Gros Jean-Sébastien, Vlachou Vicky, Charalampidou Polyxeni
University of Thessaly, IAKA Department & University of Montpellier, University of Athens, University of Athens
Methodological approaches for the study of the Geometric Pottery at Oropos: the example of Building I
The excavation of Oropos provides an opportunity to establish a secure relative chronology and typology of the Geometric and Early Archaic pottery production of the Oropian region. The interest of this approach lies on one hand in the fact that Oropos is situated in the confines between Attica, Euboea and Boetia, and on the other hand in that we have an undisturbed stratigrafical sequence.
Our study includes the material of the old excavations conducted in the same area by A. Dragona as well as the material from the excavations of Al. Mazarakis-Ainian, and it is divided in two main parts. A first selection of characteristic vases has already been made in order to establish a typology of decoration and shapes. The co-examination of the stratigrafy and the pottery will provide a secure chronology for the successive phases of the occupation and use of the area. The study of the distribution of the material within the edifice allows us to propose a model of the use of the interior space.
In this paper we discuss the single case study of one of the earliest architecture-building units, Building I. Having the diagram of Harris for the internal zone of the square peribolos we propose the chronological limits for the occupation and the destruction of the building in relation to the pottery. It appears to have been used for a rather short period and to have suffered a violent destruction, perhaps due to an inundation. Some smashed but complete skyphoi and cups dating to the end of the LG period offer a well-established chronological limit. Its function within the settlement is not yet ascertained.
|
