Pottery Artifact Essay

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Pottery Artifact People can learn quite a bit from looking at the pottery artifacts of ancient Greece. The pictures painted on the pottery will tell a story of every day ancient Greece such as agriculture, religion, and spinning and weaving. Although most pottery had multiple functions the paintings will tell you of the specific purpose that particular pottery was meant for. For religious purposes I examined two pieces of pottery. The first one, called a Krater, is a large pot used for mixing wine and water, because Greeks thought it was uncivilized to drink wine neat. The pot was black and painted gold with men making a sacrifice at an altar with an animal on the altar. Animal sacrifices were a common way of honoring the gods as part of the animal was for the god and the rest was eaten by the worshipers. The second piece of pottery was a Lekane which was a short round storage bowl showing a sacrificial procession to the goddess Athena. In ancient Greek religion only men could perform sacrifices, but men and women could be priests. Women not only took part in processions, they also wove cloth for the statues. A Lekane was often given as a wedding gift and had a picture of a young man, a woman, and Eros. Eros was the god of love. Lekanes were also used a storage for trinkets and jewelry. Spinning and weaving was a woman's task that was portrayed on pottery quite often in ancient Greek times. The first piece of pottery I examined an Onos. This Ono was made with terra cotta, elongated, with the head of a woman at the end. They were commonly used for weaving wool. While women were weaving the Ono protected the knee and thigh while spinning wool. The upper part is covered in incised scales to make a rough surface to rub the wool fibers. Ono's were sometimes given to the bride for her wedding. The second pottery I examined was the Kalathos which looked like an upside

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