Die sog. Gilded Ware – eine mutmaßlich frühbyzantinische Keramikgefäßgruppe in Pergamon

Abstract

The post-antiquity strata of the excavations at Pergamon keep yielding up sherds from a particular group of vessels. In the main they are fragments of small jugs which are characterized less by their form than by the special treatment of the external surfaces. The latter have been covered with a strongly micaceous coat giving the vessel a golden shimmer and thus accounting for the appellation Gilded Ware. The Pergamene find contexts and above all comparison with the material from neighbouring sites allow a dating to the late 6th or 7th century A. D. to be postulated for this ware. A ceramic vessel group that can be designated as simple tableware would thus be defined for Pergamon in the early Byzantine period.