The Kelenderis pottery workshop(s): newly identified agents in East Mediterranean maritime exchange networks in the Achaemenid period

Abstract

During the Persian (or Achaemenid) period, simply band-painted bowls, plates, jugs, table amphorae and hydriae are documented in the Levant — in particular in the coastal regions — as one of the most common groups of decorated ceramics. Vessels of this style — mostly drinking vessels — were recorded in significant quantities at most coastal sites in southern Turkey, Syria, Israel, Cyprus, and occasionally also in Egypt. The band-painted decoration resembles East Greek styles and initial studies identified these vessels as variations of East Greek ceramics imported to the eastern Mediterranean from Ionian cities. In this study, we examined a large sample of this pottery from the northern and southern Levant, both stylistically and by fabric analysis, applying Neutron Activation Analyses (NAA), Wavelength Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (WD-XRF) and petrography. We demonstrate that almost all the vessels of this particular, and popular, style were produced at one site only — Kelenderis, in Cilicia — which during the Persian period distributed its merchandise extensively to large parts of the eastern Mediterranean. The newly identified Mediterranean NAA group was labelled ‘Kelenderis A’ (KelA). The results require a reconsideration of commercial and other Mediterranean interconnections during this period.