The famous Snake Goddesses from Knossos were found in many fragments and reconstructed to create the forms known today. Arthur Evans originally identified the figure with her arms down, holding snakes, as the Goddess. The figure with her arms raised was originally known as the ‘votary’. A cat was found in the same deposit but it is unlikely to have adorned the votary’s headdress, as here. These plaster replicas are not authentic copies of an original, but a modern reconstruction.
The originals were found in an underfloor deposit in the palace of Knossos, known as the ‘Temple Repositories’. Its contents dated to around 1600 BCE. Many of the objects, including the Snake Goddesses, were made of a glassy material known as faience.
Further reading
The Many Lives of a Snake Goddess project looks at these famous objects from a variety of different perspectives