Heraklion Archaeological Museum - CollectiveAccess System : Clay objects : Clay wheelmade head of human figurine [Π1102]

Clay wheelmade head of human figurine

Π1102

Clay

Only the head is preserved

Max. Height: 9 cm.Length of face: 7.5 cm.Diameter of neck: 6 cm.

Patsos

Agios Antonios rock shelter

Late Minoan IIIC - Protogeometric period:

1200-970 BC:

Gallery:

XVII

Case:

176

Exhibition thematic unit:

Geometric - Archaic - Classical period (10th - 4th c. BC). The Sanctuaries. From Minoan cult to the amalgamation of religious beliefs

Sacred Caves

Description

Wheelmade clay female head. The head is disc-shaped with protruding eyes and nose. The details are highlighted in reddish-brown paint. The hair is styled into a distinctive wreath consisting of three braids around the top of the head; the locks of hair, now lost, would have fallen down the back. The fragmentary condition of the head make its precise identification difficult. However, it is exceptionally well made. The figurine comes from the rock shelter of Hermes Kranaios at Patsos in the Amari, a cult site from prehistoric times (1600 BC) to the Roman period (300 AD). This extremely long period of use clearly indicates the importance of the cave as a sacred place for the island’s inhabitants, although the precise ritual and the deity worshipped there changed over time.

Bibliography:

Halbherr F., Scoperte nel Santuario di Hermes Craneo, Museo Italiano di Antichità II, Firenze 1888, 916, no.4, pl. XIV. Levi D., “Arkades”, Annuario della scuola archeologica di Atene 10 - 12 (1927-1929), fig. 649 C. Chittenden J., “The Master of Animals”, Hesperia 16 (1947), 89-114. Zervos C., L'Art de la Crète Néolithique et Minoenne, Paris, 1956, pl. 792. Marinatos Sp. – Hirmer M., Crete and Mycenae, London, 1960, fig. 139 . Kourou Ν.-Karetsou Α., “Το Ιερό του Ερμού Κραναίου στην Πατσό Αμαρίου”, in Rocchetti L. (ed.), Sybrita la valle di Amari fra bronzo e ferro, Roma, 1994, 85, fig. 2-4.

Author:

S. P.

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