1. From the Neolithic Period to the Middle Bronze Age

For the Neolithic Period new data have emerged as a result of the discovery and investigation of numerous sites in recent decades. Among these sites, stands out the exploration of Sarakenos Cave (1972 and after 1990), on the eastern edge of the system of settlements in the cave situated around the Copais basin, near the ancient city of Akraiphnio. This cave, the discoveries in which have allowed us to determine an attendance since the Upper Paleolithic, is intensively used in all phases of the Neolithic Period. Together with other findings of the same phase (eg. Chaeronea and Thebes) it has filled a major gap in the knowledge of prehistoric crafts of the region. The numerous terracotta figures that are distributed since the Neolithic period (sixth millennium BC) show a wide repertoire of subjects: male and female figures portrayed in various ways, animals, various objects mostly related to the domestic world. From the technical and stylistic point of view the Boeotian specimens seem to be the product of local processing and show a good skill in manufacturing, although there are strong typological affinities between these figures and those, much more numerous, found in Thessaly and Macedonia in early Neolithic, and in Euboea, Locris and the Peloponnese, in the most recent phases. It is still too early to draw a picture of regional terracotta production of the transitional Period from the Neolithic to the Chalcolithic, and of the early phases of the Bronze Age (Early and Middle Helladic). The data so far collected at Thebes, Eutresis, Orchomenos and Lithares seem, however, to confirm the important role played by Boeotia in the Greek world and the intense trade with the Near East.

2. The Mycenaean period

Only with the Mycenaean period can we have a comprehensive picture of the regional terracotta craft. Among the latter emerges the exclusive production of painted terracotta sarcophagi (larnakes) with flat roof including handmade elements applied separately at the corners (acroteria). The hundreds of intact and fragmentary larnakes known were found, in particular, in some cemeteries of ancient Tanagra (Gefira and Dendro), that were systematically investigated since the 1950s. They are distinctive products of Boeotia during the Mycenaean palatial period, documenting funerary customs scarcely known elsewhere, with the exception of Crete, where similar documents appear since the pre-palatial period. Although the themes chosen (wild boar hunting, battles, processions of mourners, representations of imaginary animals, events that relate to the life of the deceased or his journey in the afterlife) find strict parallels on Cretan iconographies, particularly of Western Crete, the use of color and the style of the decorative patterns adopted confirm the high technical standard of Boeotian workshops and craftsmen. On the contrary, the clay figurines of this period reveal strong similarities with the products of other Greek regions. From the thirteenth century BC anthropomorphic clay figurines, portraying standing and sitting men or women, spread also in Boeotia. They fit well into the typological classification and consequent chronological subdivision developed by various scholars (proto-phi, phi, psi and tao figurines). There are also clay animals, often represented in pairs to pull the wagon or yoked under the plow, while only occasionally other subjects appear, including altars or ships. Generally of small size, these clay products, entirely handmade or using mixed techniques — i.e. with a wheelmade lower body and handmade bust — are found in contexts of various kinds (worship and burial deposits), and continue to be produced in the eleventh century BC.

3. The Geometric Period

In addition to the manufacturing of pottery and metal, especially bronze, it is only since the mid-eighth century. BC. that the activity of local workshops seems to stand out even in the processing of clay products. Some of these, although affected by the influence of the main workshops operating in Greece during this period (in Attica, Euboea, in the Peloponnese and the Cyclades), appear to be the result of local originality and creativity. The popular "bell-shaped idols" are quite similar to the contemporary local geometric pottery, in terms of technical aspects and decorative motifs used. Stylistically attributable to the third phase of the so-called "Oinochoe-group's workshop", that was active between 750 and 670 BC, they are, in all probability, produced in the same workshops of potters in Thebes. The different specimens known are mainly preserved in European museums (Paris, Athens, Copenhagen, Munich), without information about the original place or context of provenance, and they are dated so far on the basis of stylistic considerations, between the ninth and eighth century BC. To this group was recently added the discovery of a whole idol and a fragmentary second one in a votive pit found in the modern district of Pyri in Thebes. The other materials associated with it help to give an almost precise dating for these specimens, between the end of the 8th BC. and the beginning of the next century. In addition, the votive meaning of the context, probably as worship deposit, documents a use other than the traditional funerary one proven for some similar examples found inside the graves of young girl and boy outside of Boeotia (Athens, Skyros, Kos, Rhodes, Cyprus).

4. The Orientalizing Period

It is rather difficult to draw a picture of Boeotian terracotta production in the Orientalizing period. During the seventh and until the second half of the sixth century BC., parallel to what happens in other Greek regions, there is the presence of clay product classifiable in the "Daedalic" sculpture or showing "ionic" traits. Greek-oriental influences are especially visible in specific classes of material, first of all, that of plastic pots, female busts and standing korai, found in moderate quantities also in the recently investigated extra-urban sanctuary at Orchomenos. Still open is the chronological issue raised for the so-called centaurs and chariots. The dating of these products which have specific regional technical and stylistic traits vary from the second half of the 7th century to the beginning of the 6th c. BC. Because of the lack of information concerning the provenance context of the greater part of the specimens known, and due to the fact that the recent discoveries come to light in deposits for which there are no punctual stratigraphic footholds, the suggested dating in the seventh century BC, is based on the recurrence of similar materials in deposits of Athens.

5. The Archaic Period

In the Archaic Period the Boeotian terracotta production is flourishing and shows a rather large spectrum of subjects. The regional workshops are particularly active and do not just copy types borrowed from outside or revise them according to a local flavor, but also become creative centers, with strong autonomy of artistic language. Among the most representative themes of this period count: groups of horse and rider, plank-shaped figurines, so-called “board-idols” or "pappades", mourning-women, daily-life or genre-scenes, grotesque subjects and animals.
Concerning the groups of horse and rider, after the initial framework provided by P.N. Ure and by M. Szabo, the study of J. Stubbe Østergaard has allowed us to set the chronological and typological development of the different types based on their occurrence in the graves of Ritsona-ancient Mykalessos, Halae, Akraiphnion and Tanagra, to which must be added the recent discoveries of Thebes, which will appear in forthcoming publications. The first horse and rider’s group, which appear at the end of the seventh century BC., are characterized by a very thin tubular body, legs spread apart and strongly elongated cylindrical muzzles. In the first quarter of the next century appear groups of rider and horse whose surface is completely covered by a reddish brown paint, but only from the second quarter of the sixth century. BC, the bodies of the horse and rider are decorated with a series of dense glazed parallel lines. Towards the end of the century and at the turn of the next century we observe the more naturalistic use of color that marks distinctive anatomical parts.
After the primitive cylindrical bodied, spiral headed idols (proto-pappades) dated to the early 6th c. BC by the findings of the Ptoon and, more recently, of Orchomenos, the beginning of the production of the "Pappades" characterized by the typical "coiled head termination" and "beak-like nose" is placed in the second quarter of the sixth c. BC. This chronology is suggested by the discovery of numerous specimens in the burials of Akraiphnion, Rhitsona, Tanagra and Thebes and by the connection which ties the decorative motifs appearing on these figurines and the Boeotian kylikes decorated with birds and palmettes. The gradual dissolution of some characteristic aspects of these "stylized" primitive products and a greater tendency to naturalism that is observed in Boeotia in the second half of the sixth c. BC, is probably the result of a change of taste and technique enabled by the influences of Corinthian pottery workshops, on the one hand, and by East-Greek, Attic and Argive figurines workshops, on the other. Scholars have pointed out the similarities and contemporary formal and technical stages in the stylistic evolution of the class of horse and rider’s group and “pappades”. The manufacturing technique provides, for all of them, the association of the mold-made head to a body which, while continuing to be modeled by hand, acquires naturality in the anatomical details and proportions.
Mixed technique (hand-made and mold-made), and more naturalistic decoration represent the distinctive feature of a class of Boeotian artifacts known with the name of "genre or daily life subjects". This term refers to isolated figurines or groups, relatively rare within the regional borders between the late sixth and early fifth century B.C. In the elaboration of “genre subjects” Boeotia has a record of original and varied range of topics chosen, accuracy of execution and liveliness of polychromy used. The most common scenes are connected to the grinding of grain and the preparation and baking of breads and buns. From this point of view, these documents are also extremely important in order to know and understand tools, pottery and aspects of the material culture of the period. Among them the now popular "barber" and "man grating the cheese" from Rhitsona should be mentioned. The common interpretation of these products as toys, subjects evocative of the activities in the life of the deceased or "waiting" to his service in the afterlife, today seems to be permanently shelved. Greater attention paid to the discovery’s context of the genre subjects, that in Boeotia is mainly funerary, and the analysis of the relationships with the rest of the goods in the grave, made it possible to consider these products the result of particular religious and eschatological beliefs. From the point of view of style, the comparison of the various figurines known has led to the identification of several production centers (Tanagra, Thebes, Thespiae, etc..) and at least a workshop, that of "the bearded face", including the rider and the cook from Rhitsona.

6. The Classical Period

In the Classical Period in Boeotia is well documented the presence of terracotta workshops continuing, with great creativity the tradition rooted in the region since the Mycenaean age. Great quantity of material come to light from the excavations of Rhitsona/Mykalessos, Halai, Akraiphnion, Tanagra, as well as the Polyandrion of Thespiae and the Kabeirion of Thebes has allowed us to fix a firm chronology for the creation of certain iconographies. A date, this, intended to be proved and clarified by the systematic recent excavations of large necropolis (Thebes) or sanctuaries (Thesmophorion of Thebes and Orchomenos sanctuary). In the first half of the fifth century. B.C. the production of terracotta figures is rather standardized and inspired by prototypes created in Attic, Central Greek (i.e. female busts) or East-Greek workshops (i.e. squatting satyrs or infants), which are more or less adapted according to the local taste. The common standing female figures wearing a peplos, faithfully reproduce in the body iconographic schemes created in Athens (First or Second Standing Attic Type). Towards the mid-fifth c. B. C. the scheme is altered and replaced by a local variant showing a standing woman whose distinctive features are a high base decorated with parallel lines and a head showing a high headgear (polos) with a raised back terminating in three appendices or projections. Among the male figures predominate youths; they are naked or dressed in a long mantle that covers the shoulders falling to the back and sides of the figure, and hold a rooster or a lyre. All these local figurines are frequently found in large numbers in tomb contexts of men and women and the same type is repeated in different sizes in the same grave. Until recently these subjects were variously interpreted as Apollo, Ganymede or believed to be a reflection of local cults. More recent studies have revealed that many of the chosen subjects, while not explicitly referring to a specific divine sphere, are intimately connected to the world of adolescence, the rites of passage from puberty to adulthood, or initiation ceremonies connected with it. With reference to other subjects, women carrying jugs of water (hydriaphoroi) or pigs, appear almost exclusively in votive deposits associated with cults of Demeter Thesmophoros or related to the nymphs (Eutresis, Orchomenos, Thesmophorion of Thebes, Coronea). Representations of Pan recur in various cave shrines dedicated to it. Among the original creations of the classical period are numbered the bust of Dionysus with kantharos, egg and rooster, the squatting Hermes and the representations of the myth of Europa on the bull. However, it is only between the late fifth and first half of the fourth century that the boeotian repertoire of terracotta figurines undergoes an expansion, reaching high levels of quality and a production no longer intended only for local consumption, as the boeotian replicas found in different parts of the Greek world would seem to demonstrate. Among the types of this period are numbered figures that clearly reveal links with the large-scale sculpture, as well as the so called Aphrodite and Leda with the swan. Widely attested in the Late Classical deposits are dancers with richly decorated bases, youths and women with peculiar hairdresses consisting of an elaborate arrangement of plaits on which is set a low kalathos and holding attributes (caskets, fillets, animals) that refer to initiation rituals and the bridal sphere. These replicas, documented in different sizes and showing a rich series derived from successive generations of moulds, can be frequently found in large quantities in the same context. It is a production that continues until the threshold of the Hellenistic age.

7. The Hellenistic Period

Boeotian craftsmen and artists of the period that sees the Central Greece as battlefield between Greek cities and Macedonian kings before, and Roman leaders, afterwards, found in the terracotta figurines production one of the major means of expression. The debate on the origin and, in particular, on the premises of the Hellenistic terracotta production, has more recently been boosted by significant contributions on plastic decoration on pottery, and terracottas of the transitional phase between the Classical and Late-Classical period first (Rich Style) and between the latter and the Hellenistic period, after (Pre-Tanagra or Evolved style). In parallel to what happens in the sculpture, these artifacts document a technical and stylistical development and an increase of iconographic themes. The recurrence of these products in Athens as well as in those centers that have strong alliances and trade of various products with the Greek metropolis, show, moreover, the priority of the Athenian workshops in adopting the Tanagra style. The significant increase of the typological repertoire is evident from the many iconographies attested. They include draped female standing or sitting figures, boys and girls, with or without attributes, ephebes, characters of the New Comedy, representations of Gods such as Eros and Aphrodite, animals and various other subjects. After the discovery as a result of illegal excavations carried out in the necropolis of Tanagra, these figurines, known in the literature under the term "Tanagras" were scattered in private collections and museums, and due to their elegance, the vibrant polychromy and the accuracy of technical details, met the bourgeois taste of the end of 1800. The excavations carried out in the last decades in various towns of the region (Tanagra, Livadia, Thebes, Akraifnion, Aliartos, Orchomenos) offered, however, the opportunity to anchor this Boeotian production to a chronological grid suggested by the association with other materials. Modern scholarship pays much attention to the definition of the role and function of terracotta figurines based on their original contexts. The clear distinction between the sacred, public or private, and the funerary context is becoming increasingly important. Most depicted subjects seem to be connected with coming of age rites involving both girls and boys. A small part of the production of terracotta figurines can be interpreted more specifically as an attempt by concerned family members to place very young children, who are naturally more vulnerable, under the care of the gods. Among the cults that received votive offerings in the form of terracotta figurines, those of Aphrodite, Demeter, Apollo, and Dionysos became the main reference points of this complex social and ideologi¬cal propaganda. This contextualization also offers the possibility of identifying homogeneous groups with formal and technical characteristics related to the production of specific workshops. Excellent quality of the products and rich imagination in the composition of types are distinctive features of the workshops of Tanagra, Thebes and Livadia, but at a closer look, proven, at times, by laboratory analysis, even smaller towns seem to participate in this period to the creation of archetypes and peculiar issues and not be only confined to the mechanical reproduction of the figurines. The knowledge of the Hellenistic terracotta production of other centers, finally, adds new pieces of information to the understanding of the imported products and the circulation of models and styles. Therefore, today, it is possible to specify the terms of trade that saw Attica and Euboea, but also Egypt, Asia Minor and West Greece involved in business relationships with Boeotia between the late fourth and early first century B.C. Thanks to the molding technique (with consequent derivative production) and the marketing of molds, as well as finished articles, the terracotta figurines marked by this new style were quickly acquired and mass produced by numerous workshops all over the Greek world.