Variability of Ceramic Production and Consumption on the Greek Mainland During the Middle Stages of the Late Bronze Age: The Waterpots from the Menelaion,Sparta |
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| Authors: | Bartłomiej Lis |
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| Affiliation: | Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warszawa, POLAND |
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| Abstract: | The article examines pottery groups manufactured in non‐Mycenaean traditions from the site of the Menelaion in Laconia (southern Peloponnese, Greece) during the middle stages of the Late Bronze Age. Pottery traditions are first defined using macroscopic study of surface and break features. Two distinct handmade traditions, and another one employing the wheel but with some links to traditional handmade pottery manufactured on the island of Aegina, were recognized and subjected to petrographic analysis. Its results confirmed that potters’ choices regarding clay preparation were different in the case of each identified tradition, being most distinct for the largest group of handmade undecorated water jars. The study highlights survival of pottery traditions with roots in the Middle Helladic period well into the Late Bronze Age, a fact that has not received appropriate attention in the scholarly discourse. It captures the very last stage of their existence, as just a few decades later the production and consumption are entirely dominated by Mycenaean pottery. |
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