PRINIATIKOS PYRGOS and the CLASSICAL PERIOD in EASTERN CRETE: Feasting and Island Identities Author(S): Brice L
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PRINIATIKOS PYRGOS AND THE CLASSICAL PERIOD IN EASTERN CRETE: Feasting and Island Identities Author(s): Brice L. Erickson Source: Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Vol. 79, No. 3 (July-September 2010), pp. 305-349 Published by: The American School of Classical Studies at Athens Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40981053 . Accessed: 18/03/2014 10:15 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. The American School of Classical Studies at Athens is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 71.168.218.10 on Tue, 18 Mar 2014 10:15:14 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions HESPERIA 79 (2OIO) PRINIATIKOS PYRGOS Pages30 ss '49 AND THE CLASSICAL PERIOD IN EASTERN CRETE Feasting and Island Identities ABSTRACT Classical Creteis stillpoorly understood archaeologically, although recent workon local ceramicsequences has begunto changethe traditional picture ofisolation and declinein theSth century b.c. At PriniatikosPyrgos in the Mirabelloregion of eastern Crete, relatively rich phases of Classical occupation providea detailedview of local ceramicdevelopment. A largedeposit of fine waresmixed with ash and bone may indicate public feasting. The evidencealso castslight on thelocal economy, revealing connections with Gortyn, Azoria, and otherCretan cities, as wellas extensivecontacts overseas. INTRODUCTION Archaeologistswho work in Cretehave traditionally focused on theBronze Age.1Post-Minoan history and archaeologyhave received much less atten- tion,although growing interest in historicalCrete has promotedefforts to reclaimonce marginalizedperiods such as theArchaic and Classical.Major historicaland epigraphicstudies of Archaic Crete appeared in the1940s and 1950s,2but theydid not lead to new excavationstargeting these periods, and by the 1980s it had become clearthat there was a seriousproblem in Cretanarchaeology. Nikolaos Stampolidis rightly described this as a "period ofsilence" with little or no documentedactivity from settlements, graves, or 1. 1 wouldlike to thankBarbara beganin 2007 and is ongoing.I am in- numerousdiscussions with Donald Haydenand MetaxiaTsipopoulou for debtedto StavroulaApostolakou, Vasso Haggisand MargaretMook aboutthe invitingme to publishthe Archaic and Zographaki,and thestaff of the 24th materialfrom Azoria. My research Classicalpottery from the 2005-2006 Ephorateof Prehistoric and Classical assistant,Sara Jones, deserves special excavationsat PriniatikosPyrgos. Heidi Antiquitiesfor their help in securing thanksfor contributions large and small. Dierckxwas theexcavator of the trench permits,and to RalphGallucci, Heather All ofthe profile drawings are by the thatproduced most of the relevant Graybehl,Barbara Hayden, Valasia author,with the exception of Fig. 8.1, deposits.My thanksalso go to Barry Isaakidou,John Lee, BarryMolloy, and whichis byDouglas Faulmann.All Molloyfor the invitation to publish thetwo anonymous Hesperia review- datesother than modern are b.c. contemporaneousmaterial from the ersfor their helpful comments on ear- 2. E.g., Kirsten1942; Demargne secondphase of excavation, which lierdrafts. I havealso profitedfrom 1947;Willens 1955. © The American School of Classical Studies at Athens This content downloaded from 71.168.218.10 on Tue, 18 Mar 2014 10:15:14 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 3O6 BRICE L. ERICKSON Figure 1. Map of the Isthmusof sanctuaries.3Although it appearedthat Crete had goneinto a steepcultural Hierapetraand the Kalo Chorio area, and economicdecline, the archaeologicalrecord was defective.Knossos, easternCrete, showing the boundary whichwas to be a site,had presumed representative 5th-centurydeposits, of theVrokastro survey area. butnothing dating to the6th century, a gap thatreinforced the suggestion AfterHayden 2004, fig. 30:a of an island-widedecline.4 Recentwork, however, has begun to overturnthis picture of demo- graphiccollapse and economicstagnation. In 2004, Paula Perlman'sreex- aminationof the epigraphicevidence at Eleuthernarevealed a moreso- phisticatedeconomy than previously expected for an ArchaicCretan polis, withspecialized structures for trade.5 The sameyear also sawthe publication ofthe initial results of a new excavationconducted by Donald Haggis and MargaretMook at Azoria,a settlementin easternCrete with destruction levelsdating to ca. 500-480.6 3. Stampolidis1990, p. 400. Forthe to Knossosand itsterritory. Boardman 6. Haggiset al. 2004. Resultsof problemof archaeological visibility in (1982,p. 230), however,presented a the2003-2006 seasonsare presented the6th century, see Whitley 1997, pictureof island-wide demographic in Haggiset al. 2007a,2007b, forth- pp. 659-661; Morris1998, pp. 65-68. and economicdecline. See also Morris coming;preliminary reports on 4. Coldstreamand Huxley(1999, 1992,p. 157. subsequentseasons are available at pp.297, 303) limitedtheir discussion 5. Perlman2004a. http://www.unc.edu/~dchaggis. This content downloaded from 71.168.218.10 on Tue, 18 Mar 2014 10:15:14 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions PRINIATIKOS PYRGOS AND THE CLASSICAL PERIOD 307 While thesestudies have paved the way for a moresophisticated anal- ysisof the island's archaeological record, problems of ceramic identification and chronologypersist. Archaeologists are only beginning to documentthe ceramicstyles of many local producers and so muststill rely on Knossosas a type-sitefor 5th-century Crete.7 Publication of Classical deposits from other sitescan providea differentperspective. The evidencefrom a porttown like PriniatikosPyrgos may also contributeto debatesabout the local economy and possibleCretan participation in overseasmarkets. Moreover, Classical archaeologistsworking in the Mirabello regioncan profitfrom previous studiesof BronzeAge fabrics,which provide a foundationfor identifying local waresand formulatingmodels of productionand consumption.8 PriniatikosPyrgos is a smalllimestone headland on a broadbay at the mouthof the Istron River in easternCrete (Fig. 1). The riverempties into thesea some250 m eastof the site in a marshyestuary between Priniatikos Pyrgosand the promontoryof Nisi Pandeleimon.A dense concentration of surfaceremains at Nisi Pandeleimonindicates an ancientpopulation center,identified by Barbara Hayden andJennifer Moody as the Classical polis ofIstron.9 Although surface survey in the 1980s gave theimpression of a separatesettlement at PriniatikosPyrgos, it now seemsthat the two sitesbelonged to a singleurban community that spread along the bay and inlandbetween Nisi Pandeleimonand Priniatikos Pyrgos.10 The smallhead- land perhapsconstituted a westernsuburb of Istron. Rescueexcavations conducted by MetaxiaTsipopoulou and Haydenin 2005-2006 revealeda harborsettlement at PriniatikosPyrgos with occu- pationfrom the Final Neolithic to theOttoman period. This siteunderwent several major building phases in the second and firstmillennia b.c.; the remainsinclude large rooms and buildings,paved streetsand courts, and an industrialsector with kilns for ceramic production. The resultsof thisinitial excavation seemed promising, so the projectwas expandedin 2007 underthe direction of Barry Molloy of the Irish Institute of Hellenic Studies.11A plan of the siteas of 2010 is shownin Figure2. It is clearfrom the results of thefirst five years of excavationthat Pri- niatikosPyrgos served in antiquityas an emporiumor gateway community forthe Mirabello region. This porttown linked the rural hinterland to other partsof the island and connectedCrete to the widerAegean world.In addition,trade fostered the development of local distributionnetworks and morecomplex political systems. An intensivesurvey of theVrokastro area undertakenin the 1980s producedinformation about changing settlement patternsand the ruraleconomy, enabling developments at Priniatikos Pyrgosto be placed in a regionalcontext.12 Until recently,archaeologists 7. Kanta(1991, p. 500) and Cal- 2005,respectively), and myforthcom- 10. Kalpaxiset al. 2006,pp. 173-180. laghan(1992, p. 133) firstcalled at- ingvolume on Archaicand Classical 11. Preliminaryreports of the Irish tentionto theproblem of ceramic Cretanceramic sequences (Erickson, excavationsare available at http://www. recognitionin studiesof Archaic and forthcoming). priniatikos.net. ClassicalCrete. For a synopsisof work ö. tor summariesof fabric studies in 12. Publicationsof this survey in- on theceramic sequences at Knossos, easternCrete, see Jones 1986, pp. 54- cludea preliminaryreport on Archaic see Coldstreamand Eiring2001. See 56; Haggisand Mook 1993,pp. 270- settlementpatterns, and separatevol- also mypublications of pottery from 271; Haggis2005, pp. 44-45; Day et al. umeson settlementhistory and pottery; Gortyn,Aphrati/Kato Symi, and 2006,pp. 137-139. see Hayden1997, 2004, and 2005. Eleutherna(Erickson 2001, 2002, and 9. Hayden2004, p. 168. This content downloaded from 71.168.218.10 on Tue, 18 Mar 2014 10:15:14 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and