Gnathia and Related Hellenistic Ware on the East Adriatic Coast

Gnathia ware is a painted Hellenistic type of ware with yellow, red and white decorations on the black surface of the vessels. Due to a decoration technique simpler than that on the previous Red-figure vases, Gnathia ware became the most widespread type of Hellenistic ware, and also the first type of south Italian ware that was exported in large quantities outside of the main area of production. Gnathia ware takes its name from ancient Gnathia, today Egnazia (a town on the Adriatic coast between Bari and Brindisi) in south-east Italy, where it was first discovered in 1845. The aims of this study are fourfold: to present Gnathia ware on the East Adriatic coast, to define local Issaean Gnathia production from manufacturing to distribution (including the typology of shapes and decorations), to identify other pottery workshops along the East Adriatic coast and, finally to understand the trade and contacts in the Adriatic during the Hellensitic period. Although the aims of the study may seem ambitious, once all of the material was gathered into a single study, it provided sufficient information to set the objective. It is noteworthy that the study presents the current state of research, so additional work needs to be done. However, work on the default task and the information obtained by the analysis of Gnathia and related ware facilitated greater insight into the history of the Adriatic area in the Hellenistic period. Further, the provenance of the material allowed for the reconstruction of contacts in the Adriatic and neighbouring regions. The questions of contacts and trade may seem peripheral to the main objective of the study, i.e., Gnathia and related ware, but they are vital to an understanding of the historical context of this area. So an additional aim of the study is to open up the East Adriatic region to scholars who are studying the history and economy of the Mediterranean basin in the Hellenistic period.