A depas cup in Minyan ware

A depas cup in Minyan ware

A new kind of pottery

The Yamnaya, or Indo-European Greeks, arrived in Greece around 2100 BC and defeated the people who were already living there. Along with horses and chariots, the Indo-European conquerors brought with them a new kind of pottery known as Minyan Ware. Minyan ware is kind of boring to look at, because it is just plain gray all over (though it is a rather attractive gray, and well-made in interesting and beautiful shapes). Maybe these new pots were imitating the shapes of bronze vases.

Who were the Minyans?
Who were the Yamnaya?
History of pottery
Bronze Age Greek pottery
All our ancient Greece articles

Using a pottery wheel

But the biggest change from the Stone Age pottery that came earlier is that potters made this Minyan Ware on a potter’s wheel instead of by hand.

Invention of the wheel
Bronze Age economy
Bronze Age timeline

The potter’s wheel allowed pots to be made faster and easier, and that made them cheaper, so more people could have nice dishes to eat off and nice cups to drink out of.

Learn by doing: Use a potter’s wheel, or make a pot by hand
More about Bronze Age Greek pottery

Bibliography and further reading about Early Bronze Age pottery in Greece:

The Archaeology of Greece: An Introduction, by William R. Biers (1996). Biers writes very clearly and has a lot of good pictures.

Greek Art and Archaeology (3rd Edition), by John G. Pedley (2002) This has a lot of good information and is pretty readable. Plus, the author is really an expert in this field.

The Aegean Bronze Age (Cambridge World Archaeology) by Oliver Dickinson, Norman Yoffee (Editors) (1994)

Late Bronze Age Greek Pottery
Ancient Greece

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