ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how two natural properties of metals were manipulated by Late Bronze Age Aegean artisans, through the case study of metalware from the Greek mainland. In the study of ancient metal artefacts, archaeologists have often privileged technological and narrow function-orientated interpretations. Yet aesthetic considerations were also the key to decisions made by artisans, with colour and reflectivity essential properties of metals. Colour is inextricably linked to the composition of metals, and polychrome metalware was a well-known Aegean product. Metal vessels used on Late Bronze Age mainland Greece came in a multitude of shapes and sizes. Approximately one-third of those studied were decorated, and excepting the handful of examples with plastic ornament, they fell under two paradigms of technique. Metal colouration is linked to composition, although the final appearance can be altered through surface enrichment or patination. It is possible the dark colouration itself was, through its rarity, desirable and the other similarities between the vessels simply coincidental.
