• Part of a hybrid figurine



Part of a hybrid figurine
Part of a hybrid figurine
Part of a hybrid figurine

Part of a hybrid figurine

Π1813
Clay
Mended from two pieces.
Height: 16 cm.
Hagia Triada
Piazzale dei Sacelli
Late Bronze Age. Postpalatial period, Late Minoan IIIC - Subminoan period.:
1200 - 970 BC:
Gallery:
XI
Case:
124
Exhibition thematic unit:
Late Bronze Age - Postpalatial period (1300-1100 BC). Settlements. Sanctuaries. Tombs
Communal shrines
Description
Head and neck of a hybrid figurine. The long neck is characteristic of the type, while the gender is indeterminate. The hollow, wheelmade figurine is dated to the mature Late Minoan IIIC or Subminoan period. Votives representing fantastical creatures with a human head and bovid body and legs appeared in the open-air shrines of Crete in the 12th century BC and remained in use until the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of the Iron Age. The origin of this type of figurine is an interesting question for archaeologists. Although they were first thought to draw their inspiration from Cyprus and the Near East, it seems that hybrid figurines were Cretan inventions, combining elements of both the Minoan and the Mycenaean tradition in their iconography and production method. The Cretan figurines may have inspired some similar Cypriot ones.
Bibliography:
D’Agata, A. L. Le Statuine Minoiche e Post-Minoiche dai Vecchi Scavi di H. Triada (Creta). SAIA Monographie vol. XI, Haghia Triada II, Roma, 1999, 78-79, Tav. XLII: C 2.7, XLIX: C 2.7. Rethemiotakis, G. Ανθρωπομορφική Πηλοπλαστική στην Κρήτη από τη Νεοανακτορική έως την Υπομινωική Περίοδο. Βιβλιοθήκη της εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογιής Εταιρείας no. 174. Athens, 1998, 31, 160-161, pl. 75a,b, fig. 68. Prent, M. Cretan Sanctuaries and Cults. Continuity and Change from Late Minoan IIIC to the Archaic Period. Leiden and Boston, 2005, 185-186.
Author:
E. S.


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