Hunting depictions in Late Mycenaean art of the Palatial and Postpalatial periods

Abstract

Original title: Jagddarstellungen in der spätmykenischen Kunst der Palast- und Nachpalastzeit

The present article concerns the genre of hunting depictions in Mycenaean art of the Palatial and Postpalatial periods (LH III A–C). After briefly surveying extant hunting images from the Early Mycenaean period (LH I–II), I present and give a stylistic analysis of the extant Late Mycenaean works of art, which comprise sealstones, products of metalworking, wall and vase paintings and larnakes. Besides presenting the relevant depictions and discussing the predominant media for hunting iconography in each period, I illustrate artistic influences from other major cultures and also discuss the different layers of meaning that Late Mycenaean hunting depictions contain. These include the public display of aristocratic hunting skills, the concomitant social legitimation of the ruling classes vis-à-vis the ordinary population and the military training of young men and their initiation in the elite circles of Mycenaean society. In addition to this, the overarching context of hunting depictions, zooarchaeological evidence and the ritual of the aristocratic feast is highlighted.