Tonkova, Eva : Pottery with West Slope decoration from present-day Bulgaria / Керамика с украса в стил West Slope от територията на България

Eva Tonkova,
Pottery with West Slope decoration from present-day Bulgaria (Dissertationes, volume 22) /
Керамика с украса в стил West Slope от територията на България (Дисертации, Том 22)

Sofia 2025

ISBN 978-619-245-577-4


408 S./pp., zahlr. Farb- und S/W-Abb./num. colour and b/w-figs., Tafeln/plates, 29,7 x 21 cm; kartoniert/hardcover


bulgarisch mit ausführlicher Zusammenfassung in englisch
bulgarian with extended summary in english 


The study is dedicated to a specific ceramic category from the Hellenistic Period, which was widely distributed throughout the Eastern Mediterranean and became one of the criteria for evaluating the scale and the extent of the “Hellenization” of vast cultural spaces and ethnic communities, from the western reaches of Ancient Greece to the Levant and the Middle East. 
The content of this book focuses on the pottery with West Slope decoration discovered within the territory of present-day Bulgaria and dated in the last quarter of 4th – the late 1st c. BC – a collection of artifacts from diverse archaeological contexts (settlements, burials, sanctuaries), but also from different cultural and geographic regions, such as the Greek cities in the Pontic region or the interior of Ancient Thrace. 

Chapter I discusses the decoration styles that occur within the collection from Bulgaria (Attic/imitational Attic style, Early Anatolian style, Late Anatolian style, the style of the Macedonian workshops). They represent different periods of the development of the West Slope ware and show different distribution patterns. For number of vases a regional Black Sea provenance is suggested and some of them could be identified as local products. 

The second chapter is dedicated to the Formal and Typological analysis of the finds. It discusses the shapes attested within present-day Bulgaria, arranged according to their function and chronology – from various types of kantharoi and other drinking vessels to askoi and unguentaria. 

Chapter ІІІ is dedicated to the analysis of the distribution of the ceramic category under consideration in Bulgaria. In the beginning, a short overview of the contexts of the finds is provided, and at the end of the part, there are some summarizing observations. 

The conclusion summarizes the results that the West Slope ceramics initially followed Classical traditions, especially in kantharoi, amphorae, and kraters for wine consumption, while local modifications persisted alongside new Hellenistic forms. The repertoire evolved under Athenian, Anatolian, and Macedonian influences, creating a largely uniform Pontic style that combined imported trends with local innovations. Distribution patterns reveal two cultural spheres: coastal settlements with a full tableware set, and the Thracian interior, where consumption was largely limited to cups.