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

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.     

MYCENAEAN POTTERY FROM CILICIA IN OXFORD

Summary. The Ashmolean Museum possesses a small group of Late Mycenaean (Late Helladic IIIC) sherds from Kazanli in Southern Cilicia, which it acquired in 1930. These are of interest since, although similar pottery is known from nearby Tarsus, they appear to be slightly later in date than most of the other pottery from Kazanli recovered by excavation or surface survey. One of them has a pictorial representation of an unusual nature.
The appearance of Mycenaean pottery in Cilicia has often been associated with the arrival of Mycenaean settlers (particularly refugee settlers) around 1200 B.C. However, it is doubtful whether the pottery really justifies this interpretation. Where identifiable, the Cilician Mycenaean seems to display closer links with Cyprus and the East Aegean than with the Greek Mainland; and, when other evidence is taken into account, there seems little reason to suppose that it is necessarily the result of colonisation from Mycenaean Greece.     

XRF analysis of glass beads from the Mycenaean palace of Nestor at Pylos,Peloponnesus, Greece: new insight into the LBA glass trade

In recent years there has been a growing interest in Mycenaean glass among archaeologists and scientists. Scholars have traditionally thought that all Mycenaean glass was imported either in finished form or as ingots and simply shaped or worked at the Mycenaean sites. Chemical studies of other Mycenaean glass (50 and 43) support the hypothesis that glass was imported into Mycenaean Greece, but there is also indication for glass production in mainland Greece at the palace of Thebes (Nikita and Henderson, 2006). There is no evidence for glass making or working at the Palace of Pylos, yet there is an abundance of glass beads there. The aim of this paper is to identify the technology and source for the glass of these beads and thus to ascertain how Pylos was connected to the broader Mycenaean and Mediterranean economies. The composition of the glasses was determined by means of portable XRF analysis and compared to that of other Late Bronze Age glasses from Egypt, Mesopotamia and mainland Greece. Four blue beads coloured with cobalt and one blue bead coloured with copper have Ti and Zr compositions consistent with an Egyptian origin of manufacture while five other beads show Ti and Zr concentrations consistent with a Mesopotamian origin (Shortland et al., 2007). Based on the dearth of Egyptian and Mesopotamian imports in Pylos, the presented data support the hypothesis that Pylos was receiving via internal Greek trade routes foreign-produced glass, which may have been worked abroad or in Greece.     

RADIOCARBON DATING OF MORTARS FROM ANCIENT GREEK PALACES

This study deals with radiocarbon dating of lime mortars which were used as supports for Mycenaean and Minoan paintings. The ¹⁴C dates are. on the whole, compatible with the historical data. and thus show that a large proportion of the Mycenaean surficial coatings can be dated by the radiocarbon method. However. in order to determine the age of the mortars accurately. it is necessary to evaluate the amount of sedimentary carbonate which may have been added to them. It is shown here that the oxygen and carbon isotope compositions of lime mortars are significant indicators that such a mixing actually took place.     

“SEEING” THE PAST: TEXT AND QUESTIONS OF HISTORY IN THE RĀJATARAṄGIṆĪ

Traditional scholarly opinion has regarded Kalha?a's Rājatara?gi?ī, the twelfth‐century Sanskrit chronicle of Kashmiri kings, as a work of history. This essay proposes a reinvestigation of the nature of the iconic text from outside the shadow of that label. It first closely critiques the positivist “history hypothesis,” exposing its internal contradictions over questions of chronology, causality, and objectivity as attributed to the text. It then argues that more than an empiricist historical account that modern historians like to believe it is—in the process bracketing out integral rhetorical, mythic, and didactic parts of the text—the Rājatara?gi?ī should be viewed in totality for the kāvya (epic poem) that it is, which is to say, as representing a specific language practice that sought to produce meaning and articulated the poet's vision of the land and its lineages. The essay thus urges momentarily reclaiming the text from the hegemonic but troubled understanding of it as history—only to restore it ultimately to a more cohesive notion of historicality that is consistent with its contents. Toward this end, it highlights the concrete claim to epistemic authority that is asserted both by the genre of Sanskrit kāvya generally and by the Rājatara?gi?ī in particular, and their conception of the poetic “production” of the past that bears a striking resonance with constructivist historiography. It then traces the intensely intertextual and value‐laden nature of the epistemology that frames the Rājatara?gi?ī into a narrative discourse on power and ethical governance. It is in its narrativity and discursivity—its meaningful representation of what constitutes “true” knowledge of time and human action—that the salience of the Rājatara?gi?ī may lie.     

PROVENANCE DETERMINATION OF MYCENAEAN IIIC VESSELS FROM THE 1934–1939 EXCAVATIONS AT TARSUS‐GÖZLÜKULE BY NEUTRON ACTIVATION ANALYSIS

Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) has been carried out in order to determine the provenance of a selected set of 30 sherds of Mycenaean style excavated at Tarsus‐Gözlükule. The provenance could be established or made feasible in 80% of the samples. The results confirm the current status of research, namely that in the LH IIIC phase trade patterns changed and Mycenaean wares, which used to be exported to the Near East, were now produced locally. At Tarsus, the LH IIIC imports came from Cyprus and the eastern Aegean.     

LUSTRE COLOUR AND SHINE FROM THE OLLERIES XIQUES WORKSHOP IN PATERNA (SPAIN), 13TH CENTURY AD: NANOSTRUCTURE,CHEMICAL COMPOSITION AND ANNEALING CONDITIONS*

Lustre is a medieval ceramic decoration, corresponding to a nanostructured thin layer formed by metallic copper and silver nanocrystals embedded in a glass matrix, which required deep knowledge on the part of the artisans with regard to the raw materials used and the kiln conditions. Their empirical knowledge led to the achievement of colourful lustre decorations ranging from reddish to yellowish or even greenish, some of them with a metallic shine with an associated purplish iridescence. Lustre ceramics dating from the 13th century from the Olleries Xiques workshop in Paterna (Spain) have been studied, linking their chemical composition and nanostructure with their colours and shine. Two kinds of nanostructures are found, yellowish lustre decoration constituted by a silver metal–glass nanocomposite, and reddish lustre decoration constituted by metallic copper nanocrystals and copper oxide nanocrystals; in some cases, metallic copper nanocrystals covered with an oxidized shell of CuO and partly Cu₂O have been found. However, even with significant amounts of copper oxide, the lustre still exhibits a copper metal‐like shine. The bluish iridescence observed at a specular angle in the lustre could not be explained completely by means of the chemical composition, and metallic silver nanoparticle light scattering is proposed as a possible explanation.     

Shades of blue – cobalt-copper coloured blue glass from New Kingdom Egypt and the Mycenaean world: a matter of production or colourant source?

Cobalt blue glass has long now been recognised as characterised by a distinct compositional signature within the typical compositional range of Late Bronze Age glass. More recently, a copper-rich variation of cobalt blue glass has been seen throughout Egypt and the Mycenaean world. This paper discusses and defines this glass type based on trace elemental data, examines whether this lighter-shaded cobalt blue glass is a natural or an anthropogenic variant of cobalt blue glass, and identifies its likely production in Egypt. It investigates the role of this type of glass, particularly with regard to the distribution pattern and the significance of its prevalence in the Mycenaean mainland and the Aegean.     

法门寺地宫出土唐髹漆平脱秘色瓷碗髹漆工艺初探

在1987年的法门寺地宫考古发掘中,出土一对髹漆平脱秘色瓷碗,是秘色瓷与金银工艺、髹漆工艺完美结合的珍贵文物。为了对其髹漆工艺进行了探讨,本研究利用显微观察、扫描电镜能谱分析和红外光谱分析等方法,对髹漆残块、银扣残块样品进行检测分析。在此基础上,提出了其髹漆工艺的流程。研究结果可为文物保护修复、科学技术史和艺术史研究提供可靠参考。     

Notice of an Example of Decorative Coloured Brickwork in the Neighbourhood of Rouen

The Mycenaean world of the late Bronze Age was one of domination and expansion. Such expansion can be seen in the distribution of Mycenaean ceramics in the eastern and western Mediterranean basin. In contrast to the west, Mycenaean culture in the east came into contact and perhaps conflict with well established cultural traditions and civilizations which had achieved a marked degree of sophistication. These native cultural traditions effectively limited the external growth of the Mycenaean world to the coastal fringes of the Near East. However, the impact of Mycenaean culture is evident, especially in the adaptation and imitation of ceramic styles and motifs typically classified as Mycenaean. Such influence is readily seen in south-western Turkey as Mycenaean cultural traditions penetrated inland to distant inland sites in the lower Maeander river valley.     

MYCENAEAN TOMBS AS EVIDENCE FOR SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ORGANISATION.1

Summary. A chronological and spatial analysis of Mycenaean tomb types is presented in the belief that burial practices reflect the social and political changes which occurred during the Late Helladic period. Interpretation of the evidence is complicated by the degree of regional diversity. However, it is suggested that the practices of the Middle Helladic period were not as simple as has been supposed and foreshadow the innovations of the early Mycenaean period which were inspired by political motives. The increasing standardisation in tomb types in LHIII was conditioned by the emergence of the Mycenaean palace system, the collapse of which engendered the changes seen in LHIIIC.     

STAINING OF ARCHAEOLOGICAL GLASS FROM MANGANESE‐RICH ENVIRONMENTS*

It has been suggested that both internal and external sources of manganese may produce the black or brown staining that often occurs in buried archaeological glass. Modern potash glass of a manganese‐free medieval composition was scratched, etched and immersed in an aqueous solution containing dissolved manganese. After several weeks, immersion samples were sectioned and examined by SEM–EDX. Manganese was shown to be present in fissures and cracks within in the glass, where alkali had been depleted. Manganese from an external source is capable of blackening buried medieval potash glass.     

AHHIYAWANS AND MYCENAEANS – AN ANATOLIAN VIEWPOINT

Summary. Ever since the 1920's, when Emil Forrer claimed to have discovered Homeric Greeks in the Hittite texts, there has been much debate about the identity and location of the Land of Ahhiyawa, to which frequent reference is made in these texts. Although the matter is not yet settled to everyone's satisfaction, an increasing number of scholars have come round to the view that the term Ahhiyawa must have been used in reference to the Mycenaean world, or at least to part of that world. My intention in this paper is to indicate a number of developments that have in recent years taken place in Hittite scholarship, and which lead to a clearer understanding of the relations between the Lands of Hatti and Ahhiyawa. Several of the most important texts relevant to the Ahhiyawa question will be discussed, and conclusions will be drawn from them with regard to the nature and extent of Ahhiyawan enterprise in Anatolia. These texts provide evidence which in my opinion gives compelling (if still circumtantial) support to the Ahhiyawa-Mycenaean equation. This clearly has substantial implications for Mycenaean as well as Hittite scholarship. If Mycenaean scholars are prepared to entertain the equation, it will be their task to consider the extent to which the Hittite references to Ahhiyawa can be accommodated to a Mycenaean/Aegean context.     

Technology Transfer at the Periphery of the Mycenaean World: The Cases of Mycenaean Pottery Found in Central Macedonia (Greece) and the Plain of Sybaris (Italy)*

The study of technology transfer in pottery production to the periphery of the Mycenaean world has been addressed by considering two different areas, southern Italy and central Macedonia. Technological features such as ceramic paste, decoration and firing have been determined for different ceramic groups established according to provenance criteria. The studies of technology and provenance have been performed following an archaeometric approach, using neutron activation analysis, petrographic analysis, X‐ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. The results have revealed the existence of two different models. On the one hand, southern Italy seems to exhibit a more organized pottery production, which follows a Mycenaean‐like technology, while in central Macedonia production is probably more varied, being based in part on the technology of the local tradition.     

A Late Bronze Age Ship from Liman Tepe with Reference to the Late Bronze Age Ships from İZMIR / Bademgediği Tepesi and Kos / Seraglio

In this article, a Mycenaean pottery sherd from Liman Tepe is discussed. The piece, which was locally produced, probably belongs to a ring‐based crater (FS 281). Comparisons with other, similar sherds suggest that warriors aboard a ship are depicted. As one of the few examples of its period decorated in this way, the sherd has been dated to the early or middle phase of LH III C, belonging to the period after the collapse of the Hittite Empire in Anatolia and the Mycenaean kingdoms in mainland Greece. The depictions on this sherd are highly significant, as they contribute to the corpus of evidence for migrations from the western to the eastern Mediterranean and the unrest which characterized the period.     

PREHISTORIC WALL PAINTINGS: THE CASE OF THE DOMUS DE JANAS NECROPOLIS (SARDINIA,ITALY)*

The Domus de Janas (Home of the Fairies, or Home of the Witches) are Neolithic hypogea located throughout Sardinia (Italy) and decorated with red and black wall paintings. The objective of this study was to define the painting technique through the analytical characterization of the pigments and binding media. Samples of painting film from different graves have been examined by means of various analytical techniques. XRD, Raman and SEM–EDX analyses identified the red and black pigments respectively as red ochre rich in hematite and carbon black, while GC–MS analyses characterized the organic binder as egg.     

Black Gloss Pottery: Production Sites and Technology in Northern Etruria,Part I: Provenance Studies

The object of the present study is an assemblage of 149 black gloss pottery samples found in northern Etruria (Tuscany, Italy), at Arezzo, Volterra, Chiusi and Populonia. Complete chemical analyses have been performed for the whole set of samples, whereas mineralogical characterization has been provided for most of the Volterra, Chiusi and Populonia samples. The Chiusi‐Marcianella production site has been the further object of a detailed study aimed at the creation of a complete reference group. Moreover, several trade routes have been reconstructed, shedding light on the import and export of these ceramics from inland Etruria to the coast and vice versa.     

Spectrographic Analyses of Mycenaean Pottery from Ialysos on Rhodes: Results and Implications

Abstract

The changing relations between the important Mycenaean site of Ialysos on Rhodes and the Argolid (in the Greek Peloponnese) during the LH III period (the 15th-12th centuries B.C.) have been studied through the pottery found in the tombs of the cemetery from Ialysos. The results of spectrographic analyses of well characterised and dated pots from Ialysos have made possible a clear distinction between locally produced Rhodian pottery and imports that were primarily from the Argolid. During the LH IIIA2 period the large majority of the cemetery pottery at Ialysos was imported from the Argolid. The same situation pertains in the IIIB period, but there are examples of imported pottery from centres other than the Argolid, such as Crete. In the 12th century B.C. (IIIC), however, the position was completely reversed, and the fine Mycenaean pottery was almost exclusively made on Rhodes.     

CERAMIC PRODUCTION,PROVENANCE AND USE—A REVIEW*

The contribution of the physical sciences to the reconstruction of the production technology (i.e., processing of raw materials, forming, surface treatments and firing methods) for earthenwares, stonewares, porcelains and stonepaste bodies are summarized. The organization of production and the reasons for technological choice are considered. Provenance studies based on both chemical analysis and thin‐section petrography are discussed, with the investigation of Minoan and Mycenaean pottery being taken as the case study. The approaches to determining how pottery vessels were used in antiquity are outlined. Finally, future developments in ceramic studies are briefly considered.     

The dead with golden faces: Dasaretian, Pelagonian, Mygdonian and Boeotian funeral masks

Eleven gold and one gilded silver funeral masks have been discovered in the southern parts of the Central Balkans. They can be dated in the last decades of the 6th–early 5th centuries BC and belonged to the dead nobles of the tribal aristocracy of Dasaretioi, Pelagones and Mygdones. Another gold funeral mask was accidentally discovered in Boeotia and it could be dated to the Archaic period. Although these masks are reminiscent of earlier Mycenaean ones, and although there are several Etruscan and Celtic bronze masks of the 7th century BC, the origin of the Balkan funeral ritual is still obscure. The covering of the faces of the dead aristocrats with gold masks could be connected with their heroization and even deification, and strong belief in the afterlife and rebirth.