THE CRETAN COLLECTION IN THE UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA MUSEUM: VOLUME III

206 pages

28.5x22 cm

19 figures, 22 illustrations, 22 plates, 11 tables

hardback

English

The University of Pennsylvania owns the largest collection of Minoan artifacts outside of Europe. The objects were acquired legally from the nation of Crete after it became independent from the Ottoman Empire and before its request was accepted to become a part of Greece, whose laws forbade such gifts to institutions that had sponsored archaeological expeditions. This third volume about the Cretan Collection in the Penn Museum presents the Minoan metal artifacts. They provide primary evidence for the early history of metallurgy in southeastern Europe during the second millennium B.C. This is a rich and varied assemblage of objects, with a large number of different classes. It is especially rich in items from the preliminary stages of metalwork (including oxhide ingot fragments, cut preliminary strips, and small cast strips used as early stages in the manufacture of artifacts). The study using modern techniques of examination-including scientific analyses-both documents the museum’s holdings and provides new information on Minoan metalworking. Two important metallurgical techniques are documented: eutectic bonding of silver-capped rivets on daggers and “casting on” repairs to an existing object, which has not been noted previously in Minoan metalwork. The assemblage is remarkable for the light its objects shed on the history of technology.

PART I. INTRODUCTION AND SCIENTIFIC INVESTIGATIONS

1. Metal Objects Found by Harriet Boyd Hawes
2. Philadelphia's Collection of Metal Objects from Gournia
3. Data from X-ray Fluorescence Analysis
4. Data from Investigation of "Zinc-Rich" Copper-Based Artifacts with ESEM-EDS

 

PART II. WORKSHOP ARTIFACTS

5. Copper Ingots
6. Origin of the Oxhide Ingots
7. Metallographic Analysis of Ingot Fragments
8. Lead Ingot
9. Other Workshop Material

 

PART III. FINISHED METAL ARTIFACTS

10. Finished Metal Artifacts 

 

PART IV. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

11. Discussion of Alloying, Casting, Forming, and Finishing Practices
12. The Role of Metals in the Town of Gournia
 

Appendix. Conservation of Gournia Metals; References; Concordance of Museum Accession and Catalog Numbers; Index; Figures; Plates