DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4758#0042
INTRODUCTION. xli
The beginning of the Late Mycenaean period, which coincided with the
reoccupation of Cretan sites in L.M. Ill (p. xxxviii) and the general diffusion of
Mycenaean art in the Aegean area, is precisely dated to the beginning of the
reign of Amenhotep IV (1375 B.C.), by Egyptian contacts at el-Amarna and
Gurob. The most important material from those sites is in this collection
(A 981-99). Shapes and decoration of the el-Amarna pottery are the same as
those of .the earliest pieces found in the tombs of Rhodes and Cyprus, and
Egyptian scarabs found in those cemeteries,1 though not associated with any
particular Mycenaean objects, confirm the general synchronism for the earliest
occupation. The position of this ceramic group in the Mycenaean series is
shown by the material from Korakou and by the contents of recently discovered
tombs at Thebes ;2 both supply an ample record of the preceding Middle
Mycenaean style, without which it might be hard to realise that the reduction
of ornament to conventional linear forms had already gone so far. Pottery of
el-Amarna style (Late Mycenaean A) is normally a brilliant fabric. Its forms
show marks of metal origin in ridged necks (A 997) and sharply profiled lips and
feet (A 994). Its ornament stands close to Middle Mycenaean types ; broad fields
of decoration, deep-painted feet, close girding-bands, and subsidiary designs on
lips or shoulders belong to a transitional stage (A 822, and note ; A 903). The
characteristic flower has a calix made of a single or double chevron, which is
subtended by one or two arcs of dots or clashes, and contains curve-headed
stamens (A 999). Voluted or thickened petals (A 828, A S90, A 893), and
barred papyrus-heads (A 998) approach more nearly to the original Minoan
figures. Other flowers are simple groups of chevrons or curved bars, which are
large and fill the field in their earliest forms (A 898-9). Such flower-types,
appearing in the backgrounds of chariot-groups and similar fresco-subjects, refer
many of the large Cypriote bowls to the beginning of the Late Mycenaean style.:!
In further developments of the characteristic flower the arcs of dots turn
into straight lines or chevrons, or the original chevron-calix is curved, and a hook
or loop represents the stamens (A 911). The new form occurs on a bottle from
Palaikastro'1 which was associated with the latest Minoan material from that site,
and on a false-necked jar from Mycenae which was among the earliest pieces in
a deep deposit beside the Lion Gate.5 It stands therefore about midway in the
Late Mycenaean sequence. One example belongs to the late group of vases
from Calymnos (A 1010). This is the latest flower-form' that occurs on
Mycenaean vases in Egypt,0 where such pottery has not been found in contexts
1 For the three scarabs in the British Museum found in the Ialysos tombs see J.H.S., xxxi, p. 114 ;
II. R. Hall, B.M. Cat. Egyptian Scarabs, i, p. 192, no. 1915 ; Myk. Vasen, pi. K, 1-3.
- 'Apx. AeA-r., iii (1917), p. I.
3 See Cat. Fuses I, 1, C 338 etc.
4 Palaikastro, fig. 94.
'"' B-S.A., xxv, fig. 6, a.
0 One instance is known, a false-necked jar from Tomb 0. 52 at Gurob, now in the Ashmolean,
Museum.
■d
The beginning of the Late Mycenaean period, which coincided with the
reoccupation of Cretan sites in L.M. Ill (p. xxxviii) and the general diffusion of
Mycenaean art in the Aegean area, is precisely dated to the beginning of the
reign of Amenhotep IV (1375 B.C.), by Egyptian contacts at el-Amarna and
Gurob. The most important material from those sites is in this collection
(A 981-99). Shapes and decoration of the el-Amarna pottery are the same as
those of .the earliest pieces found in the tombs of Rhodes and Cyprus, and
Egyptian scarabs found in those cemeteries,1 though not associated with any
particular Mycenaean objects, confirm the general synchronism for the earliest
occupation. The position of this ceramic group in the Mycenaean series is
shown by the material from Korakou and by the contents of recently discovered
tombs at Thebes ;2 both supply an ample record of the preceding Middle
Mycenaean style, without which it might be hard to realise that the reduction
of ornament to conventional linear forms had already gone so far. Pottery of
el-Amarna style (Late Mycenaean A) is normally a brilliant fabric. Its forms
show marks of metal origin in ridged necks (A 997) and sharply profiled lips and
feet (A 994). Its ornament stands close to Middle Mycenaean types ; broad fields
of decoration, deep-painted feet, close girding-bands, and subsidiary designs on
lips or shoulders belong to a transitional stage (A 822, and note ; A 903). The
characteristic flower has a calix made of a single or double chevron, which is
subtended by one or two arcs of dots or clashes, and contains curve-headed
stamens (A 999). Voluted or thickened petals (A 828, A S90, A 893), and
barred papyrus-heads (A 998) approach more nearly to the original Minoan
figures. Other flowers are simple groups of chevrons or curved bars, which are
large and fill the field in their earliest forms (A 898-9). Such flower-types,
appearing in the backgrounds of chariot-groups and similar fresco-subjects, refer
many of the large Cypriote bowls to the beginning of the Late Mycenaean style.:!
In further developments of the characteristic flower the arcs of dots turn
into straight lines or chevrons, or the original chevron-calix is curved, and a hook
or loop represents the stamens (A 911). The new form occurs on a bottle from
Palaikastro'1 which was associated with the latest Minoan material from that site,
and on a false-necked jar from Mycenae which was among the earliest pieces in
a deep deposit beside the Lion Gate.5 It stands therefore about midway in the
Late Mycenaean sequence. One example belongs to the late group of vases
from Calymnos (A 1010). This is the latest flower-form' that occurs on
Mycenaean vases in Egypt,0 where such pottery has not been found in contexts
1 For the three scarabs in the British Museum found in the Ialysos tombs see J.H.S., xxxi, p. 114 ;
II. R. Hall, B.M. Cat. Egyptian Scarabs, i, p. 192, no. 1915 ; Myk. Vasen, pi. K, 1-3.
- 'Apx. AeA-r., iii (1917), p. I.
3 See Cat. Fuses I, 1, C 338 etc.
4 Palaikastro, fig. 94.
'"' B-S.A., xxv, fig. 6, a.
0 One instance is known, a false-necked jar from Tomb 0. 52 at Gurob, now in the Ashmolean,
Museum.
■d