Further thoughts on the Early Iron Age potters' kiln at Torone (2013)

επιμέλεια

Πολυξένη Αδάμ-ΒελένηΕυρυδίκη ΚεφαλίδουΔέσποινα Τσιαφάκη

Θεσσαλονίκη 2013Thessaloniki 2013

ΚΕΡΑΜΙΚΑ ΕΡΓΑΣΤΉΡΙΑ στο Βορειοανατολικό Αιγαίο (8ος-αρχές 5ου αι. π.Χ)

Ημερίδα ΑΜΘ 2010

POTTERY WORKSHOPSin Northeastern Aegean (8th-early 5th c. BC)

Scientific Meeting AMTh 2010

Ερευνητικό Κέντρο Καινοτομίας στις Τεχνολογίεςτης Πληροφορίας, των Επικοινωνιών, της Γνώσης

Ερευνητικό Κέντρο Καινοτομίας στις Τεχνολογίεςτης Πληροφορίας, των Επικοινωνιών, της Γνώσης

Κεραμικά εργαστήρια στο Βορειοανατολικό Αιγαίο (8ος-αρχές 5ου αι. π.Χ)Ημερίδα ΑΜΘ 2010

Επιστημονική επιμέλεια (αλφαβητικά): Πολυξένη Αδάμ-Βελένη, Ευρυδίκη Κεφαλίδου, Δέσποινα Τσιαφάκη

Pottery Workshopsin Northeastern Aegean (8th-early 5th c. BC)Scientific Meeting AMTh 2010

Edited by (in alphabetical order)Polixeni Adam-Veleni, Eurydice Kefalidou & Despoina Tsiafaki

Τυπογραφική επιμέλεια - Διορθώσεις:Ευρυδίκη Κεφαλίδου, Δέσποινα Τσιαφάκη

Γραφιστική επιμέλεια: loopoSTUDiO

Έκδοση του Αρχαιολογικού Μουσείου Θεσσαλονίκης αρ. 21

© Υπουργείο Πολιτισμού και Αθλητισμού - Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Θεσσαλονικης «Αθηνά»: Ερευνητικό Κέντρο Καινοτομίας στις τεχνολογίες της Πληροφορίας, των Επικοινωνιών & της ΓνώσηςΘεσσαλονίκη 2013

ISBN: 978-960-9621-13-7

Το παρόν έργο πνευματικής ιδιοκτησίας προστατεύεται κατά τις διατάξεις του Ελληνικού Νόμου (Ν.2121/1993 όπως έχει τροποποιηθεί και ισχύει σήμερα) και τις διεθνείς συμβάσεις πνευματικής ιδιοκτησίας. Απαγορεύεται απολύτως η άνευ γραπτής άδειας του εκδότηκατά οποιοδήποτε τρόπο ή μέσο αντιγραφή, φωτοανατύπωση και εν γένει αναπαραγωγή, εκμίσθωση ή δανεισμός, μετάφραση, διασκευή, αναμετά-δοση στο κοινό σε οποιαδήποτε μορφή (ηλεκτρονική, μηχα-νική ή άλλη) και η εν γένει εκμετάλλευση του συνόλου ή μέρους του έργου.

Εκτύπωση:

1

Συντομογραφίες-Βραχυγραφίες

Ευρυδίκη Κεφαλίδου | Παρουσίαση της Ημερίδας

Δέσποινα Τσιαφάκη | Τα κεραμικά εργαστήρια και η κεραμική παραγωγή στο Βορειοανατολικό Αιγαίο (8ος–αρχές 5ου αι. π.Χ.)

Μιχάλης Τιβέριος | Ταξινόμηση ντόπιας κεραμικής στον μακεδονικό χώρο κατά την εποχή του Σιδήρου-ορισμένες δεύτερες σκέψειςMichalis Tiverios | Classification of Local Pottery in Macedonia during the Iron Age-Some Second Thoughts

Α΄ Μέρος: Τα Εργαστήρια

Jacques Perreault, Francine Blondé, Kατερίνα Περιστέρη | Το αγγειοπλαστείο στο Φαρί της ΘάσουJacques Perreault, Francine Blondé, Katerina Peristeri | The Pottery Workshop at Phari, Thasos

John K. Papadopoulos | Some Further Thoughts on the Early Iron Age Potter’s Kiln at Torone John K. Papadopoulos | Ορισμένες περαιτέρω σκέψεις για τον κεραμικό κλίβανο της Πρώιμης Εποχής Σιδήρου στην Τορώνη

Ηλέκτρα Αναγνωστοπούλου-Χατζηπολυχρόνη | Υστεροαρχαϊκοί κλίβανοι στην αρχαία Μένδη Electra Anagnostopoulou-Chatzipolychroni | Late Archaic Pottery Kilns in Ancient Mendi

Ντίνα Κουσουλάκου | Κεραμικός κλίβανος στην ΠοτίδαιαDina Kousoulakou | Pottery Kiln in Potidaia

Δέσποινα Τσιαφάκη, Ελένη Μανακίδου | Ένα εργαστήριο αρχαϊκής κεραμικής στο Καραμπουρνάκι Despoina Tsiafaki, Eleni Manakidou | An Archaic Pottery Workshop at Karabournaki

Ματθαίος Μπέσιος | Κεραμικά εργαστήρια Μεθώνης Matthaios Besios | Pottery Workshops of Methoni

Ευαγγελία Στεφανή | Κεραμικοί κλίβανοι στη Λευκόπετρα ΒερμίουEvangelia Stefani | Pottery Workshops at Lekopetra of Mount Vermion

Β΄ Μέρος: Η Κεραμική

Petya Ilieva | G 2-3 Ware: The Sub(proto)geometric Tradition of the Northeastern Aegean Petya Ilieva | G 2-3 Ware: η υπο(πρωτο)γεωμετρική παράδοση του Βορειοανατολικού Αιγαίου

Martin Perron | Άργιλος: η χρηστική κεραμική με ταινιωτή/κυματοειδή διακόσμηση στον 6ο και 5ο αιώνα π.Χ.-μία προσέγγισηMartin Perron | “Waveline” Household Pottery from Argilos (6th-5th century BC): An Overview

Περιεχόμενα

3

5

9

15

22

2937

3948

5166

6972

7386

8992

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Ελένη Τρακοσοπούλου-Σαλακίδου | Τοπική κεραμική από το νεκροταφείο της πρωτοϊστορικής Ακάνθου Eleni Trakosopoulou-Salakidou | Local Pottery from the Cemetery of Proto-historic Akanthos

Σταύρος Α. Πασπαλάς | Τορώνη: η τοπική γραπτή κεραμική από τον 8ο μέχρι και τις αρχές του 5ου αι. π.Χ. Stavros A. Paspalas | Torone: The Local Painted Pottery (8th-early 5th c. BC)

Θεόδωρος Παπακώστας | Τοπική κεραμική από το αρχαϊκό νεκροταφείο της Αγίας Παρασκευής Θεσσαλονίκης Theodoros Papakostas | Local Pottery from the Archaic Cemetery of Agia Paraskevi near Thessaloniki

Ευρυδίκη Κεφαλίδου, Γιάννης Ναζλής | Μη καταστροφική χημική ανάλυση (XRF) τοπικής και εισηγμένης κεραμικής από τη Νέα Καλλικράτεια Χαλκιδικής Eurydice Kefalidou, Υannis Nazlis | Non Destructive Chemical Analysis (XRF) of Local and Imported Pottery from Nea Kallikrateia in Chalkidike

Βικτώρια Αλλαμανή | Νεκροταφείο Θέρμης Nομού Θεσσαλονίκης: επιλεγμένα κτερίσματα τοπικής κεραμικής Victoria Allamani | Cemetery of Thermi, Thessaloniki: A Selection of Local Pottery Grave Offerings

Άννα Παντή | Τεφρή κεραμική από το νεκροταφείο της Θέρμης νομού ΘεσσαλονίκηςAnna Panti | Grey Pottery from the Cemetery of Thermi at Thessaloniki Prefecture

Κωνσταντούλα Χαβέλα | Τοπική γραπτή κεραμική του 6ου αι. π.Χ. από την Τούμπα Θεσσαλονίκης Konstantoula Havela | Local Painted Pottery of the 6th c. BC from Toumba at Thessaloniki

Κατερίνα Τζαναβάρη, Τοπική κεραμική από την τράπεζα Λεμπέτ στην Πολίχνη Θεσσαλονίκης Katerina Tzanavari | Local Pottery from the Lembet Table at Polichni of Thessaloniki

Αστερίος Λιούτας | Πρώιμη κεραμική από το δυτικό νεκροταφείο (Σταυρούπολη) του οικισμού της τράπεζας Λεμπέτ (Πολίχνη) στη ΘεσσαλονίκηAsterios Lioutas | Early Pottery from the West Cemetery (Stavroupolis) of the Settlement Located on the Lebet Table (Polichni) at Thessaloniki

Βασιλική Σαριπανίδη | Η εγχώρια κεραμική από το αρχαϊκό-κλασικό νεκροταφείο της Σίνδου Vasiliki Saripanidi | The Local Pottery from the Archaic-Classical Cemetery of Sindos

Βασιλική Μισαηλίδου-Δεσποτίδου | Τοπική κεραμική από τη Νέα Φιλαδέλφεια Θεσσαλονίκης Vasiliki Misailidou-Despotidou | Local Pottery from Nea Philadelphia near Thessaloniki

Παράρτημα Α΄ | Ορολογία: Σχηματολόγιο Δέσποινα Τσιαφάκη, Βασιλική Σαριπανίδη, Βαγγέλης Αρβανίτης

Παράρτημα Β΄ | Ορολογία: Αντιπροσωπευτικές κεραμικές κατηγορίες του Βορειοελλαδικού χώρου (Πρώιμη Εποχή του Σιδήρου-πρώιμος 5ος αι. π.Χ.)Βασιλική Σαριπανίδη

Συγγραφείς του τόμου

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Some Further Thoughts on the Early Iron Age Potter’s Kiln at Torone | 39

Some Further Thoughts on the Early Iron Age Potter’s Kiln at ToroneJohn K. Papadopoulos

1 For the kiln: Papadopoulos 1989. For the cemetery: Papadopoulos 2005. The nearest Early Iron Age tomb (Tomb 25) was located just over 1 m to the southwest.2 For the lime kilns at Torone: Cambitoglou & Papadopoulos 2001, 66, pl. 9α. The one substantial inscription on stone from Torone was recovered from a lime kiln in 1964, before the systematic excavations at the site by the Athens Archaeological Society and the Australian Archaeological Institute at Athens; for the inscription: Καραμανώλη-Σιγανίδου 1966, 151-157, pl. 54 (= Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, inv. ΜΘ 4396; SEG XXIV 574).3 For the date of the kiln: Papadopoulos 1989, 23-26.4 For a survey of Early Iron Age kilns: Papadopoulos 1989, 43; and, more recently: Papadopoulos 2003, 201-209.5 Whitbread, Jones & Papadopoulos 1997. Whitbread & Jones 2005.

Introduction

Well over 20 years ago I published an Early Iron Age potter’s kiln that was excavated in 1982 on Terrace V at Torone, immediately adjacent to, and just to the northeast of, the Early Iron Age cemetery1. With the exception of the lime kilns of the post-Byzantine period scattered all over the site –which account for much of the dam-age to the fortifications of the ancient city, and whatever other marble or limestone monuments were above the surface– there are, as yet, no other potter’s kilns from the site2.

The importance of the kiln lies in the fact that its final firing load, which had collapsed during the firing process, preserved a characteristic sam-ple of the different types of pottery fired together. The date of the pottery, and of the collapse of the kiln, can be fixed with reasonable clarity to around the middle or in the second half of the 8th c. BC, and it was thus clear that the kiln was constructed about a century after the final buri-als of the adjacent Early Iron Age cemetery had been interred3. The Torone kiln was a welcome addition to the growing list of Late Geometric kilns around the Greek world4.

In the years since the publication of the kiln, a major project of petrographic and chemi-cal analysis of the Early Iron Age pottery from Torone was initiated with Ian Whitbread (then of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, later of the Fitch Laboratory of the British School at Athens, and now of the University of Leices-ter) and Richard Jones (then Director of the Fitch Laboratory and later of the Department of Archaeology at the University of Glasgow). The results of this analysis focusing on the kiln pottery were presented in 1997, and a fuller analysis of all the Early Iron Age pottery from Torone was published in 20055. The petrographic and chemical variances of the kiln pottery –differences that go well beyond those of the local wheelmade and handmade wares– provide both a potent warning and a useful lesson. For this reason it would be useful to return to the kiln and its pottery in the context of pottery workshops in the northeast Aegean (8th-early 5th c. BC). I begin with the structure of the kiln before dis-cussing the pottery found in the firing chamber. My intention in this paper is not to republish the kiln, but to point to several interesting develop-ments in the study of this ceramic installation.

40 | J. K. Papadopoulos

The historical background to the site and the reasons for its excavation has been presented in detail elsewhere, as has an excavation summary of the kiln and the area immediately around it, and this need not concern us here6.

The structure of the kiln

Only the lower part of the kiln was preserved, consisting of a regular shaft cut into bedrock to a uniform depth of 0.40 m. Almost circular in plan, the shaft had a diameter of approximately 0.80 m and an opening (praefurnium) cut to the same depth, with a width of about 0.40 m, extending to the southeast (Fig. 1). The main part of the shaft and portion of the cutting of the opening were lined with a pale yellow-gray colored clay that was fired hard7. A further lining, about 0.10 m wide and consisting of a dark red fired clay, was encountered around the edges of the main shaft, except on the south side, level with the uncut bedrock. I had originally interpreted this as the remnants of the kiln floor where it rested on the edges, with similar dark red and orange-colored fired lumps of clay in the shaft. On the basis of comparanda available at the time, it was clear that the majority of kilns had such a firing floor8. Such a firing floor –with perforations– was also

indicated on the celebrated Corinthian pinax from Penteskouphia depicting a cross-section through a kiln9. I am now not so convinced that the Torone kiln had such a floor. Rather, the pot-tery was simply stacked in the main shaft, with the fired lumps of clay representing supports or wedges to assist in stacking the pottery, rather than remnants of a firing floor. Consequently, the manner in which the Torone kiln was con-structed would have been very similar to F. J. Watson’s Calke Wood kiln discussed by Robert Cook10. This would have been the easiest way to build most typical ancient Greek kilns and the small size of the Torone kiln supports such a reconstruction.

As Cook notes, the normal way of making such a kiln was usually to dig two pits, each about 40-60 cm deep, one for the kiln proper and the other for stoking from, the two being connected by a tunnel (praefurnium)11. The main pit or shaft would have been used for stacking –or, in the case of kilns with firing floors, for facilitating the circulation of the hot air– which would have passed upward from the fire shaft and escaped through the opening at the top of the kiln dome. The advantages of this simple updraft system are straightforward: the fire could be eas-ily controlled and regulated and the sunken shaft

6 Papadopoulos 1989, 9-19. Papadopoulos 2005, 3-12, 38-40. See also: Cambitoglou & Papadopoulos 2001 for a historical overview of the site. 7 Most ancient Greek kilns were clay-lined. Cf. for example: Δαβάρας 1973α. Davaras 1980, 115-117. Thompson 1940, 6 (see now Papadopoulos 2003, 126-143). Cook 1984. Although some kilns had a more substantial lining, such as the bricks set on edge in the shaft of the Pylos kiln originally dated as Late Helladic IIIB in Blegen & Lang 1960, 155, but redated as Early Mycenaean in Blegen et al. 1973.8 See Papadopoulos 2003, 201-209, especially 208-209, figs. 3.13-3.15. Sometimes the firing floor could be quite substantial, with prominent, well-preserved perforations, as in the case of the Roman kiln at Kalo Chorio, Istrona, in east Crete, published in Δαβάρας 1973β. For perforated firing floors in modern traditional kilns, see: Hampe & Winter 1962, 35, fig. 25. Hampe & Winter 1965, pl. 20, no. 5. An alternative type of firing floor was composed of individually made fire bars. For these, see: Corder 1957, 20, fig. 10. Hampe & Winter 1962, pls. 2-3.9 The pinax (Antikensammlung, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Preussischer Kulturbesitz, inv. F 893), has been published many times. For useful reconstructions of what the entire pinax may have looked like, see: Hampe & Winter 1965, 230-231, figs. 146-149. Rhodes 1968, 15, fig. 17. Noble 1988, 152, figs. 237-238. See also: Scheibler 1995, 103, figs. 95-96. Papadopoulos 2003, 203, fig. 3.8. 10 Cook 1984.11 Cook 1984, 63.


allowed for better heat retention throughout the firing process.

Whether or not the kiln was equipped with a firing floor, the manner of stacking would have been the same. Pots of various shapes and sizes would have been accommodated together in the kiln first by being nestled in one another –open vessels in stacks together, smaller pots in larger ones, and so on– the whole then stacked to form something of a hemisphere12. It is exactly this

manner of stacking –and kiln– that is illustrated in section in the Penteskouphia pinax already referred to. The small size of these kilns can be gleaned by comparing the scale of the pot-ters shown tending them on the Penteskouphia plaques, as well as by the remains of kilns in the archaeological record13.

The superstructure of the Early Iron Age kiln at Torone was not preserved, but it was almost certainly not a permanent structure. Indeed, the

12 See: Cook 1984. Noble 1988, 155. Papadopoulos 1992, 218.13 Rhodes 1968, 17. For the plaques, see especially: Cuomo di Caprio 1984. Papadopoulos 2003, 10, figs. 1.7a-f. Note the dimensions of kilns in the ground compiled by Cook 1961, 65-67. A representative selection from Cook’s list would be: B1 = 1.20 m; D5 = 1.50 m; E1 = 1.80 m; F2 = 1.33 m. Of Davaras’ Type A kilns, that at Achladia, Siteia, has an overall length of about 2.0 m, and the round kiln at Palaikastro a maximum diameter, including the shelf, of 2.68 m: Davaras 1980, 118, 121, figs. 3, 5. The Late Minoan IIIC kiln at Kavousi has an internal diameter of between 1.90 and 2.70 m. See: Gesell, Day & Coulson 1988, 292, fig. 15. The diameters of the three circular kilns of the Classical period at Sindos measure: kiln 1 = 1.65-2.00 m; kiln 2 = 1.30-1.55 m; kiln 3 = 1.20 m. See: Δεσποίνη 1982, 62-63, figs. 2-3. In comparison, the diminutive size of the Torone kiln is one of the smallest known.

Fig. 1. Torone Early Iron Age cemetery, Trench 43, showing Early Iron Age kiln and tombs (from: Papadopoulos 2005, fig. 38b).


temporary nature of all pre-Industrial Revolution kilns is a feature stressed by Alan Caiger-Smith, who writes:

“The idea of a long-lasting kiln is a mod-ern concept… Only when the science and structure of kilns became subtle and com-plex in the early nineteenth century did people consider how to preserve them by building iron bands and frames around them and by using materials which could withstand many firings. Thus virtually all that remains of any old kilns is the hearth and the foundations of the walls.”14

The superstructure of the Torone kiln would have been presumably built up, once the pottery was stacked, with a thin protective mantle of clay, and conceivably also turf, straw, dung, and perhaps even supplemented with wasters from previous firings15. Although its restoration is con-jectural, a simple, temporary domed construction may be assumed, consistent with the evidence provided by modern experimental kilns based on the design of ancient kilns, and with various Archaic and Classical Greek representations in vase painting16.

The collapse of the Torone kiln occurred at a time when the firing of the pottery was

14 Caiger-Smith 1973, 211.15 Cuomo di Caprio 1984, 75. Davaras 1980, 123-124 also notes that most kiln domes were usually not permanent constructions but remade for each firing. Cf.: Homann-Wedeking 1950, 168. On the subject of kiln domes generally, see: Ορλάνδος 1955, 87-93, and especially 91-92. As for temporary kiln walls built of clay and layers of potsherds, tiles, and small clay cylinders, with an outside rendering of clay, see: ΑΔ 33 (1978) Β2, Χρονικά, 400-401, pls. 208γ-δ, 209α-γ [Η. Ζερβουδάκη]. For the use of wasters in the construction of temporary kiln domes, see: Cuomo di Caprio 1979, 91, pl. 5, no. 1b. Cuomo di Caprio 1984, 75.16 Compare especially the case of the Calke Wood kiln: Cook 1984, 63-66; Cuomo di Caprio 1984, 73-75. See further: Rhodes 1968, 14-17. For ancient illustrations of kilns, see, among others: Richter 1923, 76-78, figs. 72-80; Hampe & Winter 1962, 54, 110; Scheibler 1995, 98-107.

Fig. 2. Detail of the Early Iron Age kiln after partial excavation showing the pithos (KP-1) in situ; view from above southwest (from: Papadopoulos 2005, pl. 52).


complete, or near-complete, as the fragments of all fourteen vessels in the shaft were well baked17. Part of the smash had been left in situ and leveled over, and subsequent damage to the kiln would have been the result of Classical build-ing activity. The condition of the pottery smash as found in the kiln is described more fully in the original publication, but enough pieces from most of the vessels within the kiln were recov-ered to indicate that the pots were stacked in the chamber. In the case of several of the pieces, how-ever, only small fragments were preserved, raising the possibility that these may have been wasters

from a previous firing or firings18. Moreover, the collapse of the kiln and subsequent positioning of the pottery indicate that if there was a suspended firing floor –which now seems unlikely– there was never an internal support for such a putative floor (Fig. 2).

The kiln pottery

By far the most interesting aspect of the pottery recovered from the kiln was its diversity in terms of fabric and technique. In order to facilitate easier cross reference, I provide a list of the kiln pottery:

17 Compare the case of the Early Bronze Age kiln at Agios Mamas in Chalkidike: Heurtley & Radford 1927-28, 152-155; Heurtley 1939, 5-7, figs. 6, 7b; and compare the size of one of the storage jars found in situ (Heurtley 1939, 174, no. 203), with a height of 31 cm; the Agios Mamas kiln is further discussed in Jones 1986.18 Papadopoulos 1989, 21-22, especially nos. KP-10, KP-11, and cf. KP-7 and KP-12.

KP-1 (82.604) HM PITHOS. Papadopoulos 1989, 29, 36–37, ills. 12–13. Ht. 67.8 cm; diam. (rim) est. 23 cm; diam. (base) 10 cm.

KP-2 (82.1185) HM PITHOS, FRAGMENTARY. Papadopoulos 1989, 29, 37, ills. 14–15. Base frr: Pres. Ht. 24.2 cm; diam. 11.2 cm; rim frr: Ht. 8.7 cm; diam. est. 32 cm.

KP-3 (82.1186) HM PITHOS; BODY FRR. Papadopoulos 1989, 30, 38, ills. 16–17. Pres. Ht. 26.3 cm; max. pres. W. 30.5 cm.

KP-4 (82.1184) WM KRATER. Papadopoulos 1989, 30, 38–39, ills. 18–19. Ht. 34.8 cm; diam. (base) 13.4 cm; diam. (rim) 36.6 cm.

KP-5 (82.1188) WM AMPHORA WITH BELLY AND SHOULDER HANDLES. Papadopoulos 1989, 30–31, 39, ills. 20–21. Pres. Ht. 20.9 cm; diam. (rim) 15.4 cm.

KP-6 (82.1189) WM (BELLY-HANDLED?) AMPHORA. Papadopoulos 1989, 31–32, 40, ills. 22–23. Pres. Ht. 14.2 cm.

KP-7 (82.1192) BODY FRR., LARGE WM CLOSED VESSEL, PROBABLY AMPHORA. Papadopoulos 1989, 32, 40, ills. 24–25. Pres. Ht. 21.5 cm.

KP-8 (82.1190) BODY FRR., WM CLOSED VESSEL, PROBABLY SMALL AMPHORA. Papadopoulos 1989, 32, 41, ills. 26–27. Pres. Ht. 10.5 cm.


Fig. 3. Geology of the Sithonia peninsula (from: Σαπουντζής κ.ά. 1976).

KP-9 (82.1191) BODY FRR., LARGE WM CLOSED VESSEL, PROBABLY AMPHORA. Papadopoulos 1989, 32–33, 41, ills. 28–29. Pres. Ht. 16 cm; max. pres. W. 21.8 cm.

KP-10 (82.1196) SHOULDER FRR., WM CLOSED VESSEL, PROBABLY AMPHORA. Papadopoulos 1989, 33, 41, ills. 32–33. Pres. Ht. 6.7 cm.

KP-11 (82.1195) BASE FRR., WM OPEN VESSEL, PROBABLY LEKANIS (Type 2). Papadopoulos 1989, 33, 41, ills. 30–31. Pres. Ht. 2.2 cm.

KP-12 (82.1194) NECK AND RIM FRR., LARGE WM CLOSED VESSEL, PROBABLY AMPHORA. Papadopoulos 1989, 33–34, 41, ills. 34–35. Pres. Ht. 9 cm.

KP-13 (82.1193) FRAGMENTARY WM JAR OR SMALL PITHOS. Papadopoulos 1989, 34, 42, ills. 36–37. Rim frr: Pres. Ht. 5.2 cm; diam. (rim) est. 22 cm.

KP-14 (82.1187) FRAGMENTARY HM VESSEL, PROBABLY CHYTRA. Papadopoulos 1989, 34–35, 42, ills. 38–39. Pres. Ht. 11.1 cm; diam. (rim) est. 19.5-20.


Fig. 4. Torone KP-14 (inv. 82.1187) (from: Papadopoulos 1989, 42, ill. 39).


The importance of the kiln pottery lies, first of all, in the fact that not only wheelmade and hand-made pottery but also terracotta loomweights were fired together in a single kiln load19. Sec-ond, the variety of fabrics encountered in the collapsed kiln showed marked variances not only between the handmade and wheelmade wares, but also between individual handmade and wheelmade vessels. The differences in the various fabrics recovered from the kiln should have provided a useful gauge of comparison for the more numerous tomb pottery and helped establish some guidelines for the definition of earlier and later local wares. But following the program of elemental and petrographic analysis, the lesson learned from this study is that, in areas with diverse geological sources, such as Sithonia, the central promontory of Chalkidike (Fig. 3), ceramics from kiln deposits do not necessarily provide a representative sample of local fabrics20. The old adage “get a kiln, get a control group” clearly did not work in the case of the Early Iron Age kiln at Torone21.

Of the handmade vessels recovered from the kiln, the fabric of KP-14 (Fig. 4) was consistent in every visible respect with the fabric of the coarser variety of clay used only for pithoi, pitharia and tripod cauldrons encountered in the Early Iron Age tombs of the site. It differs from that used for all other handmade vessels. The fabric of the three kiln pithoi is more revealing. Here were three examples of the same shape, produced at the same time and fired in the one kiln, that differ not only in the color of the fired clay but also in the range and quantity of impurities22. The clay of KP-1 (Fig. 5) contained far fewer inclusions than any other pithos, as well as less mica, with predominantly fine particles, both silver and

19 For the loomweights, see: Papadopoulos 1989, 35, 42, ills. 40-43. For the firing of pottery together with a variety of other terracotta objects –including lamps, loomweights, spindlewhorls, beads or buttons, as well as terracotta figurines, votive plaques and shields– see: Papadopoulos 2003, 143-186. 20 Whitbread, Jones, & Papadopoulos 1997, 91.21 Whitbread, Jones, & Papadopoulos 1997, 91.22 Papadopoulos 1989, 27.


golden. The clay body and surfaces were fired black, except for the upper shoulder and rim, which are close to light reddish brown 5YR 6/4 on the Munsell scale. The fabric of KP-2 is slightly coarser with many small to medium white and light-colored inclusions, but only the odd larger impurity; the mica quantity is similar to that of KP-1 but predominantly golden and, where unaf-fected by secondary burning, more evenly fired light red. The fabric of KP-3 is more consistent with that of the tomb pithoi. It contains many white and light-colored inclusions ranging from small to large, as well as much mica, both fine and small through medium flakes, which are exclu-sively golden; the clay body and surfaces were evenly fired close to light brown 7.5YR 6/4.

As for the fabric of the wheelmade pottery in the kiln, the fired color of the clay and the quan-tity of impurities varied from piece to piece. The clay of most examples –e.g. KP-4 (Fig. 6), KP-6, KP-7, KP-11, KP-12– contains many small to medium inclusions, with the occasional larger impurity. The fabric of these five vessels contains much mica, in some cases predominantly golden,

23 The fabric of KP-9 is especially unusual, as it closely resembles the fabric of larger Athenian pottery of the Late Geometric and early Archaic period. Shape, fabric and decoration are not unlike that of Athenian SOS amphoras, for which see: Johnston & Jones 1978. Docter 1991. Papadopoulos & Paspalas 1999.

in others silver. The fabric of KP-5 (Fig. 7) is par-ticularly gritty with an above-average quantity of small to medium inclusions and a great deal of predominantly silver mica. It is also more fri-able than normal. Somewhat finer is the clay of KP-8 and KP-10, in both cases inclusions are fewer and the mica content less. More unusual is the even finer and denser fabric of KP-9, which contains considerably fewer inclusions and only a little mica, although the fabric does contain the occasional larger red inclusion23. Moreover, the paint of KP-9 is semi-lustrous as opposed to the normally dull paint that could fire any color from true black through red, with various shades of brown and reddish-brown common. In contrast, the fabric of KP-13 is particularly coarse with many small to larger inclusions and predomi-nantly golden mica; the clay has fired an uncom-mon gray-brown color, which is evidently not due to secondary burning. Moreover, although wheelmade, KP-13 is of a fabric normally used for handmade vessels. The appearance of wheel-made versions of standard local Macedonian handmade shapes, or the use of the variety of




24 Casson 1923-25, 20-21. The coexistence of handmade and wheelmade pottery traditions continues into the Classical period, at which time the production of handmade pottery gradually stops, see: Kiriatzi et al. 1997. In Thrace, as in Thasos, and much of southeast Europe, handmade pottery continues to be a flourishing tradition, arguably with ideological overtones, well into the historical period. See further: S. Papadopoulos 2001. For the coexistence of handmade pottery, including matt-painted, and Mycenaean style pottery, see further: Andreou & Psaraki 2007. 25 See, especially: Kiriatzi et al. 1997.26 Cambitoglou & Papadopoulos 1993.27 For Mycenaean pottery in the North Aegean, see, among others: Ανδρέου 2003. Andreou 2010, especially 648-654. Ανδρέου & Κωτσάκης 1999. Jung 2002. Jung 2003α. Jung 2003β. See also: Jung 2006. 28 Kiriatzi et al. 1997.29 Milne 1988, 186-196.

but also social and cultural. The social context in which the potters worked, and which the potters themselves acted on, appears to play a major role in keeping the boundaries of the two traditions well defined and thereby rendering their coex-istence possible. The fact that the two traditions coexist within the one kiln at Torone adds an important dimension to pottery production in the Νorth Aegean.

Coda

From an archaeological perspective, the study of the Torone kiln pottery, together with the results of the petrographic and chemical analy-ses, and the larger analyses of all the Early Iron Age pottery from the site, has yielded important information with regard to the characterization of the local pottery, and a better understanding of the local potters’ craft. At the same time, it has produced some surprises and has raised many new questions. As the poem Kiln in the pseudo-Herodotean Life of Homer reminds us29, pottery production can be a fickle craft, and the lived experience of potters practicing their trade is not always in keeping with the precision of laboratory techniques we use in order to interrogate and understand them.

clay usually reserved for the latter, was already noted by Stanley Casson as a feature prevalent among Geometric and Archaic versions of ear-lier handmade shapes at Tsaousitsa24. It is worth adding that this feature is not found among the pottery encountered in the earlier cemetery.

More recently, a number of scholars have paid close attention to the special relationship between handmade and wheelmade pottery in Late Bronze and Early Iron Age northern Greece25. The long tradition of handmade pot-tery in Central Macedonia was established since the Early and Middle Bronze Age and continued well into the Early Iron Age. In the Late Bronze Age imported Mycenaean pottery is recorded at various sites in Macedonia –the earliest from Torone26– and by the later Mycenaean period a distinctly Mycenaean-style of pottery was pro-duced locally at various sites in the north27.

As Evangelia Kiriatzi and her collaborators have noted, this marked the establishment of a new pottery manufacturing tradition in Macedo-nia that coexisted for centuries with the hand-made tradition. These two traditions, however, reflected quite different production, organization, and consumption patterns within the same cul-tural environment. Indeed, Kiriatzi et al. (1997) go on to reconstruct the chaîne opératoire within each tradition, through both macroscopic exami-nation of the pottery and analytical techniques, in order to define the technological choices made during the manufacturing process28. Their aim was to understand the constraints acting on each tradition, not only environmental or functional,


Περίληψη

Ορισμένες περαιτέρω σκέψεις για τον κεραμικό κλίβανο

της Πρώιμης Εποχής Σιδήρου στην Τορώνη

John K. Papadopoulos

Το κείμενο αποτελεί μια επισκόπηση του υστερογεωμετρικού κεραμικού κλιβάνου της Τορώνης, που δημοσιεύθηκε για πρώτη φορά το 1989. Μέσα από τη δομή του κλιβάνου, την κατεστραμμένη κεραμική που βρέθηκε κάτω από τον θάλαμο καύσης που κατέρρευσε, και τα απο-τελέσματα των στοιχειακών και πετρογραφικών αναλύσεων που δημοσιεύθηκαν το 2005, παρου-σιάζονται τα πιο σημαντικά χαρακτηριστικά του κλιβάνου.

Αυτά αφορούν αφενός στο ότι διαφορετι-κές κατηγορίες κεραμικής βρέθηκαν στην ίδια διαδικασία όπτησης (τόσο τροχήλατη όσο και διαφορετικοί τύποι χειροποίητης κεραμικής) και αφετέρου στο ότι μαζί τους ψήθηκαν και πήλινα υφαντικά βάρη. Οι έντονες διαφορές που εντο-πίστηκαν στους πηλούς της κεραμικής του κλι-βάνου, θα έπρεπε να αποτελέσουν σοβαρό οδηγό της ‘τοπικής’ κεραμικής που κατασκευαζόταν στον χώρο τον 8ο αι. π.Χ. Δεν συμβαίνει ωστόσο, αυτό και μάλιστα η παλιά ρήση “get a kiln, get a control group” δεν ισχύει στην περίπτωση της Τορώνης. Ο κλίβανος παρέχει μια διαχρονική προειδοποίηση, ότι δηλαδή σε περιοχές με γεω-λογική ποικιλία, τα κεραμικά που προέρχονται από τις αποθέσεις των κλιβάνων δεν παρέχουν απαραίτητα ένα αντιπροσωπευτικό δείγμα των τοπικών πηλών.

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Further thoughts on the Early Iron Age potters' kiln at Torone (2013)

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