THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF GREECE AN INTRODUCTION WILLIAM R. BIERS
SECOND EDITION
View of ancient Corinth and the Temple of Apollo from the southwest. Photo: William R. Biers. Cornell University Press
ITHACA AND LONDON Contents
Copyriglrt O r9Bo, 1987, 1996 by Cornell University
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a revier,r', this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in r,r'riting from Preface tl-re publisher. For inforrnation, address Corrlell University Press, Sage House, 7 5rz East State Street, Ithaca, Ner,t' York r485o. Preføce to the Second Edition 9 First published r98o by Cornell University Press First printing, revised edition, cloth ar-rd paperback, r9B7 Abbreaiations 10 First printing second edition, cloth and paperback, 1996
Illustratior-rs from Znkros by Nicholas Platon are uscd with the perntission of t ArchaeologY in Greece 1.3 Clrarles Scribner's Sons. Copyright @ ry7r by Nicholas Platon. 2 The Minoøns 23 Illustrations are reproduced from T/r¿ Architectute of Ancient Greeca by Williarn Bell Dir-rsrnoor with the perrnission of W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. Copyright 6z @ 1975 by W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 3 The MYcenøeøns Printed in tl-re Uuited States of Ame¡ica 4 The Dørk Ages 97 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 5 The Geometric Period 110 Biers, William R., r93B- The archaeology of Greece : an introduction / William R. Biers.-znd ed. 6 The Orientølizing Period r32 P. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. The Archøic Period a54 ISBN-r3: 978-o-Bo:.4-8z9o-9 (pbk.: a1k. paper) 7 ISBN-ro: o-8or4-Bz8o-r (pbk.: alk. paper) 194 r. Greece-Antiquities. z. Excavations(Archaeology)-Greece. I. Title. 8 The Fifth CenturY DF77.858 7996 gz8-dczo g5-489o5 g The Fourth CenturY 247
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Glossary 344
Index 345 The Minoøns
the Greek Bronze Age' The earlier' as the Minoan civilization' after the tion, based on the Greek mainland' is ycenae, one of its principal cities' For with the height of each civilization' begin with Crete' Gréek mainland and is a convenient : . The island idth is some in antiquitY, ¡ entral range E L I great Mount Ida in the center s rises to the I "".¡f,"-air.oîery Crete is the story of f of the great Bronze Age civilization of I 1894, atlracted by engraved I Evans, ino tirrtîirited the island in A.D. ¡r^tnr' to dig at the i ,"li ,to^", that were known to have come from there. He began I resurrected not only a great palace' but ¡ site of Knossos in 1899 and eventually t from later I entire civilization whose I an ntinued to agora bearing the names of participants in the various votes that were held throughout the fifth äyät-"i the Greeks.l Evan r.6 Ostraka from Athenian I constantly names of Aristeides, Themistokles, Kimon, and century (Fig. r.6). I work on Crete to the presen I Perikles. Athens, Agora Museum. Photo: Ame¡i- In ancient Greece a citizen's full name consisted of his given name Plus that r being made; the island seems Studies at Athens: Agora I can School of Classical of his father and/or the place where he lived. Here, then, are original historical The chronologY of the Mino Excavations. documents written by tire hands of ordinary citizens. They not only provide ogy-is in a state of flux. Evans evidence of a political process, but also yield information on the spelling, *ii.h it flourished, labeling th pronunciation, grammar, and sryles of composition used by fifth-century Athe- Late Minoan. Each of the three perio further subdivided into units indicated by nians. The appearance of names of people well known from the works of (EM I, II, III, and so on) and thà (fo, LM IB)' As excavation a1d study have ancient authors and of some unknown, together with the excava- ietters of the alphabet e*urnpl", Previously styles and stratigraphical evidence' tion evidence and even the types of pottery used as ostraka, add to our knowl- proceeded, thisìystem, based orrpottery an edge of the social and political history of Athens. has been criticized as too inflexible finds fr Other scattered finds from excavations, such as a helmet dedicated at Olym- first articulated on the basis of pia by the Athenian general Miltiades, a spartan shield captured by the Athe- around the building and destruction system is based on the belief that mos nians at Sphacteria in 425 and found in the Athenian a1oÍa, and a cup inscribed perhaps by earthquake, around rToo with the name of Phidias from olympia, bring to life the people of antiquity i style, and momentarily bring us closer to the "romance of archaeology."s ) rebuilt in a more magnificent civilization. Unfortunately, the chrono I helmet and a Persian one, of spoil from the Persians, can be pears, for instance, that a major peri An illustration of Miltiades' Part only real palace in seen in Ludwig Drees, olympia (London, 1968), Plate 52. The cup of Phidias is shown in John must be dated later, and thaí p"^.nopt Knossos was the be seen in Homer A. We Boardman, Greék Art (NewYork, 1964),p.rg,Fig.9. The Spartan shield may existence in the latter part of It designated the New Palace period' Thompson and R. E. Wycherley, The Agora of Athens, Athenian Agora series, voì. 14 (Princeton, -f,ut shall classification, whlch is given below. It must be noted, 1972), p. 9, Fig. 26. use the architectural
and Carol G' Thomas, 1 For the story of Evans and Cretan civilization, see william A. McDonald lnd 1990)' pP' rtr-t6g' The Rediscot¡eíy of Mycenaenn C¡üt¡rnt¡or, zd ed. (Bloomington' ' 23 still retain the basic Early, Middle, and Late classi- however, that most scholafs of pottery styles' ii.utiont when speaking
Pre-Palace period (Early Minoan I through Middle Minoan IA) c' 31oo-r925 Old Palace period (Middle Minoan IB and II) c 7925-1725 New Palace period (Middle Minoan III and Late Minoan I, II, and IIIAr) c r7z5-r38o Post-Palace period (Late Minoan IIIAz, IIIB, and IIIC) c r38o-rooo
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lished itself on the island. After another thousand years or so, changes are again recorded in artistic laces. The takings is of culture ment. we for all of them were proba- earthquakes that was felt were quickly rebuilt, and "zuä. ivilization entered into its greatest and richest stage, the New Palace Period. It is the remains of this period that will be investigated here. Cretan civilization still holds many mysteries, primarily because of the lack of intelligible written records to give us information on the political and social history of the times. Almost all we know is derived from archaeology, and the physical record is open to differing interpretations. The remains do permit plausible suggestions, however, and the Scattered references in later Greek tradition, although difficult, can be used as evidence, but with caution' That the Map z. Greece in the Bronze Age. Minoans themselves wrote there can be no doubt. With the rise of the first Reprinted with the permission of Simon & palaces hieroglyphic scripts came into use; they have been found on seals and Schuster, Inc., from the Macmillan College other objects. They consist of drawings of common objects and have not been text Hellenic History, 5tll. ed., by George W. Boror4AntcAARGoLts Botsford and Charles A. Robinson, revised by Donald Kagan. Copyright @ r97o 2 For the archaeology of Crete up to the New Palace period, see L. Vance Watrous, "Review of by Macmillan College Publishing Com- Aegean Prehistory íli: Crete frorir Earliest Prehistory ihrough the ProtopalaiialPeriod," AIA 98 pany, Inc. (tggg:695-753. z4 25 deciphered. Two scripts aPpear to have been developed out of the hieroglyphic irr the ascendant. The mother goddess, her aspect perhaps varying from place by the process of simplification. They are called linear scripts because the to place, and her worshipers are seen again and again. Certain animals, espe- hieroglyphic pictures have become simplified, sketchily rendered signs, with cially the bull, seem to have great significance in Cretan civilization, as do little attention to pictorial representation. One of these scripts, Linear A, was sacred trees, birds, and a host of other animate and inanimate objects, depend- used during the New Palace period and is most commonly found inscribed on ing on one's interpretation of the evidence. Various "demons" crowd into clay tablets. It consists of some seventy-five signs and a number of ideograms religious scenes. Obviously fertility, the death and rebirth of vegetation, and as a help to the reader. The script is largely syllabic-that is, the signs represent attendant primitive beliefs serve as the basis of Minoan religion. syllables-but it has not yet been deciphered, either. The second script, Linear An often observed fact is the general lack of military architecture in palatial B, is found mainly at Knossos, on tablets dating from the palace's last days, and Crete and of military themes in the art of the period. The wealth that the on the Greek mainland in contexts dated between c. 1340 and rrgo. Probably palaces attained would have made them tempting targets for greedy neigh- adapted from Linear A, it employs some eighty-seven signs and a number of bors. Archaeological evidence of widespread Cretan cultural influence in the ideograms. This script has been translated by Michael Ventris and is recog- Aegean, together with finds of Cretan pottery outside Crete and foreign im- nized by most scholars as an early form of Greek. Atthough the nature of the ports within it, combine with the literary tradition of thalassocracy (supremacy script makes translation extremely hazardous, all of the tablets so far found on the sea) to suggest that Crete was one of the international powers of its day. consist of inventories, lists of dedications, and records of deposits and with- Doubts have been expressed as to the date and makeup of this thalassocracy, drawals from the palace's stores of agricultural produce, military supplies, and but some sort of control of the sea fits the facts as we know them, and the the like. Incised on soft clay tablets by scribes as daily records, the lists survive spectacular frescoes recently found on the island of Thera (Santorini) could at because the tablets were baked in the fire that destroyed the palace. More will least support the supposition. Claims of a Cretan empire in the New Palace be said about the Linear B tablets and the information they convey to us in our period and of organized trade may be overblown, in view of the simple condi- discussion of the mainland evidence; suffice it to say here that they give evi- tions of the time, but it is certain that the Minoan civilization was known to its dence of the last days of Knossos and reflect the administration of Crete under neighbors, for New Kingdom Egyptian tomb paintings depict men in Cretan the rule of mainland Mycenaean Greeks.3 dress bearing gifts. The extent and nature of contact between the Bronze Age The impression gained from these various sources is one of a populous, cultures of the eastern Mediterranean are shown to be complex by the appar- complex, and highly civilized culture. A unique feature of this civilization is ently Minoan wall paintings that have been found in Egypt and elsewhere (see the large architectural complex, traditionally called a "palace" and considered Fig. z.zz). to be the living quarters of rulers. As additional large comPlexes have been This vibrant and unified civilization fell in fire and destruction at the begin- discovered, the automatic designation of "palace" has been questioned. It ning of the fourteenth century ¡.c. The circumstances, chronology, and reasons. seems clear that at least the larger examples functioned as administrative, for the collapse of the Minoan civilization make one of the most tangled and ceremonial, manufacturing, and storage centers and thus indicate the existence confused problems in Greek prehistoric archaeology, and one that has heated of one or more central authorities. Knossos was traditionally the primary seat tempers and spawned a huge bibliography. The arguments swirl around the of government. Its great size, two and a half times that of any other palace, and interpretation of archaeological evidence on the one hand and the develop- its opulence tend to confirm the tradition. A great number of people werc ment, distribution, and chronology of pottery styles on the other. A detailed associated with the palaces, which appear to have been similar to small inde- examination of the chronological problems involved in the New Palace period pendent cities with their own manufacturing areas, flocks, and so on. No doubt would require the remainder of the book. The following synopsis is intended they exacted tribute from the surrounding countryside. There were also towns, simply to sketch the problem. isolated farm complexes, hamlets, and larger provincial manors that may have Recent excavations and studies on the island of Santorini, ninety-six kilome- figured in the administrative complex centered in the palaces. It would seem ters north of crete, have uncovered major buildings buried in volcanic ash and that the island was densely populated in Minoan times. belonging to a Bronze Age settlement with affinities to the art and architecture At the top of the social scale was the king, perhaps called Minos, or a queen- of that great island. The site was destroyed by an immense volcanic explosion that priestess, or both. Courtiers, who lived in palatial villas near the main palaces, blew out the center of the island and left it in the sickle shape it has today. Since and perhaps a priestly caste came next in line. Officials attached to the courts, the emission of large quantities of ash may be presumed to precede a volcanic the military, artisans, farmers, and slaves made up the rest of the population. eruption, the explosion of the island, or rather its implosion, would have The religion of the Minoans is difficult to grasp, for the illustrations of what occurred after the fall of ash, and indeed there is some evidence that the inhabitants we consider to be religious scenes are oPen to many interpretations. Some returned for a time before the final disaster. Most vulcanologists, scholar etan art however, believe the explosion followed the ash fall within a very short time, perhaps and in h ritual only a year. The assumed size of the destruction impressed scholars, and cu can be and it was postulated that this natural disaster might have had something to carried general do with destruction levels in Crete during the New Palace period. outlines. Emphasis appears to be on fertility, with the female principle clearly Since Evans's time, evidence has accumulated that a major catastrophe af- fected practically all the major sites in Crete at a time when LM IB Marine-style 3 pottery was in use. Destruction took place not only in Crete but throughout See Chapter 3. the places as Rhodes, Kea, and Melos. It is now generally agreed plraestos,andMallia,returnirrgtonormal,newsettlementsfounded,andnew Aegean, in such from the mainland. The culture was now a mixed Minoan- took place during an advanced stage of the LM IA árriving thaî the Thera déstruction ;;,-*, features' Cretan one, with some mainland ceramic phase on Crete, well before the LM IB devastations of so many irly."^u"utt sites. The exact cause of these destructions is still unknown, although invaders popular culprits.a from the mainland are still AI{T The difference between the iharacter of Knossos just before its destruction and that of the other Cretan sites was recognized by Evans and received strong corroboration when the Linear B tablets found at the destruction levels were
ARCHITECTURE
the destruction of Minoan Crete.
sixteenth 5 On the the destruction, since the only othe later' These doubts were articulate of events sparked a bitter and divisive scholarly argument that is still continuing. 29 z8 ler buildings, include rambling flat-roofed ;ä:;[îtriï"å:",:äLï'"T'üJ:n:i d singly or in series to increase ventilation engineering, porticoes, , o, conserve heat), lustral or bathroom areas, hydraulic materials as wood/ dressed i corridors/ and staircases, and such construction i mason.y, mud brick, rubble, and Plaster' - Knossos, on , Four iarge major palaces have been identified and excavated: þvñ ,?!t la.ou¿ & (Fig' z'r); i ,n" north ãoast of the island and the largest and first discovered I tuttto, some thirty kilometers east of Knossos (Fig. z.z); Phaistos, on the
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2.1 Ground plan of the palace at Knossos.t' From frames, moldings, sheathings, and columns, which we know from excavation Arthur Evans, The Palace of Minos at Knossos, vol. 4, evidence were of wood, Minoan pillars and columns came in a variety of pt. r (London: Macmillan, p.xxvi. By per- ryjÐ, shapes. Columns could be fluted or mission of the t¡ustees of the estate of Sir Arthur unfluted; one of the most distinctive types Evans. had a downward taper and a swelling upper member, like a later Greek echi- nus, to cover the transition from the shaft to the horizontal beam that it sup- ported. At Knossos, Ayia Triadha, and a few other palatial establishments, the interior walls of some rooms were plastered and painted with decorative de- z.z Planof the palace at Mallia P From James Wal- signs or scenes in bright and gay colors above dadoes either of stone or painted ter Graham, The Palnces of Crete, copyright @ 196z (Princeton Paper- to resemble stone. There is even some evidence that the exterior facades may by Princeton University Press by permission of have been painted. back, t969), Fig. 6. Reprinted Princeton UniversitY Press. characteristic features of Minoan architecture, which are encountered not 3a 3o 9¡
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-t N east the z 3 Plan of the palace at Phaistos.P From James Mesara Plain to the south (Fig. 2.3); and Kato Zakto, at the end of Waltel Graham, Tlrc Poloccs of Crete, copyright island (Fig. 2.4).A comparison of the ground plans of the palaces shows obvi- @ tg6z by Princeton University Press (Princeton ous similarities, especially the central court, although this feature may not be I'apcrback, t96), Fig Reprinted by permission 4, to "palaces." Other buitdings with central courts have been identified of Princcton University Press. confined elsewhere on Crete and are being investigated. Knossos can be used as a representative example of the Minoan Palace. Arthur Evans, who excavated it in the early years of the twentieth century, also restored parts of it to an extent frowned upon today. The reconstructions, however, have made it easier for the visitor to visualize how the palace once looked. Figure 2.5 shows a recent 32 #'WiIì ry_'1_ r.;
2.6 West facade of the palace at Knossos, partially reconstructed by Arthur Evans Photo: William R. Biers.
necessity to avoid wcre constructed of less durable materials, aS a Structural importance of the iorìg stralgnt stretches, and as a function of the varyi.g thought to indicate ar.cñitectuial units themselves. The niches have also been
2.5 Reconstruction of the palace at Knossos. Copy- attempt at reconstructing the palace which at least conveys its great size and right N. Gouvoussis, 1977, Athens, Creece. Repro- sprawling nature, even if the setting seems rather too lush. Evans started duced by permission. digging at Knossos in rgoo and a year later announced he would need another twelve months; he spent his whole life at it, and excavations by the British School of Archaeology at Athens are still going on there. The palace itself covers some three acres; the whole complex, including the outlying dependen- cies, covers some six acres. The palace was entered at three rather narrow points, but there is no evidence of fortifications here or at any of the other sites, with the possible exception of a defense wall in the town of Mallia. Minos' legendary rule of the sea is usually given as the main reason for this situation. The visitor now approaches the palace from the west across the paved west court on narrow raised causeways that are thought to have offered a dry route when the rest of the court was flooded after a heavy rain, and may also have had a ceremonial use. The west facade of the palace, which borders the west court on the east, was originally built as part of the first palace and was constructed of large gypsum blocks forming an orthostate (high first course), from the top of which rose the rest of the wall, perhaps made of rubble (Fig. 2.6). The outer and inner faces of the wall were connected by wooden clamps that passed through a filling of rubble. The line of the facade was uneven, some sections projecting farther to the west, and the vertical surfaces were decorated with shallow recesses rz to r8 centimeters in depth. This sur- indicate the existence of an upper story face treatment, which is characteristic of the main west facades of the palaces, walls and l-reavy pier foundations, containing and state reception chambers, which was no doubt carried above the orthostate level into the upper portions of the lo.gn .óo-r, probably banquet walls. The projection of sections of wall has been variously explained as an (.lraharn, zr' aesthetic device, as an element inherited from earlier periods when buildings " J \'\'alter Minontt Ctctc (Athens, n cl.), p. 2.2 West storerooms at Knossos. Photo: William R. Biers.
must have been very grand indeed and highly decorated. Except for some fumishings and decorations that were recovered from the basements below, these rooms have vanished. They were approached by two broad staircases, one certainly leading up from the central court and the other probably located behind a large propylon on the south which was approached through the procession corridor already mentioned. The great courtyard is rectangular, measuring some 49 by z7 meters and oriented north-south, as are all the central courts. It was originally paved and could be left directly, off center, to the north and the south. The north exit is by means of a narrow ramp that was bordered at an upper level by two colon- nades whose back walls bore great charging bulls in painted plaster relief. Figure 2.8 shows a reconstruction of this area as it is thought to have appeared in Minoan times; Figure 2.9 shows it as it appears today, partially recon- 2.8 The ramp leading to the central court at as it appeared in Minoan structed. The ramp led down through a large rectangular building containing Knossos, with bull relief, times. From Arthur Evans, The Paløce of Minos at two rows of pillars and then tumed west to meet a road that led from the coast. Knossos, vol. 4, pt. r (London: Macmillan, 1935), This Royal Road, as Evans called it, has a narrow raised causeway similar to the p. 9, Fig. 3. By permission of the trustees of the one in the west court and terminates in an open paved area flanked on the estate of Sir Arthur Evans. east by a flight of low flat steps and on the south by another but smaller flight. At the end of this flight on the east and facing the larger flight is a rectangular podium constructed of squared masonry (Fig. z.ro). Evans interpreted this area this room is the "throne room," another room with benches built around the as a "theatral" area, where sacred dances or other activities took place under walls but with the central position on the north wall occupied by a high-backed the eyes of the rulers, seated on the podium. carved stone seat, the "thìone" (Fig. z.:|z). On the wall to the right and left of The courtyard is bounded on the west by a series of rooms considered to be the throne, two painted heraldic g.iffor,r symbolically guarded the occupant of of cult character. A reconstruction of the facade of this part of the palace is the seat. The person who actually sat on the "oldest throne in Europe" is not shown in Figure z.tt. A conspicuous feature of this facade is the great staircase known, but iimay have been a priestess or queen and the complex may have that gives access to the state apartments on the upper floor. A wooden column been a shrine ratÁer than a throne room, which, if it existed, is more likely to on a round base stands in typical Minoan fashion right in the middle of the have been on an upper floor. Before the seat a sunken rectangular chamber, flight of stairs. To the right, or north, a simple partitioned entrance leads down approached by a short flight of steps and cut off from the throne room by a a short flight of steps to a room whose walls are lined with benches. Beyond parapet bearing a single .o1rr*r,, was termed a "lustral area" by Evans, indicat- 37 36
z.r4 Reconstruction of the east end 2.12 Reconstruction of the throne room at of the Hall of the Doubìe Axes at Knossos. From Arthur Knossos, From A¡thur Evans,The Paløce of Minos at Evans, The Paløce of Minos at Knossos, vol. (London: Knossos, vol. 4, pt. z (London: Macmillan, 1935), 3 Mac- millan, r93o), Plate 24. By permission of the trust_ Plate 33. By permission of the trustees of the estate ees of the estate of Sir Arthur Evans. of Sir Arthur Evans.
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i the east side of the central cour ¡ ¡ slope of the low hill on which t I residential quarter is below the t b that runs along beside a large hall called by Evans the Hall of the Double Axes, was at least three stories high I (Fig. I after the design carved on the walls of the light well at the west end z.r4). staircase in two sections illuminated by a light well leads down from the t t The room, which must have been one of the principal living rooms of the Cent S Staircase t domestic quarter, had a system of pier and door partitions and opened onto a has (Fig. z.t3 t that perhaps faced a private garden. Portable braziers were commonly colu s and red i portico : used for heat during the winter, but it is possible ihat the Hall of the Double been restored on the basis of wall paintings. The staircase opens to a corridor -i Axes was in use only during the summer months. A suite of rooms above the I f hall and entered by a small staircase leading from it would have been warmer I in winter, and there is evidence that such rooms existed, seemingly similar in plan to the area below them. Low pedestals against the walls of the Hall of the Double Axes perhaps supported wooden thrones. The walls were plastered and painted above a high dado constructed of thin slabs of gypsum. Much of the painted decoration in the domestic quarters belongs to the latest periods of -*... i the palace, the period of Mycenaean influence; such influence can also be seen in the painted bull's-hide shields that adorned the walls in this wing. L'.- I Next to the Hall of the Double Axes is a smaller apartment, lighted by another light well and restored as containing the famous Dolphin fresco \ (Fig. z.r5). Evans considered this to be the queen's apartment, but this designa- tion is conjectural. A small room, separated from the main area by a parapet that bore a fluted column, was called a bathroom by Evans. He restored a bathtub here, though it was not actually found in place but nearby. Near the small hall and connected with it by a narrow corridor, a tiny room contains a privy: a wooden seat apparently covered an opening into a drain. Such sanitary arrangements were relatively common in Minoan Crete, though nothing similar appeared in the Western world until well over a thousand years later. In general, the Minoans were highly skilled in hydraulic engineer- z.r3 ing and the palace was well provided with drains, which ran beneath it and Staircase in the residential quarter at Knossos. Photo: William R. Biers. chiefly drained water away from the numerous light wells. The rest of the 40 4L MAL IA
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c](^ z.16 Actual state plan of house An at Malìia. Frorn 2.15 Reconstruction of the queen's apartment at palace is in fragmentary condition, more ¿' but it is known that it contained Pierre Demargne and Hubert Gallet de Santerre, Knossos, with Dolphin fresco. Mural by Sylvia storerooms, workrooms, and other areas. Fouilles exécutées à Mallia: Exploration des møisons et Hahn. Photo: Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto. In the other palaces, the same general divisions into cult complexes, domes- quørtiers d' høbitation (r9zr-rg48), Études Crétoises, tic quarters, storage areas, and so on are to be found, though occasionally vol. 9, no. r (Paris: Librairie Orientaliste Paul Geu- of the Ecole grouped differently than in the Palace of Minos. The characteristics of Minoan thner, 1953), Plate 63. By permission Française d'Archéologie, Athens. architecture that have been outlined here are repeated in the many smaller houses that have been found, both in association with the major palaces and set apart as private homes. A plan of one of these buildings, House Aa at Mallia, is shown in Figure 2.16. Here we find a hall, a bathroom, light wells-in fact, all rectangular building and stoa at Ayia Triadha and is part of the new evidence the characteristic features of the palaces on the smaller scale of a private house. for regional activity in the A few examples of even more modest dwellings exist, and even an almost Minoan burial practices of a communal nature' In t. round in the Pre-Palatial completely excavated town, Gournia, east of Mallia (Fig. z.r7). This little town L the Mesara Plain circulat ¡ covers a small hill and consists of paved, narrow often stepped streets bor- period were still used in the later periods, and burials in rock-cut chambers, I are known' dered by numerous small and simple houses of irregular plan. Excavations I sometimes in pithoi or oval lamakes þathtub-shaPed containers), indicate I A few monumental royal tombs associated with cult places have been found, that this small village was the home of peasants who engaged in ¡ farming, fishing, and simple crafts. A small palace existed near the top of the f but such tombs are not common.e t hill, perhaps an indication that this site was the center of an independent I t political entity.T I PAINTING New types of buildings are also being identified. At Kommos, southwest of î Phaistos on the south coast, excavators recently found a rectangular building ¡ Reconstructions of the interior rooms of the palace of Minos at Knossos show divided into six wide galleries, open to the seashore, which have been inter- I them to have been highly decorated. Above the stone dadoes the walls were preted as having been used to house ships during the nonsailing months of the ,, winter (Fig. z.r8). This structure was built about the same time as a large I For the new building at Kommos, see Joseph W. Shaw and Maria C. Shaw, "Excavations at I Kommos (Crete) durin"g :1986-:199z," Hesperia'62 (t993): rzg-l.go, especialiy r85-r88' e A generàl outíine of túiíoan burial .rlrto-r in the context of the Bronze Age in general is found z Jeffrey S. Soles, "The Gournia Palace," AIA t7-78. 95 þ99r): in Oliver Dickinson, The Aegean Bronze Age (Cambridge, tg9ù, PP' 212-220. 42 43 our.r wallt Ø- Joqrntuon v'øllt
: W pubt;o ,on'r u,. -ñfrã z.r8 The view from the seashore looking east at and mostly with Knossos, although â few examples have come from a site in LM III Building P at Kommos. Four of the six gal- the south, Ayia Triadha, and from one or two other sites on Crete. Phylakopi leries are shown, Drawing courtesy of Joseph W. one famous example, known as the Flying Fish fresco, on Melos has produced Shaw. and the buried city of Thera is producing frescoes of astonishing originality. Paintings found on Crete vary in size from life-sized figures to miniature frescoes in which the figures are quite small. Floors may also have been painted; it has been suggested that the famous Dolphin fresco from Evans's queen's apartment at Knossos originally may have been on the floor of an upp"t.oo-. The fire that destroyed Knossos caused upper stories to fall into bãsements, hopelessly mixing remains from all the rooms in one giant pile. Excavators are thus faced with an extremely arduous task when they attempt- to piece together the original compositions, and once they have succeeded in reassembling a frescoed surface, it is by no means certain where in the building the fresco once appeared. The Flying Fish fresco (Fig. z.zo) represents one of the two main categories of subjects illustrated in the frescoes, scenes from nature. Here flying fish in blue, white, and yellow swim through water in which seaweed floats. The fish appear to swoop through the sea with their winglike fins. The borders of the 2.1,7 Pla of GourniaP at the beginning of the Late plastered and brightly painted in fresco (a technique that usually involves picture consist of odd shapes unusually colored-Minoan free-form rocks Minoan period, c. 15oo. From Sinclair Hood, The brushing natural earth colors on wet plaster; much painting at Knossos was meant to represent the bottom of the sea. Scattered here and there are multi- Home of the Heroes: The Aegeøn beþre the Greeks done after the wall had dried),ro In Minoan paintings, spontaneity and love of (New York: McGraw-Hill, ag6ù, p. 84, Fig. 69. By colored egg-shaped objects, perhaps pebbles. The use of color and the mixture are not permission of Thames & Hudson Ltd. life are expressed in bright colors. They naturalistic but the artist was of realistic and impressionistic renderings are typical of Minoan nature scenes. afraid of changing colors or distorting natural shapes in order to convey feeling Scenes from Minoan court and religious life make up the second category of or emotion. Many of the frescoes exhibit a quick, sketchy technique that forced themes in Minoan painting. The procession fresco from the entrance to the the artist to concentrate on the particular parts of the picture that were most south corridor at Knossos has already been mentioned. Here life-sized figures important to him. This selective detail can be seen in such fragments as La carrying ritual objects approach a central female figure. Although badly pre- Parisienne, which dates to the last palace and is probably a divinity, in which served, the procession scene can be seen to owe something to Egypt, where the outline of the face, the red lips, and the great eye are heavily emphasized such scenes were common. Bull-vaulting scenes were numerous at Knossos, while the ear is left without delineation (Fig. z.r9). and the one in Figure z.z7 was part of a frieze of such scenes that decorated a Evidence of solid-color wall painting, especially in terra cotta red, goes back single room. In a sense it is representative of all of them, combining as it does to the Pre-Palace period; figured scenes are associated only with the palaces observation of nature and a probable court and religious ritual. The great bull is shown in full charge with all four feet off the ground and the body fully 10 Technique is discussed in chap, z of Sa¡a A. Immerwah¡, Aegean Pøinting in the Bronze Age and (University Park, Pa., 1989), which is a good survey of the art of painting in the Bronze Age. Also n artistic convention to indicate the speed useful, but shorter, is the cove¡age in Sinclair Hood,The Arts in Prehistoric Greece (Harrnondsworth, closer examination shows that the artist has 1978), pp. 47-87, e to emphasize its power, especially in the neck 44 45 z.zo Watercolor of the Flying Fish fresco at phy_ lakopi. From Robert Bosanquet, ,,The Wall painç ings," in Excaaations at Phylakopi, Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, Supplementary pa- per no. 4 (London: Macmillan, r9o4), plate i. By permission of Cha¡les Bosanquet.
z.zr Bull-vaulting fresco at Knossos. Heraklion Museum, Crete. Photo: Alison Frantz.
2.a9 La Parisienne, Knossos. Heraklion Museum, Crete. Photo: Alison Frantz. ,.} .r.*"td
and shoulders, which are very thick in comparison with the stubby legs. The bull is painted more or less naturalistically in brown and white, while the human figures, large in relation to the animal to emphasize their importance, are painted white and red. The use of red for men and white for women is
natural position. It is only on close exa of the pose can be seen. The decorative 46 2.22 A detail of a fresco fragment from Tell el- Dab'a in Egypt. Copyright Manf¡ed Bietak, Aus- trian Archaeological Institute, Cairo. Drawing by L. P. Brock. Courtesy of Manfred Bietak.
is thought to represent Minoan free-form rendering of a rocky landscape, similar to the sea bottom in the Flying Fish fresco. That the dangerous bull sports took place elsewhere than within the confines of the central court has z.z3 Portion of a reconstruction of the Dance fres- been suggested, and this border is cited to support the supposition. co at Knossos. From Arthur Evans, The Palace of Excavations in the Nile Delta in Egypt are continuing to produce fragments Minos at Knossos, vol. 3 (London: Macmillan, r93o), I Plate r8. By permission of the trustees of the estate of frescoes, painted in Minoan style and technique and showing some typical Í ¡ of Si¡ Arthur Evans. Minoan themes, including bull vaulting. The fragment shown in Figure z.zz t depicts a leaper or grappler on the back of a bull, whose head is tumed toward I covered with a layer of plaster on which seemingly the viewer. The figures are shown against a distinctive background that can be f stone sarcophagus was paralleled at Knossos, where of course representations of bulls and bull religious scenes were painted, but interpretation is difficult in the present state " games" are plentiful. The significance of these finds, which may indicate close of knowledge. Stylistically, the painting shows some parallels in its subsidiary corìnections between the Minoans and Egyptians at one time, is being studied, decoration to the latest period at Knossos and thus to mainland Greece, but one side (Fig. z.z) a bull is One miniature fresco from the palace shows female figures apparently danc- I cretan elements are of course predominant. on his blood pouring into a container that may be ing while a crowd of male figures, impressionistically shown with white I trussed on a table as a sacrifice, ! splotches for eyes and necklaces, occupy the background (Fig. z.z3). Crossing a conical rhyton set into the floor below the table while a priestess(?) dressed in the area are long narrow constructions that Evans called walls but which an animal skin worships in front of an altar and a man plays double flutes in remind one of the raised causeways, especially those in the theatral area. the background. The other side (Fig. z.z6) shows a liquid being poured into a Another fresco, known as the Grandstand fresco, shows a crowd of people bowl between two stands bearing double axes while three men carry models of seated around a tripartite shrine whose elevation in the painting agrees well two bulls and a boat(?) to a shrouded figure that stands in front of a building. enough with the remains found to allow it to be restored next to the staircase The most recent interpretation has the figure as the spirit of the deceased on the west side of the central court (Fig. z.z$. watching the ceremonies designed to speed his way to the underworld.ll The bull The majority of the frescoes from Knossos were painted on flat surfaces, but sacrifice on the other side would then also be part of funerary practice. An exciting a few experiments were made with surfaces raised here and there by added discovery supports the interpretation as far as the sacrifice is con- cemed. chamber plaster. This concept is similar to that of relief figures, fragments of which were A bull's skull was found built into the blocking door of a side of a in found in the palace. The charging bull that flanked the north corridor entrance tomb dated to about the same period at Arkhanes.l2 A bull sacrifice connection (to the right in Fig. 2.8) and parts of other large-scale figures found in the with a funerary cult is thus very likely. palace are frescoes. rr essentially relief An attenrpt to interpret these scenes is Charlotte Long,The AyiaTriadha Sarcophagr.rs, Studies in A final example of Cretan frescoes is the Ayia Triadha sarcophagus, found in Mediterraneän Archaeology 4r (Gothenburg, r974). a tomb at that site and dated at the end of the New Palace period. The lime- '' Efi arrtl Jolrn A. Sakellarakis, Arclnues (Athens, r99r). 49 48 :L ì,' rti rti ì rrrr \,il t \'rrr", i //r'l'rtlrtL' it'lttttt: r$gj*;:'-¡l','a?.-t'.r rrl;rr)' l''til rlr (^ ..,_,1.'ir: _' ' ¡, \ i) ; (l orrrllrr \'l't' I rill'rrr' * :;l - -.¡ lrl I
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The interpretation of the subject matter of these newly discovered frescoes of Thera will engage scholars for years to come.13 POTTERY The most common find in any archaeological excavation is pottery, and in such a period as the Bronze Age, which left few written records, it forms the most important source of evidence for chronology and movements of peoples as well as for the civilization that produced it. Minoan pottery attained a very high standard in both fabric and decoration and is found throughout the east- ern Mediterranean world in the contexts of the years preceding the great destructions.la The New Palace period saw a number of styles of painting on pottery; it is the relationship of these changing styles to one another that forms the basis of our understanding of the chronology of the period. Following the destruction of approximately rToo 8.C,, pottery styles under- went a change, from the bright polychrome designs of the previous period, rg On the Painting in the Bronze Age; Miniøture ); Christos Dovmas, The Wø (Athens, 1 n of the frescoes see Nanno Religion in Thera: Reconstructing a Bronze Age Society (Athens, 1984). For a large collection of papers dealing with all aspects of the Thera finds, see the proceedings of the third international congress on the subject: D. A. Hardy and A. C. Renfrew, eds.,Thera and the Aegeøn World IlI,3 vols. (London, r99o). An excellent survey of the evidence, including the frescoe fragments from Egypt, for contact between Late Bronze Age is Ora Negbi, "The 'Libyan Thera: A prises Overseas in the Late Minoan IA Period," rønean A rz. For criticism of this article and different vi Manning, Sarah J. Monks, Georgia Nakou, and Francis A. De Mita Jr., "The Fatal Shore, the Long Chronology, and Trade of Aegean EnterPrises z.z8 Boxing children, Thera National Archaeo- logical Museum, Athens' Photo: Hirmer Foto- istory of Minoan Pottetl archiv, Munich. 52 53 the mainland' TERRA COTTA FIGURINES Terra cotta of course had a number of domestic uses besides the making of l5 oottery. Figurines were a very common type of dedication or offering, and we shall be looking at objects of this sort throughout this book. Late Minoan figurines are typically standing "household goddesses." Many date from the 2.29 Detail of naval fresco from Thera. photo: Na- tional Archaeological Museum, Athens. 2.31 Pattern-style pithos from eastern Crete. Her- Dark-on-light designs predominate in Late Minoan pottery. often overall aklion Museum, Crete. Photo: Deutsches Archäo- patterns of reeds or grasses completely cover the vase in the so-called Floral logisches lnstitut, Athens. up the repertoire of this style, which is often found in the debris associated with the final destruction of Cretan sites. Ir¡ :- 32 Marine-style stilrup jar from Kato Zakro. Heraklion Museum, Crete. From Nicholas Platon, Znkroç (Ncw into design elements (Fig. z4). Leaves, lilies, and other flora are forced to York: Scribncr, t97r), p. rzt. lr Although pottery as minor finds are often z.3o Floral-style cup from Kato Zakro. Heraklion tess readily labeled. T d, ulture on a lower level 2.33 Palace-style amphora from Knossos Her- Museum, C¡ete. From Nicholas platon, Znkros hust bc assumed in t be finds will therefore be aklion Museum, Crete. Photo: Hirmer Fotoarchiv, (New York: Scribner, r97r), p, ttz discussctì in Chapter M an civilizations. Munich. 54 55 Post-Palace period and appear extrem 2.36 House model from Arkhanes. Heraklion figurines. The flaring skirt has Mu_ been seum, Crete. Photo: Georgios Xuloures. the natural curves of the human b pressed. The goddess is shown with r panied by smaller companions or wor ing figurines from a shrine at Knossos figure shows some link with the mor the Old Palace period, but in major art form. Larger house and the type persists down is a large mo¿- staircase ramp ace period, t¡¡, Minoan build- ings, which of course have seldom been preserved. STONEWORK 2.3-4 Palace-style amphora with octopus. Her_ aklion Museum, Crete. photo: Deutschés Archäo_ logisches lnstitut, Athens. on its roof. A similar but larger vase from Ayia Triadha is decorated and once covered with gold leaf also lounging with scenes of bull vaulting and boxing, and a small vessel from the same site, zakro (Fig. z.4o) shows a building set in a rocky randscape and wild goats its lower portion missing, shows a harvest procession in which one of the men shakes a sistrum, an instrument we know from Egypt (Fig. z.4r). This Har- vester Vase again illustrates the Minoans' interest in the world around them. The figures are most expressive and alive as they move rapidly around the circumference of the vase in their procession, carrying winnowing fans over 2.35 Figurines from a shrine at Knossos. He¡- aklion Museum, Crete. Photo: Hirmer Fotoarchiv, Munich. 16 A special studv of Minoan stone carving is to be found in peter warren, Kato Zak¡o. He¡aklion Muse- (Cambridge, r969j. Minonn stone vøses 2.32 Stone lamp from Kato Zakro. Heraklion Museum, Crete. From Nicholas Platon, Zøkros (New 2.38 Chalice f¡om Hirmer Fotoarchiv, Munich' 56 York: Scribner, t97t), p. r49. um, Crete. Photo: '57 z.4z Bull's-head rhyton from the Little Palace, rhyton f¡om Kato Zakro, Het- 2.39 Rock-crystal Knossos. Heraklion Museum, Crete. Photo: Alison aklion Museum, Crete. Photo: Hirmer Fotoarchiv, Frantz. Munich. z.4o (far right) Rhyton from Kato Zakto. Her aklion Museum, Crete. Photo: Hirmer Fotoarchiv, Munich. their shoulders. Occasionally ritual stone vases were made in the shapes of animal heads. The most famous of these vases is the bull's-head rhyton from an outlying building at Knossos (Fig. z.4z). Only half the head was preserved, but enough remained to permit the reconstruction of the vase, which originally had rock-crystal eyes, shell inlay on the muzzle, and gilded wooden homs. A similar but smaller example was recovered from Kato Zakro; a silver example comes from the shaft graves at Mycenae; and a number of others are known from various sites in various materials. A hole at the nape of the neck was used for filling the vessel; the liquid must have poured out of the mouth. Other products of the stonecutters were small seals in oval, almond, and lens shapes. They were incised with designs or scenes, often from nature or of a religious character. They were apparently used as marks of ownership to seal doors, clothes chests, and the like.17 17 For a general survey of B¡onze Age seals, see John Boardman, Greek Gems and Finger Rings z.4r Harvester Vase f¡om Ayia Triadha. Her- (London, ry7o), pp.rg-ro7, and John Younger, A Bíbliography for Aegenn Glyptic in the Bronze Age aklion Museum, Crete. Photo: Alison Frantz. (Berlin, r99r). 58 59 snake goddess from Knossos' He¡- 2.45 2.43 Faience Faience town mosaic f¡om Knossos Her_ Photo: Hirmer Fotoarchiv' akúon Mus"rl-, C¡ete. aklion Museum, Crete. photo: Alison Frantz. Munich. Bì {:r 1l*" ãr úl r¿ft r rrì "'{ METALWORK Many bronze objects for daily use have been found in Crete. Some bronze figurines have also been discovered; a common type is that represented by the 2.44 Faience votary from Knossos. Heraklion Mu- seum, Crete. Photo: Hirmer Fotoarchiv, Munich. male figure shown in Figure 2.46, witli. his fist to his brow in an attitude of worship. Female figures also exist. FAIENCE A technique probably imported from Egypt in the Pre-Palace period is that of the manufacture of faience, earthenware covered with an opaque glaze made mainly of crushed quartz. The glassy surface is formed when the object is fired. Its color, usually blue, is derived from the presence of copper oxide. At the rear of the pillar shrine at Knossos, Evans found a deposit of discarded material that included two large faience figurines. The larger (F\g. z.q) is generally regarded as a snake goddess or mother goddess, the smaller (Fig. 2.44) as het daughter or a votary. Both wear the Minoan court costume seen in the frescoes, 2.46 Male worshiper from Tylissos. Heraklion with wide flounced skirt and open bodice. The larger figure, over 34 centime- Museum, Crete. Photo: Hirme¡ Fotoarchiv ters high, is literally covered with snakes, which curl around her body and Munich. wind up her arms and even onto her high hat; the smaller figure holds two small snakes in her raised hands and wears a flat head covering on which sits a spotted feline. Also in faience is a series of small plaques from Knossos repre' senting the houses of a town, datable to the Old Palace period (Fig. 2.45). The evidence they provide for the facades, construction methods, window place- ment, roof treatment, and other details has been used in many reconstructions' 6o 6t