INVESTIGATIONS AT THE PALACE OF NESTOR (1990-1998): THE SMALL FINDS.

Eleni M. Konstantini

The miscellaneous finds discovered in the excavations at the Palace of Nestor between the years 1990-1998, are mostly out of context. They reflect, however, the multiplicity of activities that took place at the site through a large time span, as one can tell by the materials and the types used. Among the most significant finds are the heads of two female figurines of the known Mycenaean types, as well as the fragments of three animal figurines, one of which at least should date to a later period than the Bronze Age. The majority of the finds, however, consist of bronzes which include nails, two pins (one in fragment), an arrowhead and scrap metal fragments which suggest small-scale bronzecasting. Another category comprises clay items related to spinning and weaving (two whorls, a spool and loomweights), while of the same material is also a problematic miniature item with a rim-channel which bears similarities to the miniature "incense-burners" from Cyprus (Cypro-Archaic II/ Cypro-Classical I Period). The rest of the finds comprise a few stone items, among which a conical button, two beads, molds and a "weight" with Minoan affinities, a lead item which may have been originally used as a "fishing-net" weight and some organic material comprising various shells, knuckle bones, a boar's tusk and the fragment of a bone implement.

At least some of the finds extend chronologically beyond the Late Bronze Age. It is most unfortunate that their context, especially for the ones from Blegen's Dump, is unknown, and valuable information on their date are now non-retrievable. Even for those found in a particular locus it is not certain whether this was their original position/excavation layer, or they have been moved accidentally by Blegen's workmen. The secure dating of the objects is, therefore, extremely difficult in several cases, especially since such items are hardly dated by themselves without the presence of pottery in a closed context. This makes all the more necessary the parallel study of Blegen's publication for comparanda and even allows in some cases a reconsideration of the published material: the presence of iron for example, in various places of the Palace, has already troubled scholarship; there are now indications (pottery) of a Geometric and later reoccupation of the site. Evidence from the small finds confirm this possibility in the form of the iron objects from the recent excavations (tips of tools and a building nail), the bronze pin, not classified in the known types of the Bronze Age, the "incense burner" and the animal figurines with perforations, a feature which was not common in the Late Bronze Age.