Commercial networks in the Mediterranean and the diffusion of early Attic red-figure pottery (525-490 BCE)

Abstract

This article addresses the question of the existence of a network of informers or middlemen operating between the producers of Attic pottery and their clients abroad. The diffusion of early Attic red-figure pottery (525-490 BCE) in the Mediterranean is examined as a case study, with special emphasis on Italy and the Black Sea region. The hypothesis put forward is that the change from the long-established black-figure technique to the risky and more difficult red-figure technique was dictated by the commercial success of the red-figure ware in Italy, while Greek customers were less eager to acquire red-figure pots. In the appendix, a number of new or relatively less known finds of early red-figure pottery from the Greek mainland and the Aegean islands are listed.