DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12762#0085
58
THE VAULTED TOMBS OF MESARA
porti projecting nipples unpierced. There is no polish or decoration. Height -08 m.,
clay objects diameter of mouth -06 m.
(6) 5116. A cup of black clay (bucchero) without a handle. There is
black colour (but possibly due to smoke) inside and out. The outer surface is
so highly polished as to have a metallic lustre with which the shape is in agree-
ment with its sharply offset rim, and sharp angle where the wide cylindrical
neck turns in towards the base. The vase was found in fragments. Height
•065 m., diameter -12 m.
2. Middle Minoan Vases.
(a) Bowls
M.M. I Bowls In all fourteen bowls were found, all I think of M.M. I date, some with
polychrome, others with a simpler kind of decoration. Only the more im-
portant are here described.
(1) 5054 (Plates VI and XXXV). This was found in fragments inside the
tholos, but could be completely put together. The clay is reddish and heavy.
The shape is almost a hemisphere, with a short broad trough spout and three
horizontal lugs at the rim. There is dark paint outside, and inside on a
bluish-black ground six red loops bordered with white hang downwards
from the rim, round which runs a red and white line. The central six-pointed
space left by the loops is filled by short white strokes arranged parallel to one
another in parallel rows. There are groups of white lines, too, across the
rim. The bowl, although so regular, is hand-made, and is a brilliant example
of the first stage of Cretan polychromy. Height -07 m., diameter *175 m.
(2) 5082 (Plates VI and XXXV). A small bowl without a handle and
narrowing sharply to the base, found inside the tholos. Outside the only
decoration is a brown band below the rim, but inside on the dark glaze are two
concentric circles in red, while from the rim all round hang a series of white
intersecting loops. Height -045 m., diameter -15 m. to -16 m.
(3) 5070 (Plate VI). A small bowl with narrow base. The outside is
plain, but the inside is decorated with white lines on black glaze. Four run
to the centre dividing the space into quarters, and between them in each
quarter near the rim is a group of straight lines roughly horizontal. Height
•03 m., diameter -08 m.
(4) 5076 (Plate XXXIV). A large deep bowl found in the tholos with a
horizontal lug to hold it by just below the brim. There is brown-black glaze
inside and out, with white lines round the brim on both sides and round the
base. Height -075 m., diameter -15 m.
(5) 5083 (Plate XXXIV). A bowl similar to the last and also found in the
tholos, but smaller and without the lug. On the dark glaze inside and out
there are white and red bands far apart. Height *06 m., diameter -14 m.
(6) 5051 (Plate XXXIV). A portion of an almost cylindrical dish with low
THE VAULTED TOMBS OF MESARA
porti projecting nipples unpierced. There is no polish or decoration. Height -08 m.,
clay objects diameter of mouth -06 m.
(6) 5116. A cup of black clay (bucchero) without a handle. There is
black colour (but possibly due to smoke) inside and out. The outer surface is
so highly polished as to have a metallic lustre with which the shape is in agree-
ment with its sharply offset rim, and sharp angle where the wide cylindrical
neck turns in towards the base. The vase was found in fragments. Height
•065 m., diameter -12 m.
2. Middle Minoan Vases.
(a) Bowls
M.M. I Bowls In all fourteen bowls were found, all I think of M.M. I date, some with
polychrome, others with a simpler kind of decoration. Only the more im-
portant are here described.
(1) 5054 (Plates VI and XXXV). This was found in fragments inside the
tholos, but could be completely put together. The clay is reddish and heavy.
The shape is almost a hemisphere, with a short broad trough spout and three
horizontal lugs at the rim. There is dark paint outside, and inside on a
bluish-black ground six red loops bordered with white hang downwards
from the rim, round which runs a red and white line. The central six-pointed
space left by the loops is filled by short white strokes arranged parallel to one
another in parallel rows. There are groups of white lines, too, across the
rim. The bowl, although so regular, is hand-made, and is a brilliant example
of the first stage of Cretan polychromy. Height -07 m., diameter *175 m.
(2) 5082 (Plates VI and XXXV). A small bowl without a handle and
narrowing sharply to the base, found inside the tholos. Outside the only
decoration is a brown band below the rim, but inside on the dark glaze are two
concentric circles in red, while from the rim all round hang a series of white
intersecting loops. Height -045 m., diameter -15 m. to -16 m.
(3) 5070 (Plate VI). A small bowl with narrow base. The outside is
plain, but the inside is decorated with white lines on black glaze. Four run
to the centre dividing the space into quarters, and between them in each
quarter near the rim is a group of straight lines roughly horizontal. Height
•03 m., diameter -08 m.
(4) 5076 (Plate XXXIV). A large deep bowl found in the tholos with a
horizontal lug to hold it by just below the brim. There is brown-black glaze
inside and out, with white lines round the brim on both sides and round the
base. Height -075 m., diameter -15 m.
(5) 5083 (Plate XXXIV). A bowl similar to the last and also found in the
tholos, but smaller and without the lug. On the dark glaze inside and out
there are white and red bands far apart. Height *06 m., diameter -14 m.
(6) 5051 (Plate XXXIV). A portion of an almost cylindrical dish with low