A New Hellenistic Amphora Production Centre in West Crete (Loutra, Rethymnon): Study and Petrographic Analysis of the Pottery Assemblage

Abstract

The presence of Hellenistic amphora production centres in central and east Crete was demonstrated in the 1990s through the survey carried out by J.-Y. Empereur, Ch. Kritzas and A. Marangou. In addition, more recent studies have placed emphasis on wine as a major component of the rural economy of Crete during that period. However, archaeological evidence from excavated sites and well-stratified contexts remains scarce. The rescue excavation carried out in a private plot at Loutra (Rethymnon, west Crete) by the 25th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities brought to light a Hellenistic farmstead with an olive beam press and a pottery kiln mainly producing amphorae. In this study we focus on the ceramic assemblage from the site. The study of the pottery, coupled with thin-section petrography, adds new evidence for the production of amphorae in west Crete during the Late Hellenistic period, and allows the investigation of issues such as the use of raw materials, the clay pastes and the technology of pottery manufacture. Moreover, the proximity of the kiln to the olive beam press sheds light on the use of amphorae for the trade in olive oil on a local and regional scale.

The Problem With Claudius: Some Revisions in Ceramic Chronology in Central Crete During the Julio-Claudian Period

“…We might surmise either that this is a survivor in reuse or, more likely, that the change to strongly bowed handles on Cretan copies of the Rhodian type took place around the time of Nero. In this regard note especially the Loutra example (Tsatsaki and Nodarou 2014, 295, fig. 20), a straight-handled jar found in what I regard as a Neronian context.…”

“…39 b no. 52; Tsatsaki and Nodarou 2014, 292–3, figs 9–13). On the basis of the Warren stamnos we might date this latter feature earlier than our examples but still within the reign of Nero. (d) Amphorae: two handles of Marangou's pseudo-Rhodian demi-amphora type AC4.…”

“…When this deposit was published Hayes noted that this was an unknown version of the shape without published parallel. He assigned it to the earlier phase of the well-fill, and it subsequently entered the literature as an Augustan forerunner of Marangou's type AC3 (Marangou-Lerat 1995, 83; Tsatsaki and Nodarou 2014, 292), whose assumed chronological position was quite isolated from the main sequence for this class. The true AC3 sequence appears to begin with an example from Tomb 4 in the cemetery at Potamos (Marangou-Lerat 1995, 83, fig.…”

“…comm.) and three published amphora necks from Loutra (Tsatsaki and Nodarou 2014, 292–3, figs 9–13). This seems to be a short-lived feature already absent on the Pompeian examples and thus securely dated to the reigns of Nero and perhaps Vespasian.…”

Ceramic analysis in Greece

“…Petrographic analysis of pottery found in a Hellenistic kiln at Loutra, Rethymnon (ID3662), in western Crete, has shed new light on the production of amphorae (storage and transport vessels) and olive oil within regional exchange networks (Tsatsaki and Nodarou 2014). The excavation of the Loutra workshop provides a rare opportunity to supplement regional survey data with detailed information on raw material sourcing and manufacturing technology in order to investigate the relationship between pottery workshops, the range of vessels produced and their contexts (in this case, a farmstead).…”