‘A Group of Late Helladic Iiib1 Pottery From Mycenae’ Revisited: The Stratigraphy of the Trenches Associated With the Deposit and the Pottery From Level 3 of the Prehistoric Cemetery Central Iii Extension East

Abstract

In 1952 Sinclair Hood found a large deposit of pottery in front of the Great Poros Wall at Mycenae and published a brief account of its discovery the following year. In 1966 Elizabeth French published a paper discussing the pottery, assigning it an early Late Helladic IIIB1 date. From these accounts, we know that the deposit appeared in four trenches: Prehistoric Cemetery Central (PCC) III, where it sat on a surface of hard tramped earth; PCC IV, where it lay on bedrock; and PCC III Extension East and Area VII, where it rested on white clay plaster floors. But otherwise we learn little about the stratigraphy of these four trenches. Using Hood's unpublished excavation notebook, this paper examines the stratigraphy of the trenches associated with the deposit and uncovers the archaeological history of the area. In doing so, it reveals several omissions in the published accounts, most notably that there was another surface immediately below the white clay plaster floor in PCC III Extension East and a deposit of pottery associated with it. The pottery from this layer, designated Level 3, was mistakenly included by French in her paper. Fifty-four decorated sherds from Level 3 were kept, seven of which were illustrated by French. Most of the sherds come from small stirrup jars; kylikes, including the Zygouries type; Group A deep bowls; and stemmed bowls. The five most popular motifs on the sherds are the flower, whorl-shell, wavy line, parallel chevrons and panelled patterns. The shapes and motifs reflect those in the main pottery deposit and indicate a date of early Late Helladic IIIB1 for the group. The conclusion emphasises the importance of using excavation notebooks in research.