The Technological Development of Decorated Corinthian Pottery, 8 th to 6 th Centuries BCE
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The Technological Development of Decorated Corinthian Pottery, 8th to 6th Centuries BCE Jay A. Stephens1, Pamela B. Vandiver2, Stephen A. Hernandez2 and David Killick1 1
Department of Anthropology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721 USA Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 86721 USA 2
ABSTRACT Polychrome slipped and decorated pottery from Corinth, Greece, developed over two centuries from monochrome, dark brown slips and washes on a calcareous yellow clay body to a wide range of decorative techniques. Once significant experimentation with color variability began, five colors, each with various levels of gloss, were produced. Some slip colors involve multiple-step processing to control glass content and degree of sintering; the control of particle size to produce variable roughness and a matte or semi-matt or glossy appearance. Considerable evidence supports nearly continuous development and engineering of the ceramic slips, although no data support the improvement in composition or processing of the ceramic bodies. For instance, significant macro-porosity consistently is present in the bodies. We present the results of study of 27 sherds with 59 examples of Corinthian polychrome paint layers, measuring 5 to 35 microns in thickness, that were collected by Marie Farnsworth in the late 1950s and 1960s from Greek archaeological sites. Black, red, white, wine red (or purple) and overlying, matte banded slips and paints were studied by optical microscopy, petrographic and scanning-electron microscopy with semi-quantative energy dispersive x-ray analysis, as well as wavelengthdispersive electron microprobe (EPMA) elemental mapping and analysis.
INTRODUCTION From the 8th to 6th centuries BCE, Corinth was at the center of a social and technological revolution. With the revival of major trade networks during the Middle and Late Geometric (800 – 720), Corinthian people began importing materials from the Eastern Mediterranean that helped shape the culminating Protocorinthian and Corinthian styles, motifs, and technological features [1, 2]. As a port city on the isthmus between the Peloponnese and mainland Greece, Corinth was home to a vibrant network of traders and importers, and became the major area for ceramic production at the close of the Geometric period. This, in turn, allowed Corinthian pottery workshops to draw from the styles of the eastern areas, especially from the imported black and red on buff ceramics. Much of this influence came from eastern metalworking and is mostly seen in the styles and motifs that became popular during the Protocorinthian period (720-625 BCE) [3]. This entanglement of Corinthian and Eastern Mediterranean people and goods promoted the evolution of Black Figure style, beginning in the 7th century BCE in middle and late Protocorinthian ceramic products. The use and further development of an imported polychrome style became one of the defining artistic features and illustrates technological mastery of Corinthian workshops. Predominantly feat
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