Great find!

I found this, that dates it to 730 BC: http://www.archaeology.org/0501/abstracts/greece.html

slingbadger wrote on Jun 27^th, 2009 at 1:15pm:


If they could tell us what the proper Greek style was, that would be a bonus

Excellent find ! This must be one of the earliest representations of slings, after the Mycenaean rhyton known in C19th, that shows a siege scene (maybe C12th BC ?).

Recently I looked a bit at this (F. Croissant, "Batailles géométriques pariennes", in Alba della città, l'alba delle immagine ?)

The context: a nekropolis with 150 jars, each containing cremated remains of one young male, and topped with a skyphos (drinking cup). The cups and jars / urns are individualized. This particular war burial (probably) later turned into the main cemetery for ancient Paros.

Two vases stand out, A and B, decorated with battle scenes. They probably date to ca. 700 BC, judging by the style. They may  have been painted specially for the burial.

A. Shows a disorderly fight, with a big figure with a special shield killing unarmed men, next to a grazing goat. A raid, about to be repelled by reinforcements ? Cavalry and even chariots involved

B. shows three scenes
1. A burial scene. Oddly, a man is pointing an arrow at the deceased man's head.
2. A scene with a body btw two heavy armed fighters.
3. A battle scene:
on the left, lots of a heavy infantry, cavalry, and two archers, both helmeted, one shielded
in the middle, a dead body, probably one of the archers
on the right, slingers, and a few heavy infantry.

Pretty unclear if these are real battles, or myth; the slingers are quite unique. It;s not clear who's attacking and defending (e.g. are the slingers a raiding party, being finished off by parian troops ? Or are the heavies etc on the left the invaders, and the slingers the Parians who are desperately trying to keep them at bay ?)

Perhaps linked to an attack on Paros by its neighbour and enemy, Naxos, and a siege or assault on the town, along with raids in the countryside.

Vase B