Papers by Vassiliki Pliatsika
Peeters Publishers eBooks, May 1, 2024
In 1876 while the Mycenae excavation directed by Heinrich Schliemann was in progress, an elementa... more In 1876 while the Mycenae excavation directed by Heinrich Schliemann was in progress, an elementary school pupil from Nafplion visited the site together with his classmates and their teacher. The day trip was tiring and uncomfortable but proved immensely rewarding. The boy found himself outside the Cyclopean walls of the Mycenae citadel witnessing one of the most historic moments in Greek archaeology: the excavation of a grave in Grave Circle A.
This boy was Demetrius Caclamanos, who grew up to become a renowned journalist, editor-in-chief of the Greek newspaper Ἄστυ and publisher of the Νέον Ἄστυ newspaper. He moved on to an illustrious career in Greek foreign affairs as an eminent diplomat serving his country in key positions, stationed in several capitals of Europe. Among other achievements, he represented the Greek State at the League of Nations and co-signed the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 with Eleftherios Venizelos.
Caclamanos wrote down an account of what he saw at Mycenae during the Schliemann excavation and after. This previously untapped account proves most valuable for Mycenaean archaeology and its history, providing further documentation for Schliemann’s work in Grave Circle A at Mycenae, as well as information on the post-excavation fate of Mycenaean relics.
In this paper we present in detail Caclamanos’ account, associating it with specific excavation data and finds, combining knowledge extracted from Schliemann’s writings on Mycenae, Panagiotis Stamatakis’s excavation notebook, contemporary archival sources, and later archaeological research results.
Caclamanos’ treasured memory, kept vivid throughout his lifetime, becomes a new treasure for Mycenaean scholarship today.
METIOESSA. Studies in Honor of E. Mantzourani, edited by G. Vavouranakis and I. Voskos, Athens: AURA & Kardamitsa , 2022
The objects of study in this paper are three small Mycenaean pottery fragments which came to ligh... more The objects of study in this paper are three small Mycenaean pottery fragments which came to light inside the Mycenae citadel, by three different excavators: Christos Tsountas in 1886, William Taylour in 1968 and George Mylonas in 1970 or 1971. These three sherds are decorated in the pictorial style and present significant iconographic interest and original features. In this paper, these fragments are presented in detail, discussing the vase shapes they belonged to and their pictorial elements and composition. Challenging previous assumptions, it is now established that the three sherds belong to three different vases. More importantly, all three share such stylistic characteristics that allow for their safe attribution to the same vase-painter. This talented individual, whether female or male, excelled in miniature painting and complex compositions and it is suggested here that she or he may be called the “Dot Painter” on account of her/his signature use of dots in accentuating pictorial motifs drawn with remarkable precision.
Board Game Studies Journal, 16, 2022, p. 51-93, 2022
V. Pliatsika with an appendix by Jacqueline S. Meier
"Why so Serious? An Extraordinary Cone She... more V. Pliatsika with an appendix by Jacqueline S. Meier
"Why so Serious? An Extraordinary Cone Shell Group from Mycenae and the Problem of Identifying Mycenaean Board Gaming Material"
in Caré, B., Dasen, V., Schädler, U. (eds), Back to the Game: Reframing Play and Games in Context. XXI Board Game Studies Annual Colloquium, International Society for Board Game Studies, April, 24-26, 2018, Benaki Museum – Italian School of Archaeology at Athens, Lisbon, Associação Ludus, 2021 (= Board Game Studies Journal, 16, 2022, p. 51-93)
Abstract
In 1974 in Room Θ3 of House Θ in the Southwest Quarter of the Mycenae citadel, an extraordinary find came to light: 545 conus mediterraneus ventricosus shells were found together with 12 small objects in a crevice of the bedrock. 353 cones were intentionally pierced and ground, and 9 of them were filled with lead. This assemblage includes the largest collection of cone shells known from the Late Bronze Age Aegean, and it is now possible to attempt an interpretation of its use, after the publication of the Southwest Quarter excavation. The find is examined in detail, in comparison to other large cone shell groups from Mycenaean contexts. The facts suggest that the Θ3 assemblage artefacts could have been markers for a kind of game, for which games of strategy, skill and chance known in the Eastern Mediterranean, are suggested as possible candidates. Under this hypothesis, context finds from the Room Θ3 deposit are also examined.
This study highlights the difficulty in identifying the material remains of
board games, as well as the need to include the game – being a basic
human activity- in the potential interpretations of archaeological
records from the Mycenaean period.
Paper accessible online here: https://www.sciendo.com/article/10.2478/bgs-2022-0003
N. Papadimitriou, J.C. Wright, S. Fachard, N. Polychronakou-Sgouritsa, E. Andrikou (eds), Αthens and Attica in Prehistory Proceedings of the International Conference Athens, 27-31 May 2015, Oxford 2020., 2020
The Menidi tholos tomb: re-examination of the evidence
The tholos tomb at Menidi in the Acharna... more The Menidi tholos tomb: re-examination of the evidence
The tholos tomb at Menidi in the Acharnai municipality, one of three tholoi in Attica (along with the Marathon and Thorikos tombs), displays a unique innovation, having the relieving triangle of the façade replaced with a grid of horizontal stones over the lintel. The study of the pottery indicates that the monument was in use during the LH IIIB1 period and probably already in use by LH IIIA2; however, it is not possible to determine more accurately the date of construction, the period of use and the number of burials it contained. The earlier tholos tombs of Thorikos and Marathon seem to have influenced the architectural form of the monument in Acharnai. The relieving triangle formed internally and filled with smaller stones, is also present in tholos tomb III at Thorikos and has recently been recognized in the tholos tomb of Aegisthus in Mycenae; it is therefore a feature dating already in the LH II period.
The abundance and high quality of the finds stress the prominent social position of the tomb’s occupants. The burial offerings included Canaanite amphorae, stone vases, sealstones, jewellery of various materials, and ivories, among which fragments of
two lyres and a pyxis with a lid decorated with engraved goats, like the one represented on the Tiryns procession fresco.
Efi Karantzali (ed.), 3rd International Interdisciplinary Colloquium 'The Periphery of the Mycenaean World: Recent discoveried and research results', Athens , 59-71,, 2021
On March 16, 1912, the National Archaeological Museum acquired a rare vase: a practically intact ... more On March 16, 1912, the National Archaeological Museum acquired a rare vase: a practically intact mycenaean amphoroid krater decorated in the pictorial style. The vase is decorated on each side with a scene of flirting bovines and thus we suggest naming the vase "The Flirting Bovines krater". This study explores the acquisition history of the krater in the beginning of the 20th c., attempting to enlighten the question of its provenance and analyses its unique stylistic and iconographic features.
Στις 16 Μαρτίου 1912, το Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο παρέλαβε ένα σπάνιο αγγείο: έναν πρακτικά ακέραιο μυκηναϊκό αμφοροειδή κρατήρα εικονιστικού ρυθμού. Tο αγγείο διακοσμείται σε κάθε όψη με παράσταση βοοειδών που ερωτοτροπούν και γι’ αυτό προτείνεται η ονομασία του ως «Κρατήρας των Βοοειδών που Ερωτοτροπούν». H μελέτη αυτή διερευνά το ιστορικό της αγοράς του κρατήρα στις αρχές του 20ού αιώνα, επιχειρεί να διαφωτίσει το ζήτημα της προέλευσής του και αναλύει τα μοναδικά τεχνοτροπικά και εικονογραφικά χαρακτηριστικά του.
N. Πολυχρονάκου-Σγουρίτσα, Πρακτικά Ημερίδας στη Μνήμη του Καθηγητή Σπύρου Ιακωβίδη, 6 Μαΐου 2015, Αθήνα, 2019
Of Exceptional Men. Pictorial kylikes with representations of human figures from Mycenae.
Despi... more Of Exceptional Men. Pictorial kylikes with representations of human figures from Mycenae.
Despite their central role in the feasting activities of the Mycenaean Palatial period, kylikes were not a very popular shape in the Mycenaean pictorial pottery repertoire, evidently because of their limited available painting space. The pictorial kylikes known from Mycenae are usually decorated with isolated motifs -birds, animals and fish- or small emblematic compositions.
In this paper I am discussing a significant group of pictorial kylikes from Mycenae which, despite their fragmentary state of preservation, evidently portray fragments of more complex compositions involving human figures in various activities.
Valuable information springs from the iconographical analysis and eventually the evaluation of the subject choice in relation to the pottery shape leads to the suggestion that these particular vases were used in feasting activities by exceptional male members of the elite in the Mycenae citadel.
A. Vlachopoulos (ed.), ΧΡΩΣΤΗΡΕΣ / PAINTBRUSHES, Wall-painting and Vase-painting of the Second Millennium BC in Dialogue, Athens 2018, 2018
The Greek architect Nikolaos Zoumboulidis (Sinasos Cappadocia 1888-Athens 1969) designed himself ... more The Greek architect Nikolaos Zoumboulidis (Sinasos Cappadocia 1888-Athens 1969) designed himself a large number of bank buildings all over Greece, or made a major contribution to their architectural design, becoming thus instrumental in the shaping of the image of the public architecture in interwar Greece. Zoumboulidis incorporated morphological and decorative elements from the Minoan and Mycenaean archaeological finds and their reconstructions, which were available in his own time, on some of his public works as well as on a number of the privately-owned buildings he designed. In this paper we pinpoint and analyse the Mycenaean and Minoan elements of Zoumboulidis' architectural work tracing the sources of his inspiration and assessing this particular line of his work in the broader setting of the reception of Minoan and Mycenaean antiquities in the first half of the 20th century.
"The House M quarter lies in the northwestern part of the Mycenae citadel, situated closely to th... more "The House M quarter lies in the northwestern part of the Mycenae citadel, situated closely to the northern approach from the Lion Gate to the palace on the top of the hill.
Excavations in this area were conducted twice, first by Tsountas in the late 19th c., who left no record of his extensive activities, and then by Mylonas from 1962 to 1964, who published some of the results in preliminary reports.
The most conspicuous building of this quarter, House M, presents several notable architectural features which speak of its special function and should be interconnected with the activities that took place in its premises.
Despite post-mycenaean disturbances and Tsountas’s intervention, Mylonas detected a few intact assemblages both inside the building and in the lower basement room to its north, where much of the superstructure collapsed following an earthquake at the end of the 13th c. B.C.
The detailed study of the facts and finds of these assemblages led to rather unexpected results, as they furnished enough significant evidence to associate House M with cultic activities.
This is an inference of considerable implications since it is widely accepted that divine worship inside the citadel of Mycenae was essentially limited to the shrines of the Cult Centre in the southwest slope.
"
Kosmos; Jewellery, Adornment and Textiles in the Aegean Bronze Age, Proceedings of the 13th International Aegean Conference, University of Copenhagen, Danish National Research Foundation’s Centre for Textile Research, 21-26 April 2010, Leuven-Liège 2012, Aegaeum 33, 2012
In Greek, in Efi Sapouna-Sakellarakis, Erietta Deligianni-Kotsi (eds), I wish to speak about this... more In Greek, in Efi Sapouna-Sakellarakis, Erietta Deligianni-Kotsi (eds), I wish to speak about this memory. In Memoriam Yannis Sakellarakis, Vikelaia Municipal Library, Herakleion 2012.
Chapters in books by Vassiliki Pliatsika
Μ. Λαγογιάννη-Γεωργακαράκου, Θ. Κουτσογιάννης (επιμ.), Δι'αυτά πολεμήσαμεν. Αρχαιότητες και Ελληνική Επανάσταση, Αθήνα 2019, 2019
Στα χρόνια που ακολούθησαν τις συγκλονιστικές ανακαλύψεις του Heinrich Schliemann και του Παναγιώ... more Στα χρόνια που ακολούθησαν τις συγκλονιστικές ανακαλύψεις του Heinrich Schliemann και του Παναγιώτη Σταματάκη, ανέτειλε μια προσωπικότητα που έμελε να διαδραματίσει καθοριστικό ρόλο στην ελληνική αρχαιολογία.
M. Lagogianni-Georgakarakos, Th. Koutsogiannis (eds), These are what we fought for. Antiquities and the Greek War of Independence, Athens 2020, 2020
In the years that followed the amazing discoveries by Heinrich Schliemann and Panagiotis Stamatak... more In the years that followed the amazing discoveries by Heinrich Schliemann and Panagiotis Stamatakis, emerged a figure that was destined to play a pivotal role in Greek archaeology.
B. Steinmann (ed.), Mykene. Die sagenhafte Welt des Agamemnon, Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe, exhibition katalogue, 2018
Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe, 2018
A brief summary of the evolution of mycenaean pottery
M. Lagogianni-Georgakarakos (ed.), The Countless Aspects of Beauty in Ancient Art, 2018
The ideal of female beauty in the Mycenaean age is formed through the
total of available evidence... more The ideal of female beauty in the Mycenaean age is formed through the
total of available evidence, from the archaeological remains, records written on Linear B tablets and, more importantly, iconography. Combining the sources, and despite the obvious limitations, a coherent picture of the aesthetic presence of the female figure in Mycenaean times emerges, an archetype that functioned in conjunction with the capacities and roles performed by women in Mycenaean society – even as far as the sphere of the supernatural.
Μ. Λαγογιάννη-Γεωργακαράκου (επιμ.), Οι Αμέτρητες Όψεις του Ωραίου στην Αρχαία Τέχνη, Αθήνα 2018 (κατάλογος έκθεσης, Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο), 2018
Η αναζήτηση του αισθητικού ιδεώδους της γυναικείας μορφής στη μυκηναϊκή εποχή προσπίπτει στο πλήθ... more Η αναζήτηση του αισθητικού ιδεώδους της γυναικείας μορφής στη μυκηναϊκή εποχή προσπίπτει στο πλήθος των περιορισμών που επιβάλλουν τα σωζόμενα αρχαιολογικά κατάλοιπα και οι γραπτές πηγές, και κατεξοχήν ανιχνεύεται στα διαθέσιμα μέσα της εικονογραφίας: τοιχογραφίες και λάρνακες, εικονιστική κεραμεική, σφραγιστικά αντικείμενα, ειδωλοπλαστική και μικροτεχνία. Εκεί αποτυπώνεται η γυναικεία μορφή και διαγράφεται η ιδανική εικόνα στην οποία θα έτειναν οι γυναίκες της μυκηναϊκής εποχής.
Είναι γνωστό ότι στη μυκηναϊκή τέχνη δεν αποδίδονται κατά κανόνα σκηνές της καθημερινότητας, αλλά ως επί το πλείστον παραστάσεις από τη ζωή μιας ομάδας αριστοκρατών που γνωρίζουμε ότι λειτουργούσε κοινωνικά γύρω από τον μυκηναίο άνακτα, σκηνές τελετουργίας κοσμικού και θρησκευτικού χαρακτήρα, καθώς και παραστάσεις από τον κόσμο του υπερφυσικού. Σε αυτό το πραγματικό και φαντασιακό πλαίσιο η γυναικεία μορφή είναι παρούσα και ορατή σε ρόλους κομβικούς: είναι θεότητα και ιέρεια, είναι λατρεύτρια, είναι μητέρα και τροφός, είναι θρηνωδός.
Οι ρόλοι της γυναίκας αντικατοπτρίζονται αναπόφευκτα στην αισθητική της παρουσία, ωστόσο εν τέλει μέσα από το σύνολο των εικονογραφικών δεδομένων, μέσα από το σύνολο των πολλών εικόνων δύναται να αναζητηθεί μία συνισταμένη εικόνα, ένα αισθητικό πρότυπο: η ιδανική Μυκηναία.
K. Kissas (ed.), Ancient Corinthia, Athens 2013 , 2013
Κ.Σ.Ι. Κίσσας (επίμ.), Αρχαία Κορινθία, Αθήνα 2013
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Papers by Vassiliki Pliatsika
This boy was Demetrius Caclamanos, who grew up to become a renowned journalist, editor-in-chief of the Greek newspaper Ἄστυ and publisher of the Νέον Ἄστυ newspaper. He moved on to an illustrious career in Greek foreign affairs as an eminent diplomat serving his country in key positions, stationed in several capitals of Europe. Among other achievements, he represented the Greek State at the League of Nations and co-signed the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 with Eleftherios Venizelos.
Caclamanos wrote down an account of what he saw at Mycenae during the Schliemann excavation and after. This previously untapped account proves most valuable for Mycenaean archaeology and its history, providing further documentation for Schliemann’s work in Grave Circle A at Mycenae, as well as information on the post-excavation fate of Mycenaean relics.
In this paper we present in detail Caclamanos’ account, associating it with specific excavation data and finds, combining knowledge extracted from Schliemann’s writings on Mycenae, Panagiotis Stamatakis’s excavation notebook, contemporary archival sources, and later archaeological research results.
Caclamanos’ treasured memory, kept vivid throughout his lifetime, becomes a new treasure for Mycenaean scholarship today.
"Why so Serious? An Extraordinary Cone Shell Group from Mycenae and the Problem of Identifying Mycenaean Board Gaming Material"
in Caré, B., Dasen, V., Schädler, U. (eds), Back to the Game: Reframing Play and Games in Context. XXI Board Game Studies Annual Colloquium, International Society for Board Game Studies, April, 24-26, 2018, Benaki Museum – Italian School of Archaeology at Athens, Lisbon, Associação Ludus, 2021 (= Board Game Studies Journal, 16, 2022, p. 51-93)
Abstract
In 1974 in Room Θ3 of House Θ in the Southwest Quarter of the Mycenae citadel, an extraordinary find came to light: 545 conus mediterraneus ventricosus shells were found together with 12 small objects in a crevice of the bedrock. 353 cones were intentionally pierced and ground, and 9 of them were filled with lead. This assemblage includes the largest collection of cone shells known from the Late Bronze Age Aegean, and it is now possible to attempt an interpretation of its use, after the publication of the Southwest Quarter excavation. The find is examined in detail, in comparison to other large cone shell groups from Mycenaean contexts. The facts suggest that the Θ3 assemblage artefacts could have been markers for a kind of game, for which games of strategy, skill and chance known in the Eastern Mediterranean, are suggested as possible candidates. Under this hypothesis, context finds from the Room Θ3 deposit are also examined.
This study highlights the difficulty in identifying the material remains of
board games, as well as the need to include the game – being a basic
human activity- in the potential interpretations of archaeological
records from the Mycenaean period.
Paper accessible online here: https://www.sciendo.com/article/10.2478/bgs-2022-0003
The tholos tomb at Menidi in the Acharnai municipality, one of three tholoi in Attica (along with the Marathon and Thorikos tombs), displays a unique innovation, having the relieving triangle of the façade replaced with a grid of horizontal stones over the lintel. The study of the pottery indicates that the monument was in use during the LH IIIB1 period and probably already in use by LH IIIA2; however, it is not possible to determine more accurately the date of construction, the period of use and the number of burials it contained. The earlier tholos tombs of Thorikos and Marathon seem to have influenced the architectural form of the monument in Acharnai. The relieving triangle formed internally and filled with smaller stones, is also present in tholos tomb III at Thorikos and has recently been recognized in the tholos tomb of Aegisthus in Mycenae; it is therefore a feature dating already in the LH II period.
The abundance and high quality of the finds stress the prominent social position of the tomb’s occupants. The burial offerings included Canaanite amphorae, stone vases, sealstones, jewellery of various materials, and ivories, among which fragments of
two lyres and a pyxis with a lid decorated with engraved goats, like the one represented on the Tiryns procession fresco.
Στις 16 Μαρτίου 1912, το Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο παρέλαβε ένα σπάνιο αγγείο: έναν πρακτικά ακέραιο μυκηναϊκό αμφοροειδή κρατήρα εικονιστικού ρυθμού. Tο αγγείο διακοσμείται σε κάθε όψη με παράσταση βοοειδών που ερωτοτροπούν και γι’ αυτό προτείνεται η ονομασία του ως «Κρατήρας των Βοοειδών που Ερωτοτροπούν». H μελέτη αυτή διερευνά το ιστορικό της αγοράς του κρατήρα στις αρχές του 20ού αιώνα, επιχειρεί να διαφωτίσει το ζήτημα της προέλευσής του και αναλύει τα μοναδικά τεχνοτροπικά και εικονογραφικά χαρακτηριστικά του.
Despite their central role in the feasting activities of the Mycenaean Palatial period, kylikes were not a very popular shape in the Mycenaean pictorial pottery repertoire, evidently because of their limited available painting space. The pictorial kylikes known from Mycenae are usually decorated with isolated motifs -birds, animals and fish- or small emblematic compositions.
In this paper I am discussing a significant group of pictorial kylikes from Mycenae which, despite their fragmentary state of preservation, evidently portray fragments of more complex compositions involving human figures in various activities.
Valuable information springs from the iconographical analysis and eventually the evaluation of the subject choice in relation to the pottery shape leads to the suggestion that these particular vases were used in feasting activities by exceptional male members of the elite in the Mycenae citadel.
Excavations in this area were conducted twice, first by Tsountas in the late 19th c., who left no record of his extensive activities, and then by Mylonas from 1962 to 1964, who published some of the results in preliminary reports.
The most conspicuous building of this quarter, House M, presents several notable architectural features which speak of its special function and should be interconnected with the activities that took place in its premises.
Despite post-mycenaean disturbances and Tsountas’s intervention, Mylonas detected a few intact assemblages both inside the building and in the lower basement room to its north, where much of the superstructure collapsed following an earthquake at the end of the 13th c. B.C.
The detailed study of the facts and finds of these assemblages led to rather unexpected results, as they furnished enough significant evidence to associate House M with cultic activities.
This is an inference of considerable implications since it is widely accepted that divine worship inside the citadel of Mycenae was essentially limited to the shrines of the Cult Centre in the southwest slope.
"
Chapters in books by Vassiliki Pliatsika
total of available evidence, from the archaeological remains, records written on Linear B tablets and, more importantly, iconography. Combining the sources, and despite the obvious limitations, a coherent picture of the aesthetic presence of the female figure in Mycenaean times emerges, an archetype that functioned in conjunction with the capacities and roles performed by women in Mycenaean society – even as far as the sphere of the supernatural.
Είναι γνωστό ότι στη μυκηναϊκή τέχνη δεν αποδίδονται κατά κανόνα σκηνές της καθημερινότητας, αλλά ως επί το πλείστον παραστάσεις από τη ζωή μιας ομάδας αριστοκρατών που γνωρίζουμε ότι λειτουργούσε κοινωνικά γύρω από τον μυκηναίο άνακτα, σκηνές τελετουργίας κοσμικού και θρησκευτικού χαρακτήρα, καθώς και παραστάσεις από τον κόσμο του υπερφυσικού. Σε αυτό το πραγματικό και φαντασιακό πλαίσιο η γυναικεία μορφή είναι παρούσα και ορατή σε ρόλους κομβικούς: είναι θεότητα και ιέρεια, είναι λατρεύτρια, είναι μητέρα και τροφός, είναι θρηνωδός.
Οι ρόλοι της γυναίκας αντικατοπτρίζονται αναπόφευκτα στην αισθητική της παρουσία, ωστόσο εν τέλει μέσα από το σύνολο των εικονογραφικών δεδομένων, μέσα από το σύνολο των πολλών εικόνων δύναται να αναζητηθεί μία συνισταμένη εικόνα, ένα αισθητικό πρότυπο: η ιδανική Μυκηναία.
This boy was Demetrius Caclamanos, who grew up to become a renowned journalist, editor-in-chief of the Greek newspaper Ἄστυ and publisher of the Νέον Ἄστυ newspaper. He moved on to an illustrious career in Greek foreign affairs as an eminent diplomat serving his country in key positions, stationed in several capitals of Europe. Among other achievements, he represented the Greek State at the League of Nations and co-signed the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 with Eleftherios Venizelos.
Caclamanos wrote down an account of what he saw at Mycenae during the Schliemann excavation and after. This previously untapped account proves most valuable for Mycenaean archaeology and its history, providing further documentation for Schliemann’s work in Grave Circle A at Mycenae, as well as information on the post-excavation fate of Mycenaean relics.
In this paper we present in detail Caclamanos’ account, associating it with specific excavation data and finds, combining knowledge extracted from Schliemann’s writings on Mycenae, Panagiotis Stamatakis’s excavation notebook, contemporary archival sources, and later archaeological research results.
Caclamanos’ treasured memory, kept vivid throughout his lifetime, becomes a new treasure for Mycenaean scholarship today.
"Why so Serious? An Extraordinary Cone Shell Group from Mycenae and the Problem of Identifying Mycenaean Board Gaming Material"
in Caré, B., Dasen, V., Schädler, U. (eds), Back to the Game: Reframing Play and Games in Context. XXI Board Game Studies Annual Colloquium, International Society for Board Game Studies, April, 24-26, 2018, Benaki Museum – Italian School of Archaeology at Athens, Lisbon, Associação Ludus, 2021 (= Board Game Studies Journal, 16, 2022, p. 51-93)
Abstract
In 1974 in Room Θ3 of House Θ in the Southwest Quarter of the Mycenae citadel, an extraordinary find came to light: 545 conus mediterraneus ventricosus shells were found together with 12 small objects in a crevice of the bedrock. 353 cones were intentionally pierced and ground, and 9 of them were filled with lead. This assemblage includes the largest collection of cone shells known from the Late Bronze Age Aegean, and it is now possible to attempt an interpretation of its use, after the publication of the Southwest Quarter excavation. The find is examined in detail, in comparison to other large cone shell groups from Mycenaean contexts. The facts suggest that the Θ3 assemblage artefacts could have been markers for a kind of game, for which games of strategy, skill and chance known in the Eastern Mediterranean, are suggested as possible candidates. Under this hypothesis, context finds from the Room Θ3 deposit are also examined.
This study highlights the difficulty in identifying the material remains of
board games, as well as the need to include the game – being a basic
human activity- in the potential interpretations of archaeological
records from the Mycenaean period.
Paper accessible online here: https://www.sciendo.com/article/10.2478/bgs-2022-0003
The tholos tomb at Menidi in the Acharnai municipality, one of three tholoi in Attica (along with the Marathon and Thorikos tombs), displays a unique innovation, having the relieving triangle of the façade replaced with a grid of horizontal stones over the lintel. The study of the pottery indicates that the monument was in use during the LH IIIB1 period and probably already in use by LH IIIA2; however, it is not possible to determine more accurately the date of construction, the period of use and the number of burials it contained. The earlier tholos tombs of Thorikos and Marathon seem to have influenced the architectural form of the monument in Acharnai. The relieving triangle formed internally and filled with smaller stones, is also present in tholos tomb III at Thorikos and has recently been recognized in the tholos tomb of Aegisthus in Mycenae; it is therefore a feature dating already in the LH II period.
The abundance and high quality of the finds stress the prominent social position of the tomb’s occupants. The burial offerings included Canaanite amphorae, stone vases, sealstones, jewellery of various materials, and ivories, among which fragments of
two lyres and a pyxis with a lid decorated with engraved goats, like the one represented on the Tiryns procession fresco.
Στις 16 Μαρτίου 1912, το Εθνικό Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο παρέλαβε ένα σπάνιο αγγείο: έναν πρακτικά ακέραιο μυκηναϊκό αμφοροειδή κρατήρα εικονιστικού ρυθμού. Tο αγγείο διακοσμείται σε κάθε όψη με παράσταση βοοειδών που ερωτοτροπούν και γι’ αυτό προτείνεται η ονομασία του ως «Κρατήρας των Βοοειδών που Ερωτοτροπούν». H μελέτη αυτή διερευνά το ιστορικό της αγοράς του κρατήρα στις αρχές του 20ού αιώνα, επιχειρεί να διαφωτίσει το ζήτημα της προέλευσής του και αναλύει τα μοναδικά τεχνοτροπικά και εικονογραφικά χαρακτηριστικά του.
Despite their central role in the feasting activities of the Mycenaean Palatial period, kylikes were not a very popular shape in the Mycenaean pictorial pottery repertoire, evidently because of their limited available painting space. The pictorial kylikes known from Mycenae are usually decorated with isolated motifs -birds, animals and fish- or small emblematic compositions.
In this paper I am discussing a significant group of pictorial kylikes from Mycenae which, despite their fragmentary state of preservation, evidently portray fragments of more complex compositions involving human figures in various activities.
Valuable information springs from the iconographical analysis and eventually the evaluation of the subject choice in relation to the pottery shape leads to the suggestion that these particular vases were used in feasting activities by exceptional male members of the elite in the Mycenae citadel.
Excavations in this area were conducted twice, first by Tsountas in the late 19th c., who left no record of his extensive activities, and then by Mylonas from 1962 to 1964, who published some of the results in preliminary reports.
The most conspicuous building of this quarter, House M, presents several notable architectural features which speak of its special function and should be interconnected with the activities that took place in its premises.
Despite post-mycenaean disturbances and Tsountas’s intervention, Mylonas detected a few intact assemblages both inside the building and in the lower basement room to its north, where much of the superstructure collapsed following an earthquake at the end of the 13th c. B.C.
The detailed study of the facts and finds of these assemblages led to rather unexpected results, as they furnished enough significant evidence to associate House M with cultic activities.
This is an inference of considerable implications since it is widely accepted that divine worship inside the citadel of Mycenae was essentially limited to the shrines of the Cult Centre in the southwest slope.
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total of available evidence, from the archaeological remains, records written on Linear B tablets and, more importantly, iconography. Combining the sources, and despite the obvious limitations, a coherent picture of the aesthetic presence of the female figure in Mycenaean times emerges, an archetype that functioned in conjunction with the capacities and roles performed by women in Mycenaean society – even as far as the sphere of the supernatural.
Είναι γνωστό ότι στη μυκηναϊκή τέχνη δεν αποδίδονται κατά κανόνα σκηνές της καθημερινότητας, αλλά ως επί το πλείστον παραστάσεις από τη ζωή μιας ομάδας αριστοκρατών που γνωρίζουμε ότι λειτουργούσε κοινωνικά γύρω από τον μυκηναίο άνακτα, σκηνές τελετουργίας κοσμικού και θρησκευτικού χαρακτήρα, καθώς και παραστάσεις από τον κόσμο του υπερφυσικού. Σε αυτό το πραγματικό και φαντασιακό πλαίσιο η γυναικεία μορφή είναι παρούσα και ορατή σε ρόλους κομβικούς: είναι θεότητα και ιέρεια, είναι λατρεύτρια, είναι μητέρα και τροφός, είναι θρηνωδός.
Οι ρόλοι της γυναίκας αντικατοπτρίζονται αναπόφευκτα στην αισθητική της παρουσία, ωστόσο εν τέλει μέσα από το σύνολο των εικονογραφικών δεδομένων, μέσα από το σύνολο των πολλών εικόνων δύναται να αναζητηθεί μία συνισταμένη εικόνα, ένα αισθητικό πρότυπο: η ιδανική Μυκηναία.
http://thesis.ekt.gr/thesisBookReader/id/19748#page/1/mode/2up
The research object of the thesis is a special category of Late Helladic III pottery (whole vases and sherds) from Mycenae that is decorated with pictorial motifs: human figures, various animals, birds and fish, as well as fantastic beings. The thesis aimed in filling the lack of a thorough study of the pictorial pottery from Mycenae, which was probably the most important center of the LH III period in mainland Greece with an active role in the network of contacts of the eastern Mediterranean.
During the research a total of almost 600 pictorial vases and sherds was examined, about a third of which was previously unpublished and was presented in this work for the first time; this is a significant number for such a category of objects and it allowed the opportunity of reaching safe statistical conclusions on several issues.
The analysis advanced on three basic lines: a. observing the development of the pictorial style in the pottery from Mycenae; b. trying to identify patterns for the production, circulation and final use of the pictorial vases in Mycenae; c. evaluating the information derived from the pictorial decoration.
The following are the most important conclusions: 1. in Mycenae we are able to detect all the phases of the development of the pictorial style in Mycenaean ceramics; 2. although the production of pictorial pottery has not been verified in excavation, there is evidence enough in identifying the work of specific vase-painters and workshops; 3. the pictorial vases have not been found in funerary, but almost exclusively in domestic contexts, and are seemingly more popular with the people living inside the acropolis at Mycenae; 4. Tableware used in Mycenaean symposia, ritual vessels and vases holding some valued substance are the most favoured shapes bearing pictorial motifs; 5. The iconographic analysis produced a large number of observations on the composition and structure of the pictorial representations, on the rendering of the subjects, their popularity, etc. Some of the representations were original, but there were also more standard types that reflect similarities with other known representations on vases from the Aegean, Cyprus and the Near East, as well as on other objects, e.g. larnakes and frescoes.
In general, the presentation and thorough commentary of the material lead to drawing several conclusions not only on specific issues, but also of a more general nature on various aspects of the Mycenaean civilisation.
Το ιδιαίτερο αυτό σύνολο περιλαμβάνει τη μεγαλύτερη συλλογή κώνων που έχει βρεθεί στην περιοχή του Αιγαίου κατά την Ύστερη Εποχή του Χαλκού, αλλά, παρά την μοναδικότητά του, το εύρημα δεν είχε ως τώρα αξιολογηθεί επαρκώς. Η τελική δημοσίευση της ανασκαφής της Νοτιοδυτικής Συνοικίας των Μυκηνών επιτρέπει πλέον την απόπειρα ερμηνείας της χρήσης του.
Στο πλαίσιο της παρούσας μελέτης το εύρημα παρουσιάζεται αναλυτικά και εξετάζεται σε συνάρτηση με άλλα παρόμοια σύνολα κώνων από τον ίδιο πολιτιστικό ορίζοντα. Τα δεδομένα υποδεικνύουν ότι τα όστρεα και τα μολύβδινα μικροαντικείμενα που βρέθηκαν στο δωμάτιο Θ3 αποτελούσαν μεμονωμένα στοιχεία για κάποιο είδος επιτραπέζιου παιχνιδιού. Υπό το πρίσμα αυτής της ερμηνείας μελετώνται και σχετικά συνευρήματα από την επίχωση του δωματίου Θ3.
Προκειμένου να αναζητηθεί το είδος του παιχνιδιού στο οποίο θα χρησιμοποιούνταν οι κώνοι και τα μολύβδινα μικροαντικείμενα, εξετάζονται τα σύγχρονα παιχνίδια στρατηγικής, δεξιότητας και τύχης που είναι γνωστά από άλλες περιοχές της Ανατολικής Μεσογείου, καθώς και μεταγενέστερα από τους ιστορικούς χρόνους. Ακολούθως προτείνονται τα επιτραπέζια παιχνίδια στα οποία θα μπορούσε να χρησιμοποιηθεί το σύνολο του Θ3.
Με αφορμή το ασυνήθιστο εύρημα των Μυκηνών, επισημαίνεται η γενικότερη δυσκολία της αναγνώρισης των υλικών καταλοίπων των επιτραπέζιων παιχνιδιών που ασφαλώς θα υπήρχαν κατά τη μυκηναϊκή
εποχή και θα απευθύνονταν τόσο σε παιδιά όσο και ενήλικες. Οι λιγοστές περιπτώσεις όπου αναγνωρίζονται με σχετική ασφάλεια τέτοια κατάλοιπα αποδεικνύουν πόσο συναρπαστικό είναι το συγκεκριμένο ερευνητικό πεδίο και πόσο λίγο έχει μελετηθεί. Κυρίως υπογραμμίζουν την ανάγκη να συμπεριλαμβάνεται και το παιχνίδι -ως βασική ανθρώπινη δραστηριότητα- στις πιθανές ερμηνείες των αρχαιολογικών ευρημάτων της μυκηναϊκής περιόδου.
Στο κείμενο που ακολουθεί η δρ Βασιλική Πλιάτσικα, Αρχαιολόγος στο Τμήμα Συλλογής Προϊστορικών, Αιγυπτιακών, Κυπριακών και Ανατολικών Αρχαιοτήτων του Εθνικού Αρχαιολογικού Μουσείου, παρουσιάζει ένα πήλινο μυκηναϊκό είδωλο γυναικείας μορφής που εκτίθεται στη Μυκηναϊκή Αίθουσα (προθήκη 33, αρ. 22).