[ΚΕΝΟ]



Foot models

Π22249α, β
Clay
(a) Intact. (b) Mended from two pieces
Height: 17 cm. (a +b) Length: 24.5 cm. (a). 25.4 cm. (b)
Anemospilia
Late Bronze Age. Neopalatial period, Middle Minoan ΙΙΙA period.:
1700 - 1650 BC:
Gallery:
VII
Case:
70
Exhibition thematic unit:
Late Bronze Age - Neopalatial period (1700-1450 BC). Minoan religion - Domestic and open-air cult
Domestic shrines
Description
Pair of full-size clay human feet. Their outline is naturalistic but lacking details such as the toes, which may mean that they were displayed wearing shoes. The lower shin is schematically rendered, with a sharp-edged rectangular cross-section. This shaping of the shin is one of the features that led the excavators to interpret the feet as part of a xoanon, a wooden cult statue. The shin is believed to be a sort of tenon that fitted into the wooden torso of the xoanon. The feet were found in the central room of the building at Anemospilia, interpreted by its excavators as an autonomous shrine. The building lies on the north slope of Mt Juktas, on the Minoan road leading to the peak sanctuary of Psili Korfi, 400 metres higher up.
Bibliography:
Marinatos, Ν. and R. Η?gg. "Anthropomorphic Cult Images in Minoan Crete." In Krzyszkowska, O - L. Nixon (eds), Minoan Society. Bristol, 1983, 185-201. Sakellarakis, Y. and Ε. Sakellaraki. "Ανασκαφή Αρχανών." Πρακτικά της εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας (1979): 331-392, pl. 180. Sakellarakis, Y. and Ε. Sapouna-Sakellaraki. Αρχάνες. Μια νέα ματιά στη Μινωική Κρήτη. Vol. 2. Athens, 1997, 530-539, fig. 530-533, 535-537.
Author:
E. S.


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