DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.811#0500
METAL BELT RIVETED ON CHILDREN 447
In the case of the boy-God—as in these still more infantile figures— Rivet-
there are indications of the sexual organs, and obviously the ' Minoan iVOry
sheath ' was not worn by him. That his belt was covered by a gold plate fgureid_
may be inferred from a pin-hole for plated
, " . r ,, . belt and
the attachment 01 a small rivet, seen kilt.
m
on its posterior section, and it seems
possible that his loins were also
covered by some kind of short kilt,
since rivet-holes of the same kind
1 mU ill.
IWiiSGr iSPSpSP' appear above either hip and, again,
a b c just below the middle of the belt
Fig. 311. a, b, c, Stalagmite Figure of behind. But there is no evidence
Squatting Boy from Messara. Early Mi- of a band havinR been drawn up
NOAN. & L
between the legs.
That the waists of little girls of about the same age were also confined Belts on
by the tight girdle is well shown by a series of intaglio types, to the signifi- g°ris!S
cance of which attention has been already called in this work,1 representing
two little handmaidens of the Goddess, who was thus attended by Jida-xovpai
anticipating the Kovpot of the later Zeus of Crete. These are depicted, except
for their stature, like grown-up women, with flounced skirts bulging out from
their tight girdles in a bell-shaped outline in a manner almost suggestive of
the little Infanta of Velasquez. Such are well seen on the celebrated signet
from the Mycenae Treasure, perched on convenient hillocks the better to
offer flowers to the Goddess and to pluck fruit for her from the sacred tree-
The girth of the belt round the boy-God's waist is about 28 millimetres ; Propor-
its width 10, and from front to back, 8. Round his chest, beneath the arm- figure of
pits, the girth is 72 millimetres, the breadth here being about 25 mm. or ^j
two and a half times the width of the waist. The greatest width of the hips
is 31 millimetres.2 The face from the chin to the top of the head is about
18 millimetres and the head was of about the same length. In a normal
male body the breadth of the waist should be somewhat over the height of
the head,3 so that in this case it has only half its natural proportions.
in the form of squatting apes, e. g. P. of M., i, pointed out in my -Ring of Nestor, &c, p. 12
p. 118, Fig. 87,1 a, 1 b ; Xanthudides, Vaulted seqq. (J. PT. S., xlv (1925), and Figs. 11-15).
Tombs of Messara, PI. XIII, 1040, but in this 2 The girth at the hips is 80 mm.—as usual
case the fore, paws rest on the ground. in the case of Minoan male figures, somewhat
1 See especially P. of M., ii, Pt. I, pp. 340- greater than that taken under the armpits..,
2. The recurrence of the triple group of the 3 See Prof. Arthur Thomson, Handbook of
Goddess and her two girl attendants was first Anatomy for Art Students, p. .389.
In the case of the boy-God—as in these still more infantile figures— Rivet-
there are indications of the sexual organs, and obviously the ' Minoan iVOry
sheath ' was not worn by him. That his belt was covered by a gold plate fgureid_
may be inferred from a pin-hole for plated
, " . r ,, . belt and
the attachment 01 a small rivet, seen kilt.
m
on its posterior section, and it seems
possible that his loins were also
covered by some kind of short kilt,
since rivet-holes of the same kind
1 mU ill.
IWiiSGr iSPSpSP' appear above either hip and, again,
a b c just below the middle of the belt
Fig. 311. a, b, c, Stalagmite Figure of behind. But there is no evidence
Squatting Boy from Messara. Early Mi- of a band havinR been drawn up
NOAN. & L
between the legs.
That the waists of little girls of about the same age were also confined Belts on
by the tight girdle is well shown by a series of intaglio types, to the signifi- g°ris!S
cance of which attention has been already called in this work,1 representing
two little handmaidens of the Goddess, who was thus attended by Jida-xovpai
anticipating the Kovpot of the later Zeus of Crete. These are depicted, except
for their stature, like grown-up women, with flounced skirts bulging out from
their tight girdles in a bell-shaped outline in a manner almost suggestive of
the little Infanta of Velasquez. Such are well seen on the celebrated signet
from the Mycenae Treasure, perched on convenient hillocks the better to
offer flowers to the Goddess and to pluck fruit for her from the sacred tree-
The girth of the belt round the boy-God's waist is about 28 millimetres ; Propor-
its width 10, and from front to back, 8. Round his chest, beneath the arm- figure of
pits, the girth is 72 millimetres, the breadth here being about 25 mm. or ^j
two and a half times the width of the waist. The greatest width of the hips
is 31 millimetres.2 The face from the chin to the top of the head is about
18 millimetres and the head was of about the same length. In a normal
male body the breadth of the waist should be somewhat over the height of
the head,3 so that in this case it has only half its natural proportions.
in the form of squatting apes, e. g. P. of M., i, pointed out in my -Ring of Nestor, &c, p. 12
p. 118, Fig. 87,1 a, 1 b ; Xanthudides, Vaulted seqq. (J. PT. S., xlv (1925), and Figs. 11-15).
Tombs of Messara, PI. XIII, 1040, but in this 2 The girth at the hips is 80 mm.—as usual
case the fore, paws rest on the ground. in the case of Minoan male figures, somewhat
1 See especially P. of M., ii, Pt. I, pp. 340- greater than that taken under the armpits..,
2. The recurrence of the triple group of the 3 See Prof. Arthur Thomson, Handbook of
Goddess and her two girl attendants was first Anatomy for Art Students, p. .389.