Old Smyrna Bayraklı Mound “Aeolian Ceramics” Research Project
Project no. 23792 · Status: Kapanmış (Yayın bekleniyor) · 2022
Summary
<p>‘Grey Ware’ refers to a distinct group within Greek pottery, defined as such because its clay acquires a grey hue through reduction firing; it is a fine-fabric, wheel-made type of ceramic. Imparting a lustrous appearance to the surface through burnishing or the use of a micaceous slip is among its distinguishing characteristics. The general geographical distribution of Grey Ware, dating back to the 3rd millennium BC, encompasses the central regions of Mainland Greece extending to southern Thessaly and the Peloponnese, the islands of the northern Aegean, the Balkan geography such as Bulgaria, Georgia, and the regions north of İzmir in Northwestern Anatolia, predominantly referred to as Aiolis. Serious questions regarding this ceramic type, which was produced for nearly two thousand years—such as its dating, place of production, place of origin, and consequently, the extent to which it can be associated with an ‘Aeolian’ identity—still await explanation. Within the scope of the Old Smyrna Bayraklı Mound ‘Aeolian Pottery’ Research Project, Grey Ware—one of the most controversial topics in Western Anatolian archaeology, known in the literature as the ‘Minyan’ or ‘Aeolian Pottery’ problematic—has been addressed in a multifaceted manner in light of the Smyrna data. Fundamentally, a portion of the Old Smyrna finds belonging to this type was scrutinized here, with the aim of providing explanations using archaeometric methods for questions that relative chronology methods, such as stratigraphy and stylistic analysis, could not resolve. On this basis, a method prominent in recent years, such as p-XRF analysis, was utilized. In this study, thin-section analysis was conducted to identify the inclusions within the selected ceramic samples. By comparing this analysis with known data from other centers, the aim was to obtain information regarding production. Within the scope of the project, 2000 pieces were divided into subgroups using analogical methods. To test the internal consistency of each group, 300 samples representing these groups were selected, and analyses were performed on these samples using a portable p-XRF device. The focal point of the project is to reveal similarities and differences by comparing the analysis results of the selected samples with the ceramics that were grouped analogically.</p>