251-268

Early christian pottery from area of "Episkopeion" on Samos

• Γερούση, Ευγενία

At Pythagoreio on Samos, to the east of the baths, a rescue excavation uncovered a deposit pit, which contained, among other finds, an abundance of pottery material. The largest group was formed by vases used for transportation: two amphoras of type Late Roman I, six of type Late Roman II, ten piriform vases that seem to have been the product of a local workshop, and which have become known as the ‘Samos cistern type’, and two amphoras of the “spathion” type.Of the two pithoi that formed the group of storage vases, the most interesting is no. 8037, which has a globular body and the inscription: Θεωάώρου Φεάράτου. The surname Fedratos probably derives from the Foederati, who served in the Roman and later the Byzantine army.The group of cooking vessels includes a strainer, a vase with a spout and the chafing dish no. 8050, which is the only vessel from the pit to have a glaze, in a brownish yellow colour. Of the table-ware, the three oinochoai resemble those found in the late 6th and 7th c. levels in the excavations at Sarachane in Constantinople, and the plate from the same group belongs to Hayes’s type 105, which is the last phase of the African red slip ware.To the group of household vessels belonged a basin, two lanterns and a wine-thief, a clay vase for drawing wine, similar to the one found in the 7th c. shipwreck at Yassi-Ada.This pottery, which covers a wide spectrum of vases of everyday use, is to be associated with the functioning of the religious complex and associated buildings that were built in the area of the baths after the middle of the 4th c. Of the fifteen bronze coins found in the pit, the latest is a half- follis of the Emperor Heracleius, with an issue date between 615-629, while the other four coins of Heracleius have an issue date of 611-614/5.The excavations of the religious complex have identified large-scale destructions in the first quarter of the 7th c.; these followed after a short time by the repair and reconstruction of the buildings, which were finally destroyed in the third quarter of the 7th c. during the course of the Arab invasions. It was during clearing of the area of the religious complex after the first destruction phase, in order to repair the buildings, that the pottery and other finds will have been thrown into the pit. The danger and destruction inflicted upon the island in the first quarter of the 7th c. have left their traces not only in the religious complex but also in the tunnel of Eupalinos, which was used by the inhabitants as a temporary refuge in two different phases. The hoard of 300 gold coins found at Megali Laka, dating to AD 623, is also associated with the danger threatening the island in the first quarter of the 7th c.The chafing-dish no. 8050 is, I believe, on the basis of the present evidence, the earliest example of this type of vase, since it may be dated to the first quarter of the 7th c., and the glaze on it confirms that it was used at this period; this is also supported by the finds from the 7th c. excavation levels at Sarachane at Constantinople.

• History and Archaeology

• Αρχαιολογία
• Pottery, Greek
• Excavations (Archaeology)

Η υπογράφουσα ευχαριστεί τις Εφόρους Αρχαιοτήτων Φανή Δροσογιάννη και Φωτεινή Ζαφειροπούλου για την άδεια δημοσίευσης και για όλες τις διευκολύνσεις που της παρείχαν κατά τη διάρκεια της μελέτης. Ιδιαίτερα ευχαριστεί τη συνάδελφο Μαρία Βιγλάκη, η οποία της παραχώρησε το υλικό αυτό που προέρχεται από ανασκαφή της., Το άρθρο περιέχεται στο τεύχος: Μέρος Α'-Μελέτες