• Red marble pithos



Red marble pithos
Red marble pithos

Red marble pithos

Λ60
Stone (Red Marble)
Intact, restored.
Height: 37 cm. Diameter: 7.5 cm.
Knossos
Palace of Knossos
Late Bronze Age. Neopalatial period, Late Minoan I period.:
1600-1450 BC:
Gallery:
IV
Case:
38
Exhibition thematic unit:
Late Bronze Age - Neopalatial period (1700-1450 BC). The New Palaces. The zenith of Minoan civilisation
The equipment of the palace and houses of Knossos
Description
Stone four-handled pithos with lid. The craftsman has carved the hard red marble in such a way as to highlight the natural white vertical veins in a decorative fashion. Cretan stone-carvers used cylindrical drills of various types, simple stone tools and abrasives such as emery to shape stone. Deposits of red marble have been found in two places on Crete: the wider Agia Pelagia area and the region of Itanos and Cape Sidero at the southeast end of the island.
Bibliography:
Bevan, A. Stone Vessels and Values in the Bronze Age Mediterranean. Cambridge, 2007, 57-60. Warren, P. Minoan Stone Vases. Cambridge, 1969, 61, P325. Evely, D. "On a lentoid flask of red marble from Knossos." In O. Krzyszkowska (ed.), Cretan Offerings. Studies in honour of Peter Warren. London, 2010, 119-129.
Author:
G. F.


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