The Chora Museum

Room 3 Various finds are on display in room 3. Near the front of the room against the right-hand wall are two fragments of an architectural feature known as horns of consecration. Such horns appear in Minoan Crete, in both palatial and cultic contexts, and occasionally in Mycenaean Greece; in room 2, CASE 12, a fresco fragment of a building shows them in position on top of a wall. The horn fragments were found built into the wall and floor of ramp 91, but we cannot tell how or where they were originally used. Dominating the back of the room is a huge storage jar that once stood in archives room 7, and in the back left corner are two large sections of the chimney from hall 46.
Some of the objects in the cases are from the palace buildings and from Blegen's excavations in the immediate vicinity, including trenches that reveal glimpses of the Mycenaean town of Pylos. Others come from tombs belonging to the site. The objects from the palace complex and settlement are mostly fragmentary, but they include some pieces of unusual beauty and interest. Two fragments of a stone vase in fine green Lacedaemonian stone (from nearby Sparta) in CASE 31, the freestanding case on the left, come from the area northeast of the palace complex. Parallels suggest that the vessel was shaped like a lion's head, but all that survives is part of the deftly carved mane.


On the bottom shelf of CASE 28 on the left are clay twists from room 23. They are the raw material of Linear Β tablets, accidentally baked by the destruction fire, and they preserve the handprints of the scribe(s) who squeezed them into this shape, CASES 20, 21, and 29 hold grave goods from tombs associated with the palace site. Most complete is the assemblage from the unrobbed Vayenas tholos, called a "Grave Circle" in the site publication (see above). Among the finds are several swords that were deliberately bent before burial. This practice, known in Mycenaean Greece and elsewhere, may mark the end of the owner's career as a warrior.(CWS)

CASE 20 Material from tombs at Pylos
Top: Finds from Protogeometric Kokkevis tholos; Kokkevis chamber tomb
Middle: Finds from Tsakalis chamber tomb 8
Bottom: Finds from Kanakaris tholos 4; Tsakalis chamber tombs 4, 6, 9,10

CASE 21 Material from Pylos Lower Town and tomb
Top: Drinking cups, mugs, and other finds from Lower Town, southwest of acropolis
Middle: Pottery from Tsakalis chamber tomb 8
Bottom: Finds from Tsakalis chamber tomb 8

CASE 22 Material from palace and environs
Top: Cups and bowls from pantry 21
Middle: Cups and bowls from pantry 21
Bottom: Finds from dump inside south angle of acropolis, southwest slope

CASE 23 Material from palace and environs
Top: Pottery from room 98, NE building
Middle: Finds from corridor 95 and room 97, Northestern Building Finds from northwest slope and Lower Town Finds from shaft grave under workroom 97
Bottom: Finds from dump inside south angle of acropolis, southwest slope

CASE 24 Material from palace
Top: Pottery from pantry 68
Middle: Pottery from pantry 68
Bottom: Finds from workshop 55; brazier and other finds from pithos under room 55; finds from area 101, Wine Magazine 105

Case 25 Pottery from pantry 67
Top: Tripod cookpots and other vessels
Middle: Tripod cookpots and other vessels
Bottom: Scoops and lids

CASE 26 Material from palace
Top: Drinking cups and other vessels from court 42, bathroom 43
Middle: Pottery, some of it burned gray, and other finds from corridor 52, queen's hall 46, drain below room 53
Bottom: Stirrup jars from room 53

CASE 27 Material from palace
Top: Miniature drinking cups and other vessels from doorway between pantries 18 and 20
Middle: Drinking cups from pantry 19
Bottom: Finds from entrance 12, storeroom 27, room 39

CASE 28 Pottery from pantries
Top: Dippers from pantry 22 Middle: Bowls and other finds from
pantry 22 Bottom: Finds from pantry 23, including
clay twists for making Linear Β tablets

CASE 29 Material from Pylos tombs
Top: Finds from Kondou chamber tomb 1
Middle: Scales, daggers and other finds from Pylos: Vayenas tholos 5 ("Grave Circle")
Bottom: Swords and other finds from Pylos: Vayenas tholos 5 ("Grave Circle")

CASE 30 Finds from palace

CASE 31 Finds from palace environs

OUTSIDE CASES
Between CASES 20 and 21: Horns of consecration from Area 101 Beside CASE 29 and between CASES 28 and 29: Pottery from Vayenas tholos 5 ("Grave Circle") Other: Pottery from various rooms in palace.