Medieval and post-medieval ceramics from the archaeological sites discoverd
by the Boeotia Project, Central Greece, to the present day
Vroom, J.
Citation
Vroom, J. (2003, January 29). Medieval and post-medieval ceramics from the archaeological sites
discoverd by the Boeotia Project, Central Greece, to the present day. Retrieved from
https://hdl.handle.net/1887/13511
Version:
Corrected Publisher’s Version
License:
Licence agreement concerning inclusion of doctoral thesis in the Institutional
Repository of the University of Leiden
Downloaded from:
https://hdl.handle.net/1887/13511
1., Introduction
As the study of Post-Roman ceramics in the Aegean is still very much in development, there exists no fixed system of classification for the wares. Of course, there is a broad consensus concerning the diagnosis and description of the wares, but many details, datings and even termi-nology are still under discussion. The purpose of this chapter is, however, to present the diagnostic types of Post-Roman pottery sampled by the Boeotia Project in the research area, in a classification system for the entire period under study from ca. the 7th century until the mid 20th century. This typo-chronological classification system treats 48 different wares, and it is an effort to incorporate the latest views on the wares discussed here (see table 6.1).
The classification is based on all diagnostic wares among the 12,000 post-Roman sherds in the samples of the Boeotia Project. As a consequence, the classification does not encompass all the Post-Roman wares known from the Aegean area. The subdivision into 48 wares merely reflects the result of my attempt to design a classi-fication system specifically for the wares found in
Boeotia. Although most of the main wares can be found all over the Aegean, the classification used here reflects the archaeological reality, that each specific region has its own specific (local and imported) pottery types.
I will treat the 48 wares found on the Boeotian sites in a chronological order, beginning with Red Slip Wares from the 6th-7th centuries up to Modern glazed wares of the 19th-20th centuries. It should be born in mind that the diagnostic wares presented here mostly represent only a relatively small percentage of the total sample of all 12,000 Post-Roman sherds collected in the course of the survey (ca. 23%), which included as a result of the intensive sampling many sherds (such as small, worn fragments of coarse wares) which can only be dated in a general way as ‘Medieval’ or ‘Post-Medieval’.
The emphasis in this chapter is mainly on the diag-nostic tablewares, although a start is made to present the less known unglazed domestic wares from Boeotia in a preliminary classification. Also, in case a ware of specific
interest is represented by only one fragment, I have included the ware in this chapter (although the occur-rence of only one sherd in a sample may in itself not be enough as dating evidence). The total numbers of all 48 wares are presented in table 6.2. The percentages of these wares per period will be given in tables 6.3 – 6.7 (colour plate).
Every type of ware is described according to name, fabric, surface treatment, decoration, shape, distribution and date-range. The numbers in bold type-face following the indication of the type of ware refer to the catalogue numbers of the sherds in the list of assemblages.
The names of unknown wares are sometimes merely a technical description. If possible, the provenance of the ware is included in the name. The description of the fabric is based on the sherds found on the Boeotian sites. The colour of the fabrics and decorations is described according to the classification of the Munsell Soil Color Charts(1970 edition) in natural light (e.g. 5 YR 6/6 for orange). The colours of the decorations which fall outside the range of the Munsell Soil Color Charts are described according to the standard Pantone Matching System(PMS).[1
]
‘Glaze’ is used in this chapter to indicate lead glazing;[2
] in the few instances where tin-glaze is used, it is fully described as such. ‘Slip’ is diluted clay (also called engobe), which is used by potters to distinguish the body of the vessel or as surface decoration. Wet-smoothing often leaves a thin self-slip or ‘wash’ on the outside, which differs from the thick white slip/engobe on the inside of Medieval and Post-Medieval ceramics in the Aegean (cf. Hayes 1992, 31).
under more or less conventional chronological headings. Much more important than these period labels though, are the datings per pot type. Perhaps using only these dates without the larger periods would have been prefer-able (as dates lack the historical and cultural connota-tions attached to conventional periodization), but as this study covers such an extensive timespan, it seems unavoidable to use a recognizable chronological structure. The periodization used here is in line with all recent publications on Post-Roman ceramics in the Aegean area, though never before such an extended timespan was covered in one chronological system.
The term ‘Early Byzantine’ refers here to pottery produced and used in the period between approxi-mately the 7th and 9th centuries, and ‘Middle Byzantine’ to pottery produced and used between circa the 10th and the late12th/early 13th centuries with distinctly different characteristics. Notwithstanding its shortcom-ings in archaeological use, I use the term ‘Late
Byzantine/Frankish’ for pottery used during the period from the 13th century to the mid 15th century, which is stylistically and technologically different from the previous Middle Byzantine pottery (so the term does not refer solely to imported pottery related to the new Frankish rulers over central Greece). The ‘Turkish period’ is used as heading for all pottery found in Boeotia which dates from approximately the late 15th century to the 18th century (including imports from the West). Finally, the designation ‘Early Modern’ refers to pottery roughly dating from the Greek War of Indepen-dence until the end of the Civil War (ca. 19th-mid 20th centuries).
All these designations, datings and periods are not without problems, and they will certainly not be the final word. As stated in Chapter 1, some of the preliminary period labels used by John Hayes during his initial dating of the pottery found in Boeotia, are not used here – as Hayes himself did not use them in any of his publica-tions (e.g. ‘Middle-Late Byzantine’, ‘(Late) Frankish-(Early) Turkish’). The result of the detailed study of the pottery – which was immensely helped by Hayes’ initial groupings – enables us now to diagnose and date the wares found in Boeotia more specifically, so that they can be assigned more clearly to stylistic/technological
periods. This is not to say that in the course of future research the need for new period labels or other chrono-logical divisions may not arise.
DIAGNOSTIC WARES FOUND ON THE BOEOTIAN SITES
(Late Roman – Early Byzantine period (ca. 7th-9th centuries)
Red Slip Wares: Askra Ware Ware 1
Unglazed Wares Ware 2
Unglazed Wares: ‘Slavic Ware’ Ware 2a Amphorae: Late Roman 2 / Saraçhane 9 amphora Ware 3 Amphorae: Saraçhane type 35 amphora Ware 3a
Unglazed Beehives Ware 4
Middle Byzantine period (ca. 10th-late 12th/early 13th centuries)
Fine Orange-Red Burnished Ware Ware 5
Unglazed Incised Ware Ware 6
Plain Glazed Ware (in red and grey fabric) Ware 7 Plain Glazed Ware (in white fabric) / Glazed White Ware II Ware 8
Slip-painted Ware Ware 9
Green and Brown Painted Ware Ware 10
Fine Sgraffito Ware Ware 11
Painted Fine Sgraffito Ware Ware 11a Amphorae: Günsenin 3 / Saraçhane 61 amphora Ware 12 Amphorae: ‘Otranto 1’ amphora Ware 13 Unglazed Domestic Wares Ware 14 Incised Sgraffito Ware and Champlevé Ware Ware 15
Late Byzantine/Frankish period (ca. 13th-mid 15th centuries)
‘Zeuxippus Ware’ Subtypes Ware 16 Monochrome Sgraffito Ware from Corinth (?) Ware 17 Monochrome Sgraffito Ware from Thessaloniki Ware 18 Other Monochrome Sgraffito Wares Ware 19 Brown and Green Sgraffito Wares Ware 20
Slip-painted Ware Ware 21
Polychrome Lead-glazed Ware type ‘RMR’ Ware 22 Unglazed Domestic Wares Ware 23
Turkish period (ca. late 15th-18th centuries)
Monochrome Sgraffito Wares from Italy Ware 24 Polychrome Sgraffito Wares from Italy Ware 25 Brown and Green Sgraffito Wares Ware 26
Maiolica from Italy Ware 27
Maiolica from Greece Ware 28
Monochrome Glazed Wares Ware 29
Slip-painted Wares Ware 30
Painted Ware Ware 31
Iznik Ware Ware 32
Porcelain Ware 33
Polychrome Marbled Ware Ware 34 Polychrome Painted Maiolica Ware 35
Kütahya Ware Ware 36
Tobacco Pipes Ware 37
Unglazed Domestic Wares Ware 38
Early Modern period (ca. 19th-mid 20th centuries)
Çanakkale Ware Ware 39
Painted Ware from Grottaglie and/or Corfu Ware 40 Slip-painted Ware from Didymoteicho and/or Dardanelles Ware 41 Slip-painted Ware from Crete, Chalkis or Thasos Ware 42 Glazed Domestic Ware from Siphnos Ware 43 Polychrome Painted Terracotta from the Eastern Aegean Ware 44
Storage Jars Ware 45
Glaze Painted Ware Ware 46
Drip-painted Ware from Marousi, Attica Ware 47 Monochrome Yellow Glazed Ware Ware 48
Obviously, there are no clear chronological bound-aries in archaeology, and all wares described here may have earlier origins and may have been used longer than may be suggested by the graphic rigidity of the tables in which they are presented here. Still, what matters is the core period of the production and use of the wares, not the chronological fringes. This ‘certain’ period is based on the current state of knowledge (published excava-tions). Of course, ‘certain’ in archaeology means provi-sionally certain: dates and designations of wares may change as new publications appear.
In short, for each type of pottery discussed here, it was the core period to which it is currently dated in the literature which counted when deciding under which heading it should be listed. That is not to say that a particular pot type cannot be found in later (or earlier) contexts, but that in itself the ware cannot be used to date those later (or earlier) contexts.
All in all, the presentation of the wares in this chapter
aims to be an archaeological presentation, based on fabrics, glazes, shapes and decorations of pottery, not a proposal for a new view on Medieval and Post-Medieval Greek history.
1.- Late Roman-Early Byzantine period
(table 1.. colour plate)
6 . 2 . 1 r e d s l i p w a r e s : a s k r a w a r e ( w a r e 1 ) — ( f i g . 6 . 1 : w 1 . 1 - 5 )
Red Slip Wares (e.g. African Red Slip Ware and
Phocaean Red Slip Ware; see W1.1) were found on eight sites in the research area. The mass-produced Red Slip Wares from Northern Africa and Western Turkey provided models for local wares, such as the so-called ‘Askra Ware’ in Boeotia (found on the sites of Askra and Thespiae; see W1.2-4).
only found on the site of Askra and were therefore named ‘Askra Ware’ by John Hayes.[3
]
The fabric of the Boeotian fragments of Askra Ware is smooth, moderately soft, fine and has a clear brown to orange-brown colour (5 YR 7/6 to 6/6), with many fine lime and micaceous particles and some voids. A metallic pinkish brown slip (2.5 YR 6/6, 5/6 and 6/8) is applied on a polished body by dipping. There is no slip on the base.
The shape is a shallow bowl with a convex divergent body and an upright concave rim, flaring at top. The lower part of the bowl consists of flat base with rounded transition, but there are also footed versions (with a slightly splayed foot of medium height). The inside is sometimes stamped in the centre with circles, crosses and small rosettes. The shape and decoration seem to imitate Phocaean Red Slip Ware of the 6th century.
According to John Hayes, the production of Askra Ware must have occurred in the Thespiae region in Boeotia (perhaps at Askra). He has recently found more bowls of this type of Red Slip Ware at the Agora excava-tions in Athens, as well as at Corinth (J. Hayes, pers. comm.; see also Sanders 1999, fig. 8, no. 5 for Corinth). It was found in Athens and in Corinth in mid-late 6th century contexts. Another example of Askra Ware can also be noticed in the storage rooms in the Thebes Museum as found from excavations in the Pavlo-gianopoulou street in the city centre of Thebes (see fig. 6.1: W1.5).
Red Slip Wares were found in Boeotia at: Askra, CN3, CN8, Hyettos, Mavromati North, Thespiae, Upper Haliartos 1 and VM4.
6 . 2 . 2 u n g l a z e d w a r e s ( w a r e 2 ) — ( f i g s . 6 . 2 a n d 6 . 4 0 : w 2 . 1 )
Under this category are grouped various unglazed wares of the Late Roman-Early Byzantine period, of which a handful of sherds was sampled on six sites in the research area. Most of the fragments (fourteen in total) are undecorated, except for a few sherds with incised horizontal and wavy lines. This type of simple decoration can also be noticed on vessels (mostly amphorae, storage jars and jugs) found in Greece from the late 6th century onward (cf. Felten 1975, no. 111, fig. 23; Aupert 1980b, nos. 331-2, figs. 46-7; Boardman 1989, figs. 32-39, 43). The pieces found in Boeotia are, however, too fragmen-tary to discern a vessel shape in order to give a more precise indication of their dating.
Furthermore, the well-known difficulty of distin-guishing Late Roman from Early Byzantine finds seems particularly acute in Boeotia. The region is clearly lacking in imports until approximately the 10th-11th centuries. This raises, according to John Hayes, ‘the question of how to distinguish Roman from Early Medieval coarse wares. In fact, one may say that ‘Roman’ techniques and habits continued (or recurred)
throughout the early Middle Ages in those areas where urban industries still survived – perhaps in parts of Crete, but not in Boeotia’ (Hayes 2000, 106).Thebes could be, however, an exception for surviving rural industry, but we do not have enough evidence for this yet.
Noteworthy is the find of a wheel-made small jug on the site of Klimataria in the research area (figs. 6.1 and 6.40: W 2.1). It was found in the cemetery area of the site. It may originate from a tomb, because the vessel is remarkably complete compared to the rest of the survey material.
The fabric of the jug is medium fine, with many fine lime and white quartz inclusions. The colour of the clay is dull orange (7.5 YR 7/4), and the vessel is unglazed. The jug has a flat base with rounded transition. The body is globular and has a long narrow neck. The rim is straight, with a slightly flaring opening. The vessel seems to have one vertical handle, which is broken off.
The shape, size and fabric of this globular jug look similar to Late Roman-Early Byzantine lekythoi (or libation vessels) found in graves at Corinth and Athens. These unglazed vessels are dated in Corinth from the late 6th to the 7th century (G. Sanders, pers. comm.). At the American excavations in the Athenian Agora, similar wheel-made, small jugs were found in an ossuary (Robinson’s group N). They were preliminarily dated by the excavators to the early 7th century on the basis of a bronze coin of Heraclius (610-641 AD) (Robinson 1959, 1 2 1-22, N 8-11, pl. 35). Similar jugs were also found at the excavations of Emporio on the island Chios (in a 660 AD context), as well as at the excavations in Argos in the Peloponnesus (in a 685 AD context) (cf. Boardman 1989, 1 0 0-3, fig. 33; Aupert 1980b, 429, no. 232, fig. 41; 431, nos. 252-257, fig. 41; see also Keramopoulos 1926, fig. 3 for Theban examples).
Fig. 6.2 W2.1, W2a.1 (1:2); W4.Ex.1-8: Unglazed Beehives (after Crane 1983). W 2.1
W 2a.1
for some of these cemetery vessels, Arthur & Patterson 1 9 9 8, 427, fig. 8). The vessels were distributed
throughout Central and Southern Italy. All the sites were dated from the later 6th to the later 7th centuries as a terminus post quemon associated numismatic evidence or metalwork.
It has been suggested that this sort of small jugs appear to show a new rite of funeral offering, perhaps initiated in Southern Italy around 500 AD (Hayes 1997, 5 0). The use of pottery as grave-goods was in Greece first attested in the church of St. Dionysios the Aeropagite at Athens, where Early Byzantine unglazed jugs were put in late 6th-7th century graves (Travlos & Frantz 1965, 1 6 6-167, nos. 1-2, pl. 42e). However, according to Guy Sanders, they were more probably not offerings but rather vessels used in the Christian burial liturgy for pouring wine, water or oil over the corpse and then buried to prevent their reuse (G. Sanders, pers. comm.).
Unglazed Wares were found in Boeotia at: Askra, CN3, Hyettos, Klimataria, Thespiae South 14 and Upper Haliartos 1.
6 . 2 . 3 u n g l a z e d w a r e s : ‘ s l a v i c w a r e ’ ( w a r e 2 a ) — ( f i g . 6 . 2 : w 2 a . 1 )
A second type of Unglazed Wares from Early Byzantine times demands special attention, if only because of the ongoing discussion about its meaning and dating: this is the so-called ‘Slavic Ware’. In the research area, on the ancient site of Hyettos, one rim fragment of this ware has been found. Since the 1980s coarse hand-made sherds found in Late Roman-Early Byzantine levels of excava-tions in Greece have been linked with the Slavic invasions of Greek lands during the late 6th and early 7th centuries. Thus resulted in the designation ‘Slavic Ware’ (Aupert 1980a, 394, 404; Vryonis 1981, 378-81; Gregory & Kardulias 1990, 509-510. no. 4; Gregory 1 9 9 3, 151-55; see also chapter 3 under ‘Slavic Ware’). This designation is, however, not without problems. Although Slavic invasions in Greek lands are recorded in the written sources, the historical interpretations of these sources as well as their reliability are still under debate.
The fabric of the Boeotian sherd is fairly hard, medium coarse, and is dull orange (5 YR 6/4) on the outside and orange (2.5 YR 7/6) to reddish brown (2.5 YR 5/4) on the inside. The gritty clay has many large voids (of lime or organic material?) and very many, medium lime and white quartz inclusions. A greyish
brown slip (5 YR 5/2 to 5/3) is roughly put on the outside. Until now, several sites in the Peloponnesus and in Thessaly (such as Argos, Olympia, Sparta, Messini, Tiryns, Isthmia, Corinth and Demetrias) have yielded material plausibly identified as being of this ‘Slavic’ tradition. Boeotia, on the other hand, has now only one site with only one fragmentary piece of Slavic Ware. (It is beyond the scope of this book to discuss the complex problem of Slavic occupation in Boeotia).
More complete examples of Slavic Ware, excavated on Greek sites, display a variety of vessels that feature both hand-made or hand-shaped and slow wheel-turned pots. It concerns here small cooking vessels, often with a flat bottom, an everted rim and a rounded wall. The walls of the pots are not regular, and fingerprints can be seen on the surface (both on the interior and on the exterior). The coarse fabrics of Slavic Ware have been seen to vary widely, even among finds from the same sites (e.g. Gregory 1993, 152). Some examples of Slavic Ware have no decoration at all, other vessels are
decorated with multiple and single linear or wavy incised lines, stamps or raised ribs.
The exact dating of this type of coarse hand-made pottery in Greece is quite problematic. The current view is that the first excavated examples of Slavic Ware in Olympia and in Argos were dated too early (e.g.
Avraméa 1997, 82-86; Anagnostakis & triou 1997; Vida & Völling 2000 and Poulou-Papadimi-triou 2000). The horizontal and vertical incisions on the vessels from Argos and Isthmia, for instance, are now considered by most scholars as being more characteristic for the late 7th and early 8th centuries (and not the 6th century). In fact, their decoration can be compared with similar designs on vessels in Eastern Europe, which are dated in Eastern Germany, Poland and former
Yugoslavia in the 7th century, and in Russia and
Rumania even in the 8th and 9th centuries (cf. Avraméa 1 9 9 7, 84-85 and notes 79-80).
Fig. 6.3 W3.1; W3a.1 (1:3); W5.1-2 (1:2).
W 3.1
W 3a.1
other pots in a ‘Slavic tradition’ from Sparta but dated to the 12th-14th centuries). These finds suggest that Slavic Ware was throughout the Byzantine period used together with finer, wheel-made pottery. This has led some scholars to the conclusion that the distribution and use of Slavic Ware on the Peloponnesus might indicate a pattern of peaceful habitation rather than violent incur-sions or a military occupation (Gregory 1993, 155; Avraméa 1997, 86).
All in all, it remains difficult to relate finds of ‘Slavic Ware’ with the historical events of the Slavic invasions in Greek lands, and the pottery may very well be little more than an indication of the contracting economy in the Early Byzantine period. Slavic ware and other hand-made wares found in the Mediterranean in that period (e.g. in Italy, Cyprus, Carthage) were probably manufac-tured as easy-to-make products for daily use at a
household or village level; they were not the products of large-scale urban manufacturing (Rautman 1998; Poulou-Papadimitriou 2000). The first of these hand-made, undecorated pots appear to have been made before the mid 7th century; wheel-made, decorated vessels of the ‘Slavic type’, on the other hand, originate mainly from after the end of the 7th century and persist until the late Middle Ages (ca. 14th-15th centuries) (cf. Anagnostakis & Papadimitriou 1997; Poulou-Papadimitriou 2000; see also for Medieval examples from Albania, Vroom forthcoming a). In Albania, this type of unglazed, coarse cooking ware was even produced in Early Modern times.
If anything can be said with certainty about Slavic Ware, it is that further research (for instance on the different fabrics and different decoration-styles) is badly needed. Until now, this type of pottery has clearly been wedged too often into a historical framework (which is, in fact, itself subject of discussion) rather than being used as an implement through which to formulate an archae-ological argumentation in its own right.
Found in Boeotia at: Hyettos.
6 . 2 . 4 a m p h o r a e : l a t e r o m a n 2 / saraçhane 9 a m p h o r a ( w a r e 3 )
— ( f i g . 6 . 3 : w 3 . 1 )
Sixteen sites in the research area yielded many fragments of globular amphorae, among which the so-called Late Roman amphora 2 (LR 2) is the best-known type. This type of amphora was described by Riley in his
typology of amphorae found at the excavations at Benghazi (Riley 1979). The same type was later defined by Hayes as his number 9 in the Saraçhane classification of amphorae from the 4th to 13th century (Hayes 1992, 6 6).
The fabric of the classic LR 2 amphora is clean-breaking brown to pinkish-red, fired buff or light brownish at surface, with some lime inclusions and occa-sional flakes of gold mica (biotite).
The most common shape found in Boeotia is broad-bellied with a wide shoulder, tapering neck, and high conical or cup-shaped mouth. The upper part has close-set straight or wavy grooving on the shoulder, deeply cut to form a series of sharp ridges; the lower part slopes in towards the bottom. The base is rounded, bearing a small central ‘button’. The handles are oval in cross-section.
LR 2 amphorae were very common in the (Eastern) Aegean and in Black Sea regions from the 3rd quarter of the 5th century onwards. In the Aegean they were, for instance, found at Isthmia (Broneer 1959, 336, no. 16, pl. 72b), at Nea Anchialos (Iatridou 1976, pl. 139e), on Samos (Hautumm 1981, figs. 17-41; Gerousi 1992-93, fig. 2, pl. 47), as well as at Athens, Nichoria, Corinth, Itea, Anthedon, Lesbos, Yassi Ada, Chios, Paphos, Thorikos, on Cyprus, Kythera, Halieis (Porto Cheli), Thessaloniki, Knossos and Argos (e.g. Robinson 1959, pl. 40, P4129, Rudolph 1979, 294-320, Aupert 1980b, 440, no. 325a, fig. 46, Hautumm 1981; see also Karagiorgou 2001 for their distribution in Greece and in the Balkans).
These globular amphorae were produced at different workshops in the Aegean, which seems to be shown by the discovery of kiln sites for LR 2 amphorae at Chios, at the site of Cardamaina on Kos and a site opposite Kounoupi Island between Ermioni and Porto Cheli in the Argolid (e.g. Rudolph 1979; Zimmerman Munn 1 9 8 5). The date-range of LR 2 amphorae at the excava-tions at Saraçhane varies from early 6th to mid 7th centuries (Hayes 1992, 66, fig. 22. 10-11 with further literature). The examples from the fortress at Emporio on Chios seem to be the latest in the series, from a terminus post quemcontext dating to the third quarter of the 7th century (Boardman 1989).
6 . 2 . 5 a m p h o r a e : s a r a ç h a n e 3 5 a m p h o r a ( w a r e 3 a ) — ( f i g . 6 . 3 a n d 6 . 4 0 : w 3 a . 1 )
Several fragments of a large jar vessel of the so-called Saraçhane 35 type were found on the site of Klimataria in the research area, composing the upper half of an amphora. This amphora type is named after Hayes’ description of amphorae in the Saraçhane publication (Hayes 1992, 71).
The fabric of the sherds found in Boeotia is soft, fine, and orange-brown in colour (5 YR 7/6). The rather powdery clay contains a few medium limestone, a few fine quartz inclusions and many fine micaceous particles. It seems as if there is a yellowish self-slip (7.5 YR 8/4) on the exterior surface.
The vessel is unglazed and has no decoration. The shape of the shoulder is broad, with a short vertical neck. The two handles are shallow arched and oval in cross-section.
A similar example has been recovered at the excava-tions of Saraçhane in Istanbul (Hayes 1992, type 35, fig. 2 3.10; see also figs. 32.10 and 35.38). Its provenance is as yet unknown. This amphora type has been dated by John Hayes in ‘the 8th century (and rather later?)’ (Hayes 1992, 71).
Found in Boeotia at: Klimataria. 6 . 2 . 6 u n g l a z e d b e e h i v e s ( w a r e 4 )
— ( f i g s . 6 . 2 a n d 6 . 4 0 : w 4 . 1 a n d w 4 . e x . 1 - 8 ) . Among the survey finds on fifteen sites in Boeotia were many fragments of horizontal beehives, made of unglazed earthenware. Ancient ceramic beehives were first identified by the excavators of a Greek house of the Late Classical – Early Hellenistic period (ca. 350-275 BC) near the village of Vari in Attica (Jones et al 1973, 397v., nos. 135-77, fig. 13, pls. 75-77; Graham 1975; Jones 1 9 7 6).
The fabric of the Boeotian sherds is fine, medium soft and contains some fine lime, mudstone and micaceous particles. The colour of the clay is light yellow orange (7.5 YR 8/4) on the outside; dull orange (5 YR 7/4) on the inside. Most fragments have a smooth feel. On the exterior one can notice shallow horizontal ribbing of the manufacture process.
The beehives are tall wide-mouthed vessels with an everted rim and flat bottom, which could be opened at only one end. The thickness of the walls is ca. 0.8-1 cm. There are no handles. Together with the jars come
ceramic extension rings, shaped like bands round barrels, as well as large, flat circular lids. The rims of the jars, the rings and the lids have all similar dimensions: between 24-39 cm. The lids cover the open mouths of the jars, have a flight entrance for the bees and are flanked by several holes about 2 cm. in diameter (see figs. 6 . 2W2.Ex.4 and 6.40 W4.1). It has been suggested that these holes were needed for fixing the lid tightly across the mouth of the hive with the help of wooden wedges (Jones et al. 1973, pl. 77).
The jars are plain on the outside, but show horizontal and vertical incisions on the inside of the vessel. While the clay was still wet, the interior surface was scratched by drawing a comb vertically from the mouth to the closed end. At intervals of ca. 15 cm. the comb was drawn crosswise in horizontal lines over the vertical incisions. The purpose for this was that the honeycombs would attach more easily to the vessel. Fragments of beehives found elsewhere in the Aegean which were examined by gas chromatography showed indeed traces of beeswax on the combed jars (Graham 1973, fig. 5; Jones 1976, 86-8; Crane 1999, fig. 23.2b).
The oldest known ceramic beehives in Greece can be found in the Athenian Agora Museum and are dated ca. 4 2 5-400 BC (Jones et al. 1973, 398; Graham 1975, 73; Crane 1983, fig. 26; 1999, fig. 23.2a with more finds in Greece). Similar combed vessels have been recovered in one of the towers of Justinian’s fortress at Isthmia in the Peloponnesus, where they were excavated in combina-tion with LR 2 amphora fragments and dated between 5 5 0and 600 AD (Broneer 1959, 337, no. 17, fig. 11, pl. 7 2c; Jones 1976, 83-4 Gregory & Kardulias 1990, 509, no. 3, pl 77; see also Anderson-Stojanovi´c & Jones 2002, table 2 for more examples of Late Roman-Byzantine beehive fragments at Isthmia). More Late Roman-Early Byzantine examples (ca. 650-750 AD) come from excava-tions on Crete (Gortys, Eleftherna and Knossos) and on Cyprus (Crane 1999, table 23.2a; Hayes 2001, 434 and note 17), as well as from excavations on the island of Aegina (Evi Dafi, pers. comm.). Modern ceramic beehives are still used on certain islands in the Aegean (e.g. Syros, Antiparos, Tinos, Sikinos, Crete; cf. Crane 1 9 8 3, fig. 24; 1999, table 23.2a). The beehives found on the Boeotian sites were probably locally produced, because wasters were found on the site of Thespiae.
PP16, Tatiza, Thespiae, Thespiae South 14, Upper Haliartos 1, VM4, VM21 and VM67.
1.. Middle Byzantine period (table 1./ colour plate)
6 . 3 . 1 f i n e o r a n g e - r e d b u r n i s h e d w a r e ( w a r e 5 ) — ( f i g s . 6 . 3 a n d 6 . 4 0 : w 5 . 1 - 2 a n d w 5 . e x ) Fragments of the so-called ‘Fine Orange-Red Burnished Ware’ were found on nine sites in the research area. This pottery type was first distinguished by John Hayes in his typology of the Saraçhane finds (Hayes 1992, 50).
The fabric of the Boeotian sherds of Fine Orange-Red Burnished Ware is soft, fine and has a pale reddish orange (2.5 YR 7/4) to orange colour (5 YR 7/6). The soapy clay contains some medium to big lumps of limestone, a few fine micaceous particles and mudstone. The surface bears no slip. The exterior surface of the sherds found in Boeotia is decorated with light vertical burnishing and vertical gouged grooves.
The shape of the fragments indicates that they belonged to a closed vessel. Forms include jugs with a flat base, a vertical shoulder and short neck. They are decorated with shallow incised or gouged crosses and vertical gouged stripes on the outside.
The provenance of a production centre or produc-tion centres of this unglazed, red-bodied ware is as yet unknown. Fine Orange-Red Burnished Ware has been found at the Saraçhane excavations in
Constantinople/Istanbul, and is dated there in the late 1 0th to 11th centuries (Hayes 1992, 50, fig. 18, nos. 1-6). Apart from the Saraçhane finds, similar grooved vessels were also found in 9th to late 11th century deposits at the excavations of Corinth and of Otranto, Southern Italy, although the Otranto fragments have a yellowish, calcareous fabric (Patterson & Whitehouse 1992, fig. 6:15, nos. 552-555; Sanders 1999, 159). Burnishing of the surface of unglazed jugs seems to start in Corinth in the second half of the 11th century (MacKay 1967, 274).
At excavations in the city centre of Thebes, more sherds of the red-bodied gouged variant were recovered in a rubbish pit of the Middle Byzantine period (Vroom forthcoming a). These Theban fragments display the typical fabric colour (red-orange), the typical decoration-technique (light vertical grooving/gouging and burnish-ing) and the typical shape (a flat-based, round-bodied jug) of Hayes’ Fine Orange-Red Burnished Ware (cf. fig.
6.40, W5.Ex). Perhaps this ware was locally produced. Found in Boeotia at: Askra, CN3, CN15, CN17, Klimataria, Megali Rachi, Neochori, PP16 and Thespiae South 14.
6 . 3 . 2 u n g l a z e d i n c i s e d w a r e ( w a r e 6 ) — ( f i g s . 6 . 4 a n d 6 . 4 0 : w 6 . 1 - 7 a n d w 6 . e x ) Seventeen sites (of the total of 30 sites) in the research area yielded pieces of unglazed closed vessels of the Middle Byzantine period with an incised decoration on the outside. The term used here is a purely technical description of the ware.
The fabric is soft, orange-red in colour (2.5 YR 6/8) with some coarse limestone, a few fine mica and has a soapy feel. Most of the fragments found on the Boeotian sites have an incised, wavy decoration of ‘scribbles’ on the exterior body. The shape is of a closed vessel, perhaps a jar or jug, combined with a grooved neck.
The Boeotian fragments are identical to the find of an incised lagenio (water jar) from Thessaloniki
(published by Papanikola-Bakirtzis 1999, 17, fig.1; here fig. 6.40, W6. Ex). This last jug was found together with some amphorae (Hayes’ Saraçhane type 61) during the restoration of the St. Sophia church at Thessaloniki, and has been therefore dated to the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century (D. Papanikola-Bakirtzis, pers. comm.). The jug was probably used for carrying or pouring liquids.
A similar looking fragment was also found during excavations at Nichoria on the South-Western Pelopon-nesus, where it was found in a late 9th-11th century context with Glazed White Ware from Constantinople (cf. McDonald & Howell 1971 [1975], pl. 115b). More sherds (without a clear dating context) were found on rural sites on the island of Keos (Cherry et al. 1991, fig. 1 8.3, nos. 63-12, 48-10, 48-9), as well as on rural sites in Eastern Phokis, near the research area of the Boeotia Project (Armstrong 1989, no. 24, fig. 14, pl. 9; and 1 9 9 6b, 357, pl. 83, nos. 10-11, 65-66, pl. 84, no. 97 under the heading ‘incised coarse ware’).[4
]
Fig. 6.4 W6.1-8 (1:2).
W 6.1 W 6.2
W 6.3 W 6.4
W 6.5 W 6.6
central row and pl. 166c right; Ioannidou 1973, 274, pl. 2 2 9b centre, bottom row; Koilakou 1993, fig. 8; 1996, figs. 6, 10, pl. 34c).
Found in Boeotia at: Agia Eleousa, Lower
Archondiki, Askra, CN3, CN8, CN15, CN17, Haliartos B6, Hyettos, Ipsilantis, Klimataria, Neochori 1-3, Palaiomazi, PP16, Thespiae South 14, Upper Haliartos 1 and VM67.
6 . 3 . 3 p l a i n g l a z e d w a r e s
( i n a r e d a n d a g r e y f a b r i c ) ( w a r e 7 ) — ( f i g s . 6 . 5 - 6 : w 7 . 1 - 1 4 )
Fourteen sites in the research area yielded fragments of chafing dishes with glazed interiors of the Middle Byzantine period. The term ‘chafing dish’ was intro-duced by Alison Frantz in 1938 for this type of glazed kitchenware found at the Agora excavations in Athens (cf. Frantz 1938, 434). After her, Morgan called this type of pottery ‘Plain Glazed Wares’ with the sub-variety ‘Brown Glazed Wares’ (Morgan 1942, 36-42). The chafing dishes comprised class ‘B’ in the 1930-classifica-tion by David Talbot Rice, and were also present in excavated deposits of the Great Palace and Saraçhane Djami at Constantinople/Istanbul. John Hayes included them rather under his group ‘Coarse Glazed Wares’ (Hayes 1992, 41-2). I prefer Morgan’s term ‘Plain Glazed Ware’, because the transparent glaze is applied directly on the surface of the vessel without an inter-vening slip.
The fabric of the chafing dish fragments found on the Boeotian sites is both of a red and a grey clay. The red clay is coarse and reddish brown (5 YR 6/4) in colour, sometimes with large lime and quartz inclusions and relatively porous. The grey variant is soft, medium fine and light brownish grey (5 YR 7/2) to reddish grey (2.5 YR 5/1) in colour, with some medium limestone inclu-sions.
The colourless glaze is applied as a sealant directly to the coarse fabric, resulting in a dark olive-brown (2.5 YR 3/2 to 2.5 Y 4/4) or olive-green tone (5 Y 6/4 to 5/3) on the clay. The glaze varies from some sparse spots (due to the application of the lead compound in powder form) to a thick glassy coating on the inside of the dishes. The decoration on the outside of the chafing dish fragments found in Boeotia is limited to a few simple incised lines.
Chafing dishes are vessels with a glazed bowl set on a hollow, ventilated stand. In its earliest form (from the
late 8th to mid 10th century), the dish is set within the mouth of the stand, so that the rims of both elements are approximately even and form a double wall (Sanders 1 9 9 5; see also Romei 1992, 378-93, figs. 2-4, pl. E2 with examples from the Crypta Balbi excavations at Rome). Other examples have the bowl set so deeply that the rim of the bowl is well below that of the stand.
At the excavations of Corinth many locally produced vessels have been recovered: mainly in a red as well as in a white fabric (Morgan 1942, 36-57). The chafing dishes from Corinth can generally be dated there from the 9th until the early 12th centuries. The earlier type of Corinthian chafing dish with a double wall could be dated as originating from the late 8th until the mid 10th centuries.
Only one fragment, found on site Thespiae S14, is of this earlier type of chafing dish with a double wall, and this piece is datable from the late 9th to early 10th century (cf. Sanders 1995, 80, no. 7, fig. 2 for a similar chafing dish found together with a coin of Leo VI, 886-9 1 2AD). All the shapes of the other chafing dishes found in Boeotia are of the later type, and can be generally dated from the 10th to late 11th century (cf. in general Morgan 1942, fig. 24; Felten 1975, 74-75, nos. 144-47, figs. 17-19; Çomsa 1980, 324, fig. 1, no. 17 and Koilakou 1 9 9 2; fig. 17 for an example found in Thebes). The fragments found on the Boeotian sites could have been locally manufactured. However, we do not have solid evidence yet for production of chafing dishes in Boeotia.
Found in Boeotia at: Askra, CN3, CN8, CN15, CN17, Ipsilantis, Klimataria, Neochori 1-3, PP16, Paralimni, Tatiza, Thespiae, Thespiae South 14 and Upper Haliartos 1.
6 . 3 . 4 p l a i n g l a z e d w a r e ( i n a w h i t e f a b r i c ) / g l a z e d w h i t e w a r e i i ( w a r e 8 )
— ( f i g s . 6 . 6 a n d 6 . 4 0 : w 8 . 1 )
later divided by John Hayes in five groups as ‘Glazed White Wares I-V’ (Hayes 1992, 12-34).
The fabric of the Boeotian sherd is soft, medium fine and has a dull orange colour (7.5 YR 7/3). The powdery clay contains a few fine lime and sand inclusions. The clay is directly covered with an olive-yellow glaze (5 Y 6/6) on the outside and with a yellow glaze (5 Y 7/6) on the inside. The shape is of an open vessel, probably a cup with a flaring rim and rounded lip, turning sharply up to a vertical concave upper wall.
The open vessels of Glazed White Ware II are generally incised or stamped on the inside with geometric designs, as well as with representations of (fantasy) animals or human figures in a Classical style. The geometric decoration of the Boeotian sherd is in relief, executed with a mould or by pressing a stamp on the outside of the vessel (cf. Morgan 1942, 42; Sanders 1 9 9 5, 259 and Megaw 1968c on the find of a potter’s stamp). John Hayes has suggested the indistinct stamped decoration on Glazed White Wares served as maker’s-marks (Hayes 1997, 50); other scholars believed they were rather part of the vessels’decoration (Talbot Rice 1 9 3 0; Herrin 1996; Dark 2001, 108-9).
Glazed White Wares (with a relief decoration) were widely distributed: they have been found at Corinth, in the Athenian Agora, at Thebes and at other major sites in the Aegean (e.g. Morgan 1942, 42-49; Waagé 1933, 321-2 321-2; Bakirtzis & Papanikola-Bakirtzis 1981, 422, figs. 1-2; Koilakou 1994, figs. 24-25, pl. 49b). They were also recovered in Italy, in Cyprus, in Turkey, in Bulgaria and in Southern Russia (see Armstrong 2002, fig. 3.1 for find spots of Glazed White Wares in the Mediterranean). However, the largest amounts came from Constan-tinople/Istanbul. At the Saraçhane excavations, for instance, they represented a substantial percentage of the finds (Hayes 1992, 19). This fact correlates the view that the main production centre of this ware should be sought in the wider environs of the Capital (Talbot Rice 1 9 3 0, 28; Hayes 1992, 12; Sanders 1995, 232-33). The site of Anavatköy on the Bosporus has been suggested as the place from where the white clay probably came (Megaw & Jones 1983, 258 and note 56). Recently, wasters of Glazed White Ware II have been found at Nicaea, modern Iznik in North-Western Turkey (François 1997, 417, fig.2, nos. 16-17).
Excavated examples from Corinth and elsewhere (especially from Constantinople/Istanbul) gave a broad
time-range for Glazed White Wares with an impressed decoration: from the 9th to the late 11th century – some even as late as the 12th-13th centuries (Morgan 1942, 49; Sanders 1995, 260; Hayes 1992, 21). The shape of the Boeotioan sherd has similarities with a yellow glazed cup from Corinth, which could be dated to the (10th)-11th centuries (cf. Sanders 1995, 134, no. 140 (form I), fig. 2 5).
Interesting is also the find of some fragments of Glazed White Ware II or III at excavations in Sigtuna, Sweden, which could be dated to the second half of the 1 1th century. One green glazed cup from Sigtuna was deposited later, during the first half of the 12th century (Roslund 1997, 268, fig. 16). More sherds of a brown-glazed variant were found in Trondheim in an early 11th century context (Reed 1990, 72).
Found in Boeotia at: Thespiae. 6 . 3 . 5 s l i p - p a i n t e d w a r e ( w a r e 9 ) — ( f i g s . 6 . 1 7 - 1 8 a n d 6 . 4 1 : w 9 . 1 - 1 4 )
Many fragments of Slip-painted Ware of the Middle Byzantine period were found on fourteen sites in the research area. The name of ‘Slip-painted Ware’ for this type of pottery was proposed by Frederick Waagé in his Athenian Agora-publication on the basis of its decora-tion-technique (Waagé 1933, 323).
The fabric of the Boeotian sherds is soft, medium fine and has an orange colour (5 YR 6/6 to 7/6). The clay contains some medium lime inclusions, a few fine micaceous particles and some medium voids. The interior of the vessel is not completely covered with a white slip, but only decorated with it (as a kind of paint). The designs have been painted directly onto the raw clay surface, which was then coated with a glaze (see Morgan 1 9 4 2, 95-96 for a detailed description of the technique).
The decorative effect is based on the contrasts between the brown clay and the pale slip. The glaze on top enhances this contrasting effect. The tone of the glaze varies from pale yellow (5 Y 8/3) where it covers the decoration, to yellow-brown (5 Y 6/4) or (dark) green where it covers the unslipped clay. The slip-painting technique occurs on both open and closed shapes: dishes with a low ring foot, as well as quite a large number of jugs (Morgan 1942, 97, figs. 71-80).
9 5-103), but the floruit of this ware was in the 12th century (Sanders 1995, 240-42). Wasters of Slip-painted Ware have been found at Corinth (Megaw & Jones 1983, 2 3 8-39, pl. 25.4).
The abstract decoration of the fragments found in Boeotia belongs with its rectilinear and spiral patterns to Morgan’s ‘later linear style’ of the 12th century (cf. Waagé 1933, fig. 18a-f; Morgan 1942, 100-4, figs. 76-78 and, in particular, pl. 32a, no. 749). Guy Sanders calls this decoration-style rather ‘Light on Dark Slip Painted II’ (Sanders 1995, 241-2). The style is found widely in Greece and has been reported from excavations on a number of regional centres, including Sparta, Sikyon, Athens, Thebes, Chalkis and Thessaloniki, as well on rural sites in Eastern Phokis (cf. Armstrong 1989, 42 and id. 1996b, 350 note 34 with further literature; see also for Thebes, Koilakou 1992, pl. 29d; 1993, pl. 32c; 1996, pl. 33a). It has also been found during excavations at the Great Palace in Constantinople/Istanbul (Stevenson 1 9 4 7, pl. 25, no. 12).
Found in Boeotia at: Lower Archondiki, Askra, CN3, CN8, CN15, Haliartos B6, Neochori 1-3, Palaiomazi, PP16, Rhadon, Tatiza, Upper Haliartos 1, VM21 and VM67.
6 . 3 . 6 g r e e n a n d b r o w n p a i n t e d w a r e ( w a r e 1 0 ) — ( f i g s . 6 . 1 9 - 2 1 a n d 6 . 4 1 : w 1 0 . 1 - 1 7 )
The survey in Boeotia yielded many fragments of Green and Brown Painted Ware on fifteen sites in the research area. This red-bodied ware was first named ‘Black and Green Painted Ware’ by Frederick Waagé in 1933, but is now internationally known as ‘Green and Brown Painted Ware’ (Waagé 1933, 323). The term ‘Green and Brown Painted Ware’ was introduced by Charles Morgan in 1 9 4 2, because the black colour more often appears to be brown with a yellow hue (Morgan 1942, 70-71; see also Philadelphos 1923, 41, fig. 21 and Sanders 1995 for more finds at Corinth).
The fabric of the Boeotian sherds is soft, medium fine and has an orange-red colour (2.5 YR 7/6 to 5 YR 7/6). The clay contains some coarse limestone (up to 4mm.), a few fine quartz inclusions and some medium voids. These sherds are covered on the inside with a thick, white slip and a thin, transparent or light grey glaze (7.5 YR 8/2). An under glaze design is painted in green (PMS 3 7 0) and different hues of brown (7.5 YR 4/2 to 3/1) on top of the white slip.
Green and Brown Painted Ware from Corinth is divided by Morgan into five groups according to fabric, decorative techniques and date (Morgan 1942, 72-83). The decoration of the Boeotian fragments often belongs to Morgan’s Group II with simple linear and spiral combinations (Morgan 1942, 75-77). In Morgan’s group II the two colours are used in fairly equal quantity, which is, according to him, characteristic for the first quarter of the 12th century.
The shape of the Boeotian sherds, a deep rounded bowl with a flat everted rim, is also typical for this group (Morgan 1942, fig. 55d, no. 442). The bowl has a ring foot with flat resting surface and convex divergent lower wall. There exist also closed shapes, which are usually small jugs (cf. Frantz 1938, 441, fig. 4, A20-21; Morgan 1 9 4 2, 73, fig. 52a).
Green and Brown Painted Ware seems to be particu-larly well attested on sites of the Mainland: apart from Corinth, it has also been recovered at Nichoria, Kythera, Sparta, Nemea, Kenchreai, Athens, Thebes, Chalkis, Eastern Phokis, Larissa, Thessaloniki and Pella (e.g. Dawkins & Droop 1910-11, pl. XVIII; Waagé 1933; Frantz 1938, figs. 1,2,5,6; Soteriou & Soteriou 1952, pl. 9 6a-d; Petsas 1966, pl. 344b; Makaronas 1972, pl. 443f; Papadakis 1975, fig. 11; Adamscheck 1979, 102-4, pl. 25; Georgopoulou-Melanidi 1979; Bakirtzis & Papanikola-Bakirtzis 1981, fig. 3; Vavylopoulou-Charitonidou 1982, pls. 37, 40a; Rosser 1983; Shear Jr. 1984, pl. 16b,i; id. 1 9 9 7, pl. 105b-c; Armstrong 1989; id. 1993; Sutton 1990; Koilakou 1992, pl. 29e-f; id. 1993, figs. 9, 14, pls. 32c, 3 3d; Gourgiotis 1995, 48 right above). Furthermore, it has been found in other parts of the Mediterranean: for instance, on Keos, on a shipwreck near Kastellorizo, on Crete, on Cyprus, at Cherson, at Constantinople/ Istanbul, in the Balkans and as bacini in Italy (e.g. Du Plat Taylor 1938; Stevenson 1947, stage V; Borboudakes 1 9 6 8; Megaw 1984; Rosser 1985; Filotheou &
Michailidou 1986; Blake 1986; Cherry et al. 1991, 354, figs. 5.13, 18.1; Gelichi, Berti & Nepoti 1993).
disputed Morgan’s chronology of dating Green and Brown Painted Ware in the late 11th-12th centuries, and Guy Sanders now attributes this ware circa 50 years later: from the second half of the 12th until the
beginning of the 13th century (cf. Sanders 1999; 2000). Found in Boeotia at: Agia Eleousa, Lower
Archondiki, Upper Archondiki, Askra, CN3, CN8, CN15, Haliartos B6, Klimataria, Neochori 1-3,
Palaiomazi, PP16, Upper Haliartos 1, VM4 and VM67. 6 . 3 . 7 f i n e s g r a f f i t o w a r e ( w a r e 1 1 )
— ( f i g s . 6 . 2 2 a n d 6 . 4 1 : w 1 1 . 1 - 3 a n d w 1 1 . 6 ) Many fragments of Fine Sgraffito Ware with finely incised decoration are found on seventeen sites in the research area. The ware was first described in 1930 by Talbot Rice as his ‘Group B1’ or ‘Early Sgraffito Ware’, which derives from the Italian verb sgraffiare (‘to scratch’) (Talbot Rice 1930, 32-33).[5
] It became later known by Charles Morgan under the term ‘Fine Style Sgraffito’ or ‘Fine Sgraffito’ (Morgan 1942, 117). In Israel the ware is often published under the heading ‘Mid-12th century Byzantine Sgraffito’ (e.g. Boas 1994).
The fabric of the Boeotian sherds is medium coarse with many lime inclusions, and has a deep orange-red colour (2.5 YR 5/6 to 7.5 YR 7/6). A thickly applied, white slip and transparent glaze cover the interior and upper part of the vessels. The colour of the glaze, which ends some distance below the rim on the outside, is often pale yellow-green (5 Y 8/4), because of impurities in the glaze.
This ware consists mainly of bowls and dishes with a straight rim or narrow everted rim and a low ring base. The vessels are decorated on the interior with delicate scrollwork and lace designs which were engraved through the white slip with a fine and sharp tool before firing (cf. in general, Morgan 1942 and Papanikola-Bakirtzis 1999). The delicate incised designs are either in horizontal bands between two compass-drawn lines, or in a tondo in the centre of the vessel.
Some pieces found on the Boeotian sites correspond to Morgan’s Group II, the so-called ‘spiral style’ with a rinceau(or foliated scroll) design (Morgan 1942, figs. 22, 9 6, pls. 39-41), which is dated by him in the first half of the 12th century (Morgan 1942, 117-23). Other sherds belong rather to his ‘free style’ with animal and human figures represented on a free field (Morgan 1942, pls. 42-4 3; see also Von Wartburg 2001b). Two Boeotian
fragments depict a fairly large-sized bird (one of them a
pigeon or ‘Collared Turtle-Dove’ which recalls analogous looking vessels from Corinth and can be dated around the mid 12th century (Morgan 1942, fig. 104b, pls. 42-43; Spieser 1996, 52, nos. 562-75, pls. 58-59; Papanikola-Bakirtzis et al. 1999, 76, no. 137; Von Wartburg 2001b, 1 1 9, fig. 12.7, pl. 12.2). It has been suggested that these animals represent birds of the chase or their preferred preys (Von Wartburg 2001b, 125).
Fine Sgraffito Ware is widespread in the Aegean area, with examples found at Athens, Corinth, Sparta, Samos, Chalkis and Thebes. It has also been found on sites in Italy, Rumania, Turkey, Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine (cf. Pringle 1986, fig. 1q; Boas 1994, fig. 10; François 1997, fig. 2). Similar fragments were also recovered during excavations at Dürres and at Butrint in Albania (Hoti 1989, pl. III; Vroom forthcoming b). Peter Megaw (1975) notes that the most elegant phase of Fine Sgraffito Ware is represented by finds from the Pela-gonnisos shipwreck in the North Sporades (Kritzas 1971).
The question of the provenance of this ware is still debated. Wasters of Fine Sgraffito Ware have been found in Corinth (Megaw & Jones 1983, 238-39, pl. 25.4). John Hayes has suggested that Fine Sgraffito Ware was also produced on the Bosporus near Constantinople/Istanbul (Hayes 1992, 44; see also Megaw & Jones 1983, 250, M7, pl. 25.3 for a possible waster from Constantinople/-Istanbul). Furthermore, Cyprus and Argos have been named as possible places of production (cf. Boas 1994 and Armstrong et al. 1997, 226; Von Wartburg 2001b, 1 2 2and 125, notes 29 and 58 contra Boas 1994).
The ware began to be produced during the 12th century (Hayes 1992, 44). At the excavations in Lund, Sweden, a Fine Sgraffito sherd from a dish or bowl was found in a late 12th century context (Roslund 1997, 269, fig. 17). The general date of this type of ware, established from new research at Corinth, is now thought to be in the mid 12th to second half of 12th/early 13th century (cf. Sanders 1999; id. 2000; Von Wartburg 2001b, 115 and note 6).
Found in Boeotia at: Lower Archondiki, Askra, Charmena, CN3, CN8, CN15, Haliartos B6, Hyettos, Klimataria, Mavromati North, PP16, Rhadon, Tatiza, Thespiae, Upper Haliartos 1, VM21 and VM67. 6 . 3 . 8 p a i n t e d f i n e s g r a f f i t o w a r e ( w a r e 1 1 a ) — ( f i g . 6 . 2 2 : w 1 1 a . 1 - 2 )
sub-division of Fine Sgraffito Ware: the so-called ‘Painted Fine Sgraffito Ware’ with added painted decoration in green or brown. This variant of Fine Sgraffito Ware was found on site CN3 in the research area. The term ‘Painted Sgraffito Wares’ was first used by Charles Morgan to cover all the Corinthian examples with the combination of incised and painted decoration tech-niques (Morgan 1942, 140). The term ‘Painted Fine Sgraffito’ was introduced in the 1999-catalogue of the Benaki Museum in Athens (Papanikola-Bakirtzis et al. 1 9 9 9, 81).
The fabric of the Boeotian sherds is medium coarse with many lime inclusions, and has a deep orange-red colour (2.5 YR 5/6 to 7.5 YR 7/6). A thickly applied, white slip covers the interior and upper part of the vessels. The colour of the transparent lead glaze, which ends some distance below the rim on the outside, is often pale yellow-green (5 Y 8/4), because of impurities in the glaze.
The incised designs are executed on the interior through the white slip with a fine and sharp potter’s tool. The engraved decoration consists often of an interlace medallion at the bottom with an intertwining band on an imbricated ground. Around the central medallion are zones of scrolls, spirals or tendrils. The sgraffito decora-tion has in addidecora-tion painted spirals or linear motifs in green and in brown (Morgan 1942, 140; Papanikola-Bakirtzis 1999, 37-39, nos. 19-23; Papanikola-Papanikola-Bakirtzis et al. 1999, 81-82, nos. 153-56). There exist also vessels on which only one colour was used (Frantz 1938, 444, 445; Ioannidaki-Dostoglou 1989, 161, 163, 165; Papanikola-Bakirtzis 1999, 40-43, nos. 24-28; Papanikola-Papanikola-Bakirtzis et al. 1999, 82-84, nos. 157-161).
Forms include bowls with a low ring base and hori-zontal banded rim, smaller hemispherical bowls and dishes of a slightly concave shape (Morgan 1942, 129, fig. 1 0 3).
Painted Fine Sgraffito Ware has been found in Constantinople/Istanbul, Corinth, Sparta, Argos, Athens, Thebes, Euboea, Eastern Phokis, Thasos and Thessa-loniki (e.g. Dawkins & Droop 1910-11, no. 52, pl. XVII; Morgan 1942, 141, pls. 46-47; Bakirtzis & Papanikola-Bakirtzis 1981, 423, fig. 6; Efgenidou 1982, 34, fig. 7a, drawing 7; Vavylopoulou-Charitonidou 1982, pl. 41b; Doukata et al. 1989; Armstrong 1989; id. 1993; id. 1 9 9 6b, 354; Hayes 1992, 46; Papanikola-Bakirtzis 1999, 3 7-42). The ware is also often found in Northern Greece and in the Balkans, and it has been suggested that one
possible workshop must be sought in Thessaloniki (cf. Papanikola-Bakirtzis et al. 1999, 81, note 118).
Morgan dated Painted Fine Sgraffito Ware in the first half of the 12th century (Morgan 1942, 149), but
nowadays it is generally dated to the middle and second half of the 12th century (cf. Hayes 1992, 46; Sanders 1 9 9 5, 247).
Found in Boeotia at: site CN3.
6 . 3 . 9 a m p h o r a e : g ü n s e n i n 3 / saraçhane 61 a m p h o r a ( w a r e 1 2 )
– ( f i g s . 6 . 7 a n d 6 . 4 1 : w 1 2 . 1 - 5 a n d w 1 2 . e x ) The Günsenin 3 / Saraçhane 61 amphora of the Middle Byzantine period was sampled on twenty-three sites in the research area. The type was first recognized by the Turkish underwater archaeologist Nergis Günsenin, who systematically studied Byzantine amphora types in 5 0Turkish museums since 1984 (Günsenin 1989, 271-4, figs. 8-10). Later, John Hayes described the amphora as number 61 in his typology of amphorae for the
Saraçhane publication (Hayes 1992, 76, fig. 26.10) The fabric of the Boeotian sherds is fairly hard, medium, and has an orange colour (5 YR 7/6). The clay contains some fine lime inclusions, some medium voids and much organics (especially on the handles). There is a creamish or dull orange slip (5 YR 7/3 to 7.5 YR 7/4) on the exterior surface. A characteristic feature is the closely set horizontal grooving which begins at the shoulder and cover the upper two-thirds of the vessel wall. The final third down towards the bottom is smooth or sporadically decorated with single grooves.
This amphora type has an ovoid body with two heavy, high-slung handles attached on the tall neck and on the shoulder (cf. Hayes 1992, 76, type 61, fig. 26.10; Sanders 1 9 9 3, 282, fig. 15 for the shape). The height of complete examples varies between 53 and 70 cm. high. The neck is narrow with an everted thickened rim. The walls are thick, up to 1 cm. in section (see fig. 6.41, W12. Ex).
fig. 90; Günsenin 1990, 320; Cherry et al. 1991, 354, fig. 1 8. 2,5; Hayes 1992, 76 and Sanders 1993, 283 with further literature). Looking at Günsenin’s distribution map, a place of manufacture on the Northern coast of Turkey is probable, although John Hayes claims for a production centre in Central Greece. Hayes suggests Boeotia or perhaps Athens (Cherry et al 1991, 354-55; see also Sanders 1993, 283 note 49).
During the Saranda Kolones excavation on Cyprus this type of amphora was found in pre-1222 earthquake destruction layers (Von Wartburg 2001c; contra Megaw 1 9 7 2, 322-43, fig. 27). A date in the later part of the 12th century and the first quarter of the 13th century seems probable. Furthermore, at excavations in Sweden (in the towns of Lund and Sigtuna) several pieces of this amphora type have been found and dated to the 12th-1 3th centuries, or more precisely to the first quarter and the first third of the 13th century (Roslund 1997, 273-4, fig. 21.3). This type was perhaps used until amphorae disappeared completely during the 14th century and were replaced by wooden barrels. According to Nergis Günsenin, the shipwreck at Çamalti Burnu, near Marmara, which contained a cargo of Günsenin 3 and 4 amphorae, symbolized the last phase of Byzantine amphora trade (Günsenin 2001; 2002).
It has been suggested that the Günsenin 3 / Saraçhane 61 amphora was manufactured for the specific purpose of shipping honey or even as a bee-hive (Cherry et al. 1991, 356-7; Hayes 1992, 76). This may be the case, but amphorae were often multi-functional: they could easily have been used for the transport of all sorts of liquids and were at the same time suitable for every conceivable purpose, including food preparation or storage. Unserviceable amphorae were even recycled and reused as filling material in vaults.
Found in Boeotia at: Lower Archondiki, Upper Archondiki, Askra, CN3, CN8, CN15, Haliartos B6, Hyettos, Ipsilantis, Klimataria, Morokambos, Megali Rachi, Neochori 1-3, Palaiomazi, PP16, Paralimni, Rhadon, Tatiza, Thespiae, Thespiae South 14, Upper Haliartos 1, VM21 and VM67.
6 . 3 . 1 0 a m p h o r a e : ‘ o t r a n t o 1 a m p h o r a ’ ( w a r e 1 3 ) — ( f i g s . 6 . 8 a n d 6 . 4 2 : w 1 3 . 1 - 5 a n d w 1 3 . e x ) Apart from the Günsenin 3 / Saraçhane 61 amphora, fragments of other amphora types of the Middle Byzantine period have been found on eight sites in the
research area. I will limit myself here to the description of one type: the so-called ‘Otranto 1 amphora’. This term was introduced by Paul Arthur in his typology of
amphorae found at Otranto in Southern Italy (Arthur 1 9 9 2, 206, nos. 818-24, figs. 7:2-3). Nergis Günsenin described this amphora as type 15 in her typology of Byzantine amphorae (Günsenin 1990, 313, pl. LXXXVI/1).
The fabric of the Boeotian sherds is fairly hard, medium fine, and is pale creamish-orange (7.5 YR 8/3) in colour (with an orange-pink core). It contains many organics, some limestone inclusions (up to 4mm.), some medium red mudstone and many medium voids. This amphora type has thick, ribbed strap handles that depart from below the everted, heavy rim. The vessel is charac-terized by a ribbed body. Noteworthy is also an incised wavy line (of ca. 4-5 mm. wide) around the shoulder of the amphora.
In her presentation of Byzantine finds from excava-tions in the centre of Thebes, Pamela Armstrong dated this type of amphora within the 8th to 10th centuries, ‘a period when little is known about pottery production and typology in this region’ (Armstrong 1993, 303, fig. 4; see also Koilakou 1994, fig. 23, pl. 49c for another example from Thebes). However, Guy Sanders now suggests that the amphora illustrated is of a type which at Corinth dates to the end of the 10th and the 11th century (Sanders 1995, 21). At excavations in Argos a similar looking amphora type with a flat base is dated to the end of the 11th and the beginning of the 12th century (Piérart & Thalmann 1980, pl. V, no. B1); in the Athenian Agora it was found together with coins of the late 11th-12th centuries (Günsenin 1990, 41).
The date from Corinth seems to agree with finds from excavations at Otranto in Southern Italy. According to Paul Arthur, this amphora type (his ‘Otranto type 1’) is of Apulian origin, perhaps from the Brindisi/Bari area (Arthur 1992, 206). The amphora predominates in Otranto in contexts which can be dated to the 10th century and the first half of the 11th century.
museum of Dürres and at the excavations of Butrint in Albania (Tartari 1982, type 35; J. Vroom, pers. observa-tion, see fig. 6.42, W13. Ex)).
It now seems certain that amphorae of different shapes and of different fabrics (probably more than two types) were produced in Southern Apulia from the 1 0th/11th to the 12th century. The different local fabrics suggest that more than one production site was involved. Similar amphorae have also been found at the excava-tions of Corinth, where they seem to have been made locally (G. Sanders, pers. comm.). The differences between the Apulian and Corinthian amphorae, however, are difficult to discern as both products were made of similar looking calcareous clays (cf. Megaw & Jones 1983, 262; see also Sanders 1999, 162 for a description of the Corinthian clay). Clearly, more study needs to be done on these amphorae to discern the Apulian from the Corinthian ones.
Found in Boeotia at: Agia Eleousa, Askra, CN17, Klimataria, Neochori 1-3, PP16, Thespiae South 14 and Upper Haliartos 1.
6 . 3 . 1 1 u n g l a z e d d o m e s t i c w a r e s ( w a r e 1 4 ) — ( f i g s . 6 . 8 - 1 3 : w 1 4 . 1 - 3 6 )
Many fragments of unglazed domestic wares of the Middle Byzantine period were sampled on twenty-two sites in the research area. This category contains domestic wares involved in the preparation of food, serving of food and liquids and storage. They include cooking pots, water jars (or small amphorae) and storage jars (pithoi). The term is purely a technical description of a broad category. Only the more characteristic of those that can be dated are presented here. The most common shape found on the Boeotian sites, for instance, is a rather thick-walled cooking pot (figs. 6.8-9).
The fabric of the cooking pot fragments found on the Boeotian sites is soft, medium coarse, and has an orange (7.5 YR 7/6) to light reddish brown colour (5 YR 6/3). The gritty clay contains very many coarse limestone (up to 3mm.), many medium black or white quartz inclusions and some coarse voids. The large inclusions are added to the clay for efficient heat conduction. The outside is sometimes decorated with incised wavy lines. The upper part of the cooking pot found in Boeotia has often a straight rim with rounded lip and straight convergent shoulder, sometimes with grooves on the upper part.
Cooking pots changed little during Byzantine times.
The shape of the rim is the best datable part of the cooking pots found on the Boeotian sites. Most of the rims resemble cooking pots found in Corinth, Thebes, Nichoria, Sparta and Lakonia, where these vessels were dated from the mid 12th to the early 13th century (cf. for shape, Rosser 1983, figs. 10.58 and 10.61; Sanders 1993, 2 8 1, nos. 65, 70-73, figs. 13-14; Armstrong 1993, nos.147 and 149, fig. 9; id. 1996a, fig. 17.5, no. 23). These are typical cooking pots of ‘the Byzantine style’ (Joyner 1997, fig. 3). In addition, the fragment in fig. 6.12: W14.28 could be from an unglazed, portable brazier for heating and cooking (see Bakirtzis 1989, pl. 14).
Noteworthy is also the find of fragments of water jars or small amphorae on the Boeotian sites (fig. 6.10). The fabric is moderately soft, fine, and has an orange colour (5 YR 7/6). The smooth clay contains some fine lime and a few fine micaceous particles. There is a dull
orange/white wash (7.5 YR 7/3) on the in- and outside of the vessel. The two-handled jar or amphora has an everted thickened rim and a convex divergent neck. Similar plain unglazed vessels were found during exca-vations at Athens, Corinth, Argos and Sparta, where they were dated from the late 11th to the late 12th century (cf. in general, MacKay 1967, 272-79; Piérart & Thalmann 1 9 8 0, group B, amphora B5, pls. 5-7; Sanders 1993, no. 3 8, fig. 9 and Shear 1997, 104:c and 106: A,B).
In addition, the survey yielded several basin and storage jar (pithos) fragments (figs. 6.11-13). These last ones have a flat base with a diameter of ca. 20 cm, and a wall thickness of ca. 12 cm. The fabric is soft, coarse, and has a dull orange (5 YR 6/4 to 7/4) or orange-red colour (2.5 YR 6/6 to 7/6). The rough, gritty clay contains many coarse limestone (up to 4 mm.), many coarse organic inclusions, very many coarse black quartz and red mudstone and some coarse voids. The clay has often a brownish grey core (10 YR 6/1). The interior wall has sometimes a flange for receiving lids to close the jars (see fig. 6.13: W14.33 for an example of a lid fragment). The exterior surface can be decorated with incised wavy lines. It is difficult to date the Boeotian storage jar fragments more precisely yet. The dates assigned here are based on associated diagnostic wares from the Boeotian sites on which the pithoi were found.
Fig. 6.11 W14.24-27 (1:2).
W 14.24
W 14.25
W 14.26
Fig. 6.12 W14.28-31 (1:2).
W 14.28
W 14.29
W 14.30
Fig. 6.13 W14.32-34 (1:2).
W 14.32
W 14.33
Tatiza, Thespiae South 14, Upper Haliartos 1, VM4, VM21 and VM67.
6 . 3 . 1 2 i n c i s e d s g r a f f i t o w a r e a n d c h a m p l e v é w a r e ( w a r e 1 5 )
— ( f i g s . 6 . 2 3 - 2 4 a n d 6 . 4 1 - 4 2 : w 1 5 . 1 - 2 0 ) Many fragments of these broadly incised and gouged wares were sampled on twenty-one sites in the research area. This complex group of wares in related sgraffito styles have previously been called ‘Aegean Ware’ by Peter Megaw on the basis of a finer quality pottery, found in the Aegean and dating from the 12th century, which he believed was the proto-type of this group (Megaw 1975, 3 9). Other designations have also been proposed: apart from ‘Champlevé Ware’ (Xyngopoulos 1933; Sanders 1 9 9 3, 260-1), one may encounter the terms ‘Incised Ware’ and ‘Coarse Incised Ware’ (Morgan 1942, 162-6; Stevenson 1947, 54, pl. 20.8; Hayes 1992, 48). Most ceramicists still seem to use the designation ‘Aegean Ware’ or ‘Aegean Wares’ (cf. Armstrong 1989, 45-46), though a technical description seems more appropriate, taking into account that the theory of the ‘Aegean’ prove-nance seems to be faltering. Recent publications rightly divide the vessels in two groups on the basis of the deco-ration-technique: ‘Incised Sgraffito Ware’ and
‘Champlevé Ware’ (Papanikola-Bakirtzis 1996, 48; id. 1 9 9 9). I have put the two groups in the same category, because the fragments found on the Boeotian sites are often too small to make a difference.
The fabric of both wares found on the Boeotian sites is orange-red (2.5 YR 6/8) and coarse with many large lime inclusions. A yellowish glaze covers a thick, whitish slip on the interior of the vessel with a mere overlap on the rim. The exterior of the vessel, including the base, is often covered with a thin slip-wash. The (pale) yellow glaze is also coarse.
The decoration used is thick gouging through the white slip executed with a blunt or broad-bladed tool, rather than neatly incised designs as in Fine Sgraffito Ware. Furthermore, the slipped ground of the vessel can be removed so that the decorative subjects appear in very low relief, while the details are usually in fine sgraffito. Morgan called this last decoration technique ‘Incised’, but the French term champlevé has prevailed internationally, precisely because it describes the technique of removal (lever) of the slipped ground (champ) (Morgan 1942, 162).
The decorative engraved subjects fall into two cate-gories: 1. human and animal figures, 2. vegetal motifs (see Morgan 1942, 162-165; Iakobson 132, fig. 82). Also possible is a decoration of only green splashes or dabs over the whitish slip and under the glaze (Megaw 1975, 3 7; Filotheou & Michailidou 1986, figs. 19-21, pls. 68-69; Stern 1997, 46). Incised Sgraffito Ware with linear deco-ration is datable to the first quarter of the 13th century (Morgan, 166, pls. 49-51; Megaw 1975, 34-45; Armstrong 1 9 9 1, 335-47). The most common shape consists of thick-walled shallow bowls with a simple rim and dishes with a low ring foot and an incurved rim.
Following Morgan’s classification for Corinth, some sherds found on the Boeotian sites belong to his
‘Medallion Style’, characterized by a central medallion at the interior bottom (Morgan 1942, 147-50). The rest of the Boeotian fragments belong to Morgan’s ‘Free Style’ group where the designs are engraved freely on the whole interior surface (Morgan 1942, 150-57). This ‘Free Style’ decoration often includes human figures (warriors and hunters with enormous shields, spears and swords), which can be identified as warrior heroes such as Digenes Akritas (Frantz 1940-41; Ioannidaki-Dostoglou 1 9 8 1). Vessels of this last group have been found, amongst other places, in Constantinople/Istanbul, Thes-saloniki, the Crimea, Athens, Thebes, Corinth and Cyprus (Frantz 1938, 465, 456; Morgan 1942, 150-57; Stevenson 1947, 54, pl. 20:8; Bakirtzis & Papanikola-Bakirtzis 1981, 426, fig. 9; Filotheou & Michailidou 1 9 8 9, pl. 79a; Papanikola-Bakirtzis 1999, 48-50).
Incised Sgraffito Ware and Champlevé Ware have been identified on many sites in Italy, Greece, Turkey, the Crimea, Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria and Palestine (see for their distribution in the Mediterranean, Pringle 1 9 8 6, fig. 1; Boas 1994, fig. 11; François 1997, fig. 4). Furthermore, Albanian examples have been found at the excavations of Dürres in Albania (Hoti 1989, pl. IV). Both wares were manufactured at more than one distinct site: for instance, Constantinople/Istanbul and Cyprus have been named as possible production centres (Boas 1 9 9 4; Papanikola-Bakirtzis et al. 1999, 85).
