The provenance and technology of a group of Hellenistic colour-coated ware pottery from the excavations at Nea Paphos on Cyprus

Abstract

Colour-coated ware (CCW) comprises the dominant type of Hellenistic fine ware pottery unearthed during the excavations in Nea Paphos. The detailed and systematic macroscopic examination of this pottery, focusing on typology and fabric, identified a number of macroscopic groups (MG). A total of 164 samples were subsequently selected for further testing and characterisation of these groups, in terms of composition and technology, through a combination of macroscopic examination, refiring tests, chemical and petrographic analyses, and scanning electron microscopy. This paper focuses on two of these MGs (35 samples), addressing the question of their provenance and manufacturing technology. These two groups are typologically and stylistically associated, and very distinctive due to the macroscopic appearance of their fabric, frequent occurrence and confined chronology. The integrated macroscopic and scientific study demonstrated that all 35 samples, representative of these two MGs, form a single compositional cluster. This - together with the typological and stylistic homogeneity observed, indicates a common origin for these samples. These vessels were produced using a similar clay paste; however, the firing regimes and the surface treatments employed show some variation. The place of production of this group still remains unknown, but their distribution suggests that they were produced somewhere on Cyprus or in the Levant.