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Chapter 6

FAIENCE PRODUCTION IN THE

EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN
with Y. Maniatis, M. Panagiotaki and A. Kaczmarczyk

The faience found in Cyprus most probably predates the earliest faience found on Crete.
However, a native industry involving local production of faience with a distinctive Aegean
iconography developed much earlier in Crete (Section 6.1). In contrast, in Cyprus, a greater
proportion of the Late Bronze Age faience appears to have been imported, and even that
produced locally, was frequently in an Egyptian style (Section 6.2). Subsequently, during the
Archaic period, Rhodes developed a central role in the distribution, and possibly the produc-
tion, of faience that was then found throughout the Greek world as far west as the Greek
colonies in Italy (Section 6.3).

6.1 CRETE AND THE GREEK MAINLAND

6.1.1 Historical overview

Foster (1979) and Panagiotaki et al. (2004) provide valuable historical surveys of the devel-
opment of faience on Crete and the Greek mainland, and these form the basis for the following
brief overview. Further information is provided by the recently published volume of archaeo-
logical and scientific studies of vitreous materials from the Late Bronze Age Aegean edited by
Jackson and Wager (2008).
Faience, mainly as beads but also including the occasional vessel, first appeared in the Aegean
in Minoan Crete, and in the north of Greece (Mirtsou et al. 2001) during the 3rd millennium BC.
The technology for the production of faience was almost certainly introduced from Egypt or the
Near East, and it is probable that some of the early faience objects were also imported from these
regions. However, well before the end of the 3rd millennium BC, the main body of Aegean
faience was being made locally since the faience objects clearly match Aegean iconography in
which nature is glorified in the form of animals and sea creatures or flowers and plants
(Panagiotaki et al. 2004, 170).
During the period 1700-1480 BC (i.e., Middle Minoan IIIA through to Late Minoan IA), the
manufacture of faience in Crete reached a peak. During the MM IIIA period (c. 1700-1630 BC),
the best known faience objects are the Town Mosaic House façade and related plaques from the
Palace of Knossos (Loom Weight Basement) which depict house façades, as well as human and
animal figures, and plants. These plaques would have been combined to create a complex
townscape, possibly as part of a battle scene, which would have been attached to a wall or to
furniture. The body colours are now mainly white, grey and brown, but also include black and
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112 Faience production in the Eastern Mediterranean

red, and the glaze, where it survives, is either colourless, or green with copper being used as the
colorant. Many of the plaques have inlaid designs, produced by cutting shallow channels in the
face of the plaques which were then filled with a paste of contrasting colour. Thus, white paste
was inlaid into what is now a grey or brown body, or grey or brown paste was inlaid into a white
body.
During the subsequent MM IIIB and LM IA periods (c. 1630-1480 BC), inlaid plaques
continued to be produced (Throne Room and Drain Shaft Deposit at Knossos), but in addition,
low relief animal and floral plaques, human figures in the round (e.g., snake figures), and vases
and cups were being produced (Temple Repositories at Knossos). Also, during this period,
faience was introduced to the Mycenaean mainland. Thus, faience vases and cups, some of
which match those found in the Temple Repositories at Knossos, “sacral knots” and other
objects are found in the Shaft Graves at Mycenae. This “Mycenaean” faience could be actual
Minoan workmanship, but if not, it was certainly made under Minoan influence.
Subsequently, during the 15th century BC (Late Minoan IB in Cretan terms), faience sculp-
ture in the round, and vessels continued to be produced, but at the same time, glass was intro-
duced into the Aegean, glass objects being found both on Minoan Crete and the Mycenaean
mainland (Panagiotaki et al. 2004, 158). By about 1450 BC, the Mycenaean mainland had
become dominant over Minoan Crete, with the emphasis now being on the production of glass,
especially relief beads and plaques, rather than faience objects. However, this period also saw
the appearance of beads made from a faience which was coloured blue-grey using cobalt as the
colorant, and which had a hard vitreous body, similar to that of cobalt blue faience produced in
New Kingdom Egypt (Section 4.3.2). A few of these cobalt blue faience beads, which were new
to the Aegean, are found in Minoan Crete but a much larger number are found on the Mycenaean
mainland.

6.1.2 Minoan faience

The Minoan faience from Crete that has been examined now has white, grey, brown or red
bodies, and the glaze, where still surviving, is normally greenish. Chemical analyses and
microstructural examinations, using an analytical SEM, have been undertaken on seven
fragments from the Town Mosaic House façade (MM IIIA) from the Loom Weight Basement
at the Palace of Knossos (Table 6.1), and on seven samples of MM IIIB-LM IA faience,
consisting of plaques, roundels, a bar and plumage from Festos and Knossos (Table 6.2) (Tite
et al. 2008; Tite et al., in press). These data are supplemented by the non-destructive analysis,
using XRF operated in air, of the surfaces of some 40 faience objects from Knossos,
spanning the same chronological period (Table 6.3) (Foster and Kaczmarczyk 1982).
The majority of the Minoan faience is severely weathered with the alkalis having been lost
from any surviving glaze layer, from the glass phase in the glaze-body interaction layer, and
from any interparticle glass bonding together the quartz particles in the body. The one exception
among the Minoan faience examined is the survival of isolated areas of unweathered interpar-
ticle glass in the body of the brown inlay to the Town Mosaic House façade fragment,
1938.863/3 (figs. 6.1 (a) and 6.1 (b)) (Table 6.1).

MM IIIA faience There is no evidence that the quartz particles in the white bodies were origi-
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Faience production in the Eastern Mediterranean 113

nally bonded together by interparticle glass (Figs. 6.1 (a) and 6.1 (c)). In contrast, areas of
unweathered interparticle glass survive in the brown inlay in 1938-863/3 (Fig. 6.1 (b)), and
weathered remnants of interparticle glaze survive in other inlays. The white bodies contain
significantly less iron oxide (less than 0.2% FeO) than the grey bodies or the brown and grey
inlays (in the range 0.6-2.1% FeO) (Table 6.1). Copper is also present in the range from less
than 0.1% CuO up to about 1.4% CuO, but the manganese content is less than about 0.3%
MnO in all cases.
The green glazes which are visible on fragments 1938.863/4 and 1938.863/7 consist of
approximately 200 µm thick layers of angular quartz particles embedded in the extremely
weathered glass remnants of the glaze-body interaction layer (Fig. 6.1 (c)). The remnant glass
phase contains mainly silica (50-60% SiO2) and copper (35-45% CuO).
The analytical data obtained by Foster and Kaczmarczyk (1982) for fragments from the same
Town Mosaic House façade confirmed that the grey bodies and inlays were similarly coloured

Figure 6.1 SEM photomicrographs of sections

through MM IIIA faience fragments from Town
Mosaic House façade from Knossos:
(a) fragment 1938.863/3 showing more porous,
brown inlay (INLY) into white quartz body
(BDY) in which there is no evidence of
interparticle glass;
(b) fragment 1938.863/3 at higher
magnification showing brown inlay in
which some interparticle glass (lighter grey)
is visible;
(c) fragment 1938.863/7 showing weathered
glaze-body interaction layer (IAL) and white
quartz body (BDY) in which there is no
evidence of interparticle glass.
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114 Faience production in the Eastern Mediterranean

Table 6.1 Minoan faience (MM IIIA) - Town Mosaic House façade from Knossos (analyses normalised to 100%)

Code Component SiO2 Na2O K 2O CaO MgO Al2O3 FeO TiO2 CuO MnO

1938.863/2 BDY(bulk)-grey 94.3 bd 0.6 1.3 bd 1.1 2.1 0.4 0.1 0.1
1938.863/6 BDY(bulk)-grey 97.7 bd 0.3 1.1 bd 0.1 0.6 bd 0.1 0.2
1938.863/3 BDY(bulk)-white 98.0 bd 0.2 0.5 bd 0.2 0.1 0.4 0.3 0.3
INLY(bulk)-brown 94.6 bd 1.4 0.8 bd 1.4 1.2 0.2 0.4 0.1
INLY(IPG)-brown1 81.73 4.37 5.14 1.47 0.69 2.95 2.92 na 0.75 na
1938.863/8 BDY(bulk)-white 98.7 bd 0.1 0.5 bd 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.3 0.1
INLY(bulk)-brown 95.4 bd 0.5 1.2 bd 0.6 1.1 0.3 0.6 0.3
1938.863/5 BDY(bulk)-white 97.6 bd 0.2 0.3 bd bd 0.1 0.3 1.4 0.1
INLY(bulk)-brown 96.7 bd 0.6 1.0 bd bd 1.0 0.3 0.5 bd
1938.863/4 IAL-green 55.9 bd 0.2 3.1 bd 2.4 1.1 0.2 37.0 bd
BDY(bulk)-white 97.3 bd bd 1.1 bd bd 0.2 0.1 1.2 0.1
INLY(bulk)-grey 96.2 bd 0.3 1.6 bd 0.4 0.8 0.2 0.3 0.3
1938.863/7 IAL-green 51.2 bd 0.3 2.0 bd bd 0.5 0.2 45.7 0.2
BDY(bulk)-white 97.7 bd 0.2 0.7 bd bd 0.2 0.1 1.0 0.1

Data from Tite et al. (in press) by EDS except for 1from Tite et al. (2008) by WDS
MM - Middle Minoan
IAL - glaze-body interaction layer, BDY - body, IPG - interparticle glass, INLY - inlay
bd - below detection, na - not analysed

by a combination of iron (about 1% FeO) and copper (up to about 0.6% CuO), with the
manganese content being less than 0.1% MnO (Table 6.3). In addition, a single red inlay which
had a very much higher iron content (about 6.5% FeO) was also analysed. The green glazes were
similarly coloured by copper (up to about 6% CuO in the bulk glaze/interaction layer).

MM IIIB – LM IA faience There is again no evidence that, in the white bodies, the quartz parti-
cles were originally bonded together by interparticle glass (Fig. 6.2 (a)).
In contrast, in the brown faience bodies (samples F1, F2, F3, F4 and KF27) with a bulk
manganese oxide content of greater than about 4.5% MnO, there are regions within the body in
which the quartz particles are bonded together by the weathered remnants of manganese-rich
interparticle glass (Fig. 6.2 (b) and 6.2 (c)). The alkalis have been lost from the glass phase and
the weathered remnants (“IPG” in Table 6.2) now consist mainly of manganese oxide (17-78%
MnO) and silica (2-77% SiO2), together with a few percent each of copper oxide (1.5-7.2%
CuO) and iron oxide (<0.5-2.4% FeO). The fact that interparticle glass was almost certainly
originally present in these bodies means that, in their production, glazing mixture containing
alkali, together with manganese, copper and iron compounds, would have been added to the
quartz.
In the brown faience bodies (samples KF1 and KF2) with bulk manganese oxide contents
less than about 2.5%, only scattered particles or aggregates of particles rich in manganese (25-
44% MnO) survive in the bodies (Fig. 6.1 (d)). The particles and aggregates again contain a few
percent each of copper oxide (1.3-7.2% CuO) and iron oxide (1.1-4.0% FeO) (Tables 6.2). The
presence of copper oxide together with the manganese rich particles again suggests that glazing
mixture was added to the quartz body, and therefore, that interparticle glass was again originally
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Faience production in the Eastern Mediterranean 115

present. The absence of obvious weathered remnants of interparticle glass is probably either
because the weathering was more severe or because less interparticle glass was originally
present.
Associated with the manganese rich regions in all the samples analysed are a scatter of parti-
cles of barite (i.e., barium sulphate – BaSO4). Also, some manganese rich areas contain up to
about 1% of vanadium oxide (V2O5), zinc oxide, and/or cobalt oxide (Table 6.2).

Figure 6.2 SEM photomicrographs of sections through MM IIIB – LM IA Minoan faience from:
(a) Festos (white cord encircling main brown body of plume – F4) showing weathered glaze-body interaction
layer (IAL) and quartz body (BDY), in which there is no evidence of interparticle glass;
(b) Festos (brown body of bar – F1) showing a scatter of regions in which quartz particles (Q) are bonded
together by weathered remnants of manganese-rich interparticle glass (Mn-rich IPG) (lighter grey);
(c) Festos (brown body of bar – F1) at higher magnification showing a weathered remnant of manganese-rich
interparticle glass (Mn-rich IPG) within which are manganese-rich and barium-rich (lighter grey) areas;
(d) Knossos (brown body of roundel – KF2) showing scattered particles and aggregates of particles rich in
manganese (Mn) (lighter grey) within the quartz body.
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116 Faience production in the Eastern Mediterranean

Table 6.2 Minoan faience (MM IIIB - LM IA) (analyses normalised to 100%)

Site Object type Code Component SiO2 Na2O K2O CaO

Festos Bar F1 BDY(bulk)-brown 92.4 0.2 0.2 0.2

“IPG” (min) 53.1 0.6 0.9 0.3
“IPG” (max) 4.5 1.4 0.9 0.3
Festos Plaque F2 BDY(bulk)-brown 91.6 0.3 0.4 0.8
“IPG” (min) 19.4 0.3 2.9 25.3
“IPG” (max) 10.0 bd 1.8 5.2
Festos Plaque F3 BDY(bulk)-brown 92.3 0.2 0.2 0.6
“IPG” (min) 17.6 0.9 0.8 4.5
“IPG” (max) 12.7 0.1 bd 1.3
Festos Plumage F4 BDY(bulk)-brown 87.8 1.1 0.4 0.5
IAL(bulk)-green 87.0 1.1 0.3 1.7
“IPG” (min) 47.8 0.9 0.9 0.7
“IPG” (max) 27.5 0.3 0.5 0.9
Knossos Plaque KF27 BDY(bulk)-brown 90.9 0.2 0.1 1.3
IAL(bulk)-green 92.7 0.2 0.2 1.4
“IPG” (min) 77.1 0.2 0.2 1.9
“IPG” (max) 2.0 bd 0.9 8.9
Knossos Roundel KF1 BDY(bulk)-brown 94.0 0.5 0.3 0.5
IAL(bulk)-green 84.4 0.8 2.1 1.3
Mn particle 67.2 0.6 0.2 0.4
Mn aggregate 38.4 1.4 1.1 5.1
Knossos Roundel KF2 BDY(bulk)-brown 87.1 1.2 0.6 0.9
Mn particle 64.6 0.4 0.1 0.3
Mn aggregate 22.1 1.8 1.3 4.2
BDY(bulk)-white 96.8 0.3 0.3 0.4

Data from Tite et al. (in press) by EDS

MM - Middle Minoan, LM - Late Minoan
IAL - glaze-body interaction layer, BDY - body, “IPG” (min/max) - weathered remnants of interparticle glass –
minimum/maximum MnO content
bd - below detection, na - not analysed

The traces of green glaze that are visible on samples F4, KF27 and KF1 consist of the
severely weathered remnants of the glass phase that would originally have bonded together the
quartz particles in the glaze-body interaction layer (Fig. 6.2 (a)). These glaze remnants contain
several percent of copper oxide (2-6% CuO) together with up to about one percent each of
manganese and iron oxides.
In the case of sample F4, a purple streak has been applied on top of the green glaze which
covers both the main brown body of the plume and the white cord encircling the widest part of
the main body. This purple streak contains significantly higher amounts of copper, manganese
and iron oxides (9.7-14.4% CuO, 8.3-17.3% MnO and 2.1-3.7% FeO) than the underlying green
glaze (6.4% CuO, 0.2% MnO and 1.0% FeO). However, its composition and microstructure are
confused by the presence of significant amounts of calcium sulphate, most probably gypsum,
that have been deposited during burial.
The analytical data obtained by Foster and Kaczmarczyk (1982) for MM IIIB – LM IA
faience from Knossos confirms that bodies and inlays, which they described as grey rather than
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Faience production in the Eastern Mediterranean 117

MgO Al2O3 FeO TiO2 CuO MnO BaO V2O5 CoO ZnO

0.4 0.3 bd bd 0.4 5.7 0.3 na na na

0.3 1.0 0.5 0.2 1.8 38.2 3.1 na na na
1.4 2.8 2.0 bd 6.5 78.3 1.9 na na na
bd 0.5 bd 0.1 0.7 5.6 bd na na bd
1.0 4.9 bd 0.5 2.8 41.0 1.9 na na bd
1.1 3.0 bd 0.4 4.3 72.0 1.3 na na 1.1
0.2 0.8 bd 0.3 0.4 5.1 bd na na na
3.1 2.4 1.7 bd 6.8 59.4 2.8 na na na
0.3 1.8 bd bd 5.6 78.2 bd na na na
1.1 1.9 0.7 bd 1.2 5.0 0.3 0.2 na na
1.0 1.4 1.0 bd 6.4 0.2 bd bd na na
0.5 2.6 1.5 bd 7.2 30.7 6.5 0.6 na na
0.4 1.6 2.4 0.2 3.2 61.9 0.5 0.5 na na
0.1 0.7 0.9 bd 0.4 4.5 0.7 na na na
0.0 0.1 bd bd 3.8 1.4 0.2 na na na
0.4 0.2 0.7 bd 1.5 17.2 0.6 na na na
1.2 0.3 bd bd 5.7 78.1 3.0 na na na
0.6 2.0 0.4 0.1 0.2 1.3 bd bd bd 0.1
1.3 1.7 0.5 0.3 1.8 1.4 3.9 0.4 bd 0.2
0.5 2.5 1.1 0.2 1.3 25.4 bd 0.2 bd 0.4
1.1 4.4 4.0 0.4 2.8 38.3 1.3 1.3 bd 0.3
1.2 2.8 0.8 bd 1.0 2.5 0.8 bd 0.5 0.5
0.1 0.8 1.7 0.3 2.3 28.9 bd 0.2 bd 0.2
0.7 7.9 2.0 4.5 7.2 44.4 2.1 0.1 0.5 1.1
0.2 1.7 0.3 bd bd bd bd bd bd bd

brown, were similarly coloured by manganese (up to about 4% MnO), and that the green glazes
were coloured by copper (up to about 12% CuO) (Table 6.3). Barium was also present in all but
one of the grey bodies and inlays coloured by manganese.

Quartz The bulk alumina contents of the faience bodies varies from less than 0.1% Al2O3 up
to as much as 2.8% Al2O3 which suggests that both crushed quartz pebbles and quartz sand
were used, the former predominating in the case of the MM IIIA faience (Table 6.1), and the
latter in the case of the MM IIIB – LM IA faience (Table 6.2). In view of the fine particle size
of the quartz (less than about 100 µm across), any sand used would almost certainly have had
to have been ground, and therefore, the angularity of the quartz particles is not evidence for
the use of crushed quartz pebbles.

Alkali flux The surviving unweathered interparticle glass in the brown inlay of the Town
Mosaic House façade fragment (1938.863/3) from the Palace of Knossos contains almost
equal amounts of potash and soda (Na2O/K2O ratio ~ 0.9) (Table 6.1), which suggests the use
of a mixed alkali flux (see Section 3.1.2). Ashes from Salsola kali, a plant which is readily
available around the Cretan coast, are one possible source of this flux, although their lime
content relative to soda (CaO/Na2O ratios in range 0.5-0.9) (Table 3.2), like those of most
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118 Faience production in the Eastern Mediterranean

Table 6.3 Minoan faience (MM IIIA - LM IA) from Knossos (analyses normalised to 100%)

Site Object type Period Code Component

Loom Weight Basement House façade MM IIIA 1938.863f GLZ-green

Loom Weight Basement House façade MM IIIA 1938.863o GLZ-green
INLY(bulk)-grey
BDY(bulk)-white

Loom Weight Basement House façade MM IIIA 1938.863h INLY(bulk)-grey

Loom Weight Basement House façade MM IIIA 1938.863j BDY(bulk)-grey
Loom Weight Basement House façade MM IIIA 1938.863k BDY(bulk)-grey
Loom Weight Basement House façade MM IIIA 1938.863p INLY(bulk)-red
BDY(bulk)-white

Temple Repositories Plaque MM IIIB - LM IA 1938.836 GLZ-green

BDY(bulk)-grey
Throne Room Disc MM IIIB - LM IA 1941.171a GLZ-green
BDY(bulk)-grey
Throne Room Disc MM IIIB - LM IA 1941.171c BDY(bulk)-grey
BDY(bulk)-white
Knossos Inlay MM IIIB - LM IA 1938.538a INLY(bulk)-grey
BDY(bulk)-white
Knossos Inlay MM IIIB - LM IA 1938.538b GLZ-green
BDY(bulk)-grey
Knossos Inlay MM IIIB - LM IA 1938.488 INLY(bulk)-grey
BDY(bulk)-white

Data from Foster and Kaczmarczyk (1982) by surface XRF

MM - Middle Minoan, LM - Late Minoan
GLZ - glaze, BDY - body, INLY - inlay
bd - below detection, na - not analysed

mixed alkali plant ashes, are higher than that of the interparticle glass (CaO/Na2O ratio ~ 0.3).
Therefore, as discussed in Sections 3.1.2, some reduction in the lime content would have been
necessary, perhaps by adding a solution of plant ash to the quartz powder, rather than
moistening a mixture of quartz powder and plant ash with water.
Also as discussed in Section 3.1.2, in comparing the compositions of plant ash and glass
phase, one has again to consider the possible changes in the composition of the ashes during
processing to produce the faience (Rehren 2008), as well as the possible contribution to the glass
phase from other components of the faience. Thus, if all the alumina (~3%) in the glass phase
originated from orthoclase in the sand, then the potash content contributed by the plant ash
would be reduced to about 2%, so that the Na2O/K2O ratio associated with the plant ash contri-
bution (~2) would have been higher than the ratio observed for the glass phase (~ 0.9). However,
because potash is depleted, as compared to soda, in the glass melt and enriched in the salt melt
(Tanimoto and Rehren 2008), the potash content of the plant ash itself would have been greater
than its contribution to the potash content of the glass phase. As a result, the Na2O/K2O ratio in
the plant ash would have been less than 2, and therefore, could still have been comparable with
the ratios observed for ash from Salsola kali.
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Faience production in the Eastern Mediterranean 119

SiO2 Na2O K2O CaO MgO Al2O3 FeO MnO CuO SnO2 PbO BaO

82.98 na 1.01 9.02 na na 0.48 0.05 6.45 bd bd bd

95.64 na 0.21 2.34 na na 0.22 0.07 1.50 0.02 bd bd
95.79 na 0.23 2.27 na na 1.06 0.08 0.53 0.03 bd bd
99.31 na 0.07 0.47 na na 0.06 0.05 0.01 bd 0.02 bd

95.81 na 0.78 2.32 na na 1.00 0.05 0.03 bd bd bd

95.98 na 0.38 2.66 na na 0.81 0.10 0.08 bd bd bd
95.69 na 0.60 2.14 na na 0.92 0.08 0.56 0.01 bd bd
82.05 na 0.57 10.82 na na 6.49 bd bd bd 0.07 bd
99.64 na 0.06 0.21 na na 0.02 0.04 0.02 bd bd bd

80.09 na 0.47 3.49 na na 0.71 2.09 12.42 0.02 0.11 0.60

83.48 na 0.27 3.09 na na 0.66 2.38 9.55 0.02 0.14 0.42
92.22 na 0.06 1.73 na na 0.26 2.05 3.55 bd 0.13 bd
93.54 na 0.53 2.31 na na 0.30 2.43 0.76 bd 0.03 0.10
95.68 na 0.22 1.04 na na 0.24 2.04 0.60 bd 0.08 0.09
99.26 na 0.11 0.23 na na 0.16 0.12 0.11 bd bd bd
90.52 na 0.16 4.14 na na 0.55 1.91 2.39 0.02 0.16 0.14
96.23 na 0.08 2.14 na na 0.44 0.08 0.86 bd 0.16 bd
89.28 na bd 5.62 na na 0.43 0.07 4.52 bd 0.07 bd
85.05 na 0.37 9.21 na na 0.60 2.35 2.08 0.02 0.02 0.30
83.98 na 0.19 7.97 na na 1.34 4.15 1.35 0.10 0.93 0.01
98.17 na 0.27 1.09 na na 0.27 0.06 0.14 bd bd bd

MM IIIA colorants The copper in the Town Mosaic House façade glaze (Tables 6.1 and 6.3)
would have originally been present as Cu2+ ions in a glass phase, and therefore, the glaze
would have been bright turquoise blue. However, as discussed in Section 3.1.4, due to weath-
ering, the copper is now most probably present either as basic copper chloride or as copper
carbonate, both of which result in a green colour.
Replication experiments (Tite et al. in press) have shown that, when the alkali content of the
body is insufficient to produce significant amounts of interparticle glass, the iron oxide remains
as particles. Therefore, the red colour observed in fragments of the Town Mosaic House façade
(sample 1938.863p) is most probably due to the presence of iron oxide particles in the oxidised
form, haematite (␣-Fe2O3). In this case, the iron oxide has survived as particles as a result of a
combination of its high content (6.5% FeO) (Table 6.3) and the limited interparticle glass in the
body. The iron in the red faience was probably added in the form of ochre.
The grey and brown bodies and inlays also contain iron oxide but at much lower concentra-
tions, typically up to about 2% FeO in the bulk. Copper oxide is also sometimes present
(typically up to 0.6% CuO in the bulk) but the manganese oxide content is negligible (generally
less than 0.1% MnO) (Tables 6.1 and 6.3). At these concentrations, the iron oxide would most
likely have been originally present as ions in a glass phase. Therefore, again on the basis of repli-
cation experiments (Tite et al. in press), the original colour of the glaze, due to the iron by itself,
would have been creamy white to very pale yellow-green, and the original colour of the body
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120 Faience production in the Eastern Mediterranean

would have been white to creamy buff. These colours assume that the firing was in an oxidising
atmosphere. When copper was also present, the colour of the glaze would have tended towards
turquoise or greenish turquoise, and the colour of the body would have tended towards a pale
turquoise or pale greenish turquoise. The current brown-grey colour in the bodies and inlays is
probably the result of the iron ions, originally present in the glass phase, being deposited as
amorphous or poorly crystalline oxides when glass phase was lost due to weathering.
Overall, therefore, the original colour range for Town Mosaic House façade would have
included red due to particulate iron oxide, bright turquoise blue due to copper ions, creamy
white to pale yellow-green due to iron ions, and a more greenish turquoise due to iron plus
copper ions.

MM IIIB – LM 1A colorants The fact that the brown-grey faience bodies originally contained
interparticle glass means that the manganese was originally present as Mn3+ ions in a glass
phase. Therefore, as confirmed by replication experiments (Tite et al. in press), the original
colour of the bodies would have been purple, or in view of the presence of copper oxide,
perhaps dark grey to black. The current brown-grey colour is probably the result of the deposi-
tion of manganese ions, originally present in the glass phase, as amorphous or poorly
crystalline oxides when glass phase was lost due to weathering.
As in the case of the Town Mosaic House façade glaze, the copper would have originally
been present as Cu2+ ions in a glass phase. Therefore, the glaze would have been bright turquoise
blue over a white body, the present green colour again being due to the formation of either basic
copper chloride or copper carbonate as a result of weathering. On the basis of replication experi-
ments, a copper coloured glaze over a manganese coloured body would have been a dark blue-
violet or violet, as compared to purple for a glaze coloured by manganese by itself.
Because of the presence of barium in association with the manganese oxide in all but one
(inlay 1938.488) of the brown-grey faience bodies and inlays (Tables 6.2 and 6.3), Foster and
Kaczmarczyk (1982) suggested that psilomelane was the source of the manganese used. They
further argued that the introduction of manganese as a colorant in Minoan faience could have
been the result of the import of manganese ores from Egypt where manganese was used as a
black-purple colorant throughout the 3rd and 2nd millennia BC (Kaczmarczyk and Hedges
1983, 30 and 106). Initially, it would have been psilomelane that was imported, but this would
have been followed by pyrolusite when, as discussed in Section 4.2.3, the change from the use
of psilomelane to pyrolusite occurred in Egypt during the early New Kingdom (c. 1500 BC).
However, the separation into psilomelane and pyrolusite on the basis of the presence or
absence of barium represents an over-simplification since manganese deposits frequently
contain a wide range of manganese minerals (i.e., oxides, silicates, carbonates) together with
veins of barite (BaSO4). In addition to pyrolusite (MnO2) and the hydrated variant, psilomelane
(BaMn2+Mn4+8O16(OH)4), the oxides include manganite (Mn3+O(OH), hollandite (Ba(Mn4+,
Mn3+)8O16) and cryptomelane (K(Mn4+, Mn3+)6O16); the silicates include braunite
(Mn2+Mn3+6SiO12) and rhodonite (Mn2+SiO3); and the carbonates include rhodochrosite
(Mn2+CO3). Therefore, barium can be introduced into the faience glaze or interparticle glass
through the presence of either barium-containing manganese minerals (i.e., psilomelane or
hollandite) or barite in the manganese ore. In the latter case, the faience glaze and interparticle
glass will also contain sulphur.
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Faience production in the Eastern Mediterranean 121

Manganese deposits in Greece for which there are published mineralogical data include Ano
Meros in eastern Crete, where the principal minerals are braunite, rhodonite, rhodocrocite and
barite (Orfanoudaki and Perraki 1997); the Vani region of Melos, where the principal minerals
are pyrolusite, hollandite, cryptomelane and barite (Kelepetzis and Kyriakopoulos 1991); Mt.
Othyrs in central Greece where the principal minerals are pyrolusite, psilomelane, cryptome-
lane, manganite and braunite (Markopoulos and Skounakis 1980); and the island of Andros in
the Cyclades where the principal minerals are psilomelane, manganite, braunite, pyrolusite and
barite (Reinecke 1982).
In the present context, in which barite is present in the remnant interparticle glass, barite-
containing ores (MnO/BaO ratios in the range 2-85) from Ano Meros in eastern Crete could
have been the source of the manganese. The fact that replication experiments have shown that
these ores can be successfully used to produce a purple coloured faience is consistent with this
hypothesis. However, the barite-containing ores from the Vani region of Melos and from
Andros, where the mines have been known since ancient times, are alternative possibilities.
Foster and Kaczmarczyk (1982) also detected tin oxide in some of the faience (Table 6.3)
suggesting that scale from bronze containing up to about 7% tin was sometimes used as the
source of the copper colorant. Otherwise scale from copper metal or a relatively pure copper ore
would have been used.

Glazing methods The original presence of interparticle glass in the brown and grey inlays of
the MM IIIA faience (Fig. 6.1 (b)), and in the brown bodies of the MM IIIB – LM IA faience
(Fig. 6.2 (b) – 6.2 (c)) means that a glazing mixture containing alkali and colorant would have
been mixed with the quartz. Therefore, this faience could, in principle, have been glazed using
the efflorescence method. The apparent absence of interparticle glass from the white bodies
suggests, by itself, glazing by the application method. However, the presence of up to 1.4%
bulk copper oxide in the white bodies of the Town Mosaic House façade faience (Table 6.1)
suggests that the interparticle glass could have been originally present but was lost through
weathering, in which case efflorescence glazing could again have been used.

6.1.3 Mycenaean faience

The Mycenaean faience that is of primary interest are beads which have hard vitreous bodies and
are coloured blue-grey using cobalt as the colorant. Chemical analyses and microstructural exami-
nations have been undertaken on a small group of cobalt blue faience beads (“grain of wheat”
type) from Crete and the island of Psara (near Chios) using an analytical SEM (Tite et al. 2008).
The resulting analytical data are supplemented by bulk body analyses for a group of similar cobalt
coloured beads from Thebes and Elateia on the Greek mainland, undertaken by Nikita (2004). In
addition, a group of copper coloured, Amenhotep III faience fragments, excavated at Mycenae
and inscribed with Egyptian hieroglyphs, are discussed at the end of this subsection.
The microstructures of the cobalt coloured beads are all characterised by the absence of a
clearly distinguishable glaze-body interaction layer such that the entire faience body consists of
quartz particles in an essentially continuous glass matrix (Figs. 6.3 (a) – 6.3 (b)). Although no
glaze layer was detected on any of the samples examined in the SEM, there are specks of a dark
blue glaze visible on some beads. As in the case of Egyptian faience (Figs. 4.1 (c) – 4.1 (e) and
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122 Faience production in the Eastern Mediterranean

Table 6.4 Mycenaean and related cobalt blue faience beads (analyses normalised to 100%)

Site Component SiO2 Na2O K2O CaO MgO P2O5 Al2O3 FeO

Group A
Isopata 4 IPG 73.34 12.52 2.41 1.60 1.90 0.23 3.63 0.45
Amarna* IPG (Av) 75.76 11.39 2.63 1.23 1.75 0.08 5.38 0.37

Group B
Mesara 4 IPG 73.83 11.12 0.85 2.07 0.60 0.11 0.73 4.02
Mesara 5 IPG 71.96 12.23 0.93 2.39 0.55 0.10 0.96 3.80
Psara K006 IPG 71.40 11.53 0.79 1.68 0.67 0.09 0.71 4.93
Thebes 111 BDY(bulk) 93.0 0.1 1.3 1.1 0.3 bd 0.3 1.5
Elateia 88 BDY(bulk) 93.1 3.4 0.2 0.4 0.1 bd 0.1 0.9
Elateia 89 BDY(bulk) 87.5 5.6 0.4 1.1 0.6 bd 0.4 2.3
Elateia 27 BDY(bulk) 88.0 6.1 0.4 0.8 0.3 bd 0.4 1.1
Elateia 33 BDY(bulk) 84.4 6.3 0.5 0.6 0.5 bd 0.6 2.1

Data for IPG and IPG (Av) from Tite et al. (2008) by WDS, and for BDY (bulk) from Nikita (2004) by WDS
BDY - body, IPG - interparticle glass, Av - average
bd - below detection
*Amarna cobalt coloured faience includes beads, rings and fragments from composite sculpture

4.3 (a) – 4.3 (b)) and Italian “glassy faience” (Figs. 7.2 (b) – 7.2 (c)) in which the quartz particles
are similarly embedded in an essentially continuous glass matrix, this Mycenaean “vitreous
faience” is most probably the result of a combination of the addition of a high proportion of
glazing mixture to the quartz body and the small size of the beads. It should, therefore, be distin-
guished from Variant E glassy faience from Egypt which is without glaze layer and is best
regarded as a hybrid of faience and glass (Section 4.3.1).

Figure 6.3 SEM photomicrographs of sections through Mycenaean cobalt coloured faience beads from:
(a) Isopata (2) showing interaction layer (IAL) that merges into the body (BDY) consisting of quartz particles
in a more or less continuous glass matrix (lighter grey) in which the porosity increases with distance from
the surface;
(b) Psara (K006) showing the body (BDY-CGM) consisting of quartz particles in a continuous glass matrix
(lighter grey) in which there are scattered pores, more or less uniformly distributed..
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Faience production in the Eastern Mediterranean 123

CuO SnO2 PbO CoO MnO ZnO NiO Sb2O3 As2O5 Na2O/K2O Na2O/MgO

1.67 0.03 0.17 0.37 0.88 0.54 0.23 bd 0.01 5.2 6.6
0.05 bd 0.01 0.45 0.19 0.46 0.20 bd 0.03 4.3 6.5

2.59 0.03 1.60 1.24 0.04 0.01 0.30 0.78 0.07 13.0 18.5
1.73 0.02 2.30 1.72 0.01 0.03 0.32 0.90 0.05 13.2 22.3
2.57 0.01 2.84 1.56 0.04 bd 0.25 0.93 bd 14.5 17.1
0.92 bd 0.85 0.31 bd bd 0.04 0.19 bd
0.58 bd 0.47 0.33 bd bd 0.09 0.24 bd 14.8 24.3
0.85 bd 0.53 0.39 bd bd 0.01 0.35 bd 14.4 9.7
0.99 bd 0.94 0.65 bd bd 0.12 0.27 0.05 16.1 23.5
2.70 bd 0.99 0.64 bd bd 0.32 0.34 0.10 12.6 14.0

These beads can be subdivided into two groups (Group A and Group B) on the basis of their
chemical compositions. In addition, the two groups tend to differ in terms of their porosity, with
the amount of porosity in the continuous glass matrix increasing progressively with distance
away from the surface for Group A (Fig. 6.3 (a)), and the porosity being more or less uniformly
distributed throughout the body for Group B (Fig. 6.3 (b)).

Group A The soda and potash contents of the one bead (Isopata 4) in Group A (Na2O/K2O
ratio ~ 5) suggests that a soda-rich plant ash was the source of the alkali flux. Further, the
high alumina contents, together with minor or trace amounts of manganese, zinc and nickel
oxides, are consistent with the use of cobaltiferous alum from the Western Desert of Egypt
as the source of the cobalt (Table 6.4). As in the case of the cobalt blue faience from Amarna
(Section 4.3.2), the cobalt oxide content of the Mycenaean faience (0.36% CoO) is higher
than that of either Mycenaean glass from Elateia (average 0.10% CoO) (Nikita and
Henderson 2006), or glass from Amarna and Malkata (average 0.16% CoO) (Shortland and
Eremin 2006). As a result, the Mycenaean faience again could not have been produced by
adding crushed cobalt blue glass to a quartz body. On the basis of both microstructure and
composition, the Isopata bead was most probably imported from Egypt where typologically
similar beads are found.

Group B The three Group B beads from Mesara and Psara are very different in composition
to the Isopata bead, being characterised by the use of an exceptionally soda-rich alkali flux
(Na2O/K2O and Na2O/MgO ratios in the ranges 13.0-14.5 and 17.1-22.3 respectively), and by
high iron, copper, lead, nickel and antimony contents (Table 6.4). On the basis of their bulk
compositions, the faience beads from Thebes and Elateia also appear to fall into Group B.
The low alumina, manganese and zinc contents indicate that cobaltiferous alums were not the
source of the cobalt colorant used in these beads. Instead, the cobalt source is characterised in
terms of the high iron, nickel, lead and antimony contents observed in these beads, which corre-
late well with their cobalt contents. However, the copper contents of the beads do not correlate
with the cobalt contents, so that the copper was most probably added separately from the cobalt.
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124 Faience production in the Eastern Mediterranean

As discussed further in Section 7.2.2, this second group of Mycenaean cobalt blue beads is
similar in composition to contemporary cobalt blue faience beads from Italy (Table 7.2).
Identification of the alkali source used in the production of this second group of Mycenaean
faience beads remains uncertain. Although the Na2O/K2O ratios (12.6-16.1) are higher than those
normally observed for soda-rich plant ashes (Table 3.2), as discussed in Section 3.1.2, similarly
high ratios do occur in some New Kingdom Egyptian glasses produced using plant ash. Also,
although New Kingdom Egyptian glasses never exhibit the high Na2O/MgO ratios (9.7-24.3)
associated with the Mycenaean faience, the highest observed ratio for Egyptian glasses being
about 7, Egyptian faience produced using plant ash routinely exhibits high Na2O/MgO ratios
with average values in the range 50-100 (Table 4.4). As discussed in Section 4.2.2, these high
Na2O/MgO ratios for Egyptian faience could be the result of adding a solution of plant ash to the
quartz powder, rather than moistening a mixture of quartz powder and plant ash.
Therefore, in spite of the high Na2O/K2O and Na2O/MgO ratios, the use of plant ash as the
flux for Group B Mycenaean faience beads cannot be ruled out. However, a possible alternative
source of the flux for these beads is the natural evaporite, natron, the low phosphorus contents
(~ 0.1% P2O5) of the beads favouring this alternative. Although Na2O/K2O and Na2O/MgO
ratios for the beads are significantly lower than those for natron (typically in the range from 90
to 110 for both ratios) (Table 3.2), they are comparable to those for Roman glass (typically 20-
30 for both ratios) (Freestone et al. 2000) that was produced from quartz sand and natron. In the
present context, a possible source of natron was Lake Pikrolimni in Macedonia, northern
Greece, which was reported by Pliny as a source of natron during the Roman period, and in
which elevated sodium carbonate contents have been confirmed by recent water analyses
(Ignatiadou et al. 2005).
Identification of the cobalt source for the Group B beads also remains uncertain. On the basis
of geological surveys of cobalt sources (Andrews 1962, Gratuze et al. 1996), the low arsenic
content of the faience makes the use of the high arsenic cobalt ores from the Erzgebirge in
Germany, Kashan in Iran, and the Caucasus unlikely. Cobalt ore sources in Bulgaria and
Anatolia also appear to be unlikely because they do not contain the characteristic high nickel
content of the Mycenaean faience. Instead, Andrews (1962) reports that cobalt ores, with the
characteristic high nickel-iron contents, were mined on a small scale at Laurion and Larymna in
Greece during the first half of the 20th century AD, but as yet, it has not been possible to relocate
these deposits.
Stylistically similar faience beads have been found in the Near East and Egypt (Oates et al.
1997, 86-9, 242-7; Maxwell-Hyslop 1971, 125-7). However, a 14th to 13th century BC cup
from Mesopotamia (LRMF17647) (Caubet 2007, 97) is the only sample of faience from the
Near East or Egypt in which the cobalt colorant is associated with the high iron, nickel, lead and
antimony contents (Table 5.3) that characterise the Mycenaean beads. Therefore, it is possible
that this second group of Mycenaean beads was produced on the Greek mainland using natron
from Lake Pikrolimni in northern Greece, and cobalt from either Laurion or Larymna.
However, this hypothesis is very far from proven.
As in the case of the cobalt coloured beads and rings from Egypt (Section 4.3.2), both groups
of Mycenaean beads were most probably glazed using the efflorescence method, with the more
uniform distribution of porosity observed for Group B beads perhaps reflecting the addition of a
higher proportion of glazing mixture to quartz. However, cementation or application glazing, in
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Faience production in the Eastern Mediterranean 125

combination with the addition of glazing mixture to the body prior to glazing, cannot be entirely
ruled out, with the small size of the objects favouring the former method.

Amenhotep III faience plaques Faience fragments inscribed with Egyptian hieroglyphs, and
found at Mycenae between 1886 and 1969, have for a long time been seen as Egyptian-made
royal gifts, perhaps representing foundation deposit bricks, from the period of Amenhotep III
(1391-1353 BC) (Cline 1990). If this interpretation is correct, then their presence at Mycenae
has important implications for international trade and economy, with the plaques perhaps
being exchanged for Mycenaean pottery.
More recently, Lilyquist (1999) has argued that comparison of these fragments with contem-
porary objects from Egypt does not offer precise parallels in terms of the inscriptions. She there-
fore questions their Egyptian origin, and argues that the alternative hypothesis of manufacture
on the Greek mainland, with assistance from an Egyptian scribe, should not yet be rejected.
Similarly, although their thick, coarse grained, beige coloured quartz bodies, coated with a layer
of finer grained, whiter quartz, favour an Egyptian rather than a Minoan/Mycenaean origin, it is
still possible that the plaques were made on the Greek mainland by artisans sent from Egypt.
The lead isotope results for a sample of green glaze taken from one of the plaque fragments,
although by no means conclusive, do provide further tentative support for production in Greece.
Brill reported that the lead isotope ratios for the glaze matched those of the Laurion lead isotope
field (Cline 1990, 209). Since the lead analysed was almost certainly present as an impurity in the
copper colorant, this result implies that the copper originated from Laurion. One might argue that
this does not necessarily support production of the faience in Greece since lead isotope analysis of
copper artefacts from Egypt indicates that a significant proportion were made using copper from
Laurion (Stos-Gale et al. 1995). Therefore, Laurion copper would have been readily available in
Egypt for use as a colorant for faience glaze. However, Shortland (2006) has recently shown that
the lead isotope ratios of copper blue faience glazes from Egypt are much closer to those for lead
from Gebel Zeit in Egypt, which was used in lead antimonate yellow glass and faience glaze, than
to those for the Laurion field. As discussed in Section 4.2.3, Shortland suggests that this apparent
discrepancy, which is also observed for copper blue glass from Egypt, is due to contamination by
Gebel Zeit lead from lead antimonate at some stage during the production of the copper blue
faience. On this basis, the survival in the plaque fragment glaze of the Laurion lead isotope ratios,
unchanged by contamination with Gebel Zeit lead, provides tentative support for production of the
plaques in Greece where lead antimonate yellow glass or glaze was absent.

6.2 CYPRUS

6.2.1 Chalcolithic period faience

The earliest faience from Cyprus are beads, found at the cemeteries at Souskiou-Vathyrkakas
(Peltenburg 2006, 93) and Souskiou-Laona (Crewe et al. 2002), which date to the Middle
Chalcolithic period (3200-2900 BC), and which, therefore, probably predate the earliest
faience found in Crete (see Section 6.1.1). Faience beads dating to the Late Chalcolithic
period (2700-2400 BC) have also been found at Kissonerga (Peltenburg 1995; Peltenburg
1998, 192). Both the Middle and Late Chalcolithic beads tend to be typologically similar to
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126 Faience production in the Eastern Mediterranean

Table 6.5 Cypriot faience (analyses normalised to 100%)

Site Period Code Component SiO2 Na2O K 2O CaO MgO P 2O 5

S-Vathyrkakas1 MC SVP29/32 GLZ 85.87 bd 0.01 1.16 0.03 0.28

IAL 88.08 0.14 0.02 1.86 0.01 0.11
Kissonerga2 LC KM 2056 BDY (bulk) 90.8 2.6 0.3 1.0 0.4 na
IPG 79.8 4.1 1.3 3.0 0.7 na

Data from 1 Shortland and Tite (2006) by WDS and 2 Tite (1998) by EDS
MC - Middle Chalcolithic, LC - Late Chalcolithic
GLZ - glaze, IAL - glaze-body interaction layer, BDY - body, IPG - interparticle glass
bd - below detection, na - not analysed

beads found in the Near East and Egypt, and were, therefore, probably imported into Cyprus,
perhaps from northern Mesopotamia. However, some local production, in emulation of the
imported faience, cannot be ruled out (Peltenburg 2006, 170).
Microstructural examinations and chemical analyses have been undertaken on two
Chalcolithic faience beads, one each from Souskiou-Vathyrkakas (SVP 29/32) (Shortland and
Tite 2006) and Kissonerga (KM 2056) (Tite 1998), using an analytical SEM. Glaze and glaze-
body interaction layers survive in the Souskiou-Vathyrkakas bead but not in the Kissonerga
bead. Interparticle glass bonding together the quartz particles in the bodies is present in both
beads but is significantly more extensive in the Kissonerga bead. The presence of interparticle
glass is consistent with the use of efflorescence glazing. However, as discussed in Section 3.3.2,
it is possible that either cementation or application glazing, in combination with the addition of
glazing mixture to the bodies, was instead used. Further, as discussed in Sections 3.3.3 and
4.3.1, this latter interpretation is re-enforced for Souskiou-Vathyrkakas bead by the observed
decrease in the copper oxide content from the glaze into the glaze-body interaction layer (by a
factor of about 1.3) which, it can be argued, is inconsistent with efflorescence glazing.
Both beads are severely weathered, and alkali only survives in areas of interparticle glass in
the body of the Kissonerga bead (Table 6.5), it having been lost from the glaze, interaction layer
and interparticle glass of the Souskiou-Vathyrkakas bead. The Na2O/K2O ratios in the bulk body
and interparticle glass of the Kissonerga bead are 8.7 and 3.2 respectively, suggesting that a
soda-rich plant ash provided the source of the alkali flux which is consistent with the beads
having been imported from either the Near East or Egypt. The colorant used in both beads is
copper oxide. The Souskiou-Vathyrkakas bead also contains tin oxide (in the range 0.7-0.9%
SnO2), suggesting that the source of the copper in this case was scale from scrap bronze
containing up to about 10% tin. As discussed by Peltenburg (2006, 169), the presence of tin in
this supposedly Middle Chalcolithic bead is puzzling since, in both the Near East and Egypt,
bronze scale was not routinely used as the copper colorant in faience until the Late Bronze
Age/New Kingdom (i.e., mid 2nd millennium BC) (see Sections 4.2.3 and 5.1.4).

6.2.2 Bronze Age faience

During the Early and Middle Bronze Ages, faience continued to be used only for the produc-
tion of beads. However, in the Late Bronze Age (i.e., 15th – 13th centuries BC), the range of
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Faience production in the Eastern Mediterranean 127

Al2O3 FeO CuO SnO2 PbO CoO MnO ZnO Na2O/K2O Na2O/MgO

0.12 0.19 11.31 0.73 0.06 0.06 bd 0.18

0.06 0.15 8.63 0.87 0.02 bd 0.05 bd
2.0 1.8 1.0 na na na na na 8.7 6.5
3.4 3.2 4.6 na na na na na 3.2 5.9

faience objects found in Cyprus increased significantly to include a wide variety of vessel
types (Caubet 2007, 263; Peltenburg 2007). Currently, there is still considerable discussion
regarding the extent to which this Late Bronze Age faience was imported from Egypt or the
Levant, and the extent to which it was made locally under Egyptian and other influences
(Peltenburg 1986, Caubet and Kaczmarczyk 1989). This contrasts with the situation in Crete
where, by the Middle Minoan period, local production of faience with a distinctive Aegean
iconography was quite definitely dominant (see Section 6.1.1).
On the basis of non-destructive surface analyses using XRF, Kaczmarczyk (2007) has
obtained information on the colorants used in the Late Bronze Age faience found in Cyprus.
Copper green glazes with manganese black decoration are again dominant, with lead
antimonate yellow sometimes also being used. Tin is frequently present together with the
copper, suggesting the use of bronze scale as the copper colorant. The manganese/iron ratios in
the black decoration in Cypriot faience (mainly in the range 2-4) tend to overlap with those
observed in Egypt (also mainly in the range 2-4), and partially with those observed in Syria
(mainly in the range 1-4) (Caubet and Kaczmarczyk 1989). Similarly, the antimony contents
and lead/antimony ratios of the yellow glazes tend to match the lower antimony contents and
higher ratios observed in Egypt rather than the higher antimony contents and lower ratios
observed in Syria eastwards (Kaczmarczyk 2007, Figs. 1a and 1b) (see Section 5.1.4). Thus, the
compositions of the manganese black and lead antimonate yellow colorants are more consistent
with import of faience from Egypt, although the Levant remains a possibility.

6.3 RHODES AND THE ARCHAIC PERIOD

Due to the lack of scientific excavations, very little is known about Rhodes during the Early
and Middle Bronze Ages (Mee 1982). However, during the Late Bronze Age, Mycenaean
settlements appeared all over Rhodes, and included among the imported materials found both
at settlements and their associated cemeteries are small numbers of faience beads although, as
yet, none have been examined scientifically (Karantzali 2001, 73).
Then, during the Archaic period (8th – 6th centuries BC), Rhodes appears to have played a
central role in the distribution, and possibly the production, of faience that was found
throughout the Greek world from the Aegean, through Crete and the Greek mainland, to Greek
colonies in Italy, as well as at the Greek foundation of Naucratis in Egypt (Webb 1978). The
faience being produced and distributed at this period included a wide range of vessel types and
figurines, as well as amulets and scarabs. Initially, the strongest influence on the style of the
faience appears to have been Egyptian, but the extent to which this faience was imported from
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128 Faience production in the Eastern Mediterranean

Egypt and the extent to which it was produced locally in an Egyptian style has not yet been fully
resolved.
Hölbl (1987) initiated an attempt to distinguish between faience imported into Rhodes and
that produced locally on the basis of its chemical composition and the method of glazing used,
as determined by examination in an analytical SEM (Tite et al. 1987). However, the faience was
too weathered to provide adequate compositional data, and although, on the basis of the
presence or absence of interparticle glass in the faience bodies, it was possible to distinguish
between efflorescence and application glazing, this by itself was not sufficient to distinguish
imported from locally produced faience. Therefore, Hölbl (1987) argued that a distinction based
on typology was more promising.
On the basis of non-destructive surface analysis using XRF, Kaczmarczyk (2007) has shown
that the range of colorants used in the Archaic faience from Rhodes (Caubet 2007, 279) had been
significantly extended beyond the standard copper green and manganese black. Lead
antimonate was again used to produce a yellow glaze, and in combination with copper, to
produce a green glaze, and cobalt was used to produce a blue-black glaze.