Subject: warrior
Culture: Cycladic
Setting: Aegean ca 3000-1600BC
Evolution:
Context (Event Photos, Primary Sources, Secondary Sources, Field Notes)
* D'Amato/Salimbeti/Rava 2013 p4
"About 3000 BC a new wave of migration apparently occurred in the Aegean, most likely from Asia Minor. These people used bronze, a revolutionary material in ancient human history made from an alloy of copper and tin, thus introducing the Bronze Age. Early Cycladic civilization -- the forerunner of the first true Greek culture -- rises at about the same time as the early Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilizations."
Costume
* D'Amato/Salimbeti/Rava 2013 p20
"There are no representations showing the garments used by the Aegean Neolithic people but, based on later images, we can assume they were generally naked or wearing just a small kilt to protect their genitals, although it is probable during the cold season that they could have worn simple bell-shaped skirts or capes made from sheepskin. Cycladic sculpture shows in fact that the majority of people generally went naked, with parts of the body painted in blue and red. Some hunter-warriors are represented wearing a kind of belt with a garment for genital protection ...."
Spear
* D'Amato/Salimbeti/Rava 2013 p26
"During the Early and Middle Bronze Age bronze spearheads are among the objects found in the graves of the early settlements such as Sesklo and Dimini. One of the earliest spear points in evidence in the Aegean region is a leaf-shaped copper specimen dated around 2700-2300 BC from the Cycladic island of Amorgos. Similar leaf-shaped spearheads, both in copper and bronze, are in evidence in several Cycladic settlements."
Sword
* D'Amato/Salimbeti/Rava 2013 p29
"One of the earliest swords in evidence in the Aegean region is a copper specimen from Naxos dated around 2800-2300 BC. Its design is similar to the early type of Aegean dagger. The length of this sword is 35.6cm. This kind of early leaf-shaped sword or dagger was attached to a baldric as shown on a marble statue of a hunter-warrior dated around 2300 BC from the Cycladic island of Naxos. The wooden grip was fixed to the blade by means of a tang, curved on the upper part to secure it. The scabbard was fixed by four crossed laces at the join between the two ends of the baldric."
Axe
* D'Amato/Salimbeti/Rava 2013 p20
"Copper axes or similar objects have .. been found in the Cycladic islands, for instance some axes of the Keros-Syros culture, which are made of arsenical copper and dated around 2700-2200 BC. These specimens show the remarkable advances in metalwork in the Keros-Syros culture. The heavy-duty shaft-hole axes in this group were perhaps used for felling trees and stripping branches, the large flat axes for splitting tree-trunks into planks and the chisels for finer work."
Knife
* D'Amato/Salimbeti/Rava 2013 p32
"Several specimens of copper leaf-shaped daggers dated EC II (about 2800-2300 BC) are attested to the Cyclades (Naxos and Amorgos) and Crete. Also, this kind of early leaf-shaped dagger was attached to a baldric or to a waist belt as in the ... marble statue of the warrior from Naxos and the Minoan statuettes from Petsofà, dated around 2300 BC."
