Heraklion Archaeological Museum - CollectiveAccess System : Bronze objects : Bronze double axe [Χ1943]

Vaulted Tombs of Mesara ➔ Bronze double axe

Χ1943

Metal (Bronze)

Intact

Length: 17.5 cm. Maximum width: 8.5 cm.

Platanos

Outside Tholos Tomb Α

Early - Middle Bronze Age. Prepalatial - Protopalatial period, Early Minoan ΙΙ - Middle Minoan II period.:

2700 - 1700 BC:

Gallery:

Case:

Exhibition thematic unit:

Early Bronze Age - Prepalatial period (3000 - 1900 BC). Settlements and cemeteries - the rise of ruling groups

Metalworking. Cutting-edge technology and status objects

Description

Double axe made of sheets of bronze. It has curved cutting edges, each made separately and attached by rivets to the central part of the axe with the shaft hole. The fragile construction of the axe shows that it was not intended for use as a tool, a fact borne out by its excavation context. It was found outside Tholos Tomb A at Platanos in the Mesara, where it had either been placed as a funerary offering accompanying one of the burials, or used as a symbol in the funerary rites. The double axe is considered one of the most important symbols of the Minoan religion. It appears in this capacity, and also as a tool for practical use, from the Early Minoan period onwards.

Bibliography:

Branigan, K. Aegean Metalwork of the Early and Middle Bronze Age. Oxford, 1974, 21, pl.10. Nilsson, M.P. The Minoan-Mycenean Religion and its survival in Greek religion. Lund, 1950 (2nd revised edition 1968), 194-235. Xanthoudides, St. The Vaulted Tombs of Mesara. An Account of Some Early Cemeteries of Southern Crete. London, 1924, 109, pl. LVI: 1943.

Author:

E. S.

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