Papers by Alexandra Villing
A. Villing (2021), ‘Spicing wine at the symposion – fact or fiction? Some critical thoughts on material aspects of commensality in the Early Iron Age and Archaic Mediterranean World’, Journal of Hellenic Studies 141,1-30. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0075426921000082
Journal of Hellenic Studies 141, 2021
Interpretations of metal graters and pottery tripod bowls as Leitfossils of a trans-Mediterranean... more Interpretations of metal graters and pottery tripod bowls as Leitfossils of a trans-Mediterranean ‘orientalizing’ culture of spiced-wine consumption have of late become a staple of scholarship on sympotic banqueting, shaping our perception of ancient wine-drinking and its role in cross-cultural interaction in the first half of the first millennium BC. Yet a closer look at the evidence for spiced wine and the use of graters casts serious doubt on assumptions of a widespread practice of adding ‘spices’ to wine during the Greek symposion and of the use of graters or tripod grinding bowls for such a purpose in the Mediterranean and Near Eastern world. A more plausible scenario, it is argued, arises from the well-attested association of graters with cheese and other primarily culinary commodities. It sees the grater’s prime function and symbolic significance shift from a use in Early Iron Age ‘Homeric’ hospitality to becoming a tool in the increasingly complex cuisines associated with the Archaic and Classical banquet – an indicator of evolving Mediterranean commensality with no less of an international horizon, but a commensality that involved interaction and shared consumption beyond the narrowly sympotic.
SKYLLIS - Zeitschrift für maritime und limnische Archäologie und Kulturgeschichte /Journal for Underwater Archaeology, 2020
Mit dem Tod von Karin Hornig hat die Altertumskunde eine so unermüdliche wie ungewöhnliche Forsch... more Mit dem Tod von Karin Hornig hat die Altertumskunde eine so unermüdliche wie ungewöhnliche Forscherin verloren. Sie hat insbesondere vernachlässigte Themen in den Mittelpunkt ihrer Arbeit gerückt und mit ihrem enzyklopädischen Wissensreichtum
und breiten kultur geschichtlichen Ansatz zahlreiche Aspekte der Schifffahrtsgeschichte, des kulturellen Austauschs und der antiken Lebenswelt in fachübergreifender Weise erhellt.
Spataro, M., Masson-Berghoff, A. & Villing, A. 2021. The potters of Kom Dahab: the ceramic chaîne opératoire in the Ptolemaic Nile Delta. Archaeol Anthropol Sci 13, 208 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-021-01457-3
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2021
This study presents the results of analyses of ceramics from one of the rare excavated kiln sites... more This study presents the results of analyses of ceramics from one of the rare excavated kiln sites that produced amphorae and common wares in Ptolemaic Egypt (332–30 BC), at Kom Dahab in the Western Nile Delta. Ceramics from the kiln trench, unfired ceramics and specific classes of transport, table and kitchen vessels were analysed by polarised microscopy and scanning electron microscope used with energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM–EDX). This made it possible to trace the different steps of the chaîne opératoire and revealed that potters made differentiated use of raw materials. A specific clay, perhaps offering economic advantages, soon dominated the amphora production. A variety of recipes was used for white and red slips applied to both utilitarian and tablewares. Shapes were strongly Greek-influenced, but after some time ceramic technology readmitted earlier Pharaonic traditions, presumably driven by consumer demand and economic considerations. The analysis of slipped bowls from Old Kingdom levels suggests the long-term exploitation of the local clay sources of distinctive chemical composition.
With well over 3000 objects the British Museum holds the largest single collection of finds from ... more With well over 3000 objects the British Museum holds the largest single collection of finds from the 19th century
excavations by Auguste Salzmann and Alfred Biliotti on Rhodes; with hundreds of further objects collected by Charles Newton and others, the museum’s overall holdings of archaeological finds from Rhodes total more than 4500 objects.They are accompanied by a substantial amount of archival documentation relating to the excavation and acquisition of these finds, such as field diaries and correspondence. No systematic publication or analysis of the corpus as a whole or of its history has ever been attempted, though a number of works have addressed certain aspects of the collection over the years, and all objects are today accessible via the Museum’s online catalogue. The article provides a brief introduction to this material, its history and current state of study.
British Museum Studies in Ancient Egypt and Sudan (BMSAES) 24, 2019
The case of Wahibreemakhet, son of Alexikles and Zenodote, is the most prominent example for the ... more The case of Wahibreemakhet, son of Alexikles and Zenodote, is the most prominent example for the high status that Greeks – as mercenaries or advisors – could attain in Egypt under the Saite pharaohs. The present article argues that his final resting place should be identified in a tomb at Saqqara that was probably discovered by agents of Giovanni Anastasi in the 1820s and that contained not only Wahibreemakhet’s elaborate stone sarcophagus (now in Leiden), canopic jars (in Stockholm) and shabtis (in various collections), but also a set of limestone tomb reliefs recording spells from the Book of the Dead that are today in the collection of the British Museum and that were once erroneously attributed to ‘Campbell’s tomb’ at Giza. Wahibreemakhet’s rich burial, dating to the decades around 600 BC, and his ranking title ‘Royal Sealer’ illustrate both his social status and his assimilation to Egyptian culture.
doi:10.1515/zaes-2018-0016
M. Spataro, H. Mommsen, A. Villing, 'Making pottery in the Nile Delta: ceramic provenance and technology at Naukratis, 6th–3rd centuries BC', Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences 2018
Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences, 2018
The interdisciplinary study of Egyptian- and Greek-style pottery found in the Nile Delta aims to ... more The interdisciplinary study of Egyptian- and Greek-style pottery found in the Nile Delta aims to test and expand the potential of different scientific methods to identify regional variation and cultural traditions in ceramic fabrics from a relatively uniform geological setting. Neutron activation analysis (NAA), polarised light microscopy and SEM-EDX analyses were used to examine raw materials and technological tradition in 32 objects, including 15 previously partly analysed pieces, chosen to test the hypotheses of (a) chemical and (b) technological variation between regionally and/or culturally distinct pottery traditions. Several hundred published NAA data from other studies of Egyptian ceramics were re-assessed within this work. Our NAA results confirmed that all 28 objects analysed originated in Egypt, but could not distinguish production centres. Polarised light microscopy clarified the chaîne opératoire and highlighted Greek and Egyptian technological traditions and regional variations in the production of macroscopically similar ware (e.g. BlackWare). SEM-EDX was essential in distinguishing different recipes used for slips, suggesting patterns of technological transfer and adaptation.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-017-0584-4
Annual of the British School at Athens, 2017
To date, the pottery production of Rhodes, Kos and other ‘East Dorian’ islands and coastal areas ... more To date, the pottery production of Rhodes, Kos and other ‘East Dorian’ islands and coastal areas remains little understood. This
article presents and discusses new neutron activation analysis (NAA) of eighth–sixth-century BC vessels found on Rhodes and in
related areas, placing them in the wider context of past and present archaeometric research. The results highlight the role of Kos
as a leading regional centre of painted pottery production and export in the seventh–sixth centuries BC, notably of ‘East Dorian’
plates. This includes the famous ‘Euphorbos plate’, which can now be attributed to Koan production. Contemporary Archaic
pottery workshops on Rhodes, in contrast, had a less ambitious, if diverse, output, ranging from vessels in a Sub-Geometric
tradition, imitation Corinthian wares and modest local versions of Koan- and Ionian-style plates to finely potted and richly
decorated ‘Vroulian’ cups and black-figured situlae. It was imported mainland and East Greek wares, however, that
dominated the island’s consumption of Archaic painted wares. This represents a departure from the preceding Geometric
period, which was characterised by a local pottery production of considerable scale and quality, although receptivity to
external influences remained a consistent feature throughout later periods. As patterns of demand were changing, the island’s
craft production appears to have concentrated on a different range of goods in which high-quality figured finewares played a
lesser role.
Villing, A. (2017), ‘Greece and Egypt: reconsidering early contact and exchange’, in: Mazarakis-Ainian, A., Alexandridou, A. and Charalambidou, X. (eds), Regional Stories Towards a New Perception of the Early Greek World, Volos, 563-596
A. Villing (2017), 'Don’t Kill the Goose that Lays the Golden Egg? Some Thoughts on Bird Sacrifices in Ancient Greece', in S. Hitch and I. Rutherford (eds.), Animal Sacrifice in the Ancient Greek World (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 63-102
Sokrates’ famous last words, ‘Krito, I owe a cock to Asklepios; will you remember to pay the debt... more Sokrates’ famous last words, ‘Krito, I owe a cock to Asklepios; will you remember to pay the debt?’, as reported in Plato’s Phaidon (117e–18a), have long occupied scholars trying to understand the reason for the ‘debt’, but the choice of sacrificial animal has equally surprised. Cattle, sheep, goats and pigs are well known as the main animals offered in Greek sacrificial rites – but why a bird? Sokrates’ rooster, however, is not altogether unique. Other famous figures of antiquity, too, sacrificed birds: when in the second century ad Aelius Aristeides in search of a cure for his ailments comes to Smyrna and visits the warm baths, the goddess Isis herself intervenes and orders him to sacrifice two geese to her (Sacred Tales 3.45). What do we know about birds as sacrificial animals? A hundred years ago, Stengel in his 1910 publication on the sacrificial customs of the Greeks devoted a fair number of pages to the discussion of birds, game and fish as sacrificial animals, but the modern scholarly discourse of ancient Greek sacrifice rarely mentions, let alone engages with, sacrificial animals beyond the ‘traditional’ quartet of domesticated cloven-hoofed mammals. This is even though not just written sources but also recent osteological evidence confirm that Greek sacrificial customs and feasting were more colourful and wide-ranging. This menagerie on the fringes of ‘typical’ Greek sacrifice is neglected at peril: it is here that light is shed on areas beyond large-scale civic ritual of the landed polis, that the dichotomy of domesticated and wild, ‘Greek’ and ‘foreign’, and the relationship between sacrificer, animal and deity can be interrogated from a fresh perspective in a broader social and economic context.
Faience technology was known in Egypt since the Predynastic Period and practiced for a period als... more Faience technology was known in Egypt since the Predynastic Period and practiced for a period also in Bronze Age Greece, but, having been lost, was reintroduced to the Greek world only in the first half of the first millennium BC. The Greek island of Rhodes and the Greek-Egyptian trade harbour of Naukratis in the Nile Delta are suspected to be key centres of early Greek-style faience production, exporting amulets and vessels across the Mediterranean region. Yet, the nature and scale of their production and their role in technology transfer, vis-à-vis Egyptian and Levantine/Phoenician production, remain little understood. The main aim of this study was to discover whether it is possible to define chemical characteristics for the faience produced and found at Naukratis, and to use this data to differentiate between artefacts produced here and elsewhere. A programme of ion beam (PIXE and PIGE) analysis was conducted under the CHARISMA transnational access scheme, known to be a suitable tool for studying ancient vitreous artefacts as it provides a non-destructive means of obtaining precise and accurate quantitative compositional data. Both the internal body of damaged objects as well as the outer glaze layer were analysed, of which only the latter are discussed here. The results of this study indicate that the faience found at both Naukratis and on Rhodes is compositionally similar. However, some small differences were found in the raw materials used in its production which may help us to better characterise the production of different faience manufacturing centres.
in Robinson, D. and Goddio, F. (eds), Thonis Heracleion in Context: The Maritime Economy of the E... more in Robinson, D. and Goddio, F. (eds), Thonis Heracleion in Context: The Maritime Economy of the Egyptian Late Period, Proceedings of the Conference in the University of Oxford, 15-17 March 2013. Oxford: Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology, 229-246
Hardback Edition: ISBN 978-1-78297-947-0 Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-78297-948-7 Hardback Edition... more Hardback Edition: ISBN 978-1-78297-947-0 Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-78297-948-7 Hardback Edition: ISBN 978-1-78297-947-0 Digital Edition: ISBN 978-1-78297-948-7 A CIP record for this book is available from the British Library Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ceramics, cuisine and culture : the archaeology and science of kitchen pottery in the ancient Mediterranean world/edited by Michela Spataro and Alexandra Villing.
Athena Past and Present: An Introduction
Athena in the Classical World (ed. S. Deacy and A. Villing)
Research on finds from the early fieldwork undertaken at Naukratis in the late 19th and early 20t... more Research on finds from the early fieldwork undertaken at Naukratis in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Flinders Petrie and others now makes it possible for material previously little known and studied to make a substantial contribution to scholarship, increasing our knowledge of the site of Naukratis and its history, our understanding of ancient Greek and Egyptian practices and of the interaction between these two cultures.
The site of Naukratis: topography, buildings and landscape (A. Villing & R. Thomas) (2015)
Naukratis: Greeks in Egypt. The British Museum, Online Research Catalogue. , 2015
Alexandra Villing with Ross Thomas
The reassessment of the early excavations at Naukratis has ... more Alexandra Villing with Ross Thomas
The reassessment of the early excavations at Naukratis has changed the way we view ancient Naukratis and its history; together with results of new fieldwork conducted by the British Museum’s Naukratis Project, it sheds new light on the town’s cityscape, harbours and its setting in the landscape.
Locally produced Archaic and Classical Greek pottery [at Naukratis] (2015)
Greeks in Egypt. The British Museum, Online Research Catalogue, 2015
The local production of Greek style pottery at Naukratis has long been controversially debated. I... more The local production of Greek style pottery at Naukratis has long been controversially debated. It is only recently that archaeometric analyses and new excavations have begun to clarify the picture and confirm local pottery production in both Greek and Egyptian styles from the early days of the site’s history.
Painted and undecorated vessels in a variety of Greek shapes and styles are attested no later than the early 6th century BC. The quality of the potting and of the Nile silt fabric of the small group of extant examples suggests the work of Greek-trained potters. The decoration, however, can combine elements of different East Greek regional styles or features ways of finishing such as burnishing, otherwise characteristic of Egyptian or Levantine pottery, suggesting that hybrid elements soon developed in Naukratite workshops. It is likely that the same workshops also produced lamps of Greek type.
While the popularity of locally made painted wares appears to fall in the 6th century BC, plainer Greek-style table wares and utilitarian shapes are also found later on, with a workshop producing local imitations of Greek black glazed pottery in operation at least from the later 4th century BC. Of note is also the presence of mortaria of both Cypriot and Greek shapes made from Egyptian clay.
Greek–Egyptian relations in the 7th to 6th centuries BC (2015)
Naukratis: Greeks in Egypt. British Museum Online Research Catalogue, 2013
Naukratis: a city and trading port in Egypt (2015)
Naukratis: Greeks in Egypt. British Museum Online Research Catalogue, 2013
Discovery and excavations: Naukratis from the 19th century until today (2015)
Naukratis: Greeks in Egypt. British Museum Online Research Catalogue, 2013
Uploads
Papers by Alexandra Villing
und breiten kultur geschichtlichen Ansatz zahlreiche Aspekte der Schifffahrtsgeschichte, des kulturellen Austauschs und der antiken Lebenswelt in fachübergreifender Weise erhellt.
excavations by Auguste Salzmann and Alfred Biliotti on Rhodes; with hundreds of further objects collected by Charles Newton and others, the museum’s overall holdings of archaeological finds from Rhodes total more than 4500 objects.They are accompanied by a substantial amount of archival documentation relating to the excavation and acquisition of these finds, such as field diaries and correspondence. No systematic publication or analysis of the corpus as a whole or of its history has ever been attempted, though a number of works have addressed certain aspects of the collection over the years, and all objects are today accessible via the Museum’s online catalogue. The article provides a brief introduction to this material, its history and current state of study.
doi:10.1515/zaes-2018-0016
https://doi.org/10.1007/s12520-017-0584-4
article presents and discusses new neutron activation analysis (NAA) of eighth–sixth-century BC vessels found on Rhodes and in
related areas, placing them in the wider context of past and present archaeometric research. The results highlight the role of Kos
as a leading regional centre of painted pottery production and export in the seventh–sixth centuries BC, notably of ‘East Dorian’
plates. This includes the famous ‘Euphorbos plate’, which can now be attributed to Koan production. Contemporary Archaic
pottery workshops on Rhodes, in contrast, had a less ambitious, if diverse, output, ranging from vessels in a Sub-Geometric
tradition, imitation Corinthian wares and modest local versions of Koan- and Ionian-style plates to finely potted and richly
decorated ‘Vroulian’ cups and black-figured situlae. It was imported mainland and East Greek wares, however, that
dominated the island’s consumption of Archaic painted wares. This represents a departure from the preceding Geometric
period, which was characterised by a local pottery production of considerable scale and quality, although receptivity to
external influences remained a consistent feature throughout later periods. As patterns of demand were changing, the island’s
craft production appears to have concentrated on a different range of goods in which high-quality figured finewares played a
lesser role.
The reassessment of the early excavations at Naukratis has changed the way we view ancient Naukratis and its history; together with results of new fieldwork conducted by the British Museum’s Naukratis Project, it sheds new light on the town’s cityscape, harbours and its setting in the landscape.
Painted and undecorated vessels in a variety of Greek shapes and styles are attested no later than the early 6th century BC. The quality of the potting and of the Nile silt fabric of the small group of extant examples suggests the work of Greek-trained potters. The decoration, however, can combine elements of different East Greek regional styles or features ways of finishing such as burnishing, otherwise characteristic of Egyptian or Levantine pottery, suggesting that hybrid elements soon developed in Naukratite workshops. It is likely that the same workshops also produced lamps of Greek type.
While the popularity of locally made painted wares appears to fall in the 6th century BC, plainer Greek-style table wares and utilitarian shapes are also found later on, with a workshop producing local imitations of Greek black glazed pottery in operation at least from the later 4th century BC. Of note is also the presence of mortaria of both Cypriot and Greek shapes made from Egyptian clay.