Phoenician-type Red Slip Wares and Their Regional Evolution: The Case of the Lower Sado Valley (Portugal)

Abstract

Introduced in the Iberian Peninsula with the arrival of the earliest Phoenician merchants and colonists, red slip table wares became a common occurrence in Phoenician and “Orientalizing” contexts during the Early Iron Age. This is due in a large part to the rapid appearance of local/regional productions throughout southern Iberia which, at first, produced a fairly standardized and transversal repertoire but that soon began introducing variations which in time led to a pronounced regionalization of the production. The Lower Sado valley is a case in point, where the combined analysis of several assemblages allows for a reconstruction of the evolution of red slip productions, from early, Phoenician prototypes to Late Iron Age derivates. Furthermore, a comparison with other well studied Portuguese assemblages clearly illustrates this regionalization process, allowing interesting insights into the adaptation of foreign pottery models and their impact on the evolution of local repertoires.