Cypriot incised Black Polished Ware bowl: Early III- Middle Bronze Age I (2100 - 1850 BC

Black Polished Ware.  Sometimes as in my first bowl, the Red Polished Ware was turned partially black by restricting oxygen to those parts during firing. However reducing oxygen in the whole kiln produces Black polished ware.  This is relatively rare. In the Early Bronze Age this type of ware is also found in Yortan Culture (Syria). Again the decoration suggests its EC III/MC I date. Circular motifs generally derive from the centre of the island rather than North or South.   Most of these basic Bronze Age bowls, from the Philia period through to the start of the Late Cypriot, are about the same size. They were probably held in the hand while drinking, or eating from it with the other hand.