Ceramicus Redivivus: The Early Iron Age Potters' Field in the Area of the Classical Athenian Agora

Papadopoulos, John K.; Schilling, Michael

doi:10.2307/1354054

Cited by 34 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…Most of the technical studies of ancient Athenian pottery were carried out in the first half of the 20th century and earlier, but the ability to conclusively determine how these vessels were produced was limited by the methods of analysis available at the time. Based primarily on visual observation, it has become axiomatic that decorated Athenian fine ware were produced in a single firing in which the kiln environment was subjected to a three stage cycle of oxidation–reduction–oxidation . In this model first put forth by Binns and Fraser in 1929, the initial firing stage is carried out in an oxidizing environment at approximately 700°C such that the clay slip is not completely vitrified.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Based primarily on visual observation, it has become axiomatic that decorated Athenian fine ware were produced in a single firing in which the kiln environment was subjected to a three stage cycle of oxidationreduction-oxidation. 2,[5][6][7] In this model first put forth by Binns and Fraser in 1929, 8 the initial firing stage is carried out in an oxidizing environment at approximately 700°C such that the clay slip is not completely vitrified. Without removing the vessel from the kiln, in the second stage the temperature is raised to~900°C and the atmosphere is changed to a reducing environment, presumably by the addition of oxygen-consuming organic material.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Material Evidence for Multiple Firings of Ancient Athenian Red‐Figure Pottery

et al. 2013

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The production of Athenian fine ware pottery, produced between the 6th and 4th centuries B.C., required alternating the high‐temperature kiln between oxidative and reductive environments during a single firing to create the iconic red and black decorative scenes. Here, we show that the production of this pottery was even more complex, with vessels subjected to two, or possibly more, firings in the kiln, with applications of slip between each firing. On a representative sherd, we compared three painted black decorative features—relief line, contour line, and background slip. Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) of the slips revealed that the relief line had a more melted microstructure than either the contour line or background slip. By characterizing the chemistry and micromorphology of the slips, we find that the relief line microstructure could only be produced through a separate firing, at a hotter temperature, than the other two decorative features.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Material Evidence for Multiple Firings of Ancient Athenian Red‐Figure Pottery

et al. 2013

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“…Note that there are some disagreements in the scientific literature about the characterization of specific iron oxides, though there is consensus that black iron oxides are only formed during the reduction phase. 24 See Papadopoulos (2003). Some of the painted plaques from Penteskouphia show kilns with delineated spy-holes (small upside-down "u" shapes) which could have been opened to draw out test pieces.…”

Section: Figurementioning

confidence: 99%

Bringing Back the (Ancient) Bodies: The Potters’ Sensory Experiences and the Firing of Red, Black and Purple Greek Vases

Balachandran

2019

Arts

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The study of Athenian black-figure and red-figure ceramics is haunted by nearly a thousand "hands" of the artisans thought to be responsible for their painted images. But what of the bodies attached to those hands? Who were they? Given the limited archaeological and epigraphic evidence for these ancient makers, this study attempts to recover their physical bodies through the ceramics production process-specifically the firing of vessels-as a communal activity potentially including a large cast of participants including craftsmen and craftswomen, metics, freed people and slaves. Using an experimental archaeology approach, I argue that we can begin to approach the sensory experiences of ancient potters and painters as they produced all the colored surfaces (and not only images) that endure on Greek vases. I propose a four-stage sensory firing in combination with the three-stage chemical firing process known for the production of Athenian ceramics, suggesting that each stage-and the colors produced at each stage-had their own "sensory signatures." Examining extant vases with this awareness of the bodily experience of their ancient makers has the potential to bring back these ancient bodies, moving us beyond the limiting narrative of a single hand wielding a paint brush.which often assumes a single maker with a recognizable "hand." But what of the surfaces of Greek vases as a whole, the shades of red, black and purple that make the images and text legible and the whole bodies of the people who made them?This paper argues that we have not fully considered the surfaces that the ancient Greeks potters and painters made as evidence of these makers' skill and embodied experience. Moving beyond the painted line as the marker of a single craftsman at work, I look to the firing of Greek ceramics as the key moment in the communal production process, one in which all of the work involved in throwing and painting an easily mutable clay object literally crystallized into its durable and indelible final form. The firing was responsible for the production of the range of colors-the reds, oranges, shades of black and brown and also the purples-for which Greek vase painting is renowned. 1 These colors are iron compounds formed under specific temperature and environmental conditions and are chemically reproducible in an experimental archaeology approach. As will be described in this paper, such an approach to the firing of Athenian ceramics offers otherwise unknowable insights into the ancient production process. The firing is an intensely sensory experience, with specific senses heightened at different stages as different colors are being made on the vessels inside the kiln. The colored surfaces of vases therefore have not only a particular chemical, physical and artistic signature but also a "sensory signature." It is by considering these sensory cues that we may approach the bodies of ancient makers at work.As the Hellenistic poem "Kiln" 2 demonstrates, the firing was the stage most fraught with physical danger and the potential f...

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“…Entre los avances más destacados de la trayectoria reciente de estas investigaciones sobre los ergasteria atenienses podemos situar la caracterización de talleres activos en época geométrica-orientalizante en el área posteriormente ocupada por el ágora de época clásica (Papadopoulos 2003), entre cuyos testimonios han podido localizarse restos de hornos, moldes, desechos deformados, piezas de prueba y asimismo algunos elementos fragmentarios clasificados como soportes de horno (kiln firing supports). A pesar del elevado número de contextos, este tipo de evidencias se restringen a unas pocas piezas fragmentarias que ilustran quizás los precedentes del variado elenco de soportes, cuñas y distanciadores de épocas posteriores: por un lado, encontramos un posible clay ring (nº 58 del catálogo; Papadopoulos 2003: 75-76, fig.…”

Section: Los Prismas Fenicios En Contexto Mediterráneounclassified

“…de estos elementos entre el instrumental habitual de muchos alfareros de la época, sin que pueda determinarse por el momento la posibilidad de transferencias tecnológicas helenizantes o incluso la posible acción de artesanos o talleres itinerantes propiamente griegos (Nijboer 1998). El paisaje mostrado por las evidencias contemporáneas reunidas por Papadopoulos (2003) para el caso ateniense apunta también a un uso tímido de posibles anillos o cilindros pero, sobre todo, refuerza la introducción temprana de soportes o cuñas macizas en estos primeros momentos, si bien la documentación disponible obliga a ser muy cautos en cuanto a la definición morfo-tipológica de estos utensilios auxiliares. El caso de los Tile Works de Corinto parece ilustrar con mayor contundencia documental la relación de estos prismas, pirámides o paralelepípedos macizos (Merker 2006: 21-22), que en el siglo VI a.n.e.…”

Section: Valoraciones De Conjunto: Evolución Y Vacíos De Investigaciónunclassified

La tecnología alfarera como herramienta de análisis histórico: reflexiones sobre los denominados “prismas cerámicos”

López¹,

Romero²,

Río³

2013

SPAL

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Resumen: Estudiamos en este trabajo aspectos tipológicos, funcionales y cronológicos de una serie de elementos cerámicos de morfología prismática o semilunar tradicionalmente asociados a tareas alfareras, empleados fundamentalmente como soportes o separadores. Aunque conocidos en la bibliografía hispana con anterioridad, se trata de una categoría de enorme interés para el análisis histórico pero que hasta el momento, había recibido una atención reducida, por lo que ahora planteamos una sistematización de su evolución morfológica, una aproximación diacrónica a su dispersión peninsular y también aportamos algunas consideraciones sobre la relación de estos prismas con otros procesos de transferencia tecnológica entre los colonos fenicios y las sociedades indí-genas de Iberia. Como complemento a este análisis de la evidencia peninsular, se realiza una contextualización a escala mediterránea del uso de elementos auxiliares en los talleres alfareros antiguos, intentando rastrear así los orígenes de los prismas peninsulares. Palabras clave: Útiles de alfarero, producción cerámica, Iberia, Fenicios, tecnología, prismas Abstract: Typological, functional and chronological issues of ceramic kiln furniture with prismatic and «crescent shaped» morphologies (traditionally associated with pottery production mainly as supports or spacers) are studied in this paper. Although known in regional foregoing historiography, this ceramic tools so far have received limited attention but are considered really interesting for historical analysis, so a first systematization of their morphological evolution and a diachronic approach to their diffusion in Iberian peninsula is proposed. Also we make some considerations about the relationship of these stilts with other technology-transfer processes between phoenician-punic settlers and indigenous societies in ancient Iberia. To complement this analysis of the archaeological evidence of Iberian sites we finally expose a contextualization of the finds in the Mediterranean focusing attention on the use of auxiliary equipment in ancient pottery workshops, trying to trace the origins of this kind of kiln furniture found in Iberian peninsula.

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Ceramicus Redivivus: The Early Iron Age Potters' Field in the Area of the Classical Athenian Agora

Cited by 34 publications

References 22 publications

Material Evidence for Multiple Firings of Ancient Athenian Red‐Figure Pottery

Material Evidence for Multiple Firings of Ancient Athenian Red‐Figure Pottery

Bringing Back the (Ancient) Bodies: The Potters’ Sensory Experiences and the Firing of Red, Black and Purple Greek Vases

La tecnología alfarera como herramienta de análisis histórico: reflexiones sobre los denominados “prismas cerámicos”

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