Εγχάρακτη κεραμεική της εποχής του χαλκού από το αρχοντικό Πέλλας

Abstract

The sgraffito ware published in this study was found in 1994 in the prehistoric settlement at Arhondiko, Pella prefecture. The collection com­ prises 73 sherds and two complete vessels from the settlement’s first habi­ tation phase, which is dated, on the basis of radiocarbon dates, to 2118-1937 BC —i.e. the start of the second millennium or the middle of the Bronze Age.

All the material is handmade and the fabric is usually pure, though non­ plastic elements (mica) are also found. We start by examining the technique by which the decorative subjects were incised on the vessels. Seven incising methods are distinguishable, according to the tool used in each case. We believe the tools must have been made of bone, stone, or flat pieces of metal. The vessels include small phiales with elevated wishbone handles, amphoras, cantharus-like vessels, and cups. The motifs are geometrical shapes (triangles, lozenges, circles, surrounds).

The material from Arhondiko shares similarities with material found in Central Macedonia (Axiohori (phase B), Kalindria II, the Lebet Tumulus at Polihni, Toumba in Thessaloniki, Gona, Perivolaki 2) and dated by Heurtley to the middle of the Bronze Age. With this in mind, together with other excavational data presented in this study, we have dated the Arhondiko material to the mid-Bronze Age, i.e. the early second millennium.