Notes from the Tins 2: Research in the Stoa of Attalos

Abstract

2 HESPERIA 7I (2002) Pages 4I5-433 1.Theauthors wouldliketothank JohnMcK.CampII,Director ofthe AgoraExcavations, forhissupport of thisproject. Wearealsograteful to theanonymous Hesperia reviewers andtothemembers ofthePublicationsCommittee oftheAmerican SchoolofClassical Studies atAthens fortheirhelpful suggestions. RESEARCH IN THESTOAOF ATTALO S Thisseries ofresearch notes wasconceived asawaytobring tolightvariousdetails of thearchaeological record attheAthenian AgoraExcavationsthatmightotherwise belostwithin broader publications.l Asnoted inthefirstinstallment, thetitle"Notes fromtheTins" refers to thefeta cheese andoiltinsused bytheexcavations forthestorage ofuninventoried pottery andother findsfromspecific deposits orstratified levels. Study of findsin thesetinsledto thediscovery of thedetails presented in these notes.Someofthepiecesdiscussed hadalready beeninventoried andso donot,sensu stricto, comefrom thetins. Thetins,however, serve equally as ametaphor forthestudy ofitemslongagoinventoried, whose importance to archaeology mightriseandfallwithchanging scholarly interests, and whoseinterpretation mightchange withfurther considerations of con- . . . textsormore recent dlscoverles. Thisis notto saythatthetinsdo notfigure strongly in thenotes presented here.Mystudyof amphoras aspaintpotscombines material found inthetinswithjottings intheexcavation notebooks andonepreviouslyinventoried example. No lessimportant is theabsence of similar fragments fromhundreds of othertins,reminding usthatnegative evidence from thetinsissometimes useful aswell.Kathleen Lynch's study of earlyblack-glazed mastoiclarifies theimportance of rare, inventoried, butlargely overlooked Atticexamples within thecontext ofknown blackfigure examples andrepresentations of theformbyAtticvasepainters. Shealsoexamines thecontexts withintheAgora (including thecontents ofthetins)inwhichtheblack-glaze examples werefound. JohnPapadopoulos's commentary oncrudely reworked claydisksis based onthehundreds ofsuchdisksfoundintheexcavations, themany examples keptinthetins,andthefewhehasselected forinventory. These diskshavepiqued thecuriosity of scholars overtheyears, buttheyhave neverreceived asbroad a consideration astheydo here.Finally, Susan Rotroff's study ofthecontext pottery tinsbrought tolightarare signature onamoldmade bowl.Presumably thissignature wasoverlooked andrelegated tothetinsinstead oftheglamour ofinventoried status whenthe deposit wasoriginally excavated. M.L.L. NOTES FROt/\ TH E Tl NS 4I6 MARK L. LAWALL ET AL. AMPHORAS AS PAINT POTS? MARK L. LAWALL WITH ACONTRIBUTION BYAUDREY JAWANDO Thesecondary useinantiquity oftransport amphoras assmall coffins or layers fordrainage iswellattested.2 Other contexts ofreuse are rarely attested withcertainty inarchaeological finds. Three examples ofimported amphoras reused aspaint potsappeared inexcavations oftwodeposits at theAgora related tothePersian sack ofAthens in480B.C. These paint potsare notunique among theAgora finds, buttheidentification ofthe jars, preliminary study ofthepigment, and consideration ofthearchaeological contexts ofthe jars provide new evidence forthestudy ofAthenian history, commerce, and topography. 1 P 1334 Toeandlower partofamphora Fig. 1:A G 6:3(Rectangular Rock-Cut Shaft, upper fillat10.9m) P.H.19.6cm;Diam.(toe)6.3cm Traces ofwhitesliponexterior withwidehorizontal brown band around topofpreserved fragment. Red-brown deposit oninterior with somethicker areas ofpreserved pigment; pigment spills overancient breaks. Dusky palereddish andgray-brown fabric. Widescatter ofgray glassy inclusions, dark gray/blackish stony bits,andyellowish lime chunks. Fabric color: 5YR6/6andgrayer. Pigment color: lOR5/8. Comments: Briefmention ofthispieceas"an unpublished amphora fragment" isfound inVanderpool 1946,p.266,n.6.Thisamphora type isattributed tothearea ofKlazomenai; seeDoger1986; Lawall 1995, pp.48-53;Dupont1998,pp.151-156.DepositG 6:3isadeeprectangular pitontheKolonos Agoraios; seeShear 1993,pp.445-449; Vanderpool 1938and1946. Theupper filloftheshaftisreported to haveincluded miltos(notebook forsection A,p.1002; Vanderpool 1946, p.266).Theupper fillalsoincluded alekythos, broken andreused asa muchsmaller paint pot(Vanderpool 1946,p.266,no.146). Date:late6thcentury B.C. 2 AS-P1049 Series ofjoining lower bodyfragments R12:1,tinSA150 Smooth orange buffexterior; resinated interior withredpigment thickly preserved overtheresin. Fabric withsomemica; grainy break, moderate scatter ofgray glassy andbright whiteopaque bits,allfairly small. Fabric color: 5YR5/8.Pigment color: lOR4/8. Comments: R12:1isawelldeposit atthesoutheast corner ofthe Agora excavations, justeastoftheStoaofAttalos (Shear 1993,pp.469471 ).A nearby deposit ofthesame period isQ 12:3,theStoaGutter Well(Roberts 1986). Theattribution anddateofthesefragments 2. Foruseindrainage constructions ,seeMattioli1998.Fortheuse ofamphoras ascoffinsorurns,see Kerameikos JX,passim. Onthereuse of amphoras, see,ingeneral, Grace1979, textwithfig.10,andfortherarity of reexportation, seevanDoorninck 1989, esp.pp.247,256.I amgrateful to AudreyJawando forcarrying outthe analysis ofthepigment andproviding thereport presented here.I alsothank JulieUnruhforhergenerous assistance andadvice inpreparing thisnote. NOTES FROM THE TINS 2 4I7 A -=- Figure 1.A)Klazomenian amphora D > (P1334); B)North Aegean amphora i I (tinSA148). Drawing M.L.Lawall - =_ _ cannot bedetermined onthebasis oftheremains; neither thefabric nor theformisdiagnostic. Date:context date, before 480B.C. 3 Toeandlower partofamphora Fig.1:B R12:1,tinSA148 P.H.22.5cm;Diam.(toe)5.3cm Resinated withreddish brown discoloration andafewthicker deposits ofredpigment. Smooth, hard, micaceous orange-brown surface, fine-grained break; moderate sized, poorly sorted mixofdark gray opaque, verysmall white,andafewlarger red-brown inclusions. Fabric color: 5YR5/8.Pigment color: lORto2.5YR4/6. Comments: Theamphora isfrom theNorthAegean; seeLawall 1997,especially pp.116-117; Lawall 1995,pp.116-175. Date:context date...