through a combination of thin section petrography and elemental analysis by WD-XRF. Further information was obtained from the analysis of reference materials from production areas, including amphorae from known Punic kiln sites in the western Mediterranean and associated potential raw materials for ceramic production. The results indicated that Punic Gadir, present-day Cádiz, was the main supplier of salt fish which was packaged in amphorae and shipped to Corinth in the fifth century BC, although other Punic sites, especially those located on the coast of present-day Málaga province, also participated in these commercial interactions. The results of this research are of particular importance for the study of long-distance trade networks between the eastern and the western Mediterranean in the Classical period

Pottery à la mode in the Late Punic world: Production of red-slip ‘Kuass ware’ in Málaga, Spain (2nd-1st c. BC).

Recent archaeological excavations in Málaga city, in southern Spain, uncovered a Late Punic pottery workshop (2nd-1st c. BC) in association with a large assemblage of red-slip tablewares ascribed to the so-called ‘Kuass ware’ . These wares, which were very widespread in the Western Punic world, are known to have been produced mainly in the area of C´ adiz. However, the macroscopic features of the examples found in M´ alaga together with their association with a probable kiln site suggests the existence of a local production, not reported before. This hypothesis is examined in the present paper through a science-based approach, which involved the analysis of 20 samples of ‘Kuass ware’ from M´ alaga through a combination of thin section petrography and elemental analysis by WD-XRF. Results were compared to those of reference samples of ‘Kuass ware’ from the Bay of C´ adiz — their main production area — as well as to geological samples of clays and sands from the surroundings of the site in M´ alaga, and to previously published data for Punic amphorae from M´ alaga. The analytical results support the hypothesis of a local production, effectively confirming the first instance of ‘Kuass ware’ production in the Mediterranean coast of Andalusia, and provide reference data for ‘Kuass ware’ from the Late Punic city of Malaka.- Malaka, Maenoba, Rusaddir: Una historia de tres ciudades fenicio-púnicos en el Mar de Alborán’ (PID2020-114482GB-I00) - ERAAUB, funded by AGAUR of the DIUE of the Generalitat de Catalunya (2021 SGR 00696) - Fitch Laboratory (Athens

Pottery technology and production: the late bronze age pottery from Toumba Thessaloniki

The aim of the present research is to explore aspects of the social, economic and political organization of Late Bronze Age societies in central Macedonia, through an analysis of the mode and conditions of pottery production. To this end, an examination of the handmade and wheelmade "mycenaean" pottery from the latest phases of the LBA of Toumba Thessalonikis is undertaken. Conceptualising technology as a multi-dimensional social phenomenon, this research operates at two levels. At the first level, the combined application of macroscopic examination, refiring tests, thin section petrographic analysis and analysis of samples with scanning electron microscope contributes to the understanding of technological choices at all stages of production as well as the reconstruction of the overall manufacturing process of different vessel types. The aim of the second level of analysis is to evaluate technological choices, mainly on the basis of parameters of standardisation, labour investment and skill, in order to understand the organisation of ceramic production in its social context. More specifically, it becomes clear, that the manufacture of handmade and wheelmade "mycenaean" pottery in the region related to different technologies and modes of production and the independent co-existence of these two ceramic traditions reflected a clear differentiation between their respective potters' social roles.Στόχος της παρούσας έρευνας είναι η διερεύνηση πλευρών της κοινωνικής, οικονομικής και πολιτικής οργάνωσης των κοινωνιών της ύστερης εποχής Χαλκού στη Κεντρική Μακεδονία μέσα από τον τρόπο και τις συνθήκες παραγωγής της κεραμικής τους. Για το σκοπό αυτό εξετάζεται χειροποίητη και τροχήλατη "μυκηναϊκή" κεραμική από τις τελευταίες φάσεις της ΥΕΧ στην Τούμπα Θεσσαλονίκης. Αντιμετωπίζοντας την τεχνολογία σαν ένα πολυδιάστατο κοινωνικό φαινόμενο, η έρευνα διαρθρώνεται σε δυό επίπεδα: Στο πρώτο, η συνδυασμένη εφαρμογή μακροσκοπικής εξέτασης, δοκιμών επανόπτησης, πετρογραφικής ανάλυσης λεπτών τομών και εξέτασης δειγμάτων στο ηλεκτρονικό μικροσκόπιο σάρωσης, συμβάλλει στην κατανόηση των τεχνολογικών επιλογών σε όλα τα στάδια της κατασκευής και την ανασύνθεση της κατασκευαστικής διαδικασίας των διαφόρων τύπων αγγείων. Στο δεύτερο επίπεδο πραγματοποιείται αξιολόγηση των τεχνικών επιλογών κυρίως με βάση τις παραμέτρους της τυποποίησης, επένδυσης εργασίας και δεξιοτεχνίας γαι την κατανόηση του τρόπου που οργανώνονταν η κεραμική παραγωγή και του κοινωνικού πλαισίου της. Πιο συγκεκριμένα, γίνεται φανερό ότι η κατασκευή της χειροποίητης και της τροχήλατης "μυκηναϊκής" κεραμικής στην περιοχή συνδεόταν με διαφορετικές τεχνολογίες και τρόπους οργάνωσης της παραγωγής και η ανεξάρτητη συνύπαρξη των δυό αυτών κεραμικών παραδόσεων, αντανακλούσε τη σαφή διαφοροποίηση των κοινωνικών ρόλων των φορέων τους

Exploring Diversity in Household Pottery Traditions in Crusader Greece: a Case Study from the City of Thebes, Boeotia

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Early Helladic II–III Pottery Groups from Eretria (Euboea)

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