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Beyond the aesthetic and technical aspects of this expansion we must consider the change in pottery style on broader lines.

In earlier centuries men had had enough to do in rebuilding a fundamental sense of order after chaos.

They had had to work on very simple foundations and had not dared to give rein to impulses.

The potters, in particular, had virtually eschewed freehand drawing, elaborate motifs, and the curving lines of nature, while yet expressing a belief that there was order in the universe.

In their vases were embodied the basic aesthetic and logical characteristics of Greek civilization, at first hesitantly in Protogeometric work, and then more confidently in the initial stages of the Geometric style.

By 800 social and cultural security had been achieved, at least on a simple plane ; ;

it was time to take bigger steps, to venture on experiments.