Pottery production at two neighbouring centres in the Late Bronze Age Saronic Gulf: Historical contingency and craft organisation

Abstract

In exploring ceramic production technology and exchange during the Late Helladic IIIB-Late Helladic IIIC Phase 1 periods in the area of the Saronic Gulf, pottery from several archaeological sites has been analysed, characterising compositional groups and tracing their movement around the region. This investigation has highlighted and characterised a number of production centres, of which the two highlighted here produce similar vessel types, including painted finewares, cooking vessels and large tubs. Although the range of pottery in these centres is similar and certain technical features are near identical, each centre features distinctive ‘ways of doing’ and apparent contrasts in their organisation.This paper examines the choices made in pottery production for coarse and fine vessels, especially in terms of raw material choice and manipulation, as well as in firing procedures. It contrasts pottery production at this time on the island of Aegina with that at Kontopigado Alimou in Attica, only c. 22km distant on the mainland to the North-east. While the workshop at Kontopigado used the same raw materials in varying proportions to produce different vessel types, Aegina hosted production which varied more markedly according to the type of vessel produced. In Aegina, fineware vessels are produced in an entirely different fashion from their coarseware counterparts. These contrasting, contemporary technological practices are considered within the broader Mycenaean social landscape and the historical circumstances of their development.