Panel 3.10 – Contextualizing craftsmanship in the ancient world: an "economic" sphere?


Organiser/Chair:

  • Mario Denti (Université Rennes 2)

Panel abstract

New methodological approaches and recent finds in archaeological and anthropological fields have been able to gradually soften the visions which limited (and often continue to do so) the craftsmanship sphere of the Ancient World to the exclusive field of the "production" and the "trade" for a long time – i.e., notions belonging to modernist economist conceptions. The critical conscience of the irreducibility and the complexity of the way of thinking of the Ancients, associated to the investigation of historical-political contexts and ideological-cultural elements in which the technological and craftsmanship activities were recorded, help us today to open new chapters on the way to the comprehension of a phenomenon in which not only the ritual sphere, but also requirements, culture and behaviors of the members of aristocracy, have played a role.

 

Paper abstracts

1. Mario Denti (Université Rennes 2)

Introduction to the panel Contextualizing craftsmanship in the ancient world: an "economic" sphere?

"Introduction" (Fulltext)

 

2. Sandra Blakely (Emory University)

Metallurgy between Myth and Production: cognized and operational craft in the Northeastern Aegean
What are the heuristic potentials for Rappaport’s cognized and operational models when applied to craft at the intersection of cutures – specifically iron metallurgy between Greeks and Thracians on the northeastern Aegean shores? And what are their implications for rethinking the ‘economic’ aspects of metal production? The southern Thracian shore was exceptionally rich in ores and local skills. Distinctions among local ores demanded different operational approaches to production; Kostoglou has used the material evidence to demonstrate that these operational models also constructed local community identities, among which production remained at the household and workshop level, even through the Roman period. Rappaport’s models help us recover some of the complexities in indigenous frameworks for the industry whose cultural function went far beyond production and trade. The Greek economic partners of these Thracians made both cosmological and ritual use of the daimones they constructed as the non-Greek, pre-Greek inventors of metallurgical craft in this region. The integration of these uses into our understanding of the evidence for emic, Thracian uses of metal production as a second level signifier helps move us toward a more complex model of that craft’s social function as simultaneously a locus of indigenous identity, and a means of enabling interaction with their non-Thracian economic partners in the region.

"Metallurgy between Myth and Production: Cognized and Operational Craft in the Northeastern Aegean" (Fulltext)

 

3. Julien Zurbach (Ecole normale supérieure)

Domestic vs commercial? Non-elite craftsmen between Mycenaean and Archaic times
This paper has two aims: by delineating the different forms of craft specialization in Late Bronze age Aegean communities, it should lead to the question of the continuities in that domain into later times; by examining the Homeric and Early archaic data on this topic it should lead to a questioning of the pertinence of the rigid distinction between the demiurgos on one side and the modest craftsmen of Greek city-states on the other side. By doing this, one would like to revise some current assumptions. Not every ‘specialization’ is linked to the palace in the LBA Aegean, on the contrary. A closer look at the economic condition of craftsmen shows the great variety of the forms of production preexisting to the palace, or existing without it. Notably, specialized communities are clearly attested. The question of the demiurgoi and through it the question of aristocratic control on production does not explain everything in Early Iron age and Homeric sources. One should also question the usual distinction between domestic and commercial or prestige production: is there really a sphere of domestic production and consumption completely separated from the rest? We will argue against that point of view.

"Domestic vs Commercial? Non-elite Craftsmen between Mycenaean and Archaic Times" (Fulltext)

 

4. Despina Tsiafakis ("Athena" Research Center)

Crafts and craftsmanship within the societies of Northern Greece in Archaic times
The recent archaeological research conducted in the region of Northern Greece, has brought to light significant information regarding the societies living there along with their activities and networking. The material remains, witness of the production and consumption of the inhabitants, indicate on the one hand aspects of a local economy interrelated with other (neighboring or not) communities and economies; on the other hand they present their functions and meanings for the people (male and female) who produced, used, and consumed them in various places and times.
Pottery production appears to be among the principal crafts developed throughout the ancient Greek world in order to fulfill a great range of needs (household, daily, private, public, religious, cultural etc.). Their distribution then again reflects trade as well as relations or common behaviors. Furthermore, pots satisfied also the needs of other types of craftsmanship (e.g. smithing) that met an extended development in the region of Northern Greece.
Those types of crafts and craftsmanship within this geographical framework during the Archaic times, is the subject of the paper. All the above suggest an organization and a system within it they functioned. And this can be traced through their primary, secondary etc. depositional context or find spot.

"Crafts and Craftsmanship within the Societies of Northern Greece in Archaic Times" (Fulltext)

 

5. Mario Denti (Université Rennes 2)

Craftsmanship and gentilitial empowerment in the South Italian Iron Age

"Craftsmanship and Gentilitial Empowerment in the South Italian Iron Age" (Fulltext)

 

6. Mathilde Villette (Université Rennes 2)

Greeks and indigenous potters in a same craft-working area of the South Italian Iron Age
The analysis of the material culture associated with the study of the structures resulting from the pottery workshops provides a valuable indicator in the understanding of the craftmanship activity of the ancient societies. They allow, when the level of conservation of the remains makes it possible, to establish the technological choices adopted and to define the level of production of the workshop while questioning the destination of the production.
Remains of Iron Age pottery workshops discovered in southern Italy are tenuous, except for the site of the Incoronata (actual Basilicata), which offers the possibility of analyzing a ceramic workshop in its almost totality and over a time relatively long: between at least the second half of the 8th century BC and throughout the 7th century BC. The other peculiarity of this site is to welcome, around the end of the 8th century BC, greek craftsmen who come to work side by side with the indigenous craftpeople, without sharing their know-how.
In this paper, we will present the remains of the workshop through time and then, propose reflections about the "economic" sphere, namely the technological choices adopted, the level of production and the destination of production, in order to better understand the organization of the societies where the workshops take place and the nature of the contacts between Greek and indigenous (craftmen) of the Iron Age in south Italy.

 

7. Katherine Harrington (Florida State University)

Craft and Community: Social and Economic Adaptation in the Corinthian Potters’ Quarter
Corinthian fineware was widely exported in the 7th-6th c. BCE, and excavations in the Potters’ Quarter of the city have produced extensive evidence of production, including misfired pottery, kiln supports, water channels, and workshop buildings. Yet, demand for Corinthian pottery declined over time, and the Quarter underwent a drastic transformation in the mid-5th c. BCE when the rerouting of the city wall destroyed several buildings. This paper focuses on this later period of transformation, and in particular, on a 5th-4th c. BCE house and workshop, the Terracotta Factory, which produced figurines and miniature vessels long after other clay-workers had moved elsewhere. The building provides clear evidence of the ability of a crafting household to respond actively to changing social and economic circumstances. I argue that this workshop survived into the 4th c. by intentionally modifying their range of products to meet a local, rather than long-distance, market, while still drawing on traditional technical knowledge and established infrastructure. In addition, after the rerouting of the city wall several destroyed buildings became sites of unusual cult activity, in the form of small stele shrines installed on top of the abandoned structures. Similar shrines were found at several other ceramic workshops elsewhere in Corinth, as well as in the Terracotta Factory. The residents of the Terracotta Factory thus likely remained part of the larger community of ceramic craftspeople.

"Craft and Community: Social and Economic Adaptation in the Corinthian Potters’ Quarter" (Fulltext)

 

8. Desirè Di Giuliomaria (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn)

The Roofing Decorative Systems in Rome during 6th c. BC: Dynamics between Monarchy and Craftsmanship
During the Archaic period, sacred and secular buildings in Rome, as well as in Etruria and Latium Vetus, were adorned with roofing decorative systems that conveyed images through acroteria, antefixes and friezes. Usually, scholars deal with the iconography and the general meaning of images, while scarce are the attempts to clarify who was the patron and why he commissioned those specific subjects. Focusing on Rome, the patron is probably the monarchy: during 6th c. BC, at least three kings succeeded one another to the throne. They are referred by sources having different behaviours. Without inspecting into ancient literature, through the analysis of images, it is possible to unveil the socio-political orders then in force. Different personalities are distinguishable behind the craftsmanship of architectural terracottas, in the choice of subjects to depict and workshops to employ. Furthermore, some of those Roman systems spread out in cities of neighbouring, allied or subjugated to Rome. Thus, an issue arises: was still the king who commissioned the embellishment of buildings with the images of own self-representation in those centres, or some cities just wanted to imitate the Urbe, employing same workshops and matrices? This new approach to the Roman context could begin a new address of research to understand better the dynamics between political order and craftsmanship. I hope my speech will stimulate a fervid debate.

 

9. Elisabeth Günther (Freie Universität Berlin)

Economic strategies and their frames of references: The case of the Paestan Asteas-Python-workshop
An extraordinary workshop of potters and painters can be found in the Greek colony Paestum in the 4th century BC: The Asteas-Python-workshop, being active for around 5 decades and producing an impressive amount of vase-paintings. However, the economic strategies of this workshop have not been explored yet. The main painters Asteas and Python (both the only signing painters in South Italy) collaborated with numerous nameless “associates”, who were closely related in respect of style. The huge output of this workshop as well as the wide span of products between (supposed) commissions and mass-products, which were based on the use of templates, the choice of different shapes and the varying complexity of the images make it a unique example to explore the organization of the workshop as well as the interdependencies of economy, product design and iconography. In addition, the images themselves reflect values of behavior as well as a deep interest in the Dionysian circle. Thus, the creation of vessel and painting are not only dominated by economic needs but reflect a complex bundle of socio-cultural frames. This paper aims to disentangle the economic, aesthetic, sociocultural and religious frameworks of the Asteas-Python-workshop, and to combine iconographic analysis with the find contexts in Paestum and Pontecagnano, therewith shedding light on both producers and recipients as the two sides of a not exclusively economic relationship.