Maria Bee Pendant: 3,800-year-old accessory in Minoa’s “Golden Hole”

This gold pendant was discovered in 1930 at the Clero Laccos cemetery. This means “the gold hole” in the ancient town of Mary in Minoan on Crete. While famous archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans suggested gems depicting gems, the meaning behind the identity and design of pendant insects has been debated for almost a century.

It is 1.8 inches (4.6 cm) long and weighs 0.2 ounces (5.5 grams), according to the Heraklion Archaeological Museum in Crete, where the pendant is on display. According to the museum, ancient Goldsmith combined several techniques to create pieces of candles, granules, replies and incised ornaments.

The pendant depicts two insects facing each other, with their heads and abdomen added, with their wings spreading in opposite directions. The two legs of each insect appear to grasp the gold beads placed in a series of strengths. Three small discs hung from the wings and joined the abdomen.

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Some researchers have suggested that this accessory exhibits European honeybees (Apis mellifera) in the process of making honey, claiming that the honeybees hold honeycombs and have a bit of honey in their mouths.

According to Heraklion Archaeological Museum, “Honey and wax were important elements of the Minoan economy,” and “honey bees also appear to be important Minoan religious symbols.”

However, this interpretation does not explain the three hanging circles written in a 2021 study by a group of researchers led by botanist E. Charles Nelson. These circles may represent fruits of Mediterranean heartworm (Tordylium apulum), a edible herb common in Crete and that produces clusters of disc-shaped fruit with bead-rimmed edges.

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If the dangling disc represents this fruit, the insect depicted may not be honeybees, the researchers argued. The pendant insects are more similar to the mammoth hornet (Megascolia maculata), they said. Eating flowering plants like Mediterranean heartwart, the mammoth wasp grabbed by the pollen-producing part of the flower, curling its abdomen around it, sweeping its wings back.

What ancient Goldsmith intended to represent with pendants is still an open question. They may have portrayed bees and mistakenly wanted to use the wasps as a model. Anyway, experts agree that the pendant creators were very skilled at spending money.

“Although Maria’s pendants are often considered to be related to beekeeping crafts,” this may not be true, Nelson and colleagues argued in their study. But in the end, “The gem represents the natural world of Crete.