DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15680#0233
THE MINOR ANTIQU1TIES OF CLAY.
213
§ 5. —Spindle-whorls and Small Objccts.
Spindle-whorls.—(a) Eight examples of the common Mycenaean type,
XXXVIII. 12-14, the material being a greenish stone with purple veins,the
tonn a truncated cone with pierced axis; one has a small cylindrical protec-
tion or lip at the top. Whorls of this type are common at Mycenae and
have been found in Crete.
{b) One of the same material in the form of a double truncated cone,
with a simple pattern of incised rays alternating with rows of punctures on
<>ne side (XXXVIII. 16); cf. Bios, Fig. 66.
(e) 44 examples made of clay, generally a coarse grey wäre, sometimes
polished: the form is a low cone with convex sides, often with a hollow
belov and in one case with a hollow above. The double cone also occurs;
cf. Ilios, Fig. 67-70. Eight have a rude pattern of incised lines and dots
(XXXVIII. 15-17). These rude specimens seem to be of native make; it is
impossible to say how far they belong to the pre-M}?cenaean period or to be
sure that they are all spindle-whorls and not beads. The largest is a Hat
disc of fine yellow polished claj-, '06 in diameter. Another of coarse grey
clay, "05 in diameter, from the Mycenaean city (XL. 28) has a rude spiral
pattern impressed on both its upper and its lower face: cf. F. and L. Myk.
Vas. Taf. C. 37.
Clay Cones.—An irregulär conical lump of red clay, '05-'06 m. in
diameter, with the top pinched in while still wet has a rough " catherine-
wheel" pattern impressed on the Hat bottom. There were also found
a number of irregulär cones, one side Hat, the other pinched up into a
stein or handle; on the Hat side there is generally a small cup-like hollow
and in one case a hole in the centre of the hollow. A few are of an irregulär
oval shape. The clay is coarse grey, burning to red. For the form cf. the
early Italian seals figured by Evans, J.H.S. xiv. p. 336, Fig. 54. Greatest
height 04 ; greatest diameter '05.
Spools.—Twenty thin c^ylinders of clay '04-05 high, expanding at top
and bottom (XL. 36); the clay is generally reddish yellow with white slip
and an ornament of rays or the like in dull black paint, chiefly on the con-
cave ends; they must have been used for winding thread; cf. Dorpfeld,
Troja und Ilion, Fig. 394.
Discs or Gounters, usually '04—'08 in diameter, cut or chipped out of
fragments of earthenware; sometimes the pattern is recognisable ; among
them are pieces of Mycenaean vases. They may have been used in a game.
About fifty were found.
Among objects of unknown use are a piece of unbaked clay (XL. 26) 05
long, covered with deeply scored lines in a chequer pattern, and having a
small knob at the narrower end; an object of well-polished grey clay,
exactly the shape of a revolver-bullet, '045 high and '025 in diameter; a
flat piece of clay, broken, now '05 long, swelling out at one end into a ring:
213
§ 5. —Spindle-whorls and Small Objccts.
Spindle-whorls.—(a) Eight examples of the common Mycenaean type,
XXXVIII. 12-14, the material being a greenish stone with purple veins,the
tonn a truncated cone with pierced axis; one has a small cylindrical protec-
tion or lip at the top. Whorls of this type are common at Mycenae and
have been found in Crete.
{b) One of the same material in the form of a double truncated cone,
with a simple pattern of incised rays alternating with rows of punctures on
<>ne side (XXXVIII. 16); cf. Bios, Fig. 66.
(e) 44 examples made of clay, generally a coarse grey wäre, sometimes
polished: the form is a low cone with convex sides, often with a hollow
belov and in one case with a hollow above. The double cone also occurs;
cf. Ilios, Fig. 67-70. Eight have a rude pattern of incised lines and dots
(XXXVIII. 15-17). These rude specimens seem to be of native make; it is
impossible to say how far they belong to the pre-M}?cenaean period or to be
sure that they are all spindle-whorls and not beads. The largest is a Hat
disc of fine yellow polished claj-, '06 in diameter. Another of coarse grey
clay, "05 in diameter, from the Mycenaean city (XL. 28) has a rude spiral
pattern impressed on both its upper and its lower face: cf. F. and L. Myk.
Vas. Taf. C. 37.
Clay Cones.—An irregulär conical lump of red clay, '05-'06 m. in
diameter, with the top pinched in while still wet has a rough " catherine-
wheel" pattern impressed on the Hat bottom. There were also found
a number of irregulär cones, one side Hat, the other pinched up into a
stein or handle; on the Hat side there is generally a small cup-like hollow
and in one case a hole in the centre of the hollow. A few are of an irregulär
oval shape. The clay is coarse grey, burning to red. For the form cf. the
early Italian seals figured by Evans, J.H.S. xiv. p. 336, Fig. 54. Greatest
height 04 ; greatest diameter '05.
Spools.—Twenty thin c^ylinders of clay '04-05 high, expanding at top
and bottom (XL. 36); the clay is generally reddish yellow with white slip
and an ornament of rays or the like in dull black paint, chiefly on the con-
cave ends; they must have been used for winding thread; cf. Dorpfeld,
Troja und Ilion, Fig. 394.
Discs or Gounters, usually '04—'08 in diameter, cut or chipped out of
fragments of earthenware; sometimes the pattern is recognisable ; among
them are pieces of Mycenaean vases. They may have been used in a game.
About fifty were found.
Among objects of unknown use are a piece of unbaked clay (XL. 26) 05
long, covered with deeply scored lines in a chequer pattern, and having a
small knob at the narrower end; an object of well-polished grey clay,
exactly the shape of a revolver-bullet, '045 high and '025 in diameter; a
flat piece of clay, broken, now '05 long, swelling out at one end into a ring: