Reconstructing production of Hellenistic pottery and maritime trade routes: insights from a Hellenistic shipwreck near Žirje, Croatia

Abstract

The discovery of a Hellenistic shipwreck dating back to the fourth century BCE off the coast of Žirje Island in Dalmatia, southern Croatia in 2015 has sparked a series of investigations aimed at determining the vessel's origin of departure and direction of travel. Our study aims to determine the departure port of this merchant ship through the archaeometric analysis of 40 tableware and kitchenware samples recovered from the ship’s galley. To investigate their provenance, we employed various analytical techniques, including ceramic petrography and instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA). Given that the samples were retrieved from the seabed and exposed to seawater for over two millennia, a series of scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM–EDS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses were conducted to assess post-depositional alterations in the microstructure. Operating under the assumption that the ship originated from a port in the vicinity due to its size, we conducted analyses on samples of raw clay collected on the island of Hvar, where the Greek colony of Pharos was established at the beginning of the fourth century BCE, engaging in local pottery production. Our study reveals that the tableware was produced in Pharos, whereas the origins of the kitchenware aboard the ship's galley remain undetermined, adding another variable to the reconstruction of the ship's departure and shedding light on the broader network of contacts within the Hellenistic trading system in Dalmatia. Furthermore, examination of the post-depositional context unveiled significant alterations in the ceramic microstructure, including the precipitation of secondary minerals such as calcite, gypsum, and pyrite, as well as chemical enrichments and depletions.