[ΚΕΝΟ]



Necklace of amethyst and carnelian beads

Σ-Κ1335
Stone (Amethyst, Carnelian)
Intact
Length: 18 cm.
Knossos
Mavrospilio Cemetery
Late Bronze Age. Final Palatial period, Late Minoan ΙΙ- ΙΙΙA2 period.:
1450-1375 BC:
Gallery:
X
Case:
110
Exhibition thematic unit:
Late Bronze Age - Neopalatial period (1700-1450 BC) - Final Palatial period (1450-1300 BC).The cemeteries
The cemeteries of Knossos
Description
Necklace of spherical beads of semiprecious stones. There are 19 amethyst beads in various hues and two of carnelian. The necklace is a funerary offering from the cemetery of Mavrospilio, on a hill above the River Kairatos. The Kairatos flows through the Knossos Gorge, runs east of the palace of Knossos and meets the sea at Katsambas, 1.5 km east of the centre of Heraklion. Amethyst was imported to Crete very early on, in the Prepalatial period: a typical example is a bead in the shape of a bull’s head (necklace inv. no. Σ-Κ786) from the Mochlos cemetery. There was an organised amethyst-working workshop in the Minoan harbour town of Poros, Heraklion, in the Late Minoan I period, where raw and unfinished pieces of amethyst and other semiprecious stones were found in situ.
Bibliography:
Forsdyke E. J. 1926-1927. "The Mavrospelio Cemetery at Knossos." Annual of the British School at Athens 28 (1926-1927): 243-296.
Author:
E. T.


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