Dress, Hairstyle and Jewellery in the Thera Wall Paintings

These are particularly important for providing us with information that is either not well preserved or not preserved at all in the purely archaeological record. Detailed study of the different types of dress and hairstyles shown on the wall paintings reveals a significant degree of variety which seems to be related to differences in age, status or occupation, while study of the jewellery gives us some insight into the range of types in existence, the materials of which they were made and the contexts in which they were worn.

The wall paintings uncovered in Akrotiri on Thera offer an unusual range of evidence for aspects of everyday life. This is due to their relatively good state of preservation. Dress, hairstyles and jewellery are prominent among these aspects, because of the large number of large scale human figures that are depicted, in contrast to other series of wall paintings from the Aegean Bronze Age. The purpose of the present paper is to give a general survey of the evidence for these three aspects, a survey which is intended to be as objective as possible and which aims to avoid a priori assumptions about the possible meaning (especially the possible religious significance) of any piece of apparel or personal adornment. The survey is not intended to be a comprehensive one, in contrast to C.A. Televantou's systematic studies of dress and jewellery (Televantou 1982; 1984), nor is it intended to answer all the questions that can be addressed; but it aims, rather, to stimulate discussion in order to produce new or better answers.

A preliminary observation concerns the frequency of representations of the three aspects under consideration. If hair is always depicted (people with entirely shaved heads are not attested), and dress usually depicted (nude figures are relatively rare, the exceptions being the fishermen from the West House, the drowning warriors on the north miniature frieze from the West House, and the three naked boys from Room 3b (ground floor) in Xeste 3), jewellery appears to be less systematically represented. Whether or not the absence itself is significant, in particular in regard to the position of the individual in the social hierarchy, is not easy to determine. There seems at least to be a significant difference between dress and jewellery. The absence of dress is probably related to certain activities (the fishermen) or age (the boys from Xeste 3), as is the presence of a specific dress, either characteristic of class (the warriors aboard the ships on the south miniature frieze of the West House), function (the priests in the assembly on the hill on the north miniature frieze) or occupation (the herdsmen). By contrast, it seems unlikely that the absence of depiction of jewellery has any particular significance in terms of intentional expression, and, among the two possible explanations offered by L. Morgan for such an absence, it seems to me that only the second one can be accepted for certain: "...the women and men in the miniatures have no jewellery or facial decoration, perhaps owing partly to their roles in society and partly to the small scale in which the figures are painted" (Morgan 1988, 93); this despite the fact that the miniature 'Grandstand and Dance in the Grove' fresco at Knossos may provide some depictions of jewellery (Younger 1992, 257 n.1). None of the numerous human figures which appear in the miniature friezes of the West House wears jewellery, and this offers a sharp contrast with the large scale figures in the West House as well as on paintings in other buildings at Akrotiri. I have no precise statistics to offer, but the difference is quite observable. An alternative, or rather additional, explanation for the absence of pieces of personal ornament on the miniature friezes could be that the people depicted on these are (with the sole exception of the priests mentioned above) either warriors or people engaged in common everyday activities, in which the wearing of jewellery might be seen as unsuitable. The activities in which human figures on large scale paintings take part, by contrast, are apparently far from the sphere of such common everyday occupations.

Beyond the question of presence or absence, which is limited in effect to very few cases concerning dress, the representation of hair, dress and jewellery can be seen as a matter of types and shapes. The lists at the beginning of each of the three headings give a summary of those types.⁽¹⁾ For dress and hairstyle, the classification is based on types, whereas jewellery is described in a list based on individuals, in order to allow groupings or sets to emerge.

DRESS 

The above types of dress may be divided into three main categories: the common everyday types, types related to a specific function or occupation, and types used for ceremonial purposes or to express supernatural contexts.

Among the first category are the 'breechcloth', the kilt and the cloak (both plain and shaggy), as well as, for females, the short tunic associated with a plain or shaggy skirt. The association on the same painting of 'breechcloth' and kilt on the one hand, and long cloak, especially the shaggy one made of an animal skin, on the other, may be surprising. They seem at first sight to be related to different climatic conditions, but their simultaneous depiction might rather refer to different positions or occupations (the 'breechcloth' and kilt being better suited for attendants or for men engaged in dynamic activities, either rowing or paddling or piloting the ship; the long cloak better suited to the high status of the priests or officiants in the 'Assembly on the hill' (Doumas 1992, fig. 27)), or probably even in some cases to different ages. Such a difference seems to be illustrated by the people watching the fleet from the Departure Town, who all wear a long tight cloak without sleeves, and the people watching the fleet from the harbour and the wharf in the Arrival Town, most of whom wear the kilt and are depicted in a less static pose, with more pronounced gesticulation or even shown running (men on the promontory to the left of the Arrival Town), all features denoting a comparatively young age. The fact that warriors apparently wear only a 'breechcloth' when in action (in contrast to warriors travelling on board ships and wearing cloaks) indicates that ease of movement was probably much more of a requisite than complete and heavy protection.

An important difference can be observed on male figures standing on the stern of ship 2 in the south miniature frieze in the West House. Unlike the helmsman, who wears the 'breechcloth', as is usual for helmsmen in this context, the man standing before him is dressed in a white kilt (Fig. 1); and this difference is probably an indication of different status, the 'attendant' having in fact not a subordinate function, but a superior one (he might better be called the 'pilot'). Differences in dress were probably also, in other instances, related to differences in age. The best illustration can be found in the male figures from Room 3b (ground floor) in Xeste 3, especially in the contrast between the figure holding a jug (probably an adult, judging from his plumpness) who wears the kilt, and the three other figures, clearly meant as children or adolescents, who are represented nude.

Examining the common varieties of dress, it is worth stressing, finally, that the Thera paintings offer an extremely rare example of female dress associated with everyday activities: that of the woman carrying a jug on the north miniature frieze from the West House (Doumas 1992, fig. 28). What is important here is that the depiction has clearly no connection at all with a ceremonial context, which is by far the predominant context for female figures in Aegean painting.

To the second class belong the belt, used by boxers, and the long tunic worn especially by herdsmen. The latter seem to wear a long garment which, when shown spotted, may be made of animal skin. This is possibly because they are normally exposed to less mild climatic conditions in the remote and generally higher areas used as grazing lands, just as inactive warriors travelling on a ship need the additional protection of a cloak against the cold and windy conditions prevailing at sea.

Finally, there are the more elaborate garments: the long tunic with sleeves, the varieties of which have been catalogued by C.A. Televantou (types A, B, B1 and Γ), according to minor details or features such as transparency (Televantou 1982, 119-124, figs. 2 and 3α-γ). Such a garment is usually associated with a skirt (or apron) worn over it, tied at the waist with a string or rope ending in a knot at the back, the ends of which generally broaden into the shape of a papyrus blossom (female figures from the House of the Ladies, saffron gatherers from Xeste 3: Marinatos 1984, fig. 70). What such a flounced skirt looked like is indicated by the specimens carried by the 'bending lady' in the House of the Ladies, who is handing it over to a third figure, probably standing in front of her. The 'priestess' from the West House wears a unique dress (type D: Televantou 1982, 124, fig. 4), consisting of a tunic and a large mantle descending to the feet and with discreet ornamentation of simple horizontal bands. This contrasts with the rich decoration of the other garments of elaborate types. Typical is the frequent appearance of braids along the edges of the bodice or sleeves. These generally take the form of bands of alternating red and yellow or black and blue colours (female figures from the House of the Ladies), with additional linear motifs, transverse lines, zigzag pattern or rope design (the 'adorants' from the 'lustral basin' and the saffron gatherers from Xeste 3), or even floral motifs (crocuses on the sleeves of the seated 'goddess'). Sets of threads or strings are sometimes suspended from the sleeves (blue or brown threads hanging from sleeves of the 'adorant holding a necklace' and the 'seated adorant', as well as of the 'saffron gatherer with three necklaces' (Doumas 1992, fig. 118; Fig. 2), the 'saffron gatherer emptying her bucket' and the 'saffron gatherer with bucket on shoulder', all from Xeste 3). These latter ornaments are usually made of textile, and in one instance they seem to be the continuation of a twisted galon running along the sleeves ('adorant holding a necklace' in Xeste 3). In some cases, however, they clearly appear to be real jewellery, as will be investigated below. The tunic and skirt evidently derive from Cretan types, and a similar origin applies to the open bodice of some female figures. The decoration of the flounced skirts has parallels in Crete, as observed by C.A. Televantou (1982, 127-135), but other sources of inspiration are not unknown. A good example is the floral ornamentation on the blue sleeves of the 'priestess' from Room 5 in the West House, which has an exact counterpart on the lower edge of the kilt worn by the 'acrobat' on the gold hilt guard from Mallia (Chapouthier 1938, fig. 7) and on the hilt of a dagger from the Shaft Graves at Mycenae (Karo 1930-1933, no. 294 from Shaft Grave IV).⁽¹⁰⁾ The rich and varied decoration of the garments of this third class is directly related to their use in ceremonial or ritual activities involving a 'priestess', female 'adorants' or attendants (including the saffron gatherers) and even a 'goddess'. An additional sign of ritual and ceremonial significance is indicated by the bare-breasted female figures appearing in those scenes.

Ornamentation is much rarer on simpler pieces of dress. The only example on the Thera paintings is the kilt of the male figures from Xeste 4 with dark blue and black bands and red double spirals (Rehak 1996, 47, fig. 10). This is probably related to the status or function of those males, participants in a procession according to the usual interpretation. The male participants in the Procession fresco from Knossos provide the closest parallels and the best confirmation, as stated by P. Rehak, that "...differences in Aegean costume largely reflect the roles or spheres of activity of individuals, and possibly their ages as well, with the breechcloth with codpiece/backflap denoting intense physical activities of youths and adolescents and the simple breechcloth in worship, while for mature men simple kilts might indicate a 'low level management' and patterned kilts might indicate men of higher status" (Rehak 1996, 50).

HAIRSTYLE

Figures not listed individually below wear the 'normal' black hair, i.e. half short, half long, with noparticular features.

Hairstyles are remarkably varied on the Thera paintings. They are also depicted with unusual precision. The easiest way of classifying them is based on the length of hair, and the examples have been listed above according to increasing length.

Most figures show a simple and 'normal' hair cut, half short or half long, especially in the miniature friezes. Associated and more unusual features are noticeable: 1) the probably curled variety, on the 'African' from Sector Alpha and two of the young men watching the fleet on the wharf of the Arrival Town on the south miniature frieze in the West House; 2) the hirsute or shaggy variety, with protruding tufts (possibly a sign of carelessness) on the four men close to the orchard on the north miniature frieze in the West House, and the related though more regularly outlined type (crested hair) attested on one of the drowning warriors in the wreck scene on the same frieze, which has been identified as a North African feature and may well be the only genuine foreign trait; 3) the variety with a curl hanging from the forehead, limited, for no obvious reason, to figures of captains of large ships and to the figure of a priest in the 'Assembly on the hill'; 4) the variety with one curl rising from the top of the head, curiously reserved for the helmsmen and their 'attendants' (Fig. 1), that is for the only figures represented standing on the ships and thus more exposed to the sea wind than the seated occupants (who are in addition under the protection o fa cabin), the curl being lifted up by the wind - an unexpected expression of close observation of reality, even though depicted in a somewhat ornamental way; 5) the small white bun of some of the women watching the fleet on the roof of the houses in the Arrival Town on the south miniature frieze in the West House (Fig. 3), a type that is systematically associated with the following additional features: a tunic of the same light colour as the background of the painting with open bodice decorated with lines, a similarly coloured face (this very feature allows us to reconstruct one of the women on top of a roof in the Departure Town as probably belonging to the same category and wearing a similar dress), a slightly larger overall size (the woman in the Departure Town by contrast seems to be similar in size to the other spectators) - all characteristics that probably indicate a higher status or function, possibly of ritual nature.

A variant of the last mentioned type is the large bun worn by the two women from Room 3b (first floor) in Xeste 3, a unique shape that looks very much like a kind of hood or kerchief made of cloth and decorated with embroidered designs, enclosing rather long hair and suspended from the forehead. These two females are generally identified as older ladies, and their specific hairstyle may correspond to a fashion associated with age.

More elaborate types are usual among large scale figures. Their frequently meticulous rendering no doubt corresponds to a more sophisticated appearance required on particular occasions, probably of ceremonial type, as is the case with the use of more elaborate garments and pieces of personal ornament. The variety and precision, however, do not seem to allow the recognition of any connection with specific functions or statuses. The long and very long simple black hairstyles do not appear to require much comment at first sight. Some details, however, are worth looking at. The long hair may be held in place by two or more strings, possibly forming a complete hairnet. On the 'adorant holding a necklace', and on the 'seated adorant' from Xeste 3, the hair seems to be completed by a curl protruding from the forehead, but the colour of this, similar to the colour of the strings rather than black, leads us to identify this detail rather as a knot closing the hairnet. This is particularly clear on the seated figure (Doumas 1992, fig. 106), where the 'lock' has an edge made of a brown string with transverse black lines identical with the strings of the net. The same 'seated adorant' has in fact a different hairstyle with horizontal bands of slightly lighter grey colour on the forehead and a twisted structure on shoulders and back, ending in two long locks and clearly made of a twist of black and grey braids. The 'adorant holding a necklace' shows a unique detail in addition to the net and front knot: a thick curl of black hair forming a long knot protruding from the nape.

A remarkable class of hairstyle is the one in which short or long black locks are associated with short curled black hair (three saffron gatherers from Xeste 3),⁽¹¹⁾ with long black hair (the seated 'goddess' from Xeste 3) or, more frequently, with very short hair of blue colour.

The first variety, an unusually regular arrangement, includes a blue or blue and yellow band on the forehead (the yellow part will be discussed below, since it is probably a piece of jewellery), with an S-shaped curl hanging from the upper edge. A similar blue band on the forehead is associated with two or more small curls on the seated 'goddess', whereas the black lock is of much greater length, reaching at least to the level of the elbow, and is outlined with a row of red beads similar to other rows visible on the main part of the hair. These most probably indicate the presence of a net.

The association of black locks and very short blue hair is undoubtedly the most typical hairstyle on the Thera wall paintings. According to the usual opinion, the blue surface would represent a partially shaved head, a feature that is apparently reserved for children or youths in ancient Egypt and associated with a long sidelock, the 'Horus lock', especially on the images of Harpocrates.⁽¹²⁾ Confirmation that a similar custom prevailed in the Aegean, especially on Thera, is provided by the fact that all males represented with such a hairstyle are clearly young males or even children (the fishermen and the boxing boys), and by the clear distinction made in Room 3b of Xeste 3 between the small boy (who wears a string around the head, with a knot on the forehead: drawing in Televantou 1988, 148, fig. 10d) and the youth from the Middle Corridor (with blue hair and a lock), and the adult male on the west wall with 'normal' black hair (an additional distinction in the dress of these figures has been noted above). However, women also show that specific hairstyle, and, if some of them may be considered as girls and the hairstyle consequently as the female counterpart of that of boys and youths (the 'blue-haired adorant' and the 'blue-haired saffron gatherer' from Xeste 3),⁽¹³⁾ another female figure with blue hair, the 'priestess' from Room 5 in the West House (Doumas 1992, fig. 25), could equally well be an adult, judging at least from her appearance and her function.

This last observation leads me to address the question of the possible expression of age differences in the depictions of human figures. Ellen N. Davis has devoted a careful study to the subject, the results of which are very convincing, though they probably need some minor modifications (see now Davis this volume). Davis's conclusion is that the Thera wall paintings express four different stages of youth, ranging from childhood to nubility, and directly related to different stages of hair growth (especially the growth or cutting of particular locks of hair), these four stages followed by two stages of maturity (Davis 1986). Hair arrangement would thus exhibit the following successive forms of development: blue shaved head "on which specific hairlocks had been left to grow" (stage 1 or early childhood: the two fishermen - or better, 'fisherboys' - and the 'blue-haired saffron gatherer', to which we should now add two of the three naked boys from Room 3b, ground floor, in Xeste 3); the same with longer locks at the back and on the forehead, and new locks left to grow at the top and from the right side (stage 2 or later childhood: the two boxing boys, the 'priestess' from the West House (Doumas 1992 fig. 25), the 'blue-haired adorant'); long locks preserved, especially at the back, but locks specific to stage 2 cut, abandonment of head shaving, replaced by short curls that are the "new growth from the once-shaved scalps" (stage 3: the 'saffron gatherer with three necklaces', the 'saffron gatherer emptying her bucket' and the 'saffron gatherer with bucket on shoulder'); curls grown long, lock on forehead removed, lock at the back longer and bound in a loop at the nape (stage 4: the 'adorant holding a necklace', the 'seated adorant'); long hair completely bound up in a bun (stage 5 or maturity: the two women from Room 3b, first floor, in Xeste 3); very long hair (stage 6 or advanced age: 'standing lady' and 'bending lady' from the House of the Ladies). Additional features confirm, according to Davis, the idea of increasing age throughout the successive stages: the longer forehead in stage 2, the double chin in stage 3, the "enormous, dangling breast" of the 'bending lady' in stage 6, contrasting with the "firm, high breast" of the figures in stage 4, indicating that they are still young.

Such observations are pertinent and some of them very persuasive, especially concerning the lock growing from the right side of the head. The beginning of that lock appears clearly on heads turned to the right (e.g. the boxing boy to right and the 'blue-haired adorant'), whereas it is, as expected, partly hidden on heads turned to the left (e.g. the boxing boy to left and the 'priestess' from the West House (Doumas 1992, fig. 25)). The detail of the last-mentioned figure is interesting. The short, oblique black strip protruding from the nape is convincingly understood as the visible part of a long lock hanging from the hidden right side of the head. The alternative interpretation of that strip as the equivalent of the short dividing line on the light-coloured bun of some of the women watching the fleet from roofs in the Arrival Town on the south miniature frieze in the West House (Fig. 3) appears very unlikely, since there is no other instance of such a bun associated with a blue shaved head.

Finally, in addition to the back lock, the seated 'goddess' wears the locks of childhood, especially the forehead lock and two locks at the top of the head. According to Davis, "...the hairlocks of the children that she wears do not denote her youth, but are worn as insignia of her specific function in relation to youth" (Davis 1986, 402).⁽¹⁴⁾ This interpretation appears rather risky, however, since the most typical of the hair locks related to childhood, the one hanging from the right side, is missing. The above-mentioned examples show that even on heads turned to the left, as is the case with the 'goddess', the right sidelock can be partially depicted; but it is here apparently missing altogether.

Another contradiction should be stressed. According to R. Koehl, who has proposed a similar association between hairstyles and age groups for male figures, "...the undeveloped musculature of the 'Boxing Boys' seems to suggest early adolescence, the somewhat more developed biceps and shoulders of the 'Fisher Boys' would make them just slightly older" (Koehl 1986, 101). This is the reverse of the sequence suggested by Davis from the examination of hairstyles, and precisely such a reverse conclusion is confirmed by Koehl on the basis of an examination of the hair: "The hair style of the 'Fisher Boys' also seems to indicate a slightly advanced stage of maturity" (Koehl 1986, 101)! The reason for this contradiction is that the short locks of the fishermen can be considered as short either because they have grown for a short time (Davis) or because they have been cut fairly short (Koehl). The two possibilities exist, and this makes for a real problem - not to mention the possible alternatives of regrowth after cutting and of recutting after regrowth, all of which lead us to ask whether the ideal development suggested by Davis is a real one.

The blue colour itself raises another question. If the head was really shaved, the blue surface would have been painted; but it would be difficult in that case to account for the blue side pieces which are visible close to the ear of the 'blue-haired saffron gatherer', and have to be considered as hair because of the rows of small black lines in them, exactly like the side pieces on the 'saffron gatherer with three necklaces', on the 'saffron gatherer emptying her bucket' and on the seated 'goddess' in Xeste 3. Similar rows of small black lines are observable on the large blue zone of the 'blue-haired saffron gatherer'. That the blue surface was not entirely shaved is further indicated by the regular row of small black lines along the edge of the hair of one of the fishermen (Doumas 1992, fig. 23), a detail that seems to confirm that the intention was in fact to represent very short cut and blue-dyed hair, not a clean shaven head with skin painted blue - although painted skin is not unknown on Thera, as shown by the ear of the 'priestess' from the West House, which is painted red (Doumas 1992, fig. 25). As far as the blue colour is concerned, it does not seem to be a priori a ritual feature, even if it may be related to some social context in connection with aging or maturation; nor is it a priori a real feature, i.e. the faithful observation of reality. It might perhaps be better understood as an artistic convention, since it occurs systematically on the images of monkeys and, in an equally unnatural way, on some birds.⁽¹⁵⁾ Blue animals do not necessarily have to be viewed as systematically invested with a ritual funcnon. Though some of them are shown performing human tasks (Room 4 in Xeste 3) or depicted in scenes with religious content and meaning (the monkey in front of an 'altar' in Sector A, and the monkey in front of the seated 'goddess' in Xeste 3 - not forgetting the famous Saffron Gatherer fresco from Knossos), which would favour a ritual interpretation, a far greater number of them are engaged in scenes that have no other so-called ritual indicators apart from the blue colour (Room Beta 6).

Finally, the figure of the naked youth holding a shallow cup in the North Corridor of Room 3b in Xeste 3 should be considered briefly here. He has a uniquely mixed hairstyle, combining very short black hair for the upper part and very short blue hair for the lower part along forehead and nape and for side pieces. It is not clear whether this combination is meant to reproduce very short cut hair, the lower part of which has been painted blue, or very short cut and blue-dyed hair, the upper part of which is covered by a skull cap. The latter interpretation seems to be less probable, since no other example of headgear (with the exception of helmets) is attested on the Thera wall paintings.

JEWELLERY

Pieces of jewellery are abundantly depicted on large scale human figures. This depiction expresses a particularly heightened sense of display, which is further emphasised by the elaborate dresses and hairstyles (though not by cosmetics, which by contrast are almost entirely absent) ⁽¹⁶⁾, and which surely corresponds to the function of the figures and their involvement in ceremonial activities. These large scale images allow an unusually precise rendering of details, an excellent synthetical view of which has been published by C.A. Televantou (1984, figs. 4-8). The representations also provide the only evidence for Theran jewellery, since actual ornaments in precious material are virtually unknown from Akrotiri,⁽¹⁷⁾ because they were taken away by the inhabitants on their escape from the island before the final destruction.

The precision of the representations includes different aspects: 1) the general shape and structure of items of jewellery (especially the extraordinary testimony of the necklace in the hand of the 'adorant holding a necklace' in Xeste 3 (Pl. 19), the beads of which decrease in diameter from the centre to the ends and are threaded on a red string with widening ends - a feature which is never preserved on finds from excavations); 2) the outline and details of the constituent parts (especially the necklace of the 'adorant holding a necklace' and the wonderful beads in the shape of swans or ducks and dragonflies worn by the seated 'goddess' in Xeste 3 (Doumas 1992, fig. 125)); 3) the materials used, corresponding essentially to the choice of colours: yellow for gold, blue most probably for silver (especially for bracelets) or blue glass paste (spherical beads on the boxing boys; blue figures of swans and dragonflies on necklaces of the seated 'goddess' (Doumas 1992, fig. 125)), red for carnelian (flat beads on the ornament hanging from the sleeve of the 'bending lady' from the House of the Ladies; red beads on both wrists of the 'blue-haired adorant' from Xeste 3; the longest necklace worn by the 'saffron gatherer with three necklaces' (Pl. 20; Doumas 1992, fig. 119); larger beads of the necklace of the 'saffron gatherer with bucket on shoulder'); grey/light brown probably for amethyst (necklace in hand of 'adorant holding a necklace' (Pl. 19; Doumas 1992, fig. 104));⁽¹⁸⁾ 4) the techniques of decoration: the brown beads along the lower edge of the crescent-shaped earring of the 'seated adorant' from Xeste 3, most probably indicating a row of gold granules, as do the similar details on the crescent-shaped earring of the seated 'goddess' (Pl. 13; Doumas 1992, fig. 126) and of two of the saffron gatherers in Xeste 3, and the two and three rows of beads respectively on one of the bracelets and on the shortest necklace of the 'saffron gatherer with three necklaces' (Fig. 2; Pl. 20; Doumas 1992, fig. 119).

Some details, however, are difficult to explain. This is the case with the red colour of the upper part of the crescent-shaped necklace of one of the two women from Room 3b in Xeste 3, which is associated with gold and for which an identification as glass paste or enamel would have no parallel on the wall paintings. The black colour used for the double necklace of the second woman from the same room (the one holding flowers) depicts a material of uncertain identification. The transverse black or brown lines on the crescent-shaped earrings of the 'adorant holding a necklace' and the 'blue-haired adorant' from Xeste 3, as well as the 'blue-haired saffron gatherer', is a detail which evokes added filigree wires; but the use of filigree for purposes other than outlining edges is apparently not documented in early Late Bronze Age Aegean jewellery,⁽¹⁹⁾ and an identification as chased transverse lines would seem preferable, since these are much more common. The beads along the edges of the blue bracelets and/or necklaces of the 'adorant holding a necklace', the 'blue-haired adorant', the 'blue-haired saffron gatherer' (Fig. 4) and the seated 'goddess' in Xeste 3 (Pl. 13; Doumas 1992, fig. 126) seem to represent granulation; but granulation is not attested on silver jewellery, and the beads are black not blue. This leads to some doubt that the blue colour is really meant to represent silver, as does the fact that the blue bracelets and the similar anklets exhibit a wavy outline which is more appropriate for a soft material (e.g. a strip of cloth with beaded edges) than for metal (Fig. 2).

The traditional classes, earrings, necklaces and bracelets, dominate. Some of these are especially numerous and include sub-varieties, especially the crescent-shaped earrings, either of plain type, or with granulated edge, or with chased transverse lines (Pls. 13, 20; Doumas 1992, figs. 126, 119).⁽²⁰⁾ Rarer types are also depicted on the wall paintings. The circular gold earring with openwork design of a cross worn by the 'priestess' in the West House is a good example (Doumas 1992, fig. 25). But other isolated types should also be mentioned. The first one is the yellow band on the forehead of the 'saffron gatherer with bucket on shoulder' (Pl. 10; Doumas 1992, fig. 130), a sort of doubling of the more usual blue hairband examined above, and the only known instance of such a typical piece of funerary ornament for everyday use on the living. Another example of a similar second band on the forehead, though of much narrower type, seems to be attested on the seated 'goddess' (Pl. 13; Doumas 1992, fig. 126). It gives the impression of being partly covered by the blue band, and its presence is revealed by the row of red dots which has a counterpart at the lower edge of the yellow headband of the 'saffron gatherer with bucket on shoulder' (Pl. 10; Doumas 1992, fig. 130). Normally also made only for funerary use is the tree branch with alternating yellow and grey leaves protruding from the front of the hair of the 'seated adorant' from Xeste 3 (identifiable as myrtle or olive leaves: Younger 1992, 278) (Doumas 1992, fig. 106). Examples are known from much earlier grave contexts on Mochlos (Branigan 1974, pl. 19), not to mention the famous specimens excavated in the Royal Tombs at Ur. Again, the Thera painting offers the only testimony for use in non-funerary contexts, as well as for an association of gold and silver, judging by the two colours. The same 'seated adorant' has a yellow pin-like ornament protruding from the upper part of the back (Doumas 1992, fig. 106) apparently made of a thick gold rod with end coiled up in the shape of a floral motif, another unique type of ornament. The features correspond to those of a hair pin, apart from the fact that the dimensions are rather large, though this is probably just a sign of awkwardness.

Interesting is the fact that personal ornaments can be made of non-precious materials, as indicated by the string around the neck of one of the fishermen (to left: Doumas 1992, fig. 23), consisting merely of a short length of rope held in position with a knot at the back. Again, this provides one of the rare testimonies for the use of ornaments made of perishable materials not attested in excavations.

Worth emphasising also are some specific uses that can be known only from representations of jewellery. It is not always clear from actual finds, particularly from the dimensions alone, whether bracelet-like ornaments were intended to be worn around the wrist, the arm or the ankle. The images on the wall paintings, however, indicate without any doubt that the three varieties were worn, sometimes at the same time (the 'saffron gatherer with three necklaces' from Xeste 3), and that the types were in some cases very similar, if not identical. This is especially the case with the frequent narrow blue band with a row of black beads along both edges, the wavy outline of which is identical when used both as wrist ornament (Figs. 2 and 4) and ankle ornament (the 'blue-haired adorant' and the saffron gatherers from Xeste 3 - though some of the anklets are yellow). Identical armlets and anklets, made of a row of blue beads, are also attested on one of the boxing boys from Room Beta 1 (to right). These are the only instances of uniformity among the jewellery depicted on the wall paintings. Complete sets of pieces do not occur on any other of the large scale figures.

Other evidence for a specific use that cannot be inferred from actual finds is provided by the crescent-shaped earrings of the 'saffron gatherer with bucket on shoulder' from Xeste 3, who wears two earrings on a single ear, one suspended from the other (Pl. 10; Doumas 1992, fig. 130).

A third example of otherwise unattested pieces of jewellery are the two strings hanging from the right sleeve of the 'bending lady' from the House of the Ladies (Doumas 1992, fig. 10), on which groups of two light blue and red flat beads are threaded. A second example most probably belongs to the same type of ornamentation, which is usually made of a bunch of threads, sometimes in continuation of roped braids on the edge of the sleeves (see above): the papyrus-like motifs in red hanging from the sleeves of the tunic of the 'blue-haired saffron gatherer' from Xeste 3 (Fig. 4). The colour would favour an identification of the blossoms as made of carnelian or red glass paste.

Beads of pictorial type occur on necklaces of two female figures: gold beads in the shape of papyrus flowers (Younger 1992, 279) for the longest necklace of the 'adorant holding a necklace', who has in addition crocus flowers depicted on her bodice and sleeves; and gold and glass paste beads in the shape of ducks or swans (threaded on a red string) and of dragonflies (suspended from a necklace made of narrow tubular gold beads) for the seated 'goddess' from Xeste 3 (Pl. 13; Doumas 1992, fig. 126). That these had a specific meaning is not to be doubted, but the exact significance remains uncertain in view of their uniqueness. Nanno Marinatos's suggestion that ducks and dragonflies could be related to marshy landscapes and lakes and indicate that the 'goddess' is a mistress of nature (Marinatos 1984, 48-49) seems too generic an identification, and confirms what has been stated above, namely that the examples of figural beads are too few and of insufficient variety to give really firm clues to interpretation. ⁽²¹⁾ Connotations relating to status or function are consequently limited to the above-mentioned sense of display, which emphasises the presence of a special occasion but gives us little evidence about the specific aspects.

The faithful precision of the representations would, all things being equal, provide excellent conditions for comparisons between jewellery depicted on the wall paintings and ornaments found in excavations. Unfortunately, this is only rarely the case given the present state of our archaeological documentation. Actual jewellery has not been found on Thera, and most of the jewellery of the early Late Bronze Age belongs to types reserved for funerary use (especially the series from the Shaft Graves at Mycenae), and not to types of more solid and robust construction made for use in everyday life, as was apparently the jewellery of traditional forms depicted on the wall paintings. The best known parallel is provided by the crescent-shaped earring (by far the predominant type of earring on the Thera wall paintings) of the 'saffron gatherer with three necklaces' from Xeste 3 (Pl. 20; Doumas 1992, fig. 119), which is a striking counterpart for a pair of gold earrings from Shaft Grave III at Mycenae, made of two sheets with openwork ornamentation (Karo 1930-1933, no. 61). A very persuasive comparison can also be made between the 'wheel-shaped' earring worn by the 'priestess' from the West House (Doumas 1992, fig. 25) and six gold ornaments from Shaft Grave III (Karo 1930-1933, no. 38): the openwork decoration is closely related, although the objects are not earrings.

The corpus of depicted jewellery examined above can be supplemented by images of jewellery appearing as decoration on the ships' stern cabins or ikria in Room 4 of the West House. These are chains, probably meant as necklaces, suspended at both ends from the vertical poles of the structure, in an identical arrangement to that on some of the stern cabins on the south miniature frieze (ship 2). Most of them are made of spherical beads of yellow, red and blue colour, alternating with pendants in the shape of a lily (Pl. 21; Doumas 1992, fig. 59), of a tripartite ornament (τύπος Α τρίλοβου κάλυκα in the typology of Xenaki-Sakellariou (1985, 304 no. 90), a bee or a fly according to Hiller (here, vol. I), or of a 'sacral ivy' in open work (Doumas 1992, fig. 60); but other examples are attested, including a row of rosettes, alternately blue and red, with yellow and white centres respectively (Pl. 22; Doumas 1992, fig. 61). The variety of colours indicates that the elements are made of glass paste (especially the blue elements, which here certainly do not denote silver) or coloured stones, although gold parts are also attested. The blue and yellow rosettes are probably made of a sheet of gold on which cells are soldered for inlays in blue paste, as illustrated in actual jewellery by a rosette attached to a finger ring from the tholos tomb at Vapheio (Demakopoulou 1988, no. 195) and another one on a finger ring from Chamber Tomb 518 at Mycenae (Demakopoulou 1996, no. 36). The simultaneous use of different materials on a single necklace is worth noting, especially since it apparently has no counterpart on jewellery of early Late Bronze Age date preserved from excavations. It should be remembered, however, that the modern presentation of necklaces does not necessarily correspond to the original sequence of beads, and that restorers may well be inclined to infer the presence of different necklaces merely from the existence of series of beads in different materials. Together with the image of the seated 'goddess' from Xeste 3, with her bicoloured necklaces, the depictions discussed here seem to indicate that the mixing of various materials on a single necklace, as known from many examples in later periods, actually existed.

Of special interest is the necklace with openwork ivy-shaped pendants (Doumas 1992, fig. 60) which exhibit a remarkable double alternation: one pendant with yellow central stalk and blossom and blue spiraliform side parts, and one pendant with precisely the reverse arrangement of colours and materials. Examples of such an alternation of pendants are not known among actual jewellery, and individual necklace pendants or beads made of two different materials are apparently not attested.

The lily pendants are also worth looking at in some detail (Pl. 21; Doumas 1992, fig. 59). The association of white and yellow colours might well indicate the use of ivory and gold, or perhaps partly gold-plated ivory (i.e. the chryselephantine technique). Ivory 'waz-lilies' are known from the finds from Mycenae (Poursat 1977, nos. 44, 98-100, 166-167, 260, 315), Menidi and Spata (Poursat 1977, nos. 433and 471), and though such small plaques are usually considered to be applied ornaments, a specimen from the Artemision on Delos preserved traces of gilding in the centre of the spirals and of an inlaid sheet of gold along the curved upper edge (Vallois 1953, 2 no. 4)⁽²²⁾ - that is, in the same place as the yellow colour on the painted lily pendants from Thera. An alternative could be that these lily pendants are made of partly gilded light-coloured glass paste, a variety that is also attested in Mycenaean jewellery (Xenaki-Sakellariou 1985, 157, 176, 200, 214).

Finally, it is worth remembering that the tripartite ornaments mentioned above have a large scale counterpart in the double garland suspended from the mast of the 'admiral's ship' (ship 4) on the south miniature frieze in the West House. The yellow colour would lead us to identify the material as gold, but the large dimensions are a serious objection, in the same way as for the butterflies, birds and rosettes painted in the same yellow colour as ornaments on the prow, which nobody would reasonably identify as gold ornaments.⁽²³⁾

Though more probably made of an unidentified material painted in yellow rather than gilded, the ornaments of the garland on the 'admiral's ship' should not be ignored. As far as I know, together with some images of ornaments on theship's prow,⁽²⁴⁾ they provide an extremely rare example of identical designs in different dimensions and different materials, and intended for completely different purposes: respectively, small specimens used for personal ornament, and larger ones used for 'architectural' decoration.

The examination of depictions of dress, hairstyles and jewellery on the Thera wall paintings allows us to make some important observations. This is due in the first place to the large number of large scale figures, which allow a fairly precise degree of fidelity in the reproduction of actual objects. This is especially obvious in the representation of jewellery items, some of which are of additional interest because they testify to some otherwise unreported types or uses. However, it is no less remarkable as far as hairstyles are concerned. Even though a definite and clear interpretation of the different types is not possible, the evidence that can be read on the walls of Akrotiri reveals a high degree of variety that seems to be related to significant differences in age, status or occupation, as are the various types of dress. Firm conclusions are certainly not possible, but the contribution of these ostensibly minor aspects should certainly not be underestimated in a tentative reconstruction of the conditions prevailing in Theran society during the early Late Bronze Age.

(1).      The present inventory is based on Doumas 1992, which provides the best illustrations, especially for details. Precise reference to the plates of the volume will not be given, to avoid repetition, but all the details mentioned can be seen on those illustrations. The addition of small fragments to the miniature frieze ftom the West House in Televantou 1990 adds little to our understanding of the three aspects considered here, except for two isolated figures (the two herdsmen of the new herding scene on the north frieze).

(2).      On this variety and the next one (the kilt), see the most recent contribution by Rehak (1996). The breechcloth consists of "a belt worn around the waist. To this belt can be attached a breechcloth draped between the legs and secured in the front and back. At the front of the body, one end of the breechcloth is secured by the belt to create the fabric codpiece that supports the genitals... When the front end of the breechcloth is first passed under, then over, the belt to fall outside, it creates a frontflap. At the back, the other end of the breechcloth can be similarly passed over the belt to create a backflap that covers the buttocks" (Rehak 1996, 39-40, fig. 2A-B). An earlier contribution on the topic (Giesecke 1988) is less precise by comparison.

(3).      Eight warriors are seen on the original reconstruction (Doumas 1992, fig. 28), four more on fragments added recently by Televantou (1990, 316, fig. 9).

(4).      The numbering of long ships is from left to right, regardless of the row in which they are depicted.

(5).      "A kilt, by contrast, is simply a rectangular piece of cloth worn around the waist, draped rather like a Scottish kilt..., sometimes secured by a belt. Presumably, the vertical edges of the kilt were fastened at the hip, but in other instances the kilt is fastened in front" (Rehak 1996, 41, fig. 2E-F).

(6).      The representations of the other captains are not sufficiently clear or well preserved to allow a precise identification and classification.

(7).      The two female figures from the House of the Ladies will be referred to respectively as the 'standing lady' (to left, on the south wall) and the 'bending lady' (to right, on the north wall).

(8).      The three figures of 'adorants' on the north wall of the 'lustral basin' or 'adyton' in Xeste 3 will be referred to respectively, from left to right, as the 'adorant holding a necklace', the 'seated adorant' and the 'blue-haired adorant'.

(9).      The saffron gatherers from Room 3a in Xeste 3 will be referred to as follows: the two on the east wall, from left to right, as the 'saffron gatherer with three necklaces' and the 'blue-haired saffron gatherer'; the two on the north wall, on either side of the seated 'goddess', from left to right, as the 'saffron gatherer emptying her bucket' and the 'saffron gatherer with bucket on shoulder'.

(10).     A similar openwork design can be found on.a gold circular ornament from Shaft Grave III (Karo 1930-1933, no. 69).

(11).     The so-called blonde hair of the 'saffron gatherer with bucket on shoulder' (Davis 1986, 399 n.7) is probably due to a faded original black colour.

(12).     On the Egyptian sidelock, typical for children, see Helck and Westendorf 1980, s.v. Jugendlocke. The lock usually hangs from the right side. It was originally reserved for boys, but later also used for girls, young deities (Harpocrates) and priests.  

(13).     The young age might be coufirmed by the fact that none of the 'adorants' and saffron gatherers from Xeste 3 is represented with prominent breasts, as noted in Marinatos 1984, 62.

(14).     But the 'goddess' is probably meant in the first place as a 'πότνια θηρών', as indicated by the accompanying animals (Televantou 1982, 116).

(15).     One specimen from Sector A: Doumas 1992, 27 fig..

(16).     The red cheeks of the 'standing lady' and the 'bending lady'; a crocus motif on the cheek of the seated 'goddess'; also the painted fingernails.

(17).     Only very few small items of gold and silver are reported among the finds. Other objects in stone, bone, clay or bronze are attested (Televantou 1984, 15-18).

(18).     Compare this with the colour of an LH IIB necklace made of amethyst beads from Argos (Demakopoulou 1988, no. 201).

(19).     The best example of twisted wire outlining the edge of an object appears on the gold pommel of a weapon from the Shaft Graves at Mycenae (Karo 1930-1933, no. 274).

(20).     A detailed typology of the jewellery depicted has been proposed by Televantou (1984, 29-47).

(21).     In contrast to the various and numerous examples of gold ornaments in the shape of animals from the Shaft Graves at Mycenae, which may provide a good starting point for an analysis of their meaning in relation to funerary beliefs in the early Mycenaean period (see Laffineur 1985).

(22).     For an association of ivory and gold on another ornament of the same provenance, see Vallois 1953, 5 no. 14.

(23).     J.G. Younger, however, has included these prow designs in his catalogue of 'jewellery on objects' (Younger 1992, 285-286).

(24).     Compare, for example, the prow ornament in the shape of a butterfly in profile (on the 'admiral's ship') with gold ornaments fromt he tholos tomb at Kapakli near Volos (Demakopoulou 1996, no. 52) and from Chamber Tomb 102 at Mycenae (Xenaki-Sakellariou 1985, pl. 139 no. 4902).

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