The head of a bull forms the body of this Mycenaean vase. Although most popular in the later Archaic period, so-called plastic vases--vessels in the form of a human, animal, or mythological being--were also produced in the Mycenaean world.

As with later versions of the form, plastic vases were adapted for specialized uses. Although now broken, this aryballos originally had a narrow spouted mouth and a handle that ran from the body to the mouth. An aryballos would have been used to hold perfumed oil, and the narrow mouth was designed to conserve this precious commodity.

Scholars use the term Mycenaean to describe the culture that flourished in Greece in the period from about 1500 to 1200 B.C. Originating on the mainland of Greece, Mycenaean culture spread by means of trade and colonization over much of the Mediterranean during the course of centuries.