Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jasrep Face to face – Considering the moulding of Attic head vases reconsidering Beazley's groups by quantitative analysis Elisabeth Trinkl a,⁎ , Dirk Rieke-Zapp b , Lewis Homer b a Institute of Archaeology, University of Graz, Universitätsplatz 3/II, A-8010 Graz, Austria b AICON 3D Systems GmbH, Torenstraße 14, D-88709 Meersburg, Germany ARTICLE INFO Keywords: 3D model Quantitative analysis Figure vase 3D shape comparison Geometry Archaic period Classic period ABSTRACT To the fundamental paper of Sir John Beazley in 1929 we owe the classification of Attic head vases of archaic/ classical time. He categorized the vases in the form of human heads in twenty groups and a miscellaneous list, according to the depicted figure and the stylistic development of the face. The vast majority of the Attic pottery was thrown by the potter's wheel. Concerning the head vases, the potters used the same technique only for the upper part of the vessel whereas the head of the head vase was made by two moulds, one for the face and a second for the rear. This process of production interconnects head vases and terracotta figurines. Dealing with coroplastic workshops the issue of original model, moulding, and reused moulds was always raised. Due to the comparable production process, we will raise similar questions in connection with the head vases in our paper. Physical, chemical and petrographic analysis has already been established in the pottery research, we will present an autonomous method for the documentation and evaluation of the shape based on 3D models and will describe a case study for the analysis. On a computerized basis, the quantitative comparison of the faces of the head vases may be executed systematically, regardless of the secondary painted decoration of the face (often even revised in modern times) and the location of storage. These methods do not affect the original material in any way. The face of the head vases originally drawn from a negative form is recorded by a 3D scan which can secure the accurate geometry. 3D shape comparison based on scanned surface geometry of the heads was performed. The geometry of the faces is compared to each other and a series of interdependent productions can be estab- lished based on the geometry. This provides to us information about the relative chronology of the vessels which may finally be interwoven with the absolute chronology. In total, based on objective criteria we search for common moulds to update Beazley's stylistically made classification. 1. Introduction Attic figured pottery of Archaic and Classical time is traditionally evaluated by stylistic means, more recently the shapes of the vessels are also considered. For decades, the criteria for this stylistic evaluation has been described and ameliorated. In most cases the system works well. Nevertheless, it ultimately remains subjective (Junker, 1999). If we think about it, more contemporary methods may fill in the gap. Based on 3D models the evaluation of the shape will be objective and transparent. For the case study we chose a special group in the Attic pottery workshops, the plastic vases. These vessels build a link between the traditional pottery workshops and the workshops which made figurines (True, 2006). Whereas the former used the potter's wheel the later used moulds to create a serial production of identically shaped figurines (Muller, 1996, 42–45; Mathieux, 2015). The same process is applied to make the figure vases which are partly or totally shaped as an animal, figure, or object (for the range of shapes and motifs cf. True, 2006). In the first place we focus on Attic productions of pouring vases (oinochoai) of late archaic and early classical times (late 6th and 5th century BC) whose bodies are shaped as a female head (fig. 1), the total height is 170 to 200 mm on average. 1 Their classification is based on the fundamental paper of Sir John Beazley, written in 1929 (Beazley, 1929). Since then numerous vessels have been published, but Beazley's groups are still relevant. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.07.023 Received 15 June 2016; Received in revised form 12 July 2017; Accepted 28 July 2017 ⁎ Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: elisabeth.trinkl@uni-graz.at (E. Trinkl), dirk.rieke-zapp@hexagon.com (D. Rieke-Zapp). 1 The function of the head vases and especially the identification of the women are still under discussion. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports xxx (xxxx) xxx–xxx 2352-409X/ © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Please cite this article as: Trinkl, E., Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports (2017), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jasrep.2017.07.023