Greece in the Geometric Period

In the history of ancient Greece the centuries from c.1000 BC until c.700 BC are called the geometric age.
It has its name from the predominating motifs on the painted pottery of the period: lines, circles, triangles in many variations.
The majority of vases has been found in tombs, presented to the deceased as grave offerings.
Also characteristic of the period are the small bronze figurines, especially of horses, but of birds and human beings as well, symbolic rather than naturalistic.
They were dedicated as votive offerings to the gods.

Already at that time the great Panhellenic sanctuaries, so well known because of their monumental temples in marble from subsequent periods, had become places of worship in the Greek world.