The pottery of Late Helladic IIIC and its significance

Thesis

The thesis is an attempt to view the pottery of the Late Helladic IIIC period as a whole, particularly in terms of the relationships between different regions of the Mycenaean world and of their effect on the processes of ceramic change. It begins with an historical introduction in which the role of pottery in general and of LH IIIC in particular in the study of the Aegean Late Bronze Age down to the early 1970s is discussed briefly. This is followed by a short resume of the LH IIIA-B background.

The main body of the work begins with a detailed look at material from sites or regions where stratigraphical evidence for the chronological development of LH IIIC pottery is available. From this it is concluded that the pottery of the period can most usefully be divided into three broad stages of development. There then follows a more general discussion of sites or regions without stratigraphical information, the aim of which is to gain some impression of the form taken by each of the broad developmental stages already outlined in the pottery of each region or site, and of its stylistic character and affiliations.

The thesis ends with a summary of the conclusions reached in the various regional chapters. The three main stages are discussed in terms of the rate of ceramic change in various parts of the Mycenaean world. A discussion of the extent and directions of contact between regions in the three main stages of LH IIIC, and of their effect on the spread of ceramic ideas, is accompanied by some comparative statistical analyses designed to illustrate the varying degrees and directions of inter-regional similarity during the three stages. Finally, the patterns of ceramic trade and influence which appear to obtain in LH IIIC are contrasted with those of earlier periods, and discussed briefly in terms of possible changes in the political and economic organisation of the Mycenaean world.

Authors: Sherratt, S

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-koxa68m9g
• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: Helladic; IIIC; pottery; Mycenaean
• Subjects: Pottery, Mycenaean