Figs. 74-79. Potters regulating draught
Antike Denkmäler, I, pl. 8, Nos. 4, 12, 1, 21, 22; Gazette archéologique, VI, p. 106.
Furtwängler (Beschreibung der Vasensammlung zu Berlin, I, p. 70, note) was inclined to think that these ovens are not pottery kilns, but furnaces for metal smelting. His objections, however, do not hold. The ovens are not too large for pottery, and the climbing to the top for the regulation of the draught is a well-known proceeding. Moreover, the scene (fig. [80]) showing the stacked vases, the little pots painted on figs. [75] and [78] as if to indicate the purpose of the ovens, and the representations of potters at work on other tablets, make the interpretation as pottery kilns the most likely. These pictures are of special importance since no actual Greek kilns have yet been discovered, though several Etruscan and numerous Roman ones have come to light (cf. Montelius, Civilisation primitive, pl. 107, 11, and Blümner, op. cit., II, pp. 23 ff.).
Fig. 80. Vases stacked in potter’s kiln
Antike Denkmäler, I, pl. VIII, No. 19b