31-100

Imported Protocorinthian and Corinthian pottery on Paros

• Δετοράτου, Σοφία

Excavations on Paros have brought to light many Protocorinthian and Corinthian vases, attesting to close contacts and trade between Paros and Corinth as early as the late 8th century BC, as the Protocorinthian pottery from this period reveals.According to excavation evidence obtained to date, Corinthian pottery has been found at only two sites on Paros: the hill of Delion north of the city of Paroikia, and the ancient cemetery outside the walls of the ancient city, which also includes the privately owned Theocharidis property, which is at the same location and separated from the ancient cemetery by a local road.Among the vases that have been found on Paros, one primarily encounters the three most common shapes, viz. aryballoi, alabastra, and kotylai. In addition, two oinochoes, two pyxides, an amphoriskos and part of a skyphos dating to the Late Geometric period (the earliest Corinthian pottery discovery at the sanctuary of Delion) have been found.A total of twenty -seven vases have been found at Delion that date to the Protocorinthian and Transitional periods: sixteen aryballoi, three alabastra, five kotylai, two oinochoes and part of a vase of unidentifiable shape. Of these, the following are considered very important: an aryballiskos dating to the end of the Early or beginning of the Middle Protocorinthian period; two oval aryballoi dating to Middle Corinthian I, and two alabastra. The first alabastron, which dates to the Late Protocorinthian, is the earliest example of this shape that has been found in the Cyclades, while the second, which dates between the Late Protocorinthian and Transitional period, is an example of an alabastron with a flat base. There are forty-four vases from Delion dating to the Corinthian period: eight round aryballoi, sixteen alabastra, nineteen kotylai and kotyliskai, and one amphoriskos.Thirty-five pottery finds dating to the Protocorinthian and Transitional periods have come to light in the ancient cemetery: se venteen aryballoi and eighteen kotylai. A total of eighty-four vases from Paros’s ancient cemetery belong to the Corinthian period: six aryballoi, sixteen alabastra, sixty kotyliskai, and two pyxides.The large quantity of Protocorinthian and Corinthian pottery found on Paros reveals trade relations between Paros and Corinth during the 7th and 6th centuries BC. The Paros excavation finds also show that in the final quarter of the 7th century BC, an increase in imports of Corinthian pottery was noted which continued during the first quarter of the 6th century BC. The great number of Corinthian kotyliskai belonging to the second half of the 6th century shows that trade between Corinth and Paros continued undiminished until the late 6th century BC.Corinthian pottery prevailed on Paros throughout the Archaic age, which resulted in its exerting a major influence on Parian vase painting, as shown by the black-figure technique and decorative motifs employed on Parian vases.

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία
• Archaeology and religion
• Excavations (Archaeology)
• Decorative arts

Περιέχει σχέδια, εικόνες, συντομογραφίες και βιβλιογραφία, Το άρθρο περιέχεται στο τεύχος: Μέρος Α'-Μελέτες