IARPotHP

International Association for Research

on Pottery of the Hellenistic Period e. V.

TRADITIONS AND INNOVATIONS

Tracking the Development of Pottery
from the Late Classical
to the Early Imperial Periods

Edited by Sarah Japp and Patricia Kgler

OFFPRINT

Wien 2016
Historical Change and Ceramic Tradition:
The Case of Macedonia

Zoi Kotitsa

The subject of the influence of history on ancient pottery is often discussed in order to explain a
change in the latter through a political event, or as an attempt to insert it in the historical context
of a region. For example, the invention of the moldmade bowls in Athens has been connected
with the import of Alexandrian gold or silver bowls for the first celebration of the Ptolemaia
in honor of Ptolemy III Euergetes probably in 224/3 BC1. Recently Lydia Trakatelli tried to
pinpoint and explain the appearance of possibly Macedonian pseudo-Cypriot amphorae and
unguentaria in Corinth through the historical events after the battle of Chaeronea in 338 BC,
when Philip called the first meeting of all Greek cities in Corinth, created the League of Corinth
and finally installed Macedonian garrisons in that city2. Similarly, the emergence of certain
characteristic Macedonian shapes such as the so-called Macedonian amphora, the Hellenistic
pyxides of type II or the homeric moldmade bowls in other regions has been connected with
the presence of Macedonian garrisons in those geographic areas3.
Unlike these attempts to connect changes in ceramics with special historical events, the aim
of this paper is to filter traditions and changes in the pottery of Ancient Macedonia4 at the
beginning and the end of the Hellenistic Period in this region, in order to observe how and if the
developments in pottery correlate with the big historical changes. Can this pottery be defined
as Hellenistic in accordance with the historical data of Macedonia5? I will focus on the years
before and after 323 BC and those before and after the battle of Pydna in 168 BC, as well as
before and after the creation of the provincia Macedonia in 148 BC6.
Right at the beginning it is important to emphasize that a connection between ceramics and
historical events is only possible under certain conditions. First of all pottery should be exactly
and reliably dated7. Therefore all the following observations have been based on firmly dated
or reliably datable closed contexts from Macedonia, published to date. In the early Hellenistic
1
Rotroff 1982, 1113; Rotroff 2006a, 370371.
2
Trakatelli 2013, 89.
3
Drougou Touratsoglou 2013.
4
Drougou Touratsoglou 2012a and Drougou Touratsoglou 2012b have touched on this subject but
focused on the 2nd century BC and on specific vessel forms.
5
Susan Rotroff already established for Athens the beginning of proper Hellenistic pottery well within the
first half of the 3rd century BC and saw its end during the 1st century AD, much later than the destruction
of Sulla, which is the turning point in the history of the city of Athens from the Hellenistic to Roman period:
Rotroff 1997a, 97111; Rotroff 2006, 141.
6
On the fluid boundaries of the Roman province see Vanderdspoel 2010, 258259.
7
Compare Blond 2007, 198199: since pottery cannot be closer dated than in quarters of a century, la
ralit cramique ne reflte qu grand-peine lhistoire vnementielle.
274 Zoi Kotitsa

period most of them come from single burials8, whereas the late Hellenistic and Early Roman
periods offer several stratified assemblages also from sites (see Appendix, p. 278). Moreover
I included into my research the results of the study of 536 unpublished late-Classical and
Hellenistic single burials from the northern cemetery of Pydna mostly accompanied by coins9.
Another important factor for being able to reliably detect ceramic traditions or innovations is a
broad base of material. Although in the last 25-30 years our knowledge about the pottery of the
Hellenistic period from Macedonia, especially from northern Greece, increased significantly10,
it still remains incomplete due to the salvage character of most excavations and the different
interests of researchers in the particular areas of the region. Therefore I concentrated my study
mainly on fine ceramics which make out the biggest part of the published material, with the
exception of the unguentaria and the so-called Macedonian amphorae. Besides, coarse wares
follow lines of development rather connected with local traditions and can be studied in nar-
rower regional frames more efficiently.
Finally, in order to detect the traditions and innovations on the Macedonian ceramics connected
with the beginning and the end of the Hellenistic period in this region I focused on characteristic
ceramic forms emerging almost constantly in Macedonian contexts of these dates. I left out
shapes which last only a short period of time like the calyx cups in the early Hellenistic period11
and the pyxides type II in the later period12, as well as those with many local variations like the
oinochoe13. Such artefacts can shed light on other questions concerning for instance trade, local
production patterns or local function of shapes. Similarly, temporary ceramic categories such
as the tin-foiled pottery found mostly in early Hellenistic burials (330300 BC)14, can rather
point to temporary social phenomena like a new attitude to the ostentation of luxury, which
may be considered in accordance with specific historical events like the gradual return of the
Macedonian veterans to their homeland.
With this methodological background and since antecedents can help us to measure and
contextualize innovations15, Ill start my observations in the time of Philip II., who has marked
the history of Macedonia more than anyone else16. Without his policy, the achievements of
Alexander the Great, whose death initiated the Hellenistic period according to the historians,
would not have been possible. Besides, we possess from Philips time a still valid and precious
terminus ante quem for the ceramic chronology: the year 348 BC, when the Macedonian King
destroyed the city of Olynthus, capital of the Chalcidic League17.
The ceramic shapes in the Macedonian funerary contexts around the middle and in the third
quarter of the 4th cent. BC were also found in Olynthus: skyphoi, especially of Attic but also of

8
A list of coin-dated contexts from the period between Philip II and Antigonos II Gonatas has been published
by Touratsoglou 2010, 138157.
9
Kotitsa in press (b). This study is the result of a research project of the Archaeological Seminar of the
University of Marburg supported by the DFG.
10
The nine Scientific Meetings on Hellenistic Pottery, which took place in different Greek towns starting 1986
in Ioannina and finishing 2012 in Thessaloniki, have been fundamental also in this respect. Until now the
proceedings of eight of them have been published (EllKer 18); see www.hellenistic-pottery.web.auth.gr.
11
For calyx cups in Macedonia s. Kotitsa 2007, 108109; Kotitsa 2013, 71 (tall version); Kotitsa in press.
12
Kotitsa 1996, 109121. 123145; Drougou Touratsoglou 2012a, 242246; Drougou Touratsoglou
2012b, 264270; Drougou Touratsoglou 2013, 4850. The dating of the beginning of the pyxis type II in
the second quarter of the 2nd century BC, as proposed by Drougou Touratsoglou according to the available
funerary contexts, is not convincing given the obvious differences in typology and decoration between the
questionable early example in the Ashmolean Museum (Kotitsa 1996, 114 fig. 97. 135. 136 pl. 38) and the
rest of the excavated material. Besides, the typological analysis of the pyxis in question was based on the
elaborated typology of the pyxides type I which was developed on the ground of reliably dated contexts.
13
Tzanavari 2012, 138.
14
See lately Kotitsa 2012 with earlier bibliography.
15
Stewart 2006, 158.
16
There is a large bibliography on king Philip II; see recently Mller 2010; Touratsoglou 2010, 2228 with
further bibliography; Lane Fox 2011, 367385.
17
On the validity of this terminus ante quem see Rotroff 2005, 12; Blond 2007, 8384; Kotitsa 2007, 23.

IARPotHP - 1
 Historical Change and Ceramic Tradition 275

Corinthian type, bolsals, one-handler, kantharoi with moulded rim, lekythoi with a red-figured
palmette or with net-pattern, as well as echinus bowls in different sizes and pyxides Type D
(fig. 1)18.
In the third quarter of the 4th cent. BC emerged in Macedonia also a new variation of a known
shape: the kantharos with plain rim, imported from Attica19. It will become a leading shape
of the pottery in this region until the end of the 3rd or the beginning of the 2nd cent. BC20. At
the junction of the third to the last quarter of the 4th century BC the spool saltcellar enriched
the ceramic repertory of Macedonia, as suggested by evidence from the northern cemetery of
Pydna21. This date may even be raised into the third quarter of the 4th cent. BC, if we accept the
assignment of the so-called Philips grave at Vergina, which contained four spool saltcellars, to
king Philip II22. Moreover, single burials from Pydna suggest that the unguentaria, the leading
shape in funerary contexts of the Hellenistic period throughout the Mediterranean, emerged
also at about 330/20 BC. A very first example still shows the small handles on the shoulder,
which recall its provenance from the amphora shape (graph 1)23.
Later on, during the last quarter of the 4th century, Macedonian funerary contexts (Aiginio,
Pydna) contained bowls with outturned rim among both imports and local or regional prod-
ucts. At the same time emerged the first pyxis of the new Hellenistic type I with deep lid (Sedes),
imported from Athens24. Nevertheless, both forms will be frequent in the Macedonian ceramic
repertoire from the 3rd cent. BC onwards.
All the above new forms of the late Classical-early Hellenistic period coexisted until the very
early 3rd cent. BC with old ones like lekythoi with red-figured palmette or net-pattern, bolsals,
skyphoi and occasionally askoi as well as pyxides type D (fig. 2. 3). During the first quarter of
the 3rd cent. BC the unguentaria replaced the lekythoi in Macedonia. The context on fig.3 from
a burial in the northern cemetery of Pydna is the latest known, where an unguentarium and
a lekythos were found together. this context still belongs the old shape of the one-handler
and the so-called Macedonian amphora which most likely emerged in Macedonia during the
4thcent. BC, also according to new evidence from the northern cemetery of Pydna. The shape
will become increasingly popular from the 3rd to the 2nd cent. BC25.
In terms of decoration, red-figured pelikes were present in funerary contexts from Macedonia
until the very early 3rd cent. BC26. Moreover, atticizing red-figured pottery from datable assem-
blages in the Agora of Pella shows that this decoration style was still in use in the Macedonian
capital during at least the first quarter of the 3rd cent. BC27. At the same time emerged, however,

18
A first attempt to define changes in the pottery of the late-Classical and early Hellenistic period has been
made by Kotitsa 2004.
19
An example from Olynthus with slender proportions and from an unknown context, since it was found
outside a grave, has to be dated most likely after the destruction of the city: Robinson 1950 pl. 82, 510A;
pl.185, 513A.
20
For late examples see Drougou Touratsoglou 1980, 95. 100. 152153 pl. 66. Drougou Touratsoglou
1991, 17 Tab. II and Drougou 2012a, Chronological Index, consider the examples of kantharoi with plain
rim from the 3rd /2nd cent. BC as a different type (B).
21
Kotitsa 2013, 6970 fig. 4.
22
The issue is still debated; see the overview offered by R. Lane Fox, Introduction: Dating the Royal Tombs at
Vergina, in: Lane Fox 2011, 134. For further recent opinions see von Mangoldt 2012, 280: construction of
the tomb in the third quarter of the 4th cent. BC extremely probable; Zimi 2011, 104: probably last quarter
of 4th cent. BC.
23
Kotitsa 2013, 88 Abb. 9. On the provenance of the unguentaria see Trakatelli 2013, 8586; Kotitsa 2014,
411417.
24
Kotitsa 1996, 9 fig. 126. 127 pl. 1
25
Kotitsa 2007, 3334; Tzanavari 2012, 142144.
26
Tzanavari Filis 2002, 163. 165. 172173 fig. 11. 34 (right); 35: The dating of the two well-preserved
pelikes around 340320 BC and in the third quarter of the 4th century BC is definitely too early. For the stage
of development of these pelikes (Group G and Amazon-Painter) see recently Langner 2013, 146. 160 no. G5,
G6 fig. 24b; 148. 161 no. A2 fig. 25.
27
Akamatis 2013, 5561.

Traditions and Innovations

276 Zoi Kotitsa

the West-Slope pottery which - in contrast to the Athenian one - showed right at the beginning
incised and white elements28.
Finally, the progressive decrease to disappearance of Attic imports and the exclusive use of
local / regional products during the first quarter of the 3rd cent. BC were other important
changes in the character of Macedonian ceramics. The earliest contexts with only local, partly
atticizing ceramics seem to emerge in the second quarter of the 3rd cent. BC29, while early in the
3rd cent. BC we still find Attic imports30.
To summarize the results of our research until now, it can be said that in the 2nd half of the
4thcent. BC and especially from 330/320 BC, when the Hellenistic era historically begins, new
forms enrich the ceramic repertory of Macedonia, but the old Classical shapes like the bol-
sal, the lekythos, the one-handler, the cantharos with moulded rim and the red-figured pelike
still exist until the early 3rd cent. BC (graph 1). A real turning point has been observed in the
ceramics of Macedonia instead after the first quarter of the 3rd cent. BC, when the old forms
gradually disappeared31. Considering Macedonian history, this took place with the reign of An-
tigonos II Gonatas32, who was proclaimed king by the Macedonians in 277 BC and finally firmly
established on the Macedonian throne in 272 BC. In this case the ceramic change coincided
with a historical change and the beginning of a period of stability and prosperity for the Anti-
gonid Kingdom33. Was this really coincidental? Currently any attempt to answer this question
would lead to speculation, since we lack contextual evidence from Macedonian sites, capable of
shedding light upon ceramic production and/or consumption.
The end of the Hellenistic period in Macedonia is connected with two important historical da-
tes: the year 168 BC marks the end of the Antigonid Dynasty, when Aemilius Paullus defeated
King Perseus at the battle of Pydna. Macedonia was then divided by the Romans into four in-
dependent parts (merides). Twenty years later, in 148 BC, Caecilius Metellus defeated the rebel
Andriskos near Pydna and created the Roman provincia Macedonia with a permanent Roman
presence34.
In contrast with the situation in the late-Classical / early Hellenistic period, we now have reli-
able contextual material from sites, which dates from the middle of the 2nd cent. BC onwards
(see Appendix, p. 278). In the destruction layer of the Metroon in Vergina the latest coin of
168149BC allows to date the ceramics found in it to around the middle of the 2nd centuryBC
or slightly later35. The destruction layer of the House of the collector in Vardarski Rid dates to
the late 2ndcent. BC according to the latest coin of 114/3 BC36, and that of the Agora of Pella to
the first decade of the 1st cent. BC37. Stratified deposits with valuable ceramic assemblages for
the period in question have also been published from Stobi38, while some closed contexts from
28
Karamitrou-Mentesidi 2011, 410. 419 pl. 172, c. d; Akamatis 2013, 56 pl. 65, 6.
29
Drougou 1988, but for the dating of the burial see Kotitsa 2007, 57 note 181 and Kotitsa in press.
30
Tzanavari Filis 2002, 209; Kotitsa 2007, 114 fig. 3. 5; Rhomiopoulou 2013, 358 (N. Vogeikof-Brogan).
On the difficulty to recognise Attic products from local imitations see recently Kotitsa 2013, 6769.
31
Local traditions may retain old forms though for a longer period, as is the case of the skyphos in Eastern
Macedonia: Poulios 1994, 125126 pl. 68a; 70a; 71a; see also Graikos 2006, 827828 fig. 5 (exaleiptra);
Kotitsa 2007, 69 (oinochoe with cutaway rim).
32
It is striking that this change took place at a similar time also in Athens: Rotroff 2006, 141. Drougou
Touratsoglou 2012a, 240 date this change in Macedonia in the middle of the 3rd century BC. Cf.
Hardiman 2010, who defines the art in Macedonia until 221 BC as classical, although he is basically
referring to the material culture of the 4th century BC with the exception of some Macedonian tombs (pp.
512513).
33
See a brief overview by Adams 2010, 219222.
34
On the events that marked the last years of the Antigonid Kingdom see the overview in Eckstein 2010,
240248 (with bibliography).
35
Drougou Touratsoglou 2000, 313317.
36
Blazevska 2011, 482; cf. the earlier remark of Mitrevski 2005, 247: latest coin is dated somewhere
around 148 BC..
37
Akamatis 2011, 387391.
38
Anderson-Stojanovi 1992 passim.

IARPotHP - 1
 Historical Change and Ceramic Tradition 277

the Agora of Thessaloniki going as far as the early 1st cent. AD may also be useful, although they
have been dated by the pottery itself and in rather broad chronological brackets39. As Roman
pottery gained little importance in Greece, we lack though information about the emergence of
Roman wares at most sites. The laudable exception is the publication of Roman pottery from
three sites in Eastern Macedonia (Amphipolis, Kepia, Philippi) by Vaitsa Malamidou40.
Graves from the late Hellenistic period in Macedonia are often rock-cut tombs containing
multiple burials. The finds were mostly grouped by scholars based on the typology of the
ceramics and do not constitute reliable assemblages. Even in cases of single burials it is difficult
to establish a precise chronology of the grave goods because of the lack of coins that could
allow a relative chronological sequence. On the other hand, the dating of the coinage of the
Macedonian cities Thessaloniki, Pella and Amphipolis is still under discussion41. More or less
firmly dated burials of the last years of the Antigonid Kingdom until the early Imperial period
are therefore rather few and located in Veroia42, Pydna43, different sites in Western and Eastern
Macedonia44 as well as in Thessaloniki45.
Several characteristic shapes of the 4th and 3rd cent. BC continued to be produced throughout
the 2nd cent. BC in Macedonia, such as the so-called Macedonian amphora, the pyxides of
type I, the unguentaria and the spool saltcellars, together with echinus bowls and bowls with
outturned rim (fig. 4). Pyxides type I and spool saltcellars seem to last until the beginning of
the 1st cent. BC, since the latest specimens were found in the destruction layer of the Agora of
Pella46. It is worth noting that unlike the situation in Athens, where the spool saltcellar was of
short duration (325-295 BC)47, the shape survived in Macedonia with slender proportions for
more than two centuries48. The latest Macedonian amphorae have been found in contexts of the
Agora of Thessaloniki dated from the third quarter of the 1st cent. BC to the early 1stcent.AD49.
The fusiform unguentaria continued to be used according to the dated assemblages until the
second half of the 1st cent. BC becoming either more and more slender so that they can hardly
stand upright or changing to more globular forms after the middle of the 2nd cent. BC50.
From the late 2nd century BC new shapes of perfume vessels also emerged, which should
probably better be called bottles (fig. 5)51. It is not easy to establish whether some of them
can be seen as antecedents of the bulbous unguentaria emerging in the Mediterranean in the
second half of the 1st cent. BC according to the current state of research52. In any case, several
bulbous unguentaria have been reported from assemblages in the Agora of Thessaloniki,
dated between the third quarter of the 1st cent. BC and the beginning of the 1st cent. AD53. One
specimen came from a burial near Drama (Prosotsani) in Eastern Macedonia which contained

39
Adam-Veleni et al. 2000.
40
Malamidou 2005.
41
The dates of these coins range from 187/6168/7 BC (Drougou Touratsoglou 2012a, 264271) to after
168 BC (Gatzolis 2010, 361364 ) or after 148 BC (Kourempanas 2011).
42
Drougou Touratsoglou 1980.
43
Kallini 2011.
44
Poulios 1994, 117122; Vatali 2004.
45
Tsimbidou-Avloniti 1994, 8487.
46
Kotitsa 1996, 24; Akamatis 2011, 386 pl. 161, 2; 165, 7.
47
Rotroff 1997b, 166.
48
Vatali 2004, 233 pl. 75, 7; 76, 2; 77, 1; 79, 2; 80, 2; Akamatis 2011, 386 pl. 161, 2; 165, 7.
49
Adam-Veleni et al. 2000, 280281.
50
For a firmly dated late example see Tsimbidou-Avloniti 1994, 8687 pl. 42b.
51
Drougou Touratsoglou 1980, 39 1261, 1262 pl. 13; pp. 7879. 90 1460, 2135 pl. 53. 61;
Adam-Veleni et al. 2000, 291 no. 132134 pl. 143, 13; Rhomiopoulou 2000, 37 pl. 4; Trakossopoulou-
Salakidou 2004, 181 pl. 55, a; Akamatis 2011, 385 pl. 159, 5; 164, 68; Blaevska 2011, 477 pl. 198, e;
see also two examples of a special form from the 3rd und 2nd centuries BC from Samothrace and Akanthos:
Karadima 2000, 382 pl. 286, d; 289, d; Kaltsas 1998, 107. 262 drawing 30 pl. 117, b.
52
Anderson-Stojanovi 1987, 110114; Berlin 1997, 5960; Hempel 2001, 4041; Rotroff 2006, 156.
53
Adam-Veleni et al. 2000, 282. 283.

Traditions and Innovations

278 Zoi Kotitsa

a coin hoard dated to the Augustan period54. The recent excavations in Thessaloniki during the
works for the subway system brought to light further examples found together with fusiform
unguentaria, shown by the excavator Lilian Achilara at the 9th Scientific Meeting for Hellenistic
Pottery in Thessaloniki in December 2012. The publication of these finds may contribute to the
chronological classification of these vessels in Macedonia.
However, significant changes in the ceramics of Macedonia already took place in the first half of
the 2nd century with the emergence of the moldmade bowls in burials in western Macedonia
(Polymylos/Kozani) dated by coins of Philip V and the Macedonian Koinon55. They were found
together with more complex vessels based on the shape of the moldmade bowl, which are re-
corded also from other Macedonian sites and belong mostly to the second half of the 2nd and
the first half of the 1st cent. BC56. Assemblages from Stobi attest the use of the moldmade bowl
in Macedonia until the third quarter of the 1st cent. BC57.
Further changes in the Macedonian ceramics occured after the middle of the 2nd cent. BC with
the introduction of the moldmade lamps and of new wares like the Terra Sigillata and the thin-
walled wares (graph 2).
According to datable assemblages, moldmade lamps should have emerged in Macedonia around
the middle of the 2nd cent. BC, since they were found in the Metroon of Vergina58. However,
this does not mean that wheelmade lamps disappeared. They were found in small quantities
in assemblages of the Agora of Thessaloniki, dated from the second / third quarter of the 1st
cent. BC to the early 1st cent. AD59. These assemblages contained also the earliest Roman lamps
found in Macedonia, together with moldmade lamps of earlier types, mostly the so-called Ephe-
sos-lamps.
Among the red-gloss wares which became popular in the Imperial period throughout the Ro-
man world, the Eastern Sigillata A (ESA) of north-western Syrian provenance has been de-
tected in Macedonian assemblages of the late 2nd cent. BC as in Vardarski Rid60 and in Stobi.
Especially among the abundant and well documented pottery from Stobi, the ESA emerged in
the late 2nd or 1st cent. BC and continued down to the second half of the 1st cent. AD with local
imitations61. ESA fragments have also been reported from assemblages of the second half of the
2nd cent. BC from the Agora of Thessaloniki62. By contrast, the ESA appears in eastern Macedo-
nia much later, around 40 BC63.
The relation of some red-slipped vessels, some of gray fabric, and new distinct angular shapes
to the sigillata wares remains unclear. Such vessels have been reported from assemblages dated
as early as around the middle of the 2nd cent. BC like those from the Metroon of Vergina64.

54
Poulios 1994, 122 pl. 71, 2.
55
Vatali 2004, 224. 229. 231 pl. 75, 3; 78. A distinction between homeric moldmade bowls or bowls with
special relief decor such as the Macedonian shield is not relevant for the subject of this paper; on these issus
and their historical implications see Drougou Touratsoglou 2012a, 246252. Generally on moldmade
bowls in Macedonia see lately Drougou 2012c.
56
On distribution, chronology and iconography of such vessels see Akamatis 2010, 226236; Blaevska2011,
478 pl. 200, b.
57
Anderson-Stojanovi 1992, 2930.
58
Drougou Touratsoglou 2000, 313 fig. 8; see also on this topic Drougou 2012b, 98104.
59
Adam-Veleni et al. 2000, 280282; cfr. Drougou 1992, 6263; Drougou 2012b, 98.
60
Blaevska 2011, 479 Taf. 201, f, although the fabric, as it appears on the photograph, would support a
local/ regional imitation of ESA.
61
Anderson-Stojanovi 1992, 4445.
62
Adam-Veleni et al. 2000, 277. 279.
63
Malamidou 2005, 83.
64
Drougou Touratsoglou 2000, 313 fig. 10. For further examples see Drougou Touratsoglou 1980, 36
1266, 1267 pl. 11; 86 2098 pl. 56; 89 2127 pl. 60; Akamatis 2011, 385 pl. 160, e; 165, c. d.

IARPotHP - 1
 Historical Change and Ceramic Tradition 279

The first western imports of Campana A and B or vessels influenced by them emerged in Mace-
donia also in the second half of the 2nd cent. BC. Such finds have been recorded in the House of
the Collector in Vardarski Rid65 as well as in Stobi66.
Thin-walled wares, also of Italian provenance and imitated in different workshops, were found
in burials in Acanthos67 and Thessaloniki68, datable to the late 2nd and early 1st cent. BC, as
well as in assemblages from the Agora of Thessaloniki69 and in Stobi where they continued to
be present until at least the late 1st cent. AD70.
By contrast, Italian sigillata emerged later. We find it in Stobi in assemblages from the late
1stcent. BC onwards71 and in the Agora of Thessaloniki in contexts dated between the third
quarter of the 1st cent. BC and the beginning of the 1st cent. AD72. From the same contexts were
also reported the first specimens of ESB73 which emerged in Stobi during the 1st cent.AD74.
Finally, in terms of decoration the latest examples of West-Slope pottery in Macedonia came
from the destruction layer of the Agora of Pella of the very early 1st cent. BC75. The motifs are
rather simple and consist of incised and white elements.
To sum up the results concerning the ceramics in the late Hellenistic and early Roman periods of
Macedonia, we can say that most of the significant changes which continued later on, took place
after the Roman conquest and mainly after the foundation of the provincia Macedonia in 148BC
(graph 2). Nevertheless, there was for a long time no clear break in the ceramic tradition. If at
the beginning of the Hellenistic period it took about 50 years from the emergence of new shapes
to their establishment and the vanishing of all Classical ones, it took about a century until the
character of the pottery in Macedonia changed completely and can be defined as Roman. When
exactly the pottery in Macedonia ceased to be Hellenistic is difficult to determine in the present
state of research. It seems not far from the truth if we suggest a turning point in the Augustan
period, in the late 1st cent. BC / early 1st cent. AD76. At any rate, the arrival of the Romans in
this region did not cause groundbreaking changes in the production of ceramics, similar to two
centuries earlier, when the Hellenistic empire was created by Alexander the Great.
Summing up the data resulting from this study, it can be said that the Hellenistic pottery of
Macedonia belongs between 275 BC and the late 1st cent. BC / early 1st cent. AD, with transi-
tional periods between 330/20 275 BC and 125/100 BC late 1st cent. BC / early 1st cent.AD
(graph 1. 2). Consequently, going back to the question stated at the beginning of this paper
whether the pottery from Ancient Macedonia can be defined as Hellenistic in accordance with
the beginning and the end of the Hellenistic period in this region, the answer is obviously ne-
gative77.

65
Blaevska 2011, 480 pl. 202, e.
66
Anderson-Stojanovi 1992, 1719.
67
Trakossopoulou-Salakidou 2004, 181 pl. 55, a.
68
Tsimbidou-Avloniti 1994, 86 pl. 42, a. c.
69
Adam-Veleni et al. 2000, 280283.
70
Anderson-Stojanovi 1992, 3543.
71
Anderson-Stojanovi 1992, 4550.
72
Adam-Veleni et al. 2000, 281283.
73
Adam-Veleni et al. 2000, 281. 296297 no. 238.
74
Anderson-Stojanovi 1992, 189.
75
Kotitsa 1996, 86 fig. 131 (HKM 19c. d) pl. 13 (HKM 19c).
76
Cf. the different views expressed on this issue: Anderson-Stojanovi 1992 defines as hellenistic the whole
1st century BC; similarly, Drougou 2009, 129 note 45, sees a continuation of the hellenistic ceramic tradition
in Greece until the 1st century AD. On the contrary, Tsimbidou-Avloniti 1994, 86 does not see the ceramics
of the 1st century BC as part of the hellenistic pottery. Malamidou 2005, 26 also states that by the end of
the 2nd century BC the hellenistic tradition gave way to a new era of mass-production. Kousser 2010,
522532 observed a continuity also in the visual culture of Macedonia for a long period after the Roman
conquest and examined its impact on the conquerors.
77
Cf. the similar conclusion of Rotroff 1997a, 112 after the study of the Athenian pottery in the period after
the sack of Sulla: pottery is a poor guide to political and military events.

Traditions and Innovations

280 Zoi Kotitsa

Appendix

Macedonian sites with late-Classical to early Hellenistic closed or datable contexts considered for this
paper, and relevant bibliography.

Sites
Olynthos: Robinson 1952
Pella: Akamatis 2013

Burials
Aiani: Karamitrou-Mentesidi 2011
Aiginio: Kotitsa 2007
Aineia: Vokotopoulou 1990; Kotitsa Nazlis 2006
Akanthos: Kaltsas 1998; Trakossopoulou-Salakidou 2004, 174179
Amphipolis: Rhomiopoulou 1964; Rhomiopoulou 2013
Archontiko (Pella): Chrysostomou Chrysostomou 2011
Derveni: Themelis Touratsoglou 1997
Lete: Tzanavari Filis 2002
N. Philadelphia (Thessaloniki): Missailidou-Despotidou 1999
Pella: Lilimbaki-Akamati 1989-91
Pydna: Kotitsa 2004; Kotitsa in press
Thessaloniki: Tsimbidou-Avloniti 1994, 8182
Vergina: Alexandropoulou 2007
Veroia: Graikos 2006

Macedonian sites with closed or datable contexts from the end of the Antigonid Kingdom to the early
Imperial period considered for this paper, and relevant bibliography.

Sites
Amphipolis: Malamidou 2005 passim
Kepia: Malamidou 2005 passim
Pella: Akamatis 2011
Petres (Florina): Akamatis 2010
Philippi: Malamidou 2005 passim
Thessaloniki: Adam-Veleni et al. 2000
Stobi: Anderson-Stojanovi 1992 passim
Vardarski Rid: Blaevska 2011
Vergina: Drougou Touratsoglou 2000

Burials
Akanthos: Trakossopoulou-Salakidou 2004, 180182
Grammeni (Drama): Poulios 1994, 118119
Mikropoli (Drama): Poulios 1994, 117118, 121122
Polymylos (Kozani): Vatali 2004
Prosotsani (Drama): Poulios 1994, 120121; 122
Pydna: Kallini 2011; Kotitsa in press
Thessaloniki: Tsimbidou-Avloniti 1994, 8487
Veroia: Drougou Touratsoglou 1980

Zoi Kotitsa
zoiko@web.de
Friedrich-Spee Strasse 23
97072 Wrzburg, Germany

IARPotHP - 1
 Historical Change and Ceramic Tradition 281

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 Historical Change and Ceramic Tradition 285

Graph 1: Tradition and change in the ceramic repertoire of Ancient Macedonia in the
late-Classical/early Hellenistic periods (prepared by Z. Kotitsa).

Graph 2: Tradition and change in the ceramic repertoire of Ancient Macedonia from
the late-Hellenistic to the early Imperial period (prepared by Z. Kotitsa).

Traditions and Innovations

 286 Zoi Kotitsa

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Fig. 4

Fig. 5

Fig. 15: Northern cemetery of Pydna. Fig. 1 : Grave 26, Plot 937: 330/325 BC; Fig. 2: Grave 76, Plot 947: ca.
300 BC; Fig. 3 : Grave 218, Plot 951: 300-285 BC (with a worn coin of King Cassander); Fig. 4: Grave 384,
Plot 480: 185180/75 BC (with a coin of Philip V of 186183/2 BC); Fig. 5 : Grave 57, Plot 951: 10090BC
(Photos by Z. Kotitsa).

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