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Excavations in Boeotia, Phocis, and Thessaly introduced two very simple Neolithic techniques in their pottery, the unornamented (monochromatic) and incised ware. The incised painted vases were extreamly prominent st the sites of Dimini and Sesklo. This style of painting incorporated many new principles in its decoration including curvilinear patterns and rectilinear styles to create somethin completely different in its decoration. Also, a wide array of colors were used on the vase such as white, red, yellow, black on white, and brown on yellow.
Stone Age vessle from Dimini
Stone Age vessle from Sesklo
Neolithic pottery in the southern regions showed little simularity to the pottery in northern areas. Digs at Crete produced only vases with incised geometric patterns and a majority of plain, undecorated pottery.
During the Neolithic, pottery was generally fashioned by hand and remained in the household where it was created. The clay was usually fired black over an open flame then ploished with smooth stones and incised upon. Later the clay was made less impure and baked instead of being fired over an open fire. The most important advancement of this time was the creation of "varnish" which was a black color glaze that laid the ground for the future black figure.
With the Bronze Age, the "varnish" from the Neolithic was prefected and the creation of the potter's wheel were the key innovations of this period. Also, the imitation of metal forms on clay and the potter's oven begin to appear in the Bronze Age. The excavations at Hissarlik by Heinrich Schliemann during 1871, 1878, and 1890 show the advancement of pottery from hand-made and poorly fired pieces to the more developed stages that were thrown on the potter's wheel. The intorduction of Face-urns were also developed during this time. These urns made attempts at showing the human from through adding facial features and other body parts to the urn.
Early Minoan pottery followed one of two paths during the Bronze Age. Vases were covered with the "varnish" of its time then painted on with a white color in patters, or the vases were left clay colored and painted with a single band of "varnish". This style would later resurface and become known as the Mycenean technique.
Early Minoan Clay Vessles
Middle Minoan pottery showed the techniques of a more developed Bronze Age culture. The clay is clensed and pure, the "varnish" is completely developed, and shades of red begin to appear in pottery. "A transition leads to the brilliant period of the Kamares style, named after the first discoveries in the Kamares cave on Mt. Ida." (Buschor, 8). The Kamares style, polychromy is fully developed and decoration is very diverse. The pottery itself becomes even more developed, copying the styles of metal work. Cups, beaked jugs, beaked saucers, and amphorae with handles become common place. Along with the usual geometric patterns of the time, plant motifs such as vegetables, leaves, branches, and tendrils, appear on pottery.
Kamares Style Pouring Vessle
At the end of the Middle Minoan era the Kamares style has been relegated to background and a new style stealing from wall paintings of this period was developed. This new style delt mainly with vivid representation of human and animal figures in dark colors on light colored clay.
Octopus Jar from Late Minoan Period
This trend of naturalism is extreamly short lived however. The return to the formulated decorative patterns and stylized plant forms returns and is the basis for future styles. The second Late Minoan period gave birth to the Palace style. While the neck and foot of the vases of this style were neglected, the shoulders of the pottery were often emphasized with half branches. The Kamares technique of placing red, white, and orange on a background was replaced with the Mycenean technique of black on the natural clay.
During the Late Helladic III period, pottery abandoned the Middle Helladic tradition and assimilated the foreign influences thus creating a pure Mycenaean