Gnathia and Red-Figured Pottery from Apulia: The Continuity of a Production Technology

Samples of Gnathia pottery from Egnazia, one of the most important archaeological sites in Southern Italy (Cassano et al.2007), were examined with different complementary techniques. The conventional name of “Gnathia” pottery refers to the black gloss ware, typical of Hellenistic Age Apulian production, which had a wide circulation throughout the Mediterranean basin (Webster 1968; Green 2001). Over-painted decorations (usually in white, yellow and red), incisions and ribbings characterise this ceramic class. Questions concerning the technological and functional relationships of Gnathia with red-figured pottery, the typological and chronological classification of samples, and the location of workshops are still unsolved. This lack of data is due to the methodology followed to date in studies and classifications of this type of pottery, based almost exclusively on stylistic criteria used to define the most valuable figured pottery.