Exploring the 'ceramic landscape' of Late Bronze Age Chania, Crete (c. 1525-1200 BCE): An analytical perspective

This Thesis evolves around the study of technology and provenance of the Late Bronze Age (LMIB to LMIIIB2) pottery from the settlement of Chania, in west Crete. Even though archaeometric analysis has been widely applied in the study of Bronze Age pottery in the Aegean, the pottery from Chania and, especially during the LBA, has not been studied. Consequently, there is a gap in our knowledge regarding the pottery production of the settlement during a period of important socio-political changes and upheavals.

An integrated approach of macroscopic study and archaeometric analysis, i.e. thin section petrography and elemental analysis, is adopted and the pottery from two excavations of the settlement is studied –the Greek-Swedish Excavation of the Hagia Aikaterini Square and the ‘Warrior Graves’ cemetery. Based on the different types of ceramic analyses, patterns of production are examined, with particular emphasis on technological issues relating to raw material selection and manipulation by the potters. In addition, issues of continuity and change in the different ceramic traditions identified are discussed. Lastly, the study of provenance of non-local pottery is also included.

The analyses reveal some interesting patterns of ceramic production. There are four very distinctive ceramic traditions in terms of raw materials and clay recipes co-existing in the settlement. The red fabrics, the sand-tempered clay recipe, the calcareous fabrics and the fabric made with the special clay, that is exclusively used by the so-called ‘Kydonian’ ceramic workshop in the LMIII period. The contrasting ceramic traditions indicate the operation of different pottery workshops, or groups of workshops in LBA Chania. Also, a number of Cretan and off-island imports have been identified illuminating further the interconnections of Chania with other areas of the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean.

Based on the chaîne opératoire approach and ethnographic studies, it becomes apparent that there is a strong continuity from the Neopalatial to the LMIII period, and major changes to the stages of the manufacturing process, which are interwoven with the potters’ identity, are not attested. Finally, there is no evidence to support the ‘Mycenaeanisation’ (i.e. the introduction of mainland forming traditions) of Chania in terms of ceramic production.