Unnumbered pageScan 60 of 77
Continued from scan 59
39 [?pieces… cf. Benson AAA 1948]
Cylinder seal impression on pithos
Sh 580 Frag. from belly or shoulder of a large storage jar. Clay: light to dark gray at the core, which appears as a definite layer, to light pink-brown elsewhere. The surface is well- smoothed, perhaps even wet smoothed. Much fine dark sand, as well as scattered larger grits . and a few quite large chips of soft red stone. The surface has a few pocks and airholes. Wheelmade. Appearance and technique perfectly normal for LC pithos ware.
Impressed horizontally in a band around the entire pot(?) as a frieze made with a cylinder seal. (drawing) A long strip of probably quite soft and wet clay was placed around the pithos and then a seal rolled over it, causing the excess clay to ooze out from the band rather unevenly. The height of the seal was 1.9 cm. (or at least of the representation). It appears that the representation consisted of one long and two short units (to be described below) giving a circumference of 7.6 cm. and a diameter of approximately 2.4 cm.
The representation consists of three creatures with long pointed snouts, large eyes, and ears and long, mammalian (?) bodies which flow into each other. Just below the head in each case is a kind of double curve which may be intended to represent feet or paws or even fins. The snouts are furrowed with four wavy lines which seem to represent wrinkles. Rising from the center of the back of each animal is toward throating curve; along the back of the head and the back of each animal is a row of dots. The exact biological determination of these animals is difficult but there can scarcely be any doubt that the artist had in mind seals or otters or some such amphibious mammal. The curves over their bodies The relief is quite bold and deep and the must represent waves and the dots spray. - modelling vigorous; but see repeat true back of Sh 720 Max. L. 15.1 cm. Max. L. 9 cm. Thickness 2 cm. Height of added band .3 cm.
65 figures hard to readstruck struck outadded written in above” jug ditto, and what it repeatsword reading not certain