Greek Vases of the Vienna University Collections for the CVA

Within the Archaeological Collection of the University of Vienna, Greek and Etruscan vases have been collected since 1878, mainly for practical teaching. For a long time they played no role at the academic level, as they were inadequately published, apart from the pieces presented in the first volume of the series Corpus Vasorum Antiquorum of Vienna University in 1942. Since then, the number of vessels has increased significantly, mainly through donations. With this basic research project 155 whole or fragmented clay vessels within the Archaeological Collection as well as five pieces from the Study Collection of Department of Prehistoric and Historical Archaeology of Vienna University from the Geometric and Archaic periods (from the end of the 9th to the beginning of the 5th cent. BC) are to be comprehensively examined for the first time. With the help of common archaeological methods, comparisons to ornaments, iconographic representations and vessel shapes will be sought in relevant publications in order to achieve a classification, a dating as well as an attribution to a painter, potter or workshop. Non-destructive scientific examinations will also be used: 3D laser scans of every object allow non-contact profile and sectional drawings to be produced, enabling the vessel volume to be calculated or a depiction to be unrolled. Neutron activation analysis will help narrow down the production region of some fragments, and X-ray fluorescence analysis can make faded representations visible again or detect recent overpaintings. An important part of the project is the restoration of the vases, whereby many of the fragmented vessels and fragments will have to be taken apart, cleaned of pollutions and will have to be reassembled. In addition to this, all 61 objects already presented in the 1942 CVA volume will be reviewed again, as vase research has developed significantly over the past 80 years. Provenance research is also part of the project; here, compositions of fragments inside and outside the respective collection are expected. New findings based on investigation or restoration are to be elaborated at a workshop, presented in an exhibition, and published on a separate project homepage. Workshop and exhibition will focus on technical aspects of the production of Greek and Etruscan vessels, i. e. on traces left during pottery making, painting and firing. Especially during the processing and restoration, new results are expected in the field of production as well as the later fate of a vessel by both autopsy and digital recording methods. At the end of the project, a print-ready manuscript will be presented, which can subsequently be published as a new Austrian CVA volume Vienna, University Collections.