Black glazed red pottery jug. Ribbed decoration on sides. single strap type handle. Painted light cream decoration round the neck.

Athenian era. Greek pottery developed from a Mycenaean tradition, borrowing both pot forms and decoration. The earliest stylistic period is the Geometric, lasting from about 1000 to 700 BCE. This period is further broken down into a Proto-Geometric transition from Mycenaean forms. In this period the surface of the pot was completely covered with a network of fine patterns in which circles and arcs predominate. This abstract decorative vocabulary was later enriched by such devices as the meander (key pattern), checker, triangle, herringbone, and swastika. The succeeding true Geometric style is characterized by these forms and by the gradual appearance of animal and finally human figures. These too were geometrized, being given angular silhouettes and arranged symmetrically, usually in strips around the pot. Figures were invariably portrayed from the side—i.e., in profile. The pots made at this time were the earliest in Greek art to show narrative scenes from popular myths, particularly those about Heracles.