A Simple Guide to the Periods of Attic Geometric Pottery

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About 1190 B.C., at the beginning of the archaeological period Late Helladic IIIC, widespread destruction traditionally ascribed to the Dorian invasion ended Mycenaean civilization.  Pots from the Sub- Mycenaean period (such as the one immediately below) reflect the collapse of Mycenaean artistic traditions.

 

Protogeometric

By 1050 B.C., artists in Attica had almost entirely abandoned or lost Mycenaean figural representation, and instead concentrate on what J.L. Benson calls “circumcurrent and focal tendencies.”  In the Protogeometric period, clay- ground and dark- ground (in which the vase is covered in a black glaze)  backgrounds are popular; black- ground became more popular as the era progressed.

        

Early Geometric

Throughout the Geometric periods, vase shapes became less rounded, longer and thinner; in the Early Geometric period, beginning around 900 B.C., the neck becomes the focal zone and is often filled with ornamental design.

     

Middle Geometric

Greater elaboration of circumcurrent design and larger ornamental zones characterize the Middle Geometric Period.  Black- ground, as opposed to clay- ground, technique was ascendant at this time.   The meander became the dominant ornamental motif.  Benson attributes the “genesis of the framed picture” to the Middle Geometric II sub- period, with the influence of traditional heraldic schemes transforming ornamental zones into “window panels” with human and animal representations.  Arguably, this represents the birth of narrative in Greek plastic art.  

        

Late Geometric

Around 770, artists of what is called the Dipylon workshop created monumental vases to serve as grave markers; their works were found in the Kerameikos cemetery of Athens.  These artists took the window panels of earlier generations and filled them with historical narrative: public funerary ceremonies for the deceased. This is generally considered the beginning of the Late Geometric period, in which figural  representation is common. Foreign influence, already evident in the Dipylon prothesis, eventually overwhelmed the style in the 7th century.  Clay- ground technique dominated during the late Geometric era, probably due to the high degree of ornamentation at this time.

          

 

Some information taken from  J.L. Benson, “Picture, Ornament, and Periodicity in Attic Geometric Vase- Painting,” Art Bulletin 64(1982): 536- 37.

I have also made a Microsoft Word document, a more print- friendly version of the above, available here.

Images taken from the Perseus Project.

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