The Artaxiad capital of ceramic: Exploring the changing local pottery production and exchange at Artaxata (Armenia) from the 2nd century BCE to 1st century CE

Abstract

This paper offers an insight into the characteristics of local pottery production and exchange at Artaxata, modern Armenia, from the 2nd century BCE to 1st century CE, drawing from stratigraphic, typological and technological evidence. The pottery assemblage under study derives from the Armenian-German Artaxata Project, a collaboration between the Armenian Academy of Sciences and University of Münster since 2018. The excavation of various structures of Hill XIII and its adjacent plain, with a particular focus on Complexes A and B, reveals a change in the ceramic repertoire. A large proportion of fine ware, notably red-slipped ware of the Eastern Sigillata A (ESA) style and other tableware types, was recovered in the early phase (2nd to 1st century BCE). While these fine ware types continue to be found in the later phase (1st century BCE to 1st century CE), a greater quantity of coarse ware of utilitarian purpose such as storage jars and cooking vessels also appears. A few turquoise glazed vessels that are similar to the Parthian or Mesopotamian style were also recovered, but it is challenging to establish their date as they were mostly found in the topsoil. Such patterning can be explained by the shift in the function of Complexes A and B from serving as public buildings, possibly a sanctuary, during the early phase to domestic houses in the later phase.

Despite these changes in the ceramic consumption patterns, this diverse range of ware types was mostly produced locally at Artaxata, based on the results of our technological study of 53 samples using thin-section petrography and scanning electron microscopy energy dispersive spectrometry (SEM-EDS). Although they were made locally, different types of fine, coarse and turquoise glazed ware were made in different workshops, each workshop having their own recipes and technologies. In particular, the ESA-styled red-slipped ware was exclusively made in a single workshop over an extended period of time, suggesting a high level of specialisation existed in local pottery production. Such characterisation reflects the status of Artaxata as the capital of the Artaxiad Kingdom, highlighting its ability to control of the production of certain products, especially the ones that are considered to be of high quality and cosmopolitan.