Several sites, and Mycenae and Lefkandi in particular, allow us to follow pottery development during this period through changes in shapes, decorative technique, and styles.

The short initial phase of Late Helladic (LH) IIIC Early, in the twenty-five years following the destruction of the palaces, sees a temporary impoverishment in decoration (S. Vitale, Hesperia 75, 2006, 177–204). Several shapes disappear, among which were certain types of stirrup jar, vessels used for commerce. Among the new shapes (Figure 54.1), small closed vessels that are common in tombs – lekythoi, small jugs with narrow necks, and globular amphoriskoi – make their appearance alongside ‘deep bowls’ and new types of cup that are carinated with a high handle or hemispherical. Footed goblets with two handles, slender but with a thick foot, sometimes with a medial bulge, have a conical bowl and generally a single simple motif on each side (Demakopoulou 1988, n° 78–9).