[ΚΕΝΟ]



Cylindrical architectural model

Π18221
Clay
Intact
Height: 7.2 cm. Base diameter: 6.7 cm. Maximum diameter: 9.1 cm. Door dimensions: 4.4 x 3.4 cm.
Amnissos
Settlement west of Paliochora hill, at GNTO Motel
Late Bronze Age. Postpalatial period, Late Minoan ΙΙΙI period.:
1300 - 1200 BC:
Gallery:
XI
Case:
125
Exhibition thematic unit:
Late Bronze Age - Postpalatial period (1300-1100 BC). Settlements. Sanctuaries. Tombs
Description
Clay cylindrical architectural model preserving the door. Two elongated pieces of clay on either side of the doorway retain the tiny holes, less than a millimetre in diameter, for the thread that held the door in place. Traces of the thread are preserved along the width of the inner side of the door. The model was found in a room of a Postpalatial house, next to an upside-down cup and a triton shell, perhaps the remains of a ritual act. The Amnissos model is one of the cylindrical models found in Late Minoan IIIB and IIIC settlements of Crete, while the earliest example dates from Late Minoan IIIA2. They are thought to represent shrines of the "goddess with upraised arms", because some later, similar models of the Subminoan and Early Geometric periods contain female figurines with upraised arms and have been interpreted as shrines of the goddess. Alternatively, it has been proposed that they are objects associated with domestic ancestor cult, as the only extant building type they can be compared to are the tholos tombs of the same period.
Bibliography:
Alexiou, S. "Αρχαιότητες και Μνημεία Κρήτης." Αρχαιολογικόν Δελτίον 19, Χρονικά, Β'3 (1964): 439, pl. 519γ. H?gg, R."The Cretan Hut Models." Opuscula Atheniensia XVIII (1990): 95-107. Μavriyannaki, C. "Modellini Fittili di Costruzioni Circolari dalla Creta Minoica." Studi Micenei ed Egeo-Anatolici 15 (1972): 161-170. Mercereau, R. "Cretan Cylindrical Models." American Journal of Archaeology 97 (1993): 1-47. Petrakis, V. "Late Minoan III and Early Iron Age Cretan Cylindrical Terracotta Models: A Reconsideration." Annual of the British School at Athens 101 (2006): 183-216.
Author:
E. S.


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