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Ceramicus Redivivus: The Early Iron Age Potters' Field in the Area of the Classical Athenian Agora

by John Papadopoulos

This volume publishes selected material associated with potters' workshops and pottery production from some fourteen Early Iron Age contexts northwest of the Athenian Akropolis that range in date from the Protogeometric through Archaic periods. Located in the area that was to become the Agora of Classical Athens, these deposits establish that the place was used for industrial activity up until the time that it was formally transformed into the civic and commercial center of the city in the early 5th century B.C. The Early Iron Age potters' debris published in this volume sheds light on many aspects of pottery production, in prehistory as well as in the Classical and later periods. The material includes test-pieces, wasters and other production discards, and a variety of other potters' debris; there is also a reassessment of the evidence associated with the kiln underlying the later Tholos. Comparative material is assembled and discussed from other parts of Greece and South Italy, including that from the Potters' Quarters at Corinth and Metaponto, and there is discussion of related material from other cultures. The location of such potters' refuse in the later Agora but in an area that was known in a variety of ancient literary sources as the Kerameikos, suggests that here was the original Potters' Quarter of Athens. Such a conclusion raises a number of concerning the topography of early Athens, including the location of the old Agora, its relationship to the harbours at Phaleron and the Piraeus, and the Early Iron Age settlement of Athens on and immediately around the Akropolis. 370p, b/w figs (ASCSA, Hesperia Supplement 31, 2002)

Review Quote

"The formal purpose of this work is to present the evidence for early pottery manufacture in the area of the Classical Athenian Agora. Although the purpose of the volume is thus rather narrow, in fact the book looks broadly at the technology of pottery production; it also contains an important synthesis of recent discoveries and studies that have reshaped understanding of the city's development. . . Papadopoulos broadens his discussion to encompass the topography of early Athens in general. This is a very full and well-documented discussion of the controversy concerning the question of an earlier agora, the main residential areas, the use of the Acropolis in Athens' early history, and when the area of the Classical Agora actually began to be developed as such. The production staff at Hesperia have much to be proud of with this volume. The figures, which include both line drawings and photographs, are of exceptionally high quality; the layout of text and illustrations is pleasing and easy to follow; generous gutter margins make annotations easy for those so inclined. Ceramicus Redidivus is an important work of scholarship that deserves a wide audience among those interested in Athenian pottery production and topography."

Patrick M Thomas
Bryn Mawr Classical Review (2005)

Table of contents

List of illustrations; List of tables; Foreword; Introduction; The material and its context; The material and its interpretation; Test-pieces in later periods; Ceramicus redivivus; Estimation of ceramic firing temperatures by means of thermomechanical analysis; References; Concordances; Index.

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