Hellenistic Pottery: The Plain Wares (Agora) (Athenian Agora vol. 33)

649 Pages·2006·27.62 MB·English

by  Susan I. Rotroff

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Hellenistic Pottery: The Plain Wares
Author(s): Susan I. Rotroff
Source: The Athenian Agora, Vol. 33, Hellenistic Pottery: The Plain Wares (2006), pp. iii-iv, vii
-ix, xi-xxi, xxiii-xxxvii, 1, 3-53, 55-67, 69-223, 225-239, 241, 243-337, 339, 341-377, 379-391,
393-399, 401-403, 405-407, 409-429, 431-438
Published by: American School of Classical Studies at Athens
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25481903
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THE ATHENIAN AGORA
RESULTS OF EXCAVATIONS
CONDUCTED BY
THE AMERICAN SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL STUDIES AT ATHENS
VOLUME XXXIII
HELLENISTIC POTTERY
THE PLAIN WARES
BY
SUSAN I. ROTROFF
THE AMERICAN SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL STUDIES AT ATHENS
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
2006
? The American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 2006
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rotroff, Susan L, 1947
Hellenistic pottery : the plain wares / by Susan I. Rotroff.
p. cm. ? (The Athenian Agora ;v . 33)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-87661-233-0 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 0-87661-233-8 (alk. paper)
1. Pottery, Hellenistic?Expertising?Greece?Athens. 2. Pottery, Hellenistic?
Catalogs. 3. Ceramic tableware?Greece?Athens. 4. Cookware?Greece?Athens.
5. Agora (Athens, Greece) I. Title. II. Series.
DF287.A23A5 vol. 33
[NK3840]
938'.5 s?dc22
[738.30938] 2006040782
typography by ascsa publications
6-8 charlton street, princeton, new jersey
printed in the united states of america
by edwards brothers, incorporated, ann arbor, michigan
PREFACE
volume the of the Hellenistic of the
completes primary publication pottery Agora.
This Together with Agora XXII and XXIX, it provides an overview of most of the ceramics used
by Athenians from the later 4th to the 1st century B.C. I began the project in 1972; it has taken
over 30 years to complete it, and I have enjoyed much generous help and support along the
way. I would like to express my gratitude to past and present directors of the excavations for
their confidence in assigning this material to me and their support in the completion of this
lengthy undertaking. T. Leslie Shear Jr. invited me to embark upon this study and, together
with Homer A. Thompson, guided my earliest work. The current director, John McK. Camp
II, has helped by providing assistance from among the volunteer staff of the Agora and by
supporting the research through the award of a Kress Foundation Agora Publication Grant,
which allowed me to spend eight months in Athens in 1999-2000, during the final phase of
analysis. Additional financial support was generously provided by the Solow Foundation in
the summer of 1998. I am also beholden to which has me
Washington University, provided
with an annual research account that covered many miscellaneous expenses, including the
cost of the neutron activation in A and B.
analyses reported Appendixes
Many friends and scholars have helped me with this study. Near the top of the list is Kath
leen Lynch, who assisted me in the summer of 1998 with the examination of the context
pottery in the deposit sample. This was an enormous undertaking, which involved long, hard,
dirty, and often dreary work in the basement of the Stoa of Attalos, unpacking, vacuuming,
sorting, counting, recording, and repacking pottery (which, inevitably, never quite fits back
into the tins whence it came). Kathleen's standard of meticulous work enhanced the value
of the data recovered, and her cheerfulness turned a tedious task into something approach
ing a pleasure. I am grateful also to Christine Smith, who with equal willingness undertook
another tedious job, the checking of the many numbers in the Deposit Summaries.
One area in which I have been especially dependent on the expertise of others is in the
scientific analysis of the fabrics. Brigitte Wopenka and Jill Pasteris of the Department of Earth
and Planetary Studies at Washington University, together with Rachel Popelka, then an un
dergraduate student at the university, undertook experimental examination of some of the
pottery with Raman laser microprobe spectroscopy. To all three of them I am grateful for the
adventure of a deeply interdisciplinary experience, and to Jill and Brigitte for their willing
ness to share their expertise and equipment with someone far outside their field. I would
have liked to undertake a large petrographic study, but Iw as unable to find a petrographer
willing to take on the project; James Stoltman of the University of Wisconsin-Madison took
pity on me and studied a small sample of my wares, simply out of the kindness of his large
heart and the of his mind.
curiosity lively
In another field in which I can make no claim to Kroll
expertise?numismatics?Jack helped
me to understand the implications of the revision of the Rhodian amphora chronology for
the dating of Athenian bronze coinage.
viii PREFACE
The number of in the of is
people engaged study plain pottery relatively small?obviously
the material does not have the of or even of the
appeal red-figure transport amphoras?but
field has produced its experts, and many of them have offered me valuable advice. Odile
Didelot read and commented on my account of the braziers, saving me from many an em
error. Koehler and Mark Lawall me to the archive of
barrassing Carolyn helped negotiate
amphoras and amphora stamps at the Agora. Gerald Finkielsztejn read a draft of my Deposit
Summaries and me with information about his new for Rhodian
provided chronology stamps,
in advance of the of his book. shared with
publication Similarly, Virginia Anderson-Stojanovic
me her work on the beehives of Isthmia. I have also benefited from with
correspondence
Roger Edwards, who is intimately familiar with the material and has been a constant source
of ideas, insights, and unlikely bibliography. He has passed on to me many notes and papers,
including detailed analyses of the stratigraphy of many of the deposits, which have been of
in the Summaries.
especial help compiling Deposit
Much Hellenistic remains and access to this material is a cru
plain pottery unpublished,
cially important aid that was offered to me at many sites. Corinth, as always, opened its doors
and its storerooms, thanks to directors Charles Williams and Guy Sanders; Nancy Bookidis, in
particular, was generous with her time, expertise, and hospitality during my visits to the site.
I am grateful to Jean-Yves Empereur and Marie-Dominique Nenna for facilitating my visit to
Alexandria, and to Cecile Harlaut for showing me pottery from the French excavations there.
Tikva Levine gave me an extensive tour of the rich ceramic trove excavated at Tel Marisa,
Dalit Regev shared with me her work on ceramics at Akko, and Malka Hershkovitz showed
me Hellenistic pottery from Tel Dan. I have also learned much about fabrics and the pitfalls
of scientific analysis in conversations with Francine Blonde. The periodic conferences on
Hellenistic pottery organized by Greek archaeologists (Stella Drougou and Yannis Tourat
soglou have been particularly active in this area) have opened up the field enormously and
an forum for the of information and ideas.
provided important exchange
Books and articles, however, remain the richest source of comparative material. Many of
these publications are difficult to find, but I have been fortunate to have access to several
libraries with complementary strengths. The Blegen Library of the American School of Classi
cal Studies, as always, was a rich source. Iw as also able to find many important publications of
Near Eastern material in the libraries of Jerusalem: at the Albright Institute, the Rockefeller
Museum, the Ecole biblique et archeologique, and Hebrew University, all of which were
and to work.
welcoming fascinating places
Books can also provide models for the presentation of material. In this respect I am heavily
indebted to Andrea Berlin's publication of the plain ceramics of Tel Anafa (Tel Anafa II.l),
whose scheme for the presentation of shapes I have borrowed and adapted to the Agora
material.
I have had the good luck to find excellent technical support at the Agora excavations. When
I began this project, the plain pottery had been sitting on open shelves in the basement of
the Agora, more or less undisturbed, for a generation. Much had been broken, either in the
earthquake of 1981, or as the shellac that had been used as adhesive in the earlier days of
the excavation degraded. Maria Stamatatou assisted in the reorganization of the collection,
removing and vacuuming each vessel and cleaning the shelves. George Dervos helped with
the retrieval of large and heavy vessels and storage containers perched on high shelves in the
Stoa basement. Conservation and restoration of the vessels, both of newly inventoried mate
rial and of older damaged objects, were overseen by Alice Paterakis and Julie Unruh. They
also offered advice on a wide range of topics?the proper handling, labeling, and storage of
the ceramics (though none of us is happy with the current storage solutions), identification
of materials, and use of the binocular microscope, to name just a few?and Julie devised a
for the of some of the fabrics.
procedure testing porosity
PREFACE ix
Although some archival photographs are included in this volume, almost all of the material
was rephotographed by Craig Mauzy and (until the digital revolution occurred, near the end
of the project) the photographs were printed by Kyriaki Moustaki. Likewise, although many
vessels had been drawn by earlier draftspersons, many of those drawings had to be revised
and reinked, a project I undertook myself. Since, however, it was my goal to illustrate as many
vessels as with a deal of additional was needed. This was
possible drawings, good drafting
undertaken by Sylvie Dumont and Anne Hooton, both of them artists with infinitely more
talent and for illustration than The of the with
patience pottery myself. plan Agora, deposits
marked, was made by Samantha Martin, based on earlier drawings by Richard Anderson and
William B. Dinsmoor
Jr.
The excavation has also been the for and friends.
meeting place congenial colleagues
Several of my stays in Athens overlapped with those of John Hayes, which enabled us to sort
out more the interface between the Hellenistic and the Roman material.
satisfactorily John
brought many new pieces to my attention, and his phenomenal pottery sense was, as always,
an inspiration. The regular "late-afternoon crew" of pottery people?Mark Lawall, Kathleen
Lynch, and John Papadopoulos?provided a sounding board for ideas, discussed over a glass
of iced tea or as we homeward Hadrian Street at the end of the And at the
trudged up day.
end of that journey, waiting for me, was my husband, Bob Lamberton, an unwavering sup
to offer a ear and advice on whatever small or
port, ready sympathetic problem, practical
intellectual, I had encountered during the day.
I owe special thanks to Andrea Berlin, Kathleen Slane, and Natalia Vogeikoff-Brogan, who
read the manuscript with extraordinary care and made many suggestions that contributed
to its
materially improvement.
Carol Stein of the Publications Office of the American School to be an invaluable
proved
guide as she shepherded the manuscript through the editorial process. A woman with an
eagle eye for errors and inconsistencies, she saved me from many of both, and made several
excellent suggestions for the clearer presentation of the material. Her expertise, wisdom, and
above all her sense of humor made the editorial of this as close to a as
stage project pleasure
such a can be.
thing
I would like to extend special thanks to four members of the Agora staff who made par
ticularly significant contributions to this project. It is, of course, their job to support the work
of Agora scholars; but each has been willing to go well beyond the call of duty to help my
work go smoothly, and I want them to know how much I appreciate it. Sylvie Dumont, As
sociate Registrar of the excavation, made many of the drawings that illustrate this book and
also helped with day-to-day access to the material. She is one of the moving forces behind
the computerization of the inventory that is increasingly making work with large numbers of
Agora objects easier. Anne Hooton, Draftsperson of the Agora, also contributed drawings of
objects, sometimes at short notice, and always with a glorious flair. She has taught me much
about drawing and inking and, as someone with wide experience of many excavations, she
has been able to offer advice on ways of working and ways of illustrating archaeological arti
facts. Jan Jordan, Secretary of the excavation and custodian of its records, fields and coordi
nates the queries, demands, complaints, and other activities of staff and visiting scholars and
always remains calm, despite the fact that no one ever lets her finish a task uninterrupted.
Craig Mauzy, Manager of the Stoa of Attalos, who puts in a workweek of gargantuan pro
portions, coordinated my photographic requests in a time of rapidly changing technology,
and was always quick to accommodate last-minute orders. The new images he produced of
most of the vessels published here truly bring the objects to life. Thank you, Annie, Craig,
Jan, and Sylvie, for your many hours of work, for your patience, your ideas, and your talents,
for your company and friendship, and for making the Agora a place I was eager to come to
each
day.
CONTENTS
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xv
LIST OF TABLES xxi
BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS xxiii
PART I:G ENERAL OVERVIEW
1. INTRODUCTION 3
2. FABRICS 13
3. DESCRIPTIVE OVERVIEW AND CONCLUSIONS 55
PART II: SHAPE STUDIES
4. HOUSEHOLD WARE 69
69
JUGS
CHOUS (OINOCHOE, SHAPE 3) 69
TREFOIL SPLIT RIM 71
JUG:
OTHER TREFOIL JUGS 71
MUSHROOM JUG 72
HELLENISTIC JUG, FORM 1: TIE-ON RIM 73
HELLENISTIC JUG, FORM 2: THICKENED RIM, HEAVY HANDLE 76
OTHER LONG-NECKED JUGS 77
HELLENISTIC JUG, FORM 3: HIGH-SWUNG HANDLE 77
HELLENISTIC JUG, FORM 4: ROUND-MOUTH JUG 78
NARROW-NECKED JUGS 79
ASKOS 79
BASKET-HANDLED WATER JUG 81
HYDRIA 82
LAGYNOS 82
AMPHORAS 85
AMPHORA, FORM 1: NARROW NECK, HANDLES JOIN BELOW RIDGE 85
AMPHORA, FORM 2: NARROW NECK, HANDLES JOIN AT RIDGE 86
AMPHORA, FORM 3: LATE CLASSICAL TABLE AMPHORA 87
AMPHORA, FORM 4: MINIATURE PELIKE 87
AMPHORA, FORM 5: ANGULAR BODY 88
AMPHORA, FORM 6: LARGE, WITH RIDGED HANDLES 88
AMPHORA, FORM 7: LIDDED STORAGE AMPHORA 89
OTHER AMPHORAS 89
xii CONTENTS
FUNNELS 90
FUNNEL, FORM 1: PROJECTING RIM 90
FUNNEL, FORM 2: OUTTURNED RIM 91
OTHER FUNNELS 92
VESSELS FOR LONG-TERM STORAGE 92
STORAGE BIN, FORM 1; RIM WITH EXTERNAL FLANGE 94
STORAGE BIN, FORM 2: RIM WITH NO FLANGE 95
STORAGE BIN, FORM 3: RIM WITH INTERNAL FLANGE 96
OTHER LARGE STORAGE VESSELS 97
PITHOS LIDS 98
MINIATURE PITHOS? 98
MORTARS 99
HELLENISTIC MORTAR, FORM 1: PIECRUST HANDLES 100
HELLENISTIC MORTAR, FORM 2: LUG HANDLES 102
HELLENISTIC MORTAR, FORM 3: BOLSTER HANDLES 103
SERVING DISH (ESCHARA) 103
KRATERS 105
KRATER, STANDARD FORM 105
OTHER KRATERS 108
LEKANAI 108
LEKANE, FORM 1:O FFSET RIM, UPTURNED HANDLES 109
LEKANE, FORM 2: SHALLOW 110
LEKANE, FORM 3: DEEP 111
LEKANE, FORM 4: SHALLOW, THUMBPRINT HANDLES 112
OTHER LEKANAI 114
BOWLS 114
DEEP BOWL 114
SHALLOW BOWL 114
SMALL BOWLS 115
BASINS 116
HEAVY BASINS 116
SHALLOW SPOUTED BASIN 116
DEEP SPOUTED BASIN 117
LIDS 118
MISCELLANEOUS LIDS 118
FENESTRATED LID 118
TWO-HANDLED LID/BOWL 120
STANDS 121
LOW STAND 121
AMPHORA STAND 122
OTHER HOUSEHOLD-WARE VESSELS 122
BEEHIVES 124
STANDARD FORM 124
OTHER FORMS 129
DISCUSSION 130
CONTENTS xiii
POTTER'S EQUIPMENT 131
POTTER'S WHEEL 132
KILN FURNITURE 133
5. VESSELS FOR OIL AND UNGUENTS 135
SMALL SHAPES, MOSTLY OF BLISTER WARE 135
ARYBALLOS 136
OTHER SHAPES 137
FUSIFORM UNGUENTARIA 137
GRAY UNGUENTARIUM 140
UNGUENTARIA OF OTHER FABRICS 157
OTHER OIL AND UNGUENT CONTAINERS 160
MINIATURE AMPHORAS 160
PHOENICIAN AMPHORISKOS 161
RADISH JAR 162
VIAL 163
SMALL ONE-HANDLED JUGS 163
SMALL HANDLELESS POTS 164
6. COOKING WARE 165
CHYTRAI 165
CHYTRA, FORM 1: ONE-HANDLED, LIDLESS 167
OTHER ONE-HANDLED CHYTRAI 169
CHYTRA, FORM 2: ONE DOUBLE HANDLE, LIDDED 169
CHYTRA, FORM 3: ONE ROPE HANDLE, LIDDED 170
CHYTRA, FORM 4: TWO-HANDLED, VERTICAL RIM 172
CHYTRA, FORM 5: TWO-HANDLED, LIDDED 173
CHYTRA, FORM 6: TWO-HANDLED, COLLAR RIM 174
CHYTRA, FORM 7: ONE VERTICAL AND ONE HORIZONTAL HANDLE 175
CHYTRA, FORM 8: FLAT-RIMMED 175
CHYTRA, FORM 9: WIDE-RIMMED 176
OTHER TWO-HANDLED, GLOBULAR CHYTRAI 176
CHYTRA, FORM 10: TWO-HANDLED, LIDLESS 177
CHYTRA, FORM 11: BAGGY, HORIZONTAL HANDLES 178
LOPADES 178
LOPAS, FORM 1:U PTURNED HANDLES, ROUNDED BOTTOM 179
LOPAS, FORM 2: UPTURNED HANDLES, FLAT BOTTOM 180
LOPAS, FORM 3: ENGAGED HANDLES, FLAT BOTTOM 180
LOPAS, FORM 4: STRAIGHT-SIDED, TWO HANDLES 183
LOPAS, FORM 5: STRAIGHT-SIDED, NO HANDLES 183
OTHER LOPADES 186
PANS AND PARCHERS 186
PARCHER 187
PAN, FORM 1: PLAIN, WITH HANDLES 188
PAN, FORM 2: PLAIN, WITHOUT HANDLES 190
PAN, FORM 3: PLAIN, TUBE HANDLES 190
PAN, FORM 4: FLANGED RIM 191