A recent archaeological study challenges conventional notions about the origin of the Protogeometric ceramic style in Greece, suggesting that its starting point was not Athens, as traditionally believed, but the region of Macedonia in northern Greece.
The research focuses on a Macedonian vase decorated with concentric circles drawn with a compass, found in Eleon, Boeotia, within a Late Bronze Age context. This discovery implies an earlier chronology for the Protogeometric style and redefines the role of peripheral regions in the cultural evolution of ancient Greece.
Over the past twenty years, radiocarbon analyses in Mediterranean settlements have revealed differences in the absolute dates of the Early Iron Age, proposing a “high chronology” that places the beginning of this period 70 to 100 years earlier than estimated by the traditional “low chronology”.
However, southern Greece has not shown significant differences in its absolute chronology so far. This debate between alternative chronologies has intensified with new data from Macedonia, especially findings that link the development of the Protogeometric style to the region of Macedonia.
The key piece of this study is a Protogeometric vase, identified as an amphora or hydria, found in a Late Bronze Age sanctuary in Eleon, Boeotia. This sanctuary, dated approximately between 1150 and 1100 B.C., contains other ceramic pieces of similar origin. The vase displays decorations of concentric circles made with a compass, a distinctive element of the Protogeometric style that, according to the authors, indicates an emergence of this style in the 12th century B.C. in Macedonia.
The results of neutron activation analysis (NAA) and petrographic studies on the vase reveal that its composition is consistent with that of pieces from the Macedonian region. Such discoveries open the door to reconsidering how the Protogeometric style, and in particular the use of concentric circles, spread from the north to the south of Greece.
The study suggests that the origin of concentric circles as a decorative motif is linked to the introduction of an innovative multi-pivot brush in Macedonia, which would have marked the start of an artistic experimentation process that evolved into the Protogeometric style. During this period, pottery workshops in Macedonia developed their own techniques that later spread to other regions.
Similar pieces found at other Macedonian sites, such as Sindos and Kastanas, show decorations that reinforce the theory of an autonomous development of this style in the north, contrary to the established idea that the style emerged in Athens.
The expansion of the Protogeometric style to the rest of Greece may have been facilitated by the trade of Catling I-type amphorae, originating from Macedonia. These amphorae, decorated with concentric circles, were widely exported and became highly valued in other regions. According to the authors, the high demand for these amphorae may have accelerated the spread of the Protogeometric style, with Macedonia as its production center.
As this type of pottery was accepted and replicated elsewhere, decoration techniques using concentric circles were integrated into local repertoires, thus consolidating the style throughout the Greek world.
The dating of the Catling I-type amphorae and ceramic fragments in the Eleon sanctuary suggests that the development of the Protogeometric style began in Macedonia during the second half of the 12th century B.C.
The study calls for a reassessment of chronological and stylistic models that have favored linear interpretations centered on Athens, overshadowing the cultural contributions of peripheral regions like Macedonia. It advocates for a more in-depth exploration of regional diversity in Early Iron Age ceramic production, considering that, in some cases, styles may emerge and evolve in parallel in different areas. This could allow a more complex and realistic understanding of chronology and cultural exchange in ancient Greece.
SOURCES
Van Damme T, Lis B. The origin of the Protogeometric style in northern Greece and its relevance for the absolute chronology of the Early Iron Age. Antiquity. 2024;98(401):1271-1289. doi:10.15184/aqy.2024.144
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