Greek Jewellery
Jewellery in the Prehistoric Aegean

Late Bronze Age (1600-1100 BC)
This period witnessed the rise and floruit of the great Greek civilization that took its name from the famous citadel which was its most important centre from beginning to end: 'gold-rich Mycenae'. From its heartland in the Argolid. Mycenaean civilization spread to the Greek mainland and the Aegean, attaining its zenith in the fourteenth and thirteenth centuries BC.
The abundant gold objects in the Shaft Graves at Mycenae validate Homer. Gold seems to have had a special fascination for the Mycenaeans and goldsmithing held a special place among the minor arts of Mycenaean Greece, with remarkable achievements in jewellery-making. Nevertheless, like other arts, Mycenaean goldsmithing drew liberally on the Minoan tradition.
Fig 10 Gold signet-rings with engraved representation of scenes of battle and hunting from a chariot. From Shaft Grave IV of Grave Circle A at Mycenae. (Athens, National Archaeological Museum, 241, 240). Late 16th century BC.

The most impressive ornaments of the Early Mycenaean period come from the Shaft Graves in the two Grave Circles at Mycenae. Some of these, such as the famous gold masks, were intended for the adornment of the royal dead, but the majority must have been worn in life by members of the royal families. For the most pan these pieces are Mycenaean works, apart from the few purely Minoan creations imported from Crete. Outstanding among the latter is the silver pin with sheet-gold, cut-out head in the form of a female figure, presumably a goddess, supporting papyrus branches in her outstretched arms (fig. 6). Many ornaments were probably made to the instructions of Minoan craftsmen working in Mycenaean workshops.
Fig. 11 Gold ring with a bezel in the form of a rosette and hoop with cloisonne decoration. From the tholos tomb at Vapheio. (Athens, National Archaeological Museum, 1804). First half of 15th century BC.


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