APC Image: AK 1108: Late Helladic I and II ware. The LH I sherds are wheelmade and of excellent fabric. The clay is finely sifted. The sherds are well baked, thin and hard, the surface finely smoothed. It is covered with a slip, usually of the same color as the clay. The paint is lustrous and of good quality. The color of the paint varies from red to dark brown and black. Many sherds show the spiral decorative motive, which was very common in this period (two central sherds in the first row, and first three in the second). The spirals are arranged in a row, or in a belt or zone, and may be connected by a wavy line. The festoon is another common decorative motive, bordered by several parallel lines (last two pieces in the second row). Such network of design often covers the upper part of the vase. In the LH II period the sherds are of the same good quality as those of LH I. The spiral continues to appear but it is not so well made as in the preceding period. On the other hand the spirals may be combined into an elaborate pattern (central sherd in the third row). Divisions into belts or zones continue and horizontal bands are frequent, not merely to mark divisions, but also to form part of the pattern itself (second from left sherds in 1st and 4th rows). This motive continues into the Mycenaean Period where the bands become a most common decorative device. Festoons continue to appear, and a variation of the running quirk pattern (3rd row, left; 4th row second from left). Naturalistic floral designs and marine patterns are very common. Here we have the conventional leaf and ivy patterns (3rd row, right; 4th row, second from left). A field of dots or a single row of them serves as a background (3rd row, second from right; 4th row, second from left). In the so-called "thrush's egg" pattern the whole surface of the vase is stippled in reddish brown color and a speckled effect is produced (4th row, centre). Deep cups (first two sherds in the 1st row), bowls, and squat jugs (4th row, left) are the shapes indicated.