• Rhyton in the shape of a three-wheeled vehicle with rider



Rhyton in the shape of a three-wheeled vehicle with rider
Rhyton in the shape of a three-wheeled vehicle with rider

Rhyton in the shape of a three-wheeled vehicle with rider

Π11046
Clay
Mended from many pieces with extensive restoration.
Height: 50 cm.
Karphi
Settlement
Late Bronze Age. Postpalatial period, Late Minoan IIIC period.:
1200 - 1070 BC:
Gallery:
XI
Case:
117
Exhibition thematic unit:
Late Bronze Age - Postpalatial period (1300-1100 BC). Settlements. Sanctuaries. Tombs
Communal shrines
Description
Modelled rhyton in the shape of a three-wheeled chariot with oxen and a charioteer. This is a unique and striking libation vessel. The libation liquid was poured in through a hole in the charioteer’s head and poured out through the muzzle of the central ox. The details of the rider’s head are rendered in poorly preserved brownish-black paint, while the chariot was monochrome. The type of vehicle depicted is unclear. It may be a sort of cart, concisely rendered like the ox heads representing the oxen drawing it. Alternatively, it may be a type of three-wheeled chariot. In any case, the vehicle probably served a ritual function. It was found together with another rhyton in Area 27 of the South Houses of the settlement, where certain rituals may have taken place. At Karphi, rituals seem to have been held in various parts of the settlement besides the central shrine and one or two other shrines with figurines of the "goddess with upraised arms".
Bibliography:
Koehl, R.B. Aegean Bronze Age Rhyta. Prehistory Monographs 19. Philadelphia, 2006, 20, 83, pl. 7:71. Pendlebury, H. W., Pendlebury, J. D. S., Money-Coutts, M. B. "Excavations in the Plain of Lasithi. III. Karphi. A City of Refuge in the Early Iron Age in Crete." Annual of the British School at Athens 38 (1937-1938): 57-145. Preston Day, L. "Ritual Activity at Karphi: A Reappraisal." In A.-L. D'Agata and A. Van De Moortel (eds), Archaeologies of Cult: Essays in Honor of Geraldine C. Gesell (Hesperia Supplement 42). Princeton, 2009, 137-151. Rethemiotakis, G. Ανθρωπομορφική Πηλοπλαστική στην Κρήτη από τη Νεοανακτορική έως την Υπομινωική Περίοδο. Βιβλιοθήκη της εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας no. 174. Athens, 1998, 22, 77-79, 87, pls 64, 65.
Author:
E. S.


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