The so-called horse pyxides are vessels that were typical for the Middle and Late Geometric period. These jars (pyxis = jar) take their name from the horse-shaped handles on the lid. We know this type of vessel mainly from Athens, where it was found in particular in the tombs of the Kerameikos. However, horse pyxids are also known from other regions of Greece, as this piece from Boiotia shows.
Because of the horse statuette on the lid, older researchers assumed that these were typical grave goods for men. However, they come predominantly from women's graves, in which, in addition to the horse pyxids, other vessels and objects are found that are more likely to be associated with the lives of women.
In the art of the geometric period, cattle and horses dominate the animal representations. Both are an expression of the social and economic structure prevailing in this period: a society characterised by landowning 'nobles' and agrarian production methods. The horse, in particular, is a kind of status symbol that women apparently also used to express their membership of a higher social class. (AVS)
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