Abstract :
IN modern times, from the excavations by Schliemann to the present day, when Mycenae and
Tiryns have been granted jointly the status of a World Heritage Site, the two sites have been
linked. The relationship between them in the Bronze Age is, however, much less clear and has
become more complex with subsequent research. Recent coordinated studies of the pottery
at each site by those actually working on the material can offer a firm foundation for future
work.
Schliemann was extremely interested in the pottery he found, compiling albums of the
finds for each site (Hood i960). After him, Furtwangler and Loeschcke (1879; 1886)
published important stylistic accounts of the ceramic material known at that point. At the
request of V. Stais, then Director of the National Museum in Athens, this was continued by
Wace during the First World War (BSA 21, 1914-16, 187, Annual Report). Our work today,
however, is based on the monumental study by A. Furumark (1941a; 1941&), undertaken to
analyse the sherd material from Asine, which was transported in quantity back to Sweden for
study. After 1955, French (E.B. French 1963) studied a series of deposits from Mycenae in
order to date the figurines found in them. This work appeared to be supported by the copious
and high quality material from the West Wall Deposit at Tiryns (known as the Ephichosis:
Verdelis, French, and French 1965). Unfortunately the final, more detailed publication
(Voigtlander 2003) throws doubt on the depositional history of the deposit. Thus this
material must be used with great caution until we know the results of a total reassessment of
the deposit now in progress by E.B. French and W. Gauss.
