Early Byzantine vases carved in Prokonnesian marble from ancient Halasarna (Kos Island, Dodecanese, Greece)

Abstract

The paper stems from archaeometric provenance studies, which proved that some vases from excavations at Kardamaina, ancient Halasarna, of Kos had been carved in Prokonnesian marble. The items under consideration are four-handled bowls whose grips are decorated with incised motifs. The proven use of Prokonnesian marble not only for architectural members, but also for smaller artifacts indicates that vases were among the Prokonnesian marble products imported to Kos from Constantinopolitan workshops. These imports are dated to the 5th and 6th centuries AD, a time of intense building activity not only in the town of Kos, but also in the island’s seaside settlements (Kardamaina, Mastichari, Antimacheia, Kefalos, etc.). It remains, however, unclear if these vases were imported finished or semifinished from Prokonnesos, together with architectural members, aboard stone-carrying ships sailing across the Mediterranean and the Black Sea.