NEW PERSPECTIVE ON POTTERY STUDIES: UNDERSTANDING THE CULTURAL INTERACTIONS BETWEEN GREEKS & OTHERS
Channel: European Association of Archaeologists
Date: 2021-02-22

The cultural influence that the first Greek colonists had on local (Oenotrian) communities of Sibaritide (Southern Italy) during the Early Iron Age has recently been subject of intense discussion. Scholars interpreted these encounters either as conflictual interactions, or on the contrary, as a more complex and dynamic process. Both theories are based on the transformation of the native population and little is known on the effects these encounters had on the Greeks in the motherland. Research in the sanctuaries of Euboea (Greece) and its colonies offer a field of reflection about shared ritual practices and the relationship between Greeks and native people in a wider perspective. Like in most of cult places, ceramic artefacts are the most important source of information to understand the ritual acts performed whilst offering access to social practices within communities. For instance, locally produced vessels recently discovered in the site of Francavilla Marittima in the Sibaritide exhibit a hybrid character between Euboean wheel-thrown pottery and local Oenotrian shapes. The production of this so-called “Oenotrian-Euboean” pottery could suggest peaceful contacts with Greeks prior to the foundation of the Greek colony of Sybaris. In this work, we compare the production and cultic use of hybrid Oenotrian-Euboean pottery from the Sibaritide with the Euboean Geometric pottery from the Sanctuary of Apollo in Eretria (Euboea, Greece). We aim to provide new insights into the acculturation process between Greeks and indigenous people in South Italy. Using digital microscopy, macro traces and X-ray analysis, together with well-established archaeological methodologies, we analyse the types of vessels used in the different contemporary sanctuaries at Eretria and Francavilla Marittima, and we register parallels/mutual exchanges or differences in the ceramic assemblages of cultic use. Furthermore, we characterize technological change, exploring the ways that technology and craft are indices of the social lives of people.


Author(s): Fasanella Masci, Marianna (University of Lausanne)