spatial organisation, technological evolution, kiln typology and ge

EVOLUÇÃO E TRANSFERÊNCIA DAS TÉCNICAS / THE DEVELOPMENT AND TRANSFER OF
TECHNIQUES
POSTER
Krino KONSTANTINIDOU, Konstantinos T. RAPTIS
Archaeological evidence of an 11 th century kiln with bars in Thessaloniki
During the large scale rescue excavations conducted in the framework of Thessaloniki
METRO project, part of the mid-byzantine marketplace of Thessaloniki was found inside the
margins of the “Venizelou” Station in the centre of the city1. The marketplace was developed
in the city blocks set on both sides of the main decumanus of the byzantine city, the so
called Leoforos or Mesē (middle) street. In the bed of a certain undisturbed road surface,
dated according to numismatic and ceramic evidence in the late 11th or early 12th century,
numerous fragments of cylindrical clay bars (rods) with pointed edges and small C or S
shaped objects were found, evidencing the operation of kiln with bars for glazed pottery
production in the vicinity of the site. Even though the architectural remains of the kiln
haven’t been found, its’ operation would be similar to the examples known so far2.
The recent findings from Thessaloniki verify the use of kilns with bars for the second firing of
the byzantine glazed wares during the 11th century since it comprises the earliest evidence
of the use of kilns with bars in Greece and the Balkans, since in the certain geographical area
the common in the Islamic world and the western Mediterranean3 kiln type has been
witnessed so far only in 13th century glazed pottery workshops in the region of Serres4 in
Macedonia and in Mosinopolis5 in Thrace.
1
D. Makropoulou, S. Vassiliadou, K. Konstantinidou & St. Tzevreni, “Πολεοδομικές και χωροταξικές
παρατηρήσεις για την παλαιοχριστιανική και βυζαντινή Θεσσαλονίκη με αφορμή τα ευρήματα των ανασκαφών
του ΜΕΤΡΟ κατά το έτος 2011”, in: AEMTh 25 (2011 -forthcoming).
2
ος
ος
K. T. Raptis, “Αρχαιολογικά τεκμήρια κεραμικών εργαστηρίων στον ελλαδικό χώρο (4 -15 αι.)”, in:
DCHAE 32 (2011), pp. 189-190, fig. 13, wherein the precedent bibliography.
3
J. Thiriot, “Géographie du four à barres”, in : H. Marchesi, J. Thiriot, L. Vallauri (eds), Marseille, les ateliers de
e
e
e
potiers du XIII siècle et le Quartier Sainte-Barbe. V -XVII siècles, Documents d’ Archéologie Française 65 (1997),
pp. 345-372. C. Aubert – A. Nicolaides, “Céramiques byzantines et four à barres médiéval de la place des Martyrs
e
a Beyrouth”, in: Actes du VI congrés de l’ AIECM2, Aix-en-Provence 1997, pp. 239-242.
4
D. Papanikola-Bakirtzi, Εργαστήρια εφυαλωμένης κεραμικής στο βυζαντινό κόσμο, in: Ch. Bakirtzis (ed.), Actes
e
du VII Congrés International sur la Céramique Médiévale en Méditerranée (AIECM2), Thessaloniki 1999, Athènes
2003, pp. 57-58.
5
D. Papanicola-Bakirtzi – N. Zekos (eds), Late Byzantine Glazed Pottery from Thrace. Reading the archaeological
finds, Thessaloniki 2010, p. 53.

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