The objective of the present dissertation is to present an analysis of the site of Khostia in South West Boiotia during prehistory. The material under consideration comes from two excavation campaigns and survey seasons. An analysis of the site and its territory is presented first (chapter 2): the site itself is limited to the summit of a kastron located on a spur of the Helikon at the head of a small coastal plain which it dominates; it is integrated within largely mountainous terrain suitable mostly for herding. The limited area covered by the territory as a whole suggests that the site was never more than a village. The analysis of the pottery (chapters 3, 4, 5 and 6) proves that the site was inhabited continuously from the Early Helladic period (starting probably within EHI) to the Mykenaian period (the most recent material dates from the earliest phase of LHIIIC), the site was abandoned thereafter. Complete pottery catalogues are integrated into the appropriate analytical chapters. An analysis of the frequency of the various types of ceramics (chapter 6) suggest that the population of the site reached its maximum density during Mykenaian times (LHIIIA-B). Finally (chapter 7) Khostia is considered within its regional context through an overview of the prehistoric occupation of the coastal area of South West Boiotia and of the communication axes linking it with its immediate neighbours.

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Black Figure Floral Ware is an understudied style of pottery which was produced in Boiotia and the nearby regions of Euboia and Phokis during the fifth and fourth centuries B.C.E. Floral Style vases are painted with compositions formed predominantly of palmettes and lotuses rendered in black gloss without the incised details which are typically associated with Black Figure pottery. The corpus of Boiotian Floral Ware is divided into two sub-styles: the Northern Style and the Southern Style. The Northern Style is thought to have been produced in the area North and West of the Kopais while the Southern Style was chiefly produced in the Thespiai-Thebes and the Tanagra regions. To date our understanding of the development of the Southern Style has been based on systematically excavated floral evidence from Rhitsona (Ancient Mykalessos) and the Thespian Polyandrion and random vases from the Skhimatari Museum. Previous research incorrectly identified Tanagra as the primary source of Southern Floral Ware with little regard for Thebes as an important producer. Newly discovered ceramic evidence from four Theban cemeteries now indicates that Thebes was in fact a major producer of Floral Ware. The excavations have brought to light new floral groups and have provided evidence which indicates that vases previously identified as Tanagran or Euboian are more likely to be Theban. / This dissertation chronicles the morphological and iconographical development of the Southern Floral Style according to the systematically excavated floral vases from Rhitsona and the Thespian Polyandrion. Rim and base profiles from the Thespian Polyandrion, Thebes and Haliartos are classified and floral motifs from datable contexts are assigned to types. The evidence indicates that it is the overall shape of the vase and the decorative details within the compositions, rather than a specific rim or base type or compositional layout that identifies regional differences, if any. Newly excavated vases from Haliartos are presented not only to provide a contrast for the Southern Style Floral Ware, particularly in terms of their shape, but also in order to establish a bridge between this dissertation and any future studies of the Northern Style Floral Ware.

No description available.