Analysis and Provenience of Minoan and Mycenaean Amber, IV. Mycenae Beck, Curt W;Southard,
Gretchen C;Adams, Audrey B Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Winter 1972; 13, 4; ProQuest pg. 359

Analysis and Provenience of Minoan 
and Mycenaean Amber, IV. Mycenae 

Curt W. Beck, Gretchen C. Southard, 
Audrey B. Adams 

H OMER might have called Mycenae 17'OAV~AEIC'TPOC as well as 
17'OAVXPvcoc: when Schliemann dug the shaft graves within 
the citadel (now Grave Circle A), he saw in some of them 

"enormous quantities of amber beads";1 Wace found amber in 
several of the chamber tombs, especially those dating to L.H. I/ll;2 
most recently, the discovery of Grave Circle B has yielded a large 
number of amber beads and some spacers in Grave Omicron.3 The 
provenience of the amber of Mycenae has been an issue among archae­
ologists and chemists for almost a century. 

Schliemann early took a view which was at once cautiously con­
servative and highly sophisticated, a rare combination at any time. 
He wrote of the amber in Grave Circle A: "These beads have grown 
dark-brown, probably owing to their great antiquity, so that we at 
first mistook them for resin, but the analysis of Professor Landerer 
has shown that they consist of the purest amber. It will, of course, 
forever remain a secret to us whether this amber is derived from the 
coast of the Baltic or from Italy, where it is found in several places, 
but particularly on the east coast of Sicily; but it is highly probable 
that it was brought to Greece by the Phoenicians ... "4 

It was sophisticated of Schliemann to recognize that the dark color 
of his amber finds was due to their age. Even today some archaeolo­
gists, knowing that freshly dug Baltic amber is usually of a light yellow 
color while southern amber is often brown or red, conclude too 
hastily that a dark color in archaeological amber artifacts indicates 
southern origin. 

It was equally sophisticated to refer the decision between 'resin' and 

1 H. Schiiemann, Mycenae (New York 1878) 203; German ed. (Leipzig 1878) 235. 
2 A. J. B. Wace, "Chamber Tombs at Mycenae," Archaeologia 82 (1932). 
3 J. Papademitriou, Praktika (1952) 427-72. 
, Schliemann, op.cit. (supra n.l). 

359 



360 ANALYSIS OF MINOAN AND MYCENAEAN AMBER 

• amber' to a chemist at a time when that species of scientist had as yet 
shown little interest in archaeology and made few contributions to it. 
He turned to Xaver Landerer (1809-1885), a German chemist and 
pharmacist, who was then Professor of Chemistry at the University 
and at the Polytechnicum in Athens as well as personal apothecary to 
King George I, and who had earlier analyzed metals, glass and pig­
ments of ancient Greece.O 

We do not know what chemical tests convinced Landerer that the 
finds from the shaft graves consisted "of the purest amber," but 
Schliemann cautiously leaves open the question whether the amber 
is of Baltic or of Italian origin: either place fits Homer's clear indica­
tion that it was the Phoenicians who conveyed amber to Greece.s 
Schliemann was probably aware of Capellini's hypothesis that amber 
found in Mediterranean archaeological contexts might be of southern 
rather than of Baltic provenience, but when he wrote Mycenae he 
cannot yet have known of Helm's claims7 to be able to distinguish 
between the two. 

The chemist Landerer seems to have been less cautious. At the 
VIIIe Congres International d' Anthropologie et d' A rcheologie Prehistoriques 
in Budapest in 1876 he announced that the amber of Mycenae was of 
Sicilian origin. We have not found this statement in the comptes rendus 
of that congress,.which reproduces the lectures but not the discussions, 
but in his account of the Budapest meeting Chierici reports that Hil 
Landerer, come risultato di sue analisi, ci da per ambra della Sicilia la 
gialla raccolta dalle richissime tombe di Micene."8 This is corrobora­
ted by Brizio, who describes "una quantid di pallottole di ambra 
gialla della specie piu pura e proveniente, secondo l'analisi chimica 
del Prof. Landerer, dalle coste della Sicilia,"9 though without refer­
ence to the congress at Budapest. 

Again we do not know what chemical evidence led Landerer to his 
conclusion; Schliemann was either unaware of it or did not accept it, 
and the same appears to be true of Helm, who refers to "Canderer's" 
(sic) identification of the finds from Mycenae as "purest amber," but 

5 J. C. PoggendorfI. Biographisch-Literarisches Handworterbuch III (Leipzig 1898) 770. 
6 Od. 15.460. 
7 O. Helm. "Notizen tiber die chemische und physikalische Beschaffenheit des Bern­

steins." ArchPharm 211 (1877) 229-46. 
8 G. ehierici. BPI 4 (1878) 175. 
9 E. Brizio. Nuova Antologia 1 (1879) 86. 



CURT W. BECK, GRETCHEN C. SOUTHARD, AUDREY B. ADAMS 361 

not to his determination of its provenience.10 A detailed and critical 
account of all previous work, including Helm's analyses which led 
him to pronounce the amber of Mycenae as Baltic and which Schlie­
mann did accept,n has been given in the first article of this series.12 

We therefore repeat here only that Helm's findings only increase 
the a priori probability that amber objects of such size and in such 
numbers as Schliemann found in the shaft graves of Circle A are of 
Baltic origin. Below we report our own spectroscopic analyses of the 
amber found at Mycenae to which we had access in the National 
Museum in Athens in the summer of 1965. For the sake of complete­
ness we also bring together all other amber finds from Mycenae 
which we have found in the literature. 

Grave Circle A 

SHAFT GRAVE I 
This is Schliemann's <second sepulchre'. In his description of the 

finds from it Schliemann lists no amber but mentions "a few white 
glass beads and some small ornaments of a glass paste. "13 

Karo, however, recognized two amber beads among the latter and 
described them: "diameter ca. 2 [cm]. One nearly spherical, the other 
lentoid"14 under the Athens National Museum inv. no.20S. The present 
condition of these two beads leaves no doubt that they have had a 
thorough scrubbing followed by some conservation treatment. The 
first-mentioned bead, no.20SA, is light brown in color. It has a maxi­
mum diameter of O.021m and a maximum thickness of O.OI4m. Its 
shape most nearly conforms to that of Beck's15 class B.1.a oblate. 
The second bead, no.20SB, is slightly smaller (maximum diameter 
O.020m) and much thinner (maximum thickness O.009m) but still 
fits into the same class. 

A word about the shapes of Mycenaean amber beads is in place here. 
Some beads are of highly characteristic forms, f.g. the curious <bone­
shaped' beads exemplified by the gold-and-amber ornaments of the 

10 O. Helm, Schriften der naturforschenden Gesellschaft zu Danzig, N.F. 6 no.2 (1885) 237. 
11 O. Helm in H. Schliemann, Tiryns (New York 1885) 369-72. 
12 C. W. Beck, GRBS 7 (1966) 192-94. 
13 Schliemann, op.cit. (supra n.l) 158. 
14 G. Karo, Die Schachtgriiber von Mykenai (Munich 1930-1933) 69 and pI. CL. 

16 H. C. Beck, Archaeologia 77 (1927) 1-74. 



362 ANALYSIS OF MINOAN AND MYCENAEAN AMBER 

Tiryns treasure.16 Close attention to the shapes of all Mycenaean 
amber beads may well repay the trouble by pointing to connections 
with contemporary amber finds elsewhere. But one stricture must be 
made at once: amber more than any other material used for beads is 
subject to weathering which, depending on time and conditions, will 
form a friable layer which is easily lost by accidental or deliberate 
removal. Experience has shown that this layer is often of a remarkably 
uniform thickness,17 so that the shape of the original bead may be 
preserved even after vigorous cleaning. Sharp edges and corners, 
however, may be entirely lost, and it will not be wise to put too fine a 
point on distinctions between, say, an oblate short bead (Beck's class 
B.1.a) and a bicone short bead (Beck's class B.Z.e), not to mention 
intermediate forms like short convex bicone (B. 1. e) or short truncated 
bicone (B.Z.f). But had they existed, fortune might have preserved 
some of these more angular shapes among the more than a thousand 
beads from Grave Circle A. It is, then, simply the lack of any evidence 
to the contrary that justifies our choice of the term oblate. 

The results of our spectroscopic analysis of the two amber beads 
from Shaft Grave I are shown in Table I and fig.1. The meaning of 
the extraneous absorptions resulting from conservation treatment 
has been discussed in a previous article in this series.IS In spite of the 

TABLE 1. AMBER BEADS FROM SHAFT GRAVE I: INvENTORY No.20S 

Desig- Maximum Dimensions (mm) Spectrum Extraneous Computer 
nation Number Absorption (!J.) Classifi-

Diameter Thickness cation 

A 21 14 961 7.25and7.S wal-
chowite? 

B 20 9 962 7.25and7.S Baltic 

contamination indicated by these absorptions, computer classification 
of the spectra assigned a Baltic origin to bead Z08B. Bead Z08A was not 
recognized as Baltic only because the slope of the spectrum between 
8.4 and 8.6!J. failed to exceed -0.050. The computer identifies this 
feature with walchowite, a fossil resin indigenous to Bohemia, but it 
is not a positive identification of that resin because a shallow slope in 

1& c. W. Beck, G. C. Southard and A. B. Adams, GRBS 9 (1968) 5-19. 
17 P. Dahms, "Verwitterungsvorgange am Bernstein," Schriften der naturforschenden 

Gesellschaft zu Danzig, N.F. 13 nos.3-4 (1914) 175-238. 
18 Beck et al., op.cit. (supra n.16). 



CURT W. BECK, GRETCHEN C. SOUTHARD, AUDREY B. ADAMS 363 

SIS SI9 

81 3 815 816 817 

831 833 835 

S 9 8 9 8 9 8 9 8 

Figure 1. PARTIAL INFRARED SPECTRA OF AMBER, SHAFT GRAVES I and ill, GRAVE 

CIRCLE A, MYCENAE 



364 ANALYSIS OF MINOAN AND MYCENAEAN AMBER 

this region is also found quite commonly in very badly weathered 
Baltic amber. It would be rash to say more than that the computer 
cannot recognize bead 208A as Baltic. 

SHAFT GRAVE II 
This is Schliemann's 'fifth sepulchre' and has yielded no amber. 

SHAFT GRAVE m 
This is Schliemann's 'third sepulchre' and in it he found the "enor­

mous quantity of amber beads" which prompted his comments 
quoted in the introductory section above. Schliemann did not de­
scribe or illustrate the amber from Grave III, nor did Schuchhardt19 
(however, vide infra) nor Tsountas and Manatt.20 These authors, 
incidentally, cite and accept Helm's conclusion that the amber is of 
Baltic origin as "probably"21 or "most probably"22 correct, and mod­
em archaeologists have been inclined to consider its Baltic proveni­
ence as a simple fact. 23 

In his section on Grave ill Kar024 describes under Athens National 
Museum inv. nos.100 and 101 "24 whole amber beads and fragments 
of 6-8 others. The largest ones (diameter 3.1-3.5 [cm]) spherical or 
lentoid, the medium-sized and small ones (0.8-1 [cm]) mostly flat, in 
part almost annular or tubular. Badly corroded surface." Karo refers 
these beads to Schuchhardt p.237 and fig. 197 and adds parenthetically 
"according to Schliemann, p. 282, these beads come from Grave IV." 
The latter statement is in error and would seem to be due to a trans­
position of plates in the books of Schliemann and Schuchhardt. 
Schliemann reported about 800 beads from Grave IV and illustrated a 
few of them25 in their actual size. The largest has a diameter of 0.042m. 
In Schuchhardt's work the same plate has been used to illustrate the 
amber from Grave II1.26 

18 c. Schuchhardt, Schliemann's Excavations, trans!' E. Sellers (London and New York 1891) 
191-210. 

20 C. Tsountas and J. I. Manatt, The Mycenaean Age (Boston and New York 1897) 88. 
21 Schuchhardt, op.cit. (supra n.19) 196. 
II Tsountas and Manatt, op.cit. (supra n.20) 180. 
23 W. Taylour, The Mycenaeans (London 1964) 152, 154, 166. 
U Karo, "P.cit. (supra n.14) 57. 
15 Schliemann, "P.cit. (supra n.l) fig.355 on p.245 of the English ed., corresponding to 

p.282 of the German ed. 
28 Schuchhardt, op.cit. (supra n.19) fig.174 on p.195 of the English ed.; we have not been 

able to see the German ed. 



CURT W. BECK, GRETCHEN C. SOUTHARD, AUDREY B. ADAMS 365 

The change can have nothing to do with the renumbering of the 
graves from Schliemann's original 'sepulchres' to the now universally 
accepted numbers introduced by Stamatakis which Schuchhardt uses, 
since neither Grave III nor Grave IV has been affected by that change. 
It is a simple error, and the error must lie with Schuchhardt, not with 
Schliemann, for the largest bead from Grave III seen by Kar027 or by 
us in the National Museum is considerably smaller than the largest 
bead of the ubiquitous illustration. 

But our inspection of the amber now in the National Museum has 
added more problems than it has solved. Under inv. no.lOO there are 
27 strung beads. The lentoid centerpiece is the largest, with a maxi­
mum diameter of 0.036m and a maximum thickness of 0.022m. The 
sizes of the other beads diminish towards the ends of the 'necklace' 
where the smallest bead has a diameter of 0.010m and a thickness of 
0.006m. Most of the beads are oblate (Beck's class B.1.a); a very few 
are better described as lentoid and may originally have been short 
bicones (Beck's class B.2.e). 

The 27 beads of inv. no.lOO are listed in Table 2 with their dimen­
sions and the results of our spectroscopic analyses; partial spectra are 
shown in Figure 1. Computer classification assigns a Baltic origin to 
four of the seven beads which were analyzed. The other three samples 
(spectra 819, 820 and 821) were so badly deteriorated that the com­
puter was unable to classify two of them. The computer assignment 
of walchowite for the third sample must be accepted with the same 
strictures we set forth above for spectrum 961 in Table 1: nothing in 
the spectrum excludes the possibility that the sample is in fact badly 
weathered Baltic amber. 

Under inv. nO.101 there is first a string of 20 beads, the largest of 
which near the center has a diameter of 0.024m and a thickness of 
O.OlOm. The size of the other beads diminishes towards both ends of 
the 'necklace' to a minimum diameter of 0.003m and a minimum 
thickness of 0.004m. Inv. nO.101 also includes a box of 11 fragments of 
beads, the largest of which originally measured 0.024m in diameter 
with a thickness of 0.015m. 

All the groups of beads and fragments under inv. nos.100 and 101 
are labelled as having been found by Schliemann in Shaft Grave III. 
We find thus in the Athens Museum more beads from this grave than 

27 Karo's illustration of 20 amber beads with inv. nO.lOl on his pI. xxv cannot serve to 
identify them, but the largest bead shown there has a maximum diameter of O.032m. 



366 ANALYSIS OF MINOAN AND MYCENAEAN AMBER 

TABLE 2. AMBER BEADS FROM SHAFT GRAVE ill: 1NvENr0RY No.I00 

Desig- Maximum Dimensions (mm) Spectrum Extraneous Computer 
nation Number Absorption ([1-) Classifi-

Diameter Thickness cation 

1 11 6 
2 10 6 
3 12 8 818 none Baltic 
4 13 7 
5 15 9 
6 14 7 not 
7 17 11 819 7.25; 7.8 identifiable 
8 17 13 
9 19 11 not 

10 20 13 820 7.25; 7.8 identifiable 
11 22 14 
12 26 15 wal-
13 29 18 821 7.8 chowite? 
14 36 22 
15 31 18 
16 28 12 
17 23 15 822 7.25; 7.8 Baltic 
18 22 12 

19 18 13 
20 19 11 824 7.25; 7.8 Baltic 
21 18 9 
22 15 8 
23 15 8 
24 14 7 

25 12 7 823 7.25; 7.8 Baltic 
26 11 5 
27 10 6 

Karo lists, but far short of the "enormous quantities" which Schlie-
mann reported. The fragments agree well with Karo's entry "frag-
ments of 6-8 others," and these, at least, seem certain to belong to 
Shaft Grave III. 

The 20 strung beads are listed with their dimensions in Table 3. 
The fragments are listed in Table 4; those designated A to H are com-
plete enough to ascertain their original dimensions, which are given; 
those designated a to d are too small to allow any useful measure-
ments. 



CURT W. BECK, GRETCHEN C. SOUTHARD, AUDREY B. ADAMS 367 

TABLE 3. AMBER BEADS FROM SHAFf GRAVE III: INVENTORY No.lOl 

Desig- Maximum Dimensions (mm) Spectrum Extraneous Computer 
nation Number Absorption (IL) Classifi-

Diameter Thickness cation 

1 9 5 
2 13 7 
3 10 6 
4 12 6 812 7.25; 7.8 Baltic 
5 11 7 
6 14 8 
7 16 8 
8 15 10 813 7.8 Baltic 
9 22 13 

10 24 10 815 none Baltic 
11 19 10 
12 15 13 
13 15 12 
14 14 9 816 none wal-
15 15 8 chowite? 
16 14 8 817 none Baltic 
17 11 4 
18 11 6 
19 10 5 
20 10 4 

Samples of five whole beads and of eleven fragments were analyzed. 
Partial spectra of these samples are shown in Figure 1; results are sum­
marized in Tables 3 and 4. Computer classification assigned a Baltic 
origin to 15 of these 16 samples, including all of the eleven samples of 
fragments which are· most certain to have come from Grave III. For 
bead 14, which the computer addressed as walchowite (spectrum 
816), the same limitations apply as were set forth above for spectrum 
961. 

SHAFT GRA VB N 

Schliemann wrote: "At the left side of the head of the middle body 
of the three which lay with the heads turned to the east, I found a 
heap of more than 400 large and small beads of amber, of which I 
represent eight (fig. 355). About the same number of similar beads 
were found with one of the bodies the head of which lay to the north. 



368 ANALYSIS OF MINOAN AND MYCENAEAN AMBER 

TABLE 4. FRAGMENTS OF AMBER BEADS FROM SHAFT GRA VB III: 
INVENTORY No.lOi 

Desig- Maximum Dimensions (mm) Spectrum Extraneous Computer 
nation Number Absorption (11-) Classifi-

Diameter Thickness cation 

A 24 15 825 none Baltic 
B 17 10 826 none Baltic 
c 15 8 827 7.25; 7.8 Baltic 
D 15 5 828 none Baltic 
E 16 9 829 none Baltic 
F 18 8 830 7.8 Baltic 
G 14 8 831 7.8 Baltic 
H 13 9 
a 832 none Baltic 
b 833 7.25; 7.8 Baltic 
c 835 7.25; 7.8 Baltic 
d 834 7.25; 7.8 Baltic 

All these amber beads had, no doubt, been strung on thread in the 
form of necklaces, and their presence in the tombs among such large 
treasures of golden ornaments seems to prove that amber was very 

. "28 preaous ... 
The illustration which accompanies these words shows seven, not 

eight, amber beads in actual size; their diameters range from 0.006 
to 0.042m. It is this plate which Schuchhardt (wrongly, we believe) 
reproduced to illustrate amber from Grave III (vide supra). In his 
section on Grave IV, Schuchhardt mentions only that "the countless 
amber beads found in this grave were certainly worn by women."29 

Tsountas and Manatt seem to use Schliemann's numbers when they 
report "800 amber beads varying from the size of a pea to the size of a 
silver dollar" ;30 a U.S. silver dollar measures 1.5 U.S. inches or 0.039m. 

Karo lists under National Museum inv. no.513 "a vast quantity of 
round [amber] beads of very different sizes, according to the inventory 
[there are] 1290. Most common are very small beads ([diameter] 
0.5-1[cm]) and small ones ([diameter] 1.1-2[cm]), almost all of them 
discshaped with rounded surfaces, very rarely spherical, with small 
threading holes. Much less common are larger beads ([diameter] 

18 Schiiemann, op.cit. (supra n.1) 245. The German ed. (p.283) has "sieben". 
II Schuchhardt, op.cit. (supra n.19) 219; but cf infra n.33. 
80 Tsountas and Manatt, op.cit. (supra n.20) 90. 



CURT W. BECK, GRETCHEN C. SOUTHARD, AUDREY B. ADAMS 369 

o 234 5 

Figure 2. AMBER BEADS AND SPACERS FROM SHAFT GRAVE N, GRAVE CmcLE A, 

MYCENAE 



370 ANALYSIS OF MINOAN AND MYCENAEAN AMBER 

2.1-3[cm]), and of the largest there is only about a dozen ([diameter] 
3.1-3.5[cm]): the very largest ([diameter]4[cm]) and one somewhat 
smaller have a biconvex form with a rather sharp edge. Further 
[there are] remains of 4-5 flat, rectangular plates of amber (length 
about 4[cm]; width 2.S[cm]; thickness O.65-o.75[cm]), with 5 thread­
ing holes through their entire length, evidently to hold together five 
strands of small beads. "31 

Some of the amber finds from Shaft Grave IV are on exhibition in 
the Mycenaean Room in the National Museum of Athens. Mounted 
on one board are 45 strung beads and three spacers (Fig. 2). These 
beads are numbered in Table 5 from 1 to 45 clockwise as mounted 
and their dimensions are given; the center bead (no.23) is without 
doubt the "very largest" bead of Karo with a maximum diameter of 
O.040m and of sharply edged lentoid form. The three fragmentary 
spacers are listed in Table 5 as A, Band C; their dimensions agree 
only vaguely with those given by Karo. 

Mounted on a second board are 179 smaller beads ranging in size 
from a diameter of O.005m with a thickness of O.002m to a diameter of 
O.OI4m with a thickness of O.OOSm. No samples were taken from these 
small beads and they are not listed in Table 5. 

TABLE 5. AMBER BEADS, SPACERS AND FRAGMENTS FROM SHAFf GRAVE IV 
INVENTORY Nos.513 AND 513A 

Desig- Maximum Dimensions (mm) Spectrum Extraneous Computer 
nation Number Absorption (IL) Classifi-

Diameter Thickness cation 
1 12 8 

2 12 8 

3 13 8 

4 16 9 
5 15 8 

6 16 11 

7 17 12 

8 17 11 870 none Baltic 
9 18 15 

10 16 15 

11 18 15 

12 19 14 871 none Baltic 
13 21 15 

81 Karo, op.at. (supra n.14) 110 and pI. LVD. 



G R B S vol. XIII no. 4 (1972) 

The printers very much regret having made an unfortunate error 
in identification which has resulted in printing the wrong diagrams on 
pages 369, 372, 376 and 38r of the article by Professor Beck and his 
associates. These errors have now been corrected, and your replacement 
copy is enclosed herewith. Please destroy your original copy. 



CURT W. BECK, GRETCHEN C. SOUTHARD, AUDREY B. ADAMS 371 

TABLE 5-continued 

Desig- Maximum Dimensions (mm) Spectrum Extraneous Computer 
nation Number Absorption (IL) Classifi-

Diameter Thickness cation 
14 21 16 
15 23 13 

16 24 15 
17 24 15 
18 28 13 
19 27 15 
20 31 16 872 none Baltic 
21 32 20 
22 31 21 
23 40 21 
24 32 15 
25 30 13 
26 25 15 
27 25 13 
28 23 15 
29 21 17 873 none Baltic 
30 21 13 
31 23 15 
32 20 14 
33 20 17 
34 19 13 874 none Baltic 
35 20 15 
36 18 13 
37 19 15 
38 19 10 

39 16 9 
40 16 11 

41 16 10 
42 16 11 875 7.25; 7.8 Baltic 
43 13 9 
44 14 10 
45 14 7 

Length Width Thickness 
A 36 36 8 901 7.25; 7.8 wal-

chowite? 
B 36 20 7 902 7.25; 7.8 Baltic 
C 28 34 7 903 7.25; 7.8 schraufite? 

CRUMBS 878 none Baltic 



372 ANALYSIS OF MINOAN AND MYCENAEAN AMBER 

In the storerooms of the National Museum there are two boxes 
with inventory numbers 513 and 513A containing by a rough count 
about 830 whole beads and a large number of recognizable fragments 
of beads and spacers as well as many unidentifiable crumbs. An aver­
age sample of the latter was taken and is listed at the end of Table 5. 

Of the ten samples from Grave IV, eight gave spectra which the 
computer classified as those of Baltic amber; partial spectra are shown 
in Figure 3. The two exceptions are the samples from spacer fragments 

874 

9<1I 902 903 

8 9 8 9 8 9 8 9 8 9 ". 

Figure 3. PARTIAL INFRARED SPECTRA OF AMBER, MYCENAE, SHAFT GRAVE IV, 
GRAVE CIRCLE A, AND CHAMBER TOMB 79 



CURT W. BECK, GRETCHEN C. SOUTHARD, AUDREY B. ADAMS 373 • 

A and C which have received extensive conservation treatment and 
which show correspondingly strong extraneous absorption bands. 
The computer classification walchowite for spacer A (spectrum 901) 
and schraufite (a resin native to Austria) for spacer C (spectrum 903) 
may therefore well be the result of contamination and deterioration 
and should not be taken at face value. 

SHAFT GRA VB V 

This is Schliemann's 'first sepulchre' and in it he found "with the 
body at the southern end a large quantity of amber beads."32 Schuch­
hardt notes that this is, like all the interments in Grave V, a man's 
burial and that hence both men and women wore amber,33 but he 
gives no further information about the beads. In her Appendix II, 
Eugenie Sellers, Schuchhardt's translator, lists amber beads among 
the objects on exhibit at that time in Case A of the First Vase-Room 
at the British Museum which, according to her index entry, came 
from Grave V.34 Tsountas and Manatt make no mention of amber 
from Grave V, but Karo lists under inv. nos.757-59: "Amber Beads. 
Spherical and flattened spherical forms, from very small (diameter 
0.5-O.6[cmJ) to small (diameter 1-2[cm]) and medium-sized (diameter 
2-3 [cm]). About 100 whole or nearly whole beads; many fragments. 
Among them is a very defective rectangular spacer. Length 3.3[cm]; 
width 1.8[cm]; thickness l[cm]."35 

None of these is illustrated in Karo's work. They are exhibited in 
the Mycenaean Room of the National Museum in Athens under inv. 
nos.758 and 759, but we have not analyzed them. 

SHAFT GRAVE VI 
No amber has been found in this grave. 

The Th%i 

Being all too noticeable, the tholos tombs at Mycenae have attracted 
grave robbers since antiquity, so that few finds awaited the archaeolo­
gist. Wace's thorough re-investigations, however, have yielded three 
isolated finds. 

3~ Schliemann, op.cit. (supra n.1) 308. 
33 Schuchhardt, op.cit. (supra n.19) 258. 
U E. Sellers in Schuchhardt, op.cit. (supra n.19) 352-53. 
35 Karo, op.cit. (supra n.14) 137. 



374 ANALYSIS OF MINOAN AND MYCENAEAN AMBER 

In the Epano Phournos tholos he found "in the front or southern 
portion of the doorway ... a few small ornaments which probably 
belonged to the tomb ... [among] these were ... a flat and round 
amber bead (0.02mindiameter andO.01m high)" ;36 and again "Amber 
bead. [Athens] Mus. No.5577. D.0.038m. Found ... in a pocket of 
earth filling a hollow on the under side of one of the fallen jamb 
stones."37 The tomb of Aegisthus yielded "in the Mycenaean layer on 
the floor ... in the western sector ... an amber bead, shaped like a 
flattened cone on both sides, diameter 0.015m."38 

Both tholoi belong to the oldest group, dated to 1510-1460 B.C.39 
and ought to be analyzed; unfortunately we have not yet been able to 
take samples. 

Wace further inferred40 the possible presence of amber from the 
gaps between the amethyst beads strung on copper or bronze wire 
which Mrs Schliemann had found in 1876 in the Tomb of Clytemnes­
tra.41 

The Chamber Tombs 

CHAMBER TOMB 24 

Tsountas reported "ten pebbles (ifriiCPOL) of amber" in this tomb.42 

We have not seen them. 

CHAMBER TOMB 79 
From this tomb, excavated by Tsountas,43 twelve biconical amber 

beads are exhibited in the Mycenaean Room of the National Museum. 
The largest has a diameter of ca. 0.035m. All appear to have received 
conservation treatment. In the storeroom there are eleven fragments 
of beads under inv. no.3097. Ten of them are listed in Table 6 with 
their preserved dimensions. Computer classification identified eight 

.8 A. J. B. Wace, "Excavations at Mycenae. IX. The Tholos Tombs," BSA 25 (1921-1923) 
294. 

17 A. J. B. Wace and M. S. F. Hood,BSA 48 (1953) 79. 
3S Wace, op.at. (supra n.36) 304. 
39 A. J. B. Wace, Mycenae (Princeton 1949) 14. 
co Wace, op.at. (supra n.36) 363-64. 
n Schliemann, op.at (supra n.l) 120-21. 
U C. Tsountas, ArchEph 1888, 143. 
&8 C. Tsountas, ArchEph 1897, 97ff, describes swords and hilts from tombs 53 and up, 

but the amber beads are not mentioned in this or any other of Tsountas' papers which we 
have seen. 



CURT W. BECK, GRETCHEN C. SOUTHARD, AUDREY B. ADAMS 375 

TABLE 6. AMBER FROM THE CHAMBER TOMBS 

Tomb Inventory Maximum Dimensions (mm) Spectrum Extraneous Computer 
Number Number and Number Absorption (IL) Classifi-

Designation Diameter Thickness cation 
79 3097 A 20 11 904 none Baltic 

B 22 12 905 none Baltic 
c 14 13 916 7.8 Baltic 
D 15 9 917 none Baltic 
B 15 14 955 none Baltic 
F 16 5 956 none Baltic 
G 13 12 957 none unidenti-

fiable 
H 11 7 958 none Baltic 

12 8 959 none unidenti-
fiable 

K 11 3 960 7.8 Baltic 
86 3152 22 865 7.8 Baltic 
518 6433 SEAL (Cf infra nn.50 and 51) 811 none Baltic 

-3 12 8 836 7.8 Baltic 
-6 14 5 837 none Baltic 
-17 16 6 838 7.8 Baltic 
-22 19 9 839 7.25: 7.8 Baltic 
-37 18 9 840 7.25; 7.8 Baltic 
-41 24 9 841 none Baltic 
-45 31 9 842 none Baltic 
-49 46 9 843 7.25; 7.8 Baltic 
-51 30 16 844 7.25; 7.8 Baltic 
-57 23 13 845 none Baltic 
-69 19 9 846 none Baltic 
-81 16 8 847 none Baltic 
-85 16 5 848 none Baltic 
-a 849 none Baltic 
-b 850 none Baltic 
-c 856 7.25; 7.8 Baltic 
-d 857 none Baltic 
-e 858 none Baltic 

526 6494 13 11.5 861 7.25; 7.8 Baltic 
529 6523-4 15 8 862 7.25; 7.8 Baltic 

-5 15 4.5 863 none Baltic 
-6 15 7.5 864 none Baltic 

of these fragments as being of Baltic amber; two were unidentifiable, 
apparently because of extensive weathering. Partial spectra are shown 
in Figure 3. 

CHAMBER TOMB 86 

From Tsountas' excavation44 of this tomb there is in the National 
Museum under inv. no.3152, along with a small hemispherical gold 
ornament, an unidentified lead object and some lead wire, a single 
biconical amber bead which was broken into two nearly equal parts 

"c. Tsountas, Praktika (1895) 24-25, lists finds from these tombs but does not mention 
amber, which seems to be included among "«at &,ua oJXt d'\lya." 



376 ANALYSIS OF MINOAN AND MYCENAEAN AMBER 

and has been glued together again. Its present maximum diameter is 
O.022m. 

The bead is listed in Table 6; a partial spectrum is shown in 
Figure 4, spectrum 865. It is of Baltic amber. 

837 

857 

8 9 8 9 8 9 9 

Figure 4. PARTIAL INFRARED SPECTRA OF AMBER, MYCENAE, CHAMBER TOMBS 
86 AND 518 

CHAMBER TOMB 515 
Wace reported: "From the Dromos. Amber beads, twenty-two and 

several fragments, pl.XXIX: d.O.Olm.-O.02m.; various shapes, conoid, 
discoid, spheroid, but none is particularly large. L.H. 11."45 "From the 
Chamber. Amber bead, spheroid: d.O.018m."46 "From the Pit in the 
Chamber. Amber beads, two: d.O.02m.; damaged."47 

.5 Wace, op.cit. (supra n.2) 58. 46 Wace, op.cit. (supra n.2) 61. 47 Wace, op.cit. (supra n.2) 62. 



CURT W. BECK, GRETCHEN C. SOUTHARD, AUDREY B. ADAMS 377 

His Plate XXIX shows twelve badly corroded and broken beads. We 
have not seen any of the amber from this tomb. 

CHAMBER TOMB 517 

Wace reported: "Found with skeleton no. XI in the Chamber . .. Amber 
beads, irregular, three, and one fragment, pI. XXXVI : l.O.009m.­
O.013m.; rather decayed."48 

His Plate XXXVI deady shows the extensive corrosion and refers the 
beads to L.H. III. We have not seen the beads themselves, but judging 
from the illustration their irregular shape is the original shape and 
hence intentional. They might be prototypes of the more elaborate 
irregular or bone-shaped beads which are characteristic of the Late 
Mycenaean amber finds.49 

CHAMBER TOMB 518 

Wace reported: "Amber beads; a, amygdaloid, one, fig. 33, l.O.03m., 
on obverse an intaglio design of a bull, on reverse horizontal markings 
imitating almond; b, spherical, one, d.O.011m., with ribs and fine 
incised lines; c, discoid and spheroid, about a hundred and twenty 
and several fragments, fig. 34, the sizes range from O.045m. in dia­
meter to less than O.OIm. Chamber. L.H. 1-11."50 

The amygdaloid amber seal is also described and illustrated in 
CMS 1,51 where its diameters are given as O.OI6m and O.022m. We 
were able to take an extremely small sample (O.5mg) of this almost 
unique object52 (Athens Museum inv. no.6433) and found it to be of 
Baltic amber (Table 6 and FigA, spectrum 811). 

A string of beads from Chamber Tomb 518 is mounted on a board 
exhibited in the Mycenaean Room of the Athens National Museum, 
Figure 5. These beads also carry the inv. nO.6433. We have designated 
them by numbers in a clockwise direction as mounted and sampled 
13 of them. These, with their numbers, dimensions and the results 
of the spectroscopic analyses, are listed in Table 6; partial spectra are 
shown in Figure 4. 

48 Wace, op.cit. (supra n.2) 74. 
49 Beck et a!., op.cit. (supra n.16) 15-16. 
50 Wace, op.cit. (supra n.2) 86. 
51 A. Sakellariou, Corpus der Minoischen und Mykenischen Siegel, ed. F. Matz and H. Biesantz 

I: Athen (Berlin 1964) 173, no.154. 
52 Wace, op.cit (supra n.2) 197, can cite only one parallel: the amber seal from Kalyvia­

Pellanes (T. Karachalios, ArchDelt 10 [1926] §43); we know of no others. 



378 ANALYSIS OF MINOAN AND MYCENAEAN AMBER 

o I 2 3 4 5 

Figure 5. AMBER BEADS FROM CHAMBER TOMB 518, MYCBNAE 



CURT W. BECK, GRETCHEN C. SOUTHARD, AUDREY B. ADAMS 379 

Fragments of amber beads from this tomb, still under inv. no.6433, 
are kept in the Museum storerooms. We have taken five samples of 
these, designated a to e, which are also listed in Table6; partial spectra 
are shown in Figure 4. 

In spite of contamination of some of them, all 18 samples of beads 
and fragments from Tomb 518 were found to be of Baltic amber. 

CHAMBBR TOMB 526 
Wace reported: «Amber beads, three, pbx, two spherical: d. 

O.014m.; one oval, l.O.0165m."53 
We have found only one spherical amber bead from this tomb in 

the Athens Museum. It was strung together with three glass beads 
and a bead which Wace described as «lantern-shaped, hollow, blue 
faience,"54 all under inv. nO.6469. It is listed in Table 6; in spite of 
heavy contamination it was recognizable as having been made of 
Baltic amber. A partial spectrum is shown in Figure 7, spectrum 861. 

CHAMBBR TOMB 529 
Wace reported: «Amber beads, thirty whole and about ten frag­

mentary, mostly discoid: d.O.013m. to O.025m. L.H. I-ll."55 
On a board in the Mycenaean Room of the National Museum in 

Athens, 25 of these beads are strung together for exhibition under 
inv. no.6523 (Fig.6). Three of them (nos. 4, 5 and 6) were sampled. 
The results of the analyses are listed in Table 6; partial spectra are 
shown in Figure 7. The computer classified all three spectra as those 
of Baltic amber. 

CHAMBBR TOMBS, SUMMARY 

As shown in Table 6, 32 of the 34 samples of amber from the cham­
ber tombs of Mycenae have been identified as Baltic amber; two were 
unidentifiable because of extensive weathering. These samples span a 
considerable period of time. Wace notes that in the chamber tombs 
on the southern slope of Kalkani Hill amber beads "were common in 
L.H. I and II tombs like Tomb 515, Tomb 518, and Tomb 529, but 
they also occurred in small quantities in a few tombs of L.H. III date 
and these are tombs which seem on the whole to belong to the earlier 

53 Wace, op.cit. (supra n.2) 93. 
54 Wace, op.cit. (supra n.2) 94. 
55 Wace, op.cit. (supra n.2) 105. 



380 ANALYSIS OF MINOAN AND MYCENAEAN AMBER 

o 2 3 

Figure 6. AMBER BEADS FROM CHAMBER TOMB 529, MYCENAE 



CURT W. BECK, GRETCHEN C. SOUTHARD, AUDREY B. ADAMS 381 

Figure 7. PARTIAL INFRARED SPECTRA OF AMBER, MYCENAE, CHAMBER TOMBS 

526 AND 529 AND SHAFT GRAVE OMICRON, GRAVE CmCLE B 



382 ANALYSIS OF MINOAN AND MYCENAEAN AMBER 

stages of that period. To L.H. I or II can be assigned the following: 
Tomb 515 ... in all twenty-five beads, Tomb 518 ... about a hundred 
and twenty-two including the engraved amygdaloid bead ... , Tomb 
529 ... about forty beads. To L.H. ill belong three and a fragment 
from Tomb 517 ... and three from Tomb 526."56 

Grave Circle B 
The last major discovery at Mycenae was that of a second grave 

drcle which overlaps the Tomb of Clytemnestra57 and which dates 
to the beginning of the sixteenth century B.C. The large necklace of 
amber beads and spacers with complex borings found in Grave 
Omicron of this circle is the oldest amber find at Mycenae. 

Mounted on a board in the Mycenaean Room of the National Mu­
seum in Athens are 119 beads and three spacers (see Fig.8), all under 

TABLE 7. AMBER FROM SHAFf GRAVE OMICRON, GRAVE CIRCLE B, INvENTORY 
No.8657 

Desig- Maximum Dimensions (mm) Spectrum Extraneous Computer 
nation Number Absorption (IL) Classifi-

BEADS Diameter Thickness cation 
33 13 7 975 none Baltic 
40 13 7.5 976 none Baltic 
46 14 8.5 978 7.8 simetite? 

schraufite? 
47 14 7.5 979 none Baltic 
54 15 10 980 none Baltic 
63 22 11 983 7.8 schraufite? 
65 18 11 984 none Baltic 
72 16 10 985 none Baltic 
97 11 5 988 none Baltic 

SPACERS Length Width Thickness 
41 44 28 8 977 7.8 simetite? 
62 48 29 10 981 7.25; 7.8 Baltic 
62A 982 7.8 Baltic 
83 49 27 9 986 7.8 simetite? 
83A 987 none Baltic 

18 Wace, op.cit. (supra 0.2) 204. 
57 J. Papadimitriou, Praktika 1952, 427ff; ibid. 1953, 236. 



CURT W. BECK, GRETCHEN C. SOUTHARD, AUDREY B. ADAMS 383 

o I 2 3 4 5 

Figure 8. AMBER BEADS AND SPACERS FROM SHAFT GRAVE OMICRON, GRAVE 

CmcLE B, MYCENAE 



384 ANALYSIS OF MINOAN AND MYCENAEAN AMBER 

inv.no.8657. The beadsare spheroids with the exception of the largest, 
no.63, which is biconical. Two of the spacers have been mended, and 
all beads and spacers seem to have had conservation treatment. All 
but two pieces are covered with a thick layer of weathered amber; 
only beads noAO and no.97 show a clean, firm surface. 

The dimensions and analyses of nine beads and the three spacers are 
listed in Table 7; partial spectra are shown in Figure. 7. Seven of the nine 
beads gave spectra which the computer classified as Baltic; the other 
two (bead no.46, spectrum 978, and bead no.63, spectrum 983) show 
evidence of contamination which is quite extreme in the latter case, 
so that the computer classification "simetite?" or "schraufite?" cannot 
be given much weight. The single sample of spacer no.41 was found 
by microscopic examination to be heavily contaminated, and its 
spectrum (977) confirms this. Two separate samples taken from spacer 
no.62 appeared to be clean; the spectra of both samples do show some 
contamination, but both samples were classified as Baltic. Of two 
separate samples taken from spacer no.83, the first is of the heavily 
contaminated weathering crust; this gave a poor spectrum (986) 
which the computer unreliably addressed as 'simetite'. The second 
sample, no.83A, of the uncontaminated interior accessible at a broken 
surface gave a nearly perfect spectrum of well-preserved Baltic amber. 

TABLE 8. SUMMARY OF AMBER ANALYSBS, MYCENAB 

Inventory Findspot Number of Baltic POSSibly 
Number Samples Non-Baltic 

Grave Circle A 
208 Shaft Grave I 2 1 1 
100 Shaft Grave ill 7 4 3 
101 Shaft Grave ill 16 15 1 
513 Shaft Grave IV 10 8 2 

Chamber Tombs 
3097 Tomb 79 10 8 2 
3152 Tomb 86 1 1 0 

6433 Tomb 518 19 19 0 
6494 Tomb 526 1 1 0 
6523 Tomb 529 3 3 0 

Grave Circle B 
8657 Grave Omicron 14 10 4 

Totals 83 70 13 



CURT W. BECK, GRETCHEN C. SOUTHARD, AUDREY B. ADAMS 385 

Summary 

Of 83 samples of amber from the shaft graves and chamber tombs of 
Mycenae, 70 have been shown to be of Baltic amber (Table 8). All of 
the 13 samples not recognizable as Baltic amber have suffered severe 
deterioration by weathering or extensive contamination by conserva­
tion treatment. None of them can be identified as non-Baltic amber 
varieties with any certainty. 

This establishes the presence of Baltic amber at Mycenae for the 
periods L.H. I to L.H. IIIA2. 

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 

This work has been supported by U.s. National Science Foundation grants GS-739 and 
GS-2067 (Anthropology) and GP-4729 (Geochemistry), as well as by travel grant 729 
Qohnson Fund) of the American Philosophical Society. 

The collection of samples in Athens was made possible by the assistance and cooperation 
of Professor H. S. Robinson of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Dr J. 
Kontis of the Greek Archaeological Service, and Dr V. Kallipolitis of the National Museum. 

We continue to be indebted to Professor Christine M. Havelock of Vassar College for 
advice and criticism. Professor J. K. Anderson and Mrs Kathryn Kelly of the University of 
California at Berkeley were kind enough to search for Tsountas' published reports on 
the amber from Chamber Tombs 79 and 86.