The Kavousi Coarse Wares: A Bronze Age Chronology for Survey in the Mirabello Area, East Crete

In this article, we present the results of our pilot study on coarse ware ceramic fabrics from the Ayios Vasileios Survey Project (Laconia, Greece). The aim of this pilot was to explore the potential of optical fabric analysis on coarse wares on the basis of (mineral) inclusions detectable by eye or under modest magnification. We aimed to answer the following question: can we discern Bronze Age coarse wares from Byzantine/Early Modern coarse wares by means of this technique? We studied 177 ceramic fragments by eye and by means of a stereo microscope. This resulted in the description of 51 different provisional fabrics. Only a few of these fabrics could be assigned to a specific time period with certainty, based on a consistent dating of the sherds by the ceramic specialists, who looked at shape, decoration and fabric. Most of the fabrics seem to consist of sherds stemming from various time periods. A comparison between our provisional fabric groups and those published by other researchers in Laconia shows that possible connections or matches between fabrics made by us should be considered either as tentative or as unreliable beyond the level of argued assumptions. To arrive at more reliable ceramic fabric connections, or the identification of similar fabrics, it will be necessary to publish not only textual descriptions and images of thin sections—as seems to be the common approach—but also series of high-resolution pictures of sherds and their fresh sections, as has been done in this article, together with more detailed descriptions of these sherds.

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Petrological Examination of Coarse-ware Stirrup-jars from Mycenae

The Annual of the British School at Athens ◽

10.1017/s0068245400019596 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 76 ◽

pp. 335-340 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

J. A. Riley

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Elemental Analysis ◽

Optical Emission ◽

Emission Spectrometry ◽

Late Bronze Age ◽

Geological Evidence ◽

Spectrometry Analysis ◽

Objective Evidence ◽

The Subject ◽

Coarse Wares

Elemental analysis of coarse-ware stirrup-jars from Thebes provided the first objective evidence for the movement of coarse wares in the Late Bronze Age Aegean. While the evidence of the optical emission spectrometry analysis indicates that stirrup-jars occur in several fabrics, the assignation of these fabrics to specific sources has been the subject of some debate, summarized and discussed in the light of fresh evidence by Catling and Jones but continued by McArthur.It was to cast more light on the general questions that a large sample of stirrup-jars from Mycenae was analysed by petrological analysis. This method of analysis involves the identification of the rocks and minerals within the clay and relates them to geological sources most compatible with the archaeological evidence. Recent discussions of the method include Courtois, Peacock, and de Paepe.With considerable help and collaboration from Dr. E. French and Lord William Taylour, and permission from the Greek Department of Antiquities, 37 samples were taken from stirrup jars from the House of the Wine Merchants (= HWM; dated LH IIIA/B), 25 from the House of the Oil Merchants (= HOM; dated to the end of LH IIIB1), and ten samples from stoppers found in the stirrup jars in the House of the Oil Merchants. The aim was to define the fabrics petrologically in order to relate these to the typology proposed by Haskell (this volume), and to suggest possible origins for them based on geological evidence.

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Patterns of Production and Consumption of Coarse to Semi-Fine Pottery at Early Iron Age Knossos

The Annual of the British School at Athens ◽

10.1017/s006824540000040x ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 105 ◽

pp. 225-268 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Marie-Claude Boileau ◽

James Whitley

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Iron Age ◽

Large Scale ◽

Ninth Century ◽

Early Iron Age ◽

North Central ◽

Production And Consumption ◽

Non Local ◽

Coarse Wares ◽

Local Geology

This paper presents the results of a large-scale petrological study of Early Iron Age (twelfth-seventh centuries bc) coarse wares from north-central Crete. 210 samples were taken for analysis from six locations at Knossos, representing distinct funerary, domestic, and ritual contexts. The pottery selected represents coarse to semi-fine fabrics and a variety of vessel types and sizes. The bulk (188) of the samples can be divided into seven fabric groups, with 22 loners or pairs. Four of the seven fabric groups exhibit a mineralogy that is consistent with local geology. The functional ceramic range is clearly reflected in the methods of clay preparation: coarse wares, cooking pot wares and fine wares have distinct clay paste technology. Three of the fabric groups, however, appear to be non-local, twelve samples coming from elsewhere in Crete, and twenty-three from elsewhere in the Aegean. Fabric groups 4 and 7 seem to represent a rather specialized local taste for exotic (possibly Cycladic) wares, used primarily for cooking. Overall the picture is one of considerable continuity in patterns of production and consumption from the Bronze Age. The introduction of the red micaceous wares (especially fabric 4) however coincides with a number of other signs of greater external contact in Knossos during the latter part of the ninth century BC. These innovations appear to be related, even if debate continues as to their significance.To άρθρο Παρουσιάςει τα αποτελέσματα μιας μεγάλης κλίμακας πετρολογικής μελέτης της χονσροεισούς κεραμεικής της Πρώιμης Eποχής του Σισήρου (12ος- 7ος αι. π.X.) από την βόρεια κεντρική Kρήτη. 210 σείγματα πάρθηκαν για ανάλυση από έξι θέσεις στην Kνωσό, οι οποίες αντιπροσωπεύουν σιακριτά ταφικά, οικιακά και τελετουργικά σύνολα. H επιλεγμένη κεραμεική αντιπροσωπεύει χονσροεισή και μεσαίας ποιότητας αγγεία ποικίλων σχημάτων και σιαστάσεων. O κύριος όγκος (188) των σειγμάτων μπορεί να σιαιρεθεί σε επτά ομάσες σύστασης πηλού, με 22 σείγματα να αποτελούν μονασικές περιπτώςεις ή ςεύγη. Tέσσερις από τις επτά ομάσες εμφανίςουν ορυκτολογία ςύμφωνη με την τοπική γεωλογία. H ποικιλία της χρηστικής κεραμεικής αντανακλάται καθαρά στις μεθόσους προετοιμαςίας του πηλού: χονσροεισή αγγεία, μαγειρικά αγγεία και λεπτότεχνα αγγεία σείχνουν σιακριτή τεχνολογία πρόςμειξης πηλού. Tρεις από τις ομάσες ςύστασης πηλού παρ' όλα αυτά φαίνεται να μην είναι εγχώριες – σώσεκα σείγματα προέρχονται από άλλες περιοχές της Kρήτης, και 23 από άλλες περιοχές του Aιγαίου. Oι ομάσες 4 και 7 φαίνεται να αντιπροςωπεύουν μια ισιαίτερα εξεισικευμενη τοπική προτίμηση για εξωτικά (ενσεχομένως Kυκλασικά) αγγεία, τα οποία χρησιμοποιούνταν κυρίως για μαγειρική. Γενικά έχουμε μια εικόνα σημαντικής συνοχής και συνέχειας στις μαρφές παραγωγής και κατανάλωσης από την Eποχή του Xαλκού στην Eποχή του Σισήρου. H εμφάνιση και εισαγωγή αγγείων κοκκινωπού πηλού με μαρμαρυγία (εισικά η ομάσα 4) (συμπίπτει με έναν αριθμό άλλων στοιχείων που σείχνουν εκτενέστερες εξωτερικές επαφές της Kνωσού κατά τα τελευταία χρόνια του 9ου αιώνα π.X. Aυτές οικαινοτομίες φαίνεται να συσχετίςονται, αν και η συςήτηση αναφορικά με τη σημασία τους συνεχίςεται.

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Tracking the social lives of things: biographical insights into Bronze Age pottery in Spain

Antiquity ◽

10.1017/s0003598x00101103 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 88 (340) ◽

pp. 441-455 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Antonio Blanco-González

Keyword(s):

Bronze Age ◽

Living Organism ◽

Late Bronze Age ◽

Central Spain ◽

Life And Death ◽

Social Lives ◽

The Social ◽

Biographical Approach ◽

Coarse Wares ◽

The Individual

Pottery has sometimes been compared to a living organism in its cycle of birth, life and death or discard. A biographical approach to an unusual assemblage of pottery from the Late Bronze Age site of Pico Castro in central Spain suggests that they had been used together at a communal feast. The shared social memory that they acquired thereby conferred on them a special status that resulted in their eventual placement in the pit, fine wares and coarse wares together. Thus the varied biographies of the individual vessels—and the individual sherds—eventually converged not only in their discard but in the episodes that preceded it.

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