Cycladic handle (NAMA 4974)

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4974 (NAMA), decorated base plate

The Cycladic handle (NAMA 4974) is a clay vessel from the Bronze Age Cycladic culture . It is dated to the early Cycladic period between the 28th and 23rd centuries BC. Chr. (FK II) dated. The handle shell from the Chalandriani necropolis on the Cycladic island of Syros was discovered in 1898 during excavations under the direction of Christos Tsountas, together with other vessels, and was first published in 1899 by Tsountas. The clay vessel is exhibited in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens under inventory number 4974 . The purpose of such handles is not known, they are often referred to as "Cycladic pans".

origin

During the excavations of the Chalandriani necropolis in 1898 in the northeast of the Cycladic island of Syros under the direction of the Greek archaeologist Christos Tsountas , 540 graves were opened. Seven of the 30 handle scales unearthed at the time showed long boats .

The grave 174 with a roughly circular plan of 1.3 to 1.45 m contained five finds in addition to the dead man who was buried in a crouched position . The corpse was laid down on the left side of the body, its skull resting on a pillow-like stone slab. Next to the hands and the side were two more stones. A marble bowl lay in front of the head. The handle shell, a clay bowl, a broken clay jug and a bone tube decorated with incisions were placed behind the head.

description

Ornate base plate and side view (Christos Tsountas, 1899)

The clay pot has a diameter of 20 cm at the edge of the bowl. The protruding base plate, 20.7 cm in diameter, has an attached, outwardly sloping, unadorned wall. The total length with handle is 28.2 cm. The incised decoration is very deep and strong. The entire base plate with foot grip is framed with an indented, double notch cut border, which is enclosed by a thin incised line. The foot grip ends in two button-like extensions with a round cross-section. A pubic triangle is incised on the base of the handle above the foot handle. It is separated from the main image by a notch cut band. Concentric circles stamped at regular intervals and connected by incised tangents like a network surround a ship motif, which is incised slightly below the center, opposite the handle. The hull of the long boat and the end of the ship pointing upwards are shown by incised double lines. A fish symbol and two banners are at the high end of the ship. Above and below the ship's hull, paddles or oars are represented by short, sloping lines. Their number differs on both sides of the boat, above 14 and 15 below. A special feature is the orientation of the ship compared to other handle scales. It is the only known representation of the high end of the ship on the left. The position of the bow and stern is not clear in the representations of Cycladic long boats.

Apart from a broken edge of the bowl about 10 cm long, the vessel has been completely preserved. It is made from a dark red-brown, strong and coarse mineral lean clay. The varnish coating on the surface is well covering and somewhat stained, while the inside of the vessel is darker.

The shape and decorations are carefully crafted. The quality of the work is characterized as "carried out with the greatest care and mastery".

meaning

Chalandriani-type handles are at the end of the development of this ceramic form, they are dated to FK II. The predecessors of the Aplomata type show essential distinguishing features in the generally circular base plate and the shape of the handle . In contrast, the Chalandriani-type handle scales have an oval base plate and very often small foot handles . The ornaments known from the Aplomata type such as star motifs and the connected spirals are often complemented by depictions of ships on a spiral background. Incisions in the shape of female genitals are common in the Chalandriani type . Usually the representation is as a triangle pattern with a central vertical cut at the transition to the handle. Examples on the top of the handle are also known.

Related work to handle shell 4974 (NAMA)
Frying Pan 080754.jpg
Padella cicladica da syros, antico cicladico II, 2900-2300 ac ca..JPG
Frying pan 080744.jpg


5064 (NAMA)
grave 307, stamped circles
4333 (Florence)
stamped circles
6184 (NAMA)
Stephanos excavation, stamped spirals

Three other handle scales with very similar decorations are known. With the exception of the ship depiction, the specimen from grave 307 of Chalandriani is a largely identical work. The handle from the National Archaeological Museum in Florence is almost identical to this. The same circular pattern stamp may have been used to decorate them, and it is very likely that they were made by the same craftsman. The third handle comes from an excavation by Clon Stephanos . Instead of a circular stamp, a spiral stamp was used for this, the ship points in the usual direction. The find situation for the last two handles is not known. All four specimens can be assumed to have been manufactured in the same workshop or its surroundings and to have an approximately simultaneous manufacturing time.

According to the most recent findings, thirteen handle scales with depictions of ships from Syros are known, of which two ships are depicted on one copy. The origin of another example showing a ship is unknown. The representation of the ship is surrounded by a stamped network of concentric circles or spirals. In particular, the uniform depictions of ships suggest only a few artists.

literature

  • John E. Coleman: Early Cycladic clay pots. In: Jürgen Thimme (Ed.): Art and Culture of the Cyclades Islands in the 3rd Millennium BC. CF Müller 1976, ISBN 3-7880-9568-7 , pp. 111-119.
  • John E. Coleman: "Frying Pans" of the Early Bronze Age Aegean. In: American Journal of Archeology . Volume 89, number 2, 1985, pp. 191-219, here p. 208.
  • Jörg Rambach: Cyclades I. The early Bronze Age - grave and settlement findings. Dr. Rudolf Habelt, Bonn 2000, ISBN = 3-7749-2831-2, p. 76 and plate 28.
  • Christos Tsountas: Kykladika II. In: Hē En Athēnais Archaiologikē Hetaireia (ed.): Ephēmeris archaiologikē , Athens 1899, columns 73-134, here: 86, 90, on the grave 174, column 109 (digitized: p. 85/86 )
  • Willy Zschietzschmann : Cycladic pans. In: Archäologischer Anzeiger . Year 1935, column 652–668, here col. 659–663.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Jan Jaap Hekman: The Early Bronze Age cemetery at Chalandriani on Syros (Cyclades, Greece). Also dissertation, Groningen 2003, p. 130.
  2. ^ Marisa Marthari: Aspects of pictorialism and symbolism in Early Bronze Age Cyclades: a “frying pan” with longboat depiction from the new excavations at Chalandriani in Syros. In: Vicky Vlachou, Anastasia Gadolou (Ed.): ΤΕΡΨΙΣ: Studies in Mediterranean archeology in honor of Nota Kourou (= Études d'archéologie. Volume 10). Brussels 2017, ISBN 978-94-6136-064-9 , p. 153 f.
  3. ^ Jan Jaap Hekman: The Early Bronze Age cemetery at Chalandriani on Syros (Cyclades, Greece). 2003, p. 205 f .; Jörg Rambach: Cyclades II. The early bronze age. Early Bronze Age additional customs circles on the Cyclades, relative chronology and distribution. 2000, p. 76.
  4. ^ John E. Coleman: Early Cycladic clay vessels. 1976, p. 116; John E. Coleman: "Frying Pans" of the Early Bronze Age Aegean. 1985, p. 208; Jörg Rambach: Cyclades I. The early Bronze Age - grave and settlement findings. Panel 28; Jan Jaap Hekman: The Early Bronze Age cemetery at Chalandriani on Syros (Cyclades, Greece). 2003, p. 205.
  5. ↑ John E. Coleman, "Frying Pans" of the Early Bronze Age Aegean. 1985, p. 207; Marthari: Aspects of pictorialism and symbolism in Early Bronze Age Cyclades: a “frying pan” with longboat depiction from the new excavations at Chalandriani in Syros. 2017, Fig. 6, p. 150.
  6. ^ Willy Zschietzschmann: Cycladic pans. 1935, column 660; John E. Coleman: "Frying Pans" of the Early Bronze Age Aegean. 1985, p. 207; Eva Alram-Stern (ed.): The Aegean Early Period. 2nd series. Research report 1975-2004. The Early Bronze Age in Greece with the exception of Crete. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. Vienna 2004, ISBN 978-3-7001-3268-4 , p. 463; Thomas Guttandin, Gerhard Plath, Diamantis Panagiotopoulos, Hermann Pflug: Islands of the Wind. The maritime culture of the Bronze Age Aegean. Heidelberg 2011, p. 69 ( online ); Marisa Marthari: Aspects of pictorialism and symbolism in Early Bronze Age Cyclades: a “frying pan” with longboat depiction from the new excavations at Chalandriani in Syros. 2017, p. 149.
  7. ↑ Werner Ekschmitt : The Cyclades. Bronze Age, Geometric and Archaic Age. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1993, ISBN 3-8053-1533-3 , Fig. 25, p. 59; Jörg Rambach: Cyclades I. The early Bronze Age - grave and settlement findings. Plate 28, description and drawing.
  8. ↑ Werner Ekschmitt: The Cyclades. Bronze Age, Geometric and Archaic Age. 1993, p. 80; Jan Jaap Hekman: The Early Bronze Age cemetery at Chalandriani on Syros (Cyclades, Greece). 2003, p. 205.
  9. ↑ Jörg Rambach: Cyclades II. The early Bronze Age. Early Bronze Age additional customs circles on the Cyclades, relative chronology and distribution. Edited by the German Archaeological Institute. Dr. Rudolf Habelt, Bonn 2000, ISBN 978-3-7749-2831-2 , pp. 275–284 (also dissertation, University of Heidelberg 1990); Eva Alram-Stern (ed.): The Aegean Early Period. 2nd series. Research report 1975–2002. The Early Bronze Age in Greece with the exception of Crete. Publishing house of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna 2004, ISBN 978-3-7001-3268-4 , p. 354.
  10. ↑ John E. Coleman, "Frying Pans" of the Early Bronze Age Aegean. 1985, p. 196.
  11. ^ Paolo Emilio Pecorella: Materiali dalle Cicladi nel Museo Archeologico di Firenze. In: Studi Micenei ed Egeo-Anatolici. Volume 12, 1970, pp. 155–158 and Plate II ( PDF online ; Italian).
  12. ↑ John E. Coleman, "Frying Pans" of the Early Bronze Age Aegean. 1985, p. 207.
  13. ↑ Jörg Rambach: Cyclades II. The early Bronze Age. Early Bronze Age additional customs circles on the Cyclades, relative chronology and distribution. 2000, p. 292 f.
  14. ^ Marisa Marthari: Aspects of pictorialism and symbolism in Early Bronze Age Cyclades: a “frying pan” with longboat depiction from the new excavations at Chalandriani in Syros. 2017, p. 149 f.
  15. ↑ John E. Coleman, "Frying Pans" of the Early Bronze Age Aegean. 1985, p. 198.

Web links

Commons : Griffschale 4974  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files