[ΚΕΝΟ]



Part of pre-numismatic hoard

Χ-Α662, Χ-Α663, Χ-Α664,
Metal (Gold)
Intact
Ingots: Max. dimensions: 1.9 Χ 2.2 cm. Bar: 2.7 Χ 1.7 cm.
Knossos
Tekke
Protogeometric-Geometric period:
Late 9th c. BC:
Gallery:
XXI
Case:
207
Exhibition thematic unit:
Cretan Coinage
Pre-numismatic transactions and coinage in Crete (2nd millennium BC - 2nd c. AD)
Description
Gold ingots and a bar, part of a pre-numismatic hoard that also contained gold ingots, gold bars and a gold band, intact pieces of jewellery and parts of ornaments made of gold, silver, amber, rock crystal, faience, ivory and glass (see also Room XIX, case 187). All these valuable objects were placed in two plain clay pots concealed in the earth floor just inside the threshold of a Late Minoan tholos tomb of the 13th to 12th century BC in the North Cemetery of Knossos. The tomb was reused for wealthy individuals in the Protogeometric and Geometric periods (9th-7th c. BC). This is the only known assemblage of its kind in Crete, while the only Aegean parallel is a similar find from Eretria, on the island of Euboea. The hoard was originally thought to be the stock-in-trade of an artisan who originated from or had learned his craft in the East, where such hoards are common from the 9th century onwards. It is now believed more likely that the assemblage is a hoard of precious items concealed, perhaps from some danger, by an upper-class Knossian family. Such an elite family would have had the means to own and handle gold, silver and other valuable items, both as imported raw materials and in the form of locally made jewellery. In any case, the weighable shapes and sizes of the bars and ingots of precious metal may be considered a preliminary stage in the invention of coins, which is why the assemblage is called a pre-numismatic hoard. For the Cretans of the time, it was the precursor of a monetary economy.
Bibliography:
R. W. Hutchinson - J. Boardman, The Khaniale Tekke Tombs, BSA 49 (1954), 215–230. J. Boardman, The Khaniale Tekke Tombs II. BSA 62(1967), 57–75. P. Themelis, Εργαστήριο χρυσοχοϊας του 8ου π.Χ. αι. στην Ερέτρια, Αρχαιολογικά Ανάλεκτα εξ Αθηνών 14 (1981), 185–208. J. H. Kroll, Observations on Monetary Instruments in Pre-coinage Greece. In Balmuth, M.S. (ed.), Hacksilber to Coinage: New Insights into the Monetary History of the Near East and Greece. A Collection of Eight Papers Presented at the 99th Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America, N.York 2001, 77–91. G. Le Rider – S. Verdan, La trouvaille d’Érétrie: réserve d’un orfèvre ou dépôt monétaire? Antike Kunst 45 (2002), 133–152. J. H. Kroll, Weights, Bullion Currency, Coinage, in Ν. Stampolidis – V. Karageorghis (eds.), Sea Routes . . . From Sidon to Huelva. Interconnections in the Mediterranean, 16th–6th c. BC. Proceedings of the International Symposium held at Rethymnon, Crete, September 29th–October 2nd 2002, (Athens) 2003, 41–79. J. Boardman, ‘The Knossos Tekke Jewellery Hoards’, in R. Gigli (ed.), Megalai Nēsoi: studi dedicati a Giovanni Rizza per il suo ottantesimo compleanno, Catania 2005, 163–166. A. Kotsonas, “Wealth and Status in Iron Age Knossos”, Oxford Journal of Archaeology 2006, 149–172. E. Heymans, The Origins of Money in the Iron Age Mediterranean World, Cambridge 2021, 168-227 (Money in the Iron Age Aegean).
Author:
K. S.


Photographs' metadata