Provenance of Red-Figure Pottery of the Classical Period Excavated at Olympia

Abstract

Neutron activation analysis (NAA) has been applied to a set of red-figure pottery fragments excavated in Olympia, in Elis: (a) to determine the provenance of these vases, since this is difficult by archaeological means, and the vessels might be local Elean or Attic, Corinthian or Italian products; and (b) to determine the characteristic elemental pattern of the clay paste prepared by the potters of this Elean region. Included for comparison are several Corinthian sherds excavated in Kyme, Italy, that are archaeologically classified as exports from Corinthia to Italy, and fragments of local Italian Corinthian imitations. The majority of the red-figure vases were made locally in the north-western Peloponnese and show the elemental pattern termed OlyA, which is represented in many vases and clay samples from this region that were known previously. It is not very different from the well-known pattern of the north-eastern Peloponnese (Argolid/Corinth) termed MYBE (Mycenae/Berbati), but can be separated by its lower Cs, Rb and K concentrations, as proven by many sherds from the Argolid and wasters from Berbati. Only a few red-figure vessels are imports from Attica, but none come from Italy.