DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12762#0135
108
THE VAULTED TOMBS OF MESARA
the in different laboratories are, however, needed before we can express a definite
cemetery opinion on this question.
metal
0BJECTS (b) Two-edged knives. (Plate LVI.)
Knives Ten knives were found of various types.
1939. This is of unusual shape, a broad blade with a wedge-shaped
point. The other end has an equally wedge-shaped tang, just beyond which
are two large rivet-holes for fixing the handle. Length -11 m., breadth
•042 m.
1938. This has a very thin blade which gradually narrows to the handle
end, where it broadens again slightly. There is no point, the end being cut
off square. The base is convex, with three stout rivets. Length -13 m.,
breadth at end -036 m.
There are four other thin tongue-like blades all of the same shape, with
two or three rivets by the straight base. Only one, 1905, is illustrated.
Length -09 m. to -11 m.
Two knife blades have the form and the rivets of the long type of dagger,
but they are smaller and thinner and have no medial rib. Only one, 1907, is
illustrated.
1941. This is a thin tongue-like blade curving in to a narrower, thicker,
straight tang with two stout rivets.
(c) Cutters
Cutters Eight of the small tools, miniature hatchets or cutters, that we have met
in the other Mesara tombs were found in Tholos A and the burials outside it,
and two in Tholos B. They consist of a small thin sheet of metal oblong in
shape, with thin rivets at one end for attaching the handle, while the other
end is widened out to form the cutting edge.
Two of the best preserved, 1947 and 1948, are shown in Plate LVI. They
are about -04 m. long with an edge -025 m. broad, which is about the average
size.
Another, 1944, is noteworthy, for it retains its copper handle fastened by
two minute rivets and ending in a pear-shaped knob. This and the Mochlos 1
specimen enlighten us as to the type of handle fitted to these implements.
Their use is uncertain. As they are usually found with depilatory tweezers
Mr. Seager thinks they are toilet implements, and he may be right. But since,
like the small double axes, they are also found in the graves of poorer people,
where we should not expect to find such articles of mere luxury, I think it not
improbable that they had some magic virtue of a prophylactic character. And
they may even have been worn as amulets, the smaller specimens, at any rate,
such as 1915, which is too thin and small for actual use.
1 Seager, Mochlos, p. 21, fig. 44, I, 1.
THE VAULTED TOMBS OF MESARA
the in different laboratories are, however, needed before we can express a definite
cemetery opinion on this question.
metal
0BJECTS (b) Two-edged knives. (Plate LVI.)
Knives Ten knives were found of various types.
1939. This is of unusual shape, a broad blade with a wedge-shaped
point. The other end has an equally wedge-shaped tang, just beyond which
are two large rivet-holes for fixing the handle. Length -11 m., breadth
•042 m.
1938. This has a very thin blade which gradually narrows to the handle
end, where it broadens again slightly. There is no point, the end being cut
off square. The base is convex, with three stout rivets. Length -13 m.,
breadth at end -036 m.
There are four other thin tongue-like blades all of the same shape, with
two or three rivets by the straight base. Only one, 1905, is illustrated.
Length -09 m. to -11 m.
Two knife blades have the form and the rivets of the long type of dagger,
but they are smaller and thinner and have no medial rib. Only one, 1907, is
illustrated.
1941. This is a thin tongue-like blade curving in to a narrower, thicker,
straight tang with two stout rivets.
(c) Cutters
Cutters Eight of the small tools, miniature hatchets or cutters, that we have met
in the other Mesara tombs were found in Tholos A and the burials outside it,
and two in Tholos B. They consist of a small thin sheet of metal oblong in
shape, with thin rivets at one end for attaching the handle, while the other
end is widened out to form the cutting edge.
Two of the best preserved, 1947 and 1948, are shown in Plate LVI. They
are about -04 m. long with an edge -025 m. broad, which is about the average
size.
Another, 1944, is noteworthy, for it retains its copper handle fastened by
two minute rivets and ending in a pear-shaped knob. This and the Mochlos 1
specimen enlighten us as to the type of handle fitted to these implements.
Their use is uncertain. As they are usually found with depilatory tweezers
Mr. Seager thinks they are toilet implements, and he may be right. But since,
like the small double axes, they are also found in the graves of poorer people,
where we should not expect to find such articles of mere luxury, I think it not
improbable that they had some magic virtue of a prophylactic character. And
they may even have been worn as amulets, the smaller specimens, at any rate,
such as 1915, which is too thin and small for actual use.
1 Seager, Mochlos, p. 21, fig. 44, I, 1.