Rhodes and Kos: East Dorian Pottery Production of the Archaic Period

Abstract

To date, the pottery production of Rhodes, Kos and other ‘East Dorian’ islands and coastal areas remains little understood. This article presents and discusses new neutron activation analysis (NAA) of eighth–sixth-century bc vessels found on Rhodes and in related areas, placing them in the wider context of past and present archaeometric research. The results highlight the role of Kos as a leading regional centre of painted pottery production and export in the seventh–sixth centuries bc, notably of ‘East Dorian’ plates. This includes the famous ‘Euphorbos plate’, which can now be attributed to Koan production. Contemporary Archaic pottery workshops on Rhodes, in contrast, had a less ambitious, if diverse, output, ranging from vessels in a Sub-Geometric tradition, imitation Corinthian wares and modest local versions of Koan- and Ionian-style plates to finely potted and richly decorated ‘Vroulian’ cups and black-figured situlae. It was imported mainland and East Greek wares, however, that dominated the island's consumption of Archaic painted wares. This represents a departure from the preceding Geometric period, which was characterised by a local pottery production of considerable scale and quality, although receptivity to external influences remained a consistent feature throughout later periods. As patterns of demand were changing, the island's craft production appears to have concentrated on a different range of goods in which high-quality figured finewares played a lesser role.

Excavation and documentation of the Rhodian countryside and Dodecanese islands in the first millennium BC

“…An ongoing programme of archaeometric analysis of the pottery production of Rhodes, Kos and other 'East Dorian' settlements has led to important reassessments of their place within East Greek pottery production (Villing and Mommsen 2017). The results of neutron activation analysis (NAA) of eighth-to sixth-century BC vessels in the British Museum, carried out by Hans Mommsen at the University of Bonn, demonstrate that there was a healthy production of Late Geometric pottery on Rhodes, including pedestalled kraters, two-handled flasks and kantharoi.…”

Pottery Production, Exchange and Consumption in Late Bronze Age Magnesia (Thessaly): Results of Neutron Activation Analysis of Pottery From Dimini, Volos (Nea Ionia, Kastro/Palaia), Pefkakia and Velestino

“… 11 Villing and Mommsen 2017, 128–9. This group contains samples from at least two production centres, one on Rhodes, the other in Boeotia/East Lokris.…”

Book Review Section: Journal of Greek Archaeology Volume 5 2020

“…Cook's excavation in Old Smyrna, Kerschner presents an overview of East Greek pottery production. The latter subject has been revolutionized through the use of neutron activation analysis (see Villing and Mommsen 2017); pots which we have traditionally viewed as 'Rhodian' (from 'Nestor's cup' in Pithekoussai [here figure 32.1 p.375] to the Euphorbos plate now in the British Museum) may actually have been manufactured in Kos.…”