2021-4250-MDT – 12 MAY 2021 1 Pottery Styles in Transition in Iron Age Crete 2 3 This paper deals with the preliminary results of the study I’m carrying out 4 on a precise class of material: Protgeometric B pottery from the site of 5 Prinias, in central Crete. The pottery comes from the excavations carried out 6 in the necropolis of Siderospilia, frequented from the end of XII cent. BC till 7 the VII/VI cent. A large assemblage of material has been till now analyzed, 8 mostly consisting on figured specimens. Among this, a particular class of 9 pithos, characterized by straight sides and mostly used as cinerary urn, 10 raises for its quite unique features, finding comparisons just in Knossos and 11 in few other Cretan sites. The impressive figured repertoire adopted in 12 decorating PGB pottery (850-800 BC) doesn’t find comparisons in 13 continental Greece and it seems to reflect some sort of mixed tendency 14 between Near Eastern influences, involving Crete in Early Iron age, and 15 Minoan background. 16 17 18 Introduction 19 20 The term Protogeometric B is referred to an almost short lapse of time, 21 coinciding with the second half of IX cent. B.C. in Crete (850-800). 22 During these 50 years, however, several interesting features characterize 23 different aspects of Cretan society and material culture to be referred not only 24 to craftsmanship or material production in general. In fact, at a higher level, 25 they are connected with social transformations, part of which are perceivable in 26 the adoption of new burial costumes and space’s organization, being connected 27 with a general improvement in economy and trade activity trough the 28 Mediterranean basin (Pappalardo 2012). 29 Researches concerning Cretan Protogeometric period must be considered 30 crucial in the comprehension of the more general sociopolitical dynamics 31 involving Mediterranean Dark-Age, for they focus into a period of 32 reconfiguration of complex societies (Lemos 2002). 33 They rise issues concerning East-West relationships, new commercial 34 routes and enterprises, meetings of cultures far from each other, formation and, 35 then, transformation of social structures (Stampolidis 1998, Id., Karageorghis 36 2003). 37 This is the period in which the roots of the concept of “Greek Polis” sinks 38 and the preparation of a precise social and ideological substratum takes place. 39 The Cretan Protogeometric B period (PGB) chronologically coincides with 40 the continental Middle Geometric, but in comparison with this last it is 41 characterized by innovative stylistic features, mostly for what concerns pottery 42 production. 43 The central role of Crete in the renewed interconnections with Near East, 44 starting from the early X cent. BC determined an almost sudden adoption in the 45 island of a handicraft production rich of figured features, hugely influenced by 46 the composite Oriental repertoire, that in PGB will reach its apex. In this phase, 47 in fact, first experiments in figured art are performed, firstly resulting as a 1 2021-4250-MDT – 12 MAY 2021 1 mixture between Near Eastern, Egyptian and Minoan features (Pappalardo 2 2019). The PGB pottery, in this context, emerges for its peculiar shapes (in 3 some cases totally different from the Protogeometric ones) and, mostly for the 4 richness of its figurative repertoire. 5 In this paper I’ll present the preliminary results of a project I’m carrying 6 out thanks to grants awarded by the University of Catania and the INSTAP 7 (Institute for Aegean Prehistory) of Philadelphia. 8 This project aims to provide, for the first time, a systematic analysis of the 9 PGB pottery in Crete, which will start from the huge unpublished assemblages 10 from the site of Prinias, in central Crete (guide-site for the study of the birth of 11 the Greek polis, and the only one providing evidence both from settlement and 12 from necropolis) to, secondarily, compare it with the rest of the Cretan 13 production. 14 Part of PGB pottery found during the excavations of the necropolis of 15 Siderospilia, in Prinias, starting from 1973 (Rizza 1973, 1974) will be analyzed 16 and compared with the one already known from the excavations of the Knossos 17 necropolis of Fortetsa and North Cemetery (Brock 1957; Coldstream, Catling 18 1996). 19 The work will be organized as follows. 20 21 1. Presentation and description of the material researched. 22 2. Classification on the base of shape and decoration. 23 3. Comparison with the already published material. 24 4. Analysis of specific features and figural stylistic patterns. 25 5. Interpretation of its meaning and function in its context of find. 26 27 Background to the research and Literature Review 28 29 The second half of the IX cent. BC in Crete coincides with significant 30 transformations occurred in several aspects of material culture. An almost 31 evident change in burial costumes and in architectural choices seems to be 32 symptomatic of a new condition of Iron Age Cretan people. For what concerns 33 craftsmanship, in general, and pottery production, in particular, an 34 improvement of techniques and fabrics is detectable in the exponential use of 35 figured decoration (Pappalardo 2011, 2011a Kotsonas 2013). This is the period 36 in which figured bronzes and carved ivories of an Eastern origin start to spread 37 through the Eastern Mediterranean, and Crete must be counted among the 38 regions where hugest amount of both was found (Markoe 1985, Matthäus 39 1996, Pappalardo 2005, 2012, 2019, Stampolidis 2003). 40 In this general picture, a new pottery production starts to appear, mainly in 41 funerary context (Rizza 1974, Brock 1957, Coldstream, Catling 1996, 42 Pappalardo 2015, 2019), apparently consisting in richly decorated straight- 43 sided pithoi, used as cinerary urns, often covered by a clay lid recalling the 44 decorative scheme of the vases. Their typological and stylistic originality, in 45 the general panorama of the Protogeometric pottery, in particular the wide use 46 of figured elements (such as trees, birds, fishes and human figures) freely 2 2021-4250-MDT – 12 MAY 2021 1 painted on the whole surface of the vases, rose issues about the real meaning 2 and origin of this production (Kotsonas 2013, Pappalardo 2015). Already at the 3 times of the publication of the Fortetsa Cemetery near Knossos (Brock 1957) 4 and, then, of the North Cemetery of the same site (Coldstream, Catling 1996), 5 the use of these discrete vases was put in relation with social status of people 6 buried in the cinerary urns: on one hand, the fact that PGB straight-sided pithoi 7 were mainly found inside chamber tombs (in one case close to a Minoan 8 figured Larnax), associated with rich funerary goods, brought to the 9 interpretation of their use as symbol of a common membership to be linked 10 with the glorious Minoan Past; on the other hand, their rich figurative 11 apparatus, associated with the sudden increase of near Eastern imports in Crete, 12 has been interpreted as a clear and intentional adoption of new (Oriental) 13 artistic influences. 14 15 16 Materials and Methods 17 18 The increasing of discoveries in Crete (Englezou 2004, Kotsonas 2008) 19 and, at the same time, the possibility to study the huge assemblages of PGB 20 pottery coming from the excavations at Prinias carried out either in the 21 settlement on the Patela (for a synthesis see Palermo et alii 2017) in the Iron 22 Age cemetery of Siderospilia (Palermo 2019, Pautasso 2018, 2019, Rizza 2019, 23 Pappalardo 2015, 2019), offer an important tool for investigating this enigmatic 24 pottery production in relation with the respective contexts of find. 25 It is now possible, in fact, to firstly try clarifying the role of PGB vases in 26 the passage from Protogeometric to Geometric production, trying to detect 27 those features already present in the previous LPG (Late Protogeometric) 28 pottery and those developed in the EG (Early Geometric) ones. In this sense, 29 for example, the necropolis of Siderospilia provides important information 30 about the adoption of that decoration proper of PGB straight-sided pithoi on 31 bell kraters typologically belonging to Late Protogeometric period. 32 In the meantime, it is possible to compare PGB figured vases with the 33 plane ones, in order to understand if PGB must be considered just a “style 34 pottery” or an archaeological phase, involving more than one aspect of material 35 culture. 36 The macroscopic and microscopic study of the Prinias’ assemblages, 37 furthermore, has to be compared with the evidence rising from other Cretan 38 sites, in particular Knossos, by adopting a synergic approach. Then, the old 39 hypothesis that Prinias must be viewed as a peripheral center of PGB 40 production in comparison with Knossos could be confirmed or disproved. 41 A preliminary study of the material from the necropolis, host in the 42 Prinias’ storerooms, as said above, has been carried out, by paying particular 43 attention to the straight-sided figured pithoi; they were found mainly in tholos 44 tombs J and F and in tomb W, while a large quantity of sherds was scattered in 45 a wide area of the cemetery. 3 2021-4250-MDT – 12 MAY 2021 1 The analysis has already highlighted that a local workshop produced pithoi 2 of high quality, slightly different in shape and style. 3 The recognition of internal differences is a fundamental step for advancing 4 the hypothesis of an internal development (from the Late Protogeometric to the 5 Early Geometric period). 6 In the meantime, the systematic analysis of the common pottery found in 7 the same tombs where PGB figured vases were found seems to testify an 8 internal development almost consistent with the one recorded at Knossos.