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Late Bronze Age Harbours in the Aegean

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Late Bronze Age Harbours in the Aegean 118 Late Bronze Age Harbours · Eugenia Loizou Late Bronze Age Harbours in the Aegean Towards another theoretical approach Eugenia Loizou Abstract – Harbours and ports have always attracted the archaeological interest as places of economical, social and cultural interaction. Their study can give a better insight into the activities of the past cultures and the processes that took place in the broader harbour area. Prehistoric harbours though, in contrast with the ancient ones, leave scarce remains and have been less investigated. In this paper, the archaeological evidence of the Late Bronze Age harbours of the Aegean is presented and discussed and some problematization on the finds is also exposed. Moreover, a new theoretical approach on the study of the Bronze Age Aegean harbours is attempted. It is suggested that the Bronze Age harbours should be examined under the notion of the dynamic seascape and considered as ac - tive cultural landscapes with sociopolitical implications. These qualities can be found on the architectural and urban development of the settlement and especially on the structures that consist with an Aegean harbour-town. Inhalt – Natürliche und künstliche Häfen haben als Stätten der wirtschaftlichen, gesellschaftlichen und kulturel- len Wechselwirkung stets das archäologische Interesse angezogen. Ihr Studium kann bessere Einblicke in die Tätigkeiten vergangener Kulturen und in die Prozesse, die im weiteren Hafengebiet abliefen, bieten. Vor ge - schichtliche Häfen jedoch hinterlassen im Gegensatz zu den antiken dürftige Reste und sind weniger erforscht. In diesem Beitrag werden die archäologischen Zeugnisse spätbronzezeitlicher Häfen der Ägäis vorgelegt und diskutiert und einige mit den Funden verbundene Probleme aufgezeigt. Darüber hinaus wird ein neuer theoretischer Ansatz für das Studium bronzezeitlicher ägäischer Häfen versucht. Es wird angeraten, die bronzezeitlichen Häfen unter dem Begriff der dynamischen Seewelt zu untersuchen und sie als aktive Kulturlandschaften mit soziopolitischen Auswirkungen zu betrachten. Diese Eigenschaften kann man in der Architektur und Stadtentwicklung der Siedlung und besonders in den Strukturen, die mit einer ägäischen Hafenstadt zusammenhängen, feststellen. Introduction being continu- ously enriched By definition a (Black man et al. harbour is syn- 2013), prehis- onymous to toric re mains haven; a shel- are scarce. tered place in the sea or other water bodies, The evidence where ships can take refuge in During the case of emer - Aegean Bronze gency. The other Age a number com mon term Fig. 1: The double-harbour arrangement from the LC I „Flotilla Fresco“, in West House of important used by the most in Akrotiri, Thera (detail). sites is found on to refer to such the coast. Sea a place is port. Ports are man-made, serve the commercial, diplomatic, trade and long-distance connec- usually incorporate one or more military, even touristic and every- tions thrived since the Early Bronze natural harbours and have been day needs of the people living from Age and intensified during the Late originally made to facilitate trans- and at the sea. As nodal points the Bronze Age. Moreover, new sailing portation needs. In this article, as Aegean harbours were diachroni- methods were adopted during this in other scholarly texts, this discri - cally connecting and bringing to - period and the rise of the bulk and mination between the two – harbour gether people, products and ideas fine commodities traveling across and port – is not strictly applied. from all around the Mediter ra - the Eastern Mediterranean testify nean, even further. However, al - on high mobility of people and Placed on the littoral, ports are an though our knowledge on the an - goods (Lambrou - Philippson 1990; important human creation. They cient Mediterranean harbours is Cline 1994; Dickinson 1994). As a 16. Jahrgang 2016 · Heft 2 119 result, it is well anticipated that some prosperous Aegean centres would have served as harbours or intermediate trading stations. Iconographic evidence from the „Flotilla Fresco“ on the island of Thera (Santorini) shows ships moored on the one side of a pro - montory while smaller boats lie on the beach on the other side (Fig. 1). The scene depicts two methods of mooring in the so-called „double harbour arrangement“ (Shaw 1990), a pattern found in Homeric epics, too (Odyssey, VII). Joseph Shaw attempted to put together the icono- graphic information and the archaeological evi- dence to create a pattern regarding mooring in the Bronze Age Aegean. According to his study, the location of a prehistoric harbour can be determined based on a compara- tive methodology of selected sites on the coasts of Anatolia and the Aegean (Shaw 1990: 420). As Shaw Fig. 2: observes, the peninsulas were cho- Possible reconstruction sen for permanent settling by the of the peninsula connecting inhabitants of Anatolia preferably the Papadoplaka islet and Kommos. in places along the coastline with small islands nearby, such as Clazo - menai (Shaw 1990, 425). In the peninsula and consists of a forti- ditions to be described as a My - Aegean, Shaw locates similar settle- fied area of the Early Helladic II at cenaean port (Tartaron et al. 2003, ments in Agia Eirini (Early Cy c - the proximity of a wetland and Tartaron 2011). Kalamianos’ loca- ladic) in Kea and in Mochlos and supervises two sheltered bays. Ka - tion is near a wetland, too, and the Pseira islet on Crete. Spe ci fically, he lamianos is located between the site’s location allows the surveil- maintains that Pseira was connect- modern village Korfos and the cape lance of the surrounding area in - ed to land in Minoan times. That Trelli, saves a fortification section cluding the sea. What is more, the was also the case with Papa dop - dating back to the Late Helladic III nearby beach offers relatively deep laka, the offshore islet of Kommos and has all the environmental con- waters ideal for mooring, as the beach, that used to be connected to discovery of ballast stones proves. the Minoan town with a sandy spit of land (Fig. 2). Shaw’s assessment However, the discovery of Kala - in Abb. is that during the LM I it would mianos in the NE Peloponnese has 3 fehlt have been ex posed about 4m above provided no concrete evidence, as ein sea level and would probably be big far as the structures are concerned. enough and safe to offer shelter to But, according to the investigators, Name ships (Shaw 1990, 426). permanent port facilities were not necessary especially at the end of Other theoretical models for the the Mycenaean period when the detection of prehistoric harbours International Spirit in trading have also been developed incorpo- Fig. 3: The Shore House in Gournia, com modities and the gift-exchange rating the principles of GIS and firstly excavated by Boyd network were weakening. As they geoarchaeology. Thomas F. Tarta - point out, many small natural har- ron, Richard M. Rothaus and Da - bours were used to serve smaller niel J. Pullen (2003), based on the vessels on shorter routes and the relative obscurity of the Aegean use of harbours like Kalamianos harbours, created a model that was the rule and not the exception indicates possible harbour-sites. (Tartaron et al. 2003). Conse quent - The application of the model at the ly, the loading and transhipment of Prefecture of Corinth indicated goods and people carried out by many small bays that could have dinghies or the ship was pulled operated as ports. In particular, the directly up on the beach (Tartaron model lead to the discovery of two 2011, 574). On the other hand, ex - interesting positions of the Bronze cavators from a number of sites on Age in Corinthia; Vagia and Kala - Fig. 4: The long walls of the Shore House Crete believe that they have re - mianos. The site of Vagia lies on a in Gournia, west facade. vealed remains from Minoan har- 120 Late Bronze Age Harbours · Eugenia Loizou Fig. 5: The wharf found underwater in Fig. 6: Stairs found underwater at the Fig. 7: The curvings in Nirou Chani found Gournia. west end of the promontory in Gournia. by S. Marinatos. bours. Vance L. recently inves- Watrous in tigated and the Gour nia inter- published data preted as MM come from the IIIA shipsheds ‘80s. According the long struc- to J. Shaw (1990) tures going the existence in towards the sea Amnisos of at from the so- le ast one Mi - called „Shore noan building House“ which on the shore was originally and the off- but only par- shore island tially excavated favours over by Harriet Boyd the possible use Hawes in 1901 of Amnisos town (Figs. 3-4). The as a harbour. two coastal gal- Fig. 8: The shipsheds in Poros/ Katsambas. leries, named In the palace East and West site of Malia Gallery, are 5m wide and their pre- the evidence is also problematic. served length is 9m and 13m Among the first excavators of the accordingly. Ma sonry blocks found site there was the claim that Malia further on the coast indicate a pos- was „not a major harbour“ (van sible length up to 25m. There are Effentere 1980, 75-79). On the also three store rooms dated on the other hand Honor Frost argued MM II on their southern end. that a sloping rock-trench going to North of the building remains the sea is associated with harbour Watrous identified a submerged works dur ing the Minoan times structure with holes as a wharf and (Frost 1963, 105-106. Pl. X). Raban discovered stairs also underwater goes further claiming that the har- (Figs. 5-6) (Watrous 2012, 523, 525). bour at Malia would resemble the contemporary „pocket-harbours“ In Nirou Chani, Spyridon Marina - of the Near East (Raban 1983, 239; tos (1926) found what he believed con tra Shaw 1990). to be an anchorage or a shipyard of the Knossian navy (Fig.
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