Provenance of Amphoras with Stamped Handles from the Excavations at Miletos Using Neutron Activation Analysis

Abstract

Using neutron activation analysis, elemental concentration patterns of a selection of 39 fragments of stamped handles from amphoras, predominantly of the Hellenistic period, from the excavations at Miletos have been measured and studied. The aim was to determine the production places of these vessels in order to learn more about the usage of the stamps. The result was, as already archaeologically assumed, that the majority of the vessels (34) were produced with the same clay paste in workshops that were presumably located in the surroundings of Miletos – Ioniapolis. But this large group also includes vessels with stamps of hitherto unknown provenance and pieces with stamps that have been assigned to a production at Phocaia. Only three handles were found to come from the island of Kos, confirming the archaeological attribution, and two vessels remain of unknown provenance.