Production and distribution of White Ware towards the end of Late Bronze Age in Greece

Regional and interregional networks of ancient Eleon during the early 12th century BCE as seen from the petrographic and neutron activation analyses of pottery

“…Three samples macroscopically classified WW turned out to be very consistent in terms of petrography, and two of them fell into PerA chemical pattern. This good correspondence is further confirmed by similar analysis of WW from Lefkandi (Lis et al, 2023), and thus this pottery group proves to be distinct enough to be safely assessed on the macroscopic level. At Eleon its frequency is low, and the sampled selection including larger closed shapes and a krater reflects the overall assemblage well.…”

“…Four samples with patterns TheB (theb) or THBC (subgroup of TheB with higher Cr) as well as two samples having pattern TheA (Mommsen, Andrikou, et al, 2002; Schwedt et al, 2006; see Table 2) can be assigned to unlocalised workshops close to Thebes. Two samples show pattern PerA and are most likely imported from a workshop in East Attica, close to the site of Perati (Lis et al, 2023). Finally, sample ELE018 has a pattern X101 probably representing a workshop(s) in Macedonia (Gimatzidis & Mommsen, in press).…”

“…The presence of an import from Macedonia is particularly noteworthy as it provides a rare example of a northern import to central Greece during the Late Bronze Age, foreshadowing the later production and exportation of Group I north Aegean amphoras beginning in the 11th century BCE (Catling, 1998; Gimatzidis, 2020). The two closed vessels from East Attica, as well as a krater (ELE028) previously mentioned, mark the rise of an ascendant production centre in East Attica (Lis et al, 2023) that significantly increased its output in the following decades forming 40%–50% of the total assemblage at Lefkandi during the early 11th century BCE (Evely, 2006, p. 175).…”

Documenting a maritime mercantile community through surface survey: Porto Rafti Bay in the post-collapse Aegean

“…White Ware circulated widely throughout the Aegean in the twelfth and early eleventh centuries and has been identified at numerous sites ranging from south-central Greece to the western Anatolian coast (Figure 6). Analytical study indicates that all White Ware probably came from a single production centre (Lis et al 2023). The evidence from Praso strongly suggests that this production centre was in east Attica.…”