General Information

John W. Hayes was the first to recognize this fabric in Nea Paphos, in several deposits from the House of Dionysos. He described it as a presumed product of the city of Soli and distinguished two phases of production (Hayes 1991: 81). Many scholars have linked the pottery more specifically with the neighborhood of Dhiorios, where pottery kilns have been uncovered. Several studies have shown that this category of pottery was present in Paphos from the 1st century BCE, but gained more popularity in the early Roman period and later again, in the Middle and Late Roman periods. Seems, that the same trend is reflected at many other sites on the island (Nocoń 2021).

Thin section petrography and elemental analyses (WD-XRF) were conducted by Edyta Marzec on fragments dated to the Early Roman period. Samples were selected from material excavated on the Agora and Malouthena in Nea Paphos. The examined fragments turned out to belong to a group matching in mineralogical and elemental composition of the area of northern Cyprus, including the region around Morphou Bay, where the cities of Soli and Dhiorios are located (Marzec et al. 2024).

The fabric is fairly hard, the fresh-break texture is hackly, the surface feels smooth save for some irregularities under the finger. On the exterior surface, a few coarse yellow inclusions are visible. Revealed in a fresh break were a few to medium frequent yellow, black, and orange inclusions, as well as frequent fine ) white, yellow, and black inclusions. Voids in the fresh break are few to frequent, fine to medium, rounded in shape. 

The color of the external and internal surfaces, as well as of the fresh break, of cooking pots and lids is reddish-brown to red, indicating firing in an oxidizing atmosphere. However, a lid from the early Roman period has a fairly wide (about 1 cm), very dark grey (5YR 3/1) band on the inside of the rim. As for casseroles, the color of the external and internal surfaces ranges extensively between dark grey, very dark gray, and red, and the fresh break is reddish-brown, red, or dark grey. Details are to be found in Nocoń 2021, Tabel 2.

Paphos/Nea Paphos (Cyprus/Western South Coast)