F ROM I STH

32 Pages·2009·1.83 MB·English

A N C I E NT B E E H I V E S
HESPERIA 7I (2002)
Pages 345-376 F ROM I STH M I A
ABSTRACT
Ceramicb eehivesa rek nownt o haveb eenu tilizedi n ancientG reece.E xca-
vationsb y the Universityo f Chicagoa t Isthmiah avep roducedm anyf rag-
mentsw itha n interiorc ombeds urfacec haracteristoicf this speciavl essel.I n
additionto foura lmostc ompleteb eehiveso f horizontatl ype,f ourr estored
hivesa nda numbero f fragmentos f an uprights tyleo f hivef romt he Sanctu-
aryo f Poseidona ndt he Rachis ettlementa rep ublishedh ere.T hey provide
thef irsts ubstantiaelv idencef ort he existenceo f the uprighth ivei n ancient
Greece.
Thereis a blacka ndw hitet hymea, ndi t flowervs eryf reelyi:t is in
blooma boutt he summesro lsticeI.t is fromt hisf lowert hatt heb ee
getst heh oneya, ndb yi t theb eekeeperssa yt hati t is madek nown
whethetrh eyh avea goody ieldo f honeyo r not;f ori f the thyme
flowerasb undantltyh,e yh avea goody ield,b utt heb loomi s injured
ore vend estroyeidf it is rainedu pon.... Theys ayt hati t (thyme)
cannobt e growno rb ecomee stablishewd herea breezef romt he sea
doesn otr each( TheophrC. ausp. l. 6.2.2-4).
Severacul riouslsyh apedc eramivce sselsw ered iscovereidn the courseo f
excavatiobnys t heU niversitoyf Chicagoa t the Sanctuaroyf Poseidona t
1. See GebhardH, emans,a nd
Haye1s9 98 forr ecentb ibliography. theIs thmu(sF ig.l ).lTheyf alli ntot wot ypesV. esselos ftype1 (Fig.2 ) are
As ummaryo f this article( "Isthmia longa nds lightlyt aperingin shaped, escribewd henf irstp ublishedas re-
Hiveasn dO thers"w) asp resentedb y semblinagn u mbrellsat and.Thve esselsa rea boutt wo-thirdosf a meterin
JE. llisJ onesa t the conferenc"e Bee- lengtha,n du suallyh avea roundedb ottomT. ype2 (Fig.3 ) vesselsa re
Keepining the Graeco-RomaWn orld," abouhta lft his size andh avea flatb ase;i n shapet heya ren ot unlikea
hon7el Nadt o LvaedmyMb ear2r 0g0a0.r eHt all,O xford, baske(kt alathosf)o rw oolo r oliveso, ftenw ithh andleso n eithers idea nd
2. Fort ype2 see Broneer1 958, anu pperd iametesri gnificantlgyr eatetrh ant hato f theb ase.2
p.32n, o. 42; Kardar1a9 61, pp.264- A characteristfieca tureo f bothv esselt ypesi s the rougheninogf the
265f,i g. 6, pl.81; Crane1 983, pp.200- interiosur rfacfer omb ottomt o topw itha combo r stick(sb) eforef iring;
202. thea reac overedv ariesf roma quartetro a thirdo f the circumferenicne
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AND J. E. JONES
VA. NRD.E RSON-STOJANOVIC
346
Fig1u.r Pel ano f Isthmias,h owing
locatiwohnes reb eehivefr agments
habveee nf oundJ. . EllisJ ones,a fter
1996,p . 58, fig. 1
Anderson-Stojanovic
(PFH.. emansa ndW . B. DinsmoorJr.)
siaStrnho uuVtmebeic anrsaeretie sfoihtdqe aoras urw t,tme sao eunn trhogtwa ofglo uyteh-sssrtieteheose H v fidtr Aeoe dap xDtislnaate .imr tIocdhae. t iPxlhellpi aaeeorlmlrffnlsresoa I op.srst temlh twenrtaos ehactf ocsese tafpso Ch b trme tyeih "mecbeusleaI awmdspdrta iobihlixctctysrmh ,sol eoa enluf ntsl ftrastwdiy,ae r aspaenm nretd1me id"bnt, C y tfe eghoprne uoeeheti ffnt di retvhdeho iea nnmesd - . 3 ppCpfp734r2pp.ur9.a .2 J B..ba.g3 1Honlr1m9i-noes9i27vehe n82-nseei4fe35,nGsotd1 e,;p,s euCr J41r px no;a9at.Jdnh53etoal e9n5aints1n,-m1sp K e79i9ga.ose6,73n9 n nt;r630o I ad i;7f,snRplS a.s.g p1aouns9c.stta6 ,ak8 ti r3dnn1ee-eedt, 7p str11l1 1 i. 999 d9;87 7 5339, ,,,
tlpt(rdtoBeihfwe.oepflCdemeiitre.Tmecg5a a te naohrhTicnoao tlhvhtehuahii tn eeoo ta ibttEeyad vrtlnt bho heohpt eto .el t )h on ateefeixh hn nr t1 ntete ohie e oeidrnhzpt sedngelo sdiaf ihfv rsc nldosomioaioew rot,vrw wpr atte n hoehechodhla ie rar a io ne,sivmre en rnecua u e axvdd ctsai s paltsele gekoau spatdednecthsnipt, iwi hn ignhenseos ma mt ieaganSeohs h rhr.eprpn oee4sainioalsa oe n nartrtrifsce g vcni alh;oazdyese wi olmo rndu sionenedt rEmivsret,inwc teganeypeo pgor ylcgitatn o l mtoph hashslmteidyceiba eit eo 3aos irbs(dtpo rncCt.amFhs o ndue t yaiwmn at,a mg lthnhilii. b2nl ntbeedu ph) n gfde2a n.art etrnSnhogie-inptdodened cyta cnmca ct beip rooenltne eearunmgeidt ylhrltshild,b uTmbleo. ttbi 6 elrlovehh e eedi- eeee s s ,s V94Fh2100h33809a.o. o252,009vu51r485n6,07ebc.ri7 t ,f .zBs ,p,o fpoeo 6 C .oim. eo8 rp-g0 n9rn1ln3 ...ep5at63 2f7 -eano,nl8;597t fecl uRgS 5-e i,,fto11g3 ton a,ebo hvp98s6r cdse.e8.l9.Id k4a a seDr2n3,7tie.dh ia09 ,tEint-p oiemm36t41avglp rt ,,8e9neh2 e1ie.eu)3o 9 dn2et0x.t5r2e Ms e5s0th ra-c,eni,p, 3eo 2o1nantpr9n4r3itdsnr.a.iv1s4i20 nePo(a a,,s0.V 22gn5 auirr,s52 23 oryir nf417 rgt fro,ag.e,to n csm eo.
archaeological
ANCIENT BEEHIVES FROM ISTHMIA
347
_1
10 20 30 40 50 60
> =1 H F; H I I I I I em
Figure2 (lefi).A ncient horizontal
hives:L ate Romane xample( 1) from
shapeis stillu sedi n countrieasr oundth eM editerraneaann da lsoi n many
Isthmia;a nd Hellenistich ivesf rom
TrachonesA, ttica, shownw ith and othera reaso f thew orldS. uchh ivesc anb e useds inglyb, uta rem orec om-
withoute xtensionr ing.J . Ellis Jones, monlyf ounds tackedin clustersl,a rgeo r small,o fteni n the shadeo f a
afterJones,G raham,a nd Sackett 1973, shedo r roof.
p.447, fig.19 ExcavationastI sthmiaa tt heS anctuaroyf Poseidona nda tt heH elle-
nistics ettlemenotn ther idgek nowna st he Rachis, outho f thes anctuary,
Figure3 (right)T. hree uprighth ives
havep roduceadd ditionaelx ampleosf coarsew arew ithi nternaclo mbing,
fromI sthmia( 5, 6, 7) comparedt o a
severaild entifiablaes the shorterty pe2 vessel( Fig.3 ) or partso f sucha
modernh ive at PalaiochorioC, rete,
and sketcheso f threeP alaiochorio vesselT. he aimo f thisa rticleis to showt hatt het ype2 vasef romI sthmia
hivesi n use.J . Ellis Jones wasa beehives et uprighto n its flatb ottomw ith honeycombhsa nging
downf roma bovein tot heb odyo f thev esselA. n uprighht iveo f thiss ort
couldh aveb eenu sede ithera sa movable-nehstiv ew itht hew holem asso f
honeycombasd herintgo somef ormo f removabllied f ittingo vert heo pen
top,o r as a top-barh ive,a refinemenitn whichc ombsh angf romi ndi-
viduawl oodenb arss etf airlyc loset ogethera crostsh eo penm outha, llow-
ings eparatree movaolf individuaclo mbsin harvestintgh eh oneyA. lid of
7. Jones,G rahama, ndS ackett somek indw asu sedt o holdd owna nds hadet heb arsW. ickera ndc eramic
1973, pp.399-401, ns.2 4-27; Jones barh ivesc ans tillb e seeni n Cretea t Palaiochorinoe, arK atalagarsio, uth
1990, p.69, n. 9; Crane1 983, pp. 196- ofK nosso(sF ig.3 ). A characterisotifc t heseu prighht ivesi s thatt heb ees
203. An unusuahl ivef romK nossos
witha domede nd andp ossiblee ntry arep rovidedw ith a smalle ntryh olel ow on the wallo f the hivei tself.7
holesi s discussedin Hayes1 983, Suchh ivesa res eto uti n theo peno ri n thes hadeo f ano verhanginrgo ck,
pp.108-109,132, no. 177,134, fig. 15. wells pacedo ri n looseg roups.
|Z . | a s a a E f o l o 4 l
348 V. R. ANDERSON-STOJANOVIC AND J. E. JONES
) 60
[TT; [: , .2 I - n
Figure4 . Horizontahl ives1 -4l a. ll l
TYPE 1 BEEHIVES
J. Ellis Jones
Fourh orizontabl eehiveso f type1 fromt ower7 of the Hexamilion
fortreshs aveb eenr estored(F ig.4 ).8T he fabrico f thesev esselsis reddish
yellow( 7.5YR6 /6),g rittya, ndf iredr atherh ards;u rfacevsa ryf romr edt o
reddishb rown( 2.5YR5 /4-6/4) with somep atcheso f burningH. eights
varyf rom0 .58 to 0.64 m andt he bodyt apersfr oma diameteor f 0.25-
0.27m att hem outh( D. rim0 .29-0.30m )t o ca.0 .17-0.19m att hee xte-
rioro f the base,w hichi s roundedo r domedt o a greateor r lesserd egree
(seeT able1 below)R. imst endt o havea simplep rojectinpgr ofilea ndt o
be flato n top.T he exterioro f the lid (Fig.5 ) andb odys howst raceso f
wheelr idgingw hilet he interiorw as incisedv erticallwy ith a comblike
instrumentth; ei ncisioncso verb etweena quartearn da thirdo f thev essel's
circumferencPee. rpendicultaor t hesem arksa ndj ustb elowt he rimi s a
bando f horizontaclo mbinga,n df requentlsye veraolt hers imilabr andsa re
founda t intervalbs elowA. ll foure xampleds isplaym arkso r inscriptions
addedb eforef iringj ustb elowt he rimo n the exterio(rF ig.4 ).9I t seems
likelyt hatt hesem arksw, hichw erei ncisedi n still-softc lay,d enotet he
potterh imselfo, r an ownerw ho hado rdereda numbero f hivesi n ad-
vancei;f theyh adb eens cratcheodn afterf iringt,h eyw ouldb e morel ikely Figure5 . Beehivel id 34, upper
to representth e owner'osw ni dentificatiomn ark. surface
8. No. 3 is illustrateidn Broneer (IPR6 8-40, pl. 40d fromt ower2 , in a
1959,p . 337, no. 17 (IP 2139),f ig. 11, 5th-century context)is described.
A.C.
pl. 72c.S ee alsoI sthmiaV , p. 114, 9. Ludorf( 1998-1999,p . 51, n. 71)
n. 5(c),w herea notherr imf ragment discusseisn scriptionass owner'ms arks.
ANCIENT BEEHIVES FROM ISTHMIA 349
TYPE 2 BEEHIVES
The firste xamploe f a type2 vesselw asf oundi n the 1955s easono f exca-
vationa tt heR achis ettlemen(tF ig.3 :5;s eeb elowF, igs.8 -9). In ana rticle
aboutt he settlementC, . Kardarsau ggestedth att hisc ontainewr asa bee-
hive.1I0t too hasi nteriorr ougheninga,n dj ustb elowt he rima serieso f
lettersO, PESTA1vpAe,r haptsh eo wner'ns ameh, asb eeni nciseda fterf ir-
ing.T he vesseli s ca.0 .30 m in heighta ndh asa smallr ectangulaorp en-
ing at the bottomo f the sidew heret herei s no combingo n the interior.
Threes imilarv essels( 6, 7, 8) haveb een restoredfr omr ecoverefdr ag-
ments,a ndo therr im andb asef ragmentws ith comparablfee atureas re
alsop resentehde re.
The fabrico f the t,vpe2 vesselsis in almosta llc asest hatu sedf ort he
typicaCl orinthiacno arsew areo r plainw areo f the Greeka ndE arlyR o-
manp eriodsV. essel1 8, howeveri,s madeo f cookingf abric.1Tlh e fabric
normallfyir est o a rangeo f colorsb etweenr eddishye llow( 5YR7 /6,7 .5YR
7/6) andp ink( 7.5YR7 /4) orv eryp aleb rown( 1OYR8 /3).12A ll of these
vesselsa ppeatro be wheelmadTe.w ot ,vpeos f rimsm ayb e distinguished:
the morec omplexp rojectinrgi mw ith flatu ppers urfacea ndp rominent
ridgeb eneath( 5, 6, 9, 10, 11, 13, 15, 16, 18) anda plainp rojectinrgi m
withoutt her idge( 7, 8, 12, 14, 17, 19,2 0, 21).1A3 smallf lighth ole,e ither
rectangulaorr rounda, t the bottomo f the wallo r in the floorc loset o it,
woulda llowt heb eest o go in ando uto f the hive.R oundh olesv aryf rom
0.026 to 0.030 m in diameterr,e ctangulasrli tsf rom0 .025 to 0.045 by
0.005t o 0.015m .T he uprighbt eehivem ayh avei nteriorc ombingfr om
bottomt o top,a nda fewe xample(se .g.,2 0) displaya bando f horizontal
combingn eart he rim.I n the Isthmias amplet,h e preservedfr agments
suggestth atc ombingw aso mittedo n thep arto f thei nteriowr allo n either
sideo f thef lighth olesT. hep lacemenotf thec ombingin thisa rrangement
is analogoutso thats eeni n the horizontahl ive.I t is possibleth ati t was
meantt o encouragteh e beest o attacht heirc ombst o thosep artso f the
wallw ith the roughenedsu rfacea ndn ot to the arean eart he opening.
Detailso f combingv aryf romr egularc,l oselys pacedd, eepi ncisionsto a
ratherir regulasrh, allowtr eatmenTt.h erei s somee videncteo suggestth at
not allh ivesw erer ougheneodn the interiora,l thougho nec annotb e cer-
tainu nlessm osto f the circumferenicse p reservedH. ive 7, for example,
hasn o combingo n its survivinpga rts.14
10. Kardar1a9 61,p p.2 64-265. usedu ntilt he Hellenisticp eriodf or 14. Othere xampleos f beehives
11. In additiont o its use forc on- rooft iles,o thert erracottaar chitecture, withoutc haracteristoicp eningsin the
tainersp lacedo n or in the fire,c ook- perrirhantertiay,p eA ' amphorabs,a sins, flooro r base,o r diagnosticr imsa ndl ips,
ing fabricb, ecauseo f its lightnessw, as pitchersa, ndb athtubsB. y the LateR o- mayh avee scapedo ura ttentions ince
usedf orp itchersa ndk ratersm, anyo f manp eriodl, ight-bodiedc oarsew ares the interiorc ombingis the onlyf eature
whichh aveb eenf oundi n the Rachi weren o longeru sed.T hin sectionso f thatd istinguishebso dys herdso f bee-
settlement. the Isthmiac ombeds herdsw erem ade, hivesf romo therc oarsew ares( sucha s
12.W hitbread1 995,p p.2 93-308, andw e awaita report. lekanaif,o re xamplen, otedb y Lohmann
esp.p p.3 01-302;C orinthV II.2, 13. Ludorf1 998-1999,f igs.3 2 and [1993,p . 39]). Severaol f the piecesp ub-
pp.9 4-95; CorinthV II.3,p . 104.T his 33, areg oode xampleos f complexr im lishedb y Lohmanna rew ithouti nternal
Corinthianco arsew arew, ithg reatero r treatmentf;i gs.1 6 and1 7 depictt he combinga nd,i ndeed,h e commentsth at
lessera mountso f grita ndg rog,w as simplef orm. l. t 1. S not necessary.
V. R. ANDERSON-STOJANOVIC AND J. E. JONES
35o
Onlyo ne (5) of the threep otsr estoredin cludedh andlesa mongi ts
survivinfgr agmentTs.h eseh andlecs ouldb e confidentl"yr eplacedin" p o-
sition;t heya reo vali n sectiona nds et horizontalloyn eithers ideo f the
vessel,o ppositee acho therT. he otherr estoredp otsd id not haveh andle
fragmentosr handlea ttachmentsse curelya ssociatewd ith them.S everal
of ther ima ndw allp ieces( 9, 10,1 3)d op reservae h orizontaglr oovea tt he
handlez one;o n 18 the handles tubi s placedd irectlyu pons ucha groove.
In fact,a smallp arto f a similagr roovec anb e seeno n 5 aboutm idwayb e-
tweent heh andles(s eeb elowF, ig.9 ).T hist echniqueu,s edb yR omana nd
modernp ottersf,a cilitatetsh ep lacemenotf handlesa t the samel evel.15
Sincet he discoveroyf the so-calledO restadvaa se( 5),t hereh asb een
a certaina mounot f controversrye gardinigts identificatioans ane xample
of ana ncienut prighht ive.A rgumentasl soh aveb eenm adef ora nda gainst
the probablue se of the top-barh ivei n ancientG reece.1T6h e Orestada
vase,i n particulawr,a sc onsiderevde rys mall( estimatevdo lume1 7 liters)
in comparisotno modernh iveso f a similart ype;i t was too heavyt,h e
interiorc ombingw asn eitheru niformn ord idi t covert he entires urface,
and,i n lookinga tt hev asei tselfi, t wasd ifficultto determinheo wm ucho f
the flighth olew asp lastera ndh owm uchw asa n originafle ature.1T7h is
opening( 0.050m in widtha ndc a. 0.015 m in height),a lthoughp artly
restoredis, ano riginafle aturoe f thev asew: hilet heo utsides urfacies bro-
ken,t hei nteriorre taintsh eo riginaflo rmo f theo peningt;h er estoratioins
on the outsides urfacoe nly.
A programo f absorbedo rganicr esiduea nalysiso f samplesf rom
combed/beehivshe erdsh asb eenc arriedo utu ndert he directiono f Rich-
ardP .E vershedo f BristoUl niversittyo provides omes cientifice vidence
fort heu seo ftheI sthmiap iecesa sb eehives.1S8h erdfsr omt hreea reas(t he
fortressR, achsi ettlemenat,n ds anctuarayn de nvironsw) eres electedto be
testedf ort hep resencoef beeswaxI.t wasn otp ossibleh, oweverto, submit
inventoriedre, storedri mo rb ases amplefso rt hisd estructivaen alysisa,n d
as a resulta ll samplecs hosenw erew allf ragmentTs.h e presencoe f bees-
wax,f oundin sixteeno f forty-onsea mpleos f combedsh erdfsr omI sthmia,
supporttsh e identificatioonf manys ampleas sb eehivesb, uts incet ypes1
15.W e wouldl iket o thanko ne of werep erformedon residueos f bees- waxe stersd uringb urialA. s in a re-
the anonymouHs esperiar eviewerfso r waxa bsorbedw ithint he fabrico f the centi nvestigatioonf beeswaxin Late
theseo bservationRs. omane xamples vesselsH. igh-temperatugrea sc hroma- Minoanl ampsa ndc onicalc ups
of the use of groovest o alignh andles tography(H T-GC)a ndH T-GC/mass fromC rete( Evershedet al. 1997),
mayb e seeni n CorinthX VIII.2,p . 63, spectrometr(yH T-GC/MS)w ereu sed 13Cv aluesw ered eterminedfo rt he
no. 138,p l. 7; p. 81, no. 172,p l. 10; to screenli pide xtractfso rt he presence individuaclo mponentosf the lipid
p. 123,n o.2 70, pl. 16;a lsoA goraV , of compoundcsh aracteristoicf bees- extractbs y meanso f GC-combustion-
pl. 3, F84-85, andp l. 7, G190. wax.S ampleso f beeswaxta kenf roma isotoper atioM S.T he valueso btained
16. Crane1 983,p p.2 00-202;C rane 19th-centurcye ramicb eehivew ere fort he n-alkane(s- 24.5 to -26.9%)a nd
andG raham1 985,p p.3 0-31. useda s referencme aterialsP. otsherds n-alkanol(s- 25.0 to -25.7%)w ere
17. Crane1 983,p p. 17, 201.W hen fromt en pithoir ecoverefdr omt he comparablteo the characteristvica lues
Kardaraan dP apadopoulo(u1 984, Rachie xcavationsse rveda s controls. obtainedfo rt he referencbe eeswax.
pp.2 -3) studiedt he vesseli n the None of the pithoic ontainedb eeswax Thus,o n the basiso f moleculasrt nuc-
IsthmiaM useumt, heyw eren ot able residuesT. he presenceo f beeswaxw as turesc, arbonn umberd istributions,
to obtaina ccuratien formation. deducedfr omt he distributionosf and1 3Cv aluesa, significanpt roportion
18. See Eversheda ndA nderson- n-alkane(sC 23 to C 33), waxe sters of beehives herdsw eres hown,u nam-
Stojanovi1c 995;E vershede t al.,f orth- (C 40 to C 52), andl ong-chaina lco- biguouslyt,o containb eeswax.
comlngr. > le c lem. lca l. nvestlgatlons hols (C 24 to C 34) releasedfr omt he
ANCIENT BEEHIVES FROM ISTHMIA 35I
TABLE 1. DIMENSIONS OF TYPES 1 AND 2
Sample Height MouthD iam. Rim Diam. BaseD iam.
Type1 (1-4) 0.58-0.64 0.25-0.27 0.29-0.30 0.17-0.19
Type2 (5-8) 0.29-0.33 0.31-0.38 0.36-0.42 0.18-0.27
Rims( 9-23) 0.31-0.40 0.35-0.43
Bases( 24-32) 0.15-0.31
All measuremenatsr ei n meters.
and2 cannotb e distinguisheidn the smallf ragmentssa mpledt,h isa naly-
sis cannotb e usedt o supportth e identificatioonf type2 hives.19
In summaryth, e uprighht ivea t Isthmiais characterizebdy the fol-
lowingc haracteristic1s): a flighth olef ort he beesi n the lowerw allo r in
theb aseo f thev essel2; ) a heighto f 0.294.33 m;3 ) a mouthd iameteorf
0.314.38; 4) a flatb ase;5 ) commonlya, p artiallcyo mbedin teriora;n d6 )
19.A fulll istingo f the samplesw ill lessc ommonlya, p airo f horizontahl andlesb elowt he rim.O f the sixa t-
appearin the publicationof the study tributesa, combinatioonf severaol f them,o r the flighth oleo n its own,
by Evershede t al. (forthcomingO). f wouldb e a fairlyg oodi ndicatiotnh att hev essewl asi ntendedto beu seda s
the ten samplest akenf romt he for-
an uprighth ive.T hus,t hosef latb asef ragmentws ithf lighth oles( 25,2 6,
tress,t wow erep ositivef;i veo f twelve
and3 0) arel ikelyt o be fromt ype2 hives.2I0n ordert o distinguishth e
samplesfr omt he Rachi,a ndn ineo f
uprighht ivef romt heh orizontahli ve,o nes houldid eallyh avea complete
nineteenf romt he sanctuaryw,e rea lso
positiveA. ll positives amplesfr omt he profileo, r a combinatioonf certaina ttributetsh ata ren ot,u nfortunately,
fortressa nds anctuarhya db eenw ashed ordinarilpyr esenitn a singles herd.21
in an acidb atha ftere xcavationw, hile One fragmentarcye ramicli d (34) has beeni ncludedin this report
the fives amplesfr omt he Rachih ad
becauseit is notu nlikee xampletsy picallays sociatewd ithh orizontable e-
not.T herei s no simplec orrelation
hives.I t is flati n profile( Fig.5 ), withc urvedr idgeso n the uppers urface
apparenbt etweent he extento f beeswax
degradatioann dw hethero r not acid anda smoothu nderside.I2t2 h asb eens uggestedth ats uchr idgesp rovided
washingt ookp lace. reinforcemefnotr t he addedp ressureex ertedb y the cordst hatw ereu sed
20. A flatb asew ith a holei n the to attacht he lid to the hive( Fig.2 ).23A flighth ole,w hichw ouldb e ex-
centera ndn o combingm ighth ave
pectedi f usedw itha horizontahl ive,i s not preserveidn thisl id.B utt he
beena flowerpotS. eeT hompson1 963,
curvedr idgesa, rguabllyo gicalf ort he horizontahl ive,a reo f no specific
p.11, fig.13, for an illustratioonf a
usei n thev erticatly pe,f orw hichn o cordsw erer equired.
flowerpoftr omt he Hephaisteion
garden.
21. Fabricis not,o n its own,a
reliabled istinguishinfga ctor. CATALOGUE
22.J ones,G rahama, ndS ackett
1973,p p.400,446-447,p ls.7 7,84;
The followingc atalogueis designedt o illustratteh e rangeo f variation
Jones1 976,p p.82-84. It wasn ot
possiblet o test the lid fragmentfso r presenitn the beehivefsr omI sthmiaI.t includesth osev esselst hatc ould
the presenceo f beeswaxS. imilarli ds be restoredfr omt he fortres(s1 -4), the Sanctuaroyf Poseidon(6 , 7), and
arei llustratedin Munn1 993,p . 77, the Rachis ettlemenitn, cludingth e Orestadvae ssel( 5) ando neo ther( 8),
figs.30-31.
asw ella si nventorierdi msa ndb ases.2O4 new allf ragmen(t3 3)i s included
23.Jones,G rahama, ndS ackett
to showa n unusuacl ombingp atterno n the interiorT. he dimensionosf
1973:s ee appendixI byM . I.
thev esselsa res ummarizeadb ovein T able1 . Sincet hef ocuso f thisa rticle
Geroulanosp,. 446.
24. Any additionaflr agmenttsh at is theu seo f thev esselsa sc ontainerfso rh oneycombtsh, e diameteorf the
mightb e recoveredfr omg oingt hrough vesselm outhr atherth ano f ther imi s listedi n thec atalogueA. ll measure-
the lots fromt he Sanctuaroyf Poseidon mentsa rei n metersD. espitet hef actt hatt ype1 hivesw ereu sedi n a hori-
wouldn ot significantlcyh anget he
zontalp ositioni,t hasb eent raditionatol uset he termh eightr atherth an
discussiona bovea, lthoughth eyw ould
lengthW. e recordh eree ssentiaml easuremenotns ly;m orep recised eter-
giveu s a betteri deao f the numberos f
beehivesin the area. minationws ouldr eflectt hev ariationth atf requentleyx istsf romo ne side
352 V. R. ANDERSON-STOJANOVIC AND J. E. JONES
of the rimt o anothero, r otheri rregularitioefs potst hath aven ot been
centeredo n thew heel.C orinthiacnl ayi s knownt o be too plastict o sus-
taint hew eighto f largev esselsT. heI sthmiain ventornyu mbefro llowsth e
catalogune umberF. orf ragmentisn ventorieadf ter1 985,t he lot number
indicatecso ntextf;o ro therst,h ef ieldn otebookre ferencies given.2M5 ore
specificc ontextin formatioanp pearbs elowi n Table2 . Munsellr eadings
areg iveno nly for those piecest hat appeard ifferentf romt he typical
Corinthiafna bric.
NEARLY COMPLETEA ND RESTOREDV ESSELS
,^1 YP E I
1 IP 2216 Figs.2,4,6 S down interiorw all. On exteriorb e-
Horizontalb eehive low rim is a markm adew ith a comb,
in the shapeo f a roughT risingf rom
Hexamilionf ortresst, ower7 ,
an O.
notebookD P, 1958, p. 85. Rest.H .
Date: 6th centuryA .C.
0.620-0.645; est. Diam. mouth
0.254; Diam. base 0.170, end only
3 IP 2139 Figs. 4, 7
verys lightlyd omed.R estoredf rom
Horizontalb eehive
manyf ragmentsw ith plasteri nfill.
Hard-firedf abric,r eddishy ellow Samec ontexta s 1. Broneer
(7.5YR6 /6) fabricw ith interiorf ired 1959, pp.320-321,337, no.17,
red toreddishb rown( 2.5YR5 /4- fig. ll, pl. 72:c.R est.H .0.60 (with
6/4), discoloredg raya ndb lacko n height to starto f dome at 0.55,
exterior. makingt he dome prominenta nd
Flat rim,o utwardlyth ickened. somewhatp ointed);e st. Diam.
Taperingp rofilew ith roundedb ot- mouth0 .275;D iam. base0 .17.
tom. Wheel-ridgede xteriori,n cised Restoredw ith some plasteri nfills.
horizontalg roovesj ust belowr im on Fabrica s 1 and 2.
exteriorI. nterior:O verlappingb ands Thick rim,s lightlyd ownturned.
of verticalc ombingo n a thirdo f in- Taperingp rofilew ith slightlyc oncave
teriorc ircumferencep;e rpendicular wall. Stronglyw heel-ridgede xterior.
bandsj ust below rim and abouta Interiorh as deepv erticalc ombing
thirdo f the distanced own interior with threeb roadc ross-bandsa t
wall. IIO incisedb eforef iring,j ust regularin tervalso n interiorw all.
belowr im exterior. Justb elowr im exteriora ret he letters
Date: 6th centuryA .C. I10, incisedb eforef iring.
Date: 6th centuryA .C.
2 IP2217 Figs. 4, 6
Horizontalb eehive 4 IP 2140 Figs. 4, 7
Horizontalb eehive
Samec ontexta s 1. Rest.H .
0.58; H. to starto f dome 0.54; est. Samec ontexta s 1. Rest.H . 0.63;
Diam. mouth0 .26; Diam. base0 .19. H. to starto f dome 0.60; est. Diam.
Larges ectiono f rim andw all mouth0 .255; Diam. base0 .170.
missing;r estoredF. abrica s 1. Domed bottom similart o 2. Mended
Similari n shapet o 1 but rim and restoredw ith plasteri nfills.F ab-
moref lared,e xteriorw all less ridged, r. lc, exter. lorr . lcg l. ng, anc l. nter. lor
and end mored omeda nd pointed. combinga s 3.
Exteriorw heel ridgess moothed. Similari n shapet o 1. W or 25. Thesea res toredi n the Isthmia
Deep, regularv, erticalc ombingo n upside-downM incisedw ith a comb, Museuma longw ith all documentation
interior;h orizontalc ross-bandjsu st below rim on exterior. fromt he Universityo f Chicago
belowr im and a quartero f the way Date: 6th centuryA .C. Excavationast the site.
ANCIENT BEEHIVES FROM ISTHMIA 353
1 2
2
1
Figure 6. Horizontal hives 1 and 2
2
354 V. R. ANDERSON-STOJANOVIC AND J. E. JONES
3 4
4
3 Figure7 . Horizontalh ives 3 and 4