DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.1021#0318
266 THE MYCENAEAN AGE
spiral ornamentation with which they are covered origi-
nated, as is claimed, with the goldsmith, he must have had
long practice with his spirals before his fellow-craftsman
would chisel them in stone.
Not to dwell upon these specific finds, do not the remains
of Thera — with its plaster and frescoes, and with its hewn
building stones and columns, prove that the civili-
not back- zation of the Archipelago was far enough removed
from the barbarism of the Stone Age, or even an
age of transition from stone to metals ? In ceramic art and
architecture the Trojans of the second city were far behind
the Theraeans, whose homes were overwhelmed and, in a
sense, preserved by the fiery flood; and yet those same
Trojans had made no little progress in the goldsmith's craft.
Why assume that Thera was behind Troy in this branch of
art ? Gold flowed from Asia Minor, and in Cyprus were
the richest copper mines of the ancient world. With
both countries the Islanders were in close relations. The
princes of Troy, indeed, appear to have enjoyed a wider
dominion, and their wealth would be greater accordingly;
but opulent patrons were not indispensable to progress in
metallurgy. The craftsman does not begin with great
vessels of gold and silver. It is rather upon trifling objects
designed to adorn the person or enrich cheaper fabrics that
decorative art makes its earlier essays. This we may assume
to have been the starting-point at Mycenae, while at Troy
we actually see that ornament is applied not to vessels, but
to bracelets, earrings, brooches and the like. Less opulent
though they were, the Islanders might, and doubtless did,
possess ornaments of the same kind, as we know they had
advanced to the point of inlaying gold on bronze.
It is reasonable to conclude, then, that metal-working, as
well as. ceramics and architecture, had made considerable
spiral ornamentation with which they are covered origi-
nated, as is claimed, with the goldsmith, he must have had
long practice with his spirals before his fellow-craftsman
would chisel them in stone.
Not to dwell upon these specific finds, do not the remains
of Thera — with its plaster and frescoes, and with its hewn
building stones and columns, prove that the civili-
not back- zation of the Archipelago was far enough removed
from the barbarism of the Stone Age, or even an
age of transition from stone to metals ? In ceramic art and
architecture the Trojans of the second city were far behind
the Theraeans, whose homes were overwhelmed and, in a
sense, preserved by the fiery flood; and yet those same
Trojans had made no little progress in the goldsmith's craft.
Why assume that Thera was behind Troy in this branch of
art ? Gold flowed from Asia Minor, and in Cyprus were
the richest copper mines of the ancient world. With
both countries the Islanders were in close relations. The
princes of Troy, indeed, appear to have enjoyed a wider
dominion, and their wealth would be greater accordingly;
but opulent patrons were not indispensable to progress in
metallurgy. The craftsman does not begin with great
vessels of gold and silver. It is rather upon trifling objects
designed to adorn the person or enrich cheaper fabrics that
decorative art makes its earlier essays. This we may assume
to have been the starting-point at Mycenae, while at Troy
we actually see that ornament is applied not to vessels, but
to bracelets, earrings, brooches and the like. Less opulent
though they were, the Islanders might, and doubtless did,
possess ornaments of the same kind, as we know they had
advanced to the point of inlaying gold on bronze.
It is reasonable to conclude, then, that metal-working, as
well as. ceramics and architecture, had made considerable