DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15680#0252
232
K, C. BOSANQUET
in Eygpt;1 and at this time we meet once more with obsidian on
Egyptian soil, in a limited class of obsidian scarabs to which Professor
Petrie has called my attention and of which about a dozen have come
under his notice, mostly large examples bearing a private cartouche.2 In
the ossuaries of this as well as of an earlier period, excavated by members of
the British School at Palaikastro on the east coast of Crete, smäll obsidian
blades were often found by twos and threes, and once in 1903 to the number
of more than sixty associated with a single group of transported bones.3
They have not been found in connection with the few Mycenaean larnax-
burials which we have had the oppoi'tunity of examming, and it may be
significant that the examples found in the town vverc usually below the
Mycenaean fioor-level. On the other hand the discovery of unworked nodules
of obsidian in the latest settlement shows that it was still imported, perhaps
for the agricultural uses mentioned above. Evidence from other Cretan sites
is required, but I am inclined to believe that obsidian is much commoner in
Cretan Settlements of the Middle Minoan period than in those of later date-
In like manner at Troy it is more frequent in the Fifth City than in the
Sixth which is characterised by Mycenaean potteiy.4 At Mycenae, where
obsidian has been found in abundance, the evidence both of tombs and houses
points to a diminution of its use in later times. On the other hand Schlie-
inann, alter speaking of the ' countloss knives and arrowheads of obsidian'
found at Tiryns, declares that ' these must at the time of the destruction of
the building ' (the palace) ' have been still in common use by its in-
habitants.' 5 There were a few fragments in the tholos-tomb at Menidi, and
an astonishing number, more than 500, in that at Spata.0
Obsidian remained in occasional use even after the beginning of the
Iron Age. Flakes have been found in a ' geometric' tomb at Eleusis ' and
in another at Praesos in Crete. In the latter case they had been placed
inside a vase, a fact which excludes the possibility of their having found
their way into the tomb with the earth which filled it. It is conceivable
that obsidian may have been used for the funeral toilet for ritual reasons
after iron had taken its place in ordinaiy use; but it may also have held its
own on its merits. ' It is doubtful,'writes Mr. MacCurdy,'if the Bronze
1 The evidence for this equation is the
identioal oharacter, illustrated by more
abundant finds at Cnossos, of the ' Kamares'
pottery from the lower ulrata of the Necond
City at Phylakopi and from the ruins of
Kahun in Egypt, a eity inhabited only during
the reign of Usertesen II.
" Obsidian vases mounted in gohl were
found by de Morgan in the Tombs of the
Princesses at Dahshür (time of Usertesen HI).
3 B.S.A. viii. 1901-2, p. 290 ff.
4 Dörpfeld, Troja n. Hion, p. 386.
5 Schliemann, Tiryns, pp. 173 and 78.
11 B.G.H. ii. p. 224. An examination of this
find shows that about two-thirds are fragments
of razor flakes, none as much as 'Oö m. in
length, the remainder rough outer chips.
Apparently, the flakes were Struck off on the
spot to form part of the funeral Otterings.
There are very few cores ; these may have
been removed for future use.
7 '£<£. :Apx- 1898, p. 107, the so-ealled
" Tomb of Isis."
K, C. BOSANQUET
in Eygpt;1 and at this time we meet once more with obsidian on
Egyptian soil, in a limited class of obsidian scarabs to which Professor
Petrie has called my attention and of which about a dozen have come
under his notice, mostly large examples bearing a private cartouche.2 In
the ossuaries of this as well as of an earlier period, excavated by members of
the British School at Palaikastro on the east coast of Crete, smäll obsidian
blades were often found by twos and threes, and once in 1903 to the number
of more than sixty associated with a single group of transported bones.3
They have not been found in connection with the few Mycenaean larnax-
burials which we have had the oppoi'tunity of examming, and it may be
significant that the examples found in the town vverc usually below the
Mycenaean fioor-level. On the other hand the discovery of unworked nodules
of obsidian in the latest settlement shows that it was still imported, perhaps
for the agricultural uses mentioned above. Evidence from other Cretan sites
is required, but I am inclined to believe that obsidian is much commoner in
Cretan Settlements of the Middle Minoan period than in those of later date-
In like manner at Troy it is more frequent in the Fifth City than in the
Sixth which is characterised by Mycenaean potteiy.4 At Mycenae, where
obsidian has been found in abundance, the evidence both of tombs and houses
points to a diminution of its use in later times. On the other hand Schlie-
inann, alter speaking of the ' countloss knives and arrowheads of obsidian'
found at Tiryns, declares that ' these must at the time of the destruction of
the building ' (the palace) ' have been still in common use by its in-
habitants.' 5 There were a few fragments in the tholos-tomb at Menidi, and
an astonishing number, more than 500, in that at Spata.0
Obsidian remained in occasional use even after the beginning of the
Iron Age. Flakes have been found in a ' geometric' tomb at Eleusis ' and
in another at Praesos in Crete. In the latter case they had been placed
inside a vase, a fact which excludes the possibility of their having found
their way into the tomb with the earth which filled it. It is conceivable
that obsidian may have been used for the funeral toilet for ritual reasons
after iron had taken its place in ordinaiy use; but it may also have held its
own on its merits. ' It is doubtful,'writes Mr. MacCurdy,'if the Bronze
1 The evidence for this equation is the
identioal oharacter, illustrated by more
abundant finds at Cnossos, of the ' Kamares'
pottery from the lower ulrata of the Necond
City at Phylakopi and from the ruins of
Kahun in Egypt, a eity inhabited only during
the reign of Usertesen II.
" Obsidian vases mounted in gohl were
found by de Morgan in the Tombs of the
Princesses at Dahshür (time of Usertesen HI).
3 B.S.A. viii. 1901-2, p. 290 ff.
4 Dörpfeld, Troja n. Hion, p. 386.
5 Schliemann, Tiryns, pp. 173 and 78.
11 B.G.H. ii. p. 224. An examination of this
find shows that about two-thirds are fragments
of razor flakes, none as much as 'Oö m. in
length, the remainder rough outer chips.
Apparently, the flakes were Struck off on the
spot to form part of the funeral Otterings.
There are very few cores ; these may have
been removed for future use.
7 '£<£. :Apx- 1898, p. 107, the so-ealled
" Tomb of Isis."