The Mycenaean era corresponds to the period known as Late Helladic, often abbreviated LH, in the standard relative chronology for mainland Greece.

For at least the first half of the seventeenth century BC there is only a small portion of all pottery produced that is in the Minoan style.

There is also evidence that suggests that the style appeared in the southern Peloponnese (probably Laconia) as a result of Minoan potters taking up residence at coastal sites along the Greek mainland.

This period also marks the appearance of a fine ware that is coated all over with paint varying from red and black in color.

This style has a restricted shape range, which suggests that potters may have used it mostly for making matching sets of jugs, goblets and dippers.

The importance of Crete and Minoan power decreases and Mycenaean culture rises in dominance in the southern Aegean.

Masses of Mycenaean pottery found in excavated sites in the eastern Mediterranean show that not only were these ancient civilizations in contact with each other, but also had some form of established trade.

This form of pottery is thus named for its intense technical and stylistic uniformity, over a large area of the eastern and central Mediterranean.

These findings provide excellent insight to the shape range (especially closed forms) of Mycenaean pottery.

Not long into this phase the deep bowl becomes the most popular decorated shape, although for unpainted wares the kylix is still the most produced.

Other than a brief 'renaissance' period that took place mid-twelfth century that brought some developments, the pottery begins to decline in quality.

Submycenaean is now generally regarded as the final stage of Late Helladic IIIC (and perhaps not even a very significant one), and is followed by Protogeometric pottery (1050/25–900 BC).

[4] The shapes and decorations of the ceramics discovered during this final period show that the production of pottery was reduced to little more than a household industry, suggesting that this was a time of poverty in Greece.

At this time, the 'medium band' form of deep bowl appears and most painted shapes in this phase have linear decoration.

Occasionally new shapes (like the 'carinated cup') and new decorations appear, helping to distinguish wares from this period from those of earlier phases.

Around the same time as the destruction of the great palaces and citadels is recovered an odd class of handmade pottery lacking any ancestry in the Mycenaean world.

Most of the scholars in recent times agree that such a development is probably to be interpreted as the result of long-range connections with the Central Mediterranean area (and in particular with southern Italy),[5] and some have connected this with the appearance in the Eastern Mediterranean of the so-called Sea Peoples[6] In this sub-phase there is increased development in pattern painted pottery.

The majority of the developments however are representational motifs in a variety of regional styles: There is very little pottery found during this phase, thus not providing much information.

Mycenaean ceramics included pots made with the potter's wheel, a technology originally invented millenia earlier in the Near East.

Vourvatsi pots start off with a pink clay "due merely to long burial in the deep red soil of the Mesmogia".

Attributing pottery to these two cities is done based on two distinct and different characteristics: shapes (and color) and detailed decoration.

Ethnographic analogy and experimental archaeology have recently become popular ways to date a vessel and discover its function.

Some popular uses for pottery at this time are: saucepans, storage containers, ovens, frying pans, stoves, cooking pots, drinking cups and plates.

Where a potter or glass-blower today would spend time creating ceramics or glassware that are individual works of art, or a small class of elite decorative ware, which have no other purpose than display as art, and serving as a repository of stored wealth, the ancient Greeks and Romans seldom had resources to spend on that sort of craftsmanship.

The table below displays representative instances of the ideograms and includes possible matches in the real pottery.

There are four distinct forms of lustrous decorations: Fine wares are made from well purified clay of a buff color.

It is most likely copied or inspired from the palace frescoes but the vase painters lacked the ability at this time to recreate the fluidity of the art.

With the estimated time of the site, this allows historians to develop timelines that contribute to the understanding of ancient civilization.

Historians then can learn the importance of who the Mycenae people were, where pottery mainly comes from, who was reigning at that time and the different economic standards.

Graves with few pots or vessels indicate the burial was for a poorer family; these are usually not of much worth and are less elaborate than that of the higher class.