Pottery of ancient Cyprus

The pottery of ancient Cyprus starts during the Neolithic period. Throughout the ages, Cypriot ceramics demonstrate many connections with cultures from around the Mediterranean. During the Early and Middle Bronze Ages, it is especially imaginative in shape and decoration. There are also many early terracotta figurines that were produced depicting female figures.

The typo-chronology of Cypriot pottery for the Iron Age was established by Einar Gjerstad based on material excavated by the Swedish Cyprus Expedition. Gjerstad divided the Iron Age into three periods, the Cypro-Geometric (1050-750 BC), the Cypro-Archaic (750-480 BC) and the Cypro-Classical (480-310 BC), which are in turn subdivided, the CG I-III, the CA I-II and the CC I-II, each period corresponds to one pottery Type, with a total of seven, Types I-VII. The exact dates of the chronology of Gjerstad have been slightly revised following more current research. The typochronology is explained in his main work Swedish Cyprus Expedition IV, 2. The Cypro-geometric, Cypro-archaic and Cypro-classical Periods (1948)[1] with further remarks made in the article Pottery Types, Cypro-Geometric to Cypro-Classical (1960).[2]

Neolithic Age

The earliest widely used ceramics during the 5th millennium BC are of the Dark Faced Burnished Ware type.[3] This ceramic technique was followed by the following techniques:

Red on White ware
"Combed ware" [4]
Painted and Combed ware, a combination of the two previous types

Bronze Age

"Red Polished Ware" has been found from the start of the Bronze Age in Cyprus.[5]

White-slip Ware was made c. 1600-1200 BC.[6][7]

Base-ring Ware is also considered to be a "typical Cypriot" ceramic "of the Late Bronze Age".[7]

Cypriot Red Polished Ware II-III, 2200-1700 BC. Kiel, Germany
Cypriot White Slip I Ware. British Museum
White Slip II Ware—14th-13th centuries BCE
^{Israeli National Maritime Museum, Haifa}
Cypriot Base Ring Ware, Late Bronze Age. Hecht Museum
White painted jug (1500-1450 BC)

Early Iron Age

During the Iron Age the pottery was "colorful and often elaborately painted with geometric or figural motifs. Intricate 'Free-field' compositions graced juglets and jars. Ubiquitous concentric circles were applied to jars, juglets, bowls and kraters using multiple brushes. Finer wares like plates, bowls and jugs were made on the fast wheel, while larger forms like amphoras, amphoroid kraters and pithoi were built with a combination of techniques: wheel throwing, hand coiling or molding."[8]

Cypro-Geometric I

During the period 1050-950 BC, characteristic pottery were[9]

"White Painted I"
"Bichrome I" Ware"
"Plain White I"
"Black Slip I"

Cypriot "White Painted I" Ware, Iron Age. Israeli National Maritime Museum

Cypro-Geometric II

During the period 950-900 BC, characteristic pottery were[9]

"White Painted II Ware"
"Bichrome II"
"Plain White II"
"Black Slip II"

Cypro-Geometric III

During the period 900-750 BC, characteristic pottery were[9]

White Painted III Ware
Bichrome III
Plain White III
Black Slip III
Red Slip I
Black on Red I
Grey & Black Polished I

Cypro-Archaic I

During the period 750-600 BC, characteristic pottery were[9]

White Painted IV "Free-field Style"
Bichrome IV "Free-field Style"
Plain White IV
Black Slip IV
Red Slip II
Black on Red II
Grey & Black Polished II
Bichrome Red I

White-painted IV Ware: jug (8th century BC - 6th century BC) Neues Museum
Cypriot Bichrome ware. Jug with Scenic Decoration, 8th-6th centuries BC. Neues Museum, Berlin
Black on Red II Ware, 750-600BC
^{Museum of Cycladic Art at Athens, Greece}
Cypro-Archaic I: Amphora (750–600 B.C.) Metropolitan Museum of Art

Cypro-Archaic II

During the period 600-480 BC, characteristic pottery were[9]

White Painted V Ware
Bichrome V
Plain White V
Black Slip V
Red Slip III
Black on Red III
Bichrome Red II

"White-painted V" Ware: vessel shaped like an animal; between 1900 and 1650 BC. Antikensammlung Kiel
Amphora fragment with Hathoric stele, Cypro-Archaic II (7th–5th century BC). Louvre

Cypro-Classical I

During the period 480-400 BC, characteristic pottery were[9]

White Painted VI Ware
Bichrome VI
Plain White VI
Black Slip VI
Red Slip IV
Black on Red IV
Bichrome Red III
Black & Grey Lustrous I
Stroke Polished I

Bichrome Red III Ware ; (600-480 BC);
^{Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna}

Cypro-Classical II

During the period 400-310 BC, characteristic pottery were[9]

White Painted VII Ware
Bichrome VII
Plain White VII
Red Slip V
Black on Red V
Black & Grey Lustrous II
Stroke Polished II

"Cypro-Classical II" Ware: Vase with moulded ridges about neck, of unpainted clay (480–310 B.C.) Metropolitan Museum of Art

References

Gjerstad, Einar (1948). Swedish Cyprus Expedition IV, 2. The Cypro-geometric, Cypro-archaic and Cypro-classical Periods. Stockholm: Swedish Cyprus Expedition.
Gjerstad, Einar (1960). "Pottery Types, Cypro-Geometric to Cypro-Classical". Opuscula Atheniensia. 7 (7): 105–122.
Joanne Clarke. Insularity and identity in prehistoric Cyprus, in : Le néolithique de Chypre: actes du colloque international organisé par le Département des antiquités de Chypre et l'École française d'Athènes, Nicosie, 17–19 mai 2001. École Française d’Athènes, Athens.
Flourentzos, P. (1996). A Guide to the Larnaca District Museum. Ministry of Communications and Works - Department of Antiquities. p. 6. ISBN 978-9963-36-425-1. by P. Flourentzos, author and Curator of Archaeological Museums and Surveys in Cyprus.
Stewart, J.R., Dikaios, P. (1972). "Part 1A". The Swedish Cyprus Expedition:The Stone Age and The Early Bronze Age in Cyprus. Vol. IV. Lund. p. 202.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
"Collections Online | British Museum". www.britishmuseum.org. Retrieved 3 October 2021.
Flourentzos, P. (1996). A Guide to the Larnaca District Museum. Ministry of Communications and Works - Department of Antiquities. p. 21. ISBN 978-9963-36-425-1.
The Semitic Museum at Harvard University "Materials & Wares: Iron Age Pots and Potters"
Gjerstad's Iron Age Pottery Typology & Chronology, Harvard Semitic Museum