4th ARCHAEOLOGICAL MEETING OF THESSALY AND CENTRAL GREECE, 2009-2011
FROM PREHISTORY TO THE CONTEMPORARY PERIOD

Paper abstract

Ruckl Stepan
Universiteit van Amsterdam
Protogeometric Pottery at Mitrou, East Lokris: Nothing new under the (Central Greek) sun?

During five years of excavation (2004-2008), the Mitrou Archaeological Project (MAP) has produced an unexpectedly large amount of Protogeometric pottery. The assemblages date to all three phases of the period and, most importantly, they come from both settlement and funerary contexts. The pottery stands in the Central Greek tradition (or what has become to be known as ‘Euboean koine’) and, in this respect, will add little to our knowledge in terms of morphology and decoration. However, focusing on a deposit from an apsidal Building A, I will discuss two issues that seem to be new in the field. In a traditional way, the deposit should be characterized as a mixed assemblage of Middle and Late Protogeometric pottery. In spite of this ‘mixture’, I will argue for the deposit being chronologically homogeneous and claim, with some external supporting evidence, that it represents a distinctive ceramic phase dated to the early stage of Late Protogeometric period. In the second part of my talk I will focus on technological aspect of Protogeometric fine wares, namely the building techniques. I will argue that not all the fine pottery was thrown but in fact wheel-coiled or wheel fashioned. The potential of these findings for the interpretation of potters’ identity and the development of ceramic traditions will be discussed shortly.

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