International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Anastasia G. Yangaki
Institute of Historical Research, National Hellenic Research Foundation, Athens, Greece;
[e-mail]
Changing Byzantium: The 13
th
Century Viewed Through Its Pottery
Recent decades have witnessed an increasing interest in the study of middle and late Byzantine 
pottery. Within this period, the 13
th
century stands out, as evidenced by primary archaeological 
data and underlined by a number of researchers who have noted the appearance of new categories 
of pottery alongside those in use during the 12
th
and into the early 13
th
century, both in areas that 
remained under Byzantine rule and in those which now constituted part of the Latin Dominions 
established from the 13
th
century onwards in various areas of the former Byzantine empire.
Taking into consideration representative material published from sites in mainland Greece 
and the Aegean islands, in the main, re-evaluating old data and incorporating new, we will attempt 
to trace patterns of pottery distribution over the course of the century. Mapping the evidence afresh 
in time and space, we will ascertain whether major political changes (such as the fragmentation of 
Byzantium during the first years of the 13
th
century or its re-establishment in 1261) are reflected 
in the pottery flow of particular areas, thereby influencing international and inter-regional trade. 
Furthermore, another aim is to address the recent, on-going problematic as to whether differences 
discerned in the types of, and preferences for, imported and locally produced pottery, as well as 
differences in shapes and sizes, can provide us with information on possible cultural interactions. 
A recent case-study on the material from the island of Crete, for example, can shed considerable 
light on the above issues. Fine as well as common and coarse wares will be taken into consideration 
in order to review the evidence and assess our current knowledge on this aspect of 13
th
-century 
material culture.

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