The Aigina Treasure

In 1891 the British Museum was offered a collection of gold ornaments that were said to have come from the Greek island of Aigina. Even though there was no definite provenance for the treasure, the museum bought it the next spring. In 1981 another hoard was discovered on Aigina that made it possible to authenticate the first. Fitton, keeper of the Greek and Roman section of the British Museum, now presents both collections in the context of Late Bronze Age Aigina and Mediterranean trade. Articles include a technical description of each piece, background on the archeology of the island and several on the blend of influences in the artwork. The Aiginan goldsmiths show evidence of Minoan, Mycenaean, Egyptian and Near Eastern styles. Individual pieces are also examined. The second half of the book is a series of plates of all the works examined along with others shown for comparison and several pictures of Aigina. This study gives an excellent picture of a community that was a crossroad of early Mediterranean civilization. Distributed in North America by The David Brown Book Co. Annotation c2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)