THE NAA RESULTS

Among the items sampled, some sherds were found to belong to the same vase (Theb 024, 030, Theb 037, 038, Theb 054, 059) and in one case were associated (Theb 065+100). Consequently, the material comprises 39 vases either entirely preserved or at least with a complete profile from base to rim, as well as 103 vase fragments. In addition, four fragments of roof tiles, one uninscribed fragment of a Linear B tablet and one clay lump for making a Linear B tablet were sampled. From the total of 148 examples, seven date to the Middle Helladic (MH) period, 140 to the Late Helladic (LH) and one to later times (Hellenistic/Roman). The pottery to be sampled was selected to provide as complete a cross-section as possible through pottery of the Mycenaean period from Thebes. To reach this goal, pottery of various pottery classes and of different phases of the Mycenaean period were included, as was some MH material. Wherever possible, pottery from new and well-stratified excavations was prioritised for sampling in order to include exact contextual information for the vessels. While it was possible to follow this principle of guideline for the palatial (LH IIIA and IIIB) and post-palatial periods (LH IIIC), for the early Mycenaean period pottery from earlier excavations, especially of the chamber tomb cemeteries, had to be included. In addition, the famous group of Linear B inscribed stirrup jars from the House of Kadmos was sampled to obtain further information on the provenance of these vessels, which were certainly imported.

The NAA results have already been published and analysed.Footnote ¹ However, ongoing work with new samples and re-evaluation of earlier ones, in both cases deriving from several sites in the Mycenaean world, have resulted in the reappraisal of the NAA results concerning the Thebes material. In some cases, samples were reanalysed for confirmation of the results. The raw concentration data of the samples are available on the webpages of the Archaeometry Group of the Helmholtz-Institut für Strahlen- und Kernphysik, University of Bonn: mommsen.hiskp.uni-bonn.de.

Following the univariate statistical grouping of the material sampled, 14.2 per cent of it consists of chemical loners, which is lower than the usual approximate of 20 per cent of the examples (Table 1).

Table 1. Thebes pottery analysed. Findspot / NAA groups.

The bulk of the samples (50) falls within group TheA, which shows similarities with group TanA detected in many Tanagra figurines and which is represented by one example (Theb 102) in the Theban material. Group TanA is assigned to the site Mandri Danou, Tanagra, by a reference clay sample with this composition (Tsota, Zacharias and Mommsen Reference Tsota, Zacharias, Mommsen, Papanikola-Bakirtzi and Kousoulakou2010). For group TheA there is no reference piece in our data bank, but according to the distribution of its members this group is likely to originate from Boeotia and probably from the Thebes area.Footnote ² The small Group TheF, comprising three examples, the Linear B tablet fragment and the lump of clay as well as a Handmade Burnished jar, is considered a Theban product. Boeotian provenance is also likely for group TheB although the reference piece Theb 124, a roof tile,Footnote ³ is not a secure one. Group ThBC is close to it with higher Cr (total 22 examples). Three pairs are also considered by us to be Boeotian, the first one (pair 008) comprising two Handmade Burnished Pottery (HBP) examples (Theb 039, 040), the second (pair 305) two kylix fragments, and the third (pair 321) a Theban roof tile fragment (Theb 125) and an example from Tanagra (Tana 24). Two examples are associated with group KnoL of central Crete, which often presents similarities to group TheB (Tables 1 and 2).

Table 2. Thebes pottery analysed. NAA groups / chronology.

The clay of 14 vases/fragments is considered to originate from Euboea, described as group EuA (formerly named ctheb or thec; Mommsen and Maran Reference Mommsen and Maran2000–1, 98, table 1, Thebes, Theb 61; Mommsen et al. Reference Mommsen, Andrikou, Aravantinos, Maran, Jerem and Biró2002, 608, 609, table 1:3rd column). Seven examples fall within the groups MYBE and MBKR, both assigned to the north-eastern Peloponnese, and one example within the group OlyB associated with the north-western Peloponnese. The Linear B inscribed stirrup jars fall into group TheE, which seems to originate from Chania, Crete or its neighbourhood (Mommsen et al. Reference Mommsen, Andrikou, Aravantinos, Maran, Jerem and Biró2002). Group AegA with three examples is associated with Aegina and one example of group Kofu probably with Corfu. Other examples (total 9) form small groups of unknown provenance (UI53 [new], X029 [these samples have been members of group g; Mommsen et al. Reference Mommsen, Andrikou, Aravantinos, Maran, Jerem and Biró2002, 609, table 1:6th column], X166 [=group P in Schwedt et al. Reference Schwedt, Aravantinos, Harami, Kilikoglou, Kylafi, Mommsen and Zacharias2006], X167 [formerly called phth; Mommsen et al. Reference Mommsen, Hein, Ittameier, Maran, Dakoronia, Bassiakos, Aloupi and Facorellis2001; Maran Reference Maran, Felten, Gauss and Smetana2007]) (Tables 1 and 2).

Macroscopically groups TheA, TheB, UI53 and X029 – as attested in the material of the Pelopidas St. and MCCTh plot excavations – present white grits (lime inclusions), fine or not, which are rarely present in group EuA. Other kinds of inclusions dark in colour, brownish or reddish, can also appear together with white grits. In a few cases lime grits ranging 2–3 mm in size have caused spalling of the surface (Hruby Reference Hruby2006, 180–1, fig. 6:1–2). In group TheA (10 examples) and TheB (4 examples) silver mica can also be present, which occurs once in group X029 and sometimes in loners. Gold mica has barely been observed, twice in group TheB examples. A correlation of chemical groups with specific vase shapes, decorated or plain vases, and fine, semifine or coarse wares, if it exists, needs many more samples to be defined. Yet it must always be kept in mind that open shapes and especially plain ones represent 60 per cent or more of the pottery in both habitation sites. It should also be noted that the decoration (motifs and organization) fits the Mycenaean style well, although local preferences, especially in LH IIIB2 Late and LH IIIC, may be found.

ARCHAEOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT

The material sampled is catalogued in three sections according to the findspot at Thebes and its character, and following the sampling numbering within each section (Table 1; see Supplementary Material). During the study of the material some pottery pieces were found to fit together or to belong to the same vase, so the catalogue comprises 148 entries, although the initially sampled items were 152 in number (see Supplementary Material). The findspots (Fig. 1) comprise:

1. (a) The chamber tomb cemeteries at Agia Anna area (Kolonaki and Mikro Kolonaki hills) and at Ismenion Hill (Theb 001–Theb 015) excavated by Antonios Keramopoullos at the beginning of the twentieth century (Keramopoullos Reference Keramopoullos1910; Reference Keramopoullos1917). The pottery and figurines have been republished by Tzavella-Evjen (Reference Tzavella-Evjen2014).

2. (b) The House of Kadmos (Theb 041–Theb 048, Theb 051–Theb 052), also excavated by Keramopoullos (Reference Keramopoullos1909; Reference Keramopoullos1921). Ten inscribed storage stirrup jars found in the destruction deposit in corridor Δ, along with at least 120 more (Pugliese Carratelli Reference Pugliese Carratelli1944; Raison Reference Raison1968), have been sampled.

3. (c) Ηabitation areas at the lower south-east part of Kadmeia Hill, namely the excavation below the surface of Pelopidas St. (DEYATH) between building blocks 337 and 339 (Theb 016–Theb 038, Theb 049–Theb 050, Theb 109–Theb 152; Aravantinos Reference Aravantinos1994; Reference Aravantinos1995; Andrikou Reference Andrikou, Andrikou, Aravantinos, Godart, Sacconi and Vroom2006), at the plot of Neroutsos-Kretikos and Panagiotides heirs on Pelopidas St. in building block 338 (Theb 039–Theb 040; Andrikou Reference Andrikou1995), and at the Municipal Conference Centre of Thebes (MCCTh) plot at the north-west part of Kadmeia Hill, at the corner of L. Bellos and I. Threpsiades St., opposite the Archaeological Museum (Theb 053–Theb 108; Andrikou Reference Andrikou1995; Reference Andrikou, Jung and Kardamaki2022; Reference Andrikouforthcoming).

Fig. 1. Kadmeia, Thebes (E. Andrikou).

At the Pelopidas St. excavation, to the south-east of the House of Kadmos, a habitation sequence of the palatial period has been attested (Andrikou Reference Andrikou, Andrikou, Aravantinos, Godart, Sacconi and Vroom2006). Architectural remains were poorly preserved due to the continuous use of the area, especially in Byzantine and post-Byzantine times. The LH IIIA2 layer (Stratum 3) has been found in Trenches V and VI with no architectural relics except the remains of a hard floor in two areas of Trench VI (Deposits 3a, 3c). The pottery indicates that it was a habitation area, and the carbonised seeds found suggest that cereals were also kept there (Deposits 3b, 3c). The LH IIIB2 Late layer (Stratum 2) was attested in Trench VI overlying the earlier one. A concentration of Linear B tablets, fired by the disastrous conflagration that affected the building where they were stored, was found in the corner of the preserved walls 24 and 40 (Deposit 2a). In the north area of Trench VI more Linear B tablets were found scattered in a layer with clear traces of fire, including carbonised seeds and fruits (Deposit 2b). In Trenches IV, V and VI the LH IIIC layer was excavated (Stratum 1). On top of Stratum 2 or 3 in Trenches V and VI, and in Trench IV as well, patches of floors (Floors 1, 2b–5) were revealed. This habitation activity dates to LH IIIC Early (Deposits 1c, 1b) and started shortly after the LH IIIB2 Late destruction. It continued, probably shrinking, in LH IIIC Middle as a floor patch with a hearth (Floor 2a) indicates, but the site was abandoned in a short time. The LH IIIC Middle deposit (Deposit 1a) apparently is the result of later levelling works comprising building materials from the abandoned houses with a lot of pottery, fragmentary, though better preserved than in the other Mycenaean layers.

The stratigraphy, architecture, pottery and other finds of the MCCTh plot on the north-north-west slope of Kadmeia Hill are under publication (Andrikou Reference Andrikouforthcoming). The LH IIIB2 Late destruction which occurred at the Pelopidas St. site is also attested in the MCCTh plot. At the south-west area of the plot (Trenches III2–III3) the content of a storeroom for alimentary provisions, mainly liquids, comprising at least 35 vases but also some prestige items like a bronze corselet, an agate seal and ivory artifacts, collapsed from a higher level into the basement when the building housing it was destroyed by fire (Andrikou Reference Andrikou, Jung and Kardamaki2022). At the centre of the plot (Trenches 13–15) another building was simultaneously destroyed by the same cause. In a ground floor room (Trench 14: Room 2) ritual activities were performed, since the jug Theb 053 was found lying on the border of a small circular earth platform against the wall, presumably used for libations. On the right side of the platform six wild boar mandibles deprived of the tusks were lying, detached from the skull and initially suspended as a pair of holes pierced at the rear ends suggests. Evidence does not allow us to speak of a proper town shrine, since essential elements known from other sites (architectural arrangement, clay idols etc.) are missing (indicatively, Whittaker Reference Whittaker1997, passim). A considerable quantity of ivory, mainly pieces of raw material and offcuts, and pumice fallen from an upper storey of the same building (Trench 13), indicates that an ivory workshop may well have operated in the area. After the destruction, Room 2 was reinhabited and the circular platform was rebuilt at the same place, but at a higher level, and a bathtub mended with lead clamps was installed in second use. Next to it was found the hydria Theb 054, 059. The reoccupation of the site dates to LH IIIC Early and probably extended into the south part of the plot, where only a layer of building materials and broken pottery was found, formed after levelling works in Hellenistic and/or Byzantine times. The site was abandoned earlier than that at Pelopidas St., apparently because it suffered another fire.

A great amount of pottery, including many plain low and high stemmed kylikes (FS 267, 274; Furumark Shape [Furumark Reference Furumark1941]) and cups (FS 215) and a considerable number of fragmentary terracotta female (phi-, psi- and tau- types) and animal figurines, of a throne and of a boat, was discarded in an irregular pit immediately to the north-north-east of Room 2 (Trenches 17–18). This assemblage may be connected to communal events including drinking. The objects were discarded when the area was cleaned after the LH IIIB2 Late destruction by the new (?) inhabitants, as can also be deduced by the few LH IIIC Early vases and figurines found in it. The MCCTh plot preserves limited evidence of LH IIIA2 and LH IIIB1 habitation. Apart from scanty pottery sherds mixed in other deposits, the most substantial proof is a wall and a small pottery assemblage connected with it at the south-west part of the plot (Trenches III2–III3), which were spared when the building with the alimentary storeroom was constructed in this area.

The classification according to the findspot corresponds roughly to the chronology of the examples under study. The vases from the chamber tombs are dated to the early Mycenaean period (LH II), except three of the palatial (Theb 010, Theb 012, Theb 015), two of the post-palatial (Theb 009, Theb 011) and one of the MH periods (Theb 006). The main bulk of the material from the habitation areas dates to the LH IIIB2 Late phase and is connected to a widespread destruction event which affected the palatial system at Thebes. Some fragments from the Pelopidas St. excavation are of LH IIIA2 date and some of LH IIIC Early and Middle. LH IIIC Early vases and sherds also came from the MCCTh plot. The MH sherds sampled come only from the Pelopidas St. excavation (Tables 2–5).

Table 3. Chamber tomb cemeteries. Shapes / NAA groups / chronology.

* MH ** LH II *** LH IIIA1–IIIA2/B1 ^^ LH IIIC Middle

Table 4. Pelopidas St. excavation (DEYATH). Shapes / NAA groups / chronology.

* MH ** LH II *** LH IIIA2–IIIA2/B1 LH IIIB2 Late

^ LH IIIC Early ^^ LH IIIC Middle ^^^ LH IIIC Late

Table 5. MCC Thebes plot. Shapes / NAA groups / chronology.

LH IIIB2 Late ^ LH IIIC Early # post Mycenaean

Among the seven examples dated to the MH period, three are imports from Aegina (AegA) and four are attributed to the group EuA, recently identified and connected to the area of Phylla on Euboea, north of Lefkandi. Consequently, no MH example is considered to be of local production, which of course may be a mere coincidence. Pottery of group EuA – representing 9.5 per cent of the Theban material sampled – occurs continuously from MH to the palatial and post-palatial periods in burial contexts and especially in habitation areas, a fact that allows us to assume – from an archaeological aspect – a Boeotian production. But, on the other hand, the large number of vessels with the pattern EuA from early times on up to modern exploitation of the Phylla clay bed and the distribution of finds with this pattern from Italy to the Levant (Kerschner and Lemos Reference Kerschner and Lemos2014 and contributions therein) points to the popularity of these Euboean products. Visiting this clay bed, the huge quantity of clay withdrawn there is astonishing. Archaeometrically a clay bed with this pattern somewhere else in Boeotia cannot be excluded, but is not very probable.

Most of the pottery analysed (80 per cent of the total) comes from habitation levels excavated in Pelopidas St. (DEYATH) and the MCCTh plot (Tables 4 and 5). The majority of it is dated to LH IIIB2 Late and falls within the Boeotian group TheA, with one example in the similar group TanA attested at Tanagra. A considerable number of examples constitutes group TheB of very probable Boeotian origin, completed with three examples of the group ThBC and two more of group KnoL, assigned to central Crete. However, groups TheA and TheB appear already in early Mycenaean (one example of each group in Kolonaki tombs 14 and 26 respectively) and early palatial contexts and continue to the post-palatial period. Nevertheless, it must be emphasised that more LH IIIA and LH IIIC material needs to be analysed so that the sequence and frequency of these groups throughout the Mycenaean period can be established. In the final stage of the palatial period, group TheF, including an uninscribed fragment of a Linear B tablet, a clay lump and a HBP jar, is recognised of Theban origin. Finally, pairs 321 and 305 belong to the late palatial period and pair 008 to the post-palatial (Tables 2, 4, 5).

From the eight examples analysed and attributed to north-eastern Peloponnesian (7) and north-western Peloponnesian (1) origin – found mainly in the chamber tombs, except three in the Pelopidas St. excavation – seven date to the early Mycenaean and early palatial period. Only one from the habitation area dates to LH IIIB2 Late, as well as one example attributed to group Kofu with the suggested provenance Corfu. Groups UI53, X029, X166 and X167 with unknown provenance date mainly to LH IIIB2 Late (Tables 1 and 2).

The chamber tombs at Agia Anna area are the findspot of 12 vases and three vase fragments. Three of them have been detected as loners. Four more, two piriform jars (FS 20, 24) and two cups (FS 230, 255?), are assigned to the securely attested group Mycenae/Berbati and its subgroups (groups MYBE, MBKR; Mommsen et al. Reference Mommsen, Lewandowski, Weber, Podzuweit, Farquhar, Hancock and Pavlish1988; Reference Mommsen, Beier, Hein, Ittameier, Podzuweit and Vincenzini1995; Mommsen Reference Mommsen2003, 19–21), and so they must be considered to be imports from the north-eastern Peloponnese. Another piriform jar FS 20 must originate from the north-western Peloponnese (group OlyB). Both a jug FS 114 (LH IIIA1–B) and an alabastron FS 99 (LH IIIC Middle) belong to the group X166, which still has an uncertain origin. Groups TheA and TheB are present with only one example each, while group EuA includes three dating to MH, LH III and LH IIIC Middle. In the chamber tombs the evidence of imported pottery from the Peloponnese is quite clear in the early Mycenaean period and less apparently from Euboea in the palatial and post-palatial periods (Table 3).

Habitation areas on the slopes of the Kadmeia Hill provided most of the Mycenaean material sampled, namely 16 vases and 100 vase fragments, as well as fragments of four rooftiles and of one Linear B tablet and a clay lump (Table 1). The vases produced represent a wide range of shapes, with plain open shapes prevailing. The majority of the examples sampled (70) falls within the chemical groups associated with Boeotia, TheB, ThBC, TanA and especially TheA, and is mainly dated to the subphase LH IIIB2 Late (Tables 2, 4, 5). So, it can be said that these two sites acquired most of the pottery needed from one major workshop at Thebes, which continued to function in the post-palatial period (LH IIIC). Alternatively, several workshops were operating, using raw material from the same clay bed processed with the same recipe (Mommsen and Maran Reference Mommsen and Maran2000–1, 96). At the same time, other workshops were supplying these two sites with pottery using different clays or recipes.

Five pictorial sherds and one crater from Thebes have been sampled, analysed and discussed together with other examples from all over Greece and the East Mediterranean with the aim of defining the production places of Mycenaean pictorial pottery (Mommsen and Maran Reference Mommsen and Maran2000–1). A fragment of a closed vase in Marine style (Theb 029) is a loner. One crater fragment depicting a stag (Theb 060) is dated to the LH IIIB2 phase by style, since it was found in a mixed Mycenaean layer of the MCCTh plot, and falls within group TheB, along with three more fragments (Theb 026–Theb 028) dating to the LH IIIC Early and Middle periods. The high quality of the LH IIIC Early crater decorated with sphinx and chariot scenes (Theb 061) is now attributed to group EuA. All of them, in terms of shape, style and iconography, fit the Mycenaean tradition, even though they belong to a period when local divergence in pottery production is growing.

Another special category includes Handmade Burnished Pottery. Two examples (Theb 039 and Theb 040) from a plot near the Pelopidas St. excavation are not yet precisely dated. They form a chemical pair different from all other chemical groups. By contrast, the HBP jar fragments from the Pelopidas St. excavation (Theb 037, 038) were embedded in an LH IIIC Early floor and, together with a Linear B tablet and a lump of clay intended for a tablet, are attributed to the distinct chemical group TheF, a fact suggesting that all three items are of local production. Finally, the chemical loner Theb 057, a cooking pot from a disturbed area in the MCCTh plot, dates to the post-Mycenaean period.

Nine out of the 10 inscribed stirrup jars from the House of Kadmos analysed were found to belong to the separate group TheE, which can be connected to identified groups from Chania, West Crete (Mommsen et al. Reference Mommsen, Andrikou, Aravantinos, Maran, Jerem and Biró2002). Vases/sherds consistent with the group TheE were not attested in the material sampled from the other findspots, either the chamber tomb cemeteries on the Ismenion and Kolonaki hills or the habitation sites on Kadmeia Hill. The tenth inscribed storage stirrup jar analysed from the House of Kadmos is a chemical loner (Table 1).

SUMMARY: CONCLUSION

The pottery from Thebes sampled within the project ‘Pottery Production and Distribution of Bronze Age Settlements of Mycenaean Greece and the Aegean’ in 1996 has been found to consist of 21 chemical groups and pairs.

The pottery assigned to group TheA (33.8 per cent of the material sampled) is considered Boeotian and probably of Theban production. Group TheA is first detected in the early Mycenaean period and mainly occurs, as well as the related Boeotian group TanA (representing 0.7 per cent), in LH IIIB2 Late contexts which were widely sampled, and also post-palatial ones (LH IIIC Early) (Tables 1 and 2).

Group TheB and subgroup ThBC (total 14.8 per cent) may also be of local Boeotian production, with a distribution over time similar to the previous groups, plus some examples of LH IIIC Middle and Late date. Group TheB/ThBC has been attested at the site of Eleon near Thebes with more post-palatial examples than group TheA (Lis et al. Reference Lis, Mommsen, Sterba and Van Damme2023, 4–5, table 1).

Group TheF, consisting here of three special items, a HBP jar, an uninscribed fragment of a Linear B tablet and a clay lump for making a Linear B tablet, is connected to Thebes in the subphases LH IIIB2 Late and LH IIIC Early. Two other examples of HBP form a distinct pair (pair 008) of unidentified provenance.

The third group, according to the number of examples included (9.5 per cent), is EuA, archaeometrically assigned to be of Euboean origin. The examples spread over quite a long time-span (MH, palatial and post-palatial periods) and include decorated and plain everyday-use vases. The pottery of this group seems to have been imported, although it cannot be ruled out that clay from the Phylla bed near Lefkandi was imported. MH pottery is found to fall within this EuA group (four examples) or to have been imported from Aegina (group AegA – three examples).

The inscribed stirrup jars from the House of Kadmos belong to group TheE (old name, not Thebes), indicating that they are imports form Chania and the surrounding area. From the rest of the material, the pairs 008, 305 and 321 seem to be Boeotian. Small groups of unidentified provenance (UI53, X029, X166, X167) are recognised, while 14.2 per cent of the total are characterised as loners.

Two examples associated with the group KnoL of central Crete, which often presents similarities to group TheB with only a difference in Rb (Gilboa et al. Reference Gilboa, Shalev, Lehmann, Mommsen, Erickson, Nodarou and Ben-Shlomo2017), and one more with the group Kofu originating probably from Corfu are considered imports. Nearly 5 per cent of the material was imported from the north-eastern Peloponnese (two distinct groups: Table 1) and 0.7 per cent from the north-western Peloponnese. These Peloponnesian imports, mostly complete vases, come almost exclusively from the chamber tombs and date to the early Mycenaean and early palatial periods. Only one fragment comes from the habitation areas and is of LH IIIB2 Late date. This implies that north-eastern Peloponnesian pottery was widely imported in early Mycenaean times and decreased dramatically in quantity in the LH IIIB2 period. However, this conclusion may not be totally valid, because the pottery sampled comes from different contexts, for example, early Mycenaean/early palatial burials versus late palatial habitation areas. Since habitation contexts dating to LH II–LH IIIA1 are very sparsely preserved in Thebes, more sampling of LH III vases from chamber tombs may shed light on this matter.

In conclusion, five chemical groups of pottery (TheA, TanA, TheB, ThBC, TheF) are associated with varying degrees of certainty with Boeotian pottery production during the Mycenaean period. In the late palatial period group TheA seems to prevail in Thebes. In the post-palatial period it seems to have declined gradually, while the workshop identified as group TheB/ThBC still operated. Imports in the late palatial and post-palatial periods came mostly from Euboea, while in early Mycenaean times the north-eastern Peloponnese was the source.