DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12762#0133
106
THE VAULTED TOMBS OF MESARA
the variety. At all events the fragments of the obsidian rhyton from Tylisos 1
cemetery__seem to me to be of this choice kind and not Melian, unless indeed it could be
proved that this whiter and transparent obsidian is also to be found in Melos.
The question needs investigation by a specialist.
stone objects
Conical Weights 4. Two conical objects of a soft white limestone that contains many shells.
Nos. 2012, 2013. (Plate LIV.)
Each has a hole through the apex. I am not certain of the use of these
objects, or whether they are really Minoan. The one was found in area AB
between the two large tholoi, the other not at Platanos itself but in a small trial
excavation that I made at a site called Plateies near by. They may be weights,
and this view is strengthened when they are placed in the scales, for the one
weighs 1305 grammes and the other 1955 grammes, so that the proportion
between them is exactly 2 to 3.2
5. Two Small Dishes of Shell. (Plate LIV.)
Shell Dishes 227, 228. These were found in Tholos A. Each is a pinna or some similar
shell cut to make a tiny shallow dish, rudely circular, but keeping its natural
irregularity of outline. The one has a small knob left protruding to hold it by.
Their greatest diameters are -085 m. and -09 m.
metal C. Metal Objects.
OBJECTS
1. Copper.
(a) Daggers. (Plate LV.)
Copper Daggers More than seventy dagger-blades were found at Platanos, and sixty of these
were in Tholos A. They fall into the two classes already familiar to us, the
short triangular and the long.
Triangular (1) Of the short triangular type fourteen blades were found, without
counting fragments. All are from the bottom stratum of Tholos A, that
containing the layer of ashes and other signs of a hot fire, which has left its
mark on them, four of them being twisted by the great heat. Most of them
have also suffered subsequently from the damp of centuries. The fourteen
that have been preserved are shown in the top row of Plate LV. In length
they run from -07 m. to -09 m., and in width from -04 m. to -05 m.
As for the form, some we notice are straight across the base or slightly
incurved (1842, 1927), while others have quite a deep hollow in the middle of
the base (1849, 1850), and others again have two small nicks or hollows with a
convexity between them, and a sharp projection at each corner (1844, 1845,
1 No. 15S5, found in pieces, and published by 2 Found on a classical Greek site they would
its discoverer, Dr. Chatzedakis, in 'E<j>. 'Apx,- be regarded as loom weights.—J. P. D.
(1912), o-eA.. 217, tlx. 27.
THE VAULTED TOMBS OF MESARA
the variety. At all events the fragments of the obsidian rhyton from Tylisos 1
cemetery__seem to me to be of this choice kind and not Melian, unless indeed it could be
proved that this whiter and transparent obsidian is also to be found in Melos.
The question needs investigation by a specialist.
stone objects
Conical Weights 4. Two conical objects of a soft white limestone that contains many shells.
Nos. 2012, 2013. (Plate LIV.)
Each has a hole through the apex. I am not certain of the use of these
objects, or whether they are really Minoan. The one was found in area AB
between the two large tholoi, the other not at Platanos itself but in a small trial
excavation that I made at a site called Plateies near by. They may be weights,
and this view is strengthened when they are placed in the scales, for the one
weighs 1305 grammes and the other 1955 grammes, so that the proportion
between them is exactly 2 to 3.2
5. Two Small Dishes of Shell. (Plate LIV.)
Shell Dishes 227, 228. These were found in Tholos A. Each is a pinna or some similar
shell cut to make a tiny shallow dish, rudely circular, but keeping its natural
irregularity of outline. The one has a small knob left protruding to hold it by.
Their greatest diameters are -085 m. and -09 m.
metal C. Metal Objects.
OBJECTS
1. Copper.
(a) Daggers. (Plate LV.)
Copper Daggers More than seventy dagger-blades were found at Platanos, and sixty of these
were in Tholos A. They fall into the two classes already familiar to us, the
short triangular and the long.
Triangular (1) Of the short triangular type fourteen blades were found, without
counting fragments. All are from the bottom stratum of Tholos A, that
containing the layer of ashes and other signs of a hot fire, which has left its
mark on them, four of them being twisted by the great heat. Most of them
have also suffered subsequently from the damp of centuries. The fourteen
that have been preserved are shown in the top row of Plate LV. In length
they run from -07 m. to -09 m., and in width from -04 m. to -05 m.
As for the form, some we notice are straight across the base or slightly
incurved (1842, 1927), while others have quite a deep hollow in the middle of
the base (1849, 1850), and others again have two small nicks or hollows with a
convexity between them, and a sharp projection at each corner (1844, 1845,
1 No. 15S5, found in pieces, and published by 2 Found on a classical Greek site they would
its discoverer, Dr. Chatzedakis, in 'E<j>. 'Apx,- be regarded as loom weights.—J. P. D.
(1912), o-eA.. 217, tlx. 27.