DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12762#0107
80
THE VAULTED TOMBS OF MESARA
drakones Shape and material of these stone vases are those of the ware so common
stone objects in the second and third Early Minoan periods, and if the Drakones tombs had
Vases produced the stone ware alone we should ascribe it without hesitation to those
periods. And, in fact, though the quantity of clay ware of M.M. I found with
them suggests that at least some of these stone vases may also be M.M. I,
nothing prevents our supposing that some, if not all, are E.M. Ill, preserved
through their durability and placed in the tomb with the clay ware of the
following age. Moreover, most of the clay ware was found not in the tholoi
but outside, so that it is reasonable to think it later than the stone ware found
in the tholoi.
stone Axe 1029. This stone axe was found in Tholos Z, and is of hard bluish igneous
stone. Length -08 m., breadth of edge -047 m. It is of the thick heavy type,
rough at the blunt end for ease of grip.
Whetstones Two whetstones were found in Tholos A, of sandstone, with the usual flat
narrow shape and a hole at each end. Length *14 m., breadth -02 m.
metal C. Metal Objects. (Plate XLIII a.)
The only metal objects found were two small cutters in Tholos A. They
are so small and thin that we must suppose them to be amulets or made as gifts
to the dead, not for actual use. Similar tiny hatchets have been found as we
saw in other tombs in Mesara and at Mochlos. Length -038 m. and -045 m.,
breadth -02 m.
seals D. Seals.
Tholos A yielded the two following seals :—
(1) 680 (Plate VIII). An ivory seal blackened by fire, cylindrical but
widening to one end. The design on the narrower end has a long ellipse in the
centre and round the edge two lots of four linked spirals. The other end, the
seal proper, has in the centre two small hatched ellipses each with a spiral
tail1 and round them four lions following one another from left to right, feet
outwards.
There is one horizontal and one vertical hole which meet. Diameters
•013 m. and -019 m.
(2) 681 (Plate VIII). A seal of black steatite, conical, doubly pierced in
the same way as 680, and like it, found in Tholos A. The sides are decorated
with lines scored slantwise. The base has for a central design an eight-armed
cross enclosed in a circle. This is surrounded by a border of short rays.
Diameter -018 m.
Pendants There were also two ivory pendants, truncated cones with the usual two
suspension holes, vertical and horizontal. They look like seals left unfinished.
1 These may be intended for scorpions highly stylised, cf. Iw. Xcn-fi;Sa/<i, Mivuhkch ra</)ot kv K/ojJtjj
in 'Apx- AtAr., to/*. 4, vt\. 54, (Ik. 4, IIu'. 4 b.
THE VAULTED TOMBS OF MESARA
drakones Shape and material of these stone vases are those of the ware so common
stone objects in the second and third Early Minoan periods, and if the Drakones tombs had
Vases produced the stone ware alone we should ascribe it without hesitation to those
periods. And, in fact, though the quantity of clay ware of M.M. I found with
them suggests that at least some of these stone vases may also be M.M. I,
nothing prevents our supposing that some, if not all, are E.M. Ill, preserved
through their durability and placed in the tomb with the clay ware of the
following age. Moreover, most of the clay ware was found not in the tholoi
but outside, so that it is reasonable to think it later than the stone ware found
in the tholoi.
stone Axe 1029. This stone axe was found in Tholos Z, and is of hard bluish igneous
stone. Length -08 m., breadth of edge -047 m. It is of the thick heavy type,
rough at the blunt end for ease of grip.
Whetstones Two whetstones were found in Tholos A, of sandstone, with the usual flat
narrow shape and a hole at each end. Length *14 m., breadth -02 m.
metal C. Metal Objects. (Plate XLIII a.)
The only metal objects found were two small cutters in Tholos A. They
are so small and thin that we must suppose them to be amulets or made as gifts
to the dead, not for actual use. Similar tiny hatchets have been found as we
saw in other tombs in Mesara and at Mochlos. Length -038 m. and -045 m.,
breadth -02 m.
seals D. Seals.
Tholos A yielded the two following seals :—
(1) 680 (Plate VIII). An ivory seal blackened by fire, cylindrical but
widening to one end. The design on the narrower end has a long ellipse in the
centre and round the edge two lots of four linked spirals. The other end, the
seal proper, has in the centre two small hatched ellipses each with a spiral
tail1 and round them four lions following one another from left to right, feet
outwards.
There is one horizontal and one vertical hole which meet. Diameters
•013 m. and -019 m.
(2) 681 (Plate VIII). A seal of black steatite, conical, doubly pierced in
the same way as 680, and like it, found in Tholos A. The sides are decorated
with lines scored slantwise. The base has for a central design an eight-armed
cross enclosed in a circle. This is surrounded by a border of short rays.
Diameter -018 m.
Pendants There were also two ivory pendants, truncated cones with the usual two
suspension holes, vertical and horizontal. They look like seals left unfinished.
1 These may be intended for scorpions highly stylised, cf. Iw. Xcn-fi;Sa/<i, Mivuhkch ra</)ot kv K/ojJtjj
in 'Apx- AtAr., to/*. 4, vt\. 54, (Ik. 4, IIu'. 4 b.