• Bronze dagger blade



Bronze dagger blade
Bronze dagger blade

Bronze dagger blade

Χ1169
Metal (Bronze)
Intact
Length: 8.8 cm. Width: 4.3 cm.
Koumasa
Tomb
Early Bronze Age. Prepalatial period. Early Minoan ΙΙ period:
2700-2200 BC:
Gallery:
I
Case:
10
Exhibition thematic unit:
Early Bronze Age - Prepalatial period (3000 - 1900 BC). Settlements and cemeteries - the rise of ruling groups
Daggers. Bronze Tools
Description
Bronze triangular dagger blade. Near the heel are the holes for the rivets securing the hilt, which would have been made of wood and has not been preserved. Long, triangular dagger blades are examples of the cutting-edge technology of Early Bronze Age Crete. The stages of production required access to the raw material, which was not available on the island and had to be imported via the maritime trade routes, and technical expertise in the widespread techniques of hammering and casting. The dagger was produced by a local workshop which was probably active in the Mesara Plain and met the increased demand of the local population for what was both a valuable weapon and a multitool. The dozens of daggers buried with their owners in the tholos tombs of the Mesara show how closely they were intertwined with the social identity of those who wielded them.
Bibliography:
Xanthoudides, S. 1924. The Vaulted Tombs of Mesara. An account of some early cemeteries of Southern Crete. London. p. 26 and pl. XXIXb.
Author:
I. G.


Photographs' metadata