Reference

Abstract

Three Barbarian ware sherds from Menelaion, Sparta, FL: Apmene 0079, 0084 and 0086, were inserted in to a project investigating the major production sites of Black Glaze ware in Mainland Greece. Sites included in this study were Athens, Corinth, Argos, Elis, Halieis, Olympia, Eretria, Chalkis, Nemea and Sparta.

Barbarian ware is thought to be a local pottery style as its production uses techniques similar to those used in Sparta, hence the Black Glaze study was used to see if the sherds were related to Spartan Black Glaze ware in any manner. However Barbarian ware has a very different fabric compared to the Black Glaze, so the three sherds were expected to form an outlying group within the analysis.

Additionally the three sherds were compared with set of Bronze Age sherds from The Menelaion at Sparta, and with some Handmade Burnished Ware samples from Kommos, Crete and various sites on Cyprus.