The archaeological background of the analysed Pendent Semicircle Skyphoi from Pontecagnano

1

Archaeometric Analyses of Euboean and Euboean Related Pottery: New Results and their Interpretations

Proceedings of the Round Table Conference held at the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Athens, 15 and 16 April 2011

M. Kerschner – I. S. Lemos (eds.)

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Introduction2

WIEN 2014

ERGÄNZUNGSHEFT ZU DEN JAHRESHEFTEN DES

ÖSTERREICHISCHEN ARCHÄOLOGISCHEN INSTITUTES IN WIEN

herausgegeben im Auftrag des

ÖSTERREICHISCHEN ARCHÄOLOGISCHEN INSTITUTES

von

Sabine Ladstätter

HEFT 15


3

M. Kerschner – I. S. Lemos (eds.)

ArchAeometric AnAlyses of euboeAn And

euboeAn relAted pottery: new results And

their interpretAtions

Proceedings of the Round Table Conference held at the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Athens, 15 and 16 April 2011


Introduction4

Das Österreichische Archäologische Institut ist eine Forschungseinrichtung des Bundesministeriums für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Wirtschaft

Bibliografische Information der Deutschen BibliothekDie Deutsche Bibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografi-sche Daten sind im Internet über <http://dnb.ddb.de> abrufbar.

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche BibliothekDie Deutsche Bibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is avail-able in the Internet at <http://dnb.ddb.de>

Alle Rechte vorbehaltenISSN 1727-2502ISBN 978-3-900305-71-0Copyright © 2014 by Österreichisches Archäologisches Institut Wien LOGORedaktion: Barbara Beck-Brandt, Angela SchwabUmschlaggestaltung: Büro PaniSatz und Layout: Angela SchwabGesamtherstellung: Holzhausen Druck GmbH


5

contents

Introduction I.S.Lemos–M.Kerschner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

List of Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Provenancing by Neutron Activation Analyses and Results of Euboean and Euboean Related Pottery H.Mommsen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Pottery from Lefkandi of the Late Bronze and Early Iron Age in the Light of the Neutron Activation Analyses I.S.Lemos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

Macroscopic Analyses of Late Bronze Age to Early Iron Age Pottery from Lefkandi: Preliminary Observations I.K.Whitbread . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

›Euboean‹ Pottery from Early Iron Age Eretria in the Light of the Neutron Activation Analysis S.Verdan–A.KenzelmannPfyffer–T.Theurillat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

Pottery from a Funerary Context (MG II–LG I) in Eretria in the Light of the Neutron Activation Analysis A.Psalti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91

Archaeometric Analysis of Early Iron Age Pottery Samples from Oropos: Local or Euboean Production? A.MazarakisAinian–V.Vlachou . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Euboean Imports to the Eastern Aegean and Eastern Aegean Production of Pottery in the Euboean Style: New Evidence from Neutron Activation Analyses M.Kerschner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

Euboean Imports at Al Mina in the Light of Recent Studies on the Pottery Finds from Woolley’s Excavation A.Vacek . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Euboean or Levantine? Neutron Activation Analysis of Pendent Semicircle Skyphoi from Al Mina M.Kerschner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

Pendent Semicircle Skyphoi from Central Italy in the Light of the Archaeometric Results A.Naso . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169

The Archaeological Background of the Analysed Pendent Semicircle Skyphoi from Pontecagnano B.d’Agostino . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181


6

Production, Export and Imitation of Euboean Pottery: A Summary of the Results of the Workshop on the Provenance of Euboean and Euboean Related Pottery and Perspectives for Future Research M.Kerschner–I.S.Lemos . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191

Overview of the Results of NAA of Euboean and Euboean Related Pottery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

Contents


10 List of AuthorsAbbreviations

Prof. Dr. Bruno d’AgostinoDipartimento di Studi del Mondo Classico e del Medi-terraneo AnticoUniversità degli Studi Napoli - L’OrientalePalazzo CoriglianoPiazza S. Domenico Maggiore 1280134 Naples – Italye-mail: [email protected]

Dr. Anne Kenzelmann PfyfferInstitut d’Archéologie et des Sciences de l’AntiquitéUniversité de LausanneFaculté des lettres – Bâtiment Anthropole1015 Lausanne – Switzerlande-mail: [email protected]

PD Mag. Dr. Michael KerschnerÖsterreichisches Archäologisches InstitutFranz Klein-Gasse 11190 Vienna – Austriae-mail: [email protected]

Prof. Dr. Irene S. LemosFaculty of ClassicsUniversity of OxfordIoannou Centre66 St Giles’Oxford OX1 3LU – Great Britaine-mail: [email protected]

Prof. Dr. Alexandros Mazarakis AinianDepartment of History, Archaeology and Social Anthro-pologyUniversity of Thessaly38221 Volos – Greecee-mail: [email protected]

Prof. Dr. Hans MommsenHelmholtz-Institut für Strahlen- und KernphysikUniversität BonnNussallee 141653115 Bonn – Germanye-mail: [email protected]

Prof. Dr. Alessandro NasoInstitut für ArchäologienUniversität InnsbruckLanger Weg 116020 Innsbruck – Austriae-mail: [email protected]

Dir. Dr. Athanasia PsaltiDirector of the 10th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical AntiquitiesArchaeological Museum Delphi33054 Delphi – Greecee-mail: [email protected]

Dr. Thierry TheurillatÉcole suisse d’archéologie en GrèceInstitut d’Archéologie et des Sciences de l’AntiquitéUniversité de LausanneFaculté des lettres – Bâtiment Anthropole1015 Lausanne – Switzerlande-mail: [email protected]

Mag. Dr. Alexander VacekFaculty of ClassicsUniversity of OxfordIoannou Centre66 St Giles’Oxford OX1 3LU – Great Britaine-mail: [email protected]

Dr. Samuel VerdanInstitut d’Archéologie et des Sciences de l’AntiquitéUniversité de LausanneFaculté des lettres – Bâtiment Anthropole1015 Lausanne – Switzerlande-mail: [email protected]

Dr. Vicky VlachouUniversité libre de BruxellesCReA-Partimoine CP 17550, avenue F. D. Roosevelt1050 Bruxelles – Belgiume-mail: [email protected]

Dr. Ian K. WhitbreadSchool of Archaeology and Ancient HistoryUniversity of LeicesterUniversity RoadLeicester, LE1 7RH – Great Britaine-mail: [email protected]

list of Authors


11

The abbreviations used in this volume follow the guidelines of the Austrian Archaeological Institute: < http://www.oeai.at>

Further abbreviations used in this volume

Abbrevations

AAS atomic absorption spectrometryBA Bronze AgeDA discriminant analysisD. diameterEG Early GeometricEH Early HelladicEIA Early Iron AgeGM Géométrique MoyenGR Géométrique RécentH. heightInv. inventory numberLBA Late Bronze AgeLG Late GeometricLH Late HelladicLPG Late Protogeometric

MG Middle GeometricMH Middle HelladicMPG Middle ProtogeometricNAA neutron activation analysisPG Protogeometricpres. preservedPSC pendent semicircleSPG SubprotogeometricSubG SubgeometricSubMyc SubmycenaeanTh. thickness of the wall of a vesselUl unlocated provenance groupW. widthXRF X-ray fluorescence spectrometry


The Archaeological Background of the Analysed PSC Skyphoi from Pontecagnano 181

B r u n o d ’ A g o s t i n o

The archaeological background of the analysed Pendent Semiccircle Skyphoi from Pontecagnano

The site of Pontecagnano, whose ancient name we do not know, is located in Campania, about 10 km south of Salerno1. The ancient town extended over a travertine platform raised slightly above the coastal plain, about 2 km from the sea. Its western boundary was marked by the Picen-tino river, whose mouth served as a port, and which was also a major route into the hilly hinter-land. There was a second port, at least during the First Iron Age (900–725 B.C.), in a small coastal lagoon east of the site.

The settlement sprang up between the late 10th and early 9th century B.C., under the impulse of the same populations that during the same period established important centres such as Tarquinia and Caere, destined to become some of the principal cities of Etruria in historical times2. In the EIA, these sites are distinguished by a cultural facies typical of the Tyrrhenian region of Central Italy, conventionally known as ›Villanovan‹ from the name of a hamlet near Bologna where it was first identified. This facies is characterized, among other things, by a prevalence of cremation burials. These predecessors of Etruscan civilization pushed south, probably by sea, to Campania, where they founded the settlements of Pontecagnano and Capua3. Both of these important centres were marked from the outset by strong socio-political links and remarkable cultural dynamism. They formed distinct enclaves in areas where a different facies prevailed, distinguished in part by the exclusive use of inhumation: the so-called Fossa Tomb culture. From the beginning Capua and Pontecagnano were exposed to local influences, and thus developed a ›mixed‹ cultural physiog-nomy with distinctive features compared to their area of origin; notably, they practiced inhuma-tion along with cremation.

The Iron Age settlement of Pontecagnano has not yet been discovered. It presumably occupied the same area as the later settlement of historical times, since the latter is bordered by two vast and earlier necropolis areas4: one to the west, near the Picentino river, the other east of a paleo-riverbed that delimited the ancient settlement on this side. A satellite settlement stood further to the east, in the locality of Pagliarone5, near the small lagoon port, which was especially well suited to the requirements of navigation at the time. With the end of the earlier phase of the First Iron Age, this settlement was abandoned, as if it had lost its function of guarding the eastern limit of the city’s territory.

As mentioned above, inhumation was practiced as well as cremation. In the latter burial rite, the bones of the deceased were gathered in an urn of biconical shape along with some personal objects. Initially cremation seems to have been the preferred burial rite. It was used more fre-quently for male burials. Cremation tombs of this period can be simple pits, or of a more elaborate type with a circular vestibule granting access to a cave-like niche where the biconical urn was placed with impasto vases as grave-goods.

1 This contribution was translated by Federico Poole.2 On this question, cf. Cerchiai 1995 and Cuozzo 2012.3 Present-day S. Maria Capua Vetere. The facies is also attested at the site of Sala Consilina, in Oenotria.4 Bonaudo et al. 2009.5 Gastaldi 1998.

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Bruno d’Agostino182

The earliest phase (I) comprises two sub-phases: IA, spanning the first half of the 9th century; and IB, which extends down to the first two decades of the 8th century B.C. Phase II (IIA) thus begins later at Pontecagnano than in the coastal towns of Etruria, where the change in facies is already observable at the beginning of the 8th century B.C.

At the time of the foundation of Pontecagnano, during the transition from the Final Bronze Age to the early decades of the 9th century, the tombs are simple pits with grave-goods almost exclusively limited to the urn with its lid, or simple trenches covered with pebbles. During the 9th century, however, the community quickly developed a more complex character. Tombs contain-ing numerous vases appear, and male tombs begin to display weapons such as spear and javelin heads, while in the more eminent burials swords with T-shaped hilts were offered. Female tombs now contain weaving and spinning tools. In this phase we also begin to see the first signs of con-tacts with other communities in Italy and the islands: Torre Galli-type swords, plumed pottery typical of protohistoric Sicily, and small Sardinian bronzes.

During the transition from Phase IB to Phase II, we find a group of tombs with more elaborate coverings arranged around the tomb of a warrior covered by a horseshoe-shaped platform, pos-sibly the floor of a house built for the deceased. This and other elements suggest the emergence of enlarged family groups who tend to assume a hegemonic role within the community.

The transition to Phase II is marked by a total change in pottery styles, in accordance with what happens in the centres of Southern Tyrrhenian Etruria. This is a strong sign of changes within the community. Pit tombs with biconical urns gradually disappear. We now find, along with fossa tombs, cist cremation tombs where the remains of the deceased are gathered in an urn or placed directly on the bottom of the grave, a practice that can be also found in the Greek world. It is thus not coincidental that this is the phase when Greek or Greek-type vases6 begin to appear, especially in female graves. This pottery, as we shall see, is prevalently Euboean or of Euboean style. We are now in Phase IIA, corresponding to the second quarter of the 8th century, and hence contemporary with the MG II and LG Ia in Greece. This period also immediately precedes and is contemporary with the first arrival of Greeks at Pithekoussai (Ischia) and Cumae, in Campania. The Greek vases found in Italian graves are usually of types used for wine consumption: mostly skyphoi, but oino-choai as well. This evidence suggests that the symposium, for which these vases were made, was used by the Greeks as a means to facilitate relations with the chiefs of local elites. Symposium vases were thus presumably included among grave-goods to evoke this elite custom. This new fashion was well-received, immediately spawning a local production, sometimes assigned to im-migrant Greek craftsmen. Burials are now very rich. Female graves display parures of fibulae and personal ornaments such as necklaces with beads of faience, amber, and rock crystal. Another sign of distinction are bronze vases, which include imported specimens.

Phase IIB, corresponding to the third quarter of the 8th century, witnessed an increase of the processes of social stratification already under way in the first half of the century. We now find tombs with rich grave-goods, including metal vases and ornaments, and often also gold and silver jewellery and fibulae. In the more eminent male tombs, the deceased is displayed as a warrior with one or two javelin heads, a spearhead, a sword, sometimes with the hilt inlaid with ivory and pre-cious metals. A few male tombs contain, along with the weapons, a set of iron tools comprising a flat axe, a shaft-hole axe, a punch, and a chisel, which seems to indicate the emergence of a role model combining military valour with skill in manual work, such as carpentry. The complexity of this symbolic apparatus brings to mind figures such as Odysseus, who had fashioned the bed where he laid with Penelope with his own hands from the stump of a large olive tree. This ap-preciation of manual work, however, is completely foreign to Greek burial customs, while it does find echoes in the indigenous Italian world. Eminent tombs also contain spits and, rarely, firedogs, symbols of the continuity of the domestic hearth.

6 D’Agostino 2006; d’Agostino – Gastaldi 2012a; d’Agostino – Gastaldi (in print).

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The end of Phase II marks a radical change, and not only in material culture. The strong Oriental influences on the local culture are not unique to Pontecagnano, but appear widely from Greece to the West as far as the Iberian peninsula. What is impressive at Pontecagnano is that the burial grounds of the First Iron Age are abandoned in favour of new ones that were to remain in use throughout the life of the ancient town. We must assume that this revolution was determined by a reorganization of the urban space and the emergence of new gentilicial groups founded on private property of land and its hereditary transmission. This new phase also marks the end of the ›pre-colonial‹ contacts attested by the importation of chevron cups and Geometric Greek pottery. Henceforth, here as elsewhere, Corinthian pottery becomes predominant and maintains the main protagonist of exporting pottery to the West until the middle of the 6th century B.C.

The earliest Greek imports appear at Pontecagnano in Phase IIA7, which presumably is chron-ologically restricted to the second quarter of the 8th century. The quantity of Greek imported or imitated vases found in indigenous burials is significant.

Pontecagnano has yielded the largest corpus of PSC cups found in the West so far. It comprises six specimens8. The earliest comes from tomb 73929. It has a ring base and thus can be assigned to Kearsley’s type 510, dated to MG II and thus contemporary with Phase IIA, to which the tomb belongs11. Two more specimens come from a disturbed burial, T. 773912, which cannot be dated precisely. One of these skyphoi is akin to Kearsley’s type 5, whereas the fragments of a second example belong to the later type 6, which has a short rim and a flat base. Three examples from T. 712913 also belong to the later type 6. They are associated with a chevron cup and a single-handled cup decorated with birds, both datable to LG Ia.

As Kourou notes, the PSC skyphoi of Pontecagnano are quite important for our understanding of the chronology of this class, as they suggest that their production continued until the mid-8th century. An experimental attempt by a local craftsman14 is datable to the transition from MG II to LG Ia. He tried to copy the decoration of a PSC skyphos without using a compass, but he was unsuccessful. Finally he painted the whole vase black.

At Pontecagnano, chevron skyphoi are even more abundant than PSC skyphoi, as is generally the case in Italy. The earliest examples, datable to MG II, are shallow, with a flat base and a short lip. The reserved band with the chevron panel stops before reaching the handles of the skyphos (TT. 6504. 6528/2915). These vessels are found in Phase IIA and part of Phase IIB. In the latter phase, the skyphoi have a high lip and the chevrons are sometimes framed by groups of vertical bars (T. 711016).

A peculiarity of Pontecagnano is the abundance of Black cups. The type, rather uncommon in the West, has a long tradition in Greece. It first appears at Pontecagnano in Phase IIA (TT. 4866. 6547. 233717), in the form with a deep body and oblique lip, datable to MG II.

Black cups are the most common vases of Greek type in Phase IIA, together with PSC sky-phoi. They appear to be mostly from Euboea, although a few may be of Cycladic origin. Only systematic clay analyses could allow us to distinguish with certainty between these two possible

7 Cf. d’Agostino 2005. Kourou 2005 has reassessed Greek Geometric pottery imports to Southern Italy. Her study has partly confirmed and partly improved my own assessment of this class: d’Agostino – Gastaldi 1988, 44–48; d’Agostino 1989; d’Agostino in: Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi (1999) 13–24.

8 A lip fragment from tomb 206 possibly belongs to a seventh specimen: d’Agostino – Gastaldi 1988, 142 fig. 51, T. 206.2.

9 Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 30 pl. 1, 6.10 Kearsley 1989.11 Kourou 2005, 501.12 Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 29 f. fig. 1. The specimen akin to Kearsley type 5 is no. 1.13 Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 27 f. fig. 1 pl. 1.1–3.14 Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, T. 4697.1, 31 fig. 3.15 Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 35 f. fig. 6 pl. 3, 1; 36 fig. 6 pl. 3, 2.16 Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 39 fig. 8 pl. 3, 5.17 Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 50 fig. 11; 55 fig. 13; 52 fig. 12.

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provenances. Nevertheless, a kantharos with metopal decoration with a meander between the handles, from tomb 314618, is probably Cycladic, as are probably the lekanai with running spirals from T. 7737.1–219. An Euboean provenance can be suggested for the following cups: two with a single bird in a panel from T. 321120; another with a panel filled with a cross from T. 650021 (a decorative pattern that seems typical of Chalcis). In phase IIB, one cup decorated with a chain of lozenges from T. 326422 and a one-handled cup covered with groups of vertical lines from T. 707723 may also be of Euboean origin. This list is limited to certainly imported vases, but the typically Euboean motif of single or antithetical birds is also present, as e.g. a cup from T. 738624 dated by N. Kourou to LG Ia.

The distinction between imported products and local imitations can be problematic. Such is the case for a type of cup, already mentioned above, found at the beginning of phase IIA. It has a flat base, a globular body, and a short vertical lip. To my knowledge, the shape is not attested in the Greek settlements, but it appears to be of a local type of Phase II. The decoration, however, is typically Euboean: it consists of groups of vertical bars framing one or more metopes with birds in silhouette or in outline filled in with hatching25. One variant (T. 7110.3. 7107.226) bears the decorative scheme seen on Chalcidian cups with pairs of horizontal lines framing a metope with a bird or a cross motif. The choice of this decorative system stresses the Euboean character of this group of vases and suggests that they are the work of an immigrant Euboean craftsman.

As Kourou has clearly shown, three cups with meander hooks decoration bear witness to an Atticizing trend. The earliest specimen, from T. 3208 (Phase IIA)27, has a shape that still dates to MG IIA. It has a central panel with a pair of meander hooks flanked by groups of vertical bars and piles of chevrons. The vases from tombs 7110 of phase II A and 3264 from phase IIB are slightly later28.

An oinochoe from T. 7738.329 is a special case. Although resembling Attic oinochoai decorated with groups of concentric circles30, A. Kotsonas has tentatively ascribed it to a Knossian work-shop31.

During phase IIB, the earlier type of chevron skyphoi slowly disappears, whereas skyphoi with hanging chevrons in continuous rows or separated by vertical bars, also of Euboean tradition, become common32. During this phase there is also a strong Euboean influence on local produc-tion, which becomes more abundant and diverse.

Three styles can be distinguished. One I already mentioned above: it includes single-handled cups with a single metope opposite the handle, and other types of vases with bird decoration. Some especially significant examples are: a closed vase from T. 538 based on a local shape, but apparently borrowing some features of Euboean craters, and with a decoration showing the paint-

18 Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 41 fig. 10 pl. 4.3.19 Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 72 figs. 21. 22 pl. 5, 4.20 Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 35 fig. 6 pl. 2, 7.21 Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 43 fig. 9 pl. 3, 8.22 Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 40 fig. 9 pl. 4, 2, datable to LG II.23 Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 71 fig. 21.24 Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 34 fig. 5. Cf. also another cup from T. 7738, 33 fig. 5 pl. 2, 1. 2, from the beginning

of phase IIA.25 Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, T. 7129.6, 28 f. fig. 2; T. 6605.2–3, 32 fig. 4; T. 6509.1, 33 fig. 4.26 Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 40 fig. 8; 42 f. fig. 10.27 Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 41 f. fig. 9 pl. 3, 7. Cf. Kourou 2005, 504.28 Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 39 fig. 8 pl. 3, 6 (T. 7110.2); 40 fig. 9 pl. 4, 1 (T. 3264.1).29 Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 34 fig. 5 pl. 7, 1.30 Kourou 1999, 219–223.31 Kotsonas 2008, 68 no. 469; 336 n. 2959. He told me that he has not seen actually the vase.32 Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, TT. 3214. TT. 3285 (hanging chevrons). TT. 3224, 231. TT. 3286. TT. 3284.

TT. 3099 (bipartite chevrons).

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er’s familiarity with the ›Cesnola Style‹33. A jar from T. 389234 with the typical motif of horses at a manger in a metopal frieze including single birds or birds on the backs of antithetical horses is presumably the work of a Euboean craftsman based in Pithekoussai.

A second style, recognized by Kourou, includes vases decorated with a frieze of concentric circles of modest size. Here, too, the model is Euboean. Skyphoi with rows of concentric circles on the lip are widespread both in Euboea and in the West. However, they are not to be found at Pontecagnano, where this decoration is used on the shoulder of closed-shape vases. Exam-ples include an oinochoe faithfully reproducing Euboean-Cycladic models; a stamnoid jar, from the same burial35 with a rich decoration including metopal friezes with wavy lines, bands with combed zigzags, and rows of concentric circles on the lip and under the handles; and a small jug of a typical local shape from the above-mentioned tomb 53836.

A third style features large concentric circles on the body of large bowls of locally-derived shapes37. Kourou sees parallels with a decoration that appears in Cypro-Archaic Period 1 in the 8th century B.C. According to Kourou, it was introduced in Pontecagnano through the ›Cypro-Italian connection‹ – in which, as N. Coldstream suggested, Euboea acted as an intermediary. Recent excavations at Francavilla Marittima have brought to light similar vases, as well as a whole class of materials that seem to be related to the production of Pontecagnano38. Further investigations of this site will help to clarify this relationship.

It should be pointed out that in phase IIB of Pontecagnano Corinthian vases are completely absent, although they are found at other Campanian sites39. The Aetos 666 cup, for example, is documented by a single imitation specimen from T. 20440, and the Thapsos-type cup with panel only occurs, along with an ›Ithaca-type‹ kantharos, in a tomb already dating from the early Ori-entalizing period, in the necropolis of Casella41. This phenomenon cannot only depend on the existence of different trading circuits.

Naa of four PSC skyphoi from Pontecagnano

In our present project, we analysed four PSC skyphoi from Pontecagnano (samples Pont 1–4). Pont 4 is a good member of provenance group EuA and the pair Pont 1 and Pont 2 shows an ele-ment pattern that is very similar to EuA (with deviating La concentrations compared to EuA). Thus all three skyphoi are imports from the Euripus area. Pont 3, however, shows a totally dif-ferent element pattern that is associated with the pattern BroC, which has not yet been definitely localised. The facts that the other members of this provenance group were all BA vessels found in Southern Italy42 and also that the general chemical composition of Pont 3/BroC is close to other patterns from Southern Italy enhances the probability of a location in this region.

In 1985 A. Deriu analysed some samples of the Geometric wares of Pontecagnano with a Mössbauer spectrometer43. The PSC skyphoi considered here (Pont 1–4) were found later and

33 Coldstream 1982; Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 65 fig. 18 pl. 5, 2. 34 Cerchiai in: De Natale 1992, 125 f.; Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 66 f. fig. 19 pl. 5.3.35 Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 73 f. figs. 23. 24 pl. 6.1.36 Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 64 f. fig. 18 pl. 5.1.37 Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, T. 224, 64 fig. 16; T. 3006, 368 fig. 20, pl. 6.3; T. 3009, 63 fig. 17; T. 3093, 63 fig. 18.38 Jacobsen et al. 2008–2009. 39 D’Agostino 1982.40 T. 204.8: d’Agostino – Gastaldi 1988,141 pl. 5, 1; Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 53 n. 2, fig. 12.41 Cinquantaquattro 2001, T. 4900 , 46–48 figs. 22. 23.42 Unpublished NAA results of samples from Broglio di Trebisacce produced by R. Jones, cf. Vagnetti et al. (to be

published).43 The data of Deriu 1985 are summarized in Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 75 f. It is worth pointing out that, as

Kourou also observes, sometimes the results of Deriu’s analyses do not agree with those of the macroscopic exami-nation of the vases.

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Fig. 1 SC skyphos from tomb 7129.1

Fig. 2 PSC skyphos from tomb 7392.1

Fig. 3 Grave goods from tomb 7392

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therefore they were not submitted to Mössbauer analysis. Consequently, it is impossible to com-pare the results obtained by A. Deriu with the results obtained by H. Mommsen. With respect to the later recovered set of skyphoi, there seems to be no macroscopic difference among the clays of Pont 1, 2, 4, which look to be Euboean. However the clay in Pont 3, which contains silver mica, does differ visually.

44 Drawings: Tonino Beatrice; photos: Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici di Salerno, Avellino, Benevento e Caserta.

1. PSC skyphos (Fig. 1)Pontecagnano, T. 7129.1 Museo dell’Agro Picentino inv. 125656. H. 5.8 cm; D. 10.5 cm. Euboean. Clay beige (Munsell 7.5YR 7/6 reddish-yellow) with red-dish-orange core (Munsell 5YR 7/6 reddish-yellow), more concentrated (Munsell 2.5YR 6/6 light red) in some areas. Hard, with few fine-grained calcite inclusions (sub-millimetre length), and sparse vacuoles; wheel lines visi-ble. Paint: on the exterior, reddish-brown, very worn; in the interior, brown.The lower body, lip, handles, and two vertical bands on either side of the handles are painted. Between the handles are two pairs of seven PSCs, partially overlapping; in the centre a full circle. The inside is painted, except for a thin band under the lip. Reconstructed apart from small parts of body and lip. Cf. Kearsley 1989, type 6.Bibl.: Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 27 fig. 1 pl. 1, 1.

2. PSC skyphos (Figs. 2. 3)Pontecagnano, T. 7392.1Museo dell’Agro Picentino inv. 138039. H. 6.5 cm; D. 10.5 cm. Euboean. Clay beige (Munsell 7.5YR 7/6: 2 reddish-yellow). Core occasionally reddish-orange (Munsell 5YR 7/6–7/8 reddish-yellow). Hard, with few fine-grained calcite inclusions (sub-millimetre length), and sparse vacuoles. The paint, much faded, is reddish-brown on the outside, brown on the inside. Ring-base; low body; short oblique lip; slanted handles. The lower body, lip, handles, and two

vertical bands on either side of the handles are painted. Between the handles are two pairs of seven PSCs, partially overlapping. The inside is painted, except for a thin band under the lip. The vase is chipped and poorly restored in two points. Reconstructed apart from small parts of body and lip. Cf. Kearsley 1989, Type 5.Bibl.: Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 30 fig. 3 pl. 1, 6.

3. PSC skyphos (Fig. 4)»from the Salerno area«, Longo collectionH. 7.2 cm; D. 12.2 cm. Fabric unknown. Clay from pink (Munsell 7.5YR 7/4 pink) to ivory (Munsell 10YR 8/4 very pale brown). Core reddish-orange (Munsell 7.5YR 6/6: reddish-yellow). Hard, with vacuoles, some (millime-tre-long) calcite inclusions and silver mica. Slight irregularity in the form at the height of the handle; wheel lines visible, particularly on the exterior. Paint on the exterior uneven, partly very dilute, ranging from red-orange to brown; in the interior reddish-orange, in the upper part progressively blackish-brown.Small ring-base; low body; short oblique lip; slightly slanted handles. The lower body, lip, handles, and two vertical bands next to the handles are painted. The inside is painted, ex-cept for a thin band under the lip. Between the handles are two pairs of six PSCs, with a point in the centre. They are adjacent on one side, marginally overlapping on the other. The vase is chipped and poorly restored in two points. Cf. Kearsley 1989, type 6.Bibl.: Longo 1997.

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Fig. 4 PSC skyphos from Longo collection

Fig. 5 PSC skyphos from tomb 7129.3

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4. PSC skyphos (Fig. 5)Pontecagnano T. 7129.3Museo dell’Agro Picentino inv. 125661. H. 5.7 cm; D. 11.5 cm. Euboean. Clay beige (Munsell 7.5YR 7/6 reddish-yellow). Core reddish-orange (Munsell 2.5YR 6/6 light red). Hard, with few fine-grained calcite inclusions (sub-millimetre long), sparse vacuoles. Wheel lines visible, particularly on the exterior. Paint reddish-brown, very worn, on the outside, brown on the inside.

Low ring-base; low body; short out-turned lip; slanted handles. The lower body, lip, handles, and two vertical bands next to the handles are painted. Between the handles are two pairs of five pendent semicircles, partially overlap-ping, with a point in the centre. The inside is painted, except for a thin band under the lip. Reconstructed apart from small pieces of body and lip. Cf. Kearsley 1989, close to type 6.Bibl.: Bailo Modesti – Gastaldi 1999, 27 fig. 1 pl. 1, 3.

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The archaeological background of the analysed Pendent Semicircle Skyphoi from Pontecagnano

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Transcript of The archaeological background of the analysed Pendent Semicircle Skyphoi from Pontecagnano