- Also known as
- Black Slip III
- 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 III 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 III, prevalent in MCIII, was hand-made in cream, beige, grey or greenish clay with a black or mottled brown-black thin slip. This type of ware was most common in the north and north-east, e.g. at Lapithos, Stephania and Milia (Henessy 1966, 47–8). Juglets were a common form, and the thin-walled vessels had shapes and incised, decorative styles, which were frequently influenced by imported Tell el-Yahudiyeh juglets. The decorative elements included incised straight or zigzag lines and hatched, triangles, diamonds, bands or chevrons. It is occasionally difficult to distinguish Black Slip III from Black Slip V on the basis of fabric, but the former types usually had rounded base whilst the latter had flat bases. 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 IIB 1d (Åström, 1972, 105–8).
Iron Age Black Slip III was produced in the Cypro-Geometric III period (c. 850–700 BC). The ware was similar to Black Slip II, but the clay was coarser and reddish-brown, light brown or greenish. Only pinched-mouthed jugs and amphorae were represented. However, the surface was usually plain and only rarely grooved (Gjerstad 1948, 78, fig XXVI).
* 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.
Hennessy J. B. 1966, ‘Stephania. A Middle and Late Bronze Age cemetery in Cyprus’, London.
- Broader terms
-
x297920
-
Cypriot Ware Type
