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Late Helladic IIIB 1 Pottery dating the Construction of the South House at Mycenae

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 September 2013

P. A. Mountjoy
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Extract

The pottery which forms the main subject of this article was found during the 1964 and 1968 Citadel House excavations beneath the floor of two rooms that were designated Rooms 21 and 22. All the pottery from Room 22 has been kept, including the unpainted sherds, so that the group can be analysed numerically and compared with other groups of LH IIIB pottery from the Argolid. It contains a small quantity of painted wares and a large group of undecorated pottery of which a few whole profiles can be restored. The importance of the deposit is that the painted wares provide a date for the building of the South House and thus for the sequence of building in the whole area. Moreover, they give a further selection of patterns current in LH IIIB 1; these show that the group is perhaps a little later than that from Room 3.

Type
Research Article
Information
Annual of the British School at Athens , Volume 71 , November 1976 , pp. 77 - 111
Copyright
Copyright © The Council, British School at Athens 1976

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References

1 As only a few sherds have been kept from Room 21 it has not been thought worth while to publish this room in detail. From Room 22 fifteen baskets were excavated in 1964 from levels 7–10 and fifteen in 1968 when the North corner of the room was excavated down to bedrock (levels I–XI Va). The baskets corresponding to each of these levels are: 1964, level 7: 155, 160, 165; level 8: 162, 164, 167, 168, 170, 195, 196, 199; levels 7 and 8: cleaning 176; level 9: 201; level 10: 202; levels 8, 9, 10 cleaning: 205. 1968, 74 cleaning; level I 75; level II 76; levels III and IV 77, 78 (arbitrary); level V 79; level VI 80; levels VII–XIII 81–7 (arbitrary); level XIVa 88, cleaning 1964 excavation; 89 pit in West wall of 1964 excavation. Most of the material was found in levels 7 and 8, and all the baskets from these levels have been bulked for ease in finding joins; certain levels from the 1968 excavation (levels II–V) which contained joining material, have also been added to levels 7 and 8.

2 Wardle, K. A., BSA lxiv, 261–97.Google Scholar

3 BSA xxv, 86–96.

4 Loc. cit. 90.

5 Loc. cit. 95.

6 Loc. cit. 95.

6a For statistical tables see pages 109 ff. below.

7 BSA lxiv, 264 n. 13.

8 There are only five sherds from the Zygouries kylix.

9 BSA lii, 218; ADelt. xx (1965), A 139.

10 See Wardle, K. A., BSA lxviii, 305Google Scholar; BSA lxi, 216 ff.; BSA lxiv, 261 ff.; AE 1956, Chronika 5; BSA lxiv, 71 ff.; BSA lxviii, 297 ff. See Table 1, below, pp. 106 f.

11 See p. 90.

12 BSA lxiv, 266.

13 BSA lxviii, 305.

14 The first colour mentioned always refers to clay; all measurements are in centimetres.

15 A study of similar sherds shows that this was the usual number.

16 Compare BSA lxiv, 271, fig. 5: 20.

17 Loc. cit.

18 Compare BSA lxiv, 271, fig. 5: 22. The lines on the rim are similar to those used on stemmed-bowl rims.

19 BSA lxiv, 272.

20 Some of these pieces such as those with grooved waists may be LH IIIA 2 survivals, but as it is not possible to say with any certainty they have been included with the LH IIIB 1 material.

21 BSA lxiv, 272.

22 BSA lxi, 219.

23 BSA lxiv, 273.

24 Ibid. 275.

25 Of the remaining thirteen rim sherds only one has no extra band; this is decorated with flower flanked by whorl-shells as 48.

26 BSA lxviii, 312 n. 35.

27 BSA lxiv, pl. 62 c. 5.

28 Its many fragments were found throughout levels 7 and 8.

29 There are thirty-one patterned examples. Only three sherds are mentioned from Room 3, but I have assigned body sherds to this shape rather than to the deep bowl on the grounds of the curvature of the sherd, those belonging to the stemmed bowl being less curved than those of the deep bowl and often thicker; they also frequently have an inner belly band. Dr. Wardle did not make this distinction but classed all the body sherds with those of the deep bowl.

30 BSA lxiv, 84 fig. 9: 3.

31 BSA lxiv, 276.

32 BSA lx, 192 fig. 10: 5–8.

33 BSA lxi, 223 and fig. 2: 1–4, 7.

34 BSA lxviii, 319 fig. 12: 94.

35 BSA lxi, 223.

36 BSA lxiv, 277 fig. 7: 73.

37 Ibid. 223 f., 278 f.

38 There are 6,830 unpainted and 318 patterned sherds (excluding linear and monochrome sherds) compared with 6,869 unpainted and 180 patterned from Room 3.

39 There are 930 rim sherds compared with 1,753 from Room 3.

40 BSA lxiv, 281.

41 Loc. cit.

42 Op. cit. 283, fig. 8: 83.

43 Op. cit. 283, fig. 8: 84.

44 The rims are very similar to kylix rims so it is possible that there are more which have not been identified; the bases are very like those from shallow angular bowls and have been allotted by size, as most cups have a base diameter of c 3 cm., whereas those of shallow angular bowls are bigger. All doubtful rims and bases have been counted with those of the kylix and shallow angular bowl respectively.

45 BSA lxiv, 284.

46 There are 494 carinated rims, 389 rounded, and 47 conical, whereas Room 3 produced 655 carinated, 1,042 rounded and 56 conical rims. The difficulty of recognizing rounded kylix-rims from cup-rims and carinated kylix-rims from shallow angular bowl-rims has already been commented on. All doubtful sherds have been counted with kylikes but, even allowing for this, there are still many more kylikes than other shapes.

47 BSA lxiv, 289.

48 There are 340 Middle Helladic sherds, 3 LH I sherds, 28 LH II sherds, and 36 LH IIIA 1.

49 There are 60 Middle Helladic sherds, 857 unpainted and coarse sherds, 69 earlier sherds, and 106 LH IIIB 1. The baskets used are, level 6: 148, 157; level 7: 150, 158, 171; level 8: 172.

50 See French, E., BSA lxvi, 101 ff.Google Scholar The pottery group includes three figurines which have already been discussed by Tamvaki, A., BSA lxviii, 207 fr.Google Scholar: 190 is A. Tamvaki's 144, 193 her 196, and 68–217 her 141.

51 BSA lxvi, 160.