Koukounaries I: Mycenaean Pottery from Selected Contexts

Description

The excavations on the Koukounaries Hill, Paros, Greece, conducted under the direction of Demetrius U. Schilardi for the Archaeological Society at Athens from 1976 to 1992, revealed a 12th century B.C.E. Mycenaean building, an Iron Age settlement, and an Archaic sanctuary. Koukounaries I: Mycenaean Pottery from Selected Contexts presents the pottery from five areas inside the building: three large storerooms, the main east-west corridor, and a small shrine, as well as the pottery from a limited reoccupation after the building’s fire destruction and abandonment. The ceramics from the main occupation phase comprise the largest and best-preserved domestic assemblage from the 12th century B.C.E. in the Cyclades and offer important evidence for the continuation of Mycenaean culture after the destruction of the mainland palatial citadels. The small deposits of pottery from the reoccupation phase, provide important stratigraphic evidence for defining the Late Helladic IIIC ceramic sequence. The volume also considers the function of the individual spaces within the building, based largely on the patterns of shape distributions and quantities, with the statistics for each context presented in a series of appendices. Other issues area also explored, including the evidence for itinerant potters, the trade in antique vases, and the place of origin of the settlers who founded and inhabited the Mycenaean building on the summit of the Koukounaries Hill. Cover Title Page Copyright page Dedication Contents Page List of Figures in Text List of Tables in Text Color photographs Preface Acknowledgements Abbreviations Chapter 1 Introduction 1.1 Cultural context and overview of the site Figure 1. Plan of Mycenaean building with five contexts highlighted. 1.2 Archaeological contexts and significance of the pottery Figure 2. Staircase built into north face. Figure 3. Shrine in D5, facing north. Figure 5. E-W Corridor, D2, D2*, facing west. Figure 4. Intersection of E-W and N-S corridor in trench D2N, facing north. Figure 6. Staircase in C2, facing south (Late Geometric wall, above). Figure 7. Storerooms 1 (C1-D1), 2 (E1), 3 (F1), facing west. Figure 8. Detail of 267, with mica inclusions (silver flecks appear white in photograph). 1.3 Provenience and wares 1.4 Presentation and organization of pottery in Chapters 2 and 3 1.5 Illustrations of pottery Chapter 2 Main occupation phase contexts and pottery Context 1. Storeroom 1 Context 2. Storeroom 2 Table 1. Cataloged pottery from the deep sounding in Storeroom 2 (E 1) (repeated catalog numbers indicate cross joins). Context 3. Storeroom 3 Context 4. East-West Corridor Table 2. Distribution/comparison of cataloged vases from the Upper and Lower Deposit of the East-West Corridor by shape, context, and stratum. Table 2. Continued. Context 5. Shrine Chapter 3 Reoccupation phase contexts and pottery Chapter 4 Shapes, decorations, and internal distributions 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Surface Treatments 4.3 Main occupation phase pottery Table 3. Motifs on Group A Deep Bowls (in order of FM number). Table 4. Shoulder and handle zone motifs on large collar-necked jars, in order of frequency. 4.4 Reoccupation phase pottery 4.5 Internal distribution patterns Chapter 5 Relative chronology of the pottery 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Previous discussions 5.3 Imports, antiques, archaizing vases, and itinerant potters 5.4 Dating the ceramic assemblages and associated contexts Table 5. Episodes at Koukounaries synchronized with periods of LH IIIC at Mycenae and phases at Lefkandi and Phylakopi. Chapter 6 Identifying the people from their pottery Appendix 1 Chemical analysis of Mycenaean pottery from Koukounaries, Paros Introduction Figure 9. (a) Cr-Ca oxide and (b) Cr-Mg oxide plots of the pottery samples from Koukounaries (Mycenaean +, 30-32 • and Geometric ∆) and the reference pottery from Mycenae (M). The 1 standard deviation ranges of the Mycenae group are indicated. Appendix 1a. Samples analyzed from Koukounaries, Paros. Appendix 1b. The compositions of the pottery at Koukounaries, expressed as wt% element oxides. Appendix 1c. Reference data. Appendix 2 Statistics of the pottery from the five main occupation phase contexts Introduction Appendix 2a. Context 1 (Storeroom 1): statistics. Appendix 2a. Continued. Appendix 2a. Continued. Appendix 2b. Context 2 (Storeroom 2): statistics. Appendix 2b. Continued. Appendix 2c. Context 3 (Storeroom 3): statistics. Appendix 2d. Context 4 (East-West Corridor, Upper Deposit): statistics. Appendix 2d. Continued. Appendix 2e. Context 4 (East-West Corridor, Lower Deposit): statistics. Appendix 2e. Continued. Appendix 2f. Context 5 (Shrine): statistics. Appendix 2f. Continued. Appendix 2g. Comparison of statistics from all main phase contexts by ware and shape. Appendix 2g. Continued. Appendix 2g. Continued. Appendix 2g. Continued. Appendix 3 Surface treatment statistics for FB kylikes, low-stemmed cups, and deep bowls Introduction Appendix 3a. Storeroom 1: Surface treatment statistics for FB kylikes, low-stemmed cups, and deep bowls. Appendix 3a. Continued. Appendix 3b. Storeroom 2: Surface treatment statistics for FB kylikes, low-stemmed cups, and deep bowls. Appendix 3b. Continued. Appendix 3c. Storeroom 3: Surface treatment statistics for FB kylikes, low-stemmed cups, and deep bowl. Appendix 3d. East-West Corridor, Upper Deposit: Surface treatment statistics for FB kylikes, low-stemmed cups, and deep bowls. Appendix 3d. Continued. Appendix 3e. East-West Corridor, Lower Deposit: Surface treatment statistics for FB kylikes, low-stemmed cups, and deep bowls. Appendix 3f. Shrine: Surface treatment statistics for FB kylikes, low-stemmed cups, and deep bowls. Appendix 3g. Comparison of surface treatments for FB kylikes, low-stemmed cups, and deep bowls from all contexts. Appendix 3g. Continued. Appendix 3g. Continued. Concordance of Catalog numbers and Paros Archaeological Museum registration numbers Bibliography Profile drawings Black and white photographs Index