Programmes > Par auteur > Betancourt Philip

Silver in Early Minoan IB Crete

Alessandra Giumlia-Mair

AGM Archeoanalisi, via E. Toti 8, I – 39012 Merano (BZ), Italy, giumlia@yahoo.it

James D. Muhly

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Philip P. Betancourt

Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

Susan C. Ferrence

INSTAP Academic Press, 2133 Arch St., Suite 301, Philadelphia, PA 19103 USA,

A program of scientific analyses with X-ray fluorescence (XRF) has been undertaken on the objects from three cemeteries excavated in eastern Crete: Hagia Photia Siteias, Kephala Petras, and Livari Skiadi. All three contexts are dated or have finds that can be dated to the Early Minoan IB period. Among the examined daggers, small tools—such as awls, rods, saws, and chisels— there are also beads, pendants and daggers made of silver. The parallels and the technology of these objects indicate the wide connections of the sites and the developed metallurgical knowledge of EM IB metalworkers. This paper discusses the analyses results in the light of parallels belonging to far away metallurgical traditions.