APC Image: AK 1114: Early Helladic sherds. Top row (except second sherd from right): polished ware. The sherds are extremely well made, hard and thin. The clay is of the fine quality and well levigated, and does not contain gritty particles. It is a pale pink or gray in color, darker at the core and lighter on the surface. The sherds are well fired and thoroughly baked, and it is their very hardness and thinness which causes them to be so friable. All of the sherds are very small. The entire surface both inside and outside was coated with a fine yellow or cream-colored slip. Often a mottled effect was produced by the firing. The marks of polishing implement, bone or pebble, are plainly visible in fine lines which almost resemble pencil strokes. As Mr. Blegen has pointed out, in these cases the instrument was applied with such presure that slight grooves have been left. One shape is indicated by the sherd which is second from the left. It is a sauceboat, which was one of the most characteristic of the Early Helladic shapes and to judge by the materials from other sites one of the favorite. This sherd is from the neck where it begins to flare out toward the spout and wide rim. Other EH sherds shown in this photograph are: black Monochrome ware (bottom row, left) - hard and well fired, varying in thickness. Very few sherds of this type have an entire black surface, most of them present a mottled appearance, the shades varying from gray to yellow and buff. An open bowl is the common shape indicated. A few sherds have very angular profiles. This ware is closely to red monochrome ware which occurs in this period, illustrated by such sherds as most of the ones in the middle and bottom row. All sherds of this ware are well made, of excellent fabric, baked thoroughly, and they have a highly polished surface. A red slip was used to cover the entire surface, both inside and outside, and then polished to a very high degree. Usually the marks of polishing implement are visible. All the sherds are hard and fairly thin, but none are as thin as the bst pieces of Early Helladic polished ware. The color varies from a pale brick to a deep red, and ocasionally the surface has a mottled appearance. On these sherds the red color predominates. The common shape is a flat-bottomed bowl with gently curving sides, or an open bowl with inward curving rim and rather angular shoulder. The sherd in the second row, centre is an interesting one. It was broken and mended in antiquity and the meagre remains of a leaden rivet are still visible, both on the inside and outside, about midway on the right hand side of the sherd. The almost straight side and the thickness of the wall suggest a fairly large bowl. The outer side is plain, but a distinct rim is marked on the inside. The rim is decorated with scallops at regular intervals, and a string hole is pierced in each scallop. There are a fair number of pieces form bowls which have a pierced lug handle set horizontally below the rim (such as the one in the bottom row, second from right). On the whole these pieces are well made and even and regular in shape. Occasionally there is some slight irregularity in shape due to the inexperience of the potter in making the vase. Frequently, as here, the small lug handles are set on crookedly. Another example of a lug is seen in the sherd on the bottom row, second from left. It is a flat elliptical shaped handle, set on horizontally, and pierced with double holes, which is rather rare. Both the black and red monochrome wares continue into the Middle Helladic Period. Another piece in this photograph is a fragment of ribbed ware (right, centre), which seems to belong to a large vase, possibly a storage jar. Such sherds are thick, heavy and coarse, and the clay is full of gritty material. It is a pale greenish-buff in color, darker at the core. The only decoration is the evenly ribbed surface.