Mycenaean Collection of Ivory Combs at the National Archaeological Museum, Athens

Ivory combs of the Late Bronze Age Aegean have not gained the proper attention so far, despite the fact that they belong, together with the pins and pyxis fashioned by the same material, to prestigious toiletry sets documented in the wider area of the Eastern Mediterranean. Although they never became an indispensable accessory for the Mycenaeans, ivory combs indicate prosperity and high status for the male and female burials they furnished, from the exquisite gold-sheathed specimens of Grave Circle A at Mycenae to the later simple ones of the warrior burials in Achaea. The corpus of the 83 Mycenaean combs held at the National Archaeological Museum is the largest of the kind, with specimens covering almost all the Peloponnese and part of Attica, ranging in date from Late Helladic I to Late Helladic IIIC. Aspects of their technology, typology, iconography, context and social significance discussed in the volume, are expected to shed light on yet another important class of Mycenaean craftsmanship.