Trohos

The potters arrived at their worksite in the spring with their basic tools, the wheel (trohos ) for small vessels and five or six trohia for pithoi, as well as other equipment loaded on two or three donkeys. They then had to organise the workplace, which might not have been used for a year or more. The men did not use tents but slept outdoors wherever it suited them. They cooked once a day. Their staple diet was dry pounded broad beans. Working hours were from dawn to dusk. The two potters worked continuously at their wheels with the assistance of the troharis. The homatas and the kaminiaris carried clay and firewood to the kiln area, as well as water from a nearby well or spring, using their one or two donkeys.

The newly-thrown pots were placed in rows to dry for two or three days and then fired in the kiln. Prospective buyers came to the workplace and bought the pots they needed, paying in cash or more often in kind, providing the potters with their basic requirements such as wheat, barley and legumes.

The procedure for pithoi was different. The customer had to order these vessels by the pair. The potter and the kouvalitis took them to the customer’s village, where he checked that the pots were properly fired and free of any flaws such as cracks, in the potter’s presence so any disagreements could be sorted out on the spot. At the end of the summer period, any vessels large and small left over were loaded on the donkeys in batches and the men took them from village to village, or to local fairs, to sell them directly to the local community.

The Vendemiarides returned to their village with the first damp nights and autumn rains. The profits from the sales made over the summer period were divided into six and each man took a share according to his speciality and responsibility: the mastoras and the kaminiaris took 1¼ shares each, the sottomastoras, the homatas and the troharis one share each, and the kouvalitis half a share.