NOTES Frot/\ TH E Tl NS 2 Pages 4I5-433 RESEARCH in the STOAOF ATTALOS
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
HESPERIA 7I (2002) NOTES FROt/\ TH E Tl NS 2 Pages 4I5-433 RESEARCH IN THE STOAOF ATTALOS Thisseries of researchnotes was conceived as a wayto bringto lightvari- ous detailsof the archaeologicalrecord at the AthenianAgora Excava- tionsthat might otherwise be lostwithin broader publications.l As noted in the firstinstallment, the title"Notes from the Tins" refers to the feta cheeseand oil tinsused by the excavations for the storage of uninventoried potteryand other finds from specific deposits or stratifiedlevels. Study of findsin thesetins led to the discoveryof the detailspresented in these notes.Some of the piecesdiscussed had already been inventoried and so do not,sensu stricto, come from the tins. The tins, however, serve equally as a metaphorfor the study of itemslong ago inventoried, whose importance to archaeologymight rise and fall with changing scholarly interests, and whoseinterpretation might change with furtherconsiderations of con- textsor morerecent dlscoverles.. This is not to saythat the tins do not figurestrongly in the notes presentedhere. My studyof amphorasas paintpots combinesmaterial foundin thetins with jottings in theexcavation notebooks and one previ- ouslyinventoried example. No less importantis the absenceof similar fragmentsfrom hundreds of othertins, reminding us thatnegative evi- dencefrom the tins is sometimesuseful as well. Kathleen Lynch's study of earlyblack-glazed mastoi clarifies the importanceof rare,inventoried, butlargely overlooked Attic examples within the context of knownblack- figureexamples and representations of the formby Atticvase painters. Shealso examines the contextswithin the Agora (including the contents of the tins)in whichthe black-glaze examples were found. JohnPapadopoulos's commentary on crudelyreworked clay disks is basedon the hundredsof suchdisks found in the excavations,the many exampleskept in thetins, and the few he hasselected for inventory. These 1. The authorswould like to thank diskshave piqued the curiosityof scholarsover the years,but theyhave JohnMcK. Camp II, Directorof the AgoraExcavations, for his supportof neverreceived as broada considerationas they do here.Finally, Susan this project.We arealso grateful to Rotroff'sstudy of thecontext pottery tins brought to lighta raresignature the anonymousHesperia reviewers on a moldmadebowl. Presumably this signature was overlooked and rel- andto the membersof the Publica- egatedto the tinsinstead of the glamourof inventoriedstatus when the tionsCommittee of the American depositwas originally excavated. Schoolof ClassicalStudies at Athens fortheir helpful suggestions. M.L.L. American School of Classical Studies at Athens is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to Hesperia ® www.jstor.org 4I6 MARK L. LAWALL ET AL. AMPH O RAS AS PAINT POTS ? MARKL. LAWALL WITHA CONTRIBUTIONBYAUDREY JAWANDO Thesecondary use in antiquityof transportamphoras assmall coffins or layersfor drainage is well attested.2 Other contexts of reuseare rarely at- testedwith certainty in archaeologicalfinds. Three examples of imported amphorasreused as paint pots appeared in excavations of two deposits at theAgora related to thePersian sack of Athensin 480B.C. These paint potsare not unique among the Agora finds, but the identification of the jars,preliminary study of thepigment, and consideration of the archaeo- logicalcontexts ofthe jars provide new evidence for the study of Athenian history,commerce, and topography. 1 P 1334 Toeand lower part of amphora Fig. 1:A G 6:3(Rectangular Rock-Cut Shaft, upper fill at 10.9m) P.H.19.6 cm; Diam. (toe) 6.3 cm Tracesof whiteslip on exteriorwith wide horizontal brown band aroundtop of preservedfragment. Red-brown deposit on interiorwith somethicker areas of preservedpigment; pigment spills over ancient breaks. Duskypale reddish and gray-brown fabric. Wide scatter of gray glassyinclusions, dark gray/blackish stony bits, and yellowish lime chunks. Fabriccolor: 5YR 6/6 andgrayer. Pigment color: lOR 5/8. Comments:Brief mention of thispiece as "an unpublished amphora fragment"is foundin Vanderpool1946, p. 266,n. 6.This amphoratype is attributedto the areaof Klazomenai;see Doger 1986; Lawall 1995, pp.48-53; Dupont 1998, pp. 151-156. Deposit G 6:3is a deeprectan- gularpit on the KolonosAgoraios; see Shear1993, pp. 445-449; Vanderpool1938 and 1946. The upperfill of the shaftis reportedto haveincluded miltos (notebook for section A, p. 1002;Vanderpool 1946, p. 266).The upperfill alsoincluded a lekythos,broken and reused as a muchsmaller paint pot (Vanderpool1946, p.266, no. 146). Date:late 6th centuryB.C. 2 AS-P 1049 Seriesof joining lower body fragments 2. Foruse in drainageconstruc- R 12:1,tin SA 150 tions,see Mattioli1998. For the use of amphorasas coffinsor urns,see Smoothorange buff exterior; resinated interior with red pigment KerameikosJX, passim.On the reuseof thicklypreserved over the resin. Fabric with some mica; grainy break, amphoras,see, in general,Grace 1979, moderatescatter of grayglassy and bright white opaque bits, all fairly textwith fig. 10, andfor the rarityof small. reexportation,see van Doorninck 1989, Fabriccolor: 5YR 5/8. Pigmentcolor: lOR 4/8. esp.pp. 247, 256. I amgrateful to AudreyJawandofor carrying out the Comments:R 12:1is a welldeposit at the southeastcorner of the analysisof the pigmentand providing Agoraexcavations, just east of the Stoaof Attalos(Shear 1993, pp. 469- the reportpresented here. I alsothank 471).A nearbydeposit of the sameperiod is Q 12:3,the StoaGutter JulieUnruh for her generous assistance Well(Roberts 1986). The attributionand date of thesefragments andadvice in preparingthis note. NOTES FROM THE TINS 2 4I7 A -=- - Figure1. A) Klazomenianamphora D > (P1334); B) North Aegean amphora i I (tinSA 148).Drawing M. L. Lawall - =_ _ cannotbe determinedon thebasis of the remains;neither the fabricnor theform is diagnostic. Date:context date, before 480 B.C. 3 Toeand lower part of amphora Fig.1:B R 12:1,tin SA 148 P.H.22.5cm; Diam. (toe) 5.3 cm Resinatedwith reddish brown discoloration and a fewthicker depositsof redpigment. Smooth, hard, micaceous orange-brown surface,fine-grained break; moderate sized, poorly sorted mix of dark grayopaque, very small white, and a fewlarger red-brown inclusions. Fabriccolor: 5YR 5/8. Pigmentcolor: lOR to 2.5YR4/6. Comments:The amphorais fromthe North Aegean; see Lawall 1997,especially pp. 116-117; Lawall 1995, pp. 116-175. Date:context date, before 480 B.C. The amphorasdescribed above were not initiallyintended as jars of redpaint. Fragments 2 and 3 preserveresinous lining, which is mostoften associatedwith sealing the interiorsof amphorasfor shipments of wine.3 3.Koehler 1986, pp. 50-52. Thered pigment covers these linings, so it musthave been added after the 4Fe3+(aq) + 3K4Fe(CN)6(aq) Fe4(Fe(CN)6)3(s) + 12K+(aq) 4I8 MARK L. LAWALL ET AL. jarswere emptied of wine.Furthermore, the redpigment on 1 coversthe ancientbreak around the upperedge of the fragment.Only the bottom partof the amphorawas used for the paint pot. AudreyJawando studied the pigmentsfound on the amphorafrag- mentsand supplied the following report: "The test for an iron base in the redpigment was based on thefact that an iron (III)-containing compound combinedwith hydrochloric acid produces iron ions (Fe3+). Pigment+ HC1(3M) o Fe3+(aq) "Ironions combined with potassium ferrocyanide (K4Fe(CN)6) creates solid ferricferrocyanide (Fe4(Fe(CN)6)3), or Prussian blue. "If a blue precipitateforms when an unknowncompound is acidified andcombined with potassium ferrocyanide, then the testfor iron is posi- tive.4The reactionof the pigmentwith HC1and K4Fe(CN)6 was tested againsttwo control samples: yellow ocher, which is knownto containFe3+; andwhite lead pigment, which contains no Fe3+.Both the yellowocher sampleand the red pigment turned blue-green, while the color of thewhite leadpigment did not change. This indicates that the red pigment contains . ,, lron. The ancientterm for red,iron-based pigment, ,uXTogX5 can refer to pigmentsfrom a widerange of sources,including perhaps Attica,6 most 4. Odegaard,Carroll, and Zimmt commonlyKea and Lemnos, and also Cappadocia, Carthage, and Egypt. 2000,pp.62-63. Indeed,iron oxides suitable for red pigment are quite common.7 Relatively 5. Foran overview,with discussion recentefforts to characterizemiltos from different sources preclude as- of ancientreferences, see RE XVa, suminga particularsource for the redpigment found in theseamphoras 1932,cols. 1851-1854, s.v. Minium fromthe Agora.8 (W. Kroll). 6. Caley(1945, p. 155)notes the Nevertheless,the examples of miltosfound in Athensraise important presenceof ochersin Attica,but historicalquestions. If the miltoscould be connectedto Kea,then these withoutfurther references. amphoraswould document Athenian use of Keanresources well before a 7. Photos-Joneset al.1997, Keaninscription attests to theresumption of Atheniancontrol of thatis- pp.359-360. land'smiltos exports sometime before 350 B.C.9 A Cappadocianprovenance 8. Photoslones et al. 1997,passim. forthe miltos in theseamphoras would provide early and rare archaeologi- 9. IG II21128; Tod 1948,no. 162, pp.181-185; and Bockh 1886, pp.312- calevidence of importsfrom the Black Sea; according to Strabo,this miltos 317. wasexported through Sinope.10 Evidence for late-6th-century Athenian 10. On Sinope'srole in Cappa- importsfrom either Egypt or Carthageis alsoquite rare.1l docianexports, see Strab.12.2.10. The threepaint pots from pre-Persian contexts in theAgora excava- Forsecurely identifiable Black Sea tionsalso reflect