During his excavations on the site of Hisarlık Tepe – Troy at the end of the 19th century, H. Schliemann discovered some zoomorphic handles that are made of Anatolian Grey Ware and date to the so-called High Culture of Troy VI and VIIa (1700–1190/80 BC) and become less common during the so-called Balkan influenced culture of Troy VIIb (1190/80–950 BC). Today they are kept at the Museum of Prehistory and Early History in Berlin and are now for the first time, together with two spouts, systematically presented here in this thesis and catalogue. There are 35 handles preserved until today and there were some similar finds from later excavations from C. Blegen and M. Korfmann that allow us to date the handles more accurately and give us stronger archaeological contexts. We can also see similar artefacts in Anatolia and in the north Aegean because Troy had connections with the East as well as the West. The handles are mostly abstract in shape, but the ones we can recognize represent cattle, horses, deer, reptiles (snakes), and birds as well as aquatic animals. We don't know what type of pottery were they attached to, there are some shapes that can be considered, but we can speculate it was a type of pottery for special occasions. Abstract and also realistic portrayals of fictional and fantastical as well as real animals give us a glimpse into the symbolic world of the Hisarlık hill residents.
|
