DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.7519#0347
312 THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF CRETE
joined by the two branches into which the medial rib splits.
Above the volutes is a low abacus on which rests the ring.
Slanting supports run from the legs to the ring, and three
horizontal braces meet in a smaller ring low down.1 Plain
tripods combining cauldron and legs in one have been found
in tombs at Knossos, as yet unpublished.
The figurines of the period are, with a few exceptions, of
clay. A bronze figurine from Vrokastro with upraised arms
bears a strong resemblance to Minoan examples and may well
be a survival.2 At Knossos a hut-shaped vase was found in
the Spring Chamber. Through an opening in the front of this
appears the upper part of a female figure with upraised arms.
But the most impressive examples were found in the sanctuary
on Karphi. PI. XLI, i and 2, shows the only two yet to have
been mended. They are obviously in the Minoan tradition,
with their bell-skirts and their raised arms. The features,
however, are much more strongly marked even than those of
the L.M.111& goddesses from Gaze. In both cases the crown
was surmounted by disks and birds. The strangest point,
however, is the presence of the feet and lower part of the legs,
which are moulded separately and appear through openings in
the front of the skirt. The goddess must have needed them
to reach her lofty shrine.
The head of a similar figure from Kalokhorio is shown in
PI. XLI, 3. The modelling of the face is exactly the same but
a twisted wreath, perhaps of hair, replaces the crown.
Small figurines of animals, perhaps bulls or sheep, were fre-
quently found round about the tholoi on Karphi. They are
very roughly made and are covered with small shallow holes.
Painted examples occur in the Spring Chamber at Knossos,
one of which is in the attitude of a sphinx.
No trace of writing has yet been discovered in deposits of
this date, and such few seal stones as have been found are
probably heirlooms and date from L.M.111&.3 The finer stones
had gone out of use, as had the making of faience. The beads,
which are usually of globular shape, fluted or of flat disk shape,
are clay or steatite. Small flat slabs of the latter material
1 Vrokastro, 132.
2 Ibid., 121. Miss Lamb, Greek and Roman Bronzes, 35, assigns
some of the figures from Psykhro to this period. The bulk are
Geometric (see below, p. 322).
3 e.g. Vrokastro, Figs. 72, 88, 95, and a very well-cut example with
a rosette from Karphi.
joined by the two branches into which the medial rib splits.
Above the volutes is a low abacus on which rests the ring.
Slanting supports run from the legs to the ring, and three
horizontal braces meet in a smaller ring low down.1 Plain
tripods combining cauldron and legs in one have been found
in tombs at Knossos, as yet unpublished.
The figurines of the period are, with a few exceptions, of
clay. A bronze figurine from Vrokastro with upraised arms
bears a strong resemblance to Minoan examples and may well
be a survival.2 At Knossos a hut-shaped vase was found in
the Spring Chamber. Through an opening in the front of this
appears the upper part of a female figure with upraised arms.
But the most impressive examples were found in the sanctuary
on Karphi. PI. XLI, i and 2, shows the only two yet to have
been mended. They are obviously in the Minoan tradition,
with their bell-skirts and their raised arms. The features,
however, are much more strongly marked even than those of
the L.M.111& goddesses from Gaze. In both cases the crown
was surmounted by disks and birds. The strangest point,
however, is the presence of the feet and lower part of the legs,
which are moulded separately and appear through openings in
the front of the skirt. The goddess must have needed them
to reach her lofty shrine.
The head of a similar figure from Kalokhorio is shown in
PI. XLI, 3. The modelling of the face is exactly the same but
a twisted wreath, perhaps of hair, replaces the crown.
Small figurines of animals, perhaps bulls or sheep, were fre-
quently found round about the tholoi on Karphi. They are
very roughly made and are covered with small shallow holes.
Painted examples occur in the Spring Chamber at Knossos,
one of which is in the attitude of a sphinx.
No trace of writing has yet been discovered in deposits of
this date, and such few seal stones as have been found are
probably heirlooms and date from L.M.111&.3 The finer stones
had gone out of use, as had the making of faience. The beads,
which are usually of globular shape, fluted or of flat disk shape,
are clay or steatite. Small flat slabs of the latter material
1 Vrokastro, 132.
2 Ibid., 121. Miss Lamb, Greek and Roman Bronzes, 35, assigns
some of the figures from Psykhro to this period. The bulk are
Geometric (see below, p. 322).
3 e.g. Vrokastro, Figs. 72, 88, 95, and a very well-cut example with
a rosette from Karphi.