Picht, Laura

Goethe University Frankfurt

Research Topic: From Uniformity to Diversity: Ancient Criteria for the Valuation of Hellenistic Pottery

Ms. Picht is an associated PhD candidate in the research training group “Value and Equivalence” at the Goethe-University Frankfurt, Germany. Since her Masters thesis the focus of her research is in the field of ceramics, especially those of Hellenistic times. Her long-term participation in the excavations of Priene roused her interest in Asia Minor. As is widely known, Hellenism is an epoch of profound political and cultural changes and innovations. Since pottery is one of the best preserved remains, it is one of the most important sources for our understanding of complex Hellenistic society. Her PhD project aims on describing as well as analyzing peculiarities in the pottery spectrum of the cities in Asia Minor. Therefore, she selected Pergamon, Ephesos, Knidos, and Priene as case studies to describe local trends. Additionally, Athens will also be included as a counterpart on the Greek mainland. The detailed description of the pottery of each city will be juxtaposed by the investigation of other materials like literary as well as epigraphical sources, depictions and other archaeological finds, like lamps, to develop a model that can explain the formation of the different ceramic regions.