Pottery is the most frequent find in archaeological excavations. It is an important starting point for the exploration of ancient living conditions and societies, not only because of the substantial amounts that are recovered but also because of the high amount of information. The pots are often heavily broken or in a very fragmentary condition. Nevertheless, these sherds can provide insights into cooking and eating, into the process of production and aesthetic perception, into rich and poor living conditions and much, much more.

The project „6500 years of Solitude? Diachronic pottery studies in Arcadia” focuses on pottery found on the ancient site Pheneos, a settlement in the north-eastern part of Arcadia, near the center of the Greek Peloponnese. The low hill of Pheneos is situated in an upper plateau at ca. 800 m a.s.l., and it is a fairly remote area today. In ancient times, the town Pheneos was well connected to the Peloponnesian road system, as proven by the excavation finds. The earliest excavated pottery is dated to the Neolithic period (ca. 5000 BC) and the latest to the 15th century AD, a history of activity at the site for approximately 6500 years.

From 2011 to 2015, the excavation was conducted by the Greek archaeological authority and the Austrian Archaeological Institute, in cooperation with the University of Graz.

This project will work on identifying locally made pottery and imports, and on the exploration of the locally used pottery techniques. As pottery imports mirror the trade routes, the crucial question is, where do the pottery imports come from in each of the time periods.

In this project the archaeological and scientific data will be integrated to gain information related specifically to the production process and the location of production in a broad diachronic framework. The results will be published closely related to the analysis of the excavations. This will provide a holistic picture of pottery production and consumption at the site, contributing to the exploration of the ancient societies in the Peloponnese and the changing living conditions of the population over 6500 years.