Three vase-groups from the purification trench on rheneia and the evidence for a parian pottery tradition (plates 19-20)

The Three vase-groups to be discussed in this paper are largely drawn from the Cycladic Geometric and Orientalizing pottery found in the Purification Trench on Rheneia.¹In each case the group represents a selection from prior categories recognized in the publications of Dugas and Rhomaios: I draw the Parian Aa Group from Délos XV Group Aa, vases of the Ad Painter from Délos XV Group Ad, and the Big Bird Group from Délos XVII Group D. All three groups here defined may be linked in sequence and together illustrate a tradition of pottery which is likely to be Parian. While shape and decoration are of equal importance in the formation of each group, the link between the Parian Aa Group and the work of the Ad Painter rests heavily on the criterion of shape, that between the Ad Painter and the Big Bird Group is principally to be found in the decoration. Explanations for these interruptions to continuity can in part be found, principally in the influence of Athens, and are intrinsic to an understanding of this ceramic tradition. In the study of this material the term ‘tradition’ is used in the sense, for example, of a.