Chemical Analysis and Interpretation of Mycenaean Pottery from Thessaly

Abstract

In this paper we report the results of a study utilizing wavelength-dispersive X-ray fluorescence analysis and petrographic analysis of Mycenaean pottery from 11 sites in Thessaly. The primary purpose of this analysis is to answer a number of questions concerning the production and distribution of pottery there during the Late Bronze Age, including the relative quantity of local ceramic production, the number of workshops producing Mycenaean pottery and patterns of ceramic distribution. We identify and characterize four compositional groups, discuss evidence of imported pottery, suggest several probable and possible workshop locations, discuss patterns of distribution and offer some tentative conclusions concerning economic processes at the periphery of the Mycenaean world.