Golden owl
Archaeological museum of Chora
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Golden owl
1620 CE – 1550 BCE
Archaeological museum of Chora
Peristeria, tholos tomb 3, Messenia
Width: 1.7 cm x Height: 3.8 cm
Gold patch in the shape of an owl. Found among numerous gold offerings in tholos tomb 3 at Peristeria. The bird’s details are naturalistic. Two holes on its head and tail were used to sew it to the deceased’s shroud. The skilful artist was able to depict on the flexible gold sheet the piercing stare of the owl and the nature of this nocturnal bird, a symbol of the eternal night of death. Its apotropaic character is fitting to the eschatological and symbolic role of the owl as a chthonic and magical leader of the souls. Identical owls, depicted on thin gold sheets have been found in tholos tombs in Ano Englianos and Kakovatos. Their finding attests the close trade contacts between the most important early mycenaean centres in the southwestern Peloponnese.