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Strategies for success: Early Helladic pottery production in Corinth, Greece

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Abstract

This paper presents the analysis of Early Helladic II (EH II) pottery from Keramidaki (Ancient Corinth) and the nearby settlement of Korakou. Based on macroscopic, petrographic and SEM–EDS data, the work builds on pioneering chemical research by Michael Attas who demonstrated the limited circulation of finewares in the region and posited the existence of a workshop in the area of the Corinthian Plain. The current research adds substantial detail to Attas’ insights by characterising the varied range of pottery fabrics encompassed within his chemical groups, differences in raw material choice and manipulation, and the presence of both oxidation and reduction firing regimes to achieve different surface finishes. It is suggested that the area hosted a number of potters during this period, some making a broad range of pottery types to satisfy daily consumption needs of the local community, whilst others produced a more restricted repertoire.

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Data Availability

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in the online copy of Burke 2017 https://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/16671/ Thin sections are stored at N.C.S.R. Demokritos whereby the authors can be contacted for access.

Notes

  1. Please note that chronological time periods will be referred to as Early Bronze Age/EBA, whilst cultural features associated with this period in the region will be referred to as Early Helladic/EH.

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Acknowledgements

The analyses presented here were conducted as part of Burke’s doctoral research on EBA pottery from Corinthia at the Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield, with comparative material from a wider EH study of the Argolo-Corinthia carried out by Burke and Day. Permission to study and sample pottery from Keramidaki and Korakou was granted by the 37th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities at Corinth, the Conservation Directorate of the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sport, the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, James Wiseman, John Lavezzi, Guy Sanders and Ioulia Tzonou-Herbst. We are grateful to them all for facilitating the research. We would like to thank Michael Attas for his interest, encouragement, and for sharing his data and thoughtful insights on other articles stemming from CB’s doctoral research. Ruth Siddall offered valuable advice on the identification of the isotropic and highly altered rocks from FG8, and thanks are due to Heather Graybehl for cooperation in clay sampling and analyses. We are indebted to Eva Alram-Stern, Katie Demakopoulou, Konstantina Kaza-Papageorgiou, Aggeliki Kossyva, Joseph Maran, Alkestis Papadimitriou, Daniel Pullen, Tom Tartaron and Anthi Theodorou who all gave access to comparative material. PD is grateful to Che-Hsien (Evin) Tsai and Kerasia Douni for collaboration on the analysis of EBA pottery from Koropi and Kontopigado-Alimos. Thanks go to David Blattner for the production of Fig. 1, to Vassilis Kilikoglou and Anno Hein for the training of CB in SEM-EDS analysis, and to Ian Whitbread for his insightful early comments on this research and offering his expertise on Corinth. We also thank the reviewers for their thoughtful comments and suggestions.

Funding

We are grateful for a generous grant from the Institute for Aegean Prehistory to PD for the analysis of EBA pottery in the Argolid and Corinthia.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Archaeology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK

    Clare Burke & Peter M. Day

  2. Austrian Archaeological Institute, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria

    Clare Burke

  3. Institute for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology, National Center for Scientific Research, Athens, Greece

    Peter M. Day

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  1. Clare Burke
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Contributions

C. Burke: permit preparation, sampling, analysis, writing and editing. P.M. Day: access to material for study, funding acquisition, analysis, writing and editing.

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Correspondence to Clare Burke.

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Burke, C., Day, P.M. Strategies for success: Early Helladic pottery production in Corinth, Greece. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 15, 77 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-023-01776-7

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