Pots, piracy and Aegila. Hellenistic ceramics from an intensive survey of Antikythera, Greece

The small Greek island of Antikythera has a long history of human exploitation, of which one of the most interesting episodes is represented by a fortified settlement on the north coast of the island that can be plausibly identified as a centre of Hellenistic piratical activity. Hellenistic ‘Aegila’ has left both impressive standing remains and a range of portable finds that have attracted academic interest for over much of the last two centuries. This paper examines the pottery assemblage from this period recovered during a recent intensive survey over the island’s entire extent. We consider the spatial and typological character of this material as well as the implications it has for the Hellenistic community’s wider social, economic and political connections.