$ 98. Anticipations of Later ' Palace Style'—L. M. I b Class :
Finds of L. M. I Pottery in Egypt.

Antecedents to 'Palace Style' of closing epoch ; Survivals of naturalism
in L. M. la; Mature L. M. la deposits in Palace due to partial catastrophe
andstructuralchanges ; L. M.I"a deposit beneath ' East Stairs ' ; North-East
House deposit with ' Pilhoidjar' ; Origin of L. M. lb ' Pithoid Amphoras';
L.M. /a Deposit by ' S.W. Columnar Chamber'; Decay of naturalism
—due to Egyptian influence; Corresponding reaction of Cretan Art on
Egypt at beginning of Neiv Empire; L. M. /a bronzes brought by Envoys
from Kef tin; Imported L.M. I a painted Vases found in Egypt; the
Anibeh alabastron ; Minoan Embassies of Thothmes Ill's time synchronize
with L.M. lb pottery ; Sedmeut alabastron, with sacral 'adder mark';
Saqqara Tomb-group ; ' Maket pot; ' Marine Style' Vases—' Marseilles
Ewer', &c.; 'Amphora' of metallic origin; Valuable chronological basis;
L. M. lb types largely based on small reliefs of steatite and metal vases—
Naturalistic influences thus revived; Marine motives—Repetitious of units
in decoration—due to old tradition of Nature-printing; Repetition of
Knossian unit, Argonaut under rock canopy; ' Marseilles Ewer' Knossian
fabric; Minoan sources of Mainland types; Minoan craftsmen working in
Mainland centres ; Itinerant potters ; Fine Mycenae ' A mphora' with purely
Minoan designs; Bead festoons derived from Toilette scene's of Knossian
frescoes : Degenerate 'festoon' type of a 'L. M. I c '-; L. M. I b types of religious
character ; Frequency of ' adder mark '■; Double Axe repeated ; Later' bivalve'
type of Axe symbol—-fresh illustration of' L. M. I c'; Absence of L.M. lb
stratum inside Palace, dtie to occupation wit/iout a break from L.M. /a
to close of L. M. II.

Perhaps the most characteristic product of the closing- Palace Period
—L. M. II—with which we are in a special way concerned in the present
Volume—is a palatial class of pottery, of a fabric that was almost ex-
clusively associated with the site of Knossos itself. But, in order to under-
stand this ' Palace Style'—so intimately connected with the residence of the
last Priest-kings—it is necessary to pass in review the products of the pre-
ceding L. M. I stages, particularly of L. M. 1 b, from which it indeed arose
by a gradual transition. The grandiose fabrics of the last palatial epoch
are largely dependent on this later L. M. I style, which itself, for pure deco-
rative harmony, is unrivalled in the Minoan ceramic series.

s 2

Ante-
cedents
to'Palace
Style' of
closing
epoch.