Charalampidou Polyxeni University of Athens
The Sub-Geometric and Archaic wheel-made pottery from Oropos: the decoration
The examination of the Subgeometric and Archaic pottery from the site of
Skala Oropou deserves our attention because it reflects the wide range of
potters and painters' stylistic attitudes and comes from stratified layers of
the settlement. The Subgeometric pottery involves shapes and decoration that
show the complexities of an artistic development in a transitional period, when
old-fashioned and new currents appear contemporarily. The Archaic pottery also
shows that the geographical location of Oropos in the borderline between
Northern Attica and Boeotia and opposite Eretria is to a large extent
responsible for the style of its ceramic material.
During this presentation, we will focus on the decoration of the Subgeometric
and Archaic pottery with references to the shapes. A choice of examples has been
made and will be presented according to the compositions on the vases, the main
decorative themes and the supplementary motifs that fill the background. A
comparison, concerning the similarities and the differences between the pottery
from Oropos and the pottery from other workshops will be attempted. A discussion
about the possibility of the existence of a local ceramic workshop will follow.
Both in the Subgeometric and Archaic pottery from Oropos, from the early 7th
until the opening decades of the 6th century BC, a strong connection with the
Euboean pottery can be detected. The influence of the Protoattic style is also
apparent during the 7th century. Other features of the Corinthian, Cycladic and
East Greek workshops which are attested in the material from Oropos during this
period, have also influenced the Euboean ceramic production. In the course of
the 6th and the early 5th centuries BC vases from Oropos find parallels in
Attica, Euboea and Boeotia (some black-figure vases), frequently under
Corinthian influence (eg kotylai of the Corinthian type, miniature kotylai and
kotylai with groups of multiple-brush lines around the base).
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