The Prehistoric Macedonian Symposium: 2
None of the popular Mycenaean shapes
has a counterpart for size in the local repertoire (the wishbone handled bowl
(4-6 litres) is smaller than a typical krater (9-12 litres) and much larger than
a deep bowl, (1-2 litres), see below. This highlights an
important difference between Mycenaean and local pottery. In the Mycenaean set
the drinking cup with a capacity of c 0.33 litres is individual, whereas,
if the identification of the Macedonian wishbone handled bowl as a drinking
vessel is correct, this was for communal use. Thus it may be surmised that one
effect of the contact with Mycenaean Greece, directly or through mercantile
exchange, was the adoption of a new social ritual associated with the Mycenaean
style symposium.
|
PAINTED
MYCENAEAN |
Volume Litres |
ASSIROS
‘LOCAL’ MYCENAEAN |
Volume Litres |
|
Krater
FS 281 |
11.5 |
Krater
FS 281 |
10.8 |
|
Krater
FS 7-9 |
13.5 |
Deep
bowl FS 284 |
2.1 |
|
Kylix
FS258, 259 |
0.7 |
Cup
FS 216 |
0.33 |
|
Deep
bowl ‘A’ FS 284 |
1.0 |
Cut
away neck jug |
5.5 |
|
Deep
bowl ‘B’ FS 284 |
1.9 |
|
|
|
Deep
bowl LH IIIC, FS 284 |
1.5 |
ASSIROS
LOCAL HAND MADE BRONZE
AGE |
|
|
|
|
4-6 |
|
|
UNPAINTED
MYCENAEAN |
|
4-handled
jar |
10-15 |
|
Conical
kylix FS 274 |
0.9 |
10-15 |
|
|
Carinated
kylix FS 267 |
0.25 |
|
|
|
Shallow
cup FS 222 |
0.2 |
ASSIROS
LOCAL HAND MADE IRON
AGE |
|
|
|
|
Small
wishbone handled bowl |
2-4 |
|
|
|
Large
wishbone handle bowl |
25.5 |
|
|
|
4-handled
jar |
10-15 |
|
|
|
Cut
away neck jug |
7-10 |
Capacities
of typical examples of Mycenaean and Macedonian pottery
This data forms part of an article entitled
THE SYMPOSIUM IN MACEDONIA: A PREHISTORIC PERSPECTIVE
by
K.A WARDLE, DIANA WARDLE, & N. M. H. WARDLE
shortly to be published in Archaeological Work in Macedonia and Thrace (AEMTH)