DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.7476#0050
34
MINOAN ORIGIN OF SWORD TYPES
in the early part of the Late Minoan Age. A Shaft-Grave specimen
of this type, however, presents on its median rib a form of the ' Sacral
Ivy' motive very characteristic of M. M. Ill (Fig. 22).1
The more usual form of the Shaft-Grave sword is that shown in Fig. 23.
It has somewhat sloping shoulders, and though, like the preceding, doubtless
derived from an earlier dagger
type, illustrates a further de-
velopment of the flange, which
here continues well up the
tang. It may be regarded as
the immediate predecessor of
the ' cruciform ' type charac-
teristic of the closing- Aee of
the Palace at Knossos. This
form of sword is always accompanied with a marked median ridge.
Fig. 22. Upper Part of Sword with Horned
Hilt, engraved with Spiraliform Pattern of
' Sacral Ivy ' Type.
Fig. 23. Shaft-Grave Type of Flanged Broad-sword. (£).
The rapier types with their midribs—the upper part of one of which is
shown in Fig. 24, b—which are also abundantly represented in the Shaft
Graves, stand in an equally close relation to Cretan forms. The remains of
the hilt-plates, with their kidney-shaped openings, are shown in Fig. 24, b, c.z
The tang itself is generally short, with a single riveting-stud, as in b, but
c exhibits a longer variety with four rivets.
The part of the blade usually left uncovered is adorned in Fig. 24, d,
with a pair of triquetral spirals, in another case (e) quadruple groups are seen
on the covering plate. The spiraliform decoration of the blade recalls that
which accompanies the midrib in the finest examples of swords of the
' horned' and ' cruciform' types from the Cemetery of Zafer Papoura,
belonging to the Last Palace Period of Knossos. This correspondence
with the sword decoration of Minoan Crete supplies another link in the
long chain of connexion.
It is further of special interest to note that the elaborate plait-work
1 See P. of M., ii, Pt. II, pp. 481, 482, and Sudetstliche Eitropa ; Mykenx-Gruppen (Aar-
Fig. 288, b. b0ger f. Nordisk Oldkyndighed, 1882), p. 283,
3 Cf. Sophus Miiller, sEldste Bronzefund i Fig. r, p. 285, Figs. 7, 8, 9.
MINOAN ORIGIN OF SWORD TYPES
in the early part of the Late Minoan Age. A Shaft-Grave specimen
of this type, however, presents on its median rib a form of the ' Sacral
Ivy' motive very characteristic of M. M. Ill (Fig. 22).1
The more usual form of the Shaft-Grave sword is that shown in Fig. 23.
It has somewhat sloping shoulders, and though, like the preceding, doubtless
derived from an earlier dagger
type, illustrates a further de-
velopment of the flange, which
here continues well up the
tang. It may be regarded as
the immediate predecessor of
the ' cruciform ' type charac-
teristic of the closing- Aee of
the Palace at Knossos. This
form of sword is always accompanied with a marked median ridge.
Fig. 22. Upper Part of Sword with Horned
Hilt, engraved with Spiraliform Pattern of
' Sacral Ivy ' Type.
Fig. 23. Shaft-Grave Type of Flanged Broad-sword. (£).
The rapier types with their midribs—the upper part of one of which is
shown in Fig. 24, b—which are also abundantly represented in the Shaft
Graves, stand in an equally close relation to Cretan forms. The remains of
the hilt-plates, with their kidney-shaped openings, are shown in Fig. 24, b, c.z
The tang itself is generally short, with a single riveting-stud, as in b, but
c exhibits a longer variety with four rivets.
The part of the blade usually left uncovered is adorned in Fig. 24, d,
with a pair of triquetral spirals, in another case (e) quadruple groups are seen
on the covering plate. The spiraliform decoration of the blade recalls that
which accompanies the midrib in the finest examples of swords of the
' horned' and ' cruciform' types from the Cemetery of Zafer Papoura,
belonging to the Last Palace Period of Knossos. This correspondence
with the sword decoration of Minoan Crete supplies another link in the
long chain of connexion.
It is further of special interest to note that the elaborate plait-work
1 See P. of M., ii, Pt. II, pp. 481, 482, and Sudetstliche Eitropa ; Mykenx-Gruppen (Aar-
Fig. 288, b. b0ger f. Nordisk Oldkyndighed, 1882), p. 283,
3 Cf. Sophus Miiller, sEldste Bronzefund i Fig. r, p. 285, Figs. 7, 8, 9.