DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.7476#0075
ORIGINAL POSITION OF STELAE
59
which—with the Elgin reliefs—represents the finest sculptural work of the
new-comers, was undoubtedly finished off by a painted plaster coating.
The stela reproduced in Fig. 42 was, as already observed, clearly
sculptured by the hand of a Minoan craftsman reproducing traditional
details—many of which can be paralleled on the fresco panels of Knossos—
but who relied on a final wash of plaster on which to use his brush.
Position of Stelae over Shaft Graves—their Place
originally within Tholoi.
It is of interest to note that the most primitive of the stelae—though
only fragmentary remains of them are preserved1—were found over Grave
VI, to the exceptional character of which attention has already been called.
Only part of the stelae—which originally seem to have amounted to
about a dozen—were actually found in position above the Graves, as shown
in Belger's original restoration of the Grave Circle,2 here reproduced
(Fig. 44). One particular circumstance regarding them has never been
explained. Apart from the stelae, both sculptured and plain, found standing
on the slightly sloping surface of the Circle, others of the unsculptured kind
were found at considerable depths below, both in a prone and in an upright
position. Schuchhardt's view 3 that they marked female interments is hardly
reconcilable with the fact that the sculptured stela, No. ii, was found over
Grave II, occupied exclusively by women. That they belonged to persons
of less consequence, however, is probable enough. It is also a reasonable
conclusion that they had been originally covered with painted designs on
a stucco wash.
Such a thin coating was naturally perishable. It was liable to injury
through clamp, and might easily flake off, especially at a time of transference.
The suggestion seems to be admissible that at the time when, ex hypothesi,
the remains were removed to their new resting-place, it was not thought
necessary to set up such blank stones, and that they were therefore simply
buried above the graves. It is further possible that during the interval of
1 Heurtley, op. tit., p. 136, Fig. 31. Stelae
x and xi. These fragments are placed to-
gether by Mr. Heurtley as Class I. They
differ in material from all the other stelae
except no. 1. Mr. Heurtley notes the negroid
character of two of the heads. This may be
simply due to primitive workmanship, but the
evidence preserved by the faience mosaic
and the fresco depicting the ' Captain of the
Blacks' at Knossos makes it possible that the
figures were actually intended to represent
negroes.
2 Christian Belger, Mykenische Locahage,
(1893), p. 26, Fig. 2.
3 Schliemaiui's Excavations, &*c, p. 168.
59
which—with the Elgin reliefs—represents the finest sculptural work of the
new-comers, was undoubtedly finished off by a painted plaster coating.
The stela reproduced in Fig. 42 was, as already observed, clearly
sculptured by the hand of a Minoan craftsman reproducing traditional
details—many of which can be paralleled on the fresco panels of Knossos—
but who relied on a final wash of plaster on which to use his brush.
Position of Stelae over Shaft Graves—their Place
originally within Tholoi.
It is of interest to note that the most primitive of the stelae—though
only fragmentary remains of them are preserved1—were found over Grave
VI, to the exceptional character of which attention has already been called.
Only part of the stelae—which originally seem to have amounted to
about a dozen—were actually found in position above the Graves, as shown
in Belger's original restoration of the Grave Circle,2 here reproduced
(Fig. 44). One particular circumstance regarding them has never been
explained. Apart from the stelae, both sculptured and plain, found standing
on the slightly sloping surface of the Circle, others of the unsculptured kind
were found at considerable depths below, both in a prone and in an upright
position. Schuchhardt's view 3 that they marked female interments is hardly
reconcilable with the fact that the sculptured stela, No. ii, was found over
Grave II, occupied exclusively by women. That they belonged to persons
of less consequence, however, is probable enough. It is also a reasonable
conclusion that they had been originally covered with painted designs on
a stucco wash.
Such a thin coating was naturally perishable. It was liable to injury
through clamp, and might easily flake off, especially at a time of transference.
The suggestion seems to be admissible that at the time when, ex hypothesi,
the remains were removed to their new resting-place, it was not thought
necessary to set up such blank stones, and that they were therefore simply
buried above the graves. It is further possible that during the interval of
1 Heurtley, op. tit., p. 136, Fig. 31. Stelae
x and xi. These fragments are placed to-
gether by Mr. Heurtley as Class I. They
differ in material from all the other stelae
except no. 1. Mr. Heurtley notes the negroid
character of two of the heads. This may be
simply due to primitive workmanship, but the
evidence preserved by the faience mosaic
and the fresco depicting the ' Captain of the
Blacks' at Knossos makes it possible that the
figures were actually intended to represent
negroes.
2 Christian Belger, Mykenische Locahage,
(1893), p. 26, Fig. 2.
3 Schliemaiui's Excavations, &*c, p. 168.