Heraklion Archaeological Museum - CollectiveAccess System : Clay objects : Five weasel figurines [Π3466 α, β, γ, δ, ε]

Five weasel figurines

Π3466 α, β, γ, δ, ε

Clay

Good

Length: 5.4, 6.3, 6.4, 7.3, 3.6 cm.

Petsophas

Peak Sanctuary

Middle Bronze Age, Protopalatial period, Middle Minoan IIB-IIIA period:

1800 - 1650 BC:

Gallery:

Case:

Exhibition thematic unit:

Middle Bronze Age - Late Prepalatial-Protopalatial period (2200-1700 BC). From small communities to towns

Peak Sanctuaries

Description

Five small figurines of animals with long tails, pointed snout, upright triangular ears and a long, cylindrical body with characteristic arched back. These features allow us to identify these tiny animal figurines as weasels (Mustela nivalis), carnivorous mammals of the mustelid family that are still found in Crete today. All five bear traces of black paint. The weasels are rendered with a strikingly dynamic realism, particularly the “snapshot” of the peculiar motion of their body and limbs, in miniature but abstract figurines. They bear witness both to the observational skills of the artists and to the high level of naturalistic coroplastic art of the era. Weasels form part of the large assemblage of animal figurines from the sanctuary on the height of Petsophas, which rises above a prosperous Minoan harbour settlement at the eastern end of Crete. The underlying significance of models of this species has been the subject of much discussion: it may lie in the fact that the animals protect the household and its food supplies from rodents and other vermin. The symbolic significance of the weasel as a purifying element of nature and protector of fruits and grains justifies its depiction in the figurines of Petsophas, the main mountain sanctuary of the Minoan harbour at Palaikastro.

Bibliography:

Myres, J. L. 1902. The Sanctuary-Site at Petsofa, Annual of the British School at Athens IX (1902 – 1903), pl. ΧΙΙΙ, 56. Rutkowski, Β. 1991. Petsofas. A Cretan Peak Sanctuary, Warsaw, p. 111, 133. Dimopoulou-Rethemiotaki Ν., 2005, Το Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Ηρακλείου, Athens, p. 97.

Author:

D. S.

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