The Mycenaean Kylix at Mt. Lykaion: An Investigation into the Late Helladic Vessel's Appearance at the Ash Altar of Zeus

Abstract

Fragments of hundreds of Mycenaean kylikes (a common Late Helladic ceramic, drinking vessel) have been found in the ash altar of the Sanctuary of Zeus at Mt. Lykaion. In this thesis, I conduct a distribution analysis of the Mycenaean kylix to gain a better understanding of Mt. Lykaion in the Late Helladic period and its association with/within the larger region. I look critically at the cache of kylix sherds recovered from the altar from 2007-2010 and compare it against assemblages of kylikes from other Late Helladic sites in the Peloponnese. To that end, I hope to start a discussion about who was consuming the pottery found at the site, where they were coming from, and whether or not they were bringing the vessels with them. This thesis will largely be dependent on a typological study of the Mycenaean kylix. As such, there are limitations as to how much can be gleaned from typology alone. I imagine though that my research could lend itself to subsequent work that would go on to encompass archaeometric methods of analysis, like zircon or clay sourcing, for the provenancing of ceramics from Mt. Lykaion.