In the footsteps of the Mycenean tekton. Reconstructing the facade of the Treasury of Atreus

About the lecture

The Treasury of Atreus at Mycenae, built around 1250 BC, is the most monumental of the Mycenaean tholos tombs, yet the facade that once framed its doorway survives only in fragments.

Half-columns of green stone carved with zigzags, friezes of red stone with spirals and rosettes: since the early nineteenth century these pieces have been scattered over collections in Athens, London, Berlin and Munich, and every reconstruction so far has had to work from a few of them at a time.

This lecture brings the fragments in the National Archaeological Museum together with new digital documentation of the pieces abroad. Tool marks, setting lines and unfinished surfaces show how the Mycenaean tekton, the master builder, laid out the facade, cut the stone and fitted the decoration to the masonry, and where the work changed hands. Kontaki and Paschalidis present a new reconstruction of the facade and discuss what it tells us about the organisation of craft at a Mycenaean palace.

The lecture is followed by a discussion with Ann Brysbaert.

Speakers

• 
  Maria KontakiArchitect and Conservator of Antiquities, Hellenic National Archaeological Museum
• 
  Dr. Kostas PaschalidisCurator at the Department of Prehistoric, Egyptian, Cypriot and Near Eastern Collections of Antiquities, Hellenic National Archaeological Museum
• 
  DiscussantProf. Ann BrysbaertProfessor in Ancient Technologies, Materials and Crafts of the East Mediterranean, KU Leuven

About TEXNH

The lecture is part of TEXNH: Making, creating, and agency networks in the Ancient Mediterranean world, a series of lectures and a discussion forum.

A collaboration ofthe Royal Museums of Art and History Brussels, the National Archaeological Museum Athens, the Archaeological Research Unit of the University of Cyprus, the École française d’Athènes, University College Roosevelt (NL) and KU Leuven (B).