The decoration of these pots is restricted to purely abstract elements and very often includes broad horizontal bands about the neck and belly and concentric circles applied with compass and multiple brush. Many other simple motifs can be found, but unlike many pieces in the following
Geometric style, typically much of the surface is left plain. Like many pieces, the example illustrated includes a colour change in the main band, arising from a firing fault. Both the red and black colour use the same clay, differently
levigated and fired. As the Greeks learnt to control this variation, the path to their distinctive
three-phase firing technique opened. Some of the innovations included some new
Mycenean influenced shapes, such as the belly-handled
amphora, the neck handled amphora, the
krater, and the
lekythos.
Attic artists redesigned these vessels using the fast wheel to increase the height and therefore the area available for decoration. ==Chronology==