Panhellenes at Methone, Pieria (c. 700 BC):

The early history of the Greek alphabet: new evidence from Eretria and Methone

“…Dating to the late eighth and seventh centuries BC, the Methone marks (Bessios et al . 2012; Tzifopoulos 2013)—pre- and post-firing—are roughly contemporary with the corpus from Pithekoussai, also pre- and post-firing inscriptions (Bartoněk & Buchner 1995). The Methone marks are all the more extraordinary because they are found on pottery from all over the Greek world and beyond, in the heart of the Aegean (Clay et al .…”

“…720 BC (Figure 4). The cup and inscription are fragmentary, but the main thrust of the inscription, as reconstructed and translated by Tzifopoulos (2013: 30–31), is clear: “I am [the cup?] of Hakesandros”, the text concluding with a threat: -μ]άτων στερήσ [ετ]αι to the would-be drinker who may lose his eyes ([ὀμμ]άτων), his money ([χρημ]άτων), his cakes ([πεμμ]άτων), even his pain ([πημ]άτων) (cf.…”

“…In this, the language of Hakesandros's cup is akin to the cup of Nestor from Pithekoussai, which carries a similar curse (Figure 5; Faraone 1996). Tzifopoulos (2013: 30) compares these cups and other vessels against the backdrop of an epigraphic habit within a sympotic context: wine, jokes, literary games and writing.

Figure 4. Fragmentary Euboian skyphos found at Methone, with a ‘curse’ inscription incised after firing; Meth 2248.

Figure 5. Late Geometric kotyle of east Greek (north Ionian) fabric, found at Pithekoussai on Ischia, with an inscription in the Chalcidian (Euboian) alphabet.

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“…The inscription is much simpler: “I am [the cup] of Philion” or “I belong to Philion”. By engraving his name on a pot used in the context of communal drinking, Philion exhibited his literacy while also ‘insuring’ his property (Tzifopoulos 2013: 36–37).

Figure 6. Drinking cup from Lesbos found at Methone, with an inscription incised after firing; Meth 2249, late eighth to early seventh century BC.

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Mediterranean Early Iron Age chronology: assessing radiocarbon dates from a stratified Geometric period deposit at Zagora (Andros), Greece

“…Changing the start date of the Late Geometric period to over a century earlier also backdates significant cultural episodes in Greek history, such as the introduction of the Greek alphabet. The earliest definitive evidence for the use of the Greek alphabetic script appears during Late Geometric I and examples of inscriptions on ceramic vessels become numerous throughout Greece and the Mediterranean towards the end of the Late Geometric period (Bartoneǩ & Buchner 1995;Kenzelmann Pfyffer et al 2005;Tzifopoulos 2012). There are rare examples of words incised after firing on Middle Geometric period potsherds, but they generally originate from contexts that cannot be securely dated (Kourou 2017).…”