Asia Minor, Western Anatolia, Yortan Culture, Early Bronze Age, ca. 2700 to 2300 BCE. An impeccable example of ancient pottery! A blackware kernos or cult altar presenting a voluminous, spherical body with 3 bowl-shaped spouts surrounding the flared rim. The exterior is embellished by relief decoration, featuring a pair of recessed bands that encircle the neck of the main chamber as well as the rims of each petite bowl, and a series of vertical striations enveloping the bulbous body, nicely complementing its impressive form. Size: 12.8" Diameter x 12" H (32.5 cm x 30.5 cm)

The Yortan culture is known, because of a burial site in the valley of Bakir Cai that has not been well-studied as of yet. Adults and children were buried, crouched, in large terracotta storage containers; around them were placed a great deal of pottery in the form of jugs, jars, and occasionally bowls, much of it blackware just like this piece. An incredibly rare and well-preserved example from a little-known culture!

This piece has been tested using thermoluminescence (TL) analysis and has been found to be ancient and of the period stated. A full printed and bound report is available to the buyer upon request.

Provenance: private Greenwood Village, Colorado, USA collection, via inheritance; Leota Furlong Agett Persian Pottery collection, acquired in Tehran, Iran in the early 1960s

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#174234

Rims and small area on side professionally repaired with restoration. Some light scratches and a few nicks, commensurate with age. Otherwise, intact and impressively preserved with a spectacular presentation. Nice remains of relief decoration and light earthen deposits on interior. Old collection label on base. TL holes to base and beneath 1 spout.