Decoration Features of Second Iron Age Pottery South of the Po Cover Image

Elementi decorativi nella ceramica della seconda età del Ferro a sud del Po
Decoration Features of Second Iron Age Pottery South of the Po

Author(s): Marina Giaretti, Marica Venturino
Subject(s): Archaeology, Cultural history, Regional Geography, Comparative history, Ancient World
Published by: Univerzita Karlova v Praze - Filozofická fakulta, Vydavatelství
Keywords: Middle Iron Age; Late Iron Age; impasto; pottery; decorations; finger impression; tool impression; zigzag; southern Piedmont; Liguria

Summary/Abstract: The paper analyses on a chronological‑typological level the decorative syntax present on impasto pottery from the Late Iron Age (Ligure III period: 475–89 BC) in lower Piedmont (inner Piedmontese Liguria), where vessel forms and decorative elements appear largely in continuity with those of the Middle Iron Age (Ligure II period: 625–475 BC).Decoration is generally present on closed shapes (situliform vases, ollae). Compared to the Middle Iron Age, the percentage of decorated pottery increases and the decorative elements become more elaborate. The most characteristic elements are the horizontal rows of finger or tool impressions, the simple zigzags, at first continuous and then interrupted (the latter evolving over time from single to double and then to multiple, sometimes with the alternate insertion of triangular or circular impressions at the corners), the impressions with or without clay, are usually on the lower part of the vessel, sometimes in combination with the zigzag motif.Shapes and decorative syntax are not found in the funerary and settlement contexts of northern Piedmont and more generally in Cispadana, while they seem to have an identifying character for the Ligurian groups of inland Piedmont.

  • Issue Year: 28/2024
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 45-64
  • Page Count: 20
  • Language: Italian
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