Late Roman Tablewares from the Survey at Tanagra. Finding the wider perspective

The aim of this paper is to present preliminary results concerning the imported Late Roman tablewares found at ancient Tanagra, building on the completed identification and inventorisation of the urban ceramic assemblage. The record of the Late Hellenistic-Late Roman urban pottery comprises 11,800 individual sherd entrees. In the region, red-slipped pottery was already produced in the Classical-(Early) Hellenistic period. The amount of sherds of the well known Late Hellenistic and Early to Mid-Roman tableware categories was substantial but still relatively small compared to the numbers of Late Roman Red Wares. African Red Slip Ware (ARSW) is by far the most numerous with 373 sherds recorded, or c. 3.2% of the total of 11,800 sherds. Phocaean Red Slip Ware (PRSW) coming from a source less distant to Tanagra, is present, albeit in smaller numbers compared to ARSW: 114 fragments have been recognized (c. 1% of the total of 11,800 sherds). Between the early third and late fifth century AD ARSW appears to be only marginally present, after which the ware’s presence gradually decreased. From the early sixth century AD onward, ARSW grows steadily toward the late sixth century AD, reaching its peak around AD 600. Finally, decrease set in and the ware is no longer attested from the second half of the seventh century AD onwards. PRSW has a shorter period of production and distribution. The collected material from Tanagra indicates a peak of the ware in the early sixth century AD. Prior to the third quarter of the fifth century AD, and after the mid-sixth century AD, the ware is only present in very small numbers. The presence of ARSW and PRSW at Tanagra seems to find wider reflection in the general overview of the distribution patterns of both lines of production in the Eastern Mediterranean basin. From the second half of the fourth century AD onwards, ARSW appears in quantity first in the Aegean basin, closely followed by the Roman East. In particular, the products of ARSW, variant D were attested in the eastern contexts, notwithstanding their gradual decline from the middle of the fifth century AD onwards.