The Main ‘Middle Byzantine Production’ and Pottery Manufacture in Thebes and Chalcis

Abstract

The article relates the results of archaeometric and archaeological investigations of the relationships between some well-known types of Byzantine table wares and pottery manufacture in Thebes and Chalcis, focusing on the period from the twelfth to the fourteenth centuries ad.We currently accept that several twelfth–thirteenth century types, such as ‘Green and Brown Painted Ware’, ‘Fine Sgraffito Ware’ and ‘Aegean Ware’, form part of a single, main, long-lasting production of Byzantine ceramics, called here main ‘Middle Byzantine Production’ (MBP), which was distributed and diffused in the whole Mediterranean area, and especially in its eastern part. The discovery of kiln furniture and pottery wasters in rescue excavations in Thebes and Chalcis gave the opportunity to define chemical reference groups for the two cities, and to test the hypothesis of a potential origin of the MBP in Central Greece. The results point to Chalcis, then the harbour of wealthy Thebes with a strategic location on maritime trade routes, as the place of manufacture of the MBP. Chalcis, which is now seen as a main pottery production site, is envisaged within its historic context. The persistence of the MBP after the Frankish conquest, without noticeable morphological changes, questions the impact of this conquest on both trade networks and dining habits.The political fragmentation of the thirteenth century gradually changed the conditions that facilitated the predominance of the MBP, and led to the establishment of a number of regional workshops whose ceramics were mainly destined to cover local markets. While continuing earlier techniques, they introduced new types, prominent among which was the ‘Sgraffito with Concentric Circles’ (previously related to ‘Zeuxippus Ware’). Thebes was one of these new workshops probably appearing from the mid-thirteenth century and continuing at least to the early fourteenth century. Chalcis eventually followed the same course, and its production may have carried on well into the Ottoman period.

Exploring Diversity in Household Pottery Traditions in Crusader Greece: a Case Study from the City of Thebes, Boeotia

“…These zones were investigated given the presumable existence of a medieval pottery workshop south‐east of the Acropolis, along the River Strophia (Waksman et al . , fig. , 382, 384).…”

Technology issues of Byzantine glazed pottery from Corinth, Greece

“…Finally, Group A is the only group that has been reliably identified as an import from Chalkis, based on both its major and trace composition. Chalkis, in nearby Euboea, was the port of Thebes and a major production site for luxury glazed ceramics during the 12th c. CE [5]. Further compositional and statistical analyses are under way and will hopefully provide more detailed results regarding the provenance of each fabric identified in Corinth.…”

“…This was one of a number of such innovations introduced in the beginning of the 13th c. CE, which included the use of tripods during the heating of the glaze, allowing for better control of the firing conditions [5,37,38]. Given the high volatility of lead, the improved control of firing conditions may account for both the increased PbO:SiO 2 ratio and the increase in homogeneity.…”

“…It is generally accepted that several 12th-13th c. classes, such as 'Green and Brown Painted', 'Slip Painted', 'Fine Sgraffito', 'Incised Sgraffito' and 'Champlevé', were produced by a few specialized workshops and then distributed in the entire Mediterranean region. Indeed, large quantities of table wares belonging to these classes have been found in numerous sites in Italy, France, Serbia, Greece, Cyprus, Turkey, Israel, Lebanon etc., but also in various shipwrecks in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea [5,6].…”

“…Recent studies on Byzantine glazed pottery have mainly focused on the identification of the major workshops and the shift of the production centers in the 13th c. CE [5,7,8,9,10]. However, little attention has been given so far to the manufacturing processes applied and their importance for the overall understanding of the ceramic production of the period.…”