[ΚΕΝΟ]



Gold double axe

Χ-Α599
Metal (Gold)
Intact
Maximum width: 4.93 cm. Shaft length: 5. 7 cm. Weight: 11.2 gr.
Arkalochori
Cave
Middle-Late Bronze Age. Neopalatial period, Middle Minoan ΙΙΙ - Late Minoan I period.:
1700 - 1450 BC:
Gallery:
VII
Case:
65
Exhibition thematic unit:
Late Bronze Age - Neopalatial period (1700-1450 BC). Minoan religion - Domestic and open-air cult
Open-air Sanctuaries The Peak Sanctuaries.
Description
Gold votive double axe. Groups of incised lines adorn the edges, while there are holes with a suspension loop at the lower end of the shaft. The axe forms part of the “Arkalochori Hoard”. An enormous number of metal objects of the Neopalatial period was found in a small cave near the village of Arkalochori. Many of the objects had been looted and destroyed before the intervention of the Archaeological Service. The hoard contained copper ingots, swords of various sizes, daggers and knives, and also many small and tiny double axes of gold, silver and bronze, as well as large bronze examples. Some of the objects bear traces of use, but many were made to be offered as votives at some shrine. The Arkalochori assemblage represents a considerable capital in metal which may have been meant for recycling. It seems to have been deliberately concealed in the cave, perhaps temporarily, and never recovered by the Minoans. An alternative suggestion is that the hoard of metal objects from the cave is the result of deliberate, organised deposition in the context of the worship of a deity.
Bibliography:
Hazzidakis, J. "An Early Minoan Sacred Cave at Arkalokhori in Crete." Annual of the British School at Athens 19 (1912-1913): 35-47. Marinatos, S. "Ανασκαφαί εν Κρήτη. Αρκαλοχώρι." Πρακτικά της εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας (1935): 212-220. Rethemiotakis, G. "Το Νέο Μινωικό Ανάκτορο στο Γαλατά Πεδιάδος και το "Ιερό Σπήλαιο" Αρκαλοχωρίου." In Α. Karetsou (ed.), Κρήτες Θαλασσοδρόμοι. Κύκλος Διαλέξεων (Ιανουάριος - Απρίλιος 1996), Heraklion 1999, 91-109.
Author:
E. S.


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