General Information

West Anatolian Banded Ware (WABW) is a type of decorated tableware, made in a semi-fine buff fabric, with slipped decoration, primarily applied in bands that adorn the interior of ledge rim dishes, bowls of varying types, fishplates, and hanging rim platters. It is well attested in the Middle Hellenistic phase at Gordion (c. 240-189 BCE) but a few examples are known from Early Hellenistic contexts as well (c. 330-240 BCE). In Asia Minor banded decoration is widespread in Hellenistic times. The particular version of banded pottery that occurs on the Phrygian Plateau—bordered by Eskişehir to the west, the Halys River to the east, possibly the Black Sea coast to the north, and Çatalhöyük to the south—is so homogeneous in terms of fabric, form, and decoration, that it merits designation as a discrete ware, and suggests a significant degree of cultural communication among the villages in this region. Voigt (and others) have associated banded vessels at Gordion with migrant Gauls and termed such vessels “Galatian Ware,” but this ware has clear antecedents in Anatolia long before the arrival of the Gauls in the early third century BCE. Thus the ware is better regarded as a regional product with local antecedents than one specific to a particular ethnic group.

WABW vessels are made of a semi-fine buff fabric with slipped decoration. The decoration often comprises solidly slipped zones, usually the upper interior and upper exterior, along with some configuration of painted bands and dots on the interior. A few vessels are adorned with more elaborate motifs that include teardrops, garlands, flowers, leaves, wheat, acanthus, scrolls, tendrils, and in one case, a bridled and blanketed horse.

Galatian Ware

Gordion (Turkey/Central)