Mirroring Mediterraneanization: Pottery production at Archaic Monte Iato, Western Sicily (6th to 5th century BCE)

Abstract

With a total of 162 samples, one of the most extensive NAA sample series from one single inland settlement in Archaic Sicily is now available to address long debated issues about the impact of the so called ‘Greek Colonization’ on local pottery production. In a previous series, a wide range of wares manufactured on site could be determined, ranging from traditional style incised and stamped vessels via matt painted ceramics of regional style to Greek style pottery. The second series presented here was intended to extend and deepen the results obtained and to investigate the variability of the potter’s responses to new challenges and demands in the course of Monte Iato’s changing indigenous society. These responses were found to present even greater variance than expected before, fitting the overall picture of the site’s increasing integration into Mediterranean networks.