Kantharoi Produced in the Geto-Dacian Settlement of Brad. Several observations on models and chronology.

Abstract

A new drinking vessel, called kantharos throughout the present article, was produced in the Geto-Dacian work shops starting with the second century B.C., following direct contacts with fine pottery from Asia Minor and the Pontus. A lot of ca. 1100 such items were discovered in the settlement from Brad (Bacău County) during the archaeological excavations performed between 1963 and 1984. In the site’s monograph V. Ursachi stated that Greek and then Roman shapes were imitated in the local work shops, but he made no explicit connection between the imitations and the originals presumed as models for the first. The comparative study of the Asia Minor and Pontus drinking vessels and those discovered in Brad with locally produced kantharoi reveals possible models and helps determine the start of local production.