Generally, the delicate banded ware (BDW) in Priene is associated with middle Hellenistic contexts of the 3rd and 2nd century BCE. The most common shapes connected to this ware are deep and shallow hemispherical drinking bowls. In Priene, this ware frequently occurs in this imported fabric, that - for now - is to be considered the "original" production center of this class of pottery. For a discussion of the ware, see in LCP "Hellenistic Delicate Banded Ware".
Thin, hard-fired fabric tending to break like glass. The clay is very fine and thus seems to have been highly levigated. Thus, inclusions are rarely visible with the naked eye and only few can be seen with a handheld magnifier. These mostly comprise white/clear inclusions that often dominate the fabric to a degree, that the light texture blends in with the general matrix itself. Rarely visible are darker inclusions and occasionally reddish ones. Only under high magnification, voids in the matrix begin to appear and the “white” inclusions emerge somewhat more crystalline. The color of the ceramic body – according to the Munsell Color Charts – ranges from 10R 6/6–5/6 to 2.5YR 6/6–6/5 (light red / light orange).
Petrographic information:
Marked by frequent quartz inclusions (max. 0.2 mm; avg. 0.16 mm) that rarely occur as polycrystalline quartz; additionally, very few muscovite (max. 0.2 mm; avg. 0.16 mm) and possibly chert inclusions (max. 0.2mm; avg. 0.16mm) can be found. The matrix is non-calcareous and shows a low optical activity. Voids are rare and display channel-like shape.
Generally, the delicate banded ware (BDW) in Priene is associated with middle Hellenistic contexts of the 3rd and 2nd century BCE. The most common shapes connected to this ware are deep and shallow hemispherical drinking bowls. In Priene, this ware frequently occurs in this imported fabric, that - for now - is to be considered the "original" production center of this class of pottery. For a discussion of the ware, see in LCP "Hellenistic Delicate Banded Ware".
A production of the original DBW in or close to Priene can be excluded based on its lack of muscovite and biotite inclusions alone. So far, an allocation of this fabric to known workshops is hypothetical. Macroscopically, the fabric shows many similarities to Knidian imports and the presence of the DBW in Priene broadly follows the rise and fall of other Knidian imports in Priene, such as Knidian bowls and the so-called ‘Kerbdekor-Becher’. The current indications regarding petrography and the preliminary chemical analysis (portable XRF) at least do not exclude Knidos, but also do not confirm this assumption with any certainty.
