Background: The University of Athens has been excavating Halasarna for the past 35 years, but thorough analysis of the LRA1 industry was not published until 2010 (Diamanti 2010).
Number of kilns: At least two, but possibly three. One kiln structure has been excavated and another is strongly attested through the presence of ceramic wasters, molds and the peripheral features of a ceramic workshop. It has been suggested that a workshop existed near the basilica of presbyter Photeinos, but none of our strong indicators are present, and thus it will not be included here (see Didioumi 2014: 170, citing Brouscari’s 2011 unpublished dissertation).
Local fabric: The local fabric at Halasarna is reddish orange to the naked eye, "moderately hard, with few inclusions with the exception of whitish, gray nodules and numerous golden micas (Munsell, reddish yellow 5YR 6/6)" (Poulou-Papadimitriou and Didioumi 2010: 742). The concentration of mica is characteristic of the local products (see § 4.5 for the petrographic details).
Distribution: Caesarea Maritima (Israel)
Kiln #1: Aghia Theotis (sometimes called Tsoukalaria, Kaminia, and Liopyra) kiln:
Location: In the middle of the modern village Kardamaina, sitting ca. 300 m north of the Early Byzantine basilica of Aghia Theotita (Poulou-Papadimitriou and Didioumi 2015: 401).
Period of activity: Mid-7th c.
Description of the facilities: The kiln is circular with an inner diameter of 2.8 m and a preserved height of 1.9 m. The combustion chamber, dug directly into bedrock, was constructed of stone and mortar, covered in ceramic plates. North of the kiln, there were four rectangular rooms, some of which were used for clay preparation as seen by layers of clay on the floor and inside an in situ pithos (Poulou-Papadimitriou and Didioumi 2010: 742).
Typology: LRA1 (referred to as survivals by the excavators, but in the contributors’ opinion better fits as type B), LRA2 and LRA13 (also known as LRA2c), cooking pots, lamps, and unguentaria. The LRA2 was the main product of the workshop during the 5–6th centuries, and then there was a major transition which involved an increase to industrial-level production of LRA1 and LRA13 (Diamanti 2023: 275–282).
Kiln #2: Ancient Halasarna kiln:
Location: Roughly “250 m west of the [Aghia Theotita] kiln…and 500 m from the basilica” (Didioumi 2014: 170).
Period of activity: Second half of the 6th to the first half of the 7th c.
Description of the facilities: The “ducts and tanks” related to a kiln were found by the University of Athens team, but not the kiln architecture itself (Papavassiliou and Didioumi 2017: 48)
Typology: Unknown.
