Timeline 3 Overview of the Dark Age and Archaic Period.

Dark Age Ceramic Ware

The introduction of iron technology altered the character of Greek civilization, but in order to chart the
development of that civilization, historians and archaeologists need to rely on artifacts that are available
in greater numbers than the occasional iron implement found in excavations. The most common artifacts
recovered from Iron Age burials – indeed, among the most common items to have survived from antiquity
– are ceramic vessels. In Athens, for example, during the early years of the Iron Age, it was customary to
deposit the cremated remains of the deceased in a ceramic vessel, which was then buried along with other
ceramic vessels and metal objects of some value, while a stone and yet another ceramic vessel were
placed at ground-level to mark the tomb. Similar practices existed elsewhere in Greece. This pottery is of
tremendous value to historians, art historians, and archaeologists because it is virtually indestructible and
because its painted decoration was generally applied before firing, which fused the pigment to the surface
of the pottery and inhibited fading. While ceramic pots can be broken – and most of them have been
broken at one time or another – the fragments remain unchanged for thousands of years and can be
reassembled by patient curators equipped with modern adhesives. The availability of large numbers of
ceramic vessels and fragments of vessels enables us to chart changes in funerary practice, fluctuations in
population, and variations over time in artistic and technological expertise.