Modern technology unlocks the secrets of Bronze Age art

Classical researchers at the University of Cincinnati use today’s technology to learn more about the mass production and votive of ancient Greece.

Florence Gaine Rotto – Dorissen leads an archaeological project at the Ancient Greek site of Anabrochos, Crete, where she and her collaborators study fragments of clay.

On top of the mountain, she spotted figurines and molded plaques buried deep into gaps in the bedrock. Everything was a woman’s appearance.

“We call them ‘Anabrocho women’,” she said.

Gaignerot-Driessen and her international research partners are investigating whether these terracotta were intentionally or accidentally broken. They were ritually deposited high on mountains, featuring breathtaking views of the countryside and the Mediterranean. Climbing to the top of the ridge takes effort, but it’s worth it, she said.

“The view is incredible,” she said.

Today, Gaignerot-Driessen uses modern engineering resins and the latest 3D scanning and printing techniques to replicate ancient molds, figurines and plaques. By doing this, she wants to learn more about how it was produced for the popular audience of ancient Greeks.

Researchers have not found workshops where these ancient pottery were made. However, there is a story to tell about the deposition or arrangement in the gaps between the figurine and the bedrock.

“They were produced with almost attention,” she said. “It was produced from clay rather than precious materials like metal or ivory, so it had little intrinsic value. They were modest offerings. Therefore you didn’t have to be rich or important people to buy your small figurine to deposit.”

Gaignerot-Driessen collaborated with Sabine Sorin of the French National Centre for Science and Technology to create a 3D model of the figurine. She also planned to recreate the figurine at the College’s Rapid Prototyping Center using UC’s design, architecture, art, and 3D printers. The university’s ceramic lab uses clay to create new molds of figurines to try and rediscover the steps and methods of mass production three thousand years ago.

Ritual importance

Anavlochos settled between 1200 and 650 BC.

Using tools such as photogrammetry and laser grammetry, Sorin created 3D simulations of the terrain to identify the location and placement of ceramic pieces in the gaps in the bedrock. Researchers can then simulate how the ceramics were inserted into the gap.

The pottery contained the mythical sphinx, plaques that featured the wonderful creatures with female heads and lion winged bodies. They also found a woman wearing traditional clothes, including a large decorative hat called a poros and a cloak called an Epiburna on a belted dress.

“This is a typical representation of a woman’s figure in the 7th century BC, wearing a long dress with ornament that mimics the weaving of fabric,” she said.

The plaque style found in Annabrochos shows Near Eastern influence on Greek culture.

“We know that in the 7th century imported objects arrived in Crete from the Near East, and the immigrant artisans also came from the Near East,” she said.

Archaeologists and historians can only speculate about the importance of the ritual that may have happened there.

“We don’t have any texts written about these practices. But they could have been an initiation or passing ritual for women: daughters and mothers,” she said.

“Perhaps they were offering these terracotta offerings to God to protect themselves,” she said. “The followers were probably mothers and young maidens in the process of reaching one of these important points of life.”

The project is under the auspices of a French school in Athens in collaboration with the Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports.

Learning techniques

Gaignerot-Driessen wants to determine whether the unadorned back of the figure depicting the mother nursing the baby is molded or modeled.

This year, Gaignerot-Driessen takes students to Crete to work with experts and technicians to study items discovered at Anavlochos. Students also use locally produced clay to form new figurines, model them, and break them to see if the fragments were intentionally broken before they accumulate.

“It’s experimental archaeology,” she said. “We are trying to reconstruct ancient techniques and practices.”

This is the first time that he has collaborated with UC Classics for Nicholas Germann, manager of UC’s Rapid Prototyping Center.

“This project combines old and cutting edge methods,” Germann said.

“We replicate the lost technology of ceramics and innovative processes to observe degradation,” he said. “That’s absolutely amazing.”