A Griffin Throne from the Mycenaean Building on the Koukounaries Hill, Paros, Cyclades, Greece (20 min)

Presenters

Robert B. Koehl, New York Society

Abstract

During the first season of excavation of the Mycenaean building complex on the Koukounaries Hill, Paros, fragments of carved ivory were discovered in the same destruction level context, having fallen from the upper story. At the time of their discovery the largest fragment was identified by the excavator, Demetrius U. Schilardi, as a piece of the armrest from a chair, or throne. This past May, during my study of the Mycenaean portable finds, I recognized that a wing was carved on one side of the ivory armrest. Although a second fragment, on display in the Paros Archaeological Museum, was provisionally identified by Schilardi as a rosette, on closer examination, and upon rotating the fragment vertically, it became clear that it was carved with a claw. Furthermore, I recognized a second claw on an ivory fragment inside a small manila envelope marked, which also contained a small fragment of polished ivory with a bronze pin adhering to it, demonstrating how the throne was pieced together.

This paper will present a reconstruction of the throne, and discuss it from various points of view, including its relation to sphinx thrones known from Levantine representations and its unique position within Aegean material culture. It will also be argued that the throne was made locally, in the 12th century, during the so-called LH IIIC renaissance, when the material culture seems to have been inspired by a nostalgia and memory of the previous palatial Mycenaean culture. Thus, the symbolic dimensions of the griffin, in relation to Mycenaean palatial art, and the possible political implications of the throne , are also explored.

  AIA-5E