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- Black Slip II
- Also known as
- Black Slip II
- Scope note
- The most commonly used type classification for Black Slip Ware is that defined by the Swedish Cyprus Expedition (SCE), according to a combination of forms, surface finishes and decorative styles characteristic of a given period.* Black Slip II is a term which can be applied to both Bronze Age and Iron Age pottery, so should be used in conjunction with period/culture fields.
Bronze Age Black Slip II appeared in Middle Cypriot II (c. 1850–1750 BC) and reached a peak in Middle Cypriot III (c. 1750–1650 BC). It was hand-made from either buff clay (earlier varieties) or yellow, grey or greenish clay (later varieties). It had a matt or lustrous, black or mottled red-black slip. The early fabric was hard and well-polished and the later versions softer with a flaky slip. Black Slip II was often decorated with incised, straight, wavy or zigzag lines or with zigzags, chevrons or triangles filled with punctured dots. However, in eastern Cyprus, Black Slip II was frequently undecorated. An alpha-numeric classification further sub-divides this type by form and shape, which can be added to the comment box of the field, as appropriate, e.g. SCE type VIIIA 3b (Åström 1972, 89–104).
Iron Age Black Slip II was produced in the Cypro-Geometric II period (c. 950–850 BC). It was made of brown clay with a greyish-black, matt slip. Shapes were limited to jugs, with pinched mouth and amphorae. Most were decorated with a ribbed surface imitating metal (Gjerstad 1948, 78, fig XVII).
* Although the numbering system implies chronological sequencing, there can be variability in fabric and styles amongst the Bronze Age ceramics, due in part to regional differences. Consequently, the SCE typology, though useful, does have problems which need to be recognised.
Bibliography:
Åström P. 1972, ‘The Swedish Cyprus Expedition Vol. IV/1B The Middle Cypriote Bronze Age architecture and pottery’, Lund.
Gjerstad E. 1948, ‘The Swedish Cyprus Expedition. Volume IV/2. The Cypro-Geometric, Cypro-Archaic and Cypro-Classical periods’, Stockholm.
- Broader terms
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x297920
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Cypriot Ware Type
