The board itself must have been made of a perishable material, most likely wood, so that only the iron corner elements survive, as do the bronze hinges, suggesting that the Derveni Game Board was a folding one. They are the remains of a gaming board and the pieces to go with it.
So, what are our relatively humble objects doing amongst such riches? It's simple: they are what is left of another fine luxury object, representing another activity appropriate for a man of Astiouneios's standing. Other finds from the tomb include about a hundred vessels of silver, bronze, alabaster and clay, most of them for the serving or drinking of wine, and various pieces of iron and bronze weaponry.Īll in all, the tomb assemblage is fit for an aristocrat and warrior of the era: it expresses wealth and taste and it references key roles occupied by upper-class males in ancient Macedon's society: that of a warrior and that of a participant and host in symposia, the "drinking parties" that were central to social life in such circles. Its inscription identifies the deceased as the otherwise unknown Astiouneios, son of Anaxagoras, from Larisa. Simply known as the " Derveni krater" (and certainly deserving of a future post on this blog), the richly decorated object is a very celebrated one: made around 350 BC, it is considered one of the finest surviving examples of ancient Greek metalwork. The cremated remains of a man and a woman were placed within an enormous bronze krater, the vessel used for mixing wine and water at Greek banquets. Also available are free PDF, EPUB, and Kindle/MOBI downloads of the book.The celebrated Derveni krater, one of the most eye-catching pieces in the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki. The free online edition of this open-access book is available at and includes zoomable figures and tables. How does this scholarship bear on the understanding of bronzes within the wider history of ancient art? How do these technical data relate to our ideas of styles and development? How has the material itself affected ancient and modern perceptions of form, value, and status of works of art? Most recently, the restoration history of bronzes has established itself as a distinct area of investigation. Analytical work of materials, processes, and techniques has significantly enriched our understanding of the medium.
The study of large-scale ancient bronzes has long focused on aspects of technology and production. The papers in this volume derive from the proceedings of the nineteenth International Bronze Congress, held at the Getty Center and Villa in October 2015 in connection with the exhibition Power and Pathos: Bronze Sculpture of the Hellenistic World.
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