The Cycladic frying pan (NAMA 4974) is a ceramic item from the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

Cycladic civilization Cycladic culture (also known as Cycladic civilisation) was a Bronze Age culture (c. 3100–c. 1000 BC) found throughout the islands of the Cyclades in the Aegean Sea. In chronological terms, it is a relative dating system for artifacts which is r ...

. It dates to the early Cycladic period, between the 28th and 23 centuries BC (EC II). The

frying pan A frying pan, frypan, or skillet is a flat-bottomed pan used for frying, searing, and browning foods. It typically ranges from in diameter with relatively low sides that flare outwards, a long handle, and no lid. Larger pans may have a small ...

derives from grave 74 of

Chalandriani Chalandriani () is a major Early Bronze Age cemetery on the Cycladic island of Syros in Greece, a little way to the south of the fortified prehistoric settlement of . Its tombs date mostly to the Early Cycladic II period (): more than 600 are kno ...

cemetery on the Cycladian island of

Syros Syros ( ), also known as Siros or Syra, is a Greece, Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is south-east of Athens. The area of the island is and at the 2021 census it had 21,124 inhabitants. The largest towns are Ermoupoli, Ano S ...

. It was discovered in 1889/1890 during excavations led by

Christos Tsountas {{infobox academic , name = Christos Tsountas , native_name = Χρήστος Τσούντας , native_name_lang = el , image=Christos Tsountas.jpg , alt=Photograph of a young man with a moustache. , caption = Photographed in 1879 , birth_ ...

, along with other pottery and was first published by Tsountas in 1899. With the inventory number 4974, the frying pan is now kept in the

National Archaeological Museum of Athens The National Archaeological Museum () in Athens houses some of the most important artifacts from a variety of archaeological locations around Greece from prehistory to late antiquity. It is considered one of the greatest museums in the world and ...

. The purpose of the frying pan is unknown.

Description

The frying pan is 20.1 cm across and 28.2 cm from tip to grip. The plate has a round wall which is undecorated and projects outwards, forming the dish of the "frying pan". The incised decoration on the reverse is very deep. The entire plate, with the grips, is surrounded by a border of

chip Chip may refer to: Food * Chip (snack), thinly sliced and deep-fried gastro item ** Potato chips (US) or crisp (UK) * Chips (fried potato strips) (UK) or french fries (US) (common as a takeout side) * Game chips, thin chip/French fries * Choco ...

impressions. At the base of the handle, above the grips is an engraved pubic triangle. It is separated from the main field by another chip border. In the main field, stamped spirals, linked together by engraved lines, surround a ship which is engraved slightly below centre, opposite the handle. The hull and an upward pointing prow are depicted by engraved double lines. There is a fish symbol and two banners on the high prow. Above and below the hull, oars or rudders are suggested by slanting lines - a different number on each side. A unique feature compared to other frying pans is the orientation of the ship. It is the only known depiction of a ship with a high prow, which is usually identified as the bow, at the left end. Except for a broken edge of the rim about 10 cm long, the frying pan is fully intact. It is made of a dark red, strong and coarse-grained clay. The

slip Slip or The Slip may refer to: * Slip (clothing), an underdress or underskirt Music * The Slip (band), a rock band * ''Slip'' (album), a 1993 album by the band Quicksand * ''The Slip'' (album) (2008), a.k.a. Halo 27, the seventh studio al ...

on the outside is well-applied, but slightly spotty. On the inside, it is darker. The quality of the work has been considered to be "accomplished with great care and skill.

Meaning

Frying pans of the "Chalandriani type" are part of the final development of this form of ceramics and are dated to FC II. Their predecessors of the "Aplomata type" differ clearly in the tendency to circular bodies and in grip shape. By contrast, the frying pans of the "Chalandriani type" have an oval body and usually have little footed handles. The decorations known from the "Aplomata type," like star motifs and interconnected spirals are often added to depictions of ships on spiral backgrounds. At least ten frying pans with depictions of ships are known from the cemetery of Syros; one example has two ships. The individual ship depictions appear to be the product of only a few artists. Chalandriani frying pans are further decorated with carving in the form of female genitalia, the so-called "pubic triangle." Normally this takes the form of a triangular pattern with a central vertical line at the base of the handle. Examples are even known on the other side of the handle.Coleman 1985, p. 196

Bibliography

* Table 28 * * * Christos Tsountas: ''Kykladika II'' In: Hē En Athēnais Archaiologikē Hetaireia (Ed.): ''Ephēmeris archaiologikē'', 1899 pp. 73–134, 86, 90 (Digitalised
S. 85/86

References

External links

Frying-pan vessel (4974), National Archive of Monuments
{{National Archaeological Museum of Athens 19th-century archaeological discoveries Archaeological discoveries in the Aegean Islands Cycladic art National Archaeological Museum, Athens Syros