Flask

Mycenaean flask found in Cyrus. It was imported from the Aegean, most probably from the Peloponnese. The first Mycenaean vases appeared in Cyprus at the end of the 15th c. BC. The number of such imports increased vastly in the next two centuries, as a result of intensification in commercial exchanges between the Aegean and Cyprus (which was a major centre of copper production and trade ). Mycenaean vases were highly appreciated by Cypriots, who used them both as grave offerings and as high-quality tableware (especially a particular class of kraters with figured decoration). At the end of the 13th c. BC however, the flow of Mycenaean vases to Cyprus dropped dramatically and Cypriot potters started producing their own imitations of Mycenaean pottery in local clay.