DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.811#0444
CUPPED SLAB FOR PAVEMENT GAMES
39i
ment slabs, of which two examples were found at Mallia.1 Imperfect traces of
a similar arrangement were noted by me also on a large slab of the South-
East external stepway at Knossos.
An interesting parallel is presented by a slab of ' shale' found in
Room 1 of the
almost inac-
cessible Chief-
tain's residence on the
peak above Kavusi in
East Crete,2 and clearly
belonging to the same
early Geometrical Age
as the settlement on
the crags below. That
in this case the slab
had served for a
game is rendered al-
most certain by the
symmetrical opposi-
tion of the two groups
of five holes on each
side of a dividing line
(see Fig. 262). Each
hole has an incised
circle round it, and two
cross lines are seen
about the centre of the groove of division. The chevron decoration, it is
to be observed, seen on one edge of the face of the slab—itself a good deal
damaged—fits in well with its Geometrical date.
The comparative material at hand shows that the arrangement con-
stantly varied. The number of small holes in the circle ranges in the known
Fig. 261.
Cupped Slab for Pavement Game, ' Queen's
Megaron '.
The
Kavusi
Table.
1 One found during the earlier exploration
conducted by Dr. Hatzidakis was cut in an
irregularly oblong slab. In another case the
slab was pentagonal. In the first case there
were numerous small holes arranged in a
roughly oblong shape, with a larger ' cup'. in
the centre. The pentagonal slab presented a
regular circle of ten holes, without the central
cup, but with a semicircular hollow on one side.
2 Margaret A. Boyd (Mrs. Boyd Hawes),
Excavations at Kavousi, Crete, in igoo (Am.
School of Classical Studies at Athens), pp. 141-
3 and Fig. 7. The slab has a diagonal of
about half a metre, and is 0-115 metre thick.
The clay counter found in the same chamber
does not seem to belong to the slab.
39i
ment slabs, of which two examples were found at Mallia.1 Imperfect traces of
a similar arrangement were noted by me also on a large slab of the South-
East external stepway at Knossos.
An interesting parallel is presented by a slab of ' shale' found in
Room 1 of the
almost inac-
cessible Chief-
tain's residence on the
peak above Kavusi in
East Crete,2 and clearly
belonging to the same
early Geometrical Age
as the settlement on
the crags below. That
in this case the slab
had served for a
game is rendered al-
most certain by the
symmetrical opposi-
tion of the two groups
of five holes on each
side of a dividing line
(see Fig. 262). Each
hole has an incised
circle round it, and two
cross lines are seen
about the centre of the groove of division. The chevron decoration, it is
to be observed, seen on one edge of the face of the slab—itself a good deal
damaged—fits in well with its Geometrical date.
The comparative material at hand shows that the arrangement con-
stantly varied. The number of small holes in the circle ranges in the known
Fig. 261.
Cupped Slab for Pavement Game, ' Queen's
Megaron '.
The
Kavusi
Table.
1 One found during the earlier exploration
conducted by Dr. Hatzidakis was cut in an
irregularly oblong slab. In another case the
slab was pentagonal. In the first case there
were numerous small holes arranged in a
roughly oblong shape, with a larger ' cup'. in
the centre. The pentagonal slab presented a
regular circle of ten holes, without the central
cup, but with a semicircular hollow on one side.
2 Margaret A. Boyd (Mrs. Boyd Hawes),
Excavations at Kavousi, Crete, in igoo (Am.
School of Classical Studies at Athens), pp. 141-
3 and Fig. 7. The slab has a diagonal of
about half a metre, and is 0-115 metre thick.
The clay counter found in the same chamber
does not seem to belong to the slab.