Thebes at the time of the Catalans a deposit between the Ismenion Hill and the Elektra Gate

A bothros excavated in 2011 in the Thebes parking area revealed large quantities of late-13th- to mid-14th-century a.d. domestic waste, including glazed table wares, coarse wares, a small coin hoard, and other everyday objects, highlighting aspects of economic activities, domestic life, and waste management in Thebes at this time. The assemblage also offers a rare glimpse of Thebes amid significant political change: the Catalan takeover of the city and the wider area of central Greece in a.d. 1311. Both the richness of the bothros's material and its location outside the city walls argue against canonical notions of the abandonment of Thebes and economic stagnation caused by the Catalan occupation

Between Tradition and Experimentation: Unraveling Technical Skills Behind the Art of Sgraffito in Medieval Thebes

Between Tradition and Experimentation: Unraveling Technical Skills Behind the Art of Sgraffito in Medieval Thebe

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

International audienc

Thebes at the Time of the Catalans: A Deposit Between the Ismenion Hill and the Elektra Gate

A bothros excavated in 2011 in the Thebes parking area revealed large quantities of late-13th- to mid-14th-century a.d. domestic waste, including glazed table wares, coarse wares, a small coin hoard, and other everyday objects, highlighting aspects of economic activities, domestic life, and waste management in Thebes at this time. The assemblage also offers a rare glimpse of Thebes amid significant political change: the Catalan takeover of the city and the wider area of central Greece in a.d. 1311. Both the richness of the bothros’s material and its location outside the city walls argue against canonical notions of the abandonment of Thebes and economic stagnation caused by the Catalan occupation

A "globalization" of glazed pottery trade and production across the late medieval Mediterranean?: An integrated approach to Zeuxippus wares found at Corinth and Thebes, mainland Greece

International audienceThe Fourth Crusade (1204 AD) brought about significant disruptions across the Byzantine Empire. In Greece, the arrival of Frankish lords and Italian rulers contributed to shape new demands for a variety of goods and commodities. This eventually led to cross-cultural adaptations of culinary traditions, dining practices and artistic tastes. The development of new pan-Mediterranean networks of commercial and artistic exchanges is notably documented by the widespread diffusion of glazed tablewares in the Late Byzantine “Zeuxippus Ware class I” across Turkey, Greece and northern Italy. It remains unclear, however, whether these exchanges were purely commercial and artistic in nature, or also involved some technological transfers and thus some learning and regular contacts between producers. This paper aims to shed light on this question through a combined analysis of style, provenance, production and decoration techniques of 25 glazed bowls with incised patterns and yellow glaze, including 18 samples of Zeuxippus wares. The archaeometric methods involved are petrography, WD-XRF and SEM-EDS. The material under study is dated to the 14th century and comes from stratified contexts at the city of Corinth, then under Florentine rule, and from the Frankish-controlled city of Thebes, which was one of the main economic ally of the Venetian colony of Negroponte in central Greece. Our results provide further evidence for the production of yellow-glazed bowls with incised spiral and concentric circles at Thebes during the 14th century [1]. Corinth received similar productions from Byzantine Anatolia, Byzantine Thrace and the Veneto, but it might not have produced any Zeuxippus ware itself. The Genoese, who were the main rivals of Venice for trade in the East, exported glazed bowls with distinct decoration to the Peloponnese. As for decorative techniques, slipping materials were specific to each region of production, but kaolinitic clays were used in at least three Greek workshops of Byzantine tradition. Several clay selection strategies, pot forming techniques, glazing and colouring methods were shared between Frankish Greek and Venetian workshops. This raises the question of a mobility of craftsmen and provides insights into the complex production and trade strategies of glazed tablewares, which were not only dependent on economic alliances of the time, but also on the access to certain technical knowledge and primary materials for glaze and pigment preparation. Acknowledgements: The authors wish to thank the Greek archaeological services of Boeotia and Corinthia, as well as the Greek Ministry of Culture, for giving us permission to sample archaeological pottery at Thebes and Corinth. This research has been supported by grants from IdEx – “Initiative d’Excellence” postdoctoral program at Université Bordeaux-Montaigne, and by the Williams Fellowship in Ceramic Petrology at the Fitch Laboratory, British School at Athens. [1] Waksman Y. et al., “The Main ‘Middle Byzantine Production’ and Pottery Manufacture in Thebes and Chalkis”, ABSA 109 (2014), 379-422

The diffusion of pottery products, decorative styles and craft technology in the late medieval Mediterranean: A Greek perspective

International audienceThis paper provides insights into commercial, artistic and techno-social interactions during the 14th century, a period of Mediterranean History that is mostly defined by social crises, political instability and conflicts, particularly in Greece. We tackle this question through an integrative study of provenance and technology of sgraffito tablewares, a sophisticated item of material culture that became widely distributed within and beyond the Byzantine world in late medieval times. The focus is on 155 fragments found at Thebes and Corinth, two strategic centers of international commerce and political organization in mainland Greece. We combine archaeological and stylistic approaches with mineralogical, chemical and textural analyses of the ceramic bodies, slips and glazes. The goal is to assess complexity, diversity and overlaps in pottery trade networks, spheres of artistic influences, and corridors of technological transfers, each of which results from a specific type of interaction between peoples during this politically unstable period

Connections among craft communities in the late medieval Mediterranean: New considerations on patterns of use of the Naples Yellow pigment

International audienceLead antimonate (Pb2Sb2O7), or Naples Yellow, is one of the most common yellow pigments found in Renaissance majolica wares and European paintings. The knowledge for its recipe is considered as being transferred to Venice via the migration of eastern Mediterranean glass artists in the early 1500s (Dik et al. 2005). Naples Yellow is also the most ancient synthetic pigment used for colouring and opacifying glass, as evidenced by findings from Egypt (around 1450 BC, Wainwright et al. 1986) and Mesopotamia (1300-1000 BC, Hedges 1976). It was used by Roman glassmakers until a shortage of imported lead antimonate yellow glass from the East probably forced a switch to the use of tin-based yellow pigments in the 4th century (Tite et al. 2008). Later on, iron oxides were used as the main yellow colorant in Byzantine lead-rich glazed pottery (Palamara et al. 2016) even though a very small percentage of lead antimonate occurs in some Late Byzantine sgraffito wares from Macedonia (Tanevska et al. 2009) and western Anatolia (Kimirzi et al. 2012). With this background in mind, we present results obtained from the integrative analysis of 35 samples of 14th-century sgraffito wares found at the cities of Corinth and Thebes, mainland Greece. Aside from the local production of yellow-glazed sgraffito wares in both cities, a significant number of yellow-glazed wares was imported from northern Italy (Liguria, Veneto, Po Valley) and from the Marche. Yellow-glazed pottery in late Byzantine styles was imported from Thessaloniki, as well as from the Venetian colony of Negroponte/Chalkida. The use of iron oxides was systematic among these productions, in concentrations varying from workshop to workshop. In addition, antimonate-based yellow pigments are detected in several Greek productions of Byzantine tradition (Chalkida, Corinth, Thessaloniki) and in Venetian ceramics, whereas lead-tin yellow pigments were used in Greek workshops under Frankish (Thebes) and Catalan (Thebes, Corinth) rules. Our results suggest that Greek workshops might have had a particular importance in production and diffusion processes of Naples Yellow pigments in the Byzantine world, either through primary ore extraction, trade of processed materials (glass), or transmission of pigment recipes. Moreover, they provide new insights into the way Naples Yellow recipes may have reached Venice during, or even before, the early Renaissance period. We also explore the possibility of a Latin origin for the use of tin-based yellow pigments, thereby exploring political changes and state organization as potential catalysts for the diffusion of craft traditions

Connections among craft communities in the late medieval Mediterranean: New considerations on patterns of use of the Naples Yellow pigment

International audienceLead antimonate (Pb2Sb2O7), or Naples Yellow, is one of the most common yellow pigments found in Renaissance majolica wares and European paintings. The knowledge for its recipe is considered as being transferred to Venice via the migration of eastern Mediterranean glass artists in the early 1500s (Dik et al. 2005). Naples Yellow is also the most ancient synthetic pigment used for colouring and opacifying glass, as evidenced by findings from Egypt (around 1450 BC, Wainwright et al. 1986) and Mesopotamia (1300-1000 BC, Hedges 1976). It was used by Roman glassmakers until a shortage of imported lead antimonate yellow glass from the East probably forced a switch to the use of tin-based yellow pigments in the 4th century (Tite et al. 2008). Later on, iron oxides were used as the main yellow colorant in Byzantine lead-rich glazed pottery (Palamara et al. 2016) even though a very small percentage of lead antimonate occurs in some Late Byzantine sgraffito wares from Macedonia (Tanevska et al. 2009) and western Anatolia (Kimirzi et al. 2012). With this background in mind, we present results obtained from the integrative analysis of 35 samples of 14th-century sgraffito wares found at the cities of Corinth and Thebes, mainland Greece. Aside from the local production of yellow-glazed sgraffito wares in both cities, a significant number of yellow-glazed wares was imported from northern Italy (Liguria, Veneto, Po Valley) and from the Marche. Yellow-glazed pottery in late Byzantine styles was imported from Thessaloniki, as well as from the Venetian colony of Negroponte/Chalkida. The use of iron oxides was systematic among these productions, in concentrations varying from workshop to workshop. In addition, antimonate-based yellow pigments are detected in several Greek productions of Byzantine tradition (Chalkida, Corinth, Thessaloniki) and in Venetian ceramics, whereas lead-tin yellow pigments were used in Greek workshops under Frankish (Thebes) and Catalan (Thebes, Corinth) rules. Our results suggest that Greek workshops might have had a particular importance in production and diffusion processes of Naples Yellow pigments in the Byzantine world, either through primary ore extraction, trade of processed materials (glass), or transmission of pigment recipes. Moreover, they provide new insights into the way Naples Yellow recipes may have reached Venice during, or even before, the early Renaissance period. We also explore the possibility of a Latin origin for the use of tin-based yellow pigments, thereby exploring political changes and state organization as potential catalysts for the diffusion of craft traditions