Looking for Ephesian workshops: an integrated petrographic, geochemical, and chrono-typological approach to Late Hellenistic Ephesos lamps

In this pilot study, Late Hellenistic mold-made lamps from Ephesos are investigated by combining chrono-morphological and stylistic features with thin-section petrography and neutron activation analysis. Coeval wares of Ephesian production and clay samples collected around the site as well as published data from the Bonn database are considered local reference material. The results point to a network of local/regional workshops sharing facilities and/or a labor force dedicated to distinct tasks. The whole evidence is consistent with the very beginning of a nucleated workshop industry able to optimize the productivity of mold-made wares and fill the demand of an increased regional and supra-regional market. The typological and compositional variability of the latest phases could suggest a gradual transfer of potting activities towards areas providing better-suited clay sources.