TUDES DARCHOLOGIE 5POTTERY MARKETS IN THE ANCIENT GREEK WORLD
(8th - 1st CENTURIES B.C.)Proceedings of the International
Symposiumheld at the Universit libre de Bruxelles19-21 June
2008Edited byAthena Tsingarida and Didier Viviers tudes darchologie
5POTTERY MARKETS IN THE ANCIENT GREEK WORLD (8th - 1st centuries
B.C.)Proceedings of the International Symposiumheld at the
Universit libre de Bruxelles19-21 June 2008Edited byAthena
Tsingarida and Didier ViviersWith the contribution of Zosia
Archibald, Alain Bresson, Fabienne Burkhalter, Vronique Chankowski,
FrancaCibecchini, John K. Davies, Franois de Callata, Martine
Denoyelle, Raymond Descat, Pierre Dupont, Sandrine Elaigne, Roland
tienne, Alan Johnston, Elisabeth Langridge-Noti, Eleni Manakidou,
Natacha Massar, Tomas R. Patrick, Gary Reger, Katerina
Rhomiopoulou, Pierre Rouillard, Elisabeth Trinkl, Athena
Tsingarida, Annie Verbanck, Alexandra Villing, Didier Viviers,
DyfriWilliamsBruxellesCReA-Patrimoine2013diteurCReA-Patrimoine
Centre de Recherches en Archologie et Patrimoine
(CReA-Patrimoine)Universit libre de Bruxelles50, av. F.D. Roosevelt
/ CP 175B-1050 [email protected]://crea.ulb.ac.beISBN :
9789461360335Impression : Le Livre TimpermanCoverDrawing from P.
Hartwig, Die griechischen Meisterschalen, Stuttgart, 1893, pl.
17.1, kylix, Baltimore(MD), John Hopkins University D4.tudes
darchologie 5tudes dArchologie Classique de lULB
75ContentsForewordAthena Tsingarida and Didier
Viviers7Abbreviations9Introduction. Ceramics and the economic
historian: mixed messages and unharmonised agendas John K.
Davies11I. TRADE AND TRADERS : VALUE, TRANSPORT AND PLACES OF
EXCHANGE Introduction Te Greek Vase Trade: some refections about
scale, value and market Alain Bresson and Franois de Callata21La
cramique sur le march : lobjet, sa valeur et son prix. Problmes
dinterprtation et de confrontation des sourcesVronique
Chankowski25Greek Poters and Painters: Marketing and Movings Dyfri
Williams39Consuming Iconographies Elisabeth Langridge-Noti61Egypt
as a market for Greek potery: Some thoughts on production,
consumption and distribution in an intercultural environment
Alexandra Villing73Naukratis, Aegina and Laconia;some individuals
and potery distribution Alan Johnston103II. MARKET AND PRODUCTS :
THE MARKETS OF FINE WARE IntroductionTe Markets of Fine Ware Athena
Tsingarida115Economic Regionalism in Teory and Practice Gary
Reger119Joining up the dots: making economic sense of potery
distributions in the Aegean and beyondZosia Archibald133Corinthian
Potery at Syracuse in the Late 8th and 7th Centuries BCTomas R.
Patrick159Northern Greek MarketsKaterina Rhomiopoulou171March
rgional, importations et imitations de cramiques corinthiennes et
atiques Karabournaki (Macdoine) lpoque archaque Eleni
Manakidou175Classical Black-Glazed Imports to Western Asia
MinorElisabeth Trinkl1896IntroductionSpina : un avant-poste de la
cramique italiote en Etrurie padane ?Martine Denoyelle203Elments
dvaluation des chelles de difusion de la vaisselle de table au IIe
sicle avant J.-C. dans le monde hellnistiqueSandrine Elaigne213III.
MARKET AND PRODUCTS : VASE CONTAINERSIntroductionRaymond
Descat231Trafcs amphoriques et commerce de vases dans le Pont-Euxin
archaque : quelques aspectsPierre Dupont233Le commerce du vin et le
commerce de la cramique hellnistique tyrrhnienne en Mditerrane
occidentale au IIIe sicle avant J.-C. : le point de vue maritime
Franca Cibecchini237Les amphores vinaires dans la documentation
papyrologique d'poque ptolmaque : production, prix et
capacitFabienne Burkhalter251Follow the scent Marketing perfume
vases in the Greek worldAnnie Verbanck et Natacha
Massar273ConclusionsRoland Etienne avec la collaboration de Pierre
Rouillard301About the contributors3079AbbreviationsABV = J.D.
Beazley, Attic Black-fgure Vase-painters Oxford, 1956.Add2 = J.D.
Beazley, Addenda: Second Additional References to ABV, ARV2and
Paralipomena (compiled by T.H. Carpenter) Oxford, 1989.AGRP = T.
Melander and J. Christiansen (eds), Ancient Greek and Related
Pottery, Copenhagen, 1988.APP = J.H. Oakley, W.D.E. Coulson, O.
Palagia (eds.), Athenian Potters and Painters Oxford, 1997.APP II =
J.H. Oakley and O. Palagia (eds.), Athenian Potters and Painters
Volume II, Oxford, 2009.ARV2 = J.D. Beazley, Attic Red-fgure
Vase-painters Oxford,
1963.TeAthenianAgoraIII=R.E.Wycherley,LiteraryandEpigraphicalTestimonia,Princeton(N.J.)1957
[TeAthenian Agora
III].TeAthenianAgoraXII=B.A.SparkesandL.Talcott,BlackandPlainPotteryofthe6th,5thand4th
CenturiesB.C.,Princeton (N.J.), 1970 [Te Athenian Agora XII].Te
Athenian Agora XIV = H. Thompson and R.E. Wycherley, Te Agora of
Athens : the history, shape and uses of an ancient city centre,
Princeton, 1972 [Te Athenian Agora XIV].Te Athenian Agora XIX = G.
Lalonde, M. Langdon, M.B. Walbank, Inscriptions, Princeton (N.J.),
1991 [Te Athenian Agora XIX].Te Athenian Agora XXIII = M. Moore,
and M.Z. Philippides, Attic Black-Figure Pottery, Princeton, 1986
[Te Athenian Agora XXIII].Bresson, 2007 = A. Bresson, Lconomie de
la Grce des cits (fn de Vie-Ier sicle a.C.). I. Les structures et
la production,
Paris.Bresson,2008=A.Bresson,LconomiedelaGrcedescits(fnde
Vie-Iersiclea.C.).II.Lesespacesde lchange, Paris.Johnston 1979 = A.
Johnston Trademarks on Greek Vases, Warminster.Johnston 2006 = A.
Johnston Trademarks on Greek Vases. Addenda, Oxford.Le vase grec =
P. Rouillard, A. Verbanck-Pierard (eds), Le vase grec et ses
destins, Munich, 2003.Para = J.D. Beazley, Paralipomena: Additions
to Attic Black-Figure Vase-Painters and to Attic Red-fgure
Vase-painters Oxford, 1971.Tsingarida, 2009= A. Tsingarida (ed.),
Shapes and Uses of Greek Vases (7th 4th centuries B.C.),
Brussels.21TedisenchantedintroductionofJohnDaviesis reminiscent of
Harold Jones work in 1956 concerning Roman numismatics.1 All this
tremendous amount of chronological and typological studies (setting
aside art history) is, while essential, still only preliminary work
for the economist. Authorized or un-authorized excavations have
brought to light a gigantic quantity
ofceramicevidence,rangingfromtheca.100,000
high-qualityvasesdulyregisteredintheBeazley Archives to million
pieces, often potsherds, of more
commonceramics.2Yetquantifcationisstillsadly
missing.Wemaynotsharetheoverlypessimistic
toneofDavieswhenhelamentsforthe95%
percentofallSouthItalianpotterywithnosecure archaeological context
(the remaining 5% might be enoughtofxourideas)orwhenhedeploresthe
shaky foundations of the survival ratio proposed for Panathenaic
amphorae (0.25% = 1/400th),3 the only such calculation ever
attempted for Greek vases and dangerously extrapolated elsewhere,4
but it remains 1A.H.M.Jones,Numismaticsandhistory,in:
R.A.G.CarsonandC.H.V.Sutherland(eds.),Essays in Roman Coinage
Presented to Harold Mattingly, Oxford, 1956, 13.2 See also the
18,398 Greek vases sold from 1954 to 1998 coming from 596 auction
catalogues (V. Nrskov, Greek VasesinNewContexts.TeCollectingand
Trading ofGreekVasesAnAspectoftheModernReceptionof Antiquity,
Aarhus, 2002, 256-257).3SeeR.M.Cook,DieBedeutungderbemalten
KeramikfrdengriechischenHandel,JdaI74,1959,
114-123,andM.Bentz,PanathenischePreisamphoren:
eineathenischeVasengattungundihreFunktionvom
6.-4.Jahrhundertv.Chr.,Basel,1998.Alsothecritical
commentsofA.Johnston,GreekVasesinthe
Marketplace,in:T.RasmussenandN.Spivey(eds.), Looking at Greek
Vases, Cambridge, 1991, 208-209, 221
andPanathenaicAmphorae,Again,ZPE161(2007),
101-104.4Exabsurdo,wemayprovethatasurvivalratioof
1/400thmayoccasionallybetoolowbyexaminingthe
caseofthefamousDouris,whoissurvivedbyca.40
truethatsuchanaccumulationofevidencehasso far resulted in very few
quantifed demonstrations.Unlike their numismatic colleagues looking
at dies, vase specialists cannot claim to estimate how many
itemswereproducedatacertainplaceandtime.
Itisindeedunlikelythatvaseproductioncould
everbeestimatedwithanydegreeoffneness,but much more could be done,
and the lack of research
alongthoselinesiseloquenttestimonytothelack of consideration thus
far given to Greek vases from
aneconomicstandpoint.Wecanframerealities
throughthenumberofinvolvedworkers,their
dailyproductioncapacities,thenumberofkilns
ortheamountsofrequestedcommodities,mainly
wood(onthisseeWilliams25-26);5meanwhile, signed vases while 300
more are attributed to him. Now 350 surviving vases would imply an
original production of140,000vases(witha0.25%survivalratio),which
makesnearly20vasesadayfor30years,assuming 250
workingdaysperyear(andwehavetoremind
ourselvesthatinwintermostpotteryworkwasalmost
impossible,asthekilnwasthreatenedbyrainandthe
dryingofnewlythrownvaseswasnearlyimpracticable
J.M.Hemelrijk,ACloserLookatthePotter,in: Rasmussen and Spivey 1991,
cit., 256), a clearly unlikely and much too high rate of
productivity. 5Noneofthisisreallydealtwithbythepapersof
thischapter.Estimateshavebeenproposed,however,
whichawaitmorethoroughdiscussion:forthesizeof the workshops, see
V.V. Stissi, Pottery to the People. Te
Production,DistributionandConsumptionofDecorated
PotteryintheGreekWorldintheArchaicPeriod(650-480
BC),Amsterdam,2002(PhD),123-144(VII
Signatures,attributionandthesizeandorganizationof
workshops)orJ.Whitley,TeArchaeologyofAncient
Greece,Cambridge,2001,177-178;seealsoe.g.M.
Shanks,ArtandtheEarlyGreekState.AnInterpretive
Archaeology,Cambridge,1999,44-48,proposingthe number of ca. 6,700
decorated Corinthian vases produced every year during the seventh
century, arguing for a daily production of ca. 200 small aryballoi
for a skilled thrower
(informationgivenbyMichaelCasson,potterinRoss-IntroductionTe Greek
Vase Trade: some refections about scale, value and marketAl ai
nBresson&Fr anoi s deCallata22I. Trade and Traders: Value,
Transport and places of
exchangeshipwreckscanalsodeliveressentialmessages.6Of course, John
Davies is deliberately provocative in writing that the CVA is
totally useless and Beazleys catalogues scarcely less so (Davies,
3). But the fact isthattoputGreekvasesineconomicperspective is
largely to make them fall down from the pedestal
arthistorianshavebuiltintheirhistoricalquestto fnd a substitute for
the lost great Greek paintings.
Greekvasesevendecoratedvasesseemtohave been frequently sold in lots
for low prices. Basketry was slightly more expensive. Vronique
Chankowski is doing very well to fnd her way among the scanty
andequivocalevidenceforpricesonvases(almost
exclusivelyfneAtticwares).Usingtheconvenient standard estimate of
one drachma as the daily wage
ofanunskilledworker,sheconcludesthatevena
commonstorageamphorawouldhaverequireda
fulldayswages(Chankowski,28).Tereverseis
possiblymoreimpressive:withnoteventhewages of a single day, a
simple mason could aford to buy
severaloinochoesortwoPanathenaicamphorae
(between2.4and3.7obolseach),whichareby defnition large decorated
vases nowadays exhibited withgreatcareandprideinourmuseums.Te
gapwithsilverwarelooksindicativeofhowlittle
labourcountedfor.Inotherwords,andasnearly everyone is now convinced
after the demonstration ofGilland Vickers,Greekceramicvasescanbeof
paramount interest in looking at economic networks
anduse(primary,secondary,tertiary),butitis
doubtfulthat,consideringtheirstrictlyeconomic value, they could
have represented more than a tiny
shareofthetotaltrade.7AsfrmlyputbySalmon
fortheCorinthianvaseindustry:Teconclusion
on-Wye)andcommentingonR.M.Cook(1959:ca.
500workersatAthensinvolvedinpotteryproduction
fortheffthcentury,halfthatnumberatCorinth)and J.B. Salmon (Wealthy
Corinth: a History of the City to 338 BC, Oxford, 1984, 105: ca.
30-40,000 Corinthian vases found at Megara
Hyblaeia).6Onwhatcanbedonewithshipwrecks,see D.
Gibbins,ShipwrecksandHellenistictrade,in: Z.Archibald et al.
(eds.), Hellenistic economies, London
andNewYork,2001,273-312.Supposinganaverage
cargoof1,500amphorae,theca.55millionIberic
amphoraeoftheMonteTestacciomakesome36,500
arrivalsinRome,orca.250cargoeseveryyearfor150 years, a clearly
impressive estimate even if we divide it by two by assuming an
average cargo of 3,000 amphorae, see Cibecchini in this volume,
237-249.7M.VickersandD.Gill,ArtfulCrafts:Ancient Greek Silverware
and Pottery, Oxford, 1994.is inevitable that pottery production was
an almost insignifcant sector of the Corinthian economy even though
many Greeks used the ware.8 On the other
hand,tore-qualifythemasmerespacefllersor
saleableballastistogotoofarintheopposite direction, as already
argued by one of us (Bresson 2008, 167-172).9
Manyofthepaperspresentedinthissectionare
devotedtocommercialstrategiesor,evenbetter
intermsofeconomicrationalism,todeliberate
marketing.Workingwithshapesandimages,or with the alleged ethnicity
of traders and consumers, hypothesesaredeveloped;thesearegenerally
convincing, although they may be over-subtle and the fact that
authors are constantly referring to the
samecasesmayundercutmuchofwhatisargued
(fortheEtrurianimitationsofNikosthenes,10 seeDavies
15,Williams45-46,Langridge-Noti 64, and Villing 48; for the large
and standardized cargo [ca. 1,800 fne drinking cups] of the Pointe
Lequin 1A wreck= Parker nr. 846, see Williams 32, Langridge-Noti
64, and Villing86).Lyingbeneathandnotexplicitlydiscussedisthe
tensionbetweentwooppositemodels:adynamic
one,hencemodernist,characterizedbyahigh
levelofexchanges,drivenbyproducersquickto
adaptthemselvestoemergingfashionslocated
atconsiderabledistances,whichimpliesmany
movementsofships,cargoesandmerchants;and
anotherone,farmorestatic,whereshipswererare and one single cargo
may exercise a lasting infuence
onthetypeofobjectsusedinthearea.Tiskind
ofoppositionisreminiscentofthefamousdebate between Keith Hopkins
and Richard Duncan-Jones concerningRomancoins.11TeGreeknumismatic 8
Salmon, 1984, 101.9A.Bresson,LconomiedelaGrceetdescits,
vol.2,Lesespacesdelchange,Paris,2008,167-172. D.W.J.
Gill,PotsandTrade:SpacefllersorObjets dArt?, JHS 111 (1991), 29-47,
remains essential reading and one of the few attempts to propose a
quantifed table for Attic imports in
Etruria.10Nikosthenesworkshop(ca.550-510BC)is
reputedtohavebeenoneofthelargestinAthens,with
perhapsasmanyas30-40workers.Nofewerthan133 vases are signed with
his name as a potter, see V. Tosto,
Teblack-fgurepotterysignedNikosthenesepoiesen, Amsterdam, 1999
[Allard Pierson Series 11].11K.Hopkins,TaxesandTradeintheRoman 23A.
Bresson & Fr. de CallataTe Greek Vase Trade: some refections
about scale, value and
marketworldtoocanoccasionallyoferstrikingexamples of unchanging
patterns, as with the coin circulation
ofancientCabyle(modernJambol,inBulgaria):
theSeleucidgarrisonstayedthereforaboutone
generation,butthebronzecoinsofAntiochusII
theybroughtatthattimecontinuedtoformthe bulk of local coinage for
two centuries.12 Withpowerfularguments,AlanJohnston(infra 102-106)
replies here to Peter Tonemann, who has made the daring proposal
that the Laconian material foundinNaukratismaywellhavebeenbrought
byonesingleship.13Againgeneralquantifcation
isnecessaryinordertokeepthingsproportionate
andtoavoidbeingseducedbywhatmaylook impressive at frst sight. Of
the ca. 120,000 stamped amphora handles recovered to date, ca.
86,000 have beenfoundinAlexandria,and,outoftheseca. 86,000, no
fewer than 80,000 come from Rhodian
amphorae,whichwerestampedonbothhandles. In terms of the percentage
of stamped amphorae, it
iscertainlyspectacular;intermsofthepercentage of amphorae as a
whole, it is (notwithstanding the limited extent of our knowledge)
clearly less so. But if, as Whitbread did,14 we try to fgure out
what these 40,000 Rhodian amphorae could have represented
asayearlyaverageoveraspanoftimeofca.150
years,itequatestoonemodestcargoof300-400
amphoraeperyear,oronelargercargoof3,000
amphoraeeveryfveorsixyearshardlyenough to warrant special notice by
ancient commentators (Gibbins2001,218).However,thequestionof course
remains open of the representativeness of the aggregate of 40,000
Rhodian amphorae. We have noideaoftheratiooftheamphoraerevealedby
the Rhodian amphora stamp found in Egypt to the
quantityofamphoraeactuallyimportedtoEgypt.
Fewwouldnowbelievehoweverthatonly40,000
RhodianamphoraewereexportedtoAlexandria Empire, 200 BC-AD 400, JRS
70 (1980), 101-125 and R. Duncan-Jones, Money and Government in the
Roman Empire, Cambridge, 1994. See also C. Howgego, Coin
CirculationandtheIntegrationoftheRomanEmpire, JRA 7 (1994), 5-21.12
D. Draganov, Te Coinage of Cabyle, Sofa, 1993, 136-144.13P.
Thonemann,Neilomandros.AContribution
totheHistoryofGreekPersonalNames,Chiron36 (2006), 11-43 (see
11).14I.K.Whitbread,GreekTransportAmphorae.A Petrological and
Archaeological Study, Athens, 1995,
26.over150years.Inthefuture,basicquantitative estimates based on
the ever better known stamping practices (the heart of the matter),
on the number ofactiveworkshops,andfnallyoncomparisons with
productions of similar wares from more recent
periods,willhelpustoprovidelessdespairing viewsif not for the
exports to a specifc direction,
thenatleastforRhodianamphoraproductionas awhole.
Beyondapurelyquantitativeapproach,the
contributionsofthisdossierleadtomorepositive
conclusions.Tefexibilityofproductiontosuit
thedesiresofapotentiallyvariedcustomerbaseis now beyond doubt, as
shown by E. Langridge-Noti. D.Williams insists on the unequivocal
evidence for the existence of a directed trade for ceramics as
early as the end of the sixth century, With the papers of
D.Williams, A. Villing and A. Johnston, the outlines
ofthetradingnetworks,withtradersoriginating
fromvariousbutoftenspecializedtradingcities,
likeAeginaandSamosintheLateArchaicperiod,
areonceagainperfectlyestablished.Tisillustrates
thediferentiationbetweentheproductionand
circulationprocesses.AsstudiedbyA.Villing,the special case of Egypt
in the Late Archaic and Early Classical periods determines the
contours and limits oftheEgyptianmarket,wherelocalindigenous
customers(viz.themassofthepopulation)played only a very limited
role. Teseanalysesinviteustoreopenthequestion
ofthemarket.Teancientworldsawtwomain modes of transfer of value:
constraint (which meant
variousformsofdirectextractionofvaluewithout
equivalentcompensation,likewarbootyremoval,
tribute,tax-payment,corveandslavery)and
themarket(whichpresupposesafreedecision
toproduceandsellandobtainingatangible
counterpartinvalueforthegoodtransferred).
Tespecifcinstitutionalarticulationbetween constraint and the market
is the key to making sense
oftheancientworldseconomicorganization.Te
ambiguityoftheancienteconomyinthisrespect
isperfectlyexemplifedbytheexistenceofmassive recourse to slaves,
who worked under constraint, but
veryfrequentlyalsoinfarmsorworkshopswhere the production was
oriented towards a market. Te
uniquenessofthecaseofceramicsproductionand trade is that, from the
clay pit to the fnal customer
(ifweputasidethecertainlyfrequentslavestatus
ofworkersemployedintheceramicsworkshops),
itbelongedalmostwhollytothesecondcategory 24I. Trade and Traders:
Value, Transport and places of
exchangeofvaluetransfer,thatofthemarket.Interestingly,
thisprovestobetrueoutsideoftheworldofthe
cities,eveninPtolemaicEgypt.15Teexistenceof
amultiplicityofspecializedceramicsmarkets(for common or luxury
wares, for local or international
clients,forcustomersofspecifcethnic,religious
andothertraditionalbackgrounds,orforpartners
connectedbyenduringorshort-termpolitical
links)shouldnotconcealthebasiceconomicfacts for ceramics: they were
goods produced at a certain cost and for proft; in specialized
workshops, not in a home production system or violently extracted
by constraint;inevitablymobilizingacertainamount of capital;
needing intermediary traders to sell them.
Indeed,thelocalproductioncosthadtopaythe investors and producers
and leave them a minimal, or even sometimes more comfortable proft,
as can be proved for some Attic potters of the Late Archaic
period(asD.Williamsusefullyremindsus).In some ways, this
anticipated the relative afuence of theirsuccessors of the Late
Hellenistic and Roman Imperial periods.16 Te same rule applied for
traders.Tepriceforthefnalcustomer,possiblyina
verydistantmarket,couldsharplydiferfromthe original price of the
good bought at the workshop, asweareonceagainhelpfullyremindedby
VroniqueChankowski.Anthropologicalparallels from the medieval and
early modern periods indeed
arealsousefultoimaginetheexistenceofsmall,
ratherautonomouspottersandresilientpotters
communities,whichcould(modestly)thrive
providedtheybecamepartofbroaderregionalor
internationalnetworks.Butfromthebeginning
totheenditwastheprincipleofcapitalandthe
marketthatoperated,arealitythattheinevitable
uncertaintiesregardingthequantitiesproduced
shouldnolongerconceal.Inthatsense,ceramics
productionanddistributionwerecertainlyno
diferentfromtheorganizationofproductionand distribution of other
marketed goods like weapons, furniture or perfumes, which in that
respect happen to be better documented in the world of the Greek
cities,buthaveleftfarfewerarchaeologicaltraces. 15 See F.
Burkhalters paper in the second section of this
volume.16E.E.Mayer,TeAncientMiddleClasses:Urban
LifeandAestheticsintheRomanEmpire,100BCE-250 CE, Cambridge, Ma.,
2012.To conclude on an optimistic note, it is clear that
scholarshipdevotedtoancientGreekceramics
hasmadeconsiderableprogressinlessthanone
generation.Tus,despitetheconditionslimiting
ourrecoursetomodernmethodsofinvestigation
inmanycountriesoftheEasternMediterranean
zone,someprogress(albeitstilltoolimited)has been made on the
investigation of ancient pottery
kilns.Tisishelpingtoreducetheyawning
gapwiththeinvestigationsconcerningWestern
EuropeintheImperialperiodand(aboveall)
themedievalandearlymodernperiods.Buta
renewalofresearchinspirationhasbegun.In parallel, it is certainly
worth mentioning the recent
developmentoffruitfuldebatesonmedievaland
earlymodernBritishpotteryproductionand consumption.17 Tey have
concerned the evolution of the relationship between pottery and
other classes ofmaterialculture,thelinkbetweensocialchanges
andchangesinmaterialculture,andtheroleof
importedpotteryasastimulusforinnovationor
asathreattothebalanceoftrade.Someofthese
issueshavealreadybeendealtwithinthescholarly
literatureconcerningtheancientGreekworld.18 To give two more
examples, this is the case also with the relationship between metal
ware and earthenware.19 Astudyoftheuseofcommonceramics(inwhich
thereisnowfortunatelyagrowinginterest)inthe
smalltownofOlbiainsouthernGaul,ofcourseas
usualmostlylocalproductions,hasrevealedlocal
culinarypracticesandculturalhabitsandtheir
evolution.20Itisnowtimeforabroaderandmore systematic approach. If
specialization is a prerequisite for empirical studies, it is only
by re-contextualizing theceramicsindustrywithinthewidercontextof
ancientGreekcraftsmanshipanditsinstitutional
backgroundaswellasthatofsocialconsumption
preferencesthatfurtherprogresswillbemade.17J.Thirsk,EconomicPolicyandProjects,Oxford,
1978;D.GaimsterandP.Stamper(eds.),Te
AgeofTransition:theArchaeologyofEnglishCulture
14001600,Oxford,1997[OxbowMonograph98]; C.G.
CumberpatchandP.W.Blinkhorn(eds.), Not so Much a Pot, More a Way of
Life, Oxford,1997 [Oxbow Monograph 83].18 See already the works
cited in n. 5.19 See above n. 7, Vickers and Gill
1994.20M.Bats,VaisselleetalimentationOlbiade
Provence:v.350-v.50av.J.-C.:modlesculturelset catgories cramiques,
Paris, 1988 [Revue archologique de Narbonnaise Supplment 18].
