
Rare Minoan sealstone in the treasure-laden tomb of a Bronze Age Greek warrior - curtis
https://phys.org/news/2017-11-team-rare-minoan-sealstone-treasure-laden.html
======
dzdt
For more detailed images of the stone, see National Geograpic coverage [1] or
the University of Cincinnati magazine article (including micrographs of
details) [2].

[1]
[https://www.google.com/amp/s/relay.nationalgeographic.com/pr...](https://www.google.com/amp/s/relay.nationalgeographic.com/proxy/distribution/public/amp/2017/11/greek-
sealstone-gemstone-combat-griffin-warrior-tomb-spd)

[2]
[http://magazine.uc.edu/editors_picks/recent_features/unearth...](http://magazine.uc.edu/editors_picks/recent_features/unearthingamasterpiece.html)

~~~
nkoren
The micrograph details in the second link are staggering. Honestly none of the
photographs in the original article do it the slightest bit of justice. You
can see the fallen warrior's locks of hair, and the patterns on his dress.
That's _insane_. This would be an impressive piece of art coming from any
culture at any point in history.

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nyc111
"Indeed, many of the seal's details, such as the intricate weaponry
ornamentation and jewelry decoration, become clear only when viewed with a
powerful camera lens and photomicroscopy."

This suggests that 3000 years ago human eye was much much stronger than today
and could see details that we are unable to see today. I've seen similar
objects in museums with incredibly fine detail that I could not resolve (like
circular seals made with clay)
[https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-
civilizat...](https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-
civilizations/ancient-near-east1/sumerian/a/cylinder-seals)

~~~
DougWebb
I have really bad vision; -7.0 to -7.5 in both eyes. Without glasses my focal
point is about 3 inches from my face. At that range I can see quite a bit of
fine detail that you'd never notice from even a foot away. In the past, before
corrective lenses, I imagine 'fine jewlery maker' would be one of the few
careers open to me, and that I'd be pretty good at it.

~~~
nyc111
So the issue is not about having a higher density of rods and cones in the eye
but about the focal point (which I think should be related to the lens). The
closer to the surface the eye focus the sharper the image and more details are
seen.

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argimenes
The realism in the depiction of human figures is incredibly advanced and
predates Classical Athens sculpture by 1000 years. Like finding an iPad in
Mediaeval England.

~~~
red75prime
Isn't it "Like finding Picasso in Medieval England"?

~~~
benpbenp
Except for the "realism in the depiction of human figures" bit.

~~~
fsloth
Picasso was a virtuoso artist from child: [http://www.pablo-ruiz-
picasso.net/period-first.php](http://www.pablo-ruiz-picasso.net/period-
first.php)

His later experiments with style were not an artifact of lack of talent, but
conscious artistic experimentation.

Sadly, modern artists try often to skip the mastering the basics and just
start to splat color on canvas.

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xref
wow, amazing coincidence since I was just reading earlier today about the
425BCE Battle of Pylos in Donald Kagan's The Peloponnesian War. and that
battle was a thousand years after this burial!

[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pylos](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Pylos)

~~~
autocorr
Donald Kagan is amazing. The lectures to his Introduction to Greek History
course at Yale are also on Youtube [1].

[1]
[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL023BCE5134243987](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL023BCE5134243987)

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ninjamayo
This area has a lot more to uncover. I visited Pylos two years ago and there
are excavations in numerous sites around it. Can't wait to see what is next.

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slitaz
They discovered a cave nearby that was used more than 5000 years ago. The cave
entrance collapsed 5000 ago and was discovered just recently. An undisturbed
view of prehistoric life from some much time ago.

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averagewall
Couldn't the idea that ancient people were bad at art just come from their
small populations, small quantity of discovered artifacts and not teaching
each other their skills? Surely a single person could figure out how to draw
on his own and that might be as rare as it is today. I don't know anyone who
could produce pictures of people's bodies of that quality. One such special
person might have made this seal, but not been around to make other seals from
a similar period.

~~~
coldtea
> _Couldn 't the idea that ancient people were bad at art_

I don't thing there is such an idea -- not a widespread one, and not one held
by archeologists at any rate. Even cavemen paintings (e.g. in france) show
magnificent skill.

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trowaybloway
one word: hercules

