ve been more fruitful in this respect.
At Kertch and elsewhere in the Crimea, large numbers of fine but
somewhat florid vases of the 5th and 4th centuries B.C. have come to
light. Cyprus has long been known as a rich field for pottery of all
periods, from the Mycenaean onwards, the later varieties being marked
by strong local quasi-oriental characteristics, with little
development from the more primitive types (figs. 12 and 13). The
principal sites are Salamis, Amathus, Marion (Poli) and Curium.
Lastly, in the Egyptian delta two sites, Naucratis and Daphnae, have
yielded results of considerable importance for the history of early
Greek vase-painting.

[Illustration: FIG. 13.--Pottery from Cyprus with geometrical
ornament.]

The great majority of these vases have been found in tombs; but some
important discoveries have been made on the sites of temples and
sanctuaries, as on the Acropolis of Athens, or at Naucratis. In such
cases the vases are seldom complete, having been broken up and cast
away into rubbish-heaps, where the fragments have remained
undisturbed. The tombs vary greatly in form, those of Greece being
usually small rock-graves or shafts, those of Italy often fine and
elaborate chambers with architectural details, and the manner in which
the vases are found in these tombs varies greatly. Plain unornamented
pottery is almost universal, and may be considered to have formed the
"tomb-furniture" proper--the painted vases being as in daily life
merely ornamental adjuncts.

_Shapes and Uses of Greek Vases_.--The enormous number of painted
vases now collected in museums is in itself sufficient evidence of the
important part they must have played in the daily life, of the Greeks,
and the care which was bestowed on their decoration shows the high
estimation in which they were held. It is, however, remarkable that,
with the exception of general allusions to pottery and its use in
daily life, there are singularly few passages in classical literature
which throw light on the purposes for which these vases were used.
Where any are described at full length there is always evidence that
metal vases are intended. Athenaeus and the lexicographers have indeed
put on record a long list of names of shapes, but it is only in a few
cases that we can be certain what forms they describe, or whether any
of the typical forms of existing vases can be identifie