[ΚΕΝΟ]



Gold half-moon pendant

Χ-Α649
Metal (Gold)
Intact
Height: 5 cm.Length: 5.5 cm.
Heraklion
Khaniali Tekke, Tholos Tomb 2
Early Archaic period:
700-630 BC:
Gallery:
XIX
Case:
187
Exhibition thematic unit:
Geometric - Archaic - Classical period (10th-4th c. BC). The Cemeteries
Jewellery
Description
Gold crescent-shaped pendant. In the centre is a cross-shaped ornament with four birds, while the ends of the crescent are topped with two female heads wearing a low headdress. Granulation was extensively used for the decoration. The cavities formed by the wire circles probably contained the amber discs discovered in the same fill. The pendant was found with other pieces of jewellery in vases placed in niches of the tholos tomb, probably indicating that a member of the prosperous Knossian elite was buried there.
Bibliography:
Boardman J., The Cretan Collection in Oxford: The Dictaean Cave and Iron Age Crete, Oxford, 1961, 134-135, fig. 50. Boardman J., “The Khaniale Tekke tombs II”, The Annual of the British School at Athens, 62 (1967), 57-75. Coldstream J.N., Geometric Greece, London, 1977, 100, fig. 32b. Higgins R.A., Greek and Roman Jewellery, London, 1961, 109, pl. 16c. Stampolidis N. Chr. - Karetsou A. (eds) Ανατολική Μεσόγειος, Κύπρος-Δωδεκάνησα-Κρήτη, 16ος-6ος αι. π.Χ., Πανεπιστήμιο Κρήτης-Υπ.Πο. ΚΓ’ ΕΠΚΑ, Heraklion, 1998, 263.
Author:
S. P.


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