Topic
Pottery
Pottery made on Cyprus from the first Neolithic vessels to the painted wares of the Iron Age: its fabrics, shapes, decoration and dating.
101 entries in 8 sections
Pottery
79 entriesSection overview
Neolithic and Chalcolithic WaresThe monochrome and painted wares of Ceramic Neolithic and Chalcolithic Cyprus, c. 5200 to 2400 BCE, before Red Polished pottery of the Bronze Age.NeolithicChalcolithic
Combed WareThe red-slipped pottery of the Cypriot Ceramic Neolithic whose slip was scraped with a comb-like tool while wet to expose pale bands, c. 4500–3900 BCE.Neolithic
Red-on-White WareRed-on-White is the hand-built painted pottery of Chalcolithic Cyprus, with red geometric patterns on a pale marl or slipped ground.NeolithicChalcolithic
Red Polished Philia WareThe hand-made, red-slipped and polished pottery of the Philia facies, strikingly uniform across Cyprus at the opening of the Bronze Age.Early Bronze Age
Red Polished WareRed Polished is the hand-made, red-slipped and burnished pottery that dominated Cyprus in the Early and Middle Bronze Age.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze Age
Black Polished WareBlack Polished is a handmade Early and Middle Bronze Age ware with a black burnished slip, used for small incised vessels in north-coast and Mesaoria tombs.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze Age
Drab Polished WareDrab Polished is a hard-fired Bronze Age ware of western and south-western Cyprus, often with a blue-grey core, and a technological forerunner of Base Ring.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze Age
Red Slip WareRed Slip is the name of three separate Cypriot wares with an all-over red slip, one Middle Cypriot, one Late Cypriot wheelmade and one Iron Age.Middle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical
White Painted WareThe hand-made, pale-slipped Bronze Age pottery of Cyprus painted with dark matt geometric motifs, flourishing in the Middle Bronze Age as WP I to VI.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze Age
Red-on-Black WareRed-on-Black is a handmade Middle Cypriot ware with matt red lines on a dark slip, a regional speciality of the Karpas and north-east Cyprus.Middle Bronze AgeLate Bronze Age
Base Ring WareThe thin-walled, hand-made Late Bronze Age pottery of Cyprus with dark lustrous surfaces imitating metal, widely exported as jugs and juglets.Late Bronze Age
Monochrome WareAn undecorated, handmade Late Cypriot ware with a red to brown slip, best known from small carinated bowls with wishbone handles found at Enkomi and across the Levant.Late Bronze Age
Red Lustrous Wheelmade WareA fine, wheel-thrown, red-burnished Late Bronze Age ware of spindle bottles, flasks and arm-shaped vessels, found in Cyprus, the Levant, Egypt and Anatolia.Late Bronze Age
White Slip WareThe hand-made Late Bronze Age tableware with a thick white slip and dark painted decoration, mostly hemispherical bowls, widely exported from Cyprus.Late Bronze Age
White Shaved WareA Late Bronze Age Cypriot ware of pale handmade dipper juglets, shaved vertically with a knife to a pointed base and widely exported to the Levant.Late Bronze Age
Plain White WareThe undecorated, pale-surfaced pottery of Middle and Late Bronze Age Cyprus, made by hand and later wheel-shaped, the first Cypriot ware formed with the wheel.Middle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical
Bucchero WareA Late Cypriot ware of jugs and juglets with vertically ribbed bodies, close to Base Ring II, handmade at first and wheelmade by Late Cypriot III.Late Bronze AgeCypro-Geometric
Mycenaean Imports and Local ImitationsMycenaean pottery, mostly made in the north-east Peloponnese, was the largest body of imported fine ware in Late Bronze Age Cyprus, and Cypriot potters copied some of its shapes.Late Bronze Age- White Painted Wheelmade WareThe locally made, wheel-thrown, matt-painted pottery of Aegean inspiration that became the standard Cypriot tableware in Late Cypriot IIC and IIIA.Late Bronze Age
Proto-White Painted WareThe wheel-thrown, matt-painted pottery of Late Cypriot IIIB, c. 1125–1050 BCE, which merged earlier Aegean-style wares and led into Iron Age White Painted I.Late Bronze AgeCypro-Geometric
Iron Age White Painted WareIron Age White Painted is the wheel-made Cypriot pottery painted in matt black or brown on a pale ground, numbered White Painted I to VII from c. 1050 to 310 BCE.Cypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical
Bichrome WareBichrome is Cypriot pottery painted in black and red on a light surface, first a Late Bronze Age export ware and later a long-lived Iron Age class.Late Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical
Black-on-Red WareBlack-on-Red is a Cypriot Iron Age wheel-made fine ware with black geometric decoration on a burnished red slip, widely exported from about 900 BCE.Cypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
Grey and Black Polished, Stroke Polished and Polychrome WaresGrey and Black Polished, Stroke Polished and Polychrome are minor wheel-made Cypriot wares of the Geometric, Archaic and Classical periods, defined by Gjerstad in 1948.Cypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical
Bichrome Red WareBichrome Red is the Cypriot Iron Age wheel-made ware with black and added white paint on a red slip, the sister ware of Black-on-Red.Cypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical
Hellenistic and Roman Pottery in CyprusCyprus used a succession of slipped fine wares from c. 310 BCE to the 7th century CE, some made on the island and many imported from Syria, Cilicia and Pamphylia.HellenisticRoman
Greek Pottery in CyprusGreek painted and black-gloss pottery reached Cyprus from the late tenth century BCE, rising from a few Euboean and Attic cups to a flood of Attic ware by the fifth century.Cypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical
Medieval Glazed Sgraffito WareWheel-made red-clay tableware coated in white slip, incised through the slip and lead-glazed, made in Cypriot workshops from the 13th to the 16th century AD.
AmphoraA closed jar with two opposed handles, made in Cyprus in belly-handled and vertical-handled painted series and as a basket-handled transport jar.Late Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
Arrows and Chevron Arrows on Cypriot Iron Age PotteryA vertical chain of chevrons ending in a point, painted as a small stock ornament on Cypriot White Painted and Bichrome jugs of the Iron Age.Cypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
Baskets and Basket-Handled VesselsNot a standard Cypriot vessel class, "basket" names the arched basket handle, vessels that carry it, the kalathos and a few openwork bowls.Late Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
BirdsThe bird on Cypriot pottery, modelled on Bronze Age Red Polished vessels and painted as the main subject of Cypro-Archaic free-field jugs.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
Black Slip WareBlack Slip is the name of two unrelated Cypriot wares, a handmade Middle and early Late Cypriot class and Gjerstad's wheelmade Iron Age class.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical
BottlesA narrow-necked closed vessel with no handle or with two, made in Cyprus from the Early Bronze Age to the Hellenistic period, mostly as a small container for liquids.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-ClassicalHellenistic
BowlsThe open vessel deeper than a plate and without a pouring neck, the one Cypriot pottery shape made without a break from the Neolithic to the Iron Age.NeolithicChalcolithicEarly Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic- Bulls and CattleBulls and cattle in Cypriot art, modelled on Red Polished cult vessels, made as Base Ring rhyta and dedicated as Archaic votives in clay and stone.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical
CirclesConcentric circles, disks, spirals and pendent semicircles, the leading geometric motif of Cypriot Iron Age painted pottery and of Gjerstad's Western style.Cypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
Coarse Wares, Pithoi and Cooking PotsThe heavily tempered storage, cooking and utility pottery of Cyprus from the Chalcolithic to the Cypro-Classical period, classified mainly by fabric and function.ChalcolithicLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical- Complex VesselsComposite, multiple and ring vessels built by multiplying or joining ordinary shapes, mostly Bronze Age tomb pieces, plus figure vases, arm-vessels, incense burners, stands and miniatures.ChalcolithicEarly Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-ClassicalHellenistic
CupsA small open vessel with one or two handles, made for drinking; in Cyprus it runs from Bronze Age handled cups to Iron Age skyphoi and kantharoi.Middle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical
Dippers and LadlesA small vessel with a single handle set high above its body, made to be lowered into a larger container and lifted out full.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-Geometric
Dishes and PlatesThe flat two-handled plate, absent from the Bronze Age repertoire, that appears in advanced Cypro-Geometric I and carries its main decoration on the underside.Cypro-Geometric- Fish and Sea CreaturesFish and other sea creatures in Cypriot art, from Late Bronze Age Aegean-style kraters to the Cypro-Archaic bird-and-fish jugs and Paphian fish-cups.Late Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
FlasksA closed vessel flattened from side to side, common in Cyprus from the Middle Bronze Age, revived as the lentoid pilgrim flask in the Late Bronze Age and made in the Iron Age.ChalcolithicEarly Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
Free-Field Style: Birds, Bulls and Lotus on Cypro-Archaic JugsA layout of Cypriot Iron Age vase painting in which a single figure or motif is set on the bare, unframed body of a jug, usually opposite the handle.Cypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic- From Bronze to Iron: Cypriot Pottery c. 1300–950 BCEThe change in Cypriot fine pottery between c. 1300 and 950 BCE, from handmade Base Ring and White Slip to wheelmade White Painted and Bichrome.Late Bronze AgeCypro-Geometric
- Goats, Deer and IbexWild goats and stags, the commonest wild animals in Cypriot vase decoration, from modelled Bronze Age figures to painted Iron Age friezes and free-field jugs.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
- Guilloche and SpiralsTwo linked-band ornaments of Cypriot art, the Late Bronze Age running spiral of Aegean origin and the Cypro-Archaic guilloche of Near Eastern origin.Late Bronze AgeCypro-Archaic
Horses and ChariotsThe horse and the two-wheeled chariot as images in Cypriot art, from imported Late Bronze Age kraters to Iron Age clay and limestone models.Late Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical
Human FiguresThe human figure on Cypriot pottery, modelled in Early Bronze Age Red Polished scenes and painted on Cypro-Geometric and Cypro-Archaic vases.Early Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic- Iron Age Painting StylesThe figured repertoire and the two regional pictorial styles, Salamis and Amathus, into which scholars sort Cypriot vase painting of c. 1050-480 BCE.Cypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
Jars and PithoiA symmetrical wide-necked vessel, the family of Cypriot storage and transport jars, pithoi and painted jars, including the amphora.ChalcolithicEarly Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-ClassicalHellenistic
JugletsA juglet is a small one-handled jug with a narrow neck, made in Cyprus in most wares and widely exported as a container for perfumed oil.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
Jugs and JugletsA one-handled vessel with a neck, the commonest closed shape in Cypriot pottery, made from the start of the Bronze Age to the Cypro-Classical period.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical
KratersA large open vessel for mixing and serving drink, imported from the Aegean and made locally in Cyprus from the Late Bronze Age onwards.Late Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicHellenistic
LampsA small hand-held vessel that burned oil or fat on a wick, made in Cyprus as an open saucer from the Late Bronze Age and as a closed lamp from the Hellenistic period.Late Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-ClassicalHellenisticRoman
Lattice, Chequers and Checkerboards on Cypriot PotteryLattice (a net of crossed lines) and chequers (alternating dark and light squares) used to fill triangles, lozenges, bands and panels on Cypriot pottery.Middle Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
Lions, Sphinxes and GriffinsLions, sphinxes and griffins, a borrowed Near Eastern repertoire used in Cyprus on seals, gold, pottery, metal bowls and limestone sculpture.Late Bronze AgeCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical- Lotus Flowers and Lotus Friezes on Cypriot Iron Age PotteryThe lotus flower and lotus-and-bud frieze, the chief plant motif of Cypriot Iron Age painted pottery, of Egyptian and Phoenician derivation.Cypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical
- Motifs of Cypriot PotterySectionThe recurring patterns and figures painted, incised or modelled on Cypriot pottery, from Neolithic combing to the Cypro-Archaic free-field style.NeolithicChalcolithicEarly Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
Plants, Trees and Palms on Cypriot PotteryTrees, date palms, branches and the goat-and-tree or sacred-tree composition on Cypriot pottery and related media, from the Late Bronze Age to the Cypro-Archaic period.Late Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic- Pottery ShapesSectionThe classification of Cypriot pottery by vessel form rather than ware, grouped into ten shape families from bowls and jugs to composite vessels.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
RosettesThe rosette, a radiating flower ornament that became a standard motif of Cypriot painted pottery in Cypro-Archaic I under renewed influence from Syria.Late Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
ShipsThe ship as a pottery subject in Cyprus, modelled in clay from the Late Bronze Age to the Cypro-Archaic period and painted on Iron Age jugs.Middle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
SnakesThe snake as a decorative and figural motif in Cyprus, from relief bands on Early Bronze Age Red Polished pottery to Archaic terracottas and Classical limestone.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical
StrainersAny vessel with deliberate perforations that let liquid through and hold solids back, from Base Ring strainer jars to Iron Age strainer jugs and bronze strainers.Middle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
SwastikasA cross with arms bent at right angles, a frequent painted ornament on Cypriot Iron Age pottery whose meaning is still debated.Early Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
The Maltese Cross on Cypriot PotteryA cross of four triangles meeting at their points, painted on the bases of Cypriot bowls and dishes and inside concentric circles on jugs.Late Bronze AgeCypro-Geometric- The Pictorial StyleFigured painting on Late Bronze Age kraters found in Cyprus, first on Mycenaean imports and then on the locally made Rude or Pastoral Style kraters.Late Bronze Age
- The Pottery of Ancient CyprusSectionThe pottery made and used in Cyprus from the Ceramic Neolithic onward, the island's most abundant artifact class and the basis of its chronology.NeolithicChalcolithicEarly Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-ClassicalHellenisticRoman
- The Tree and the Sacred TreeThe tree motif in Cypriot art, alone or flanked by animals as a sacred tree, on seals, gold, silver bowls, stone and painted pottery from the Late Bronze Age to the Cypro-Classical period.Late Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical
- Triangles and LozengesHatched, latticed and solid triangles and lozenges, with incised herringbone, used on Cypriot pottery from the Chalcolithic to the Cypro-Archaic period.ChalcolithicEarly Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
Triple Crossing LinesGroups of parallel painted lines laid obliquely so that they cross one another, the defining motif of the Middle Bronze Age White Painted Cross Line Style.Middle Bronze Age
Tulip Bowls and Cult VesselsDeep, conical, black-topped Red Polished bowls of Early Cypriot I–II, and their elaborate protome-rimmed form, known mostly from the tombs of Vounous.Early Bronze Age
Types of WareSectionThe families of Cypriot pottery, grouped by clay, surface finish and decoration, from Neolithic Combed ware to Iron Age Black-on-Red.NeolithicChalcolithicEarly Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical- Wavy HooksWavy lines ending in a hook or spiral, found on Mycenaean imports at Enkomi, Cypro-Archaic White Painted IV juglets and Bichrome plates.Late Bronze AgeCypro-Archaic
Wavy LinesA continuous line swinging in rounded curves, incised or painted on Cypriot pottery from Early Bronze Age Red Polished to Cypro-Archaic amphorae.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic- White Painted StylesThe decorative styles into which scholars divide handmade Bronze Age White Painted pottery, from WP I String-hole to the WP VI Soft Triglyphic Style.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze Age
Zig-ZagsA continuous line changing direction at sharp angles, incised or painted on Cypriot pottery from Early Bronze Age Red Polished to Cypro-Archaic handles.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
Statues
2 entriesSection overview
Base Ring Bull VesselsHand-built Base Ring ware pouring vessels in the form of a bull, made in Late Bronze Age Cyprus and found in tombs, settlements and sanctuaries.Late Bronze Age- Red Polished Zoomorphic Vessels and Animal FigurinesRed Polished ware animal figurines, animal protomes applied to vessels, and animal-shaped askoi of Early and Middle Bronze Age Cyprus, mostly from tombs.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze Age
Tools and Technologies
3 entriesSection overview
Decoration TechniquesThe techniques used to decorate Cypriot pottery, terracottas, stone and metalwork from the Late Neolithic to the Classical period, and how the catalogue groups them.NeolithicChalcolithicEarly Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical- Pottery Kilns and Firing in Ancient CyprusHow Cypriot potters fired their wares, mostly in open fires and pits until the Late Bronze Age, when the first kilns and the potter's wheel appear.ChalcolithicEarly Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze Age
Tools and Technologies of Ancient CyprusSectionThe crafts and technologies of ancient Cyprus, from Neolithic stone and bone toolkits through copper metallurgy and the potter's wheel to early iron.NeolithicChalcolithicEarly Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-Geometric
Cultures
4 entriesSection overview
The MinoansThe palatial Bronze Age civilization of Crete, which took Cypriot copper and passed writing to Cyprus in the early Late Bronze Age.Early Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze Age- The Mycenaeans and CyprusThe palatial Late Bronze Age societies of mainland Greece, whose pottery flooded Cypriot coastal towns in the 14th and 13th centuries BCE.Late Bronze Age
The PhilistinesThe 12th-century BCE newcomers to the southern Levantine coast, whose Aegean-style pottery, hearths and houses derive most directly from Cyprus.Late Bronze Age
Ugarit and the LevantThe Syrian port kingdom of Ugarit and the wider Levantine coast, Cyprus's closest Bronze Age trading partners across the water.Middle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-Geometric
Mortuary Practices
1 entrySection overview
Daily Life
3 entriesSection overview
Food and Diet in Ancient CyprusWhat Cypriots grew, herded, hunted, cooked and drank from the first Neolithic villages to the end of the Cypro-Archaic period.NeolithicChalcolithicEarly Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
Food Storage in Ancient Cyprus: Pits, Pithoi and StoreroomsHow Cypriots stored grain, oil and wine, from Chalcolithic pits and household jars to the great pithos halls of the Late Bronze Age towns.NeolithicChalcolithicEarly Bronze AgeMiddle Bronze AgeLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-Archaic
Medicine and Healing in Ancient CyprusDisease, drugs, doctors and healing cults in ancient Cyprus, from Neolithic skeletons to the physician Onasilos of Idalion in the early fifth century BCE.NeolithicLate Bronze AgeCypro-GeometricCypro-ArchaicCypro-Classical
Environment
1 entrySection overview
Chronology
8 entriesSection overview
- Neolithic CyprusThe period c. 9000–3900 BCE in which farmers from the mainland settled Cyprus, built villages of circular houses, and later adopted pottery.Neolithic
Chalcolithic CyprusThe period c. 3900–2500 BCE of circular villages, Red-on-White pottery, picrolite cruciform figures and the island's first small-scale copper working.Chalcolithic
Early Bronze Age CyprusThe period c. 2500–1950 BCE, from the Philia phase through Early Cypriot I–III, of rectilinear villages, Red Polished pottery and chamber-tomb cemeteries.Early Bronze Age
Middle Bronze Age CyprusThe Middle Cypriot period, c. 1950–1650 BCE, of multi-roomed village houses, White Painted pottery, growing copper production and the first overseas trade.Middle Bronze Age- Late Bronze Age CyprusThe Late Cypriot period, c. 1650–1050 BCE, when copper exports made Cyprus an urban, literate trading power before the crisis around 1200 BCE.Late Bronze Age
- Cypro-Archaic CyprusThe age of the Cypriot city-kingdoms, c. 750–475 BCE, under Assyrian, Egyptian and Persian overlordship, with rural sanctuaries and regional pottery styles.Cypro-Archaic
Byzantine and Medieval CyprusCyprus from the seventh century to the Ottoman conquest of 1570-71, under Byzantine, Lusignan and Venetian rule, and its glazed sgraffito pottery.
Late Antique and Early Byzantine CyprusCyprus from the founding of Constantinople to the Arab raids of the mid-seventh century, ruled from Constantia and reshaped by earthquakes and the Church.Roman