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AMERICAN SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL STUDIES AT ATHENS
EXPLORATIONS IN THE
ISLAND OF MOCHLOS
BY
RICHARD B. SEAGER
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
PUBLISHED BY THE AMERICAN SCHOOL
OF CLASSICAL STUDIES AT ATHENS
1912
Copyright, 1912, bt
the trustees of the american school
OF CLASSICAL STUDIES AT ATHENS
ALL RIGHTS RESER\T:D
PRINTED AT THE BUMFORD PRESS
CONCORD N. H.
COLOR PLATES BT OATCHEL AND
MANNING PHILADELPHIA
'H3
C^S'
PREFATORY NOTE
This book is a report of the excavations at Mochlos, off the coast
of Crete, which I conducted in the spring and summer of 1908. The
expense of the work was borne jointly by friends of the Museum of
Fine Arts in Boston, by the American School of Classical Studies
at Athens, which obtained the concession from the Cretan authori-
ties, and by myself. The objects which I was allowed to take out
of Crete are in the Museum at Boston. The expense of this publica-
tion is borne by the School at Athens. A brief report on the work in
the town of Mochlos appeared in the American Journal of Archae-
ology, Vol. XIII, 1909, pp. 273-303.
I wish to give hearty thanks to the many friends who have helped
me in various ways. Among these I would mention especially the
two Cretan Ephors, Doctor Hatzidakis and Doctor Xanthoudides,
Mr. B. H. Hill, the Director of the School at Athens, Mr. Gar-
diner M. Lane, the President of the Trustees of the Museum, Sir
Arthur Evans, Miss Edith H. Hall, and the Committee on Publica-
tions of the School at Athens, Professor G. H. Chase, Professor J. R.
Wheeler, and Professor H. N. Fowler. Miss Hall has read the
manuscript and has offered many valuable suggestions. The mem-
bers of the Committee have read both manuscript and proof and
have aided me greatly by their advice and counsel.
Richard B. Seagek.
October 7, 1911.
796945
CONTENTS
PAGE
Introduction . 1
The Early Minoan Period
6
The Cemetery ....
13
The Northwest Group of Tombs .
14
The Main Slope ....
15
The Chamber Tombs .
17
Tomb I . . . .
18
Tomb II ....
22
Tomb III ....
37
TombV ....
42
Tomb IV ....
44
Tomb VI ....
50
The Smaller Tombs .
56
Tomb VII ....
56
Tombs VIII, IX, X
57
Tomb XI ....
58
Tomb XII ....
61
Tomb XIII ....
63
Tombs XIV, XV .
65
Tomb XVI ....
66
Tomb XVII
68
Tomb XVIII
69
Tomb XIX ....
70
Tomb XX ....
74
Tomb XXI ....
75
Tomb XXII
78
Tomb XXIII
79
Other Stone Vases from the Cemetery
80
Miscellaneous Clay Vases
81
Child Burials of the M. M. Ill and L. M
[. I Periods
87
A Late Minoan I Burial
89
The Pottery from the Cemetery
92
The E. M. I Period .
92
The E. M. II Period .
96
The E. M. Ill Period .
97
The M. M. I Period .
98
The Stone Vases ....
99
The Jewelry ....
104
Objects of Copper and Bronze
106
Seal Stones
108
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
INTRODUCTION
In the history of archaeology no discoveries have raised greater
controversy or proved more fascinating to the general public than
those of Minoan Crete. When, years ago, Schliemann opened the
shaft graves at Mycenae many scholars refused to accept them as
belonging to a prehellenic civilization. They found it hard to
believe that behind the art of classic Greece lay centuries of civili-
zation and culture reaching back into the dim ages contemporary
with the earliest dynasties of Egypt. It was not easy to convince
the enthusiastic admirers of Hellenic civilization that the art of
Greece was no sudden and unaided flowering of a half barbarous and
obscure race, but that in reality it had felt the impulse and influence
of an art and civilization which existed centuries before. Yet we
now know that such was the case. The classic Greek was the
product of an ancient race mixed with the blood of wandering
tribes of barbarians who for a time had blotted out the results of
centuries of artistic development. Homer's stories of Achaean
splendor were no idle tales but had a foundation of solid fact. In
his day the old order was a thing of the past, but legends of
former magnificence were still handed down from father to son.
The various artistic masterpieces possessed by the Achaeans were
regarded as the work of the gods, far surpassing anything that
could be made by human hands in the days when the epos was
composed. There is little doubt that the Achaeans did possess
Note. The titles of books and periodicals to which reference is frequently made are abbrevi-
ated as follows:
A. J. A. — American Journal of Archaeology, Second Series, 1897- .
Anth. Publ. = Anthropological Publications, the Museum, University of Pennsylvania, 190&- .
B. S. A. = Annual of the British School at Athens, 1899- .
Dawn Med. Civ. = Dawn of the Mediterranean Civilization by Angelo Mosso, London,
1910.
'Ey. ' Al>X- — Etp-qn^pi^ ' A pxoiioXoj'txij , 1837- .
Goumia. = Goumia, Vasiliki and other Prehistoric Sites on the Isthmus of Hierapetra, Crete,
by Harriet Boyd Hawes, Philadelphia, 1908.
J. tf. S. = Journal of Hellenic Studies, 1880- .
A/on. Ant. = Monument! Antichi pubblicati per cura della Reale Accademia dei Lincei.
1889- .
Phylakopi. = Excavations at Phylakopi in Melos, published by the Society for the Promotion
of Hellenic Studies, London, 1904.
Trant. = Transactions, Department of Archaeology, University of Pennsylvania, 1904- .
2 1
2 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
such objects, but it is probable that they were really the spoil of
the many Minoan towns and palaces which had fallen at the
hands of the invaders. The Minoan civilization was finally
destroyed about 1200 b.c. by rude tribes who entered Greece
from the north and, sweeping down into the Peloponnesus,
spread themselves through the islands of the Aegean. A period
of great unrest seems to have existed in Crete for 200 to 250
years before the final extinction of the Minoan civilization, and
the first signs that the Minoan power was tottering to its fall were
apparent as early as the end of the Late Minoan II period. The
identity of the people who first weakened the foundations of this
long-established civilization is not clear. It is more than likely that
Homer's Achaeans were among those who plundered the rich towns
and palaces of Crete, but whether these Achaeans were a mainland
branch of the Minoan race or one of the invading tribes from the
north is still a much disputed point. Following closely on the heels
of the first invaders of the Minoan kingdom came other warlike tribes
among whom must be included the iron-using Dorians, and for some
two or three centuries the Aegean appears to have been the scene of
constant invasions and migrations, the battle ground of a series of
robber princes. During this period of chaotic darkness the old
civilization was swept away. Minoan Crete became a thing of
the past and the remnant of its many inhabitants led a hand-to-
mouth existence in mountain fastnesses well out of the reach of
roving bands of pirates. The splendor of Mycenae also vanished,
but traditions of former greatness still persisted wherever the
old stock survived the constant streams of barbarous conquerors.
When the influx of northmen stopped and the Aegean had ceased
to be the battle ground of nations, we find the new intruders settling
themseh'es side by side with the remnants of the ancient population
now scattered broadcast through the lands known to us as Hellenic.
Whenever a race of northern origin settled in the Mediterranean
it very soon lost many of its own characteristics through intermar-
riage with the previous owners of the soil, as was the case, for exam-
ple, with the Greek Ptolemies in Egypt many centuries later. It
may be that a similar fate overtook the northern invaders of the
Aegean. If we assume that such was the case it is easy to see how,
once the newcomers began to lose their own characteristics, the
inherent artistic spirit of the conquered Minoans revived in the
mixed race, driving it into that amazingly rapid development
which seemed so inexplicable before the spade lent its aid to the
historian. This renaissance may be said to have begun with the
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS S
composing of the Homeric poems and probably started in parts of
the Aegean where the ancient Minoan stock had been least affected
by the new influx of foreign blood. We know that one of the prin-
cipal migrations from Crete was towards the coast of Asia Minor,'
and it is perhaps more than a coincidence that one finds in Asia
Minor both the traditional birth-place of the Homeric legends and
the first impulses of artistic regeneration.
In Crete excavations have uncovered the remains of a mighty
civilization whose towns and palaces not only covered the entire
island but spread themselves far and wide through the Aegean, even
reaching to the western Mediterranean and the northern end of
the Adriatic. These discoveries in Crete were begun in 1900 by
the representatives of four nations, England, Italy, the United
States and France. For the first few years the excavators them-
selves were as much amazed as the rest of the world by the objects
revealed on the various sites. Huge palaces came to light at Knossos
and Phaistos, while in the eastern part of Crete several small but
prosperous towns were uncovered which showed that the artistic
standard set by the palace sites was maintained in the lesser settle-
ments. The first question which arose was what name should be
given to this civilization and to the race who produced it. Many
suggestions were made, but by tacit consent it was left for Dr. Arthur
J. Evans as the doyen of Cretan excavators to settle the question.
Dr. Evans was one of the first to realize the probable result of
excavations in Crete as, some years before, he had discovered that
a prehistoric system of writing had been in use among the early inhab-
itants of the island. After some consideration he decided that it
would be reasonable to choose for this civilization the name with
which Crete was most closely connected in early history and legend.
Regarding Minos as a royal title, rather than the name of an indi-
vidual, he suggested that this new civilization should be called
Minoan. It appeared quite possible that more than one ruler bore
the name of Minos and that the appellation was dynastic like that
of Ptolemy in later Egypt. Although this nomenclature met with
a good deal of opposition at the time it was proposed, it has been
accepted by the various Cretan excavators and will be adhered to
in the following account of the Early Minoan cemetery of Mochlos.
Dr. Evans on the cumulative evidence afforded by the various
Cretan sites has drawn up a chronological scheme of the different
periods represented in the development of the Minoan culture.
The entire space of time, about 1500 years, occupied by the Minoan
■ Herodotus I, 173.
4 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
civilization from its beginnings at the end of the neolithic period
to its extinction in the 13th century B.C. is divided into three main
divisions, the Early, the Middle and the Late Minoan. In the
long space of time covered by these three divisions, Minoan culture
passed through many distinct stages of development, so that, for
the sake of convenience, the three main periods have been further
subdivided each into three parts. Thus we have Early Minoan I, II,
III, Middle Minoan I, II, III, and Late Minoan I, II, III, which
are usually abbreviated as E. M. I, M. M. II, L. M. Ill, and so on.
Each of these subdivisions is marked by the introduction of a new
style of pottery or a distinct change in the style then in use. Luck-
ily all the minor Cretan sites followed the fashions of the capital
cities more or less closely. Therefore when we find a new style
of decoration introduced at Knossos we are sure to find that it
was adopted more or less simultaneously throughout the entire
island.
To base chronological sequences upon the evidence of painted
clay pots may at first sight seem an uncertain method, but in Crete
these same pots, from a chronological point of view, are the most
important of all finds and afford a sure method of dating the objects
found with them. Most of the vessels used in Minoan dwellings
were of clay and of these a great number are painted.
In the 1500 years covered by this culture, the Minoans changed
both the shape and the decorative designs of these clay pots very
frequently, and by careful observation of the stratification on many
Minoan sites, these changes can be placed in chronological sequence.
Necessarily, if a certain type of potsherd is always found to underlie
the sherds of another given type on several sites, the only conclusion
possible is that the type which lies the lower must be the earlier in
date. Evidence of this sort from one site only might be open to
doubt, since through the convulsions of nature and the hand of man
strata sometimes become very much confused. When, however,
this evidence is confirmed by any number of sites in different parts
of the country it must be accepted as conclusive. With a little
practice therefore the Cretan excavator is enabled to date a vase
with great accuracy either by its decoration or, if it is unpainted,
by its shape, although this last is a less certain test. As a rule,
the changes in the decoration of Minoan pottery are clearly marked,
and it is almost impossible for one who has handled some hundreds
of sherds to confuse, say, a Middle Minoan fragment with one of
Late Minoan date. No one site offers clear stratification for all
nine of the Minoan periods, but on some the Early Minoan level
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 5
is especially well defined and on others the Middle or Late Minoan,
so that by putting together the evidence of the various Cretan
excavations we get a sure basis for our conclusions.
When the assertion is made that it is possible to date Cretan
objects it must be understood that the dates are only relatively
correct and are attained by a round-about method of reasoning.
It happens that the Minoans in certain stages of their develop-
ment were in close communication with Egypt, and fortunately
one can fix the dates of the majority of the Egyptian dynasties
with a fair degree of certainty.
The earliest signs of possible Egyptian influence in Crete are dis-
played on certain ivory seals which occur in Early Minoan deposits.
These bear striking analogies to the "button" seals of the Vlth
Dynasty in Egypt, which dates roughly from 2540 to 2360 B.C.
according to Professor Eduard Meyer's system. This evidence is
so slight that it cannot be accepted as absolutely fixing the date of
the Early Minoan period although this date is the one which best
agrees with the data furnished by the Cretan excavations. As we
shall see in the following pages, the stone vases from Mochlos
furnish additional and more convincing proof that the E. M.
period is synchronous with the Vlth Dynasty. Better evidence
is forthcoming regarding the Middle Minoan period when Egypt
again furnishes material for more certain dating than in the
preceding case. In 1907 Professor Garstang discovered an undis-
turbed Xllth Dynasty burial at Abydos which contained a vase
of the so-called "Kamares" ware, a fabric peculiar to the M.
M. period. With this vase were found purely Egyptian objects
including steatite cylinders bearing the names of Sesostris (Senu-
sert) III and Amenemhat III.' Similar evidence had already
tended to show that the Xllth Dynasty was contemporary with
the M. M. II period and this discovery removed all further doubt.
The only question is the exact date of the Xllth Dynasty, over
which there is a good deal of disagreement among egyptologists.
At present the latest evidence points to a date about 2160 b.c. as
most probable. This date also agrees best with Minoan chronology.
An inscribed alabastron lid of King Khyan found at Knossos
would again connect Crete with Egypt during that confused period
which lay between the Xllth and the XVIIIth Dynasties. Unfor-
tunately we are unable to assign a date to this king who appears to
have been one of the Hyksos conquerors of Egypt. The alabastron
lid was found in a deposit which marked the dividing line between
> A. J. Evans, Ashmolcan Museum Report, 1907.
6 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
the M. M. Ill and L. M. I periods at Knossos; to this Dr. Evans
would assign the date of about 1600 B.C.*
Again in the XMIIth Dynasty under Thothmes III we find
Crete figuring largely on Egyptian monuments, and the "Keftiu"
or Minoans appear in more than one wall painting, notably those
in the tombs of Rekhmara and Senmut at Thebes. We know from
various bits of evidence that' the XVIIIth Dynasty was contem-
porarj' with the L. M. II period in Crete, and as Egyptian chronol-
ogy is fairly certain for that dynasty, we get a date of 1450 B.C. for
this second part of the Late Minoan epoch.
Of still later date are the quantities of L. M. Ill pottery yielded
by the excavations at Tell-el-Amarna, the capital of the heretic
king, Aklienaten. We know that this sort of ware never appears at
Knossos until after the destruction of the second palace. If we
accept Professor Meyer's date of 1380 B.C. for the accession of Akhen-
aten we must place the overthrow of Knossian power at a slightly
earlier date, which would be according to Dr. Evans soon after
the middle of the fifteenth century B.C.
Thus it will be seen that without the assistance of Egypt it would
have been very difficult, if not impossible, to assign any dates to the
various phases of Minoan culture. Even now the dates of the
Early Minoan period are rather uncertain, and as regards the long
neolithic culture which preceded it we are as much at sea as ever.
The Early Minoan Period
When Dr. Evans' scheme of Minoan chronology was pub-
lished in 1904, our knowledge of the first of its three main divi-
sions, the Early Minoan, was still more or leSs vague. At Knossos
almost all traces of the E. M. I, II and III periods disappeared
when the summit of the hill was cut away at the beginning of the M.
M. epoch to form the level space necessary for the construction of the
first palace. The pottery which lay between the floor levels of this M.
M. I palace and the underlying neolithic deposit seemed to fall into
three main classes. Wherever stratification could be clearly observed
these three classes were found to succeed one another always in the
same order. It is true that these remains were of very fragmentary
character, but enough was found to enable the excavators to draw
up a rough table of the various styles of pottery and their rela-
tions to one another in point of age.
No well-defined floor levels of the Early Minoan period were
found at Knossos until 1906. In the meantime evidence had been
' Scripta Minoa, Vol. I. pp. 30-31.
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 7
accumulating in other parts of the island, and the Knossian floor
levels merely confirmed the evidence of Vasiliki and other East
Cretan sites without throwing any very new light upon this early
culture. It is to these East Cretan sites that one must turn for a
better knowledge of the Early Minoan epoch. Unlike the palaces
of Knossos and Phaistos, these small towns have yielded great
masses of Early Minoan objects, thus filling a wide gap in our
knowledge of the development of Minoan culture.
Of E. M. I pottery we still know very little. It seems to have
formed a connecting link between the late neolithic ware of Knossos
and the succeeding incised sub-neolithic and mottled vases of the
E. M. II period. No site in the neighborhood of the Isthmus of
Hierapetra had produced a well-defined E. M. I deposit until, in
1908, a certain quantity of this ware was found in the early cemetery
of Mochlos. The examples from this deposit show little skill on
the part of the E. M. I potters. They are inferior both to the pre-
ceding neolitliic vases and to the mottled ware of the succeeding
period, although in shape they show a close connection with both.
In these E. M. I sherds from Mochlos the dark clays of the neolithic
period predominate, but on no fragments do we find incised designs
nor do they possess the highly polished surface of the true neolithic
ware. Great numbers of clay spoons or ladles were found; also
many examples of the goblet type of cup (see Fig. 23, No. VI, 11)
which is characteristic of the E. M. I period at Knossos, but which
in Eastern Crete lives on through the E. M. II epoch.
A few fragments of jugs show that this shape must have made its
first appearance toward the close of the E. M. I period. In these
the handle has always been attached by forcing it through the wall
of the vase while the clay was still moist, a method noted at Phyla-
kopi' and at Palaikastro.' As a whole this E. M. I ware is charac-
terized by rough hand-made vases of grey, black, and red clay of
coarse, gritty quality. The vases often have round, or nearly round,
bottoms after the manner of gourds, from which they were doubtless
copied, and are usually furnished with ridge handles pierced for
suspension {i.e., solid ridges of clay set horizontally on the body of
the vase). At Mochlos only one painted sherd was found in the
deposit mentioned above, and, as it is of the geometrical E. M. II
style, it probably dates from the very end of the E. M. I period, or
else it may have worked its way down from an upper level.
E. M. I vases have been found on several other sites. The
curious deposit from Hagios Nikolaos near Palaikastro belongs
I Phylakopi. p. 94. • B. S. A.. Vol. X, p. 200.
8 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
to this period,' as do certain vases from rock shelter burials at
Zakro,' Hagia Pliotia and Gournia.' In the Messara, examples
have occurred in the early domed tombs (tholoi) discovered by Dr.
Xanthoudides, and by the Italians at Phaistos and Hagia Triada,
though in no case in suflBcient quantity to furnish us with much
material upon which to work.
The first important discovery of E. M. II pottery was made in
1904 at Vasiliki,^ where a well preserved settlement of the E. M. II
and E. M. Ill periods came to light. The stratification was
clearly marked and showed that the E. M. II period passed
through two stages of development. The first was characterized
by sub-neolithic incised vases of fine grey clay and by a painted
ware bearing geometrical dark designs on a hand-polished buff
ground. This latter style, after suffering a complete eclipse in the
E. M. Ill period, was revived in the M. M. I epoch and so closely
copied that it is, at times, very hard to tell to which period vases of
this sort belong. The best means of classifying them is by their
shapes, which in the M. M. I examples had been considerably modi-
fied and no longer presented the extreme forms popular in E. M. II
wares.
Shortly after the beginning of the E. M. II period, a third style of
pottery made its appearance. This new ware was covered with a
hard paint of good quality which, owing to a curious method of
firing, has assumed a most brilliant mottled surface shading from
red and orange to black.' In shape these new vases were far in
advance of the vases of the two earlier fabrics with which they were
associated. This ware, made of fine-grained, buff clay, is chiefly
characterized by tall beaked jugs and bowls with long side spouts
which give the vessels an absurdly bird-like appearance. Although
no vases are properly wheel-made before the M. M. I period, certain
concentric striations noticeable on the insides of these mottled vessels
show that they were turned while still soft on some sort of primitive
appliance probably worked by hand. Though few in number at
the beginning of the E. M. II period, the mottled vases, shortly
after their first appearance, entirely superseded the incised and
dark-on-light geometric wares, and in the latter part of the period
we find them used to the entire exclusion of the two earlier
fabrics.
> B. S. A., Vol. IX, p. 339. • B. S. A., Vol. VII. p. 144.
« Goumia, p. 56, Figs. 37, 38.
« Trans., Vol. I, Part III. p. 207; Goumia, p. 49. Plates XII and B.
• Goumia, PI. B.
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 9
At Knossos, as has been said, some floor levels found in 1908
contained undisturbed deposits of this period, but by far the best
examples come from a large house at Vasiliki. This house, which
dates from the latter part of the E. M. II period, contained only
vases of the mottled technique. Later it was found to overlie a
still earlier building which contained examples of all the three classes
which are assigned to the E. M. II period. In the Messara, at
Koumasa and Porti, Dr. Xanthoudides found vessels of similar
type. They were also found at Palaikastro.' The E. M. II vases
from these sites, although identical in shape with those from Vasiliki,
are usually of dull red clay and lack the brilliant mottled surface
of the vases found on the Isthmus of Hierapetra. It would thus
appear either that the potters of Vasiliki used a clay of better
quality, or that their methods of painting and firing differed from
those of their contemporaries in other parts of the island.
Just at the end of the E. M. II period a new ware made its appear-
ance. Though reproducing all the shapes of that period, it orig-
inated a new technique in which a geometrical design was applied
in yellowish white on a ground of dark glaze-paint. The old mottled
fabrics of the E. M. II period did not yield immediately to this new
style, which is known as E. M. III. At first the two wares existed
side by side, but gradually, as the new technique gained ground,
the mottled vases decreased in number and at length completely
disappeared.
That the E. M. Ill period was of long duration seems clear.
In its earlier stages we find the mottled and new light-on-dark geo-
metric wares existing side by side, with the same forms common
to both. As the mottled vases disappear, the extreme shapes of
the previous period undergo considerable modification; the necks
of the jugs grow shorter, the long side spouts shrink to half their
former size, and by the time polychromy makes its appearance
it is hard to determine from shape alone whether the vases should
be classed as belonging to the E. M. Ill or the M. M. I period.
Another reason for allowing a long duration to this period is the
enormous quantity of the light-on-dark geometric ware that is found
on early sites on and near the Isthmus of Hierapetra. The first
large deposit was found in 1904 at Gournia, where a great heap
of these sherds had been piled up just outside the town limits.*
This heap was composed of thousands of fragments of the light-on-
dark geometric ware and must represent accumulations of a long
term of years.
•B. S. A., Vol. X, p. 197, Fig. 1. • Gournia. p. 57; Tram.. Vol. I, Part III. p. 191.
10 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
At Palaikastro E. M. Ill vases were found in 1903 stratified
above the E. M. II wares.' Gournia, where stratification could be
observed, furnished similar data. Thus the chronological sequence
of the mottled and the light-on-dark geometric styles was fixed
even without the evidence of Vasiliki, where the stratification
was best defined. There in 1906 a number of mottled sherds were
found lying at the bottom of a deep pit, probably an unfinished
well, the rest of which was filled with great masses of E. M. Ill vases.'
At Zakro and at Hagia Photia, E. M. Ill vases occurred in the rock
shelter burials already mentioned on p. 8. At Koumasa and Porti
in the Messara several large tholoi of the Early and Middle IVIinoan
periods have been cleared. These great burial chambers, which
evidently served as town charnel houses, confirmed the evidence
of Eastern Crete on all the main points. Certain minor differences
due to local varieties of form and decoration were observed; each
small settlement had its own methods of vase making and the clays
used differed widely in various parts of the island.
At Hagia Triada the Italian Expedition also cleared a similar
tholos of large size which yielded many small vases and objects
mixed with the remains of hundreds of bodies.' These tholoi of
the Messara, since they remained in use until some time in the M. M.
I period, do not furnish such good evidence for the classification of
objects as do well stratified town sites or even the small graves of
Eastern Crete, where a tomb and the objects it contains often
belong to one period, if not to a single interment.
Curiously enough no tholos of the Messara type has been found
in Eastern Crete, nor do the cist graves and chamber tombs of East-
ern Crete appear in the ^lessara. There is no reason to suppose
that this indicates any difference in race between the inhabitants of
the two parts of the island, as the objects associated with both
types of burial can belong only to one race and culture, so similar
are they in all their main aspects. The tholos never appears in
Eastern Crete until the L. M. Ill period and then must be regarded
as a type borrowed from the Greek mainland rather than the sur-
vival of the early tholoi of the Messara.
Although the Early ^L'noan deposits at Vasiliki, Gournia and
Palaikastro were remarkably rich in pottery, they gave but little
idea of this early culture as a whole. Here the gap was partially
filled by the Messara tholoi, which yielded examples of weapons,
stone vases and seals. The weapons were for the most part short
> B. S. A., Vol. XI, p. 271. Fig. 5. « Trans.. Vol. II, Part II, p. 118.
• Hon. Ant.. Vol. XIV, p. 678.
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCELOS 11
triangular daggers, although at the beginning of the M. M. I period
a more slender form appeared. The seals were of ivory and pre-
sented many striking analogies with Egyptian seals of the early
dynasties, especially with those of the Vlth. Marble idols of the
Cycladic type proved that these burials were contemporary with
the discoveries at Syra, Amorgos and other islands of the Cjclades.'
At Vasiliki in 1906, in a rock-cut well, some fragments of thin bowls
of colored marbles and limestone were found with E. M. Ill objects.^
In workmanship they were so far in advance of all that was known of
the E. M. period that it seemed hardly possible to accept them as
belonging to it. In reality they were the first examples of E. M.
stone cutting, such splendid specimens of which were to be discov-
ered two years later. In 1907 an early cemetery was found on the
island of Pseira; its graves contained numbers of vases of clay and
stone and showed that many shapes of the black steatite vases
common in the L. M. I period could be traced back to M. M. I orig-
inals and, in some cases, to even earlier types. The graves and
their contents indicated a people of poor condition possessing but
few objects of metal or of jewelry apart from stone beads. All this
fitted in with the data furnished by the primitive-looking pottery,
for the stone vases, with one or two exceptions, were of soft materials
and poor workmanship. On the other hand, the enormous number
of stone vases unearthed pointed to a period in which they were
highly prized and extensively manufactured. At Koumasa and
Porti many stone vases occurred, but like those of Pseira they were,
for the most part, of small size, poor workmanship and soft materials.
It was reserved for the cemetery of Mochlos to throw a new light
on the civilization of the Early Minoan periods. This cemetery of
twenty-three well preserved graves produced, in 1908, a great mass of
pottery, weapons, jewelry and stone vases, the workmanship of
which was extremely delicate and entirely unexpected. We can now
judge the E. M. II and E. M. Ill periods by the arts of stone cutting
and metal working, as well as bj'^ the ceramic art, which is less
advanced than the condition of the other two would lead one to
expect. These two periods must, therefore, be accepted as the age
of stone vases far excellence, just as the Middle Minoan period was
characterized by polychromy in the domain of painted pottery. In
view of these discoveries the word primitive, in its true sense, can
hardly be used to describe the E. M. II and E. M. Ill periods, although
it still applies to the E. M. I epoch. Between the end of the latter
and the beginning of the E. M. II age the advance in all branches of
•■£
CD
tn
r
o
FlQUKE 3. CnAMDEB T0UB8 N08. I, II AND III. ScALE 1 : 100
20 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
on a short foot, which certainly bears a striking resemblance, on a
small scale, to these larger burnished vessels. In the case of this
little dish there can be no question as to its use, since the clay
lump on the foot is clearly a handle by which to lift it as a dish.
Fragments of both the large vessels and these small dishes occurred
frequently in a deposit of E. M. I ware from the cemetery. The
little dishes were perhaps for votive use and may have served as
substitutes for the larger vessels like that in question from Tomb I.
Another vase similar to No. I, a, was found with it but so badly
rotted that it could not be preserved.
I. b (figs. 4, 13). Small jug of highly polished buff clay with
two diagonal bands of cross-hatched triangles on the shoulder (height
10.1 cm., diameter 8.5 cm.).
I. c (fig. 4). Bowl of black steatite (height 3 cm., diameter 6
cm.). This bowl was found near the surface of the burial deposit;
it may belong to the M. M. Ill period like the carneUan seal, Figure
6, No. I, s.
I. d (fig. 4) . Small jug of grey and white marble (height 3.5
cm., diameter 4.7 cm.).
I. e (fig. 4 AND PL. IV) . Unfinished bowl of grey and orange
breccia (height 6.4 cm., diameter 8.5 cm.). The unfinished state
of this bowl would tend to prove that these vases were made in
the town of Mochlos. Either this vase was not ready at the time
of the interment or else the flaw in the rim caused the maker to leave
it uncompleted. It shows th^t the vases were roughly chipped into
the required shape and then polished. In this example the rough
surface is still visible around the base.
I. / (fig. 4). Bowl of alabaster with a rim spout and three lip
handles (height 5.4 cm., diameter 13 cm.). This is a brilliantly
veined piece of stone like that used for the vases of Plate IV, No.
V, i, and Plate V, No. VI, 2.
I. g (fig. 4). Tiny bowl of translucent green steatite (height 1.5
cm., diameter 4 cm.).
I. h (fig. 4). Small jug of grey marble (height 3 cm., diameter
3.8 cm.).
I. i (figs. 4, 5) . Cover of green steatite with incised design and
handle in the form of a dog (diameter 11 cm.). This handle is the
earliest attempt at animal modeling found in the cemetery. The
a
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
21
dog is interesting as it represents a canine type which still exists in
Crete today. In any Cretan village one can see dozens of crop-
eared dogs of the same peculiar long-legged and emaciated type
which served the Minoan artist as his model for this handle some
4000 years ago. The ground work of incisions, together with the
pierced suspension holes, shows the influence of the incised sub-
neolithic ware which was just dying out when this tomb was built.
No fragment of any vase to which this cover could have belonged
came to light.
FiGCBE 6. Stone Coveb frou Toub I. Scale 1 : 1
I. j (fig. 4 AND PL. I). Bowl of grey and white marble with
bridge spout and three horizontal handles (height 7.5 cm., diam-
eter 17.5 cm.). This bowl is one of the largest found at Mochlos
and is complete except for a small piece of the rim.
I. k (fig. 44). Short triangular dagger blade (length 9.2 cm.).
This dagger is probably copper.'
I. I (fig. 44). Small cutter with remains of ivory handle (length
3 cm.). These cutters, which are probably of copper, were often
' If we accept Sig. Mosso's analyses of Early Minoan weapons, it would appear that they
arc of almost pure copper and that bronze, if known, was ran-ly used in the E. M. period
(Dawn Med. Civ., pp. 105-110). The Mochlos weapons and toilet articles have not been
analysed, but I imagine that if analyses are made, it will be found that no objects are of true
bronze before the M. M. I period. See p. 106, note I.
88 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
found in the Mochlos cemetery and, as they are usually associated
with depilatory pincers, must have played some part in the intri-
cacies of the Minoan toilet (see p. 107).
I. m (figs. 6, 36). Large gold bead bearing a rosette pattern
(diameter 1.4 cm.). Like a similar bead from Tomb XIX it is
evidently copied from vertebral fish bones which were sometimes
used to form necklaces in the early periods.'
I. n (fig. 36). Silver cylinder seal, possibly of Babylonian origin
(length 1.5 cm., diameter of the opening 6 mm.). The design is too
worn to be recognizable (see p. 111).
I. (fig. 36). Electrum lentoid bead (diameter 1 cm.).
I. m
FiGtTRE 6. Scale 1 : 1
I. p (no ilx,ustration) . Fragment of gold leaf.
I. q (no ilXiUSTRation). Small crystal bead.
I. r (no illustration). Small amethyst bead.
I. s (figs. 6, 36). Lentoid seal of chalcedony engraved with
design of an octopus, two fish and a sea-urchin (diameter of field
2.3 cm.).
Tomb II
This tomb was the richest of the 23 opened in the cemetery. The
west wall was clear of soil before excavations began and the great
upright slab of which it is formed (shown in Fig. 2) was what first
called my attention to this spot as the possible site of the cemetery.
The north wall (see Fig. 3) abuts on Tomb I; the west consists of
the great slab; the south had been swept away; the remaining east
wall was merely a facing of slabs against the natural rock of the cliff
which overhangs the tomb. The door, if such existed, must have
> Dawn Med. Civ., pp. 205-208; Halbherr, Memorie del R. Irtiluto Lombardo, 1904, PI.
VI. Figs. 25, 26.
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS «S
been at the south end, but since the wall at this point had been
completely destroyed in the process of denudation, its existence
cannot be proved.
The tomb measures 1.80 m. in width, the east wall facing the cliflf
is 5.60 m. long, whereas the west wall, the upright slab, measures
only 2.56 m. in length. Probably a second slab of similar size once
stood beside the existing one, which would make the tomb a rectan-
gle measuring 1.80 m. in width by 5.50 to 6 m. in length.
The floor is composed of natural rock which is stratified with a
decided downward slope to the south. At the upper or north end
this floor falls away, forming a roughly circular cavity 70 cm. deep
and 1.50 m. at its greatest diameter (see Fig. 3). This cavity seems
to have been partly natural, partly artificial, since there is an outcrop
of soft stone at this point. The depth from the bottom of this cavity
to the top of the north wall is 1.60 m. At the south end the rise of
the rock floor reduces this depth to only 1 m.
The surface earth had been disturbed in the M. M. Ill period, in
this as in most of the other tombs. The knife blade of Figure 45,
No. II, 52, was found almost on the surface. It is possible that it
may be of M. M. Ill date, but judging from its shape one would be
inclined to place it even later, perhaps in the L. M. I period. At the
south end of the tomb, also near the surface, was found the slender
knife blade of Figure 31, No. II, 51, which undoubtedly belongs to the
M. M. Ill era, as do a large unpainted bowl and jar which lay near
it. On the rock floor at this end of the tomb lay many bones but no
other objects; in fact the only other part of the tomb which yielded
remains was the cavity with the soil immediately above it. It may
be that the M. M. Ill intruders cleared out this part of the original
interment but, deceived by the slope of the rock floor to the north,
left the bulk of the contents in the deep north end untouched. At
any rate the soil for some 20 cm. above the top of the circular cav-
ity seemed not to have been disturbed and contained no M. M. I or
M. M. Ill objects. Two badly preserved vases of E. M. II mottled
ware were found at this level, together with the bowl of grey and
white stone shown in Figure 7, No. II, g. Close to these lay the small
clay jug of Figure 7, No. II, b, which was the only object in the whole
deposit that could be assigned with certainty to the E. M. Ill period.
It is a badly preserved example of the typical light-on-dark geometric
ware of this period. At a slightly lower depth lay the clay saucer
and jug of Figure 7, Nos. II, / and r. All the soil at this point was
filled with fragments of bones, and as the mouth of the cavity was
approached, stone vases and ornaments began to make their appear-
84 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
ance in increasing quantities. The bulk of the deposit lay in the
l&st 25 cm. of soil at the bottom of the cavity, most of the gold
ornaments piled in a confused heap against its south side. All the
objects seemed to have been thrown in promiscuously and were mixed
with the fragmentary remains of many bodies. As no later objects
made their appearance in the entire deposit or in the soil immediately
above the cavity, we may consider the tomb as belonging exclusively
to the E. M. II and III periods. Had it not been for the one E. M. Ill
jug, the deposit might have been considered as of E. M. II date
only. As it is, the presence of this jug shows that this tomb was in
use not only at the end of the E. M. II but at the beginning of the
E. M. Ill period. This date is further confirmed by the ivory seals
and the short triangular daggers, which we know from other sites are
peculiar to the E. M. age. Though found in both E. M. II and
E. M. Ill graves, fine stone vases were more abundant and of
slightly larger size in the earlier of these two periods. The gold
work is identical, and we have only the marked change in the style
of decoration of painted pottery by which to differentiate the E.
M. II and E. M. Ill periods. Had this tomb stood alone as a
solitary example, unsupported by other evidence, one would have
been inclined to place the fine gold chains and the stone vases in a
much later period. Luckily the entire evidence of the cemetery
assigns these two classes of objects to the Early Minoan age, and
although one might doubt the evidence of a single tomb, the
corroborative proof of an entire cemetery can hardly be disputed.
The tomb contained 129 objects, of which 85 are gold ornaments,
15 stone vases, 9 objects of copper and bronze, 4 of lead, 3 of clay
and 13 miscellaneous objects of ivory, silver and stone.
The vases are as follows:
II. a (fig. 7 AND PL. II). Bowl of grey marble with a broad vein
of white alabaster. At first glance this bowl would appear to be
made of two separate pieces of stone fastened together, but in reality
it is merely a freak in veining of which the Minoan artist took
advantage. This shape seems to have been borrowed from the
black burnished E. M. I and II wares, its resemblance to which is
increased by the holes in the rim for tying on a cover (height 6 cm.,
diameter 10.5 cm.).
II. b (fig. 7). Clay jug of the E. M. Ill period, showing traces of
white paint on a black ground (height 8.8 cm., diameter 7.6 cm.).
This jug has been mentioned on p. 23 in connection with the date
of the tomb.
o
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS U
II. c (fig. 7). Small bowl of pink, white and grey breccia (height
2 cm., diameter 4.5 cm.).
II. d (fig. 7 AND PL. II). Small bowl of opaque green steatite of
very fine quality. Of the various stones employed in making
these Mochlos vases this species of steatite is capable of taking the
highest polish. It seems to have been a rare material, for only
seven examples of it occurred and these are all of small size (height
4.5 cm., diameter 6.4 cm.).
II. e (fig. 7 AND PL. II). Small vase and cover in the same
material as the preceding (height 7 cm.). This shape is certainly
new to Crete. It resembles the "Art Nouveau" vases of the
present day and has a decidedly modern look.
11./ (fig. 7). Cup of grey and white marble which recalls in
shape the clay cups of the M. M. I period (height 4.8 cm., diame-
ter 4 cm.).
II. g (fig. 7). Shallow bowl of the same material as No. 11,/
(height 3.8 cm., diameter 11.9 cm.). This marble is of harder
quality than that usually employed for the Mochlos vases.
n. h (fig. 7 AND PL. II). Cup of translucent green steatite on a
foot (height 5.8 cm., diameter 3.2 cm.). This shape is derived from
the E. M. II "egg cups." ' The incised design recalls the sub-neo-
lithic ware of the same period.
II. i (fig. 7). Small spouted bowl of coarse white limestone with
three knob handles (height 3 cm., diameter 3.2 cm.).
II. j (fig. 7 AND PL. II). Vase of plain dark grey steatite, a stone
which rarely appears in the cemetery (height 7 cm., diameter 4.3
cm.). This vase shows analogies, in shape, with Egyptian vases.
II. k (fig. 7 AND PL. II). Little pot of translucent green steatite
(height 4 cm., diameter 2.5 cm.).
II. I (figs. 7, 13). Clay saucer of E. M. II dark-on-light geo-
metric ware (height 3.7 cm., diameter 14.8 cm.).
II. m (fig. 7 AND PL. II). Tiny bowl of clear yellow alabaster
with two lip handles (height 2 cm., diameter 3.5 cm.). This material
is rare.
II. n (fig. 7). Small bowl of translucent steatite (height 2.2 cm.,
diameter 3.6 cm.).
• Goumia, PI. XII, No. 15.
S6 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
n. (fig. 7 AND PL. II). Pot of alabaster of the same quality
as II, m (height 3.8 cm., diameter 4.7 cm.).
II. p (fig. 7). Small jug of translucent green steatite (height 3.5
cm., diameter 4 cm.).
II. q (fig. 7 AND PL. III). Grey and white marble bowl on foot
(height 7.3 cm., diameter 14.8 cm.). This shape can be closely
paralleled in the black burnished ware of the E. M. II period by
a bowl from Tomb XX (Fig. 32, No. XX, 1). Similar clay vessels
come from Syros.'
n. r (fig. 7). Clay jug of E. M. II ware. Bands of dark paint
around neck and base (height 7 cm., diameter 5.1 cm.). This jug
has been mentioned (p. 23) in connection with the date of the tomb.
The gold ornaments are as follows:
II. 1 (figs. 8, 9). Strip of gold worked with dotted design. Two
holes are pierced at either end (length 14.5 cm., width 2 cm.).
In the drawing of this piece in Figure 9 the line of the original
tracing can be distinguished ; in cutting it out from the large sheet
of gold the maker did not follow exactly the original model.
II. 1, a (no illustration). Similar strip of the same dimen-
sions.
II. 2 (fig. 8). Strip of thin gold with border of dots. There
are holes at either end like those in No. II, 1, and three groups of
two small holes along one edge (length 17.5 cm., width 1.4 cm.).
n. 3 (figs. 8, 9). Diadem of thin gold, much bent, with three
holes at either end for fastening around the head. Along one edge
there are three groups of three small holes. Similar groups of holes
occur in the edges of nearly all these fillets or diadems. They may
have been intended for fastening chains or pendants to the diadem
after the fashion of the Trojan jewelry, but in no case was anything
of the kind found. This diadem shows signs of hard usage and is
full of small pin holes, which would lead one to suppose that it
had been worn for some time before it was finally consigned to
the tomb (length 19.3 cm., width 3.3 cm.).
II. 4 (figs. 8, 9). Diadem of thin gold. The dotted design of
animals, apparently dogs, might well belong to the geometric art of
the Iron Age rather than to that of the early Bronze Age. There
are two holes at either end. Along the upper edge are five places at
' £p. 'Apz; 1899. PI. 8. Nos. 6, 13.
'l(;l UK S. >< M.I Ulcil T \.' :
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 27
regular intervals where the metal has been torn or broken away. It
is possible that like the other diadems this one had groups of holes
along the edge for pendants and that these had been wrenched oflf
before the diadem was consigned to the tomb (length 32.3 cm.,
width 3 cm.).
II. 5 (figs. 8, 9). Diadem of heavy gold. The metal in this
example is much thicker than in the preceding and there seems no
doubt that it was actually worn in the lifetime of the owner. The
design of dotted lines is punched through from the back, as is the
case with most of these ornaments. It has been suggested that
these diadems were made solely for funerary purposes and were
used for bandaging the eyes of the dead; but this specimen shows
such distinct signs of wear that in this case it seems hardly possible.
At the left end are two groups of pin holes, showing that the metal
had been pierced again and again in order to fasten the diadem
more securely on the wearer's head. Along the upper edge are the
usual groups of small holes (length 29 cm., width 3.5 cm.).
II. 6 (fig. 8). Plain diadem of thin gold with three groups of
holes along the upper edge and many marks of pin holes (length
20.5 cm., width 2.8 cm.)
II. 7 (figs. 8, 9). Fragment of diadem in thin gold with a design
of dotted lozenges (length 16 cm., width about 2 cm.). These
diadems are very like one of silver found at Siphnos.' In the
Siphnos example we find the same dotted technique employed. The
geometrical designs of animals and conventional patterns so closely
resemble the designs on the Mochlos diadems that one must assign
them roughly to the same period.
II. 8 (figs. 8, 9). This is perhaps an ornament of a similar descrip-
tion, although both ends are missing. At the central point the width
of the gold band is reduced to the thickness of a wire, on either side
of which is an anchor in dotted lines. Two holes are pierced
through the metal close to the stem of each anchor (length 14.6 cm.,
width 1 cm.).
II. 9 (figs. 8, 9). Thin bar of twisted gold pierced at either end
(length 18 cm.).
II. 10 (fig. 8). Strip of thin gold, possibly a small fillet, pattern
of dots. There are the usual holes at either end and a network of
I 'Ey. "Apx; 1899, PI. 10, No. 1.
mm
.A
^■
..-^
t.>*
iiZU^
I
o
so EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
other holes where pins have been jabbed through the metal (length
27 cm., width 1 cm.)-
II. 11 (figs. 8, 9). Ornament of thin gold. Evidently part of
this ornament has been broken away. The restoration given in
Figure 8, where a stem has been added to the gold trefoil, is not
correct. Figure 9, No. 11, 11, a, shows a more probable restoration
in which a fourth leaf is supplied, the stem remaining as a sep-
arate object (diameter 4 cm.).
II. 12 (figs. 8, 9). Boss of gold with a dotted border (diameter
2 cm.).
II. 13, a, b (figs. 8, 9). Two hoops of gold. These hoops were
evidently the rims of some object, since they are turned in around
the edges as though to grip a core of some sort. It has been sug-
gested that they may be the rims of tiny porcelain vases which have
perished and that the gold bosses of Figure 9, No. II, 12, and Figure
10, No. II, 32, may have served as covers. Figure 9, No. II, 12, a,
shows the hoop and boss together in this form. Such porcelain
vases with gold rims have been found at Knossos.' (No. II, 13, a,
diameter 1.9 cm.; No. II, 13, b, diameter 2.5 cm.).
II. 14 (figs. 8, 9). Object of thin gold, probably an ornament
from a dagger sheath of cloth or leather. The design was beaten
out over a form bearing the required tooling instead of being worked
through from the back as was the case with the diadems (length
4.2 cm., width 1.8 cm.).
II. 15, a, b (figs. 8, 9). Two plain triangular gold ornaments
pierced at the narrow ends (length 5 cm., width at bottom 2.5 to
3 cm.).
II. 16, a-f (fig. 8). Six strips of thin gold intended for fastening
to garments. All six have dotted borders. Nos. a, 6, e and / are
not pierced at the end, which was folded over some object. In all
there are nine such strips. Two others are shown in Figures 10,
11, No. II, 31, a, b. In length these strips vary from 9 to 10 cm.
II. 17, o, b (fig. 8). Two plain strips similar to those described
above. They are both pierced at one end (length 7.5 cm.).
II. 18, a-i (fig. 8). All of these nine gold bands, with the excepn
tion of No. i, are pieces of armlets. Nos. a, b, c belong together
and formed an armlet like that from Tomb XVI shown in Figure 38,
> B. S. A., Vol. Mil, p. i5. Fig. 11.
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 81
No. XVI, 13. It seems to have been cut up intentionally to form
a narrow armlet, composed of four pieces, one of which has disap-
peared. The rivet holes for fastening the pieces together can be seen
at the ends of each strip. No. d is a part of a similar armlet of
poorer workmanship. Nos. e and g belong together and were orig-
inally of the same length, but one end of g has been broken off.
Nos. / and h are likewise parts of one armlet and show much
coarser tooling than the others. These armlets are of fairly thick
gold and, like No. II, 14, were beaten out over a form. The fact
that the edges are always turned in may indicate that they were
only a facing to a core of perishable material around which the
edges were folded. The pieces vary in length from 7 to 10 cm.,
and are 2 cm. in width. No. i is a narrow strip of gold with a
dotted border and two holes in one end (length 7 cm., width 1 cm.).
II. 19, a-h (figs. 10, 11). Eight leaf-shaped pendants of gold.
It is possible that these belonged to the diadems and were fastened
in the holes noticed in their upper edges. These pendants vary from
2 to 3 cm., in length.
II. 20, 21 (figs. 10, 11). A narrow armlet of thick gold bearing
a design of lozenges scratched on the surface of the metal. Like
the armlets of No. II, 18, this one is formed of two pieces which
were riveted together (length of each piece 10 cm., width 1 cm.).
II. 22 (fig. 10). Six gold beads. The two largest evidently had
a core of perishable material as the metal is too thin to have stood
alone.
II. 23, a, b, c (fig. 10). Gold leaves from sprays like No. II, 24.
In all twenty such leaves were found some with a dotted border and
some plain.
II. 24, a, b, c (figs. 10, 11). Sprays of gold leaves probably for
wearing in the hair; a should have a fourth leaf like those of 6 and c,
but unfortunately it has been broken off. The leaves vary from 4
to 5 cm. in length.
II. 25 (fig. 10). Disk of thin gold with dotted border, much
crushed. This may have been sewn on a garment as there are
some tiny holes around the edge (diameter 5 cm.).
II. 26, 27 (fig. 10). Two strips of plain gold pierced with holes at
either end (length 11 and 9 cm., width 1.4 cm. and 8 mm.).
82 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
II. 28 (fig. 10). Minature copy of the large diadems with similar
holes along the upper edge and in the ends (length 7 cm., width
2.2 cm.). This was probably intended solely for burial purposes
and doubtless served as a cheap substitute for a real diadem.
II. 29, a, b (figs. 10, 11). Two pins representing a flower, proba-
bly a crocus (length 5 cm.).
II. 30 (figs. 10, 11). Exquisitely fine gold chain of double links
divided into two parts by a leaf-shaped piece of gold. It is attached
at the upper end to a hoop of twisted wire and the lower end
carries a bell-shaped pendant (length 11 cm.).
II. 31, a, b (figs. 10, 11). Two strips of gold with dotted border;
a is pierced at either end, b at one end only (length 9.5 cm., width
9 mm.).
II. 32 (fig. 10). Boss of gold like that shown in Figure 9, No. 11,
12, but badly crushed (diameter 2 cm.).
II. 33 (figs. 10, 11). Cross-shaped gold ornament made of two
pieces of metal. It has a dotted border and in the centre four rivet
holes for fastening the two pieces together (length of each strip
5.5 cm.).
II. 34 (fig. 10). Ornament of thin gold pierced with two holes at
the upper end. One arm had been broken away; the complete arm
is 6.1 cm. in length.
II. 35 (figs. 10, 11). Fine gold chain to which are attached seven
leaf-shaped pendants at irregular intervals (length 7.9 cm.).
II. 36 (figs. 10, 11). Coarser chain of single hnks with bell-
shaped pendant (length 7 cm.). These gold chains, Nos. 30, 35,
and 36, together with similar chains from Tombs IV, VI and XIX,
are the finest specimens of gold work from the cemetery.
II. 37 (fig. 10). Two small beads of bronze covered with gold
leaf (length 1 cm.).
In addition to the ornaments just described there were pieces of
many others, together with a number of scraps of gold foil. As has
been said (p. 15), these burials were evidently secondary, and in the
removal of the bones from the place of burial to their final resting
place in the ossuaries, many of the smaller objects doubtless disap-
peared. When the bones were placed in the ossuary, the ornaments,
vases and weapons were tossed carelessly into the chamber. Many
l-'u.iui, 10. Sialic aiuil i I:'.)
11.21
11.36
L II. 30
11.35
11.29.0
II. 19
Figure 11. Scale 6 : 7
11.42
II 31.6
34 EXPLORATIOXS IN MOCHLOS
of the gold objects were crumpled up into little balls, and in one or
two cases the diadems were rolled or folded up in a sort of tight
packet. This alone is enough to indicate that the bodies were not
laid in their final resting place covered with their funeral trappings,
whatever may have been the case at the primary interment. When
one considers that the bones were moved from one place to another
probably some years after they were first interred, it is remarkable
that so many offerings still remain.
The remaining objects from the tomb are as follows :
II. 38 (no illustration). Hollow bone amulet of cylindrical
shape, pierced with two holes in the side, one near either end (length
3.2 cm., diameter 1.2 cm.). Similar amulets have been found at
Gournia,' at Hagia Triada and at Palaikastro.
II. 39, a-e (no illustration). Five strips of ivory inlay with
oblique grooving (length 2.5 cm., width 5 mm.).
n. 40, f-h (no illustration). Three similar strips of green
steatite of the same dimensions. These strips of ivory and steatite
must have been used as inlay of some sort, perhaps for a wooden
casket (for other such strips see Fig. 43, No. XIX, 15).
n. 41 (fig. 12). Large ivory seal with palmette design on one
end (length 3.3 cm., diameter of field 2.6 by 2 cm.). This seal
had been broken at an early period and was found riveted together
by a bronze peg, which would tend to show that such seals were
highly prized and not easily replaced.
II. 42 (fig. 11). Ivory signet seal with design of two cynoceph-
alus apes back to back (height 1.8 cm., diameter of field 1.2 cm.).
The design has an Egyptian look. A seal of the same type was
found on the town site of Mochlos in an E. M. Ill deposit.*
II. 43 (fig. 12). Dagger blade, probably of copper, with three
rivet holes (length 6.8 cm., width across point of attachment to
handle 2.8 cm.).
II. 44 (fig. 12) . Large dagger blade, probably copper (length
12.4 cm.).
II. 45 (fig. 12). Dagger blade, probably copper (length 10.4 cm.).
This dagger blade had five rivets and is curiously scalloped along
the point of attachment to the handle.
t Trans.. Vol. I, Part III, p. 182, Fig. 2. • A. J. A.. Vol. XIII, 1909, p. 280, Fig. 3.
36
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
II. 46 (fig. 12). Small votive double axe, probably copper (length
7.5 cm.).
II. 47, a, b, c, d (no illustration). Four objects of lead. Two
of these are double axes like No. II, 46, and bear some relation to
two buckle-shaped objects to which they correspond in size. Thus
the larger axe and the larger buckle are 6 cm. in length, while the
small axe and small buckle are only 4 cm. long.
FiGUBE 13. Scale 1
II. 48, a, b, c (no illustration). Parts of depilatory pincers.
Nos. b and c were evidently parts of one pair formerly set in a handle
of some perishable material. The blades are of bronze or copper
(length 7.7 cm.), a is half of a similar pair in silver (length 4 cm.).
For similar pincers see Figure 44, No. XIX, 25, a, b.
II. 49 (no illustration). Tiny knife blade, probably copper,
with five rivet holes for a handle (length 5.6 cm.).
II. 50 (no illustration). Small cutter, probablj' copper, with
remains of an ivory handle attached to the rivets (length 3.3 cm.).
This cutter is of the type of Figure 44, Nos. I, /, and XIX, 29.
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS S7
II. 51 (figs. 31, 45). Long, slender, bronze knife blade with a
raised midrib and a design like a Maltese cross near the point of
attachment to hilt (length 20.5 cm.). This knife blade was found
at the disturbed south end of the tomb in the M. M. Ill level (see
p. 23).
II. 52 (fig. 45). Broad, heavy, bronze knife blade (length 20.3
cm.). This was found close to the surface of the soil and, from
its shape, would appear to belong to the L. M. I period.
II. 53 (fig. 13). Stone color table (length 21 cm., width 16 cm.,
height 5.5 cm.). This was found in the soil just outside the south
end of the tomb.
Tomb III
Tomb III is a large rectangular enclosure built against the face of
the cliff on the north side of Tomb I (see Fig. 3). The outer or west
wall measures 6 m. in length; the width varies from 3 m. at the south
to 1.70 m. at the north end owing to the outward slope of the cliff
at the back. The size of the room, which shows no sign of a partition
wall, two entrances and the absence of bones make it possible that it
never was a tomb proper but merely a building connected with
funeral rites of some sort. Whatever objects may have been placed
there in Early Minoan times, it had been so thoroughly overhauled
in the M. M. I and III periods that little remained belonging to the
early deposit. The soil, owing to the slope of the ledge, was very
shallow, so that the contents of the chamber could be reached with-
out much labor, whereas in Tombs I and II the depth of earth suc-
cessfully deceived the robbers of later periods.
The natural rock of the floor slopes upward from south to north,
and in the deepest southeast corner were found a few bits of gold
foil and other objects which evidently belonged to either the E. M. II
or the E. M. Ill period. These are probably the remains of an E. M.
burial, as the metal work is of the same character as that found in
Tomb II, but, as has been said, the chamber was so disturbed in the
Middle Minoan period that little can be stated with certainty. In
the M. M. I tombs on the main slope very little gold was found, and
precious metal in the Mochlos tombs usually dates from the period
of greatest prosperity, which is undoubtedly the Early Minoan.
It is not easy to understand the presence of M. M. I and M. M.
Ill objects in and near these big chamber tombs, as they are seldom
associated with human remains. They might be taken as evidence
S8 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
of a species of ancestor worship practised by the later inhabitants
of Mochlos at the graves of their forebears. If such were the case,
which is unlikely, the feeling of veneration did not prevent the
appropriation of any objects of value which were uncovered in
clearing the upper parts of these large burial chambers. It seems
clear that robbery was not the sole motive of the curious burrowing
operations carried on by the people of the M. M. I and M. M. Ill
periods in the surface soil of these tombs, because the bulk of the
rich interment was so often left untouched. Also, mere robbers
do not leave their own fine weapons, vases and seal stones
behind them on the scene of their operations. In the case of
Tomb VI, the upper part of the chamber contained M. M. Ill
objects together with the remains of many bodies (see p. 50).
It is true that these Middle Minoan deposits were all found
in the surface soil, and we know that even the bones of the
Early Minoan period, which were too deeply buried to suffer much
from the infiltration of water, had been reduced to powder.
Bones near the surface constantly soaked by the winter rains
would have sufifered even more, so that the fact that few human
remains were associated with these objects does not preclude the
possibility that we really have to do with Middle Minoan burials
from which nearly all human relics have disappeared. The confused
condition of these M. M. deposits might in some cases have
been due to later plunderers, in others merely to the action of
time and the movement of the surface soil which, on these steep
slopes in Crete, undergoes great changes during the heavy winter
rains.
The following objects found in this tomb were all of Middle
Minoan date with the exception of Nos. Ill, e, f, g and j.
III. a (fig. 46 AND PL. IX). Small bowl and cover of curious
grey breccia with spots or veins of pink stone edged with white
(height 3 cm., diameter 6.8 cm.). This stone recalls a curious
style of painted pottery which sometimes occurs in the M. M. I
period, on which an irregular dark design on a buff ground is edged
with a fine line of white paint. It may be that this style was
derived from breccia vases like No. Ill, a, since there is no doubt
that, in certain cases, Minoan vases were painted to imitate stone.'
m. b (fig. 46). Bowl of similar shape of grey and white marble
with breccia cover (height 3.5 cm., diameter 6.5 cm.). These bowls-
are of a type which seems never to occur before the M. M. I period
' /. H. S.. Vol. XKVI. 1906. PI. VIII.
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
and in every case where such bowls have been found at Mochlos the
objects associated with them belonged to the Middle or Late Minoan
periods.
III. c (no illustration). Large bowl of common black steatite
badly rotted (type of Fig. 18, No. IV, 1). This is a shape charac-
teristic of the M. M. period.
III. d (no illustration) . Straight-sided cup of the same material
as No. Ill, c (height 5 cm., diameter 5.8 cm.). This type is shown
in Figure 32, No. XX, 3.
III. e, f (fig. 36). Two gold sprays of two leaves each like those
from Tomb II (Fig. 10, No. II, 24).
III. g (fig. 36) . Object of gold like a drawing pin or thumb tack
(diameter 1.6 cm.).
III. h (fig. 36). Silver ring, badly corroded, with cross-shaped
design on the bezel (diameter of bezel 1 cm., diameter of hoop
1.4 cm.). This ring was
found near the surface and
cannot be dated.
III. i (figs. 14, 36).
Signet seal of chalcedony
of M. M. Ill date (height
1.5 cm., diameter of field
1.3 cm.).
III. j (fig. 36). Ring of
thin gold with horizontal
tooling (diameter 1.6 cm., width of band 7 mm.). This ring, to
judge by the thinness of the metal, must have served as a covering
to a core of perishable material over which the edges of the metal
were folded back.
III. k (no illustration). Six small beads of red carnelian.
III. I (no illustration). Large bronze ring badly corroded,
part of bezel broken away (diameter of hoop 1.8 cm.).
in. m (no illustration). Jug in coarse red clay, unpainted,
bearing a sign ^ incised on the shoulder (height 29.5 cm.,
diameter 17.7 ^r > cm.). This vase is of M. M. I shape.
The sign is ^ ^^^ probably the owner's mark. A similar
sign occurs at ^ Phylakopi.'
in. < b
Figure 14. Scale I : I and 3 : 1
> Phylakopi, p. 179, B, No. 12.
40 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
III. n (no illustration). Bridge-spouted bowl of
M. M. I polychrome ware, badly rotted, with narrow
horizontal bands of red and white paint between rows
of alternate red and white triangles, one side of each
of which has been extended into a sort of stem (height 8 cm.,
diameter 9.3 cm.).
III. (fig. 45). Long, slender, bronze knife blade (length
22.5 cm.). This doubtless dates from the M. M. period, for it was
found lying close to the rock floor of the tomb with M. M. I
potsherds. It closely resembles Nos. XI, 22, and XIII, 7n, of
Figure 45, which appear to be of M. M. date (see p. 61).
About fifty yards farther along the ledge on which lie the three
tombs just described, the cliff juts inward, forming a roughly tri-
angular space. Against the northern cliff and facing southwest
towards Tombs I, II and III lie three more large chamber tombs
side by side as shown in Figure 15. These chambers faced a small
roughly paved court which, commencing a little to the north of
Tomb III, extended to the entrances of the second group. This
paved court evidently destroj'ed some earlier graves, inasmuch as
remains of gold ornaments and sherds of E. M. I ware were found
beneath the pavement. This court was still partially clear in the
M. M. I and III periods; a large jar of the latter period was found
standing close to the eastern boundary wall against the cliff, and
many sherds of both periods were scattered about in the soil at the
south end near Tomb III.
Tomb V lies on the very edge of the cliffs with a sheer drop of 100
feet to the sea below. Next to it stands No. IV with well-built door
jambs (Fig. 17). No. VI has no entrance upon the court, but was
reached through No. IV, a most curious arrangement which will be
discussed later. All three tombs are well shown in Figure 16, which
is taken looking north. No. V is seen on the extreme left. No. IV
in the centre, while No. VI lies behind the heavy wall on the right,
directly under the overhanging clifiF. These three tombs were
built in the E. M. II period over the still earlier deposit of E. M. I
pottery which is described in connection with the ware of that period
on p. 92. By the beginning of the M. M. Ill period they had
become partially, if not entirely, filled with earth. At that date
No. IV was almost entirely cleared. When excavated it contained a
number of objects belonging to the E. M. Ill and M. M. Ill periods.
The other two tombs, Nos. V and VI, seem to have remained intact,
Figure 15. Plan of Chambeb Toubs IV, V and VI. Scale aboot 1 : 100
4S EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
although the former did not yield any such mass of objects as were
found in No. VI. As Nos. IV and VI seem to belong together, it
is best to deal first with Tomb V.
Tomb V
This is a very narrow chamber 5 m. long by 1.40 m. in width.
The outer wall on the left lies on the very edge of the precipice (Fig.
16). The great door-slab, which had slipped from its original posi-
tion, was lying part way down the slope caught between two boul-
ders, so that the south end of the tomb was open. The rock floor
slopes sharply up from the entrance to the north end, where the
depth of soil was very slight. At the south or entrance end, where
the soil was deeper, the builders of this group of tombs had left a
large deposit of E. M. I pottery some 20 cm. thick underljang their
walls. The red soil of this deposit made it quite distinct from the
white clay filling of the tomb chamber so that no confusion was
possible between the two deposits. A great many baskets of sherds
were gathered together from this early layer, a full description of
which is given on page 92.
Tomb V showed no signs of ever having been disturbed in later
periods and, although it did not contain any great number of objects,
they were all of good quality. Judging from the pottery it would
appear that the first burial dated from the E. M. II, the latest from
the E. M. Ill period. No Middle Minoan objects occurred even in
the surface soil.
The bones, few of which were preserved, were found with the vases
scattered about the chamber floor instead of lying together in one
heap as was usually the case in the other tombs. One small stone
vase contained a long strip of gold foil crumpled up and crammed
into it with such force that it formed almost a solid mass at the bot-
tom. A number of gold scraps were lying about in the earth filling;
apparently in moving the bones from the temporary grave to the
ossuary, little care was taken to prevent the destruction of the
objects associated with the burials. This tomb, like Nos. IV and VI,
is built with walls partly formed of upright slabs and partly of hori-
zontally laid courses similar to the house walls of the period. The
objects from this tomb are as follows:
V. a (figs. 18, 19). Large jug of E. M. Ill ware. The white
design on a dark ground is one of the first examples of the
spiral, a design that does not usually appear until the L. M. I period
(height 19.5 cm., diameter 16 cm.).
FlClKE 1(>. (UAMllKH ToMilS .\( fS. IV. V AND VI
I'll, I UK 11. ( liWlHIli I'ltMH \The question of the primitive house in the Aegean has been most ably discussed by Dr.
Duncan Mackenzie {D. S. A., Vol. XIV, p. 343), who makes it clear that all evidence points,
at present, to a rectangular form for the houses of primitive Crete and the Aegean in general.
48 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCIILOS
been thrown out with the soil when the tomb was partially cleared
in the M. M. Ill period and were found lying between its north
wall and the cliff behind.
IV. 5 (fig. 18). Small bowl of similar shape and material (height
4 cm., diameter 8.5 cm.).
IV. 6 (fig. 18 AND PL. VII). Bowl of mottled green steatite with
pierced suspension handles. This is the largest example of this
rare stone found at Mochlos (height 5.4 cm., diameter 8 cm.).
The walls of this vase are very thin and the whole vessel is beau-
tifully cut and polished. It is of an early shape derived from
E. M. II bowls of black burnished ware like that shown in Figure
50, No. 87.
IV. 7 (fig. 20). Chalcedony pigeon vertically pierced through
the body for use as a pendant (height 2 cm.). Two similar pigeons
were found in graves at Siphnos, one of which contained the silver dia-
dem mentioned in connection with Tomb II (see p. 27).'
IV. 8 (fig. 20). Small boss of gold, two holes on either side for
attachment (diameter 1.2 cm.).
rV. 9 (fig. 20). Rosette of shell, without doubt a pin head like
those of the gold pins from Tomb XIX in Figure 42, No. XIX, 11
(diameter 2.2 cm.).
IV. 10 (fig. 20). Top of the spiral core of a conch shell cut out
to form the bezel of a ring (diameter 1.4 cm.). Such shell objects
often occur in Minoan deposits and probably had some special
significance, perhaps as amulets.
IV. 11 (fig. 20). Necklace of gold, crystal and irregular stone
beads. The gold beads, five in number, are cylindrical and of
small size. The six rock crystal beads are exactly like some from
Tomb VI (Fig. 25, No. VI, 34), and may have been dropped in
No. IV at the time when the E. M. II interments were carried into
Tomb VI tlirough this chamber. The irregular beads of steatite
and breccia are quite unlike any others from the Mochlos cemetery
and certainly have a very early look. In the middle of the right
half of this necklace is a grooved bead of porcelain which is of much
later date, probably M. M. III.
IV. 12 (fig. 20). Shell matrix like No. IV, 10, but smaller (diam-
eter 1 cm.).
«'£»>. 'Ap/., 1899, PI. 10, No3. 27, 28; ibid., 1898, PI. 8, Nos. 16, 17, 23.
•
^.u ... i. t. *.
«
4^
E.7.
IM
P
(^
^^
^4 "Y
'^ XXL./».
ss:>
^Sl.'*-. -^
^•''
\ ^
V ('^•)«i-"-( '•■^ .
/
y 7
/
K A ^A
>'
S
jj^. li. 1
\ iE.'O.
Ell.
<
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Ur. II.. /
\ 1
BiLiHi^:i
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■-^ ^m
/
/
II iiiiiiiii'JHl
o
^^K^SP?-
1''k;1 lili '20. SCALK AIHIIT
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCIILOS
49
IV. 13 (fig. 20). Shell rosette similar to No. IV, 9 (diameter
2.5 cm.).
IV. 14 (fig. 20). Gold chain with leaf pendant (length 5 cm.).
This chain is like those from Tomb II (Fig. 10, Nos. II, 30, 35, 36).
IV. 15 (FIG. 20).
(diameter 2.2 cm.).
Round pebble pierced for use as a pendant
IV. 16 (figs. 20, 21). Small terra-cotta head which has been
mentioned as belonging to the M. M. Ill period. The workman-
ship is excellent and may well be compared to that of the Snake
Goddess and the Votary from Knossos,* with which it is roughly
contemporary. It would appear to be a male head were it not
covered with a white wash, traces of which still remain. The
IV. 16
Figure 21. Scale 1 : 1
Minoans are supposed always to have followed the Egyptian con-
vention of coloring men red and women white, in which case we
must consider this head as that of a woman. The hair, which
appears to be in thick locks on the top of the head, is gathered inside
a tight roll or turban similar to that worn by the Votary from the
Knossos shrine and by the men on the Hagia Triada vase.^ The
features are very clearly marked, the nose slightly aquiline (height
from break in neck to crown of head 4 cm.). The head was found
with the two following knife blades.
IV. 17 (fig. 45). Bronze knife blade. This shape closely resem-
bles that of certain short M. M. I knife blades (length 14.3 cm.).
IV. 18 (fig. 45). Curious bronze knife blade of almost oval shape
(length 15.5 cm.). This blade was found together with the preced-
' B. S. A.. Vol. IX, p. 75, Fig. Sia&ib; iHd., p. 77, Fig. 56, o & 6.
• A/on. Ant.. Vol. XIII, Plates I, II and III.
50 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
ing a metre above the floor of the antechamber. It shows no
trace of the early triangular shape which can still be observed
in the case of No. IV, 17, and without doubt belongs to the
M. M. Ill period.
IV. 19, 20 (no illustration). Two large unpainted jars of M.
M. Ill date (height 38.5 cm., diameter 30 cm.).
IV. 21 (no illustration). Large M. M. Ill clay bowl shaped
like a modern flower pot. It is unpainted (height 11 cm., diam-
eter 20 cm.).
Tomb VI
This tomb seems to have been the oldest in the cemetery of Moch-
los and also to have suflFered least at the hands of later intruders.
Although the upper part of the chamber contained some remains of
the M. M. Ill age, the people of that period never cut deep enough
to disturb the bulk of the original interments. In fact the fragments
of M. M. Ill pottery which lay deepest were still nearly 50 cm. above
the rock floor of the tomb.
The chamber measures 3.90 m. in length and 1.80 m. in width.
The depth from the top of the wall to the deepest part of the burial
deposit is 3.85 m. The only doorway, as has been said (p. 40), led
into Tomb IV (Fig. 15).
The objects were all found, mixed with a confused mass of bones,
lying on the uneven rock floor. At the north end, as in Tomb II, a
deep cavity was revealed, containing a quantity of beads, vases and
small objects of various sorts. The pottery on the floor of the tomb
and from the 50 cm. of soil immediately above it is all of E. M. II
date and belongs to the first part of that period, when the grey sub-
neolithic clays and the buff polished wares which preceded the
mottled fabrics were still in use.
The east wall, which was built against the cliff, had fallen for-
ward into the chamber at an early date, covering the burial deposit
with a thick layer of fallen stones. In the M. M. period this
fallen wall was partly rebuilt. In laying the new foundation the
builders did not go deep enough to find the top of the original wall
but placed the new one somewhat farther forward, thus making the
tomb chamber much narrower. It is certain that we owe the preser-
vation of the original tomb deposit to this fallen wall since it baflSed
the people of the M. M. period, who never attempted to carry
their curious burrowing operations through this layer of fallen
debris. This tomb is the only one of the six in which the M. M.
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 51
level contained human remains in any marked quantity. All the
upper soil of the chamber was filled with the badly disintegrated
bones of many bodies, and it is evident that the people of the M. M.
period rebuilt the fallen east wall of the chamber with the express
purpose of using the enclosure as a place of burial. Oddly enough
no objects of any value came to light in this stratum. The question
of date was settled by a large number of potsherds of poor quality
belonging to the M. M. Ill and L. M. I periods. Unlike Tombs
I, II, III and IV, this tomb contained in the M. M. stratum only
one whole vase and no knife blades or seal stones, which would tend
to show that the remains were those of people of poor condition.
Luckily the early deposit is of a very different character, and its
richness is a strong indication that we have here the burial place of a
wealthy and powerful family, a fact that is borne out, as has been
said, by the architectural features of this tomb, which faced on a
paved court and was entered through a sort of mortuary chapel.
The vases from this tomb are twenty-two in number, six of which
are of clay, one of silver, one of porcelain, and the rest of stone.
VT. 1 (fig. 22 AND PL. V). Side-spouted jug of grey and white
marble, a shape characteristic of the E. M. II period (height 6 cm.,
diameter 7.5 cm.).
VI. 2 (fig. 22 AND PL. V). Large alabaster jug. This is the finest
and largest piece of alabaster from the entire cemetery (height 12
cm., diameter 10.5 cm.). The coloring is very brilliant, shading
from orange to pink and white. The alabaster is quite unlike that
of Egypt and seems to be a local variety peculiar to Crete; nowhere
else have I seen a material of such marked veining and varied
coloring.
VI. 3 (fig. 22 AND PL. VT). Vessel of grey and white marble
resembling a modern sauce-boat (height 6 cm., length 18 cm.).
This shape is unusual; the only other example is represented by
pari of the side of a large specimen found in this same tomb.
Three boat-shaped clay dishes of the E. M. II and E. M. Ill periods
found at Vasiliki appear to be modifications of this type of vessel.'
A similar one also of clay was found at Syros,= and another very
early example is from Gournia.'
VI. 4 (fig. 22). Jug and cover of breccia, poorly worked (height
6 cm., diameter 6.5 cm.).
1 Traru., Vol. II, Part 2, p. 122, Fig. 5. • '£y. 'Ap/-, 1899. PI- 9, No. 8.
• Goumia, p. 66, Fig. 87, No. 1.
£2 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
YL. 5 (fig. 22 AND PL. VI). Small bowl of grey and white marble
with four rim handles (height 1 cm., diameter 2.8 cm.).
VI. 6 (figs. 22, 23). Round-bodied cup of buff clay with a design
of festoons in dark paint around the rim (height 7.5 cm., diameter
10.8 cm.). This shape, which first appears in the early part of the
E. M. II period is one that lives on into the E. M. Ill period.
VI. 7 (fig. 22 AND PL. VI). Small bowl of grey and white marble
(height 1.7 cm., diameter 2.9 cm.).
VI. 8 (fig. 22). Small silver cup with rows of beading around the
lower half (height 3.2 cm., diameter 5.6 cm.). In shape this cup is
the metal prototype of the E. M. Ill cups from Vasiliki, Pseira and
other early sites near the Isthmus of Hierapetra.*
VI. 9 (fig. 22 AND PL. V). Little pot of opaque green steatite
(height 3.6 cm., diameter 4 cm.)
VI. 10 (fig. 22 AND PL. VI). Low bowl of green steatite (height
3.5 cm., diameter 10.5 cm.).
VI. 11 (figs. 22, 23). Goblet of very fine grey clay highly pol-
ished (height 14.8 cm., diameter 12.5 cm.). This grey clay is
peculiar to the first part of the E. M. II period. The shape is
derived from an E. M. I type and may go back still earlier; the spout
is a variant from the usual unspouted type.
VI. 12 (fig. 22 AND PL. VI). Small bowl in grey and white marble
with rim spout (height 1.3 cm., diameter 3.8 cm.).
VI. 13 (fig. 22 AND PL. V). Grey and white marble vase on foot
(height 5.3 cm., diameter 3 cm.).
VI. 14 (fig. 22 AND PL. VT). Jug and cover of grey and white
marble (height 4.5 cm., diameter 6.3 cm.).
VI. 15 (figs. 22, 23). Globular jug of polished buff clay (height
12.2 cm., diameter 11.1 cm.). This shape is probably derived from
gourds, which filled the place of clay vessels in the earliest periods.
Similar jugs have occurred in the Cyclades.'
VI. 16 (fig. 22 AND PL. VII). Bowl of grey and white marble
(height 4.5 cm., diameter 11 cm.). The veining of this material
varies greatly in the different examples (see Fig. 7, Nos. II, /, g.)
> Trant.. Vol. II, Part 2, p. 141, Fig. 4. •'£?•. 'Ap^., 1898, PI. 9, No. 26.
D
O
Ed
VI. 11
VI. 15
VI. 6
FiouBE 23. ScvLE 1 : 2
54
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
VI. 17 (fig. 22 AND PL. YLI). Bowl of grey and white marble
with rim spout and one small handle at right angle to it (height 7
cm., diameter 12 cm.). This b a shape which becomes very common
in the clay vases of the E. M. Ill period and rio doubt existed at a
very early date.' It must be noticed how carefully the stone cutter
chose a shape to suit the piece of stone with which he had to work, or
vice vers'a. This is especially marked in vases such as this one, also
in Nos. VI, 1, 2 and 3, in which the natural veining of the stone is
carefully employed in such a way as to accentuate the form of the
vase itself. In this vase. No. 17, the dark band around the rim is as
even as in a painted vessel.
VI. 18 (fig. 22). Jug of grey and white marble, with handle at
right angle to spout (height 6.4 cm., diameter 6 cm.).
VI. 19 (no illustration). Jug like No. 15 but badly rotted
(height 15.5 cm., diameter 13.2 cm.).
a VI. 26 b
FiouBE 24. Scale 1 : 1
VI. 20 (no illustRjvtion). Similar jug, not so round bodied, dark
paint on spout and handle (height 12.3 cm., diameter 9.4 cm.).
VI. 21 (fig. 49, No. 70). Small buff M. M. I jug found near sur-
face; dark design in vertical panels, much worn (height 7.8 cm.,
diameter 6.6 cm.).
VI. 22 (no illustration). Porcelain bowl so badly rotted that
it was impossible to preserve it.
The small objects from this tomb are as follows:
VI. 23 (fig. 25). Tiny bronze lion (length 2.3 cm.).
VI. 24 (fig. 25). Pendant from gold chain like chain and pendant
from Tomb II, Figure 11, No. II, 36 (length 1.3 cm.),
VI. 25 a, b (fig. 25). Two tiny ball pendants of silver possibly
from earrings (length 1.3 cm.).
> Trans., Vol. II. Part 2, p. 123, Fig. 6.
Kldl l(K -i,). SlALK AllllUT i : .1
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 55
VI. 26 (figs. 24, 25). Large ivory cylinder with complex designs
on either end. This seal is fully described on page 108 (length 1.8
cm., diameter of field 2.5 to 2.6 cm.).
VI. 27 (fig. 25). Short necklace of gold and rock crystal beads.
The three large gold beads in the centre of the string must have
possessed a core of perishable material as the metal is too thin to
have kept its shape without support. The tubular gold beads are
identical with those found in Tomb IV, Figure 20, No. IV, 11
(length 15 cm.).
VI. 28 (fig. 25). Animal mask of gold leaf, probably meant to
cover a lion's head of wood or porcelain (width 3 cm.).
VI. 29 (fig. 25). Small copper cutter with bit of ivory hilt still
adhering to the rivets (length 3.4 cm.).
VI. 30 a, b (fig. 25). Part of a curious ivory object which had
once been attached to some other substance by means of numerous
small rivets (width of a, 3 cm., length 3 cm.; width of b, 2.5 cm.,
length 2.5 cm.).
VI. 31 a, b (fig. 25). Two very fine double-link gold chains with
leaf pendants (length of a, 11.5 cm.; length of b, 10.5 cm.). These
two chains are among the most delicate pieces of metal work
found at Mochlos.
VI. 32 (fig. 25). Triangular piece of thin gold foil (length 6 cm.,
width 2 cm.).
VI. 33, 34 (fig. 25). Two long necklaces of rock crystal beads,
each with a large central pebble of the same material (No. 33, length
44 cm.; No. 34, length 50 cm.).
VI. 35 (fig. 25). Still longer necklace of very small beads of
stone, porcelain and shell (length 60 cm.). These beads bear a close
resemblance to the common porcelain beads of Egypt. The appear-
ance of porcelain both for beads and vases in this tomb is very
interesting as it shows that porcelain was already known to the
Minoans as early as the E. M. II period.
VI. 36 (no illustration). Large disk of thin gold with dotted
border, badly torn and crumpled (diameter about 15 cm.). This
disk was found between the M. M. Ill east wall of No. VI and the
cliff, together with the fragments of a couple of fine stone vases. It
would appear to have been thrown out with the soil when the upper
part of No. VI was cleared in the M. M. Ill period. If of late date,
56 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
it might have served as a central boss on a shield, but so far there is
no evidence to show that shields were in use in these early periods.
From the style of the work and the border of dots it would seem to
belong, with the rest of the contents of Tomb VI, to the E. M. II
epoch.
This tomb, unlike the other large chamber tombs, contained no
weapons in either the E. M. II or M. M. Ill levels; the only remain-
ing objects were shapeless fragments or scraps of gold foil.
THE SMALLER TOMBS
These tombs, where they possess built walls, are always of about
the same size, viz. 1 m. wide by 2 m. long. Therefore I have given
no dimensions in describing them except in cases which are marked
exceptions to this rule.
Tomb VII
Among the large masses of fallen rock lying a little below and to the
south of Tomb II, a rock-shelter was discovered. A fissure running
between two large boulders had been walled in at the southern end,
and on clearing away the earth a few bones and the vases described
below were brought to light. There is little clue to the date of this
burial, but the presence of a bowl in black steatite probably indicates
the end of the E. M. Ill or the beginning of the M. M. I epoch,
inasmuch as black steatite for large vessels rarely occurs before
these periods.
VII. a (fig. 46). Cup and cover of white alabaster (height 7.2 cm.,
diameter 9.5 cm.). Vases of this material were very rare; the other
two examples from Mochlos appear, from their shape, to be of
Cycladic origin (Fig. 47, No. 12, and PI. Ill, No. XXI, 10). This cup
and cover, as regards shape, might as well be Cretan as Cycladic.
VII. b (no illustration). Deep bowl of black steatite with solid
rim handles. The stone was badly rotted and the greater part
crumbled away as soon as it was uncovered (type of Fig. 18, No.
IV, 1).
VII. c (fig. 26). Bronze bowl with horizontal handle on rim
(height 8.8 cm., diameter 22 cm.). This bowl has a verj'^ early look,
although I know of no similar vessel from any other site. Such
metal vessels must have been rare in the E. M. Ill age, but the
alabaster cup which was found with it would lead one to assign it to
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 57
this rather than to the M. M. I period. It is probably safer to
regard this interment as belonging to the transitional stage between
the E. M. Ill and M. M. I periods. Unfortunately no pottery, the
only sure means of determining the date, was found in this grave.
VII. d (no illustration). Small amethyst bead.
Tomb VIII
This burial was placed in a natural hole in the rocks and, as it
contained a great many bones with only four vases, probably
belonged to people of poor condition.
VIII. a (fig. 46). Small bowl of green steatite with slender spout
and rim handle (height 2.3 cm., diameter 6.8 cm.).
Vni. b (fig. 50, No. 85). "Egg-cup" of black ware with slight
rim spout (height 9.4 cm., diameter 9.2 cm.).
VIII. c (no illustration). Similar "egg-cup" covered with black
paint, band of white around the rim. This is interesting as it shows
that the "egg-cup" of the E. M. II lived on into the E. M. Ill
period, to which this example belongs (height 8.2 cm., diameter
8.7 cm.).
VIII. d (no illustration). Side-spouted jug of coarse red clay,
unburnished, with two horizontal side handles and a small pinched
out handle opposite the spout (height 12 cm., diameter 15.3 cm.).
This jug originally stood on three small feet which have been broken
away. In type it resembles No. 67 of Figure 49.
VIII. e (no illustration). E. M. II side-spouted jug in coarse
browTi ware, type of Figure 48, No. 43 (height 14.9 cm., diameter
15.2 cm.).
Tomb IX
This is a slab-lined tomb which contained nothing but some M. M.
I and M, M. Ill potsherds.
Tomb X
This is another slab-lined tomb lying beside No. IX. It contained
the much corroded remains of two small bronze cups and four
seal stones which certainly date from the M. M. or even the
L. M. I period. Bronze vessels seem usually to indicate either one
58
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
or the other of these two periods, for they seldom appear before
the M. M. Ill age, although the bronze bowl from Tomb VII is an
exception to this rule. These specimens were so corroded that it
was impossible to ascertain even their dimensions. Both these
tombs appear to have been plundered in the M. M. period, inasmuch
as their type of construction is of much earlier date (E. M. II or III)
than any objects which they contained.
X. a (fig. 27). Three-sided seal of green steatite of M. M. I date
(length 1.2 cm.).
X. b (fig. 27). Signet seal of chalcedony representing a demon-
like creature (diameter of field 1 cm.). This seal is probably of
M. M. Ill date.
iS^i
Xa
X.b
Figure 27. Scale 1 : 1 and 3 : 1
X. c (no illustration). Lentoid seal of black steatite cut with
a design of conventional double axe (diameter of field 2 cm.).
X. d (no illustration). Lentoid seal of black steatite engraved
with design of two insects resembling dragon-flies (diameter of field
1.3 cm.). These two seals are probably of L. M. I date.
Tomb XI
This was the only M. M. I tomb which yielded objects of any
importance. It is an enclosure 2 m. square with low walls built of
small stones. Apparently there was no doorway, but at one point
the wall had given way owing to pressure from the soil above.
The most noticeable fact which differentiates this M. M. I tomb
from those of the E. M. II and E. M. Ill periods was the great
number of black steatite vases and the paucity of early vessels of
briUiantly colored stones. Again, the absence of gold ornaments
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 59
of any sort distinguishes these M. M. tombs from those of the E. M.
period, which almost always contained a certain amount of this
metal. In No. XI several earlier objects were found which seem
to belong to the E. M. II period. It seems clear, therefore, that
we have here an early tomb opened and used again in the M. M. I
period. Thus the few vases of marble and alabaster, together with
two clay vessels of the E. M. II period, would be referable to a
burial of that date, whereas the black steatite and polychrome vases
belong to the M. M. I interment. As these M. M. I objects lay
together along the east side of the tomb and those of the E. M. II
period in a heap in the northwest corner, it was not difficult to dis-
tinguish between the two interments.
The objects from this tomb are as follows (the first nine vases
belong to the E. M. burial):
XI. 1 (fig. 28). Small bowl of grey and white marble, with a
rim spout and three rim handles (height 2 cm., diameter 5 cm.).
XI. 2 (fig. 28). Small bowl of grey and white marble (height 3.5
cm., diameter 5 cm.).
XI. 3 (fig. 28). Small bowl of grey and white marble (height
1.5 cm., diameter 4 cm.).
XI. 4 (fig. 28). Small cup of translucent green steatite, straight
hook handle (height 1.5 cm., diameter 3 cm.).
XI. 5 (fig. 28). Stone color-table like those from Tombs II and
V (height 5 cm., length 31 cm., width 21 cm.).
XI. 6 (fig. 28). "Fruit-stand" or cover of dark brown ware like
those from Tomb I, No. I, a, and Tomb XVI, No. 10 (height 7. 8 cm.,
diameter 17. 6 cm.).
XI. 7 (fig. 28). Small cup of translucent green steatite, straight
hook handle (height 1.3 cm., diameter 3 cm.).
XI. 8 (fig. 28). Small pot of green steatite (height 3.4 cm., diam-
eter 4 cm.).
XI. 9 (fig. 28). Small bowl of green steatite, four rim handles
(height 1.3 cm., diameter 2.3 cm.).
XI. 10 (fig. 28). Small bowl and cover of black steatite (height
2.8 cm., diameter 5.4 cm.).
XI. 11 (fig. 28). Mug of very fine, highly polished buff clay with
narrow bands of dark paint on neck and body (height 7.6 cm.,
60
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
diameter 10.7 cm.)- This is one of the best examples from the
cemetery of Mochlos of the M. M. I polished buff ware which bears
so close a resemblance to the earlier class of E. M. II vessels with
dark designs on a polished buff ground. It is of distinctly M. M. I
shape and cannot possibly be assigned to an earlier period.
XI. 12 (fig. 28). Small bowl of black steatite with oblique
grooving (height 4.2 cm., diameter 8 cm.).
XI. 13 (fig. 28 AND PL. VIII). Large M. M. I cup with a poly-
chrome triangular design on a black ground (height 7 cm., diameter
14.2 cm.). The prototype of this cup is to be found in E. M. Ill
FiocBE 29. Scale 1 : 2
cups where a similar design of barred triangles is of frequent occur-
rence.'
XI. 14 (figs. 28, 29). Bull of polished buff clay with a harness
in dark brown paint (height 13 cm., length 22 cm.). The harness
seems to have been composed of large circular bits of some material
joined together to form a sort of network over the whole body.
Similar bulls, dating from the L. M. I period, were found at Pseira
and were likewise covered with a somewhat similar harness.^ Crudely
made bulls of this type were found on early sites excavated by Dr.
Xanthoudides in the Messara. This bull has the usual hole in the
back of the neck and both the eyes and the nose are pierced.
I Goumia, PI. A, No. 4. • Arith. Publ., Vol. UI, No. 1, p. 23, Fig. 7 and PI. IX.
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 61
XI. 15 (fig. 28). Bowl of black steatite (height 4.9 cm., diameter
10.5 cm.).
XI. 16 (fig. 28 AND PL. VIII). Vase on a slender foot, two hori-
zontal handles (height 10.8 cm., diameter 9.3 cm.). The poly-
chrome design is a complicated one. Under either handle is a wheel-
shaped ornament in red and white. The rest of the body is filled
by oblique panels containing alternate red and white scroll patterns.
This scroll design is often met with on the dark-on-light vases of
this period. The wheel-shaped ornament is also typical of the
Middle Minoan age.
XI. 17 (fig. 28). Bowl of black steatite (height 8 cm., diame-
ter 15 cm.).
XI. 18 (no illustration). M. M. I clay cup covered with black
paint, type of No. 55, Figure 49, badly rotted.
XI. 19, 20, 21 (no illustration). Three large bowls of black
steatite, type of Figure 18, No. IV, 1. These were all so badly
rotted that they crumbled away as soon as they were uncovered.
The presence of three such bowls in this M. M. I interment proves
how peculiar this shape is to the Middle Minoan period. It is
never met with in undisturbed E. M. deposits.
XI. 22 (fig. 45). Slender bronze dagger blade with slight midrib
(length 23.3 cm.). This type of blade is evidently characteristic of
the M. M. I period and is the connecting link between the short
triangular daggers of the Early Minoan age and the slender swords of
the Late Minoan period.
XI. 23 (no illustration). Badly rotted "egg-cup" of E. M. II
mottled ware.
Tomb XII
This tomb is the only one which contained objects of unquestion-
ably M. M. Ill date. It is of the cist grave type, with a doorway
closed by a thin upright stone slab. In point of construction the
tomb is certainly of early date and must have been built originally to
contain burials of the E. M. period, although no objects were found
which could be assigned to that epoch. In the tomb we find only
steatite used for stone vases, no gold ornaments, many por-
celain beads and a couple of bronze vessels, all features which are
in marked contrast to those observed in connection with burials
of the E. M. period.
62
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
XII. a (fig. 47 AND PL. IX). Hand lamp of dark grey steatite
(height 3 cm., diameter 6.5 cm.). This type was found at Pseira in L.
M. I houses.' Another lamp of this sort was found at Hagia Triada
in the Messara.
XII. b (no illustration). Black steatite cup (height 8.5 cm.,
diameter 9 cm.).
XII. c (no illustration). Black steatite bowl so rotted that it
could not be preserved.
XII. d (no illustration). Green steatite whorl (diameter 2.5
cm.).
XII. e (fig. 26). Bronze bowl badly corroded (height 4 cm.,
diameter 18.5 cm.).
Xll. h
XII.
FiGUBE SO. Scale 1 : I
XII. ;
XII. f (fig. 31). Bronze cup of the Vaphio type (height 6.5 cm.,
diameter 11.5 cm.). This cup is a very good specimen of M. M. Ill
metal work. The design is one which occurs frequently in the dec-
orative art of both the M. M. Ill and L. M. I periods.
XII. g (no illustration). Bronze ring with engraved bezel, but
so badly corroded that the design is completely obliterated (diam-
eter of hoop 1.4 cm.).
XII. h (fig. 30). Two large porcelain beads (length 3.5 cm.).
XII. i (fig. 30). Three-sided seal of red carnelian with two
engraved faces (length 1.8 cm.). One face shows a bird with out-
spread wings. On another face are two curious objects, possibly
birds. The third side is not engraved.
XII. j (fig. 30.) Pendant of porcelain (length 2.7 cm.).
XII. k (no illustration). Small amygdaloid bronze bead.
> Anth. Publ., Vol. Ill, No. 1, p. 37, Fig. 18.
o
<
o
CO
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 63
XII. I (no illustration). Several beads of brown clay like those
from Tomb XV, Figure 36, No. XV, i.
XII. m (fig. 31). Cup of buff clay covered with black glaze on
which was painted a design in wliite (height 10.1 cm., diameter 9
cm.). The paint is badly worn. As is often the case, the dark
body paint has almost entirely disappeared. Wherever the white
paint of the design has protected it this body color is preserved,
though the overlying white itself is worn away. Thus, though the
drawing shows the cup as it looks today, one must imagine the
body color as black with the meander pattern in white. The design
is unusual in Minoan art, but it is interesting as it shows that some-
thing like the meander of classic Greece was known and employed
centuries before by Minoan artists. It is an additional proof that
much which is admired in Greek art was derived from this earlier
culture of the Aegean. This cup both in form and design is one of
the most graceful and charming examples of the potter's art yielded
by the cemetery of Mochlos.
Tomb XIII
This IS a slab-lined tomb of the usual type. It appears to date
from the E. M. II period, but a part of the contents belongs to
a M. M. I interment. It contained no gold ornaments of any sort
and if any existed with the E. M. II burial, they were removed
when the grave was reopened in the E. M. Ill and M. M. I periods.
The objects are as follows:
XIII. a (fig. 32). Large E. M. II bowl of black burnished ware
with three solid ridge handles (height 12 cm., diameter 22.5 cm.).
This is one of the largest examples of its class from the cemetery
and shows its early date by the handles, which are of a type com-
mon to the neolithic and E. M. I periods.
XIII. b (fig. 32). Side-spouted jug of red burnished ware (height
6.7 cm., diameter 9.5 cm.).
XIII. c (fig. 32). Side-spouted jug of black burnished ware
(height 10.8 cm., diameter 13.7 cm.). This vase seems, on the evi-
dence of the clay, to belong to the E. M. II period, though the
shape is one which lasted through the E. M. Ill and into the
M. M. I age.
XIII. d (fig. 32). Small jug of grey marble (height 3.5 cm.,
diameter 4.8 cm.).
64
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
XIII. e (fig. 32 AND PL. IV). Shallow cup of grey and white
marble (height 3 cm., diameter 8.5 cm.). This cup is an exquisite
piece of workmanship; the shape seems to have been selected to
show the beautiful veining of the marble to the best advantage.
XIII. / (fig. 32). Small bowl of green steatite (height 2.5 cm.,
diameter 5.5 cm.).
The six preceding vases all belong to the E. M. II period.
XIII. g (figs. 32, 34). Vase representing a female figure holding
her breasts (height 19 cm.). This figure is of E. M. Ill date and
probably represents the same primitive nature goddess of whom so
XIII. h
Figure 33. Scale 1 : 2
many marble examples are found in the contemporary cist graves
of the Cyclades. The head of this figure is bound with a sort of
fillet, the ends of which are folded in as would have been the case
with a band of cloth. The little head of Figure 21 from Tomb IV,
though of later date, has the same turban-like head-dress. The
figure is covered with dark paint which bears a design in yellowish
white. The surface is in bad condition, but enough of the decora-
tion remains to place this vessel, bej^ond any possibility of doubt,
in the E. M. Ill period.
XIII. h (figs. 32, 33). Side-spouted jug of polished bufiF clay on
which are painted groups of obhquely curving lines in dark paint
(height 9.2 cm., diameter 11.5 cm.). This design is very typical of
the early part of the M. M. period and frequently occurred at
Vasiliki,* Pseira^ and Gournia.'
> Trans.. Vol. 11, Part 2, p. 128, Fig. 11.
» Goumia. Plate D, No. 1.
^Anth. Publ.. Vol. Ill, No. I, p. 19.
r \
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C/3
■J
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 66
XIII. i (fig. 32). Clay cup covered with black body paint, a
broad band of white around the rim. This is a tj'pe which fre-
quently occurs in M. M. I deposits (height 7.3 cm., diameter
8.2 cm.). The white band has almost disappeared.
XIII. j (fig. 32). Side-spouted jug with two horizontal side
handles (height 6.2 cm., diameter 10 cm.). This jug is covered
with black paint bearing a geometrical design in white which has
almost disappeared. The type is one which may be regarded as
the M. M. I representative of the E. M. II and E. M. Ill side-
spouted jugs and bowls but is easily distinguished from its prede-
cessors by the angular outline of the body and the quality of the
black and white paint. The black paint is much more metallic in
the M. M. I period, and the white paint of a more chalky con-
sistency than in E. M. Ill specimens.
XIII. k (no illustration). Clay cup in bad condition (height
6.5 cm., diameter 11.2 cm.). This cup is of the same general type
and design as that shown in Figure 49, No. 57, except that it has a
strap handle. It is of E. M. Ill date.
XIII. / (no illustration). Two handled mug of coarse red ware
(height 7.7 cm., diameter 9.5 cm.). The body was once covered
with dark paint which bore a spiraliform design in white, but the
whole surface of the vessel is now in very bad condition. Like No.
XIII, k, this mug belongs to the E. M. Ill period.
XIII. m (fig. 45). Bronze knife blade (length 22 cm.). This
blade is very like that from Tomb XI, No. 22 (Fig. 45) and must
be of M. M. I date.
XIII. n (no illustration). Similar knife blade, broken (length
21 cm.). This knife blade has a pronounced midrib.
Tomb XIV
A small hole in the rocks filled with bones. It contained nothing
which gave any clue to its date. Only one object came to light.
XIV. a (fig. 36). Small silver ring with a plain bezel (diameter
of bezel 1 cm.).
Tomb XV
This built tomb, which lay against the face of a small cliff, con-
tained a mixed deposit. The best of the stone vases point to the
E. M. II or E. M. Ill period, whereas a silver signet shows that the
66 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
tomb was used as late as the M. M. Ill age, but unfortunately no
pottery was found by which to date the objects, which are as follows :
XV. a (fig. 37). Small pot of grey and white marble with three
rim handles and a rim spout (height 4 cm., diameter 5.8 cm.).
XV. b (fig. 37). Another pot almost identical in size and shape
with the preceding (height 3.5 cm., diameter 4.9 cm.).
XV. c (fig. 37). Small pot of the same material, but without
the spout, which is replaced by a fourth rim handle (height 3.3 cm.,
diameter 4.6 cm.). These three pots are of a grey marble much
darker in color than that which is usually found in these tombs.
XV. d (fig. 37). Little jug of a rose-colored stone which rarely
occurs at Mochlos (height 3.3 cm., diameter 3.5 cm.).
These four vases, Nos. XV, a, b, c and d, are probably of early
date, whereas the succeeding ones belong to the M. M. I or M. M.
Ill periods.
XV. e (fig. 37). Plain black steatite cup (height 4 cm., diame-
ter 8.3 cm.).
XV. / (fig. 37). Cup of the same size and material. These cups
are exactly similar to the unpainted clay votive cups of which such
masses are found in all L. M. I deposits.
XV. g (no illustration). Large bowl of coarse white limestone
of the type shown in Figure 18, No. IV, 1, from Tomb IV (height
II cm., diameter 27 cm.).
XV. h (figs. 35, 36). Silver signet seal (length 1.7 cm., diam-
eter of field 1.3 cm.). Strangely enough, although silver is as a
rule in bad preservation, this signet has
not suffered from corrosion. It is of a
>;— q. t^^^S) type common in the M. M. Ill period,
^ ^iL XV. * ^i^^^ two examples of which have been described
under Tomb III, No. Ill, i (Fig. 14) and
Figure 35. Scale 1:1 „ l x^ xt -v l /-n- «w\
Tomb X, No. X, b (Fig. 27).
XV. i (fig. 36). Necklace of brown clay beads (length 28 cm.).
Such beads were found in Tomb XII, which belonged to the M. M.
III period. They also turned up frequently in the L. M. I houses
at Mochlos.
Tomb XVI
This is a slab-lined tomb with a doorway at the south end. From
the fine character of the stone vases and from the pottery we must
a
o
o
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 67
assign this grave to the E. M. II period. The matter of date is
further fixed by the broad gold armlet (Fig. 38), which is the counter-
part of the fragmentary armlets from Tomb II. One vase is of
M. M. I date; the tomb, therefore, continued in use until that
period. The objects are as follows:
XVI. 1 (fig. 37 AND PL. I). Bowl of mottled grey and white
marble on a foot, with rim spout and three rim handles (height 9.5
cm., diameter 14.5 cm.). In shape this vase recalls E. M. II clay
vases, among which spouted bowls and jugs on a foot are of fre-
quent occurrence.
XVI. 2 (fig. 37). Small bowl of alabaster with four rim handles
(height 4 cm., diameter 6.5 cm.).
XVI. 3 (fig. 37). Small bowl of green steatite with four rim
handles (height 2.2 cm., diameter 4.3 cm.).
XVI. 4 (fig. 37). Small bowl of the same material with a rim
spout and three rim handles (height 2.3 cm., diameter 4.8 cm.).
XVI. 5 (fig. 37). Alabaster cup with hook handle (height 3.8
cm., diameter 6.1 cm.). This is a very fine piece of stone, beauti-
fully veined.
XVI. 6 (fig. 37). Cup and cover of the same type in breccia
(height 3.5 cm., diameter 6.6 cm.).
XVT. 7 (fig. 37). Low bowl of mottled grey and white marble
(height 4.2 cm., diameter 14.4 cm.).
XVI. 8 (fig. 37). Bridge-spouted jug of E. M. Ill ware (height
13.2 cm., diameter 15 cm.).
XVI. 9 (FIG. 37). Side-spouted jug of buff clay of M. M. I date
(height 7.5 cm., diameter 8.3 cm.). This jug bears the typical M.
M. I scroll pattern filling an oblique panel on the shoulder of the
vessel. The same scroll design occurs on the polychrome vase from
Tomb XI (PI. VIII, No. XI, 16).
XVI. 10 (fig. 37). "Fruit-stand" or cover of black burnished
E. M. II ware (height 8.5 cm., diameter 19.5 cm.). Other vessels
of this type occurred in Tomb I, No. I, a, Tomb XI, No. XI, 6,
and Tomb XIX, No. XIX, 1.
XVI. 11 (no illustration). Small cover of E. M. II polished
buff ware with bands of dark paint (diameter 9.5 cm.).
68
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCELOS
XVI. 12 (fig. 38). Seal of brown steatite engraved on either face
(diameter of field 1.3 cm.). This seal probably dates from the M.
M. I period.
XM. 13 (figs. 20, 38). Broad gold armlet (length 18 cm., width
4.4 cm.). This is the largest and heaviest gold object found in the
entire cemetery. In design it is identical with the three pieces from
Tomb II, Figure 8, No. II, 18, a, 6 and c. The edges are doubled
back as though to grip a core of some other material, which would
have been a necessity since the metal is hardly thick enough to have
been worn alone. As its length is not sufficient to encircle an arm, it
may be that the armlet was made of two strips, only one of which is
XVI. 12
XVI. 13
Figure 38. Scale 1 : 1
preserved. Otherwise it could never have been intended to encircle
the arm entirely, but could have been turned so that the gap would
be on the inside against the body. In case the core was of flexible
wood or leather stiffly tanned, the wearer could have forced it over
the muscles of the arm in such a way that it would remain fixed in
one position instead of slipping up and down.
Tomb XVII
This is a built tomb lying beside No. XV. There is nothing to
show the date of the interment except three small stone vases which,
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 69
from their quality, seem to belong to either the E. M. II or the E. M.
Ill period.
XVII. a (fig. 46). Cup of green steatite, hook handle (height
2.5 cm., diameter 5 cm.).
XVII. b (fig. 46), Little cup of similar shape of translucent green
steatite (height 1.2 cm., diameter 2.3 cm.).
XVII. c (fig. 46). Small bowl of green steatite, three rim
handles (height 1.5 cm., diameter 5.7 cm.).
Tomb XVIII
This tomb lay low down the slope near the edge of the cliffs and
possessed no walls of any sort, the bones and objects lying together
in a natural hole in the rock. On the evidence of the pottery it
would appear to be of E. M. II and E. M. Ill date, for it contained
several vases typical of both these periods.
XVIII. a (fig. 46). Cup of grey and white veined marble with
hook handle (height 5.7 cm., diameter 10 cm.).
XVIII. 6 (no illustration). Small clay dish covered with poor
black paint (height 4.5 cm., diameter 15 cm.).
XVIII. c (no illustration). Same of coarse red clay covered
inside with a thin wash of reddish paint (height 5 cm., diameter
13 cm.).
XVIII. d (no illustration). Straight-sided cup of buff clay
highly polished (height 6.4 cm., diameter 9.2 cm.). The shape is
similar to that shown in Figure 49, Nos. 56, 57. The marks of
paring on the sides and the band of dark paint around the rim show
that it must belong to the E. M. II period.
XVIII. e (no illustration). Hand-made cup of brown clay,
roughly pared into the required shape, type of No. 27 in Figure 48
(height 8. cm., diameter 7.5 cm.).
XVIII. / (no illustration). Spouted mug of coarse red ware
with handle, type of Figure 49, No. 49 (height 10 cm., diameter
12.3 cm.).
XVIII. g (no illustration). Side-spouted jug of red burnished
ware on tall foot; the surface is badly worn. Type of No. 65, Figure
49 (height 8.8 cm., diameter 7.4 cm.).
70
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
XVIII. h (no illustration). Side-spouted jug of E. M. Ill
ware with a much worn design of white chevrons on the shoulder,
type of No. 74, Figure 49 (height 14.5 cm., diameter 19.2 cm.).
X\lII.i(FiG. 39).
XVIII. .•
FiGCBE 39. Scale I : I
Part of a cylindrical seal of translucent green
steatite engraved on either end
(length2.6cm.). Unfortunately
this seal had been broken and
only this piece of it was found.
The design on one end, b, is
almost complete, but only a
small portion of the surface at
the other end is preserved.
Tomb XIX
This was the richest of the smaller tombs. The objects it con-
tained belong, with three possible exceptions, to the E. M. II period.
The construction was very poor, consisting of a retaining wall at
the lower or southern end, with two side walls running back to the
face of the cliff at the foot of which the tomb lies. The rock floor
was very uneven and the objects, together with human remains,
were found scattered about in every direction. The crevices of the
rock all contained bits of gold foil which had slipped down from the
burial deposit. At the upper end against the cliff the soil was only 10
cm. deep, and even here one of the gold hairpins was found almost
on the surface. Not a potsherd of later date than the E. M. Ill
period was found. This interment, therefore, helps to establish the
conclusions drawn from the large chamber tombs, where in each
case all the evidence pointed to the E. M. age as the period of fine
gold-work and good stone vases. In this tomb, one of those
which show no signs of M. M. interments, both these classes of objects
are remarkably good. The best reason for supposing that the tomb
may have continued in use during the E. M. Ill age is the presence
of a knife blade which looks a little later than the extremely short
daggers usually assigned to the E. M. II period. A small bowl of
black steatite, a material very rare at Mochlos before the E. M. Ill
period, also seems to point to burials of this date. The bronze arrow-
head. No. XIX, 34, belongs to an even later period but, in all proba-
bility, it had nothing to do with the original interments. The objects
from the tomb are as follows:
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
71
XIX. 1 (figs. 4, 40). Burnished cover or "fruit-stand" of oval
form (height about 13 cm., diameter 21 by 16.5 cm.). The oval
shape of this vessel is almost conclusive proof that these are not
meant for covers, inasmuch as E. M. II oval vessels must have
been very rare, no examples of them having yet been found in
deposits of that period. The clay is dark brown, highly burnished.
XIX. 2 (fig. 4 AND PL. IX). Slender vase of dark grey steatite
of fine quality on foot (height 9 cm., diameter 5 cm.). This vase,
one of the most graceful from the cemetery, is intensely modern in
both design and execution. It seems almost impossible that the
XIX. 1
FiouBE 40. Scale I : 2
people who were still making black burnished vessels like No. XIX,
1, the dark-on-light geometric ware of Figure 13, Nos. I, b, and II, I,
and the grotesque mottled fabrics were capable of producing vases
such as this one, which shows an artistic feeling far beyond that
seen in any other branch of their art.
XIX. 3 (fig. 4). Small bowl of common black steatite (height
3 cm., diameter 5 cm.).
XIX. 4 (fig. 4). Bowl of grey crystalline marble with two suspen-
sion holes on either side (height 5.8 cm., diameter 11.4 cm.).
78 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
XIX. 5 (fig. 4). Finely worked bowl of grey and white marble
with four rim handles (height 4.2 cm., diameter 13.3 cm.).
XIX. 6 (fig. 4). Little vase on foot similar to No. XIX, 2, of
translucent green steatite (height 3.7 cm., diameter 3 cm.).
XIX. 7 (fig. 4). Little cup of yellow alabaster (height 3 cm.,
diameter 4.5 cm.).
XIX. 8 (fig. 4). E. M. II side-spouted jug of plain red ware
(height 10.5 cm., diameter 7.7 cm.).
XIX. 9 (no illustration). Side-spouted jug of plain red ware
covered with a wash of the same color, type of No. XIII, b. Figure
32 (height 5.3 cm., diameter 7.3 cm.).
XIX. 10 (no illustration). Cover or "fruit-stand" like No.
XIX, 1, badly rotted.
XIX. 11, a, b, c, d (figs. 41, 42). Four
gold hairpins made to imitate daisies (length
4 to 8.5 cm.). These pins are made in two
parts, the pin with its flat head forming one
piece and the petals the other.
XIX. 12, a, b (fig. 41). Two large beads
of chalcedony (length 2.2 cm.).
XIX. 13, a, b (fig. 41). Two bands of gold
with geometrical dotted designs (length 14.3
cm., width 2 cm.). These bands are almost
identical with one from Tomb II, Figure 9, No.
II, 1. They are hardly long enough for diadems.
At the ends and along the upper edge they are
pierced with small holes intended either, as I have said (p. 26), for
attaching pendants or for admitting pins which fastened the bands
to the hair or dress.
XIX. 14 (fig. 41). A necklace composed of carnehan, steatite,
amethyst, shell and crystal beads of all shapes and sizes (length
30 cm.). The gold bead in the centre is very like one from Tomb I,
Figure 6, No. I, m.
XIX. 15 (fig. 43). Four strips of green steatite inlay like those
from Tomb II, No. 40 (length 2.5 cm.).
XIX. 16, a, b, c (fig. 43). Three gold stars evidently intended for
sewing to garments, inasmuch as each point is pierced with a small
hole (diameter 2.7 cm.).
Figure -11. Scale about 3 : 7
Figure 43. Scale 1 : -i
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 73
XIX. 17, a, b (fig. 43). Pieces of armlets of very thin gold, badly
crushed (length 5 cm., width 2 cm.).
XIX. 18 (fig. 43). Lozenge-shaped fragment of gold foil with a
dotted border (length 2.7 cm.).
XIX. 19 (fig. 43). LfCaf-shaped pendant of gold (length 3.2 cm.).
XIX. 20 (fig. 43). Fine gold chain divided into two parts by a
leaf-shaped bit of gold. It has a ball pendant at the lower end
(length 7.3 cm.).
XIX. 21 (fig. 43). Long strip of gold foil pierced with holes at
the upper end (length 16 cm.).
XIX. 22 (fig. 43). Heavy gold chain of double hnks (length 7.5
cm.).
XIX. 23, a, b, c (fig. 43). Three broad leaves of gold, evidently
parts of a spray hke those from Tomb II, Figure 10, No. II, 24
(length of each leaf 2.5 cm., width 2 cm.).
XIX. 24 (no illustration). Long strip of gold foil like No.
XIX, 21, but without dotted border (length 24 cm.).
XIX. 25, a, b (fig. 44). Blades of a pair of depilatory pincers
which had been mounted in a handle of perishable material (length
6.5 cm.). These blades may be copper.
XIX. 26 (fig. 44). Small triangular dagger blade (length 6.5 cm.).
This is probably copper.
XIX. 27 (fig. 44). Large dagger blade of similar shape (length
10.5 cm.). This blade is probably of E. M. Ill date, for typical
E. M. II daggers are usually less tapering. It is probably of copper.
XIX. 28 (figs. 12, 44). Pair of depilatory pincers (length 8 cm.).
They are probably of copper.
XIX. 29 (fig. 44). Small cutter, possibly of copper (length 3.2
cm.).
XIX. 30 (fig. 44). Same, of large size (length 5.2 cm.).
XIX. 31 (fig. 44). Slender knife blade (length 5 cm.). This was
probably used for toilet purposes, as it is too small and delicate for
ordinary use. It is probably of copper.
XIX. 32 (fig. 44). Small cutter, probably of copper, type of
Nos. XIX, 29, 30 (length 4.4 cm.).
74 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
XIX. 33 (fig. 44). Pair of depilatory pincers, probably of copper
(length 9 cm.). Pincers of this type were found in cist graves
at Amorgos.'
XIX. 34 (fig. 45). Small bronze arrowhead (length 5.2 cm.).
This is the only object that may be of later date than the other
things. An arrowhead would hardly be of this socketed type in
the E. M. II period when weapons were still very primitive in shape
and manufacture. A small object of this sort may have been dropped
at a later date, e.g., in the M. M. I period, and may gradually have
worked down until it reached the earlier burial deposit, especially
as the soil was never more than 40 cm. deep in any part of the tomb.
Tomb XX
This is another built tomb of the usual type, dating mainly from
the M. M. Ill epoch. The last burial certainly took place in that
period, although the only two clay vases found must be referred to
an earlier interment. Two of the stone vessels were of a type
seldom found before the beginning of the M. M. I age (Fig. 32, Nos.
XX, 2, 3). Again, black steatite vases occurred in this tomb, and
three spear heads which are of later date than the Early Minoan
period, when, so far as we know, spears were not yet in use.
This tomb seems to have cut into an earlier burial, Tomb XXI,
which lay next to it along the face of the adjacent cliff. This burial
was of E. M. II and E. M. Ill date and, among other gold
objects, contained a number of long tubular gold beads (Fig. 20,
No. XXI, 19). When No. XX was cleared, several beads of exactly
the same size and shape were found at the upper end of the M. M. Ill
tomb partly underlying the wall which cut into No. XXI. It seems
clear, therefore, that No. XX cut through the E. M. interment of
No. XXI, to which belonged the gold beads and two clay vases; these
are manifestly of earUer date than the rest of the contents of No. XX.
The objects are as follows:
XX. 1 (fig. 32) . Bowl of black burnished ware on a slender foot.
It has a rim spout and one horizontal handle (height 9.2 cm., diame-
ter 15.5 cm.). This vessel is certainly of E. M. II date, apparently
a modification of the goblet type.' A bowl of similar shape is figured
among objects from the Cycladic cist graves.'
''Eed untouched.
76 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
One wall, which surely belonged to the original tomb, is that on the
south, and this was broken by the doorway leading into the tomb
chamber. It is possible that the west wall of No. XX is the original
west wall of No. XXI, since it is formed of upright slabs and is
apparently' of early construction. It seems probable that in the M.
M. period the original chamber was cut in half by the wall of small
stones which forms the east wall of No. XX. If this was the case,
the original enclosure was a large one, about 2 m. square.
The pottery was of the E. M. II and E. M. Ill periods; no later
objects of any sort were found. The stone vases were of very fine
workmanship. The best objects lay in a crevice of the rock near the
back of the tomb; near the entrance three clay vases were found.
The bones of many bodies were discovered in the tomb chamber. It
would appear that the earliest remains were piled at the far end from
the doorway and, as more were added, the deposit gradually spread
toward the entrance, where bones were found mixed with vases of
the E. M. Ill period, to which one must assign the final abandon-
ment of the tomb.
The objects from the tomb are as follows:
XXI. 1 (fig. 46). Small spouted bowl of alabaster (height 4.5 cm.,
diameter 6.8 cm.).
XXI. 2 (fig. 46). Vase of mottled green steatite (height 4.8 cm.,
diameter 4.1 cm.).
XXI. 3 (fig. 46). Cup of grey and white veined marble with
hook handle. This is an exquisite piece of work; the walls are as
thin as those of a china tea-cup (height 4.3 cm., diameter 10.5 cm.).
XXI. 4 (fig. 46). Small cup and cover of alabaster. This is a
stone example of the common clay cup of the E. M. Ill period
(height 3.5 cm., diameter 4.7 cm.).
XXI. 5 (fig. 46). Clay vase of early shape bearing a geometrical
white design which would lead one to assign it to the E. M. Ill
period (height 13.9 cm., diameter 10.6 cm.).
XXI. 6 (fig. 46). Cover of breccia (height 3.5 cm., diameter 6
cm.). This kind of cover is derived from very early neolithic and
E. M. I clay typ>es. Similar examples were found in Cycladic cist
graves in Syros.' The vases from Hagios Nikolaos near Palaikas-
tro possess such clay covers.'
' Tf . 'Apx; 1899, PL 8, Nos. 11, 11a. « B. S. A.. Vol. IX, p. 341, Figs. 1, 2.
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 77
XXI. 7 (fig. 46 AND PL. VII). Grey marble cup on foot (height
5.7 cm., diameter 7.2 cm.). This is the famihar "egg cup" shape so
typical of E. M. II pottery.'
XXI. 8 (fig. 46). Sword pommel of alabaster (diameter 3.7 cm.).
This is the type of pommel found in L. M. II and L. M. Ill graves,
which shows that the same type existed unchanged through a long
space of time.
XXI. 9 (fig. 46). Cup of grey marble (height 4 cm., diameter
7.5 cm.).
XXI. 10 (fig. 46 AND PL. ni). White alabaster vase on foot, with
four knob handles on the shoulder (height 6.4 cm., diameter 8 cm.).
This vase is of a decidedly Cycladic type, both in shape and
material.'' The vases of Figure 46, No. VII, a, and Figure 47, No.
12, are in the same material. The latter also has a Cycladic look; it
is quite possible that these are really importations and not Cretan at
all. The workmanship is somewhat inferior to that of the other
vases, and the material would appear to be of foreign origin.
XXI. 11 (no illustration). Jug of buff polished clay with a
broad festoon of dark paint around the body. There is a clay rivet
on the neck (height 15 cm., diameter 14 cm.). The vase, which is
gourd shaped, has the neck slightly tipped back.
XXI. 12 (no illustration). Badly preserved jug of red pol-
ished ware (height about 15 cm., diameter 12.2 cm.). The neck
is lacking.
XXI. 13 (fig. 20). Six tiny leaf -shaped pendants in gold which
resemble those from Tomb II, Figure 10, No. II, 19 (length 1.5 to
2 cm.).
XXI. 14 (fig. 20) . Cross-shaped ornament of thin gold, evidently
intended to be pasted to some other object; there are no holes for
sewing (diameter 7 cm.).
XXI. 15 (fig. 20). Leaf of gold, evidently part of a spray like
those from Tomb II, Figure 10, No. II, 24 (length 4.5 cm.).
XXI. 16 (fig. 20). Leaf of gold like those belonging to the gold
ornament from Tomb V, Figure 41, No. V, k (length 4.5 cm.).
XXI. 17, a, b (fig. 20). Two hoops of thin gold wire (diameter
1.7 cm.).
I Goumia, PI. XII. No. 15. ''Ey. 'Apx-, 1898, PI. 10, Nos. 16, 17.
78 EXPLORATIOSS IN MOCHLOS
XXI. 18 (fig. 20). Tiny human mask in gold foil, evidently the
covering of a core of perishable material (length 7 mm.).
XXI. 19 (fig. 20). Chain of tubular gold beads alternating with
small flat ones (length 60 cm.). This necklace comes partly from
this tomb and partly from the adjoining tomb No. XX. The long
beads are very like the common porcelain "mummy" beads of
Egypt.
XXI. 20 (fig. 44). Cutter, probably of copper (length 7.3 cm.).
This is the largest of its kind from the cemetery ; it was attached to
the handle by three instead of the usual two rivets.
XXI. 21 (fig. 44). Dagger blade, probably copper, of the short
E. M. II triangular type (length 8.3 cm.).
XXI. 22 (fig. 44). Dagger blade, probably copper, which shows
a slight advance over the preceding toward the more tapering shape
of the M. M. I knife blades (length 15.4 cm.). The pommel. No.
XXI, 8, may belong to this dagger blade, which is the only one of
large size found in the tomb.
In addition to these objects a great number of scraps and fragments
of gold foil were found, doubtless the remains of ornaments destroyed
in the disturbances caused by cutting away a part of the burial
deposit to make room for Tomb XX.
Tomb XXII
This is a very narrow grave or rather trench lying just outside the
west wall of No. XX. The grave had a very poor wall on the
western side, but there were no walls at either of the narrow north
and south ends. No pottery was found with this interment, but the
character of the gold work, which is very different from that found
in the other tombs, makes it fairly certain that the grave dates from
the L. M. I period.
XXII. a (fig. 41 AND PL. X). Short necklace of gold, crystal,
amethyst and carnelian beads. The beads numbered 1, 14 and 16
in Figure 41 give certain evidence as to the date of the necklace.
They must belong to the L. M. I period, if not to an even later
epoch, inasmuch as they are of a type common in L. M. II and L.
M. Ill graves on the Greek mainland. No. 12 is an electrum bead
and Nos. 5, 7, 9 and 1 1 are of chalcedony. The bull's head pendant
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 79
is of amethyst. Gold heads of the same sort often occur in the
jewelry of the Late Minoan periods; several such heads exquisitely
worked in gold were found at Hagia Triada.'
XXII. b (no illustration). Large bronze ring (diameter 1.5
cm.). The bezel is so badly corroded that the engraving cannot
be made out.
XXII. c (no illustration) . Large amygdaloid bead of bronze
(length 2 cm.).
XXII. d (no illustration). Plain gold ring bezel (diameter 1.7
cm.).
XXII. e (no illustration). Amygdaloid seal of green steatite
with design of crescents (length 2 cm.).
Tomb XXIII
This tomb appears to belong to the E. M. II and E. M. Ill periods.
It lay in a line with No. XIX, and all four of the tombs in this row,
backing against the cliff, would seem to have been built at the same
time, although two of them contained no objects of any sort. There
are no clay vases by which to date this grave, but a tall breccia vase
and some strips of gold foil are typical of the E. M. II period. The
tomb is long and narrow, with a doorway at the lower end (length
2.80 m., width 1 m.). The walls are built partly of small upright
slabs, partly of horizontal courses of small stones. It contained very
few objects of any sort and, as the tombs to the right and left of it were
quite empty, it seems probable that they had all been plundered.
XXIII. a (fig. 46 and pl. III). Tall breccia vase with spout,
two suspension handles, and one button handle. This is the largest
piece of breccia from the entire cemetery (height 16.7 cm., diameter
9 cm.). This material is usually confined to vases of very small size,
for it is often full of flaws and breaks easily. This shape recalls
certain forms of E. M. Ill clay vases and is evidently the proto-
type of the tall, slender M. M. Ill vases, some fine examples of
which were found at Knossos.'
XXIII. 6 (fig. 20). String of minute gold beads. It was neces-
sary to sift the earth from this tomb several times and even then a
certain number of these beads probably escaped unobserved as some
of them are no bigger than a pin head.
> Mon. AnI.. Vol. XIV, p. 731, Fig. 27. « B. S. A., Vol. VIII. p. 91. Fig. 51. Nos. 7, 10.
80 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
XXIII. c (fig. 20). White limestone pendant in shape of a
pyxis (height 1 cm., diameter 1.5 cm.).
OTHER STONE VASES FROM THE CEMETERY
These vases were found scattered about on the main tomb slope
and apparently came from graves which had been completely
destroyed at an early period. Most of them belong to the class of
Early IVIinoan stone vases characterized by their hard materials and
fine workmanship, features which we have already noted in describ-
ing vases from undisturbed tombs of the E. M. period. The M (mis-
cellaneous) before the following catalogue numbers is introduced to
show that the vases so marked were not found in tombs but were
strewn about in the surface soil of the cemetery.
M. 1 (fig. 47). Small bowl of opaque green steatite (height
5 mm., diameter 3 cm.).
M. 2 (fig. 47). Small goblet of green steatite on a foot (height
4 cm., diameter 1.5 cm.).
M. 3 (fig. 47 AND PL. II) . Vase of grey and white marble (height
4 cm., diameter 2 cm.). This shape is typical of Vlth Dynasty
Egyptian stone vases. A similar vase was found at Porti in the
Messara by Dr. Xanthoudides in an E. M. deposit.
M. 4 (fig. 47). Small bowl of green steatite with hook handle
(height 1.7 cm., diameter 4.1 cm.).
M. 5 (fig. 47). Small idol of white marble (height 6 cm.). It
is very roughly made with no attempt at reproducing the features.
Similar idols were found in the tholos at Hagia Triada.'
M. 6 (fig. 47). Bowl of translucent green steatite with rim
spout and handle (height 2.5 cm., diameter 5 cm.).
M. 7 (fig. 47 AND PL. II). Small goblet of red and orange
limestone (height 5.5 cm., diameter 4 cm.). This is a very curious
material and at first glance appears to be made of two separate
pieces of stone fastened together, so marked is the difference in
coloring of the halves.
M. 8 (fig. 47). Small bowl of green steatite with two rim
handles (height 1.7 cm., diameter 4.6 cm.).
^Mon. Anl., Vol. XXI, PI. XI. No. 27.
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 81
M. 9 (fig. 47). Small bowl of green steatite with horizontal
rim handle (height 1 cm., diameter 2.2 cm.).
M. 10 (fig. 47). Small bowl of green steatite with a fluted
edge (height 1.6 cm., diameter 5.5 cm.).
M. 11 (fig. 47). Small alabaster cup on foot (height 2.7 cm.,
diameter 4 cm.).
M. 12 (fig. 47 AND PL. IX). Small bowl of white alabaster
(height 2.2 cm., diameter 3.5 cm.). This has the same Cycladic
look noticed in the other two vases of this material from the
cemetery (Fig. 46, Nos. VII, a and XXI, 10).
M. 13 (fig. 47 AND PL. IX). Small bowl with flaring rim, of
richly veined alabaster (height 2.5 cm., diameter 5.8 cm.).
M. 14 (fig. 47). Little bowl of grey veined marble with two
rim handles (height 1.5 cm., diameter 4.3 cm.).
M. 15 (fig. 47 AND PL. IX). Bowl of pink and grey breccia
(height 3 cm., diameter 6.7 cm.).
M. 16 (fig. 47). Bowl of grey marble with rim spout and
handle (height 2 cm., diameter 3.9 cm.).
M. 17 (fig. 47). Bowl of rose-colored stone (height 1.7 cm.,
diameter 5.2 cm.). Vases of this material were of very rare
occurrence; only one other was found in the cemetery (Fig. 37, No.
XV, d).
M. 18 (fig. 47). Round-bodied bowl and cover of breccia (height
4.3 cm., diameter 8.2 cm.).
M. 19 (fig. 47). Bowl of grey and white marble, with rim
spout and three rim handles (height 4 cm., diameter 8 cm.).
M. 20 (fig. 47). Alabaster cup with horizontal rim handle
(height 5 cm., diameter 8.5 cm.).
M. 21 (fig. 47). Pot and cover of grey marble (height 6.8 cm.,
diameter 7 cm.).
MISCELLANEOUS CLAY VASES
These vases, like the stone vases of Figure 47, were found scattered
about in the soil of the cemetery. The first twenty-five, shown in
Figure 48, Nos. 22-46, all belong to the E. M. I and E. M. II
periods.
82 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
M. 22. Side-spouted jug of dark burnished ware (height 11.3
cm., diameter 11 cm.).
M. 23. Same (height 10.5 cm., diameter 9.9 cm.).
M. 24. Straight-sided cup of dark burnished ware with hori-
zontal strap handle (height 8.7 cm., diameter 11.5 cm.).
M. 25. Cup of same material, with spout at right angle to handle
(height 7.3 cm., diameter 11.9 cm.).
M. 26. Same, smaller size (height 4.7 cm., diameter 9 cm.).
M. 27. Cup of dark burnished ware (height 7.8 cm., diameter
9 cm.).
M. 28. Bowl, same material, spout and three rim handles
(height 5.3 cm., diameter 8.7 cm.). This is the clay prototype
of the stone bowls like No. 19 of Figure 47.
M. 29. Ladle of red clay (length 20 cm., diameter of bowl 7.5
cm.).
M. 30. Same, with short handle (length 15 cm., diameter of bowl
7 cm.).
M. 31. Object of red clay resembling "horns of consecra-
tion" (length 19 cm., height 9 cm.).
M. 32. Vase of black ware (height 8 cm., diameter 10 cm.).
M. 33. Same, of smaller size (height 7.1 cm., diameter 7.1 cm.).
M. 34. Tiny dish or saucer of dark grey clay on a foot (height
4.5 cm., diameter 7.1 cm.).
M. 35. Ring of red clay (diameter 9.5 cm.). This may have
been used to support round-bottomed vases.
M. 36. Small cup of red clay (height 4 cm., diameter 6.2 cm.).
M. 37. Square lump of coarse brown clay, pierced with vertical
suspension holes at each corner (height 4.5 cm., diameter 8.5 cm.).
M. 38. Same, of larger size (height 4 cm., diameter 9 cm.).
M. 39. Cup of red clay with small knob-like handle (height
4.2 cm., diameter 5.6 cm.).
M. 40. Clay ring like M, 35 (height 5.8 cm., diameter 8.5 to 9.4
cm.).
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 83
M. 41. Ladle of red clay like M, 29 and M, 30 (length 14.7 cm.).
M. 42. Same (length 15.5 cm.).
M. 43. Side-spouted jug of brown clay (height 12 cm., diameter
15 cm.).
M. 44. Same, with short spout (height 15 cm., diameter 13.5 cm.).
Design in waves of dark paint with double rows of dots between
each pair of waves.
M. 45. Jug of red clay (height 15 cm., diameter 9.5 cm.).
M. 46. Side-spouted jug of black burnished ware (height 18.8
cm., diameter 19.5 cm.).
The twenty-nine vases in Figure 49 belong for the most part
to the E. M. Ill and the M. M. I periods.
M. 47. Small side-spouted jug of polished black ware of E.
M. II date (height 6.3 cm., diameter 6 cm.).
M. 48. Same (height 7 cm., diameter 8 cm.).
M. 49. Spouted bowl of E. M. Ill light-on-dark geometric
ware (height 7.2 cm., diameter 9.7 cm.).
M. 50. Cup of E. M. II red ware (height 5 cm., diameter 6 cm.).
M. 51. Jug of M. M. I light-on-dark ware (height 4.5 cm.,
diameter 5.3 cm.).
M. 52. Same, of larger size (height 7 cm., diameter 5.8 cm.).
M. 53. M. M. I cup covered with dark paint (height 5.5 cm,,
diameter 6.8 cm.).
M. 54. E. M. Ill cup of red clay (height 6.1 cm., diameter 7
cm.).
M. 55. M. M. I cup covered with dark paint and with a broad
white band around the rim (height 6.2 cm., diameter 8.5 cm.).
M. 56. E. M. Ill cup with design of barred triangles in white
paint on the dark band around the rim (height 4.7 cm., diameter
10 cm.).
M. 57. Cupof same shape covered with dark paint. The design
of barred white triangles on the rim is common in the E. M. lU
period (height 7.5 cm., diameter 11.5 cm.).
84 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
M. 58. E. M. Ill cup of the round-bodied tj'pe with design of
white bands and waves on a dark ground (height 5 cm., diameter 8
cm.).
M. 59. E. M. in cup with oblique latticed panels in white
paint on a dark ground (height 6.2 cm., diameter 7 cm.).
M. 60. E. M. Ill cup, type of No. M, 58. Bands and spiral
design in white on a dark ground (height 5.1 cm., diameter 7
cm.).
M. 61. E. M. Ill cup covered with dark paint with barred
triangles of white around the rim (height 6.6 cm., diameter 10.5
cm.).
M. 62. Same, of smaller size (height 6.2 cm., diameter 10 cm.).
M. 63. Same tyj)e (height 7.7 cm., diameter 11.1 cm.).
M. 64. E. M. Ill cup of red clay with faint trace of a white
design of groups of vertical lines from base to rim both inside and
out (height 7.3 cm., diameter 9.5 cm.).
M. 65. E. M. II side-spouted vase of red clay on a tall foot
(height 6.5 cm., diameter 4.5 cm.).
M. 66. M. M. I jug of polished buff clay (height 6.8 cm.,
diameter 5.8 cm.).
M. 67. M. M. I side-spouted jug on three small feet. Polished
buff clay with an oblique panel of dark paint on the shoulder
(height 7 cm., diameter 6.5 cm.).
M. 68. M. M. I jug of polished buff clay (height 10 cm., diameter
8.2 cm.).
M. 69. Same type as No. M, 67 (height 8 cm., diameter 7.4
cm.).
M. 70. M. M. I jug of polished buff clay with vertical panel of
chevrons in dark paint (height 7.8 cm., diameter 6.8 cm.). This
jug was found near the surface in Tomb VI.
M. 71. Same type as Nos. M, 67 and M, 69. Pohshed buff
clay with faint traces of a dark design on the shoulder (height 7.6
cm., diameter 7 cm.).
M. 72. M. M. I side-spouted jug of red clay covered with a sort
of black varnish (height 13.8 cm., diameter 13.2 cm.).
a
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 85
M. 73. M. M. I side-spouted jug covered vsdth dark paint, faint
traces of a white design in oblique panels on shoulder (height 7.2
cm., diameter 10.8 cm.).
M. 74. E. M. Ill side-spouted jug (height 14.2 cm., diameter
17.3 cm.). This is a very well preserved example of the E. M. Ill
light-on-dark geometric ware.
M. 75. M. M. I example of the same type of jug. The body
is covered with black paint much worn and has an oblique panel
of incised chevrons on the shoulder on both sides of the vessel (height
11.5 cm., diameter 17.5 cm.). The M. M. vases of this type differ
from their E. M. prototypes both as regards their spouts, which
are usually short, and as regards the quality of the black and white
paints, which are less durable in the later period.
The seventeen vases shown in Figure 50 are, for the most part,
of M. M. I date.
M. 76. E. M. II clay cup of coarse brown ware (height 4.8
cm., diameter 7.6 cm.).
M. 77. M. M. I saucer of red clay (height 2 cm., diameter 5.6
cm.).
M. 78. M. M. I cup of buff polished clay covered with spots of
dark paint (height 6.2 cm., diameter 7.5 cm.).
M. 79. Identical with No. 77 (height 2.4 cm., diameter 5.1 cm.).
M. 80 (fig. 50 AND PL. VIII). M. M. I jug covered with black
paint (height 12.2 cm., diameter 9.9 cm.). The jug has a band of
red around the neck and a design in white on the shoulder. The
white design recalls the double axe motive and is often found in
the dark-on-light E. M. II and M. M. I wares.'
M. 81. Similar to No. 79 (height 1.2 cm., diameter 5.2 cm.).
M. 82. M. M. I cup with white bands around the rim (height
5.1 cm., diameter 10.4 cm.).
M. 83. Like Nos. 77, 79 and 81 (height 1.7 cm., diameter 5.6
cm.). These four saucers, with 12 similar ones, were found together
in the earth near Tomb XVI.
M. 84. M. M. I cup of polished buff clay (height 7.6 cm.,
diameter 11.6 cm.). The design of cross-hatched triangles in dark
paint is much worn.
' B. S. A., Vol. IX, p. 95, Fig. 65. p.
86 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
M. 85. E. M. II "egg-cup" in black ware, described under
Tomb VIII, No. b (height 9.4 cm., diameter 9.2 cm.).
M. 86. Clay cup of E. M. Ill date (height 6.6 cm., diameter
8 cm.).
M. 87. E. M. n bowl of dark burnished ware with ridge handles
(height 7.1 cm., diameter 14.6 cm.).
M. 88. Cup covered with dark paint and with a white design of
barred festoons around the rim (height 6.5 cm., diameter 10.6 cm.).
This shape is characteristic of the M. M. I period, although the
design bears a close resemblance to that found on E. M. Ill cups.
This specimen must belong to the period of transition between the
two periods.
M. 89. E. M. Ill cup of common type with much worn design
in white on a dark ground (height 5.1 cm., diameter 7.5 cm.).
M. 90. Side-spouted E. M. 11 jug of red ware, much worn
(height 12.8 cm., diameter 18.8 cm.).
M. 91. M. M. I bowl of polished buff clay (height 6.5 cm.,
diameter 22 cm.).
M. 92. M. M. I side-spouted jug with a band of incisions across
the shoulder (height 10.9 cm., diameter 16.4 cm.). This jug,
like the cup No. M, 88, belongs to the transitional period between
the E. M. Ill and M. M. I epochs.
Besides these 71 clay vases there are 136 others from various parts
of the cemetery; nearly all of these were in very bad condition and
do not require a detailed description. Most of them lay near the
surface and had suffered severely from centuries of winter rains.
M. 93-97. Black burnished jugs, type of No. 46 (Fig. 48).
M. 98-103. Ladles, type of Nos. 29, 30, 41, 42 (Fig. 48).
M. 104-106. Black burnished "fruit stands," type of Figure 4,
No. I, a.
M. 107. Small side-spouted jug similar to No. 47 (Fig. 49).
M. 108-111. Black burnished E. M. II cups, type of No. 27 (Fig.
48).
M. 112. Square lump of clay pierced at the corners, type of
Nos, 37, 38 (Fig. 48).
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 87
M. 113-116. Little dishes on feet, type of No. 34 (Fig. 48).
M. 117, 118. Clay rings like No. 35 (Fig. 48).
M. 119-121. Round-bodied cups, types of Nos. 58-60 (Fig. 49).
M. 122-124. Small round-necked jugs, type of Nos. 51, 52 (Fig.
49).
M. 125, 126. Side-spouted jugs, type of No. 48 (Fig. 49).
M. 127, 128. Two cups of polished buff ware.
M. 129. Low open bowl, type of No. 91 (Fig. 50).
M. 130. Spouted jug, type of No. 49 (Fig. 49).
M. 131-142. Little saucers, type of No. 77 (Fig. 50).
M, 143. Side-spouted jug, type of No. 74 (Fig. 49).
M. 144-149. Small side-spouted jugs, type of No. 73 (Fig. 49).
M. 150, 151. Same, type of Nos. 67, 69, 71 (Fig. 49).
M. 152-157. Large side-spouted jugs, type of No. 43 (Fig. 48).
M. 158, 159. Similar to above, with mottled surfaces.
M. 160-165. Cups of coarse red ware.
M. 166-168. Side-spouted jugs, type of No. 22 (Fig. 48).
M. 169, 170. Jugs, type of No. 45 (Fig. 48).
M. 171-173. Saucers, type of Figure 13, No. II, /.
M. 174-177. Cups, type of No. 88 (Fig. 50).
M. 178, 179, Polychrome M. M. I mugs, type of No. 49 (Fig.
49).
M. 180-228. Clay vessels of various kinds, so badly rotted as to
be quite valueless.
CHILD BURIALS OF THE M. M. Ill AND L. M. I PERIODS
These curious burials were found scattered about on various parts
of the tomb slope. The bodies had been placed in inverted jars
with no protecting walls and at no great depth. Many of the jars
had been destroyed in the process of denudation which had played
such havoc with some of the built tombs. They were often found
88 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
lying in the surface soil over undisturbed tombs of earlier date, so
that even at the time of interment it was evidently not considered
necessary to place these jars at any great depth. The few bones
that came to light were, in every case, those of very young children,
and indeed some of the jars were so small that it would have been
impossible for them to contain anything larger than a new born
infant. In no case were any objects found with the interments.
The bones were naturally very fragmentary. In one jar part
of the skull remained but crumbled to dust as soon as the jar was
removed exposing it to the air. In four of the jars only small frag-
ments of bone remained, and in five others all bones had disappeared.
Fortunately we can date these burials with perfect certainty, as
seven out of the fifteen jars found were painted in the unmistakable
L. M. I style. Of the remaining eight jars only one was painted,
but the shapes are all characteristic of the M. M. Ill period. Only
nine of the fifteen jars were found in situ. The remainder, much
broken, were scattered about the hillside in the surface soil and had
suffered badly from exposure. Four jars had their painted surfaces
fairly well preserved. The two best are shown in Plate XI and in
Figure 51.
Figure 51 is a very fine example of the M. M. Ill monochrone
light-on-dark style (height 48 cm., diameter 40 cm.). The design
is a favorite one in this and the succeeding period. The pairs of
incised double axes between the handles were picked out with a
border of white dots, which have almost entirely disappeared. The
chain motive around the neck is of very early origin and can be
traced back to the E. M. Ill period.'
Plate XI is a very fine jar of the L. M. I style and belongs to the
early part of that period. The ripple design which covers the base
seldom appears toward the end of the L. M. I age and is more char-
acteristic of the preceding M. M. Ill style. The profuse use of
white paint also tends to place this jar in the transitional stage which
divides the M. M. Ill and L. M. I periods. Unfortunately the paint
is badly worn, but enough remains to give one a vivid idea of the
splendid effect of this jar in its original state. The curious designs
in white on the broad black band around the middle are unique and
not easily described. A good deal of red paint is employed, espe-
cially in the band just below the handles, which shows that the tra-
dition of M. M. polychromy still exercised a strong influence on the
slowly developing L. M. I style. The shape is unusual in the L. M.
• Tratu.. Vol. I. Part III, PI. XXVII. Nos. 15, 16; PI. XXVUI, Nos. 19. 20. 83; PL
XXX, Nos. 4, 6. 14, 15; and PI. XXXIII. Nos. 5. 8.
KlCIIKK 'il. M M. Ill Hi HI U, .iMi. SCM.F. 1 : .">
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 89
I period and seems to be a sort of compromise between the tall
slender M. M. Ill type and the round-bodied L. M. I jars (height
56 cm., diameter 39.5 cm.).
At Mochlos ■ and at Pseira ^ a class of rippled ware seems to have
appeared sometime in the M. M. Ill period and to have attained
great popularity. As the true L. M. I style begins to make itself
felt, this rippled ware partially, though not entirely, disappears
before the wave of naturalism which overwhelms the conventional
decorative designs of the M. M. period. In this jar one sees the three
styles — the polychrome, the ripple and the naturalistic — all used
together.
The two other painted jars which were fairly well preserved are
almost identical with that represented in A. J. A., Vol. XIII, p. 298,
Figure 19. This is the fully developed local L. M. I style, and jars
of this shape with similar designs were very common in these small
Minoan towns of Eastern Crete. In fact, five were found at Pseira'
in 1907 and two in the Mochlos houses in 1908. One or two examples
were found at Gournia in 1904.*
A LATE MINOAN I BURIAL
In the surface soil over Tomb IX the first strokes of the pick
uncovered the much rotted remains of a small bronze bowl which
proved to belong to an L. M. I burial. There was no sign of enclos-
ing walls nor, with the exception of a group of objects lying close
together near the surface, anything that indicated an interment. The
bones had entirely disappeared, and it is impossible to say whether
the burial was that of an adult or merely one of the child burials
which were found scattered about this slope over the earlier graves.
Doubtless a certain number of objects must have been swept away
by the action of the winter rains, and the few vases remaining had
suffered so badly that it was possible to preserve only one of them,
which is shown in Figure 26, A (height 3.6 cm., diameter 13.5 cm.).
These vases, three in number, were shallow bronze bowls of much the
same size, unengraved and of very thin metal. No pottery was found
and only two small objects came to light. These suffice, however, to
fix the date of the interment. One of them, the gold signet ring of
Figure 52, is the most valuable object yielded by the cemetery of
Mochlos. Although it is of small size, the preservation and workman-
ship are so admirable that this ring must rank with the best rings
I A. J. A.. Vol. XIII, p. «84 and PI. VIII. ■ Anth. Publ.. Vol. Ill, No. 1, p. 80.
•Anth. Publ., Vol. III. No. 1, p. 3S. Fig. 14. • Ooumia. PI. IX. No. tSa and PI. K.
90 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
of the kind from Mycenae and other sites on the Greek mainland.
Few such rings have as yet come to light in Crete and these few are
in no way remarkable either for workmanship or good preservation.'
The importance of this signet lies in the curious scene engraved
on the bezel. Most of this class of rings bear cult scenes, and this
specimen is no exception to the rule, although it presents several
new and unusual features. The goddess, who so often figures on
the rings from the mainland, is shown in a new aspect, namely, as
arriving in her ceremonial barge at a rocky shore on which stands a
small building, evidently the usual pillar shrine. The barge has a
high curved stern carved to represent a dog's head, and the bow
resembles a fish's tail. The shape of the boat may refer to a tradi-
tion that the goddess first reached the Minoan land riding on the
back of a sea monster who had carried her across the sea to her new
home. At any rate there is good reason to suppose that we see here
the type of sacred barge supposed to be peculiar to the Cretan
Mother Goddess. That the figure in the boat is that of a woman is
probable, judging by her ample form.^ Her sacred tree, apparently
a fig as pointed out by Dr. Evans, grows out of a throne-like
structure which may represent the railed enclosure by which it
was always surrounded.'
The goddess, who is seated with her right hand resting on this
raihng, is waving her left towards the pillar shrine from which a
curious flaming symbol appears to be flying toward her.*
All three symbols in the field are entirely new to Minoan cult
scenes and difficult of interpretation. The flaming object bears a
> Since this was written, a fine ring of this sort has been found in one of the Royal Tombs
at Knossos.
' Since I wrote the above, doubts have been cast on the sex of the figure in the boat. The
ring is of such small size and the carving so minute that the artist did not attempt to do more
than show that the figure was meant to be human. The question partly hangs on whether
the figure is clothed. It rarely, if ever, occurs that the Minoan goddess is shown in an abso-
lutely nude state, though she sometimes appears clad in nothing but a short flounced skirt.
Certainly on the Moehlos ring it is difficult to distinguish any signs of a garment unless it be
a belt around the waist, which is pinched in after the Minoan fashion. There seems to be a
faint attempt to indicate female breasts, but the question of sex must remain an open one for
the present. Personally I believe the figure to be that of a goddess. The Minoan male
deity seems to have occupied a very secondary position in the Minoan pantheon, and it is not
likely that here he should have been made not merely the principal but the only figure in a
scene of e^dently religious significance. The sacred tree which figures in the scene is always
an attribute of the female divinity and usually appears in all cult scenes where the goddess
plays a leading part.
» Mycenaean Tree and Pillar Cult, p. 4.
< Another point of discussion is what idea the artist wished to convey by the attitude of
the goddess's left arm and hand. To the Anglo-Saxon mind it at once conveys the idea of
beckoning, but as Prof. H. N. Fowler has pointed out to me, it is customary in Crete and
the southeast of Europe at the present time to beckon with the fingers pointing down. This I
believe was also the habit in classic Greece. Customs of this sort are less likely to be changed
than almost any others by the course of time, so it is quite possible that in Minoan times they
beckoned downwards, in which case the motions of the goddess are not very intelligible.
o
a
a
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 91
strong resemblance to a figure 8 shield lying on its side. The small
object immediately above it might be almost anything. The third
and last symbol may be meant for a quadruple axe such as is shown
on the sarcophagus from Hagia Triada.' In the case of the symbol on
the Mochlos ring the vertical position of the object is quite unlike
the usual representation of the axe in Minoan cult scenes.
In other respects this ring follows the usual type of Late Minoan
rings of this sort and, from the small size of the hoop, was probably
used only as a signet. The hoop measures 1.2 cm. by 9 mm. and, if
worn at all, could only have belonged to a child. The field measures
1 by 2 cm.
This ring, like nearly all others of its class, is probably not of solid
gold but is merely a shell of that metal over a core of some other
material. These cores are usually of bronze, but in the case of this
ring the preservation is so excellent that there is no means, short of
cutting through the gold itself, of telling what may underlie the
covering. That the design is not cut in solid metal is clear, as there
are no sharp edges as would be the case if this technique had been
employed. This is one of the best means of detecting forgeries in
rings of this kind, as in the forgery the design is usually carved in
solid gold and shows sharp ragged edges when examined with a
glass. The usual method, which seems to have been the one
employed in making the ring, was to carve the design in the core
and then work the gold covering into the carving from the out-
side.
The remaining object from this burial is an
amygdaloid hematite seal, Figure 53. Dr.
Evans tells me that this is a type of gem
common in the L. M. II period and that it
probably represents a conventionalized lion
mask. The ring would naturally be placed
in this same period, but in these eastern towns L. M. I art was still
flourishing when Knossos was producing objects of the L. M. II stj'le.
The blow which fell shortly afterwards wiped the eastern towns out
of existence before they had adopted the styles characteristic of the
L. M. II period. At Mochlos no L. M. II settlement came to light,
although shortly before the town was destroyed L. M. II vases
began to be imported from ICnossos, the chief centre of artistic
development.^
Therefore we must class the signet ring and the hematite seal
' Paribeni, Hon. Ant.. Vol. XIX. 1908, pp. l-«6. ' A. J. A.. Vol. XIII, p. iS5.
92 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
with the L. M. I objects from Mochlos, although they doubtless
date from the end of the period.'
The Pottery from the Cemetery
In all about 265 clay vases were found in the cemetery of Mochlos,
but of these nearly half were in a very bad state of preservation.
Most of them belong to the E. M. II and E. M. Ill periods. There
are a few M. M. I and M. M. Ill vases, whereas the L. M. I period
is represented solely by the big jars containing the child burials.
THE E. M. I period
A large deposit of this period was found underlying the big cham-
ber tomb No. V, but the vases were all so fragmentary that only the
smaller ones could be pieced together. The many baskets of pot-
sherds from this deposit contained parts of only one painted vase,
which belonged to the geometrical dark-on-light style of the first
part of the E. M. II period. The rest of the fragments were of red or
black clay, sometimes burnished, but more often not. The clay is
very coarse in quality and the vases badly made. The black ware is,
as a rule, of better workmanship than the red and was used chiefly
for goblets and round-bodied bowls with suspension handles. Most
of the unpolished vases had been pared into the required shape by
some dull instrument which, instead of cutting the clay cleanly, has
dragged it open, leaving holes and imperfections over the entire sur-
face of the vessel. All this ware was handmade and in the cruder
examples one can see finger marks where the potter had handled the
vessel while the clay was still moist. No incised ware was found in
this deposit, and although some of the burnished sherds might pass
for true neolithic ware both in shape and finish, it is clear that they
belong really to the period of transition which lay between the
incised neolithic ware and the geometrical painted pottery of the
E. M. II period. The presence of a very few fragments of beaked
jugs shows that this deposit, though containing many neolithic
types, immediately precedes the E. M. II age, when such jugs make
their first appearance. This deposit possesses a peculiar interest,
as it is the first of its kind found on or near the Isthmus of Hiera-
petra; it shows the close relationship of the E. M. II and the neolithic
' Unfortunately this ring was stolen from the Candia Museum in 1910, and although the
Cretan government offered a liberal reward for its recovery, as yet nothing ha.s been heard
of it.
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 93
periods, between which it acts as a connecting link, partaking of
the characteristics of both yet clearly belonging to neither.
The best preserved objects from this deposit are shown in Figure
48, Nos. 29-42. The shape which occurred most frequently was
that of a clay spoon or ladle like Nos. 29, 30, 41 and 42. This sort
of ladle is never met with in E. M. II deposits and must be either a
survival from the neolithic period or else a product peculiar to E.
M. I potters. These ladles are always of reddish clay, unburnished,
and are often covered with a sort of reddish wash. The horn-like
object No. 31 appears to be an early example of the "horns of
consecration" although one would hardly expect to find them ap-
pearing as a cult object in so early a period. In the illustration
(Fig. 48), they might also be taken for a boat, but the fact that the
outside surface is slightly crescent shaped and the back quite flat
makes this theory improbable. Three small votive double axes, one
of bronze (Fig. 12, No. II, 46) and two of lead, found in Tomb II,
in an unmistakable E. M. II deposit, would tend to prove that these
cult objects had their origin at a much earlier date than would have
been believed possible.
Nos. 32 and 33 (Fig. 48) belong to a type common in this E. M. I
ware and their use is not easy to determine. They are made with a
hollow stem of clay and a broad flaring rim. No. 32 contained a
bit of coarse linen and a tiny piece of bronze or copper, which
shows that metal was not unknown in this period.
No. 34 is another common shape which has been discussed in con-
nection with No. I, a, of Tomb I (Fig. 4). A number of coarse clay
cups, Nos. 36 and 39, were found, and these cups, together with the
curious vessels, Nos. 32, 33 and 34, would incline one to the belief
that this was a place of offering, as these vases could never have
served any practical household use. This would help to explain
the presence of so large a deposit of pottery on the very edge of the
cliffs in a place unsuitable for dwelling houses. We know, also, from
similar objects found among the Mochlos houses, that the people
of this period had their dwellings on the same site as that occupied
by the later town.' It is quite possible that in the E. M. I age
this slope was already in use as a burial place and that these vases
were the offerings to the dead. No grave of the period came to light,
but in the construction of the three large chamber tombs Nos. IV,
V and VI in the E. M. II period, the westernmost of which. No. V,
overlay this mass of sherds, the E. M. I graves as well as a great
part of the pottery deposit may have been swept away.
'A.J. A.. Vol. XIII, p. 279.
94 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
Nos. 35 and 40 (Fig. 48) are clay rings of which many fragmentary
examples were found. They probably served to support round-
bottomed vases which, if we may judge by the scarcity of flat bases
among these sherds, must have been the usual type.
Nos. 37 and 38 are roughly rectangular lumps of clay pierced at
each corner with vertical holes for suspension. Similar objects
were found on the town site in E. M. I strata. Like the ladles and
the curious little vessels, Nos. 32-34, their use is difficult to imagine,
as, when suspended, they must have been at best clumsy affairs cap-
able of containing little or nothing.
The remaining shapes from this deposit are represented only by
fragments. There are the necks of three jugs like No. 45 (Fig. 48).
Many pieces of plates and saucers were found, also a number of
broken goblets of black burnished ware of the same general type as
No. VI, 11 (Fig. 23) from Tomb Yl and those from the town of
Mochlos ' and from Gournia.^
A few parts of "fruit stands" (Fig. 37, No. XVI, 10) were found;
but the surface was never so highly burnished as in the specimens
from the E. M. II and III graves. Such vessels in fine grey clay
were found at Gournia in early deposits.'
A few handles and bits of necks appear to have belonged to vases
like those from Tomb V, Figure 18, No. V, b, and No. 87 of Figure 50.
No piece of mottled ware was found in the entire deposit and only
an occasional sherd of the highly polished buff ware of the E. M. II
period.
Certainly this E. M. I ware is very inferior to the best neolithic
ware of Knossos, which has never been found thus far in Eastern
Crete. The earliest strata on these small sites always belong to this
intermediate type and must date from the period of expansion when,
quitting the large neolithic centres in which they had established
themselves on first reaching Crete, the Minoans began to spread
over the island in search of new homes. This scattering of the
inhabitants may have been due to the overcrowding of such neolithic
centres as Knossos and Phaistos or simply to the desire to bring the
rest of the island under cultivation, but it is a noticeable fact that
all these small settlements sprang into being at about the same time,
that is to say, shortly before the end of the E. M. I period. Another
reason for the sudden populating of these hitherto uninhabited
areas may have been a migratory movement which brought into the
island a new influx of people of the same race as those so long estab-
> A. J. A.. Vol. XIII, p. 279, Fig. 2. No. 1. » Gournia, PI. XII, No. 12.
• Gournia, p. 56, Fig. 37, No. 8.
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 95
lished at neolithic Knossos. The culture is evidently the same as
that of Knossos, but is not so highly developed as one would have
expected had the settlers of these eastern towns come directly from
Knossos itself. If, however, they were outsiders of the same race,
their culture, though the same in all main points, had evidently
remained in a more backward state than that of their Knossian
kinsmen. Once settled on Cretan soil this less-developed culture
soon made up for lost time and by the beginning of the E. M. II
period was on a par with that of the larger and older Minoan centres.
So far little or no excavating has been done in the interior of
Eastern Crete. Almost all the sites examined have been on the
coast line, and none show signs of having been occupied before the
beginning of the E. M. I age. It is possible that excavations may
reveal the presence of a neolithic population in Eastern Crete, living
at some distance from the sea for purposes of safety, for it is probable
that only with the growth of the Early Minoan power were the
inhabitants enabled to descend from the hills and establish settle-
ments on the coast. Near the Isthmus of Hierapetra there are, at
present, no evidences of neolithic sites; even Vasiliki, which lay
nearly three miles inland and was evidently a place of importance
in the Early Minoan period, shows no signs of having existed in
the neolithic age.' At Palaikastro there is some evidence of a neo-
lithic population living back from the coast, for in 1905 a neolithic
settlement was discovered at Magasd.^ This village lies on the high
limestone plateau which rises to the south of Palaikastro and forms
the central part of the extreme east of Crete. From all the district
about Magasd the excavators at Palaikastro obtained numbers of
stone axes. We know that stone axes were still used in the early
part of the copper age in various parts of Europe, but that they
rapidly disappeared once a knowledge of metal working was acquired.
A few stone axes from a site could not be taken as certain evidence
that the site dated from the neolithic period, but when such axes
are found in large numbers, all coming from one district, it is natural
to look for neolithic settlements in that neighborhood. The exca-
vation at Magasd yielded but few objects, all of undoubted neoli-
thic origin, and it is possible that further excavations would prove
that the central portion of Eastern Crete had an extensive neolithic
population contemporaneous with the flourishing neolithic centres
of Central Crete.
> Since the above was written, a few sherds of apparently neolithic manufacture were dis-
covered in 11)10 in the (iournia cemetery. The sherds are so fragmentary tliat their neolithic
origin cannot be held as proved.
• B. S. A.. Vol. XI, p. 2C0.
96 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
THE E. M. II PERIOD
Numerous vases of the E. M. II period were found. They are
interesting inasmuch as most of them belong to the earlier part of
the E. M. II age, before the mottled ware attained its great popu-
larity. Many of the dark burnished vases show close aflBnities to
the ware of the preceding E. M. I period just described, although a
number of new shapes have come into use. The best vases are those
belonging to the early geometrical dark-on-light style, of which the
chamber tombs produced several very fine examples in a good state
of preservation. The saucer of Figures 7 and 13, No. II, I, is one
of the best of this class and, in quality of clay and paint, bears com-
parison with any of the later Minoan fabrics; its design is charac-
teristic of the geometrical dark-on-light style, examples of which
were found at Gournia and Vasiliki in 1905.' Latticed figures re-
sembling double axes are often found at Knossos on a closely corre-
sponding M. M. I ware, which evidently owes much to this E. M. II
technique. In these Knossian M. M. I examples the design takes
rather an extreme and elongated form and has been called by its
discoverers the " butterfly " pattern.' It had been thought heretofore
that the religious symbol of the double-axe did not occur before the
M. M. Ill age, but since such votive axes in bronze and lead were
found at Mochlos in an Early Minoan II tomb (p. 36), there seems
no reason to doubt that not only the M. M. I "butterfly" ornaments,
but also the designs on this saucer are meant to represent this sym-
bol. Festoons like those on the rim of the saucer are to be seen on
a cup from Tomb VI (Figs. 22, 23, No. VI, 6) and are common both
in E. M. Ill and M. M. I wares.' The jug of Figures 4 and 13, No.
I, b, bears a design of cross-hatched triangles frequently noted in
the ware of this period from Vasiliki. Vases of the geometrical E. M.
II style have also been found at Zakro,* Palaikastro,* Phaistos,
Hagia Triada,' Koumasa, Porti and other sites, of many of which
no complete account has yet been published.
Of the typical E. M. II mottled vases very few specimens were
found, and most of those, owing to the peculiar action of the soil,
had entirely lost their painted surfaces. It would seem that few of
them possessed the brilliant mottling of the Vasiliki vases. Plain
burnished red ware occurred more frequently.
1 Gournia, PI. XII, Nos. 20, a. 6, 25-33 and PI. A, No. 3.
• B. S. A.. Vol. IX, p. 95, Fig. 65, p.
• A. J. A., Vol. XIII, p. 292, Fig. 13, No. 2 of top row; Traru., Vol. II, Part 2, p. 126,
Fig. 9, a.
« B. S. A., Vol. VII, p. 144, Fig. 52. ' B. S. A., Vol. X. p. 196.
• Mon. Ant.. Vol. XXI, PI. IX, Figs. 21. 22.
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 97
No. 44 (Fig. 48), belonging to this period, is a curious mixture
of the dark-on-hght, the mottled and the incised styles; the upright
triangles of dark paint present a mottled surface and are separated
from one another by double rows of dots incised in the clay of the
vase, a reminiscence of the preceding incised wares.
No. 24 (Fig. 48) is the prototype of the straight-sided E. M. Ill
and M. M. I cups. No. 27 is derived from the E. M. I cups, Nos.
36 and 39. No. 28 is also an early shape, more common in stone
than in clay. The goblet type (Figs. 22, 23, No. VI, 11) is of very
early origin and lasted from neolithic times into the E. M. II period.
This specimen is of fine grey clay similar to that used for the incised
sub-neolithic vases of the first part of E. M. II age.
THE E. M. Ill PERIOD
The pottery of the E. M. Ill period, though found in large quan-
tities, was for the most part in a bad state of preservation. Both
the white and the black paint had suffered from the action of the soil
and the examples, as a whole, are inferior to those found on the town
site.
The shapes and designs differ but little from those already known
from the excavations at Vasiliki, Gournia and Pseira. The examples
from the cemetery cover the entire period from its earliest stages
to the beginning of the M. M. I age. At the close of the E. M. Ill
period the vases so closely resemble those of the M. M. I epoch that
it is very difficult to say where one style ends and the other begins;
certain types seem characteristic of both periods.
No. XXI, 5 (Fig. 46), one of the earliest vases of this period, is
very primitive in shape and appearance. It closely resembles, in
form, some of the Trojan vases of the third city.^ The body paint
shows the mottled surface of the E. M. II style but without the usual
polishing. The white geometrical design places it early in the E.
M. Ill period.
No. XVI, 8 (Fig. 37) bears a white design very characteristic
of the E. M. Ill age. The shape is not of early origin and is never
found in E. M. II deposits. Among M. M. I vases it is very common
and on the whole must be regarded as a development of the side-
spouted E. M. II jugs, which last into the M. M. I period.
No. IV, 2 (Figs. 18, 19) is a shape unusual in E. M. Ill deposits
and is evidently the prototype of M. M. I cups of similar form. No.
• Ddrpfeld, Troja und Ilion, Vol. I, p. 263, Fig. 13«.
98 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
V, b (Fig. 18) shows the early incised pattern of dots from which the
painted design on this cup is derived.
Of the cups of Figure 49, Nos. 56-63, the straight -sided ones are
derived from an E. M. II type (Fig. 48, No. 24), whereas the round-
bodied cups resemble those found in the E. M. I deposit (Fig. 48,
Nos. 36, 39), although this shape rarely appears in the intervening
E. M. II period.
THE M. M. I PERIOD
The M. M. I period was as poorly represented in the cemetery as
on other Minoan sites near the Isthmus of Hierapetra, where poly-
chrome ware was of very rare occurrence. With the beginning of
the M. M. I age it seems that we must turn from the settlements
in Eastern Crete to the great palace sites of Knossos and Phaistos
for our knowledge of the period. Although polychrome ware was
found at Mochlos in only a small quantity, and even then badly
preserved, there are a good many examples of the contemporary
geometrical dark-on-light M. M. I ware which closely resembles
the earlier style of the E. M. II period. In Figure 49, Nos.
66-71, six vases of this class are shown. They always possess the
same highly polished buff surface which characterizes the E. M. II
ware so that when there is no painted design the shape alone indi-
cates to which period they belong. The designs of the M. M. I
painted examples are more stereotyped and present less variety than
do those of the E. M. II vases. No specimens from Mochlos show
the latticed triangles and similar figures so common in the E. M. II
period. At Knossos such latticed figures survived in the " butterfly "
pattern already mentioned on p. 96. At Mochlos the designs are
usually sets of obliquely curving lines (Figs. 32 and 33, No. XIII, h),
scrolls (Fig. 37, No. XVI, 9), and waves of paint (Fig. 49, Nos. 67
and 69). The shapes of Nos. 67, 69 and 71 (Fig. 49) are degenerate
forms of the E. M. 11 side-spouted jugs.
In Figure 49, Nos. 51-53 and 55 are of M. M. I date; Nos. 51
and 52 are of a shape which occurred frequently in this cemetery,
but which is not common elsewhere. No. 55 is evidently derived
from an E. M. Ill tj-pe (Fig. 19, No. IV, 2). No. 84 (Fig. 50) is
a characteristic M. M. I shape which originated in the E. M. II
period 1 and after lasting through the E. M. HI epoch (Fig. 49,
Nos. 56, 57, 61, 62 and 63) emerged in this form.
No. 91 (Fig. 50) is the clay representative of the black steatite
bowls which first appear in the M. M. I period and are very
I Tratu.. Vol. I, Part III, PI. XXXTV, No. 8.
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 99
common throughout the whole Middle Minoan age (Fig. 18, No.
IV, 1).
The two vases of Plate VIII, Nos. XI, 13, 16, are the best and
almost the only examples of polychrome ware from the cemetery.
The bull from this same tomb (Fig. 29, No. XI, 14), although a
poor and clumsy attempt at animal modeling, is interesting because
it proves that the custom of making such clay bulls arose at an early
date and was by no means confined to the L. M. period.
The Stone Vases
Of the many objects found in the Mochlos cemetery the 130 stone
vases are probably the most important as they are certainly the
most beautiful. The jewelry, though interesting, is, on the whole,
of crude workmanship, and the same must be said of the pottery.
The stone cutter, on the other hand, possessed a proficiency little
short of marvelous for so early a period. His eye for form was
excellent, and he was very clever in selecting materials in which the
natural veining of the stone helped to set ofif the shape of the vase
for which he intended it. At first glance one would suppose that
these vases were the work of a skilled lapidary, but on examination
it appears that they were not turned on a wheel but were rouglily
shaped into the required form and then ground down by hand.'
How such a task was accomplished is, in these days of machinery,
difficult to conceive, as each vase must represent weeks of patient
labor. To cut out the inside core a circular drill was used as in the
later periods. The central core which remained was then broken
off, in some cases so unevenly that a part of it still adheres to the
bottom of the vase. The same method was used in the L. M. I
period. Tools of many sorts have been found, but no drill of any
kind has yet come to light. This may mean that the drill consisted
of nothing more substantial than a hollow reed whirled in sand;
I believe that drills of this description were used in Egj'pt for
sunilar purposes. We have no knowledge of the other tools em-
ployed in the manufacture of these stone vases but, as I have said,
if we may judge by one or two partly finished examples, they were
roughly blocked into the required shape and then polished by hand,
in all probability with the stone polishers which turn up so fre-
quently on all these early sites. In vases of soft materials this was
' M. Gilli^ron, who made the drawings of these vases, pointed out to me the impossibility
of their having been turned on a wheel, owing to the irregularities of shape which are especially
noticeable in the rims of the larger vessels. These irregularities could not possibly have
occurred in wheel-made vases.
100 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
no very diflScult task, but many of these vases were of hard stones
which must have required an enormous amount of labor. The con-
tents of one or two of the large chamber tombs must represent
years of patient toil, and one is not surprised to find that, once
metal came into common use for vessels and utensils, the age of
fine stone vases came to an end. Rapid decadence in this branch
of Minoan art is noticeable at the beginning of the M. M. I period,
when the craftsmen turned to pottery and metal working, in which
they could attain highly satisfactory results with much less labor.
The materials used for these stone vases are probably native to
Crete with one or two possible exceptions. The three vases of white
alabaster (Fig. 46, No. VII, a; PI. Ill, No. XXI, 10, and PI. IX,
No. M, 12) have a decidedly Cycladic look and may be importations.
It is not possible to say whether all the other stones employed for
these vases are of local origin, but in travelling through the island
I have seen most of the varieties at one time or another.
A rough list of the various materials employed for these vases is
as follows :
Steatite
1. Translucent green, used only for very small vases (PI. II, Nos.
II, h, k).
2. Opaque green, with no veining (PI. VT, No. VI, 10).
3. Mottled green, capable of taking a beautiful polish, used only
for small vases (PI. II, Nos. II, d, e; PI. V, No. VI, 9; PI. VII, No.
IV, 6).
4. Plain black. This is a very common material in the M. M.
and L. M. periods (Fig. 18. No. IV, 1).
5. Speckled grey and black, of poor quality. This stone was
always in a bad state of preservation (Fig. 28, No. XI, 17).
6. Dark grey (PI. II, No. II, j; PI. IX, Nos. XIX, 2 and XII, a).
Breccia
7. Dark grey limestone thickly mottled with brown and white
(PI. Ill, No. XXIII, a).
8. Dark grey limestone with an occasional patch of rose colored
stone edged with white (PI. IX, No. Ill, a).
9. Same without the white edge (PI. IV, No. I, e).
10. Rose colored stone with patches of dark grey (PI, IX, No.
M, 15).
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 101
Marble
11. Grey and white in parallel veins (PI. I, No. I, j; PI. Ill, No.
II, q; PI. IV, No. XIII, e; PI. V, Nos. VI, 1, 13; PI. VI, Nos. VI,
3, 5, 7, 12, 14; PI. VII, No. VI, 17).
12. Grey with white mottling (PI. I, No. XVI, 1; PI. II, No. II,
a; PI. VII, No. XXI, 7).
13. White dolomitic marble with irregular grey veining (PI. II,
No. M, 3; PI. VII, No. VI, 16).
Alabaster
14. Brilliantly veined onyx marble shading from white to pink
and orange (PI. IV, No. V, i; PI. V, No. VI, 2; PI. IX, No. M, 13).
15. Clear yellow gypsum alabaster with white markings (PI. II,
Nos. II, m and o).
16. Plain white (PI. Ill, No. XXI, 10; PI. IX, No. M, 12).
Limestone
17. Red and yellow stone in broad veins (PI. II, No. M, 7). A
rare material, of which only one example was found.
18. Purple or reddish stone without any veining, the only example
of which was too rotted to be of any value.
19. Pink stone of which only two examples were found, both of
small size (Fig. 37, No. XV, d, and Fig. 47, No. M, 17).
20. Coarse white limestone (Fig. 7, No. II, i).
It is clear that the E. M. II age marked not only the first appear-
ance but also the acme of these stone vases. The two large E. M.
II tombs, Nos. II and VI, which were not used in the succeeding
periods, produced the largest and finest examples found in the entire
cemetery. In the E. M. Ill period the vases, though still good, are,
as a rule, of smaller size, and the softer black steatite begins to be
used to the exclusion of the harder materials. By the beginning
of the M. M. I period the day of the fine stone vases is over and the
use of black steatite is universal for stone vessels. The technique
becomes careless and the shapes are confined to a few ordinary types
such as "blossom" bowls, small cups, and shallow bowls, which
last on into the L. M. I epoch. It is possible that, at Mochlos, this
was due to a decline in the prosperity of the town, for we know the
102 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
M. M. I period to have been a poor one, during which the settlement
was destroyed, not to revive again until the M. M. Ill era. At
Gournia, Pseira and Vasiliki, however, no fine stone vases were
found in M. M. I deposits, so that, on the whole, it seems plain that
this early outburst of prosperity on these small sites was followed by
a period of poverty and depression. It is hard to account for the
high standard reached by the E. M. II craftsmen of Mochlos. At
Pseira stone vases were found in great numbers in the early graves,
but few show any signs of the fine materials and workmanship which
characterize the vases from the Mochlos cemetery. It is true that,
at Vasiliki, in an E. M. II well, fragments of splendid stone vases
came to light, and also that, in one or two early graves found at
Gournia and on the Messara sites, stone vases of a good class were
found, though in a smaller quantity than at Mochlos.' Time and
the excavation of other cemeteries can alone settle the question as
to whether this profusion of remarkable stone vases was peculiar
to the single settlement of Mochlos or whether this technique spread
throughout the Early Minoan towns of Crete. On the whole I
believe that it will be found to have been common to all the settle-
ments of the Early Minoan period, varying according to the various
degrees of prosperity enjoyed by each.
The question how the Early Minoans obtained their extraordinary
knowledge of stone cutting must now be considered. Stone vases
or even fragments of stone vases have never been found thus far
in either neolithic or E. M. I deposits. Suddenly and without
any preliminary steps we find the Minoans of the E. M. II period
making delicate vases from hard materials. One would naturally
look to E. M. I deposits for initial attempts at stone cutting, fol-
lowed by a gradual improvement in technique until the perfection
shown by the Mochlos vases was attained. As these signs are not
forthcoming, another explanation must be sought. Several vases
bear slight resemblances to the early stone vessels of Egypt as regards
shape, but, on the other hand, many of them are absolutely un-Egyp-
tian in every respect. The question is, therefore, whether these
Egyptian analogies would warrant the assumption that in the E. M.
II period the Minoans first came in contact with the Egyptians and
from them borrowed the knowledge of the tools and methods neces-
sary to produce vases of this character. It must be remembered
that these coast settlements were plainly those of a maritime people.
Pseira, which was already occupied in the E. M. I period, is the best
■ Gournia, p. 56, Fig. 40, Nos. 1, 2, 4, 6-11; Mon. Ant., Vol. XIV, 1905, pp. 700-702, Figs.
10-12.
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 103
proof that this was the case, for who but a nation of seafarers would
think of setthng on an island three miles off shore, an island solely
of value for its little harbor? From Hierapetra it is but a short sail
across to the Egyptian coast and, when once Cape Sidero is rounded,
the journey from Mochlos to Egyptian ports is an easy matter in
suitable weather, and in summer storms are of rare occurrence. Even
if the Minoans never intentionally attempted the crossing, what is
more probable than that sometimes a boat, driven out of her course,
was literally blown over to the Egyptian coast by a sudden storm?
One such accident would open the eyes of the Minoan sailors to the
possibilities of trade, and that some sort of spasmodic communica-
tion had already been established in the E. M. II period is higlily
probable. That this communication, if it did exist, was carried on
by Minoan sailors rather than by Egyptians is certain, inasmuch
as the Egyptians were not a maritime people. At this earlj'
period, moreover, any idea of people from the Asiatic coast act-
ing as middlemen or traders between Crete and Egypt need
hardly be considered. It is doubtful if the Minoans of the Early
Minoan age knew as much of the coasts of Asia Minor and
Palestine as they did of Egypt. Wliatever may have been the
case later, there is certainly no evidence that at this early stage,
trade passed to and fro between Crete and Egypt by Cyprus and
the round-about land route. It is hardly likely that a preeminently
seafaring nation like the Minoans would, at any time, have allowed
foreigners to act as intermediaries in their commercial dealings with
other powers. Moreover, there is no other nation which is known
to have begun a seafaring career at so early a period. Let us suppose
that occasionally Minoan sailors returned from the Egyptian coast
with tales of the products that they had seen among that already
highly civilized nation. Naturally these Cretan adventurers would
have been struck by things which they had not seen at home, for
example, stone vases. Believing that these could be made as easily in
Crete as in Egypt, their first steps would have been to inquire how
the vases were made, to procure a few of the necessary tools and
perhaps some finished vases as models. With the natural aptitude
of the Minoan craftsman, the required technique was rapidly mas-
tered and the stone cutters of Crete were soon turning out vases
which, if not as accurately cut as their Egyptian models, were cer-
tainly far more beautiful in shape and coloring. At first it is prob-
able that the shapes of the Egyptian originals were accurately copied
by the Minoans, which might account for the analogies that can be
observed between the Cretan and the Egyptian vases. Later this
104 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
limited number of types was increased by translating into stone many
of the shapes characteristic of E. M. pottery, some of which proved
to be exceedingly well adapted to the new technique.
The following vases have been pointed out to me as those which
show close analogies with Egyptian stone vases of the early
dynasties:
Plate II, No. M, 3.
Plate II, No. II, j.
Plate II, No. II, 0.
Plate III, No. XXIII, a.
Figure 18, No. V, g.
Plate VII, No. IV, 6.
The Jeweley
In all nearly 150 gold ornaments were found, not including the
various kinds of gold beads which form parts of several necklaces.
Of these necklaces there are 11, made up of beads of rock crystal,
gold, shell, carnelian, amethyst, steatite, breccia, clay and procelain.
Until the discovery of the Mochlos cemetery it was supposed that,
in the early Minoan periods, civilization in Crete was primitive, the
people poor, and knowledge of metals limited almost entirely to simple
tools and weapons of either copper or bronze. In view of the high
development shown by the stone vases of this settlement, the pro-
fusion of gold ornaments found in the Mochlos graves is not so sur-
prising, and if so small a settlement possessed precious metal in such
abundance, what must we imagine was the case in the capital cities?
Not only were these Early Minoans far removed from povertj' but,
so far as Eastern Crete was concerned, they were in a state of pros-
perity not to be equaled again until the L. M. I period. In the M.
M. I graves precious metal rarely occurs and, as we have seen was
the case with the fine stone vases, the end of the E. M. Ill age marks
a period of decline, which lasts until near the end of the M. M. Ill
epoch.
The gold work from the graves at Mochlos is, for the most part, of
the simplest character, such as one would expect at so early a period.
It is only in the gold chains that we see evidences of a delicacy of
workmanship which makes it difficult to believe that they are of the
same date as the rest of the objects. As a whole this gold work
presents close analogies to the jewelry of later date from Mycenae.
In the case of the Mochlos ornaments, allowances must be made for
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 105
the influence of so early a period on the decorative designs, which
are always geometrical in style. It is in the general character of the
objects themselves that we see the originals of the type of jewelry
in use many centuries later on the Greek mainland. The profusion
of thin strips and plates for fastening to the garments of the dead,
the diadems, necklaces, seals and weapons, all correspond to the con-
tents of the shaft graves of Mycenae.
If, as seems probable, the mainland Mycenaeans were of the same
stock as the Cretan Minoans, these analogies are only natural and
help to prove the long, unbroken continuity of the Minoan civiliza-
tion. If the people of Mycenae were not of the old stock, it seems
unlikely that they would have adopted so completely the burial
customs of a people whose power they were in the process of over-
throwing. On the other hand, if they were a mainland branch of
the same race that peopled Crete, who, through civil wars, had
snatched the sceptre of Minos and transferred the seat of power
from Knossos to Mycenae, they would naturally adhere in the main
to the customs of their Minoan forebears. In the period to which
the shaft graves belong, the Cretan supremacy was already a thing
of the past, but the influence of the invading northener was not
strong enough to have changed the habits and customs of centuries
of unbroken civilization in this last stronghold of Minoan power on
the mainland. Certainly in Crete no signs of an infusion of foreign
blood, peaceful or otherwise, can be observed from neolithic times
to the decay of the Minoan supremacy in the L. M. II period, to
which epoch belongs the bulk of the objects from the graves at
Mycenae. Even then the Cretan towns seem to have fallen at the
hands of members of the same race, and it is not until the end of the
L. M. Ill period that there are any clear signs of invaders of
foreign blood.
From the point of view of technique, the Mochlos gold work falls
into two classes. The first is repouss6 work, in which the pattern
is beaten out over a mould bearing the required designs. In the
second class the designs have been pricked through from the back
with a pointed tool, thus forming a raised pattern of small dots or
punctuations on the outer surface. The repouss6 work is, for the
most part, confined to armlets, where the gold forms merely a thin
covering for a core of some perishable material, such as wooden rings
or leather bands. The second technique is used for ornaments of
thicker gold, which were worn with no inner core to support them.
The diadems belong to this second class as do the strips for sewing
to garments. Most of this jewelry was worn in the lifetime of the
106 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
deceased; the objects were not mere imitations made solely for burial
purposes, as was so often the case with the ornaments from the graves
at Mycenae. Although the diadems were doubtless made with the
idea of tying the two ends together at the back of the head, the owners
of Nos. II, 3, 5, 6 and 10 (Fig. 8) found that to make them more
secure it was necessary to fasten them by means of pins which were
jabbed through the thin gold. These pin holes are especially notice-
able in No. II, 5 (Fig. 9), one end of which is quite full of them.
The pins, Nos. II, 29, a, b (Fig. 10), are all made from one piece of
metal, — petals, stamens and stem. A narrow sheet of thin gold was
cut into the required shape, beginning with the stamens and ending
with the petals, to which a long strip of thin metal was left attached
to form the stem of the pin. This sheet was then rolled up with the
stamens inside and the flower was complete.
Large gold beads are usually of very thin metal and must for-
merly have covered a core of some perishable material (Fig. 25,
No. \T!, 27, the three centre beads).
As has been said, the only objects which show any signs of very
skilful workmanship are the gold chains (Fig. 11, Nos. II, 30, 35,
36; Fig. 25, Nos. VI, 31 a, b; Fig. 43, Nos. XIX, 20, 22). These
chains in point of delicacy bear comparison with those of the late
Greek period and prove that, when necessary, the Early IVIinoan
goldsmith could turn out work of real merit. Some of the beads
from the Mochlos graves present analogies to Egyptian examples
and are interesting in view of the theory of early communication
between Crete and Egypt which has already been discussed in con-
nection with the stone vases. The long gold necklace. No. XXI, 19
(Fig. 20), certainly recalls the common "mummy" beads of Egyp-
tian porcelain, and the same may be said of the necklace in Figure 25
(No. VI, 35). It has been pointed out to me that certain carnelian
beads in Figure 41 (No. XIX, 14) are Egyptian in style. As they are
clearly of local manufacture, they must not be regarded as Egyptian
importations but may show that certain types of beads became known
to the Minoans through trade with the people of the Nile valley.
Objects of Copper and Bronze
The Mochlos tombs produced about 20 knife blades, 3 spearheads,
a number of pairs of pincers and some small cutters, the use of which
is uncertain. The knife blades from the earliest tombs are all of
the short triangular type shown in Figure 44 (Nos. I, k, and XXI,
21, 22).' Ejiife blades of this sort were common on all the Messara
' Mosso in his Dawn of the Mediterranean Civilization, pp. 105-1 10, stated that he believed
the Early Minoan period in Crete belonged to the Copper Age. His analyses of a number of
EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS 107
sites of the Early Minoan period; the first were found at Hagia
Triada.' In the M. M. I period the type is considerably longer and
has lost the triangular outline of the preceding period (Fig. 45, Nos.
XI, 22, XIII, m, and III, o). In the M. M. Ill age the shape is
much the same, but the midrib becomes more marked and there is
some attempt at decoration (Figs. 31 and 45, No. II, 51). In this
period a broad, heavy type of knife appears, which is also common
in L. M. I deposits (Fig. 45, Nos. II, 52, IV, 17 and XX, 9).
Most of the objects in Figure 12 came from undisturbed E. M. II
chamber tombs and therefore belong to that period. The two
large knife blades, Nos. II, 44 and 45, are very fine examples of their
kind. No. II, 45 is of unusual shape; the common type has a straight
or slightly concave edge at the point of attachment to the hilt instead
of this scalloped outline. There is no rule as to the number of rivet
holes; some blades have only two, others as many as five. Unlike
the rivets of the M. M. Ill and L. M. I blades, the rivets in these
E. M. examples are all of very small size.
The votive axe (Fig. 12, No. II, 46) was found at the bottom of
Tomb II in an undoubted E. M. II deposit, although it is difficult
to believe that it is really of so early a date. Hitherto no double axe
used either as a votive offering or as a religious symbol has occurred
before the M. M. Ill period, but, in view of two similar axes of lead
from the same tomb, the curious horn-like object (Fig. 48, No. 31),
and the M. M. I clay bull (Fig. 29), it would appear that the cult of
the double axe with its attributes was introduced into Crete in the
earliest times and followed the development of Minoan culture
through its various transitions.
Pincers like Figure 12, No. XIX, 28, and Figure 44, No. XIX,
25, a and b, were very common, and at least one pair was found in
many of the tombs. Most of these pincers consist of two separate
blades riveted to a handle of perishable material.
The small cutters (Fig. 44, Nos. XXI, 20, and XIX, 29, 30, 32)
were usually fastened by means of rivets to vertical liandles of wood
or bone.^ The cutters were even more numerous than the pincers.
Early Minoan weapons from various Cretan sites show that they contain almost no tin. It
looks very much as if his conclusions were correct, but more such analyses must be made
before a Cretan Copper .^ge can be definitely accepted.
> Mon. Ant., Vol. XXI, PI. X, Fig. ii.
• Mosso, Dawn Med. Civ., pp. 135, l.S(i, calls these objects votive axes, but this seems to
me more than doubtful. In several of the Mochlos cxiiniples the remains of the handle show
that it was straight and attached vertically to the blade. If, as Mosso thinks, theae objects
were axe heads, the handle must have formed a right angle with the blade. I have seen one
of these cutters from Octe, now in a private collection, which has the blade and handle all in
one piece of metal. In this example the handle forms a straight line with the length of the
blade and the whole bears no resemblance whatever to a votive axe.
108 EXPLORATIONS IN MOCHLOS
They vary greatly in size; one. No. XXI, 20 (Fig. 44), is nearly as
large as some of the knife blades. Similar cutters were found in the
Cycladic cist graves of Amorgos ' and at Gournia.' Knife blades of
M. M. I type similar to those shown in Figure 45, Nos. Ill, o, XI,
22, and XIII, m, were found at Amorgos ' and at Gournia.^ The
spearheads (Fig. 45, Nos. XX, 10, 11, 12) are probably of M. M.
Ill date, as no earlier examples are yet known.
Seal Stones
Although many seals were found on the tomb slope, they were, as
a rule, of poor quality and late date. Most of them were found
either with M. M. Ill or L. M. I burials or in the loose soil outside
the graves. A few can be assigned with some certainty to given
periods.
The earliest seals were, with two exceptions, of ivory and came,
like those of Hagia Triada,* from E. M. II chamber tombs. The
best is the one shown in Figure 24. It is a large cylinder of ivory
pierced vertically with four small holes and horizontally with three.
The design on one end, a, is well preserved and presents a laby-
rinthine pattern of peculiar appearance. The reverse, b, is badly
eaten away, but the conventionalized design of scrolls can still be
distinguished.
The next large ivory seal is that shown in Figure 12, No. II, 41.
It came from Tomb II, together with a great mass of gold orna-
ments. Tliis cylinder is pierced through the side and is engraved
on one end with a conventionalized lotus design of very Egyptian
character.
Figure 11, No. II, 42, is another ivory seal from the same deposit.
Its design, like the preceding one, shows marked Egyptian charac-
teristics. In shape this seal is the evident prototype of certain M.
M. Ill signet seals like that of Figure 14. The late Sig. Mosso sug-
gested that these ivories are not seals at all but pintaderas.^ Pinta-
deras, which are found in various parts of Europe, differ from seals
in that they were used to stamp designs in color on flat surfaces and
not to make impressions in relief in wax or clay. That these Early
Minoan ivory objects are pintaderas is far from proved. I know of
none which bears the slightest traces of coloring matter in the inter-
stices of the carving, but some such traces would surely remain if
the ivories had been stamped in colored pigments. Seals figure so
' 'E I am told that the large opening is a good indication of its early date.
• It has been suggested to me that this cylinder may be of Cretan manufacture, although this
does not seem likely. Cylinder seals were made in Crete in the Middle Minoan age, but so
far as we know they did not appear as early as the E. M. II period, to which this example
apparently belongs. The faint traces of Ggures which can be seen on the cylinder look more
Asiatic than Minoan.
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AMERICAN SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL STUDIES
AT ATHENS
EXPLORATIONS IN THE ISLAND OF MOCHLOS
By Richard B. Seager
1 1 1 pages, with 1 1 colored plates, 32 illustrations in half-tone, and 22 illustrations in zinc etching
This book is a report of the excavations at Mochlos, an island off
the coast of Crete, which were conducted by Mr. Seager in the spring
and summer of 1908, under a concession obtained by the American
School of Classical Studies at Athens. These explorations, which are
among the most important recently undertaken in Crete, brought to
light an extensive cemetery of the Early Minoan period, in which the
tombs, although they had been plundered and used again in later times, still
contained many of the objects that had been deposited with the original
interments. These relics of early Cretan culture proved a complete sur-
prise to students of the earliest civilization in Greek lands, for they
showed that the art of the Early Minoan period was by no means so
primitive as had previously been supposed. Especially in the making of
stone vases the artists of this time displayed a skill that was hardly sur-
passed at any later period. Many interesting examples of goldsmith's
work also were recovered, as well as pottery, seal stones, and weapons
and implements of copper and bronze.
All the objects from the cemetery are fully described and illustrated
in Mr. Seager's report, which presents a more complete picture of the
civilization of Crete in the Early Minoan Age than has hitherto been
available.
It is expected that the book will be ready for delivery in January.
The price will be $5.00 to subscribers whose remittances are received on
or before February 15, 1912. After that the price will be fG.OO. Sub-
scriptions, accompanied by check, draft, or money order, should be sent
to Professor George H. Chase, 11 Kirkland Road, Cambridge, Mass.
A sample page, a sample plate, and a blank order are enclosed.
George H. Chase
James R. Wheeler
Harold N. Fowler
Publication Committee.
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