Ornaments

Abstract

The collection of “Thessalian antiquities” from Velestino includes a number of elements of non-figurative character. Two of them have good analogies in an assemblage found in the early twentieth century in Biskupija (Croatia). By far the most spectacular and intriguing of all “Thessalian antiquities” in the Velestino collection is the so-called votive hand. The ornament on the hand consists of thirteen animals with intertwined bodies and heads. This may well have been a (visual) play on bulging veins. Judging by the gracility of the fingers and the existence of three finger-rings, as well as of a bracelet, this may well be the left hand of a woman. The function of the hand was not different from that of the other “Thessalian antiquities”, an observation strengthened by the existence of a lead duplicate, much like in the case of other components of the collection.