Work

A Taste of the past: cooking ware traditions from Bronze Age to classical Thessaloniki Toumba, Central Macedonia, Northern Greece

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The site of Thessaloniki Toumba situated in Central Macedonia on the coastal plain of the Thermaic Gulf, in Northern Greece, holds significant archaeological importance as one of the largest settlements in the region during the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age. Its continuous occupation spanning from the Middle Bronze Age until the beginning of the Hellenistic period makes it a valuable case for studying Central Macedonian communities’ material culture and practices in the longue durée . This paper, by following an interdisciplinary approach, presents a technological study of the cooking ware from the Bronze Age to Historical times at Toumba. We examine the chaîne opératoire of this category of vessels through macroscopic analysis, thin-section petrography and elemental analysis (WD-XRF), to distinguish locally made and imported vessels and investigate clay paste preparation and fashioning techniques. The objective is to identify social groups of potters and reconstruct the organisation of cooking ware production and consumption. Subsequently, these results will be recontextualized within the broader socio-cultural interactions and mobilities occurring in Central Macedonia, between southern and central Greece and the Balkans. The study shows that the majority of cooking vessels were produced locally for self-consumption during the Bronze Age. Few vessels have been imported to Thessaloniki Toumba during the Bronze Age, with imports probably increasing during the Iron Age or at least Historical times. No fewer than three main traditions were used for cooking ware manufacturing at Toumba and linked to different technical traditions living in the region. Some of these traditions seem to be shared in other Central Macedonian sites.

Source: Journal of Archaeological Science Reports

DOI: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2025.105247

Authors: Timothée Ogawa, Noémi S. Müller, Hara Procopiou, Sevasti Triantafyllou, Stelios Andreou, Evangelia Kiriatzi