The ornamental daggers of the late bronze age found in the shaft graves at Mycenae, that date between 1550, and 1500 B.C. were made by Cretans for the mainland market. Even though these daggers were made in Crete none have ever been found there. Some other places where similar daggers have been found are the island of Thera, Vapheio, Pylos, and the Argire Heraeum. This shows that there was trade among all of those places during the time period that the daggers were made. Most of the daggers were found in grave circle A at Mycenae.
How they were made
The men who made the daggers found in the shaft graves were very skilled craftsmen. They showed contrast of color and of relief with the decoration of their work. On both sides of the daggers was a slotted silver or gold plate which would be decorated before being put on. They would decorate the plates with gold, silver, copper, alloys, and another technique known as niello. Niello is a black metallic alloy of sulphur, copper,......
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