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The Acropolis Treasure from Mycenae*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2013

Helen Thomas
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Extract

Towards the end of Schliemann's excavations at Mycenae in 1877 a small group of gold objects was found, in the region just south of the Grave Circle, by his engineer Drosinos and the Greek archaeologist Stamatakis. Owing to the circumstances of its discovery, this find received less mention than its importance deserved, and, while individual objects from it have been frequently referred to and illustrated, its existence as a closed group has been obscured, and is not even recognised in the inventory or arrangement of the Athens National Museum. Consequently its exact nature and chronological place at Mycenae have never been defined; Schliemann himself, Tsountas and Wace thought it the remains of a Shaft Grave that was partially plundered and destroyed when a drain was built across it in LH III (see BSA XXV p. 119 and plan, Pl. I). Schuchhardt, followed by Stais in the Museum Catalogue, thought it a hoard, and Karo considers it a parallel to the Tiryns Treasure. It has been suggested to me by Professor Wace that a further study and more adequate illustration of these objects might decide this point and also discover some grounds for assigning them to a definite place in the chronological order of Mycenae finds.

Type
Research Article
Information
Annual of the British School at Athens , Volume 39 , November 1939 , pp. 65 - 87
Copyright
Copyright © The Council, British School at Athens 1939

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References

page 65 note 1 Arch. Anz. 1916 pp. 143 ffGoogle Scholar.

page 65 note 2 May I here record my gratitude and constant indebtedness to Professor Wace for suggestions, criticism and advice. I should also like to thank Professor Karo and Professor Myres for their help and criticism, and Dr. R. J. Hopper, Macmillan Student of the British School, for his painstaking assistance in verifying references and correcting errors.

page 65 note 3 Mycenae pp. 351 ff.

page 65 note 4 The original walls have been destroyed. The walls now visible at Mycenae are modern reconstructions.

page 66 note 1 Their preservation varies considerably.

page 66 note 2 For this technique see Karo, , Schachtgräber p. 312Google Scholar.

page 66 note 3 See Evans, P of M IV p. 580Google Scholar and Figs. 566–9.

page 67 note 1 Evans, ‘Prehistoric Tombs of Knossos’ Archaeologia LIX p. 155Google Scholar Fig. 139 and Pl. LXXXIX. P of M IV p. 365Google Scholar Fig. 305 a and b.

page 67 note 2 See Blegen, Korakou pp. 54 ff.Google Scholar, Prosymma, Figs. 675–6.

page 67 note 3 P of M IV p. 366Google Scholar Fig. 306.

page 67 note 4 Also at Phylakopi, Zygouries and Eutresis.

page 67 note 5 Blegen, , Zygouries Pl. XV, Korakou Pl. VII and p. 41 Fig. 56Google Scholar.

page 67 note 6 Prosymna Fig. 435.

page 67 note 7 Excellent examples also from Ialysos, B.M. Catalogue of Aegean Pottery p. 153Google Scholar and Pls. X, XIV.

page 67 note 8 P of M IV Fig. 309. Korakou Figs. 94–5; Zygouries Pls. XVI–XVIII.

page 67 note 9 E.g. Wace, Chamber Tombs Pl. XII 15 XXXI 52Google Scholar.

page 67 note 10 Zygouries loc. cit.

page 67 note 11 Goldman, Eutresis, Pl. VI, P of M I Figs. 19, 46 (Vasiliki ware). Palaikastro, Unpublished Objects Fig. 3 Cycladic, Nat. Mus. 11,988 and BSA XXII Pl. VIII.

page 67 note 12 P of M I p. 185Google Scholar Fig. 134c. BSA IX 303Google Scholar Fig. 2. Palaikastro op. cit. Fig. 6.

page 68 note 1 Korakou Fig. 20.

page 68 note 2 For some of the stages see Eutresis Figs. 183, 238, 259. Korakou pp. 18–19. Chamber Tombs Pl. XXXIV 16, 17. Vaphio, Ἐφ. Ἀρχ. 1889 p. 154Google Scholar Pl. VII 19. A very good series in Mylonas, Προϊστορικὴ Ἐλέυσις, p. 76Google Scholar Fig. 51 (MH); p. 109 Fig. 85 (LH I); p. 114 Fig. 92 (LH II).

page 68 note 3 P of M IV p. 364Google Scholar Fig. 304; p. 184 Fig. 145. Zygouries p. 136 Fig. 128, 8; Korakou Figs. 56–8. Wace Chamber Tombs Pl. XXXIV.

page 68 note 4 See Forsdyke, B.M. Catalogue p. 152Google Scholar. But contrast his last statement with the quotation from Mylonas below.

page 68 note 5 Possibly under the influence of the MM tankard on a high foot, e.g. B.M. Cat. A 466 Pl. VII.

page 68 note 6 E.g. Palaikastro, Unpublished Objects Fig. 22 and Pl. XVIIb; B.M. A 644 and Cat. p. 104.

page 68 note 7 See P of M IV pp. 363–4Google Scholar and Fig. 304. Also BSA XXV p. 307Google Scholar note 3.

page 68 note 8 Mylonas, , Προϊστορικὴ Ἐλέυσις p. 128Google Scholar. In this connection it is interesting to note the reversion to Minyan features shown by the LH III kylikes with ringed stems found in Ithaca.

page 68 note 9 For example, to Cyprus, where it is common on the native wares all through the Bronze Age (see Myres, Handbook to the Cesnola Collection pp. 25Google Scholar no. 172, 28 no. 218, middle Bronze Age, and p. 38 no. 323, late Bronze Age) and appears on the local Mycenean ware (loc. cit. p. 51 nos. 400 et seq.). I am indebted to Prof. Myres for calling my attention to the Cypriote examples. And cp. Cairo Museum no. 53262 for an Egyptian example of approximately the same date.

page 69 note 1 Kunze, Orchomenos III, Keramik derfrühen Bronzezeit Pl. XXIX 15Google Scholar.

page 69 note 2 Ath. Mitt. 1896 p. 389Google Scholar and Pl. XV I.

page 69 note 3 Jahrbuch 1918 p. 126Google Scholar and cp. Ath. Mitt. 1927 p. 9Google Scholar.

page 69 note 4 BSA X p. 206Google Scholar Fig. 4.

page 69 note 5 Schliemann, Ilios p. 599Google Scholar no. 1405. Dörpfeld, Troja und Ilion Beilage 40 nos. IV, V, VI, IX and p. 296Google Scholar.

page 69 note 6 BSA XXV p. 43Google Scholar.

page 69 note 7 Quoted in BSA XXV p. 86Google Scholar.

page 69 note 8 Fig. 1. I am indebted for this identification to Professor Wace. With it may be compared a clay head of a bull in the Museum of the British School at Athens, said to come from Crete, which was clearly once part of such a handle.

page 70 note 1 Illustrated in Furtwängler, and Losschcke, Mvkenische Vasen Pl. XIX no. 137Google Scholar.

page 70 note 2 Furtwängler and Loeschcke ibid. Pl. XI 70 B.M. Cat. A 870 Pl. XIV.

page 71 note 1 See notes 3 and 5 below for references.

page 71 note 2 E.g. 469 Grave IV, Karo Pl. CXXXIII, 627 V, Pl. CXXIII, 629 VI, Pl. CXXV.

page 71 note 3 See Montelius, Grèce Preclassique Pl. 63 nos. 2–4Google Scholar, Pl. 64, 4, Pl. 65, 3, Pl. 68, 8, Pl. 74, 8 (all MM II except the last, which is LM I). B.M. Cat. A 514 ff. and A 634.

page 71 note 4 E.g. P of M IV 132Google Scholar Fig. 100a.

page 71 note 5 P of M II p. 631Google Scholar Fig. 395; pp. 638–44 Figs. 402–9. Seager Mochlos Fig. 23A. Karo, Schachtgräber Pl. CXXVIIGoogle Scholar. Bossert, Altkreta Fig. 283Google Scholar.

page 71 note 6 Korakou Fig. 51 no. 2 p. 37.

page 71 note 7 Chamber Tombs Pls. I and II.

page 71 note 8 Πρακτικά 1934 p. 1Google Scholar.

page 71 note 9 E.g. Karo Pl. CXXIII. And cf. Prosymna No. 1143, Fig. 167 p. 81.

page 72 note 1 Occasionally teacups are found even in LH III times, e.g., a cup from Mycenae, tomb 820, Wace, Chamber Tombs Pl. XVII 26Google Scholar. There are also several examples from Cyprus, but there they may well have lasted on at a time when they had entirely gone out of fashion on the Mainland. See Myres, Handbook to the Cesnola Collection p. 47 n. 434, p. 50 no. 450Google Scholar, and Gjerstad, Swedish Cyprus Expedition 1stGoogle Scholar Volume of Plates Pl. LXXXIII, three cups from Enkomi, and Pl. XC, a similar cup.

page 73 note 1 Nat. Mus. nos. 3183, 3009, 2499, 2576, 2857.

page 73 note 2 BSA XXV p. 54Google Scholar. Diameter 2·5 cm., weight 9·5 grammes.

page 73 note 3 Savignone, Necropole di Phaistos Fig. 57Google Scholar, Monumenti Antichi Vol. XIV 1905Google Scholar. Many also from Cyprus, e.g., Gjerstad op. cit. Pls. Vol. I, Pl. LXVII, no. 6, 7, 10, and also on Pls. LXXVIII and LXXXVIII, all LH III.

page 73 note 4 Ἐφ. Ἀρχ 1888 on Pl. IX 14 and p. 167Google Scholar. From Tomb 25.

page 73 note 5 The Swedish excavators, however, describe nearly all the coils they found as hair-rings.

page 73 note 6 They are among the gold objects from there, but have no number, and there is no mention of them in Vollgraff's publication in BCH 1904. In the same case are a few objects from Leukas, and the spirals may come from there.

page 73 note 7 In the Nat. Mus. Catalogue p. 65.

page 73 note 8 JHS 1889 p. 91Google Scholar. Origins of Metallic Currency etc. pp. 36 ff.

page 74 note 1 See also Evans, A. J. “Minoan Weights and Mediums of Currency” etc. in Corolla Numismatica pp. 336Google Scholaret seq., for a discussion of Minoan–Mycenean weight standards, particularly pp. 354 ff.

It should be noted that the table of weights given by Ridgeway loc. cit. for these rings and spirals does not correspond with the figures here given, which were obtained by the kindness of the Staff of the National Museum, who weighed the objects again this year in my presence.

page 74 note 2 Fimmen, Kretisch-Mykenische Kultur p. 121Google Scholar.

page 74 note 3 P of M II pp. 535, 624Google Scholar; IV pp. 652 f. Svoronos, Revue Belge de Numismatique 1908–1910 pp. 14 ffGoogle Scholar. See also Corolla Numismatica loc. cit. p. 363, for a silver pellet from Knossos.

page 74 note 4 Seltman, Greek Coins p. 5Google Scholar and Pl. I 1 and 2.

page 74 note 5 Bossert op. cit. Fig. 336. The circular form is very convenient for transport to a distance, as the units may either be tied together or carried round a stick or tally; the bar form is more unwieldy.

page 74 note 6 CAH II p. 63Google Scholar.

page 75 note 1 Nat. Mus. 6213.

page 75 note 2 Nos. 3185, Myc. Tomb found 1895, 3373 from Dimini, 4932 from Myc. Tomb, in 1899.

page 75 note 3 AJA 1925 p. 426Google Scholar. Prosymna Pl. I and p. 270.

page 75 note 4 BSA XXV p. 400Google Scholar.

page 75 note 5 Nat. Mus. 1806. Ἐφ. Ἀρχ. 1889 Pl. VII 7Google Scholar.

page 75 note 6 Nat. Mus. 5638. Ἐφ. Ἀρχ. 1910 pp. 219–20 Fig. 12Google Scholar.

page 75 note 7 Ath. Mitt. 1909 Pl. XII 8Google Scholar, a gold frog, and XIV 1.

page 75 note 8 Chamber Tombs Pl. XXIX 24.

page 75 note 9 Pl. XIII 38–41.

page 75 note 10 Persson, A. W.Royal Tombs at Dendra Pl. XXVII topGoogle Scholar.

page 75 note 11 BCH 1904, p. 388Google Scholar Fig. 29.

page 76 note 1 It is interesting in this connection to note the almost total absence of granulation in the Shaft Graves.

page 76 note 2 P of M IV pp. 75–6 and Fig. 48Google Scholar.

page 76 note 3 Ibid. III p. 412 and Fig. 275A.

page 76 note 4 Xanthoudides, Vaulted Tombs of the Mesara Pl. VIII no. 391Google Scholar.

page 76 note 5 Op. cit. Pl. LVII no. 454.

page 76 note 6 See Seager, Mochlos p. 106Google Scholar.

page 76 note 7 Phaistos, Bossert op. cit. Pl. 190; Dendra Pl. XVIII; Evans, Prehistoric Tombs p. 130Google Scholar Fig. 119.

page 76 note 8 Dendra Pl. XVIII.

page 76 note 9 H. Triada, Bossert Pl. 190.

page 76 note 10 Prehistoric Tombs loc. cit.; Phaistos, Bossert loc. cit.

page 76 note 11 P of M IV p. 962Google Scholar and Pl. XXXIV; BSA XXV p. 365Google Scholar Fig. 79n; Prehistoric Tombs loc. cit.; Phaistos Bossert loc. cit.

page 77 note 1 From a drawing by M. Gilliéron.

page 77 note 2 Karo, Schachtgräber Pls. CXVII–CXVIIIGoogle Scholar.

page 77 note 3 BSA XXIV Pl. XIII.

page 77 note 4 Professor Myres suggests that these thicker lines are not meant to mark the ribs at all, but rather folds in the lion's loose skin occasioned by his bending to the right.

page 78 note 1 P. 258 and Fig. 10.

page 78 note 2 No. 32, Karo, Schachtgräber p. 49 Pl. XXVIIGoogle Scholar.

page 78 note 3 Ibid. pp. 79, 295, Pl. XXXII.

page 78 note 4 Candia Museum nos. 1140, and Bossert op. cit. Pl. 191.

page 78 note 5 From a Mycenae tomb, found by Tsountas in 1893.

page 78 note 6 Cairo Museum nos. 4017–18.

page 78 note 7 Tsountas, Ἐφ. Ἀρχ. 1888 p. 153Google Scholar and Pl. IX 28, from Tomb 47; Nat. Mus. 2370.

page 79 note 1 Dendra Pl. XXX.

page 79 note 2 Op. cit. Pls. I and XII–XV.

page 79 note 3 MM I; Montelius op. cit. Pl. 60 I.

page 79 note 4 LM I; JHS XXIII p. 252Google Scholar Fig. 15.

page 79 note 5 If Professor Myres is right, this consideration must naturally be left out of account.

page 80 note 1 Cf. Evans, Ring of Nestor p. 47 Fig. 42Google Scholar; P of M IV 510 fGoogle Scholar.

page 80 note 2 For this practice see Karo p. 311.

page 80 note 3 Arch. Anz. 1916 p. 147Google Scholar and Fig. 5.

page 80 note 4 P of M IV pp. 947 fGoogle Scholar.

page 80 note 5 See Karo loc. cit.

page 80 note 6 Tree and Pillar Cult Fig. 4, pp. 107–8; P of M II pp. 340, 832Google Scholar; III pp. 136 f., 458.

page 80 note 7 Op. cit. pp. 227, 242, 300, 342, 348, 353–5.

page 80 note 8 Ring of Nestor pp. 12 ff.

page 80 note 9 Nilsson p. 300. Cook, A. B.Zeus II pp. 48 ff.Google Scholar; cf. Schliemann, who called it the sea.

page 80 note 10 Earlier Religion of Greece in the Light of Cretan Discoveries p. 15.

page 81 note 1 Following Rodenwaldt, Ath. Mitt. 1912 pp. 134 ffGoogle Scholar.

page 81 note 2 BSA VIII p. 101Google Scholar; P of M II p. 277Google Scholar.

page 81 note 3 Minoan–Mycenean Religion pp. 191 f.

page 81 note 4 P of M III p. 137Google Scholar.

page 81 note 5 Op. cit. pp. 355 et seq.

page 81 note 6 Schachtgräber p. 332, and Religion des aegäischen Kreises p. x.

page 82 note 1 Ἐφ. Ἀρχ. 1889 Pl. X nos. 5, 7, 12, 13, 25–6, 32–6, ring, 39.

page 82 note 2 Karo, S.-G. p. 181Google Scholar.

page 82 note 3 Nor for it, as not all such rings have been found in graves.

page 82 note 4 P of M III p. 144Google Scholar.

page 82 note 5 Karo, Schachtgräber pp. 180, 193Google Scholar.

page 82 note 6 Persson, Dendra pp. 14, 39Google Scholar.

page 82 note 7 See Evans, Ring of Nestor pp. 47 ffGoogle Scholar.

page 82 note 8 Rev. Arch. Vol. 37 1900 pp. 7 ffGoogle Scholar.

page 83 note 1 Nilsson loc. cit.

page 83 note 2 Troy and its Remains p. 36.

page 83 note 3 P of M II p. 832Google Scholar, and compare Tree and Pillar Cult p. 165 Fig. 45.

page 83 note 4 Loc. cit. pp. 197–200.

page 83 note 5 See Wace, Chamber Tombs pp. 200 fGoogle Scholar.

page 83 note 6 E.g. P of M II p. 831 Fig. 546Google Scholar.

page 83 note 7 I add for comparison some Minoan seals with animal heads

(1) Monumenti Antichi XIII 1903 p. 35Google Scholar Fig. 26. An MM III sealing with heads of a bull and of an indeterminate animal said to be a wolf or dog. Here also a bird is represented.

(2) Antike Gemmen Vol. III p. 52 Fig. 37Google Scholar. Agate Lentoid from Mycenae, with heads of a lion, a goat, and a boar (?), together with a water bird and a whole animal, perhaps a dog.

Also Fig. 36, two bulls' heads.

(3) P of M IV p. 491Google Scholar Fig. 425. MM III Lentoid with a calf's head.

Ibid. p. 587 Fig. 581. Lentoid with ram's and goats' heads.

page 84 note 1 BSA XXV p. 391Google Scholar.

page 84 note 2 These are Schliemann's measurements for the graves he found (his numbers for the graves are those in brackets).

(2) I. 11 ft. 8 ins. broad, 21 ft. 3 ins. longer side, 19 ft. 8 ins. the other.

(5) II. 9 ft. 8 ins. broad, 11 ft. 6 ins. long.

(3) III. 10 ft. 2 ins. broad, 16 ft. 8 ins. long.

(4) IV. 18 ft. 6 ins. broad, 24 ft. long.

(1) V. 10 ft. 4 ins. broad, 21 ft. 5 ins. long.

For the measurements of the Treasure walls see p. 65 above.

page 84 note 3 Schliemann, Mycenae p. 352Google Scholar.

page 84 note 4 BSA XXV p. 95Google Scholar.

page 84 note 5 Some gold was found in the Shaft Grave under the Granary (BSA XXV pp. 55 ff.Google Scholar), although the tomb was opened and robbed in LH III. Flat rosettes of gold leaf, however, would more easily escape notice than rings and cups.

page 85 note 1 0·80–0·85 m. broad and 2·07 in. long.

page 85 note 2 Jahrbuch 1911 p. 258Google Scholar.

page 85 note 3 BSA XXV p. 400Google Scholar.

page 85 note 4 E.g. BSA XXV p. 380Google Scholar and Fig. 88.

page 85 note 5 Ath. Mitt. 1909 Pls. XII–XIII.

page 85 note 6 Ἐφ. Ἀρχ. 1889 Pl. VII 19Google Scholar.

page 86 note 1 Tombs 516, 517, 518, 529, 533; see Wace Chamber Tombs.

page 86 note 2 The Shaft Grave under the Granary was probably LH II.

page 86 note 3 It is, of course, possible that the necklace was all of gold. Professor Wace has suggested to me that the absence of other objects might be due to the excavators' excitement when the gold appeared, and their lack of Schliemann's scientific interest in pottery. While admitting this possibility, I consider it invalidated by the fact that the presence of bones in the find was recorded.

page 86 note 4 Schliemann's Excavations p. 275.

page 86 note 5 See plan, BSA XXV Pl. I.

page 87 note 1 That of Schuchhardt (loc. cit.), that the cups and rings are all, in contrast with large numbers of the Shaft Grave objects, extremely solid and made for use in real life, and consequently cannot be grave furniture, is invalidated by the fact that many of the things from the Graves, particularly cups, were equally well made for use (see Karo, Schachtgräber on 427, 391Google Scholar).