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Violin-bow fibula

Χ4701
Metal (Bronze)
Broken at the ends
Length: 7.3 cm.
Karphi
Settlement
Late Bronze Age. Postpalatial period, Late Minoan IIIC - Subminoan period.:
1200 - 970 BC:
Gallery:
XI
Case:
113
Exhibition thematic unit:
Late Bronze Age - Postpalatial period (1300-1100 BC). Settlements. Sanctuaries. Tombs
Postpalatial settlements
Description
Bronze violin-bow fibula (a sort of safety-pin), so named because its two almost parallel shafts resemble the bow of a violin. It is made of cylindrical wire with a decorative twist on one shaft. Although the ends are not preserved, it is clear that one tip was pointed while the other bent inwards to form a hook securing the first. It was found in a house in the settlement of Karphi. Pins of this type were used to secure clothing, and their appearance and spread signalled the appearance of new types of garment in the Postpalatial period. They are not thought to be Cretan or Aegean inventions; their prototypes are located in the Adriatic, and it has been suggested that their presence further east may be connected with the movement of populations from that region to mainland Greece, the islands and Crete, or with the adoption of new modes of dress of Italian inspiration.
Bibliography:
Dickinson, O. The Aegean from Bronze Age to Iron Age. Continuity and Change between the Twelfth and Eighth Centrury BC. London and New York, 2006, 158-165. Harding, A.F. The Mycenaeans and Europe. London, 1984, 137-140. Pendlebury, J.D.S. and Money-Coutts, M.B. "Excavations in the Plain of Lasithi. III. Karphi. A City of Refuge in the Early Iron Age in Crete." Annual of the British School at Athens 38 (1937-1938): 69, 114, pl. XXIX.2: 690. Sapouna-Sakellarakis, E. Die Fibeln der Griechischen Inseln. Pr?historische Bronzefunde XIV,4. M?nchen, 1978, 35-36.
Author:
E. S.


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