In the summer of 2015, archaeologists working around the Mycenaean palace of Nestor in Pylos, Greece, found a tomb with the remains of a warrior from 1500 BC. Next to it is a surprising treasure made up of weapons, gold jewelery and other objects, most of them in the Minoan style. A reconstruction of his face was even made and he was given the name Griffin Warrior .
In November 2017, the team from the University of Cincinnati announced the discovery in the same tomb of a truly impressive object:a seal carved in a precious stone that researchers already consider to be one of the best works of prehistoric Greek art ever found.
He has been given the name Pylos Combat Agate by the battle scene he represents. Found a year ago, during all this time it had to be cleaned of the limestone in which it had been embedded. Once revealed in its original form, the experts realized that what they had in their hands was nothing more than a true miniature masterpiece.
And it is that the quality of the carving and the delicacy of its details make the seal the most refined glyptic work of art produced in the Aegean Bronze Age. According to Jack Davis, head of the department of Greek archeology at the University of Cincinnati, the representation of the human body and musculature has a level of detail that is not found again until the classical period, a thousand years later . It is, he says, a spectacular discovery.
The fight scene was meticulously carved out of a piece of stone just 3.6 centimeters long, so details such as the intricate weaponry ornamentation are approximately half a millimeter and are only visible with powerful magnifying lenses and photomicroscopy.
In it you can see a warrior who, having already defeated an opponent lying at his feet, directs his attention to another enemy, sticking his sword into his neck. A scene that recalls the epic battles of the Iliad, although researchers do not dare to say that it is a reflection of the Homeric epic. What they do think is that it undoubtedly represents a legend well known to Minoans and Mycenaeans.
The Pylos Combat Agate It is unmatched by anything previously discovered from the Minoan-Mycenaean era, which the researchers say will force us to revise our understanding of Bronze Age Greek art. And it is that the seal suggests that the Minoans (since their origin is probably the island of Crete) were producing a type of art that until now no one imagined that they were capable of producing.