The Role of Feasting in the Development of Complexity in Minoan Society
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The Role of Feasting in the Development of Complexity in Minoan Society Item Type text; Electronic Thesis Authors Kaiser, Luke Frederic Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 08/10/2021 06:45:10 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/622846 THE ROLE OF FEASTING IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF COMPLEXITY IN MINOAN SOCIETY by Luke Kaiser __________________________ Copyright © Luke Kaiser 2016 A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF ANTHROPOLOGY In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of MASTER OF ARTS In the Graduate College UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2016 1 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR The thesis titled The Role of Feasting in the Development of Complexity in Minoan Society prepared by Luke Kaiser has been submitted in partial fulfillment of requirements for a master’s degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this thesis are allowable without special permission, provided that an accurate acknowledgement of the source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the copyright holder. SIGNED: Luke Kaiser APPROVAL BY THESIS DIRECTOR This thesis has been approved on the date shown below: ____________ March 31, 2016 Robert Schon Date Associate Professor of Anthropology 2 Preface and Acknowledgements The modern excavations at the Bronze Age site of Mochlos in East Crete began in 1989 under the leadership of Dr. Jeffrey Soles, Professor Emeritus of Classical Studies and Archaeology at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and Dr. Costis Davaras, the former Ephor of Crete and Professor Emeritus of Minoan Archaeology at the University of Athens, Greece. Without the dedicated efforts of these friends and colleagues much of the research in this thesis would not be possible nor would the current Greek-American collaborative archaeological relationship in the Mirabello Region of East Crete. The Early Minoan Period was the initial era of interest that brought Dr. Soles to Mochlos. Soles was writing a Ph.D. on house tombs which was completed in 1973, and Dr. Richard Seager had already excavated the Mochlos House Tombs in 1908-09, providing Soles the opportunity to restudy the tombs under the supervision of Davaras. Co-directed excavations began in 1989, and, as we now know, the later periods, particularly the Late Minoan era, covered almost the entirety of the extant Early Minoan architecture. Fortunately for my research, several pockets of Early Minoan deposits exist that are capable of providing the project with a great deal of data to analyze. I am not the first to have been tasked with working on the Early Minoan Mochlos data. First, Dr. Evi Sikla, Directorate of Byzantine and Post-Byzantine Antiquities – Hellenic Ministry of Culture, began work on Prepalatial House 1. Her study of this material remains unpublished but will be included in the Early Minoan publication that will be written upon the completion of my Ph.D. research. Secondly, Dr. Susan Ferrence, Director of Publications at the Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP) Academic Press, began her own investigation of Prepalatial House 2. Her research will also be included in the forthcoming Early Minoan volume. However, due to difficulties related to permissions and pending publication, I am unable to fully represent in this thesis the deposits studied by Ferrence and Sikla. Fortunately, Dr. Thomas Brogan, the Director of the INSTAP Study Center, and Dr. Eleni Nodarou, INSTAP Ceramic Petrographer, began a broad analysis of a cistern midden deposit, the focus of my analysis in this thesis. Together, Brogan and Nodarou utilized petrography and macroscopic analysis to identify the range of objects and fabrics present in the cistern midden which were then photographed by Chronis Papanikolo-poulos, the INSTAP photographer, and illustrated by Doug Faulmann, the INSTAP Archaeological Illustrator and Site Architect. When I was given the chance to work on Mochlos material in the summer of 2014, Soles approached me about utilizing the raw data collected by Brogan and Nodarou for my thesis. Upon communicating with Brogan and Nodarou, I began an analysis of their data in order to illuminate the nuances present in the transitions across the broad phases established by them. Their analysis presented no interpretations and was initially performed to act as a stratified cognate for research that Brogan was doing at other Early Minoan sites within the region that lack the same continual occupation that Mochlos had throughout the Bronze Age. I then embarked upon my research, performing the core material analysis in this thesis while in contact with Brogan in order to utilize his earlier analysis. Thus, all charts and graphs present in this thesis are my own original research. Lastly, I would like to thank Dr. Soles, Dr. Brogan, Dr. Nodarou, and Georgios Doudalis for their assistance in my efforts with this research. Also, I would like to thank Dr. Robert Schon, Dr. Mary Voyatzis, and Dr. Barbara Mills for their guidance while serving on my thesis com- mittee. Also, I would like to thank the University of Arizona’s Anthropology department for allowing me the opportunity to pursue this degree within the archaeology concentration. 3 Table of Contents I. List of Figures………………………………………………………………………..6 II. Abstract………………………………………………………………………………7 III. Chapter 1-Introduction.................................................................................................8 A. Background 1. Why does feasting matter? 2. How does feasting occur at Mochlos? 3. What is Mochlos’ role in intercommunity feasting? 4. Cross-cultural comparisons B. Limitations and selection of contexts at Mochlos C. Summary of the following chapters IV. Chapter 2-A Diachronic Investigation of Mochlos’ Feasting Deposits……...………24 A. The Establishment of the Chronology of the EM Phases B. Phase Ia C. Phase Ib D. Phase II and Transition I E. Phase III and Transition II F. Phase IV G. Conclusion V. Chapter 3-Interpreting Feasting at Mochlos within its broader EM East Cretan Contexts…………………………………………………………………………….47 A. Introduction to Early Minoan Society B. Mochlos as a locus of intercommunity feasting 1. Ties to the Cyclades and Kampos Group 2. Ties within the Mirabello 3. Other ties in Crete 4. The Tankard-a symbol of intercommunal feasting C. EM feasting practices in East Crete 1. Mirabello Region-Gournia, Vasiliki, and Priniatikos Pyrgos 2. Sitia Region-Petras, Chamaizi, Palaikastro 3. Ierapetra Region-Aphrodite’s Kephali, Myrtos Pyrgos and Fournou Korifi D. The social developments in Crete through intercommunal feasting IV. Chapter 4: A Cross-Cultural Investigation of Cooperation and Feasting in Melanesia, the Central Andes, and Southern Anatolia…………………………………………...74 A. Why is Cross-Cultural Analysis both beneficial and necessary at Mochlos? B. Case Study 1: Melanesia C. Case Study 2: Moquegua, Peru 4 D. Case Study 3: South Central Anatolia E. Synthesis of the Cross-Cultural Investigation V. Conclusions and Discussion…………………………………………………………90 VI. References……………………………………………………………………………94 VII. Figures referenced in Chapter 2…………………………………………………….100 5 List of Figures 1.1—Drawings of the low footed goblet from Wilson, Day, and Joyner’s 1999 publication (Figure 1 there). See Bibliography……………………………………………………………….13 1.2—A photograph of the Pyrgos Ware chalice from Heraklion Archaeological Museum. Permission is granted to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License. Also, a pair of tankards from Mochlos, photographed by Chronis Papanikolopoulos, are permitted is granted by Dr. Jeffrey Soles (PI) for their reproduction here………………………………………………………………………………...14 1.3—A photograph of the Mochlos tankards in situ. Permission regarding their reproduction in this thesis was granted by Drs. Jeffrey Soles (PI) and Susan Ferrence (forthcoming)…………..15 1.4—The Minoan chronology table is from Betancourt’s Introduction to Aegean Art and is Figure 1.2 in his publication. See Bibliography…………………………………………………16 2.1—Map of Neopalatial Mochlos with some Prepalatial structures on it. Drawn by Douglas Faulmann, INSTAP Artist……………………………………………………………………….24 2.2—Fabric Table from the cistern midden……………………………………………………...27 2.3—Map of the Mirabello in East Crete made with Google Maps……………………………..29 2.4—Agios Onouphrios Ware jug. This image was taken from Betancourt History of Minoan Pottery Plate 2, Object F…………………………………………………………………………30 2.5—Location of modern phyllite sources at Mochlos. Image from Google Earth……………..36 2.6—Vasiliki ware from the Heraklion Museum. GNU Free Document License……………….41 3.1—Map of the regions mentioned in the ceramic analysis of the cistern midden. Image from Google Earth……………………………………………………………………………………..54 3.2—Map of Mochlos’ Cretan ties discussed in this thesis. Image from Google Earth…………56 3.3—Map of Mochlos’ Mirabello ties. Image from Google Earth………………………………61 3.4—Map of Mochlos’ East Cretan ties. Image from Google Earth…………………………….65 3.5—Map of Ierapetra and South Coast ties. Image from Google Earth………………………...69 6 Abstract Feasting