Looking for Ephesian workshops: an integrated petrographic, geochemical, and chrono-typological approach to Late Hellenistic Ephesos lamps

Abstract

In this pilot study, Late Hellenistic mold-made lamps from Ephesos are investigated by combining chrono-morphological and stylistic features with thin-section petrography and neutron activation analysis. Coeval wares of Ephesian production and clay samples collected around the site as well as published data from the Bonn database are considered local reference material. The results point to a network of local/regional workshops sharing facilities and/or a labor force dedicated to distinct tasks. The whole evidence is consistent with the very beginning of a nucleated workshop industry able to optimize the productivity of mold-made wares and fill the demand of an increased regional and supra-regional market. The typological and compositional variability of the latest phases could suggest a gradual transfer of potting activities towards areas providing better-suited clay sources.

Neutron activation analysis in Mediterranean Archaeology: current applications and future perspectives

“…This methodological principle concerns all scientific analyses of ceramics, also the ‘integrated’ one proposed by Tite ( 1999 ), a combination of chemical analysis and petrography, recently referred to as a standard procedure for archaeometric pottery studies (Ownby et al 2022 ). Indeed, such an interdisciplinary multiscalar approach is mandatory when addressing technological issues of local ceramic production (e.g., Fragnoli et al 2021 ). For provenancing, however, additional petrographic analyses are less useful, given the consideration of experimental uncertainties, dilution effects, and appropriate sample selection (Mommsen 2004 ).…”

“…For provenancing, however, additional petrographic analyses are less useful, given the consideration of experimental uncertainties, dilution effects, and appropriate sample selection (Mommsen 2004 ). Rather, NAA is often relied upon for the localisation of petrographic paste groups (Fragnoli et al 2021 ; Habicht-Mauche & Eckert 2021 , 763). Nevertheless, petrography can provide important information to regionally constrain unlocalized elemental patterns, as noted below.…”

“…The term workshop can be used to refer not only to a specific facility but also to an entire site. Conversely, a given site may also have multiple local patterns indicating several workshops or the use of different and even mixed pastes in one workshop (Kerschner 2002 ; Schwedt & Mommsen 2004 ; Fragnoli et al 2021 ). In cases of a more household-based ceramic production, the variability of local elemental patterns may increase significantly (De Lucia et al 2020 ).…”