page_title: Death masks of Mycenae
section_title: Design
hierarchical_section_title: Death masks of Mycenae / Design
caption_attribution_description: English: One of the funeral masks from Mycenae, gold, 16th-century BCE, Athens, Greece.Français&#160;: Un des masques funéraires mycéniens, or, 16ème siècle avant notre ère. National Archaeological Museum of Athens &#160;&#160;&#160; (Inventory)Native nameΕθνικό Αρχαιολογικό ΜουσείοLocation44 Patission Avenue, AthensCoordinates37°&#160;59′&#160;21″&#160;N, 23°&#160;43′&#160;56″&#160;E &#160;Established1829Web pagewww.namuseum.grAuthority control : Q637187 VIAF:&#8201;142646507 ISNI:&#8201;0000 0001 2173 2153 ULAN:&#8201;500306491 LCCN:&#8201;n50073408 NLA:&#8201;35720603 WorldCat institution QS:P195,Q637187
context_page_description: The death masks of Mycenae are a series of golden funerary masks found on buried bodies within a burial site titled Grave Circle A, located within the ancient Greek city of Mycenae. There are seven discovered masks in total, found with the burials of six adult males and one male child. There were no women who had masks. They were discovered by Heinrich Schliemann during his 1876 excavation of Mycenae.
  There is also a death mask found in Grave Circle B, but it differs from the Circle A masks both in material, as it is made from electrum, and placement, as it was placed in a container besides an entombed body, rather than being placed upon the deceased. The relative scarcity of death masks in Grave Circle B indicate that the buried dead were of lesser wealth or status, rather than Grave Circle A with an abundance of material made from valuable materials, such as the Death masks.
context_section_description: The masks of Grave Circle A share similar features. They are made of a flat foil-like layer of gold and depict round, bald faces, with round eyes and prominent ears. The example picture depicts an elderly face, with lines that may either depict a mustache, or wrinkles, over a smiling mouth.
  These were made by chiseling fine facial details into a flat sheet of gold which had first been pounded against a wooden mold. This is an example of the repoussé style of adding detail to metal works.
caption: Another Funeral mask from a Mycenaean Grave Circle.
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