The Light Brown Ware ("Hellbraune Ware") and its finer specimen, the Fine Light Brown Ware ("Feine Hellbraune Ware"), are the typical wares for common pottery of everyday-use in the Milesian region, including Didyma, the extra-urban sanctuary of Miletos in the Archaic period. The definition of this ware is based on the macroscopic classification of archaic material coming from excavations on Taxiarchis hill at Didyma. It more or less corresponds to a ware group that was first defined for Didymean material by Schattner 2007, 46, 47, and petrographically described by Riederer 2007, 55. A local production on the site of Didyma is not yet attested.
The ware encompasses the whole range of functional groups (vessels for drinking, mixi...
The ware usually contains a lot of mica and a few other inclusions that become visible mostly under the binocular. Surfaces are generally smooth, but seldom slipped with a wash, and never polished. Colour, according to the Munsell Soil Colour Charts, ranges from reddish yellow/yellowish red (5YR 5/6 – 5YR 6/6) to pink (7.5YR 8/4) in the core, and pink on the surface (7.5YR 7/4 - 7.5YR 7/6). Vessels usually are decorated with horizontal banding and/or wavy lines; shapes of the 7th century c...
Didyma, Taxiarchis Hill (Turkey/Aegean)
