Malia Pendant

Malia Pendant
	Χρυσό κόσμημα των Μαλίων
Material	gold
Height	4.6 centimetres (1.8 in)
Width	4.9 centimetres (1.9 in)
Created	c. 1800-1700 BC
Discovered	1930; Chrysolakkos, Malia, Crete, Greece
Present location	Heraklion Archaeological Museum, Heraklion
Culture	Minoan civilisation

The Malia Pendant is a gold pendant found in 1930 at Chrysolakkos, Malia, Crete. It dates to the Minoan civilization, 1800-1650 BC. The pendant was excavated by the French and first described by Pierre Demargne.[1][2]

The jewels shape is symmetrical, composed primary of two insects as mirror images of each other. From the insects, a total of three small discs are suspended.[1][2] The insects are said to represent wasps or bees. The belief that the pendant displays’ bees has made the pendant know in popular culture as the “bee pendant”. Specialists, who have studied the jewel, state that the insects are not bees, but definitely Hymenoptera.[2][3] It has been proposed that the mammoth wasp Megascolia maculate was used by the goldsmith for the model.[2] For the three suspending discs, a plan is proposed as the model, and in particular the fruits of Tordylium apulum.[2]

The Malia Pendant is on display at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum, in the island of Crete in Greece.

References

Demargne, Pierre (1930). "Bijoux minoens de Mallia". Bulletin de correspondance hellénique. 54 (1): 404–421. doi:10.3406/bch.1930.2891. ISSN 0007-4217.
Nelson, E Charles; Mavrofridis, Georgios; Anagnostopoulos, Ioannis Th (2020-09-30). "NATURAL HISTORY OF A BRONZE AGE JEWEL FOUND IN CRETE: THE MALIA PENDANT". The Antiquaries Journal: 1–12. doi:10.1017/S0003581520000475. ISSN 0003-5815.
LaFleur, Richard A.; Matthews, Robert W.; McCorkle, David B. (1979). "A Re-Examination of the Mallia Insect Pendant". American Journal of Archaeology. 83 (2): 208–212. doi:10.2307/504904. ISSN 0002-9114.

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[:1-1] Demargne, Pierre (1930). "Bijoux minoens de Mallia". Bulletin de correspondance hellénique. 54 (1): 404–421. doi:10.3406/bch.1930.2891. ISSN 0007-4217.

[:0-2] Nelson, E Charles; Mavrofridis, Georgios; Anagnostopoulos, Ioannis Th (2020-09-30). "NATURAL HISTORY OF A BRONZE AGE JEWEL FOUND IN CRETE: THE MALIA PENDANT". The Antiquaries Journal: 1–12. doi:10.1017/S0003581520000475. ISSN 0003-5815.

[3] LaFleur, Richard A.; Matthews, Robert W.; McCorkle, David B. (1979). "A Re-Examination of the Mallia Insect Pendant". American Journal of Archaeology. 83 (2): 208–212. doi:10.2307/504904. ISSN 0002-9114.