Die Keramik der ionischen Inseln zwischen stilistischer Abhängigkeit und regionaler Selbständigkeit in der Zeit der Dunklen Jahrhunderte (The pottery of the Ionian Islands: stylistic dependency and regional autonomy in the Dark Ages)

Maria Deoudi Athenische Mitteilungen 123 (2008) [2009]: 151-175.

Abstract

The economic and cultural development of the Ionian Islands was always closely connected with mainland Greece. In the late Bronze Age and into the early Geometric period the region was supplied solely by Messenian traders, who dominated the market on the Ionian islands of Levkada, Zakynthos and Ithaca from Kefallonia. Examination of large find-complexes primarily from the polis-cave on Ithaca, however, gives a widely differentiated picture of developments: not only characterised by dependence on the mainland but also revealing a tendency to pursue a culturally independent course. The lessening of Peloponnesian influence is manifested in a specific Ionian treatment of imported forms as well as in the islands’ opening up to other regions such as Aetolia. Between strict reception and the adoption of influences from other regions and workshops, the beginnings of what may be called an Ionian style emerge. The rapid rise of Attica and Corinth from the last quarter of die 8th century BC onwards and the great expansion of their economic power meant that this emergent style soon was stifled by new mass imports.