The Prehistoric Archaeology of the Aegean

Chronology

Chronology and Terminology

Lesson 1

The Southern Greek Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic Sequence at Franchthi

Lesson 2

The Neolithic Cultures of Thessaly, Crete, and the Cyclades

Lesson 3

The Eutresis and Korakou Cultures of Early Helladic I-II

Lesson 4

The Early Cycladic Period

Lesson 5

The Early Minoan Period:The Settlements

Lesson 6

The Early Minoan Period: The Tombs

Lesson 7

Western Anatolia and the Eastern Aegean in the Early Bronze Age

Lesson 8

The "Lefkandi I" and Tiryns Cultures of the Early Hellaadic IIB and Early Helladic III
Periods

Lesson 9

Middle Helladic Greece

Lesson 10

Middle Minoan Crete

Lesson 11

The First Palaces in the Aegean

Lesson 12

Minoan Architecture: The Palaces

Lesson 13

Minoan Domestic and Funerary Architecture of the Neopalatial and Post-Palatial Periods

Lesson 14

Late Minoan Painting and Other Representational Art: Pottery, Frescoes, Steatite Vases,
Ivories, and Bronzes

Lesson 15

Minoan Religion

Lesson 16

The Shaft Graves

Lesson 17

Akrotiri on Thera, the Santorini Volcano and the Middle and Late Cycladic Periods in
the Central Aegean Islands

Lesson 18

The Nature and Extent of Neopalatial Minoan Influence in the Aegean and Eastern
Mediterranean Worlds

Lesson 19

Mycenaean Tholos Tombs and Early Mycenaean Settlements

Lesson 20

Mycenaean Residential Architecture: Palaces and Ordinary Housing

Lesson 21

Mycenaean Public and Funerary Architecture: Fortifications, Drainage Projects, Roads,

and Chamber Tombs

Lesson 22

Aspects of Mycenaean Trade

Lesson 23

Troy VI

Lesson 24

Mycenaean Pictorial Art and Pottery

Lesson 25

The Linear B Tablets and Mycenaean Social, Political, and Economic Organization

Lesson 26

Mycenaean and Late Cycladic Religion and Religious Architecture

Lesson 27

Troy VII and the Historicity of the Trojan War

Lesson 28

The Collapse of Mycenaean Palatial Civilization and the Coming of the Dorians

Lesson 29

Post-Palatial Twilight: The Aegean in the Twelfth Century B.C.

Chronology and Terminology

THE CHRONOLOGY AND TERMINOLOGY OF AEGEAN PREHISTORY

o

STONE AGE

A. The Single Site of Franchthi Cave

B. Mainland Greece in General (including Thessaly, central Greece, and the

Peloponnese

BRONZE AGE

1. Crete

2. The Cyclades

3. The Greek Mainland

4. Western Turkey

THE CHRONOLOGY AND TERMINOLOGY OF AEGEAN PREHISTORY

STONE AGE
A. The Single Site of Franchthi Cave
The dates below are uncalibrated; that is, they indicate radiocarbon, not calendar years. All are expressed
in years "before present" [b.p.] rather than B.C.; the "present" is by convention arbitrarily anchored at
1950 A.D.
Paleolithic ca. 25,000 - 10,300 b.p.
Mesolithic ca. 10,300 - 8000 b.p.
Aceramic Neolithic ca. 8000 - 7700 b.p.
Early Neolithic ca. 7700 - 7000 b.p.
Middle Neolithic ca. 7000 - 6500 b.p.
Late Neolithic ca. 6500 - 5700 b.p.
Final Neolithic ca. 5700 - 4600 b.p.

B. Mainland Greece in General (including Thessaly, central Greece, and the Peloponnese
The dates below are calibrated, true calendar years.
Aceramic Neolithic ca. 6800 - 6500 B.C.
Early Neolithic ca. 6500 - 5800 B.C.
Middle Neolithic ca. 5800 - 5300 B.C.
Late Neolithic ca. 5300 - 4500 B.C.
Final Neolithic ca. 4500 - 3200 B.C.
[Source: J-P. Demoule and C. Perls, "The Greek Neolithic: A New Review," Journal of World
Prehistory 7:4(1993) 355-416, esp. 366 Fig.2]
BRONZE AGE
See also the chart headed "Relative Chronology of the Aegean" on pp. 13-14 with dates indicated in
calendar years, as well as the charts in: Hood, APG (1978) 15; O. Dickinson, The Aegean Bronze Age
(1994) 19; S. W. Manning, The Absolute Chronology of the Aegean Early Bronze Age (1995) 217; and
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AJA 97(1993) 756 Table 2, 101(1997) 540 Table 1. Note the following abbreviations: EBA = Early
Bronze Age, MBA = Middle Bronze Age, LBA = Late Bronze Age.
1. Crete
The Bronze Age culture is termed "Minoan" after the legendary king Minos. The EBA is referred to as
the Early Minoan (abbreviated EM) period and is subdivided into EM I, II, and III. The MBA is termed
the Middle Minoan (abbreviated MM) period and is subdivided into MM IA, IB, IIA-B (only at the
palaces of Knossos, Phaistos, and Mallia), IIIA, and IIIB. The LBA is called the Late Minoan
(abbreviated LM) period and is subdivided into LM IA, IB, II, IIIA1-2, IIIB, and IIIC. The following
Subminoan period is the earliest phase of the Iron Age. The Minoan "palaces" were first built at the
beginning of MM IB; all of them except that at Knossos were destroyed and abandoned in LM IB; the
"palace" at Knossos suffers at least two additional destructions in early LM IIIA2 and LM IIIB before
finally going out of use.
An alternative framework for Minoan chronology is based on major changes in social organization
connected with the building, rebuilding, and abandonment of the major architectural complexes at
Knossos, Phaistos, Mallia, and Zakro which are invariably referred to as "palaces":
I. Pre-palatial EM I - MM IA (ca. 3100/3000-1925/1900 B.C.)
II. Protopalatial (or Old Palace) MM IB - MM IIB (ca. 1925/1900-1750/1720 B.C.)
III. Neopalatial (or New Palace) MM IIIA - LM IB (ca. 1750/1720-1490/1470 B.C.)
IV. Post-palatial LM IIIA-C (ca. 1490/1470-1075/1050 B.C.)
Note that the terms "Neopalatial" and "Post-palatial" do not apply to Knossos during the periods in
question, since the palace at Knossos appears to have continued to function as an administrative center at
least as late as the middle of the 13th century B.C.
2. The Cyclades
The Bronze Age cultures within the central and western Aegean islands are termed "Cycladic". The EBA
is referred to as the Early Cycladic (abbreviated EC) period and is subdivided chronologically into I, II,
and III. To EC I is assigned the Grotta-Pelos culture (sometimes called the Pelos-Lakkoudes culture); to
EC II belongs the Keros-Syros culture; the Kastri Group is assigned either to the early part of the EC III
phase (EC IIIA, following Barber and MacGillivray) or to the later part of the EC II period (EC IIB,
following Rutter); the subsequent Phylakopi I culture is then put either late in the EC III period (EC IIIB,
following Barber and MacGillivray) or early in the MBA, at the beginning of the Middle Cycladic
sequence (MC I, following Rutter). The later stages of the MC phase are best attested at Phylakopi on
Melos and Ayia Irini on Keos: MC II = Phylakopi II.2 = Ayia Irini IV, MC III = Phylakopi II.3 = Ayia
Irini V. The LBA is termed Late Cycladic, subdivided as usual into I, II, and III, of which I is by far the
best understood by virtue of the fact that the town of Akrotiri on Thera belongs to this phase. [For a
published chart tabulating all phases of the Cycladic Bronze Age presently recognized, toether with the
phases of the Cretan and Mainland Greek Bronze Age with which they are contemporary, see J. A.
MacGillivray and R. L. N. Barber (eds.), The Prehistoric Cyclades (Edinburgh 1984) 301. For recent
general treatments, see R. L. N. Barber, The Cyclades in the Bronze Age (Iowa City 1987) and S. W.
Manning, "The Emergence of Divergence: Development and Decline on Bronze Age Crete and the
Cyclades," in C. Mathers and S. Stoddart (eds.), Development and Decline in the Mediterranean Bronze
Age (Sheffield 1994) 221-270.]
3. The Greek Mainland
The Bronze Age cultures of the Mainland are described as "Helladic" after the Greeks' own word for
Greece, Hellas. The EBA is termed the Early Helladic (abbreviated EH) period and is subdivided into I, II
and III. As in the case of the related Kastri Group in the Cyclades, there is presently a debate going on
among specialists as to what the chronological position of the "Lefkandi I" culture on the Mainland is:
some view it as an early stage of EH III (e.g. MacGillivray) while others see it as a late stage of Early
Helladic II (e.g. Rutter). The MBA on the Mainland is described as the Middle Helladic (abbreviated
MH) period, which is occasionally but not regularly subdivided into I, II, and III. The Mainland LBA is
called either Late Helladic (abbreviated LH) or Mycenaean and is subdivided into I, IIA, IIB, IIIA1-2,
IIIB (further subdivided into 1-2 in the Argolid), and IIIC (usually subdivided into at least three and
5

sometimes as many as five sub-phases). The latest phase of LH IIIC in certain regions of the Mainland is
usually termed Submycenaean.
4. Western Turkey
The Bronze Age cultures of Asiatic Turkey (i.e. Asia Minor) are usually referred to as "Anatolian", from
the Greek word for the rising of the sun [anatole] and, by extension, the east (compare the Latin-based
term "Orient" and the French-based "Levant"). The portion of this enormous landmass closest to the
Aegean is ordinarily described as "Western Anatolia" and can itself be further subdivided into northern,
central, and southern sections. The Bronze Age chronology of all of Western Anatolia has traditionally
been based upon the stratification of a single site in the northern subdivision, the mound of Hissarlik that
forms the core of the Classical to Hellenistic Greek city of Ilion and the Roman Imperial city of Troy.
Thus the Early Bronze Age in Western Anatolia is typically broken down into EB [Early Bronze] 1-3,
represented at Troy by settlements I (= late EB 1), II (= EB 2), and III-V (= EB 3). The Western
Anatolian MBA [Middle Bronze Age] is not further subdivided and is represented at Troy by settlement
VIa-c or VI Early. The Western Anatolian LBA [Late Bronze Age] is likewise not subdivided, and is
represented at Troy by settlements VId-h (or VI Middle and Late) and VIIa-b.
NOTE: In general, absolute dates for the Aegean Stone and Bronze Ages are not yet very reliable and many
different sets of dates are often in use for one and the same phase or period. A major debate has been raging since
1987 over the absolute date of the great volcanic explosion of the island of Thera/Santorini early in the Late Bronze
Age. As a result, absolute dates within the first two-thirds of the second millennium B.C. (ca. 2000-1350 B.C.) are
presently in an unusually active state of flux. It is therefore always best to describe an archaeological assemblage in
terms of a relative chronological label (e.g. Early Helladic II, Late Minoan IA, etc.) rather than in terms of its
supposed duration in calendar years B.C. Indeed, it is often preferable to refer to a particular assemblage by the site
and level in which it was found (e.g. Troy VI, Lefkandi I, Lerna V, Ayia Irini VII, etc.), particularly in the cases of
archaeological cultures whose precise chronological positions are disputed even in relative terms (e.g. the Kastri
Group and Lefkandi I). [For the most recent surveys of chronology, both relative and absolute, see P. Warren and V.
Hankey, Aegean Bronze Age Chronology (Bristol 1989) and, for the Early Bronze Age, S. W. Manning, The
Absolute Chronology of the Aegean Early Bronze Age: Archaeology, Radiocarbon, and History (Sheffield 1995),
the latter abstracted in AJA 97(1993) 756 Table 2.]

Lesson 1: The Southern Greek Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic Sequence at Franchthi

THE SITE:

DATES:

PALEOLITHIC: (ca. 20,000 - 8300 b.c.)

MESOLITHIC: (ca. 8300 - 6000 b.c.)

EARLY NEOLITHIC: (ca. 6000-5000 b.c.)

MIDDLE NEOLITHIC: (ca. 5000-4500 b.c.)

LATE NEOLITHIC:(ca. 4500-4000 b.c.)

FINAL NEOLITHIC:(ca. 4000-3000 b.c.)

PALEOLITHIC AND MESOLITHIC ELSEWHERE IN GREECE

THE SITE:
Franchthi Cave is unique in Greece in having an essentially unbroken series of deposits spanning the
period from ca. 20,000 B.C. (and probably even earlier) down to ca. 3000 B.C. This is by far the longest
recorded continuous occupational sequence from any one site in Greece. The site itself is located in and
immediately outside of a large cave in the southeastern Argolid, across a small bay from the modern
Greek village of Koilada. Excavation at the site began in 1967 and ended in 1976. The deepest sounding
in the cave is in Trench F/A (over 11 meters of stratified living debris); the earliest homogeneous cultural
deposits yet found (of the Upper Paleolithic period) come from Trench H/H1 at a depth of 9 meters.
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DATES:
The dates for the various phases of occupation in the cave are derived from radiocarbon (C-14) analyses
of a total of over fifty samples, the largest number of radiocarbon samples from any prehistoric site in
Greece. The earliest radiocarbon date is ca. 20,000 b.c. for the Upper Paleolithic, the latest near 3000 b.c.
for the Final Neolithic. [All dates cited in this summary are uncalibrated radiocarbon dates (years
"{b.c.}") rather than calibrated or calendrical dates (years "{B.C. }").] But the earliest artifactual material
is unmistakably Middle Paleolithic, although such material is rare, and the earliest strata to have been
excavated in the cave probably date from between 35,000 and 30,000 years ago.
PALEOLITHIC: (ca. 20,000 - 8300 b.c.)
[most of Renfrew's Era of Hunting and Gathering]
The period is divided into three phases on the basis of major shifts in the relative frequencies of the
various animal families (genera) attested among the faunal remains (animal bones):
(A) 70% equid (probably wild ass), ca. 30% red deer; also pig, hare, tortoise, birds.
(B) 40% equid, 25% red deer, 25% large bovid (i.e. cow), 10% large caprine (wild goat?); also a few
small fish; fox and mole at the top of this level.
(C) 70% red deer, 20% or less equid, ca. 10% pig, no large bovid, sporadic caprine at 10% or less; voles
appear.
Inhabitants of the cave were probably seasonal hunter-gatherers. No certain gathering of plant foods is
attested before ca. 11,000 b.c., although large numbers of seeds of the Boraginaceae family may come
from plants gathered to furnish soft "bedding" or for the dye which their roots may have supplied. First
appearing at ca. 11,000 b.c. are lentils, vetch, pistachios, and almonds. Then ca. 10,500 b.c. and still well
within the Upper Paleolithic period appear a few very rare seeds of wild oats and wild barley. Neither
wild oats nor wild barley become at all common until ca. 7000 b.c., after which they become a regular
and typical feature of the Upper Mesolithic botanical assemblage. At present, there is no evidence for
inhabitation of the cave during the winter. The chipped stone industry consists of flint and chert for the
most part, although a small amount of obsidian from Melos appears well before the end of the Paleolithic
period (ca. 10,900 b.c.); the typical tool is the backed bladelet, a tiny multi-purpose cutting tool, but small
end-scrapers (for removing the flesh from hides) are also common. There is no pottery or architecture. No
burials have been found.
MESOLITHIC: (ca. 8300 - 6000 b.c.)
[end of Renfrew's Era of Hunting and Gathering]
This period is divided into two phases on the basis of shifting frequencies among the animal families
(genera) represented by the faunal remains:
(D1) ca. 70% or more red deer, ca. 30% or less pig, no equid or caprine, large bovid scarce; also much
fox, hare, and birds; hedgehog appears, mole rat disappears; some small fish bones.
(D2) as for D1, but fish bones increase in number to ca. 20-40% of the total bone assemblage, and these
fish are mainly large.
The plant remains are much the same as those of the preceding Paleolithic period, with the exceptions that
wild pears and a few peas begin to appear ca. 7300 b.c. and that wild oats and barley become common
after 7000 b.c. The disappearance of the equid and caprine bones from the faunal assemblage and of seeds
of the Boraginaceae family from the botanical assemblage, as well as an increase in the number of
pistachios, all taking place ca. 8000 b.c., suggest a change of environment to open forests. There is also
the possibility, however, that the change in the animal bones represents a change in the hunting
preferences or practices of the cave's inhabitants. The overall economic picture of the early (or Lower)
Mesolithic (D1) is much the same as that of the latest Paleolithic, although there appears to be a hiatus in
occupation of some 300-600 years between the latest Palaeolithic deposits in the cave and the earliest
Mesolithic materials.
The second phase of the Mesolithic (Upper; D2) is characterized by two new developments: (1) the
appearance of large quantities of fish bones, particularly those of large fish; (2) the appearance of
substantially larger quantities of obsidian from Melos as a material in the local chipped stone industry.
7

These two developments were initially considered to be closely related and to show that the inhabitants of
Franchthi Cave not only sailed to Melos (150 kms. away) for obsidian but also fished in deep water for
the first time. However, more detailed analysis of the fish bones has shown that the actual number of
large fish (probably tuna, for the most part) represented is relatively small; the fish in question might well
have been herded into shallow water and clubbed or speared, so their bones need not imply deep-sea
fishing. As for the obsidian, its appearance at the cave in small quantities as early as the Upper Paleolithic
shows that there need have been no particularly novel developments in the later Mesolithic to explain its
presence on the site. The chipped stone industry is now characterized by small, geometrically shaped
tools ({microlith}s). There is still no pottery or architecture.
A novel feature in ground stone during both phases of the Mesolithic is the appearance of millstones
made of andesite, imported almost certainly by sea from the Saronic Gulf to the north. The earliest burial
found at Franchthi is of Lower Mesolithic date: a 25-year-old male buried in a contracted position in a
shallow pit near the mouth of the cave. The pit was covered with fist-sized stones; there were no burial
goods; the young man had died from blows to the forehead, but he seems to have already been suffering
severely from malaria. Further examination in 1989 of the human bone found throughout the cave
resulted in the realization that this Mesolithic male burial lay at the top of a deposit of several other,
disturbed Mesolithic burials (five inhumations and two cremations) plus fragments of another two to five
individuals that are not necessarily the remains of burials. Analysis of the human bone from elsewhere in
the cave produced evidence for at least one other Mesolithic burial, this of the Upper Mesolithic phase, in
another location, in addition to fragments of another 6 to 25 individuals sprinkled throughout Mesolithic
strata within the cave. These bones represent individuals of all age groups (adults, adolescents, infants,
neonates) and hence would appear to make the conclusion inescapable that the human groups that
occupied the cave during the Mesolithic did so on a permanent basis. Otherwise, the existence of what
amounts to a genuine cemetery here, one which accommodated the full spectrum of the social group
occupying the cave, is difficult to explain.
In his 1995 review of the evidence for the Mesolithic throughout Greece, Runnels argues that the foraging
culture of this earliest stage of the Holocene exhibits a number of commonalities wherever it is
represented in continental Greece or on the island of Corfu: first, it appears to be unconnected with the
preceding Upper Palaeolithic; second, it is manifested at coastal, or near coastal (Kleisoura Gorge in the
Argolid), locations only, and is surprisingly absent in some large areas where both preceding Palaeolithic
and ensuing Early Neolithic remains are abundantly attested (e.g. eastern Thessaly); third, it exhibits an
unusual focus on marine resources and long-distance maritime acquisition networks involving such raw
materials as obsidian and andesite, as well as such food resources as tuna; and fourth, it is the first human
culture attested in Greece to manifest any concern for the ritualized disposal of its dead. Runnels sees in
these various facets of Mesolithic culture grounds for identifying the bearers of Mesolithic culture as an
intrusive group approaching the Greek Mainland by water rather than overland and spreading from east
(e.g. Franchthi Cave) to west (the open-air site of Sidari on Corfu) during the course of the period. This
Mesolithic "colonization" of Greece thus represents for him an episode of demic diffusion from the east
that precedes a second such episode about 1500 years later that inaugurates the Neolithic era.
EARLY NEOLITHIC: (ca. 6000-5000 b.c.)
[Renfrew's Introduction of Simple Village Farming]
The beginning of the Neolithic period at Franchthi Cave is characterized by three new features: (1) the
appearance of domesticated forms of sheep and goat; (2) the appearance of domesticated forms of wheat,
barley, and lentil; (3) the appearance of polished stone tools (e.g. celts, with which to fell trees and thus
clear land) and a significant increase in the number of grinding stones (for grinding grain) and sickle
elements (flint and obsidian flakes and bladelets with a distinctive {silica gloss} along one or more edges
from having been used to cut plants). On present evidence, there seems to be a brief period at the
beginning of Early Neolithic when pottery was not yet made (in other words, an {Aceramic}Neolithic
phase), but this is of short duration. Thus another major feature of Early Neolithic culture which sets it
apart from the preceding Era of Hunting and Gathering (i.e. Paleolithic and Mesolithic) is the appearance
of pottery. Also during the Early Neolithic period, occupation at Franchthi for the first time extended
beyond the confines of the cave into the so-called "Paralia" (= "Beach") area where there is, for the first
time at the site, evidence for some kind of rough architecture in the form of stretches of rubble walls. It is
likely that these were rough retaining walls on the uphill side of a fairly extensive open-air settlement
outside the cave which, as cores drilled in the bay below the site have revealed, is now just about totally
8

submerged. The shed milk teeth of sheep from the cave show that this area of the site served at least
occasionally as a sheepfold in Neolithic times.
Early Neolithic pottery is mostly (70%) dark monochrome burnished ware in the form of hole-mouthed
jars and deep hemispherical bowls fired at relatively low temperatures (<650C) in small batches. A
variety of painted ware with patterns in red or red-brown paint appears after the beginning of the Early
Neolithic but never exceeds 5% of the total pottery. The relative rarity of pottery in EN levels at Franchthi
has led Vitelli to estimate production at a very low level, perhaps only some 10-13 vessels per year. The
function of these vessels, to judge from their shape, size, decoration, and signs of wear and repair was
neither storage nor cooking (which one might perhaps have expected from human groups in the initial
stages of a sedentary existence) but rather display; that is, the initial function of pottery may have been as
some sort of prestige artifact. Among the chipped stone, the percentage of obsidian has risen from 10% in
the Upper Mesolithic (D2) to 40% in EN and blades become more popular. In the category of worked
bone, fish-hooks appear for the first time.
Of eight EN burials, two are of children and six of infants younger than one year; an adult (17-year-old)
female burial dates to the transition from Early to Middle Neolithic. All except one are simple
inhumations in shallow pits without any grave goods. The exception is an infant only a few weeks old
who was buried with a small footed vessel made of marble and about half of a clay vase. The reason for
the extraordinary "richness" of this grave is unknown, but such wealth in the grave of an infant suggests
that status may have been hereditary in this society. The clay vase deposited in it may have been
ceremonially "killed", thus accounting for the fact that almost exactly one half of it, but no more, is
preserved.
The shift in the nature of the botanical material is both sudden and dramatic. The wild oats, barley, lentils,
pears, and peas disappear; emmer wheat and cultivated/domesticated forms of barley and lentil occur for
the first time. At present, it is uncertain whether all of the cultivated forms were introduced from
elsewhere or whether some of the domesticated species could have developed locally from wild forms.
This dramatic change in the plant remains is paralleled in the faunal material by the equally sudden
appearance in quantity of domesticated sheep and goat.
MIDDLE NEOLITHIC: (ca. 5000-4500 b.c.)
[beginning of Renfrew's Diversification of Village Farming Pattern]
This period is distinguished from the preceding EN and the subsequent Late Neolithic on the basis of
minor changes in the pottery. The relative frequencies of animal bone (exclusive of fish) in the MN
period are: ca. 70-75% sheep/goat, 10% pig, 15% red deer, and 5% cow. Fish (including large ones)
constitute ca. 10% of the total bone assemblage.
There is a smooth transition from EN to MN pottery. Basically, early MN pottery is made of a finer
fabric, is harder, and is more uniform and lighter in both surface and fracture color than that of the
preceding EN period. Potters had clearly learned to purify their clay more thoroughly and to fire their
products at higher temperatures (ca. 800C), in significantly larger batches which required the stacking of
vessels during the firing process, and under more carefully controlled conditions. Another characteristic
of early MN pottery is the application to it of a reddish slip or wash, either as a solid coating or in the
form of simple linear patterns. This early MN slipped ware gradually develops into the pottery
characteristic of mature MN, so-called {Middle Neolithic Urfirnis} (a German term meaning, literally,
"old glaze"). This latter ware's slip (often called a "paint" by Aegean prehistorians) is characterized by
being finer and more lustrous than the early MN slip. By mature MN, the range of shapes has increased
dramatically over the relatively simple repertoire of EN. "Urfirnis" occurs in three varieties: (a) solidly
painted, plain; (b) pattern-painted; (c) solidly painted, pattern-burnished. The plain solidly painted variety
remains roughly constant at 50-65% of the total pottery; the {pattern-painted} variety (= dark-on-light
patterns created by the application of "Urfirnis" paint/slip to the pale-firing ground of the clay body)
begins from zero, rises to a maximum of 20%, and then declines in popularity in favor of the {patternburnished} variety (= vases coated solidly with "Urfirnis" paint/slip and then selectively burnished to
create highly lustrous [= burnished] patterns against the less lustrous [= unburnished] background). For
the first time, truly coarse clay pastes are used to produce pots fired at lower temperatures than the finer
wares and having less carefully finished surfaces. These first examples of "coarse wares", to judge from
the evidence in the form of localized surface discolorations for repeated secondary burning, functioned as
cooking vessels.
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In chipped stone, the percentage of obsidian has risen again, now to 75% of the total. MN levels are
characterized by two types of arrowheads, transverse (which come from deposits of the EN/MN
transition, of MN, and occasionally of the MN/LN transition, but never from later deposits) and
shouldered.
Two adult burials belong to women whose ages at death are estimated to have been 33 and 39. The older
woman was buried with a whole pot, some bone tools, and some obsidian blades. Her bones were packed
so tightly into the pit in which they were found that the excavators assume the burial to have been a
secondary one, a mode of burial which does in fact appear to begin in southern Greece during the MN
period to judge from finds at other sites. The grave goods found with this middle-aged woman are
strongly suggestive of personal possessions and may indicate that the dead woman had some special
status as a craftswoman.
Just before the end of the MN period appears the first einkorn wheat.
LATE NEOLITHIC:(ca. 4500-4000 b.c.)
[continuation of Renfrew's Diversification of Village Farming Pattern]
This period, like MN, is distinguished primarily on the basis of changes in pottery. Within LN and the
succeeding Final Neolithic period there are three separate patterns of animal bone frequencies:
(F1) ca. 90% sheep/goat, 10% pig; cow and red deer very scarce; fish ca. 5%.
(F2) as F1, but fish up to 20-40%.
(G) ca. 70% sheep/goat, 10-15% pig, red deer and cow up to 10-15% and 5% respectively, fish down to
5% or less.
The beginning of the period is defined by the appearance of {Late Neolithic Matt-painted} pottery (=
dark-on-light pattern-painted ware where the paint is dull, or matt, in contrast to the lustrous "Urfirnis"
paint of MN). This change in the luster of the paint/slip used for decoration may reflect the substitution of
a manganese-based paint for an earlier iron-based one; the former has no luster but also does not vary in
color when fired, whereas iron-based paints usually vary in color from red through brown to black
depending upon the degree of oxidation of the iron in the paint. In advanced LN, Matt-painted ware
accounts for up to 50% of the total pottery. A transitional MN/LN class of pottery is Fine Blackburnished ware, often decorated with fugitive white paint which usually survives only as a "ghost" or
"negative" on the black-burnished surface. At its peak, this Fine Black-burnished ware accounts for ca.
20% of the total pottery.
In the chipped stone, barbed or barbed-and-tanged arrowheads appear, but such arrowheads persist as late
as the beginning of the Early Bronze Age further north in the Argolid and so can hardly be considered
absolutely diagnostic of the LN phase. The percentage of obsidian is now up to 85%. Wild grape pips
appear during LN and continue into Final Neolithic.
FINAL NEOLITHIC: (ca. 4000-3000 b.c.)
[continuation of Renfrew's Diversification of Village Farming Pattern]
This period has only been recognized as a major sub-phase of the Neolithic, distinct on ceramic grounds
from the preceding LN, since about 1970. Some scholars prefer to view it as no more than a later stage of
the Late Neolithic (i.e. LN II). On the southern Greek Mainland, and particularly at Franchthi, the pottery
of this period is characterized by a predominance of coarse, unpainted wares exhibiting a variety of odd
handle types and a preference for plastic, as opposed to painted, decoration. Small amounts of a number
of odd wares (e.g. red-on-white painted; crusted; dark slipped-and-burnished; pattern-burnished) also
occur during the period.
In chipped stone, large triangular arrowheads of flint, bifacially flaked, are characteristic. Obsidian now
accounts for 95% of the chipped stone at Franchthi. For the first time at Franchthi, the buried population
in the FN period consists both of adults (4) and children (2), the adults including both women (3) and men
(1). As in the case of the MN burials, adult burials appear to be secondary whereas the child burials are
primary.
With FN, the prehistoric occupational sequence at Franchthi Cave ends. A few odd bits of Bronze Age
material suggest that the cave was visited sporadically over the ensuing two millennia, and finds of
10

specialized votive material at the back of the cave show that it served some sort of cult purpose in
Classical times, but it never served again as a principal residence for any significant number of people.
The reason for its abandonment ca. 3000 b.c. was the steady rise in sea level which, though not rapid in
comparison to that which took place between 14,000 and 6,000 B.C., nevertheless buried at this time the
broad terrace below the cave on which both the settlement and the fields of the Neolithic inhabitants had
been located.
PALEOLITHIC AND MESOLITHIC ELSEWHERE IN GREECE:
Only a limited number of sites producing remains of these periods have yet been excavated in Greece:
Asprochaliko Cave in the Louros River valley and the Kastritsa Rock Shelter at the south end of Lake
Pambotis (or Ioannina), both in Epirus; the not too far distant Klithi Rock Shelter near the Albanian
border and the Grave Rock Shelter and Sidari open-air site on the island of Corfu, all also in northwestern
Greece; Theopetra Cave in Thessaly; Seidi Cave in the Copac Basin of Boeotia; Kephalari Cave and the
Kleisoura Rock Shelter in the Argolid; and Kalamakia Cave in the Mani region of Laconia. Paleolithic
stone implements have now also been found in a number of areas as the result of surface surveys: in the
Peneios River valley of Thessaly, on the island of Euboea, in Boeotia, in Epirus, in the Peneios River
Valley of Elis, and in the central and southeastern Argolid. Some of the material from Asprochaliko and
from the southeastern Argolid belongs to the Middle Paleolithic period (ca. 30,000 to 40,000 years ago).
No pre-Neolithic material has so far been found in Crete nor is there any certain evidence for preNeolithic settlement in the Cycladic islands, despite the fact that Melian obsidian is to be found on the
Greek Mainland as early as the Upper Paleolithic period at Franchthi Cave.
Lesson 2: The Neolithic Cultures of Thessaly, Crete, and the Cyclades

GENERAL

THE NEOLITHIC SEQUENCE IN THESSALY

Aceramic Neolithic

Early Neolithic (ca. 6000-5300 b.c.)

Middle Neolithic (or "Sesklo culture") (ca. 5300-4400 b.c. at Sesklo itself)

Late Neolithic (ca. 4300-3300 b.c.)

Final Neolithic (ca. 3300-2500 b.c.)

THE NEOLITHIC SEQUENCE IN CRETE

o

Aceramic Neolithic (from before 6000 to 5700 b.c.) [Level X = at least four architectural
levels]

Early Neolithic (ca. 5700-3700 b.c.)

Middle Neolithic (ca. 3700-3600 b.c.) [Level III = one architectural level]

Late Neolithic (ca. 3600-2800 b.c.) [Levels II-I = three architectural levels]

THE NEOLITHIC SEQUENCE IN THE CYCLADIC ISLANDS

o

The Saliagos Culture (ca. 4300-3700 b.c.)

The Kephala Culture (ca. 3300-3200 b.c. or later in radiocarbon years)

A Final Neolithic Successor to the Saliagos Culture?

The Neolithic Cultures of Thessaly, Crete, and the Cyclades

GENERAL
In their comprehensive study of the Greek Neolithic, Demoule and Perl`s divide this era into three major
horizons which they view as being separated by significant changes in such spheres as exchange systems,
the production and function of ceramics, the sizes of and durations of occupation at settlement sites, and
11

changing degrees of cultural uniformity throughout the region. The earliest of these horizons corresponds
to Thessalian and Peloponnesian EN and MN (their Phases 1 and 2), the second to LN (a millennium-long
period which they subdivide into Phases 3 and 4), and a last, even longer phase corresponding to FN
(Phase 5).
The exploitation of wild (as opposed to domesticated) food resources played a surprisingly limited role in
the Greek Neolithic. The economy may therefore be accurately described as {agropastoral} [farming =
agro-; stock-rearing and herding = pastoral], with no significant emphasis on hunting, except for the
copious evidence for fishing in the islands. During the earlier phases of the Neolithic era, settlements
were concentrated on the most fertile alluvial and colluvial soils. Because these soils retained water well
and could be easily enough turned over, or tilled, by human labor, there was no need for draft animals or
artificial irrigation to any significant degree. Not surprisingly, therefore, the faunal record offers no
evidence for the presence of donkeys, horses, or oxen, nor does Neolithic architecture in Greece include
any large-scale irrigation works, although fairly wide and deep ditches around settlements are not
uncommon is some areas (e.g. Thessaly). Villages occupied throughout the year (as indicated by the age
at death of the pigs raised in them) and for long periods of time (as revealed by the deep stratification at
numerous mound sites in Macedonia [where they are known as toumbas], Thessaly [where they are
known as magoulas], and central Greece, as well as at Knossos on Crete) are the norm for the Greek
Neolithic; the latter phenomenon in quite rare in the remainder of Europe at this time. Settlement density
and settlement size are both significantly higher in the northern parts of Greece than they are in the
Peloponnese and the islands (aside from Knossos on Crete). Right from the beginning of the Neolithic
there is evidence for widespread trade in utilitarian goods (mostly stone tools and the materials from
which these were produced) as well as in exotics (display items of shell and, in the later phases, metal).
Evidence for at least part-time craft specialization is reasonably copious throughout, but compelling
evidence for social stratification and organizational hierarchies is rare. Monumental architecture, whether
funerary or ritual in function, is conspicuously absent.
THE NEOLITHIC SEQUENCE IN THESSALY
Aceramic Neolithic
This period has been identified at some half-dozen sites and can be roughly dated to shortly before 6500
B.C. although no carbon dates are yet available for it. At Argissa, there is evidence for domesticated cattle
and for some domesticatd plants (wheat, barley, oats). This diet was supplemented by peas, lentils, vetch,
pistachios, acorns, and wild olives.
At Argissa, six shallow oval cuttings were found in the bedrock. Associated post-holes, hearths, and
pebble floors indicate a small permanent settlement. The houses have been interpreted as "pit-huts" with
sunken floors: gradually, some have theorized, the floor levels rose and the huts became buildings with
floors at ground level. Other authorities consider such a development unlikely. No fired pottery occurs,
but attempts at making it are preserved in the form of fragments of simple sun-dried pottery. Between
30% and 60% of the chipped stone is obsidian. Arrowheads at Argissa are of the transverse type. Other
stone objects include "ear-plugs" (or were these used for the lips or nose?).
Early Neolithic (ca. 6000-5300 b.c.)
The three subdivisions of this period are based on changes in the pottery. The numbeers and settlement
stability of the EN occupation in Thessaly are striking in view of the dearth of Mesolithic sites in the
region. Demoule and Perls report 120 EN sites in eastern Thessaly alone, with an average intersite
spacing of less than 5 kms.; no less than 75% of these continue to be occupied in the subsequent MN
period.
Early Ceramic
There is now evidence for domesticated sheep and goat. Plant remains at Sesklo, Souphli, and Achilleion
include wheat, barley, pea, and lentil, all of which were already present in the Aceramic Neolithic. Pottery
at Argissa is red or reddish-brown burnished ware in the form of simple hemispherical bowls and holemouthed jars, both shapes familiar from the Early Neolithic at Franchthi Cave.

12

Proto-Sesklo
Pottery becomes much better made and more varied. Features such as articulated rims, distinct bases, and
sometimes quite elaborate feet appear. Typical is red- or pink-slipped ware. The first pattern-painted
pottery occurs in a red-on-white style.
The richest Proto-Sesklo site is Nea Nikomedeia, located 60 kms. southwest of Thessaloniki, actually in
southwestern Macedonia rather than in Thessaly. The site has four building levels broken down into two
main Early Neolithic phases. Carbon dates from the site suggest an occupation period of ca. 5800-5300
b.c. The layout of the architecture at Nea Nikomedeia is that of an "open settlement" with free-standing
structures. The buildings are rectangular in plan and have a framework of oak posts entwined with reeds
and rushes, both sides of which are coated with mud [the so-called {wattle-and-daub} technique of wallbuilding]. The use of mudbrick is unknown at the site. The houses are oriented east-west for protection
from prevailing northerly winds. Those excavated tend to be relatively large (8 x 8, 8 x 8, 8.5 x 6 m.). In
the first architectural period, four houses are grouped around a larger structure (12 x 12 m.), possibly a
shrine, or perhaps a chieftain's hut, to judge from its contents. This "shrine" is divided into three sections
internally by two rows of posts. The resulting large central room also features internal buttresses. If not a
communal shrine, this building would seem to be evidence for some sort of social hierarchy. In the first
phase, the site was surrounded by a wall, but in the subsequent phase this wall was replaced by a deep
water-filled ditch; neither feature makes very good sense as a serious defensive structure, and the latter
may have been intended principally for drainage
Wheat (but not breadwheat), barley (naked, not hulled), and lentils were the main crops at Nea
Nikomedeia, but peas and vetch were also known. Sheep and goat are the most common animals, but
domesticated pigs and cattle were also present. Hunting and fishing are also well attested by the surviving
animal bones. The most common type of pottery is monochrome, either plain burnished or slipped and
burnished. There is also pattern-painted pottery, either red-on-cream or, less commonly, white-onreddish-brown. Large female figurines of terracotta feature slitted eyes and fat buttocks; they may have
been intended to represent pregnant females. A number of figurines, together with two polished stone
axes and a cache of 400 flint blades, were found in the "shrine". Other stone objects include "stamp seals"
(also called "pintaderas") designed to create geometric impressions, "ear plugs", axes and adzes, and
carved frogs; flint and chert sickle blades were set into bone or wooden handles. Clay sling bullets are
more common than stone arrowheads. Awls, pins, needles, and fish-hooks were made of bone. There is
evidence for twined basketry from impressions on the bases of clay vases. The dead were buried within
the settlement area in a contracted position in shallow pits outside houses or within ruined buildings.
Grave gifts are absent except in one case where a pebble was stuck in the mouth of a male skeleton.
Pre-Sesklo
This is an intrusive northern or northwestern culture found only in northern Thessaly, where it succeeds
the Proto-Sesklo culture. Pre-Sesklo is characterized by the appearance in quantity of impressed wares: at
first, barbotine and nail-impressed, then later a finer ware exhibiting impressions made with cardium
shells. Figurines are crude and pear-shaped and lack any facial features or incised decoration. This
intrusive culture is gradually absorbed and has almost entirely disappeared by the time of the emergence
of the Sesklo culture in the Middle Neolithic period. There is some evidence for secondary burial in the
Pre-Sesklo culture at the site of Prodromos in western Thessaly where eleven skulls and a few other bones
were found in three successive strata underneath a house floor. At this same site, the EN remains of what
was probably the roof of a building included squared beams joined by wooden pegs.
Middle Neolithic (or "Sesklo culture") (ca. 5300-4400 b.c. at Sesklo itself)
The culture of this period in Thessaly develops directly from the Proto-Sesklo culture of the Early
Neolithic period and differs from its predecessor largely in being richer, more complex, and more
uniform. The Sesklo culture extends from Servia in western Macedonia south to Lianokladhi in Phthiotis,
an area of distribution comparable in size to that occupied by the contemporary MN culture of southern
Greece characterized by Urfirnis pottery. The type site for this Thessalian phase, during which the total
number of sites and the average size of individual sites both increase, is Sesklo. The hallmark of the
period is the elaborately decorated red-on-white-painted Sesklo ware. Monochrome red-slipped ware is
also very popular.

13

Sesklo consists of an acropolis surrounded by a lower town, the whole estimated to have covered some
25-30 acres and to have housed some 3000-4000 inhabitants. The acropolis of Sesklo appears to have
been enclosed within a wall approximately one meter thick, not a very impressive fortification but
nevertheless a barrier of sorts, while at some other sites contemporary fortifications take the simpler form
of a surrounding ditch. The acropolis of Sesklo is covered with square and rectangular buildings. Near the
center is a {megaron} (rectangular building with a porch in front of one of the short sides and an axially
placed door in this short side). Not far off is a two-room rectangular building, identified on the basis of its
contents as a potter's shop, in one room of which there are internal buttresses to help support the roof.
Such internal buttresses are also attested in House P at Tsangli and appear to be a fairly common
architectural feature of this period. In general, houses are square or rectangular in plan, consist of
relatively few separate rooms, and are separated from each other by narrow alleys. They have rubble
{socle}s [that is, foundations of unworked fieldstones] about one meter high and superstructures of
mudbrick (attested already in the Early Neolithic at Sesklo, in contrast with the wattle-and-daub
architecture typical of EN Nea Nikomedeia); the roofs were pitched (on the evidence of house models
from Krannon and elsewhere); the walls may have been pierced by windows and by several doorways, as
well as perhaps being gaily painted (again on the evidence of house models).
The economic basis of this culture appears to remain largely unchanged from that typical of the Early
Neolithic. The percentage of obsidian among the chipped stone at Sesklo rises, probably indicating
improved and more extensive exchange networks throughout the Aegean. Figurines continue much as
before, although there is now more evidence for male figurines. Stone "ear plugs" disappear. Not one
Neolithic burial has yet been found at Sesklo. This fact indicates that either burial was performed beyond
the bounds of the town or "burial" as a rite was not considered important and bodies were simply
discarded. In the entire Middle Neolithic period throughout Greece, the only evidence for a "cemetery" is
a group of secondary cremation burials in a cave at Prosymna in the Argolid. The Larissa phase,
originally assigned by Milojcic to the early stages of the Final Neolithic, has more recently been
recognized by Gallis to be a phase transitional between Middle and Late Neolithic. Its most distinctive
pottery is a fine black- burnished ware decorated in white with linear patterns, a class of pottery which is
similar in concept to a contemporary (i.e. transitional MN-to-LN) ware in southern Greece. To this
Larissa phase dates the cemetery at Souphli, the earliest true cemetery of the Thessalian Neolithic, in
which the cremated bones of the dead were crammed into black- burnished jars each of which was buried
in an individual pit.
Late Neolithic (ca. 4300-3300 b.c.)
The Late Neolithic in Thessaly is often referred to as the "Dimini culture" (for example, by Vermeule),
but this is misleading in that the rich finds from Dimini itself represent a provincial eastern Thessalian
variant of the later LN period in Thessaly as a whole. Milojcic and his German co-workers have divided
the Late Neolithic period in Thessaly into four phases on the basis of changes in ceramics. These phases
fall into two broad subdivisions as follows:
Tsangli-Arapi Phases: earlier Late Neolithic (ca. 4300-3800 b.c.)
Pottery is either dark-surfaced, plain or incised, or light-surfaced with dark-on-light pattern-painted
decoration executed in a matt paint. There are no figurines. Relatively little architecture from these phases
is known, although the large megaron from Velestino may belong here. Measuring some thirty meters
long, this is the largest Neolithic building thus far known in Greece. A cemetery of creamtion burials of
the Tsangli Phase at Plateia Magoula Zarkou is located over 300 meters from the contemporary settlement
and provides evidence for some sort of social differentiation, probably gender-based, in the form of a
mutuall exclusive distribution of collar-necked jar and concave-sided bowl shapes among the tombs.
From the settlement at this same site, where it had been carefully placed in a pit sealed beneath a house
floor, probably as some sort of "foundation deposit", comes a remarkable terracotta model of a roofless
building containing eight human figures, two larger "adult couples" and four smaller children
accompanied by a range of domestic equipment.
Otzaki-Dimini Phases: later Late Neolithic (ca. 3800-3300 b.c.)
The famous pottery from Dimini showing a marked preference for spiraliform and meandroid patterns
belongs to the later of these two phases but is typical of east Thessaly only. Naturalistic figurines are rare
although they certainly exist (e.g. the well-known seated woman holding a child, from Sesklo). More
characteristic are schematic figurines in marble which loosely resemble later Cycladic types of the Early
14

Bronze Age. The architecture at Dimini and Sesklo is distinctive: small "forts" with multiple enclosure
walls and a central megaron opening onto a courtyard. Parallels are fairly common in the Early Bronze
Age of western Anatolia (Troy I-II, Karatas Semayk, Demirci Hyk, etc.). It is at present unknown
whether towns existed outside of these fortified Thessalian complexes. The total chronological span of
these phases is a little unclear; there are three building levels at Dimini, two at Sesklo. The fact that bears
are represented in the bone assemblages from Dimini and contemporary Pefkakia only by foot bones has
suggested to some that these are all that is left of bearskins that served as either rugs or wall hangings.
Typical of the later LN in Thessaly is a growing regionalism, while in contemporary southern Greece
settlement in caves is on the rise.
Final Neolithic (ca. 3300-2500 b.c.)
Thessalian Final Neolithic is known as the Rachmani phase, a long period which overlaps with southern
Greek Final Neolithic but which extends well beyond it so that its end is contemporary with the phase of
the southern Greek Early Bronze Age known as Early Helladic II.
The pottery of the Rachmani phase is extremely varied. Distinctive is {Crusted ware}, in which vases are
coated after firing with colored "paste" which can be scraped off relatively easily. This Crusted ware has
technological parallels in the Final Neolithic of Franchthi Cave. Figurines of this phase are frequently {
acrolithic}; that is, the heads are made of stone, while the bodies are of clay or wood. Copper objects
appear for the first time, so the culture is properly described as {Chalcolithic} (chalkos = "copper" +
lithos = "stone"). Architecture is poorly known except for the apsidal House Q at Rachmani itself. At the
coastal site of Pefkakia in the Gulf of Pagasai, imported Early Helladic II pottery (so-called EH
"Urfirnis", including fragments of the distinctive sauceboat shape) is found in late Rachmani contexts, an
indication of the extensive intercultural contacts of the middle phase of the Early Bronze Age which
distinguish that era from the more self-contained Neolithic period.
THE NEOLITHIC SEQUENCE IN CRETE
There is as yet no evidence from Crete for human occupation in either the Palaeolithic or Mesolithic
periods. Early Neolithic finds are so far restricted to the settlement at Knossos. The following summary is
based almost entirely on J. D. Evans' excavations at Knossos.
Aceramic Neolithic (from before 6000 to 5700 b.c.) [Level X = at least four architectural levels]
There is no pottery, but two baked clay figurines have been found. Walls are of unbaked mudbrick or of
stones, mud, and mudbrick. No complete house plans have been recovered. The economy is a fully
developed Neolithic one including domesticated wheat, barley, lentils, sheep/goat, pig, and some cattle.
Of the bones, ca. 75% are sheep/goat, 20% pig. Stone axe-heads are rare. Chipped stone includes some
Melian obsidian from the beginning of the sequence. Querns and grinders of stone are also present from
the beginning.
Early Neolithic (ca. 5700-3700 b.c.)
This period is subdivided into two phases of drastically different lengths:
Early Neolithic I (ca. 5700-4000 b.c.) [Levels IX-V]
This period constitutes by far the longest stage of homogeneous cultural activity on the site. The buildings
in Levels IX-VIII are rectangular and constructed of fired mudbrick. From Level VII onwards, buildings
are constructed of {pis} (poured mud) on stone foundations. Wall surfaces are regularly mud-plastered.
Although no complete house plans were recovered, it is clear that buildings of this phase, as later in the
Neolithic sequence at Knossos, consisted of large numbers of relatively small rooms. Since the roofing
over these structures was flat and fairly thick, all unsupported spans were necessarily kept relatively
small. Pottery, which appears in a fully developed form and increases in quantity with time, is generally
dark-surfaced and burnished. It is decorated with incised and dot-impressed ({pointill}) motifs which are
often filled with white, and occasionally with red, paste. Complex handles and rims are claimed as
evidence that the pottery was not in a formative stage of development and hence that the technology
behind it was imported wholesale from outside the island, but such features could conceivably have been
imitated from containers in other media such as woodwork or basketry. Stone axes are still rare, while
stone maceheads first appear in Level VI.

15

Early Neolithic II (ca. 4000-3700 b.c.) [Level IV = three architectural levels]

There are no apparent changes in the architecture. Again no complete house plans were recovered, but
one partially cleared building, none of whose original limits were certainly located, consisted of at least
eight rectangular rooms. Towards the end of the period, new shapes in pottery increase in frequency and
rippled relief decoration becomes popular. In an overall sense, however, the pottery is much the same as
in the preceding period. Also near the end of the period the first evidence for a weaving industry appears
in the form of spindle whorls, loomweights, and shuttles. Stone maceheads and axes increase in
frequency. Rock crystal makes its first appearance among the materials used for chipped stone tools.
Middle Neolithic (ca. 3700-3600 b.c.) [Level III = one architectural level]
This is a short transitional phase. For the first time, sizable portions of house plans were recovered. The
buildings are large, basically rectangular units with many small rooms, in marked contrast to the small
freestanding buildings of contemporary Thessaly which consist of between two and four rooms each. The
changes in the pottery are minor. There is increased evidence for weaving, and the number of stone axes
and maceheads continues to grow. A simple nine-room house at the site of Katsamba is contemporary
with this period at Knossos.
Late Neolithic (ca. 3600-2800 b.c.) [Levels II-I = three architectural levels]
The two large buildings excavated by Sir Arthur Evans under the central court of the later Minoan palace
belong to this phase. These buildings contained two fixed hearths, unparalleled in the other Neolithic
phases at the site and unusual in later Minoan Crete. The better preserved (A) consists of at least fifteen
rooms. The pottery is largely unchanged except for the appearance of "crusted" decoration at the very end
of this phase, at more or less the same time as it appears in both Thessaly (Rachmani) and southern
Greece (Final Neolithic). The first evidence for the use of metal artifacts consists of a copper axe found
by Sir Arthur Evans in one of the buildings he excavated. There is now growing evidence for occupation
at a number of other sites in Crete in the form of pottery from Phaistos, finds from numerous caves in
west and central Crete (e.g. Platyvola, Trapeza), and a house at the site of Magasa. The last, an unusual
two-roomed structure in which no less than nineteen stone axes and four millstones as well as fragments
of obsidian were found, may have been a toolmaker's workshop or even something as rustic as a
sheepfold; as an isolated building not forming part of a larger hamlet or village, it is distinctly unusual in
prehistoric Crete.
Cretan Neolithic Burials
At Knossos, there is no evidence for adult burials, but infant and child burials are found in pits under
house floors in the Aceramic, EN II, and MN levels. During the Late Neolithic period, caves and rock
shelters served as burial places in other parts of Crete.

THE NEOLITHIC SEQUENCE IN THE CYCLADIC ISLANDS

The Saliagos Culture (ca. 4300-3700 b.c.)
The Excavated Site
The only extensively excavated site of this culture, Saliagos, lies on what is now a small islet between
Paros and Antiparos. This site was clearly a settlement, the finds from it including architecture, pottery,
stone artifacts, and both plant and animal (including fish and shellfish) remains. The architecture consists
of buildings with rectangular rooms. In the last of the three distinguishable strata on the site, much of the
excavated area was occupied by a single rectangular complex measuring 15 by more than 17 meters. The
pottery is dark-surfaced, usually unburnished when coarse and burnished when fine. Characteristic are
open bowls, of which ca. 40% stand on high pedestal feet. Equally characteristic is the decoration of this
dark-surfaced pottery with geometric ornament, both rectilinear and curvilinear, in white matt paint. The
chipped stone, exclusively of obsidian, has as its most distinct types ovates and tanged or tanged-andbarbed points/arrowheads (perhaps all used in fishing for tuna); blades are rare. Marble figurines of both
schematic (fiddle-shaped) and realistic ("The Fat Lady of Saliagos", a {steatopygous}[excessively bigbutted] female stylistically typical of the Neolithic period) types were found, though they were rare (only
one of each). Fragments of two marble vases were recovered. Plant remains consist of emmer wheat and
two-row barley. Of the animal bones, sheep/goat accounted for 83.5%, pig for 12.1%, and cattle for 3.5%.
16

Large numbers of fish bones were found, of which 97% of the identifiable pieces belonged to tuna, often
of very large size. Interestingly, however, no fish-hooks were identified among the artifacts of bone or
stone and nets are unlikely to have been used to catch fish of this size. In all probability, the characteristic
tanged arrowheads were used to spear such fish out of the water. Large numbers of shellfish were also
collected by the Neolithic inhabitants of Saliagos (35 different species identified).
The Culture
Although a fairly large number of sites characterized by the stone tool assemblage found at Saliagos have
now been identified in the Cyclades, the vast majority of these sites are small and many of them were
probably nothing more than lookout posts or even spots where a single individual spent a short period of
time obsidian-knapping. The only site to have produced evidence of farming activity is Saliagos itself,
and sites of any size are few. In any case, the density of sites of any kind during this period seems low
and the "colonization" of the Cyclades appears to have been a fairly late and gradual phenomenon which
may have been connected with the exploitation of annual tuna runs through the central Aegean but which
clearly was not connected with the first exploitation of Melian obsidian, a phenomenon predating the 200to-400-year occupational history of Saliagos by some 6000 years. No traces of a cemetery or of tombs of
any sort were found at Saliagos nor was any metal. The Saliagos culture is roughly contemporary with
late MN and early LN on the Greek Mainland. In terms of both its pottery and its reliance on marine
resources, it differs considerably from known Mainland Greek or Cretan Neolithic cultures. Similar
pottery has been found at sites on nearby Naxos (Grotta, Cave of Zas); the closest mainland ceramic
analogues come from Anatolia to the east rather than the Greek Mainland to the west, thus suggesting that
the Cyclades may have been initially colonized during the Neolithic pereiod by human groups from both
sides of the Aegean.
The Kephala Culture (ca. 3300-3200 b.c. or later in radiocarbon years)
The Excavated Site
Located at the northwestern tip of the island of Keos, Kephala consists of both a settlement and a nearby
extramural cemetery. The settlement was short-lived (estimated occupational duration of one century) and
small (maximum population estimate of 50) and is one of several more or less contemporary sites on the
island (which include Paoura, Sykamia, and Ayia Irini). The settlement architecture at Kephala consists of
small, poorly preserved buildings composed of one or more rectangular rooms. On the south side and near
the base of the headland on which the settlement is located is a cemetery consisting of forty excavated
graves containing the remains of sixty-five individuals (21 adult males, 25 adult females, 5 adults of
unknown sex, 9 children, 5 infants). Thirty-five of the forty graves have walls constructed of small stones.
In plan, these graves can be rectangular, circular, or oval, and they vary considerably in size (0.46-1.58 m.
in length). In section, the graves occasionally narrow somewhat towards the top, though corbelling was
not regularly practiced, and the interior height varies from 0.15 to 0.85 m. The graves were roofed with
large slabs of schist. At least seven of these built graves were surmounted by built stone platforms,
usually rectangular in plan, whose function is unclear. Of the five graves which were not constructed of
small stones, two were small slab-sided cists (one containing a jar burial) and three were jar burials in
simple pits. All five of these smaller and simpler tombs were used for the burial of children or infants. All
burials were inhumations, the skeletons usually being contracted. Among the twenty-five tombs for which
precise details are available, fifteen contained a single burial (nine adults, three children, three infants),
five contained two burials, and five contained between four and thirteen burials. The tombs with multiple
burials are likely to have been family tombs, some of which were clearly used over a considerable period
of time. Of the twenty-seven for which there is definite information, only nine contained any grave
offerings at all and only one contained more than one object. Grave goods were normally containers,
marble vessels in two cases but more often clay pots. In only one case was a grave offering something
other than a vessel: a flint scraper deposited with an adult male, who is the only certainly male recipient
of any grave offering.
From the settlement comes evidence of metalworking on the site in the form of pieces of slag and of burnt
clay fragments of furnace-lining or of crucibles. Four fragmentary copper artifacts from the site (the
single piece analyzed was almost pure copper) were unfortunately surface finds, but there is little reason
not to accept them as representative of the sort of metal artifact in use during the site's occupation. Most
of the chipped stone on the site is obsidian which was clearly locally worked and of which a far larger
percentage consists of blades than at Saliagos. Half-a-dozen tools of flint/ chert are certainly imported.
17

Eight terracotta figurines, all but one found in the cemetery although not in the tombs themselves, are
either small, crudely modelled female figures (four examples), heads which resemble in their flat,
backward-tilting faces and prominent noses the later marble Early Cycladic figurines (three examples), or
{ithyphallic} [sexually aroused, as indicated by a prominent penile erection] males (one example).
Among the pottery, the most common shapes are bowls, jars, and scoops. Decoration, when it occurs,
may consist of incision, pattern-burnishing, or crusted decoration in red or white applied after firing. Of
considerable interest are the impressions of woven mats on seventeen potsherds and of cloth on three
more sherds.
The Culture
The Kephala culture, assignable to the Final Neolithic period, has numerous connections with sites in
Attica (Athens, Thorikos, Kitsos Cave) and the Saronic Gulf (Kolonna on Aegina). The extramural
cemetery at Kephala is, after the appreciably earlier cemeteries of corbelling burials from Souphli and
Plateia Magoula Zarkou in Thessaly, the Aegean's first communal burial ground to be located outside of a
cave. The tomb types, marble vessels, and some of the figurines anticipate those characteristic of the
subsequent Grotta-Pelos culture, the earliest Bronze Age culture thus far identified in the islands. The
evidence from Kephala for Neolithic metalwork corresponds in date with that from contemporary
Knossos on Crete, Pefkakia in Thessaly, and Sitagroi in eastern Macedonia, but only at Kephala and
Sitagroi do slags or crucibles attest to the actual practice of some kind of metallurgy. Roughly
contemporary deposits of copper artifacts accompanied by gold and silver objects with undeniable
parallels among the treasures found in the rich Neolithic burials at Varna in coastal Bulgaria have also
been found in the Cave of Zas on Naxos and in the Alepotrypa Cave on the west coast of the Mani in
southern Laconia. Such distant contacts are eloquent testimony to the impressive distances over which
objects were being exchanged by sea in the Aegean during the later fourth millennium B.C.
A Final Neolithic Successor to the Saliagos Culture?
Recent excavations at Grotta on Naxos have produced white-on-dark painted pottery reminiscent of that
of the Saliagos Culture but here associated with an obsidian chipped stone industry consisting primarily
of blades. The excavator has suggested that this assemblage, rather than that described above as the
Kephala Culture, may be typical of the central Aegean islands at the end of the Neolithic and may have a
better claim to being the direct ancestor of the Grotta-Pelos Culture, the Cyclades' earliest Bronze Age
assemblage. The Kephala culture may thus be limited to Attica and islands in the adjacent waters of the
Saronic Gulf and the westernmost Aegean.

Lesson 3: The Eutresis and Korakou Cultures of Early Helladic I-II

TERMINOLOGY
o

THE EUTRESIS CULTURE OF EARLY HELLADIC I (ca. 3100/3000-2650 B.C.)

Architecture

Material Culture

Origins

THE KORAKOU CULTURE OF EARLY HELLADIC IIA (ca. 2650-2200/2150 B.C.)

Pottery

Architecture

Tombs

Settlement Pattern and General Town Planning

Material Culture Other than Pottery

Representational Art

LERNA III: THE TYPE SITE FOR THE NORTHEASTERN PELOPONNESE

18

The House of the Tiles

The Fortifications

The Eutresis and Korakou Cultures of Early Helladic I-II

TERMINOLOGY
In 1918 Wace and Blegen, in imitation of Evans' tripartite scheme for Crete, divided the Mainland Greek
Bronze Age into Early, Middle, and Late, and then subdivided each of these into I, II, and III. Until the
excavations of Caskey at Lerna between 1952 and 1958, the distinction between the cultures of the Early
Helladic (EH) II and III chronological periods was not very clear. Likewise, it was not until Caskey's
supplementary excavations at Eutresis in 1958 that EH I culture became easily distinguishable from those
of the preceding FN and the succeeding EH II periods.
As a result of the discovery in the mid-1960's of a new Early Bronze Age (EBA) assemblage in the basal
level (I) at the site of Lefkandi on Euboea that was initially thought to be contemporary with the EH III
cultures of the Argolid and Central Greece, Renfrew in 1972 proposed an alternative system of
terminology whereby EH I, II, and III were abandoned as designations for cultural (i.e. artifactual)
assemblages, though they might still be useful as terms for chronological intervals, that is purely for
periods of time. In their place, Renfrew used site names to designate cultures: the culture that flourished
during the EH I period was named the Eutresis culture, that of the EH II period the Korakou culture, and
that of the EH III period in its northeastern Peloponnesian version (i.e. stratum IV at Lerna) the Tiryns
culture. The "Lefkandi I" culture in Renfrew's scheme became a second distinct cultural assemblage
existing during the EH III period, contemporary with but spatially discrete from the Tiryns culture.
In 1979, Rutter suggested that the culture represented by the finds from Lefkandi I was contemporary not
with the Tiryns culture of the EH III period but rather with the last phases of the Korakou culture of EH
II. In contrast with the Eutresis and Korakou cultures which are found distributed throughout Mainland
Greece south of Thessaly, the "Lefkandi I" assemblage was regionally restricted: it is at present attested in
the northern Cyclades (= Renfrew's Kastri group of the EC II Keros-Syros culture), Euboea, eastern
Attica, coastal Thessaly, and at several sites on the interior of Boeotia. Several of its more distinctive
shapes have also been reported to occur in late EB II levels at the site of Limantepe on the western
Anatolian coast immediately west of ancient Clazomenai and about 25 kms. west of modern Izmir.
In 1987, Dousougli, in publishing collections of pottery both from excavations and from surface surveys
at three sites in the Argolid, drew attention to a variant EH I cultural assemblage. Deposits of such
material have been excavated both at Kephalari (just south of Argos) and at Tsoungiza, in both cases
stratified below early EH II remains. This regional EH I complex characteristic of the Argive plain
(Kephalari, Makrovouni, Talioti, etc.) and of the southern Corinthia (Tsoungiza, Zygouries) is as yet
differentiated only by its pottery, which is distinct from, though clearly related to, both that from
contemporary central Greece (e.g. Eutresis) and that from the southeastern Argolid (numerous sites in the
Hermionid explored by survey but not yet excavated). Particularly characteristic of this "Talioti" subculture are: large red-slipped and usually unburnished bowls on high pedestal feet, often featuring simple
incised and impressed patterns on the pedestals or the flattened interiors of the rims or both; mat
impressions on the undersides of coarse cooking vessels; dark burnished and incised or impressed "frying
pans" similar to those found in the EBA Cyclades, although possibly earlier than any of those; and askoi
furnished with an incised, high-swung vertical strap handle which may be descended from the incised
scoops of the Final Neolithic period common in the area of the Saronic Gulf and the western Cyclades.
Resistance to Renfrew's system of site labels for distinct cultural assemblages has consistently been quite
strong since the mid-1970's, with the result that both his site-based terminology and the older EH I-II-III
labels are in concurrent use as descriptors for the various EBA cultures of the central and southern Greek
Mainland. The EH terminological system, if retained, should be modified as follows: EH I = Eutresis
culture (including the Talioti sub-culture); EH IIA = Korakou culture; EH IIB = "Lefkandi I" culture; EH
III = Tiryns culture. Moreover, one must remember that in many areas of Greece (for example,
throughout the northern Peloponnese) there is no EH IIB cultural phase, the Tiryns culture (EH III =
Lerna stratum IV) directly succeeding the Korakou culture (EH IIA = Lerna stratum III).

19

THE EUTRESIS CULTURE OF EARLY HELLADIC I (ca. 3100/3000-2650 B.C.)

This cultural assemblage was first recognized by Blegen at Korakou in 1915-16. Best defined
stratigraphically at Eutresis between levels attributable to Final Neolithic and Early Helladic II, it is also
well represented at Lithares (Boeotia), Palaia Kokkinia (Attica), Perachora-Vouliagmeni (Corinthia),
Nemea-Tsoungiza (Corinthia), and Talioti (Argolid). The ceramic type shape of the period - a red slipped
and burnished hemispherical bowl - has a wide distribution from the Peloponnese to Thessaly. This
culture is likely to be characteristic of the entire Greek Mainland south of the Spercheios River valley,
although the recent definition of the Talioti sub-culture (see above) in the central Argolid and southern
Corinthia suggests that regional variants may be fairly distinctive and possibly quite numerous.
Architecture
There is a possible fortification wall at Perachora. Very little is known about the settlement architecture of
this culture, primarily because levels dating from this period are normally found deeply buried beneath
deposits belonging to later periods and are therefore relatively inaccessible. No tombs of this culture are
known at present.
Material Culture
Stone, bone, and clay objects (spools, spindle whorls, and loomweights) are undistinguished. Metal finds
are extremely rare. The pottery is somewhat variable, as the definition of the Talioti sub-culture (see
above) has recently demonstrated. Nevertheless, the following traits seem to be widely shared: a
preference for red slips in the finer tableware, whether this is burnished or not; a distinct fabric employed
for cooking vessels, which are normally dark-surfaced; a penchant for simple incised or impressed
patterns, normally rectilinear, on the fine tableware, and a corresponding predilection for plastic and
impressed ornament on the cooking pottery and pithoi; and finally, a relatively simple shape repertoire
consisting of convex-sided bowls, either pedestal-footed or flat-based, for eating and drinking, collarnecked jars for storage, and deeper bowls or wide-mouthed jars for cooking.
Origins
This assemblage appears to have developed directly out of central and southern Greek Final Neolithic
culture. It is obvious from the summary above that at present we know very little about it. For the first
phase of the "Bronze Age", it is very poor in metal. From the point of view of stages in economic growth,
the culture is perhaps best viewed as a terminal phase of the Neolithic.
THE KORAKOU CULTURE OF EARLY HELLADIC IIA (ca. 2650-2200/2150 B.C.)
This culture is defined stratigraphically at Eutresis and Tsoungiza above Early Helladic I levels of the
Eutresis culture and at Eutresis, Lerna, Tiryns, and Tsoungiza below Early Helladic III levels of the
Tiryns culture. The Korakou culture is widely distributed all over the Peloponnese, Attica, Euboea,
Boeotia, Phocis, Locris, and as far west as the island of Lefkas. Pottery typical of the Korakou culture is
found in late Rachmani levels at Pefkakia (near Volos in Thessaly), in Early Minoan II levels at Knossos
in Crete, and in Keros-Syros culture levels at sites such as Skarkos (Ios) and Ayia Irini (Keos) in the
Cyclades. Many settlements of this culture, especially in the Argolid (e.g. Lerna, Tiryns), suffer burnt
destructions before being either abandoned or reoccupied by bearers of the Tiryns culture, but at Eutresis
in Boeotia and at Kolonna on Aegina there is said to be a smooth and peaceful transition to the new
Tiryns culture.
Pottery
A basically tripartite ceramic assemblage appears to have developed gradually and smoothly out of that of
the preceding Eutresis culture. The fine wares, employed for most open shapes (saucers, bowls with Tshaped rims, large dippers with ring handles, small spoons, and especially {sauceboat}s [deep cups with a
single small horizontal or vertical handle attached just below the rim on one side opposite an unusually
long and high-swung, troughed spout on the other]) as well as for some of the smaller closed shapes
(beaked jugs, askoi), fall into two major classes. The most common is {Early Helladic Urfirnis} (so
labelled to distinguish it from the much earlier and quite different Middle Neolithic Urfirnis). This ware is
normally unburnished and usually coated solidly with a paint/slip varying in color from black through
brown to red (depending on firing conditions) and often mottled in a variety of these darker colors on one
20

and the same vase. Large bowls, some water jars, and, towards the end of the period, numerous smaller
shapes are only partially painted or have a simple band at the rim instead of the more common solid
coating. Rarely, vases are decorated with true patterns in dark Urfirnis paint on a light clay ground
(patterned Urfirnis). The second major fine class, {Yellow Mottled ware} (or, in German,
"Elfenbeinware" = "Ivory Ware"), has a shape range very similar to that of Urfirnis ware but is coated
with a light-colored slip rather than a dark one and is usually burnished. The surface colors of Yellow
Mottled vary enormously, even on the same vase, and include yellow, pink, and bluish-gray. Most large
closed shapes, including the extremely common hydrias or water jars, are made in a pale-surfaced,
medium coarse fabric which is usually left unpainted. The third and final component of Korakou culture
ceramics consists of medium coarse and coarse, dark-surfaced, and unburnished cooking pottery. Very
closely related to that of the preceding Eutresis culture, such pottery consists primarily of deep bowls with
incurving rims which often feature plastic and impressed decoration in the form of bands or lugs just
below the rim.
Architecture
Several sites, all of which lie on the coast (e.g. Lerna, Askitario, Kolonna), are fortified. For the first time
large, presumably public buildings are attested (Building BG and the "House of the Tiles" at Lerna; at
least two similar buildings at Akovitika in Messenia; the "Rundbau" at Tiryns; the "White House" at
Kolonna on Aegina; the "Fortified Building" at Thebes; the "House of the Pithoi" at Zygouries). With the
exception of the circular "Rundbau", all of these conform to a single basic design, recently christened the
"{Corridor House}", which may be defined as follows: a rectangular, free-standing, two-storeyed
structure characterized by a linear series of square to rectangular halls at the core and flanked on the long
sides by corridors which also serve as stairwells. Most of these buildings were roofed with tiles, usually
of terracotta only (some of which were even solidly coated with Urfirnis paint at Zygouries) but in some
cases of both schist and terracotta, and thus the roofs were presumably pitched rather than flat. Notable
features of these structures are the presence of aligned off-center doorways, the absence of cut stone, and
the failure to employ the half-timbering technique in wall construction, all in marked contrast to the
tradition of monumental settlement architecture that flourished in contemporary western Anatolia (e.g.
Troy I-II). The Tirynthian "Rundbau", though distinguished both by its round plan and by its enormous
size, features concentric corridors and a roof of both tiles and schist slabs and thus is clearly part of the
same highly distinctive architectural tradition as the Corridor Houses.
The function of all these structures has been much debated: are they truly public buildings or simply
fancy private residences? if public, did they serve religious, economic, or political purposes, or were they
multifunctional? With the exception of the House of the Tiles at Lerna (see below), no known example
has been found to contain much in the way of its original furnishings, and even that building was claimed
by its excavator to have been not yet finished at the time of its destruction by fire, so the movable
contents of these structures do not provide any useful clues as to their function. The "Rundbau" has been
claimed to be a monumental granary, but this identification, though it has considerable appeal, cannot be
substantiated by much solid evidence. At both Akovitika and Tiryns more than one such monumental
building may have been in simultaneous use; if such buildings were in fact multiple rather than singular at
most sites, they are unlikely to have been THE settlement centers or residences of rulers, but more
evidence is needed on this point. Interestingly, not only this architectural type but also the practice of
using tiles for roofing disappear completely at the end of the EH II period.
Good portions of village plans have been cleared at the sites of Ayios Kosmas (Attica), Lithares
(Boeotia), and Zygouries (Corinthia). The houses are in general rectangular (i.e. no curved walls) with flat
roofs and some fixed hearths. Although there is no standard house plan, many exhibit common features
(e.g. off-axis doorways) and some can even be recognized as simple one-storey versions of the larger
Corridor Houses. The irregularities of most of the ordinary houses of the Korakou culture may be
explained by the fact that the domestic architecture of this culture was agglomerative; that is, additions
were made to an original building whenever and however they were needed or wanted rather than in any
prescribed fashion or sequence. The contrast with the typological uniformity characteristic of the apsidal
or rectangular megaron (= long-house consisting of one or two rooms with a shallow porch across, and an
axially located doorway in the middle of, one short side) which was standard in the EH III and MH
periods is striking. At the site of Orchomenos in Boeotia, a series of round foundations, presumably
houses, may belong to the Korakou culture and are evidence for a fundamentally different kind of house
plan.
21

Tombs
The number of different forms in common use clearly reveal that there was no standard tomb type:
(1) Ayios Stephanos (Laconia): single burials in pits within the settlement.
(2) Ayios Kosmas and Tsepi cemetery at Marathon (Attica): extramural cemeteries of cistgraves, each
containing multiple burials. Strong Cycladic connections are indicated by the tomb gifts as well as by the
tomb type itself.
(3) Lefkas, Nidri Plain, "R"-Graves: individual burials in pithoi, cists, or pits, all of which are set within
raised circular platforms which supported tumuli/mounds covered with a layer of stones. These tombs, all
located outside the settlement in a single cemetery, may actually be of a later calendar date than other EH
IIA tombs, but some contain sauceboats and are thus culturally part of the EH IIA assemblage. There are
traces of cremation in some tombs. Cists built of slabs are secondary and generally poor in grave
offerings, while pithoi and cists built of rubble masonry are primary and often rich in their contents.
(4) Corinth (Corinthia): multiple burials in small rock-cut chambers opening off of a vertical rock-cut
shaft.
(5) Zygouries (Corinthia): multiple burials in rock-cut chamber tombs constituting an extramural
cemetery.
(6) Manika (Euboea): a series of extensive extramural cemeteries consisting of rock-cut chamber tombs
used for multiple inhumation burials. The small tomb chambers are circular or trapezoidal in plan with
roofs sloping down toward the back. The chambers are approached by a short vertical or steeply sloping
shaft in which between one and three shallow steps are often cut. The mouths of the tomb chambers are
sealed by stone slabs to prevent earth from filtering into the chambers and the entrance shafts are
themselves filled with stones. The bones of the flexed inhumation burials often exhibit cutting marks,
perhaps evidence for the severing of tendons to facilitate the flexing of the corpse after rigor mortis had
set in.
Pithos burials for children are quite common. No tombs of this culture are known from Lerna, so the
presence at this site of an extramural cemetery which has so far escaped detection is probable. In the
chamber tombs of Manika, one or two burials are often found lying fully articulated on the tomb floor. By
contrast, the masses of human bones found tightly packed into the cist graves at Tsepi in nearby eastern
Attica were clearly deposited secondarily in their final resting places. Thus not only the tomb forms but
also the final disposition of the body after death varied considerably from site to site within the Korakou
culture.
Settlement Pattern and General Town Planning
Many sites of the Korakou culture continue to be occupied in the subsequent EH III and Middle Helladic
(MH) periods. However, a substantial number of EH IIA sites occurring inland on low hillocks or ridges
or on low coastal promontories are abandoned, not to be reoccupied until Mycenaean or even later times,
if at all. Many of these abandoned sites were probably small fishing hamlets or isolated farmsteads which
were given up in the more nucleated and defence-conscious EH III and MH periods. In contrast with both
the preceding EH I and the succeeding EH III phases, settlements during the EH II period vary so
considerably in absolute size that most authorities feel confident that some sort of site hierarchy existed,
although there is considerable disagreement over how many levels or stages to identify in this hierarchy
(two, three, or even four have been proposed).
Material Culture Other than Pottery
In clay, pithoi and hearths are often decorated with impressed designs made by rolling quite crudely
decorated cylinder seals over raised bands of clay on pithos shoulders or over the flattened upper surfaces
of hearth rims. Identical patterns occur at Tiryns, Lerna, and Zygouries in the Argolid, a fact which has
been argued to show that the same itinerant artist was responsible for making these purportedly nonmovable items. Clay animal figurines are fairly common (cows/bulls, sheep, etc.) and in some cases
feature intentionally slit bellies, presumably indicative of butchery practices and possibly even of
sacrificial procedure. Large numbers of sealings from Lerna, as well as seal impressions both on sealings
and on pottery from a number of other sites, show that Mainland {glyptic} [the art of seal-cutting] was
probably more advanced than Minoan glyptic at this time. The seals are also evidence for the existence of
22

the concept of private property and suggest that the House of the Tiles, in which most of the Lernaean
sealings were found, may have served as a "redistributive center" for this area of the Argolid. The actual
seals from Lerna III have not survived, but one recently found at Nemea-Tsoungiza is made of lead, while
others of both stone and terracotta are known from other sites. Spindle whorls and loomweights are
common. Some terracotta "anchors" (use unknown) appear at this time, but not at Lerna until Lerna IV (=
Tiryns culture of EH III period).
In stone, obsidian is the material for chipped stone, at least throughout the eastern mainland. Stone vessels
are not common but do occur at Attic and Euboean sites which have strong Cycladic connections.
Figurines of Cycladic type again occur at Attic and Euboean sites but almost never elsewhere. There does
not appear to have been a particularly Mainland version of this marble artifactual form, as there was on
Crete (the so-called Koumasa variant of the standard Cycladic folded-arm figurine). Stone pestles and
grinders are common, as are beads and pendants of various kinds. Ground stone axes (called { celts) are
also common.
In bone, small tools of various sorts are fairly common: pins, awls, needles, fish-hooks, and small tubes to
hold pigment.
There is an enormous increase in the number of metal artifacts during this period over what is known
from EH I. Copper/bronze daggers and tweezers are common, the latter particularly in graves. Two pairs
of silver tweezers come from tombs at Manika. There is a fair amount of gold jewelry, also from tombs
(e.g. at Zygouries), a class of object which may be considered to culminate in examples of precious metal
{plate} [containers made out of metal], such as the two gold sauceboats known (one reputedly from
Arcadia) and several incised gold and silver cups said to have been found on Euboea.
Representational Art
Representational art is quite rare in the Korakou culture, regardless of the medium (terracotta, stone,
metal, or bone). Most common are three-dimensional animals in terracotta, either figurines of sheep and
cattle or else {protome}s [only the heads, necks, and occasionally shoulders] of the same animals
attached at the ends of sauceboat spouts or the bases of handles on other shapes. The existence of more
complex figurines is suggested by a fragmentary yoke of oxen from Tsoungiza, which incidentally is the
earliest evidence from the Greek Mainland for the use of draft animals or the plow. Human figures, on the
other hand, are unattested in terracotta. In stone, tombs in the EH II cemeteries of Attica (e.g. Ayios
Kosmas) and Euboea (e.g. Manika) have produced numerous marble figurines, of both schematic and
relatively naturalistic types, which invite comparison with contemporary examples in the same material
from the Cyclades (see following handout).
Much less frequent are representational forms used as elements in seal designs or as painted patterns on
pottery. The two-dimensional pictorial motifs used on both these classes of object usually take the form of
insects (especially spiders), although one example of a man-made object - a round-bottomed beakspouted jug - is also attested. The only true "scene" in the pictorial art of the Korakou culture is a
fragmentarily preserved depiction of a quadruped (again a bovid or caprid?) suckling its young, an
impressed design on a hearth rim from Tiryns. The absence of the human form from Peloponnesian art of
this period is striking.
LERNA III: THE TYPE SITE FOR THE NORTHEASTERN PELOPONNESE
The House of the Tiles
Measuring ca. 25 x 12 m., the building consists basically of two large halls and two smaller rooms on the
major axis with long corridors along both sides and benches outside. There are entryways on all four
sides. The building was two-storeyed and had a low pitched roof covered with terracotta tiles except
along the eaves where the tiles were of schist. A stone socle (ca. 0.45 m. high for the exterior walls, a
little lower for the interior ones) served as a footing for a baked mudbrick superstructure. The bricks are
0.35 m. square in plan and 0.13 m. thick. Wood was used for the treads of the stairs and for sheathing
[and so slightly thickening, with respect to the adjacent walls] the jambs of most doorways; wood was
also used for the beams and rafters that carried the waterproofing clay and the capping tiles of the roof.
Yellow clay was used to make up floor surfaces and to stucco the exterior walls. Reddish-brown clay was
used in a thin coating over the floors and for plastering the interior walls. The walls, with two minor
exceptions at the northwest corner, are uniformly 0.90 m. thick. The walls in the east hall received their
final coat of plaster and the wall surfaces there are divided into rectangular panels by incised lines. The
23

walls above the staircase in the north corridor also received their final coat of plaster. The remaining
walls of the building were left unfinished, coated only with "combed" reddish-brown clay.
Of the two stairways, the northern provides access from the exterior of the building only and leads up to
the east along the length of the north corridor. The southern stair leads up from the west hall on the
interior in a southerly direction to a small landing in the south corridor, from which it would have
continued up to the west along the length of the south corridor.
Two rooms are accessible only from the exterior, one at the northwest corner (I) and one in the middle of
the south side (XI). Both rooms are located close to benches which run along the exterior of the long sides
of the building. Neither room had its walls plastered. The southern room was the only room in the
building to have any contents of significance at the time of the building's destruction by fire: much
pottery as well as many sealings and a good deal of black, carbonized material, presumably the contents
of containers made from perishable materials to which the sealings had been attached.
The Fortifications
There are at least four detectable stages:
(1) A single wall running along the same line as the northern of the two walls in the later
compartmentalized fortification system. This wall's rough north (i.e. interior) face indicates that it may
have been only a retaining wall for a raised settlement platform. Alternatively, this wall may have been
the stone substructure of a mudbrick fortification wall.
(2) A rectangular projection (Q-R) was added to the south of the earlier wall, and from this projection a
horseshoe-shaped tower (U) still further to the south could be entered. The stone socles of the walls of
this phase are characterized by herringbone masonry. The superstructure of the walls was in mudbrick. A
stone staircase led up from east to west just to the west of the new projecting elements towards a now no
longer preserved gateway. These fortifications were destroyed by fire.
(3) A southern, outer wall was constructed at this time. The western compartments (A-D) of the wall
possibly also belong to this phase. Tower U was demolished, and a new solid Tower V was constructed
just to the west. Tower V itself went through a number of stages (first rectangular, later with rounded
corners). The earlier stairway went out of use. Very possibly, a second tower was built projecting from
the wall a good deal further west.
(4) The west end of the earlier compartment/casemate wall system was drawn inwards from the earlier
line of A-D to the line of Building EV (i.e. J-L). Spurwalls were added in between compartments Q-R and
S-T at the eastern end of the system.
The whole fortification system was in ruins when the House of the Tiles was under construction. After its
destruction in turn, the House of the Tiles was covered with a circular tumulus and its area was not
encroached upon for several building phases of early Lerna IV (= Tiryns culture of EH III).

Lesson 4: The Early Cycladic Period

PROBLEMS OF THE EVIDENCE

PROBLEMS OF TERMINOLOGY
o

Renfrew (1972)

Barber and MacGillivray (1980)

Rutter (1983)

GROTTA-PELOS CULTURE/EARLY CYCLADIC I (ca. 3100/3000-2650 B.C.)

Subdivisions of the Culture

Architecture

Pottery

Marble
24

Metal

External Connections

KEROS-SYROS CULTURE/EARLY CYCLADIC IIA (ca. 2650-2450/2400 B.C.)

Architecture

Pottery

Marble and Other Stones

Metal

External Connections

"KASTRI GROUP" OR "LEFKANDI I" CULTURE/EARLY CYCLADIC IIB OR IIIA

(ca. 2450/2400-2200/2150 B.C.)

Architecture

Pottery

Marble

Metal

External Connections

EARLY CYCLADIC III (ca. 2200/2150-2050/2000 B.C.)

PHYLAKOPI I CULTURE/MIDDLE CYCLADIC I OR EARLY CYCLADIC IIIB (ca.

2050/2000-1900/1850 B.C.)

Architecture

Pottery

Marble

External Connections

COMMENTS ON EARLY CYCLADIC FIGURINES AND REPRESENTATIONAL ART

o

Grotta-Pelos Figurines

Keros-Syros Folded-Arm Figurines

Other Varieties of Keros-Syros Representational Art

The Early Cycladic Period

PROBLEMS OF THE EVIDENCE
To date, only one settlement which has produced a stratified sequence of Early Bronze Age (EBA) levels
containing typically Cycladic materials has been excavated in the central Aegean islands: Phylakopi on
Melos. Ayia Irini on Keos has produced remains which are often more "Helladic" (i.e. typical of the
Greek Mainland) than "Cycladic" in character and the site was in any case occupied only during the
middle of the Early Cycladic (EC) period and neither at its beginning nor at its end. Paroikia on Paros is
almost entirely a settlement of the Middle and Late Bronze Ages. Other excavated settlements of the EC
period either are single-period sites (Kastri on Syros), remain largely unpublished (Panormos and Grotta
on Naxos, Skarkos on Ios, Markiani on Amorgos), or were badly disturbed in antiquity and poorly
excavated in the early days of Aegean archaeology (Mt. Kynthos on Delos). The vast majority of EC
artifactual material comes from cemeteries, most of them looted to supply the demands of the antiquities
market rather than scientifically excavated. Moreover, an estimated 80% of the material known as
recently as 1972 had been dug up before 1910. Thus, not only is what is known of EC culture heavily
biased in that most of it comes from tombs, but all too few of the thousands of objects in museums and
private collections come from contexts which can be accurately described.

25

The stratigraphy at Phylakopi, beginning from the bottom, may be summarized as follows (the terms are
those coined by the original British excavators of the site at the end of the 19th century):
Pre-City: Founded directly on bedrock, this small village contains pottery characteristic of the GrottaPelos culture of the EC I period.
Phylakopi I.1: The first settlement in the old excavations at the site to have produced architecture, this
village of the Keros-Syros culture of EC II was found during Renfrew's more recent excavations to be
stratified directly above the preceding Grotta-Pelos settlement.
Phylakopi I.2-3: A much larger settlement than the villages of the two prior phases, this town is
characterized by pottery which is largely contemporary with that of the earliest Middle Helladic (MH)
culture of the Greek Mainland. Since the pottery of Phylakopi I.1 is contemporary with the EH IIA
Korakou culture of the Mainland, there is either a gap in the occupational sequence at Phylakopi
corresponding to the Mainland Greek EH III period or at least an interval when evidence of human
activity at Phylakopi is so sparse as to suggest that the size of the settlement then was sharply reduced
from that in both the preceding and the subsequent phases.
Phylakopi II: A rebuilt town of the later Middle Bronze Age (MBA) within which Minoan imports,
beginning in MM IB-IIA and extending down through MM III and perhaps even into the earliest LM IA,
become increasingly common. This town was totally destroyed by fire.
Phylakopi III: Fortified for the first time early in this phase, the town of Phylakopi was continuously
occupied down into the 11th century B.C.
PROBLEMS OF TERMINOLOGY
Renfrew (1972)
Of the many hundreds of graves which have furnished the overwhelming majority of EC artifacts, only a
few at Phylakopi and on the island of Amorgos could be assigned to the period of Phylakopi I.2-3. The
material from the rest was quite different from the cultural assemblage of what has been more loosely
termed "Phylakopi I", and had in the past been divided into two major groups designated "Pelos" and
"Syros" after the excavated cemeteries of Pelos (Melos) and Chalandriani (Syros). Very few artifact types
were common to these two groups and thus they presumably represented two different cultures. To
describe these different cultures on a more systematic basis, Renfrew analyzed all excavated Early
Cycladic cemeteries in terms of the artifact types found in them (clay vases, marble vases, marble
figurines, bronzes, jewelry, etc.). This analysis was performed on a cemetery-by-cemetery rather than on
a tomb-by-tomb basis since many tombs were too sparsely furnished with grave offerings to provide
useful data. The cemeteries were then compared for similarities, and the basic division between "Pelos"
and "Syros" cultures was decisively confirmed. As a consequence, three Cycladic cultures which had
flourished during the EBA and earlier MBA were distinguished by Renfrew and rechristened by him as
the Grotta-Pelos, Keros-Syros, and Phylakopi I cultures. Grotta-Pelos was clearly older than Phylakopi I
because the finds from the Pre-City phase at Phylakopi had been found stratified in the old excavations
under remains of the Phylakopi I culture. Before his excavations of the 1970's at the same site, Renfrew
had to use a series of circumstantial arguments to place the Keros-Syros culture chronologically in
between the other two, but such indirect reasoning is no longer necessary now that strata of the three
cultures have been found directly superimposed at one and the same site (Phylakopi) in the order
postulated in 1972 by Renfrew. Unfortunately, none of the highly distinctive pottery of an artifactual
assemblage termed the "Kastri Group" by Renfrew (after the small fortress of Kastri on Syros) and
assigned by him in 1972 to a late stage of the Keros-Syros culture was found during the later 1970's at
Phylakopi (see further below).
Just as he had abandoned the traditional tripartite terminology for the various stages of the EBA on the
Greek Mainland in favor of a set of "cultures" named after sites (see preceding handout), so for the
Cyclades Renfrew avoided the use of the more or less standard terms EC I, II, and III and substituted for
them a similarly conceived set of "cultures": Grotta-Pelos for EC I, Keros-Syros for EC II, and Phylakopi
I for EC III. This system was adopted unchanged by Doumas in 1977 with the minor exception of the
rechristening of "Grotta-Pelos" as "Pelos-Lakkoudes".

26

Barber and MacGillivray (1980)

In a useful overview of the entire EC period, Barber and MacGillivray expressed the view that Renfrew's
"culture" labels for discrete EC artifactual assemblages were confusing and unnecessary (a view shared
by some other Cycladic specialists as well, notably Coleman) and advocated a return to the traditional
tripartite terminology with only one significant change, namely the subdivision of EC III into A and B,
the earlier (EC IIIA) being used to describe Renfrew's "Kastri Group" and the later (EC IIIB) being used
for Renfrew's "Phylakopi I culture", the old EC III.
Rutter (1983)
Rutter's principal concern was to demonstrate that a major cultural hiatus separated the two periods
labelled EC IIIA and EC IIIB by Barber and MacGillivray, a hiatus which in his view involved not simply
a significant cultural discontinuity (already noted to some extent by Barber and MacGillivray) but also a
substantial gap of perhaps as much as a century and a half in the EBA culture sequence of the Cyclades.
Rutter went on to argue that, since "EC IIIA" was in fact contemporary with later EH II on the Greek
Mainland and, by extension, later EM II on Crete, it might perhaps be better termed "EC IIB", while
Barber's and MacGillivray's "EC IIIB", generally agreed to be contemporary with early MH on the
Mainland and MM IA on Crete, might be better labelled "MC I". What, Rutter asked, was going on in the
islands during what might legitimately be called "EC III" (i.e. the period equivalent to the duration of EH
III on the Mainland and EM III on Crete)? Since he could find nothing to insert in this lacuna, Rutter
decided to refer to it as "the EC III gap", a concept acceptable to some (e.g. Davis) but one which Barber,
MacGillivray, Doumas, Sotirakopoulou, and others resolutely insist is a mirage.
These terminological squabbles have been relegated to a back burner in the aftermath of Manning's
exhaustive review of the problem (1995) and pending new discoveries. All parties were agreed that the
excavation of a single well-stratified settlement in the central Cyclades, ideally on Naxos or Paros, would
be likely to eliminate at least the issue of the "EC III gap". Unfortunately, most settlement sites of the
third millennium B.C. in the Cyclades appear to have been occupied for relatively brief periods of time.
Those excavated since the debate over the "EC III" gap began, such as Skarkos on Ios and Markiani on
Amorgos, have failed to provide a complete EC sequence, so the nature of the EB 2-3 transition and the
character of EB 3 culture in the Cyclades remain unsolved problems. Excavations on the island of Skyros
in the Sporades, at the site of Palamari, have been much more promising and may eventually provide a
more complete EB-MB sequence than any western Aegean island further to the south has so far furnished.
The dispute over whether to use "cultural" or "chronological" labels for EC artifactual assemblages, on
the other hand, is more deeply rooted, having now flourished for over twenty years. There is as yet so
sign that this long-lived disagreement will be resolved anytime soon.
GROTTA-PELOS CULTURE/EARLY CYCLADIC I (ca. 3100/3000-2650 B.C.)
Subdivisions of the Culture
As a result of his excavations of a number of cemeteries, Doumas has proposed four chronological stages
or "groups", each named after the site where the subordinate assemblage in question is best represented:
Lakkoudes, Pelos, Plastiras, and Kampos. The last is considered to represent a phase transitional to the
Keros-Syros culture of EC II; curvilinear incised ornament (spirals, circles), the "Kampos" type of frying
pan, and the incised bottles which are also found in EM I Crete first occur in this phase.
Architecture
Settlement
Nothing significant as architecture has so far been excavated from this period at the settlements of
Phylakopi (Melos) or Grotta (Pelos).
Tombs
The dead are buried in cemeteries of cist graves which never consist of more than fifty tombs and usually
number twenty or less. These tomb groups presumably represent small kinship groups, in most cases
probably no more than the members of a single nuclear family over a period of some two to six
generations. Single inhumations are normal in the cists, although multiple burial of from two to eight
individuals in two-level graves is fairly common. Cists are built of four upright slabs or sometimes of
three slabs and a short stretch of dry rubble walling. The floor of the tomb is usually bedrock or simply
27

sterile soil, but sometimes it is covered by a slab or slabs, occasionally by pebbles. The roof of the tomb
iconsists of one or more slabs. Bodies are deposited in a contracted position, usually lying on the right
side. There are often no grave goods at all. The lower level of two-level graves was evidently used as a
receptacle for former tomb occupants in tombs utilized for multiple burials.
Pottery
Standard is a thick-walled, dark burnished ware. Typical shapes are bowls with rolled rims and
horizontally pierced tubular lugs set well below the rim on the exterior, frying pans of the so-called
"Kampos type" [straight side decorated with one or more incised lines framing spirals; rectangular handle
with crossbar; main circular field decorated with incised running spirals around a central star], and
cylindrical pyxides. Incised pottery is common in tombs but relatively rare in the settlement pottery from
Grotta.
Marble
Marble objects come largely from tombs and consist almost exclusively of vessels and figurines. The
most common types of marble vases are shallow lug-handled bowls, flat-based beakers, and footed jars.
Marble figurines fall into three basic categories: (a) Plastiras type: The ears and kneecaps are particularly
prominent features. Although the hands meet across the stomach, the arms are not folded. (b) Louros type:
Short stubby arms extended horizontally at shoulder level are the most distinctive feature of this variety.
(c) Schematic types: A number of different shapes are known, the most common being nothing more than
ovoid or elliptical beach pebbles while the most distinctive are fiddle-shaped with long stalk-like necks
and no recognizable heads.
Metal
Outside of some copper wire, and four quadrangular awls and a necklace of silver beads from a grave at
Louros (Naxos), no metal artifacts can be assigned to this culture.
External Connections
This assemblage is contemporary with FN and EH I on the Greek Mainland and with EM I on Crete.
Scattered and sporadic contacts with sites in northern Crete (Pyrgos Cave, Ayia Photia cemetery) and
central Greece (Eutresis in Boeotia) are attested, but the links with the EB cemetery of cist graves at the
site of Iasos on the western Anatolian coast seem closer and more extensive. The Grotta-Pelos culture is
likely to be a local development from the Kephala culture of the preceding FN period.
KEROS-SYROS CULTURE/EARLY CYCLADIC IIA (ca. 2650-2450/2400 B.C.)
Architecture
Settlement
The only significant settlement architecture so far excavated, from period II at Ayia Irini (Keos) and the
main phase of occupation at Skarkos (Ios), consists of rectangular buildings constructed with extremely
neat masonry. Thanks to an extraordinarily deep layer of destruction debris, the architecture at Skarkos is
preserved in places up to a height of almost three meters, and most of the buildings so far cleared
evidently hhad two storeys. While the settlement at Ayia Irini was occupied during at least one and
perhaps two subsequent phases of the EC period (see below), Skarkos was abandoned after its EC IIA
destruction until its ruins were cut into by much later graves dating from the 17th century B.C. At Mount
Kynthos (Delos), lack of space and uneven terrain seems to have necessitated a less organized ensemble
of rooms, many with rounded corners.
Surface survey on the island of Melos has produced evidence indicating that settlement during this and
the preceding period took the form of numerous small and fairly short-lived sites, probably farming
hamlets occupied by small kin groups (e.g. extended families) for three to four generations. Each such site
appears to have been accompanied by its own small {extramural} [located outside the bounds of the
settlement proper, though not necessarily at any great distance from it] cemetery. On Keos, on the other
hand, a surface survey of the northwestern portion of the island has revealed that the density of EC II sites
per unit area was considerably lower than on Melos and that the site of Ayia Irini was by far and away the
most important site of this period in this area of the island. There would thus appear to be a fair amount of
variability between relatively dispersed settlement patterns like that on Melos and relatively nucleated
ones like that on Keos. Certainly the size of the EC II site at Chalandriani on Syros suggests a nucleated
28

pattern on that island, whereas larger islands such as Paros and Naxos probably more closely resembled
the dispersed pattern of Melos in their settlement.
Tombs
Cemeteries can be much larger than in the Grotta-Pelos culture, but need not be. Except at Chalandriani
(Syros), Keros-Syros tombs are much the same as Grotta-Pelos ones. At Chalandriani there are several
groups of graves (individual cemeteries?) adding up to more than 600 tombs in all. Except for about ten
of these, all contained only a single individual. Tomb plans vary from circular to rectangular. All are built
entirely of dry-stone walling and all have a false entrance in one side roughly closed off with stones. The
tops of these tombs were sealed by a large slab, and the walls are often slightly corbelled. Burials were
loosely contracted, usually on the left side. Most of the graves were very poor.
Pottery
There are three major classes among the fine wares: (a) Pattern-painted ware: Such pottery is decorated
in a dark-on-light style utilizing exclusively geometric ornament. Common shapes are the sauceboat, the
pyxis, the beaked jug, and the footed handleless cup. (b) Solidly painted ware ("Urfirnis"): This is simply
a Cycladic version of the EH II Urfirnis of the Mainland. Typical shapes are sauceboats and small
handleless cups/saucers. (c) Stamped and/or incised dark-surfaced and burnished ware: This ware
represents a development from Grotta-Pelos pottery which incorporated more curvilinear ornament and
makes use of stamped concentric circles, spirals, and small triangles ("Kerbschnitt") for the first time.
Common shapes are the footed jar, the globular pyxis, and the frying pan of the "Syros type"
[undecorated side, concave in profile; two-pronged handle; decoration of main circular field with stamped
concentric circles or spirals, often accompanied by incised boats and/or female genitalia].
Marble and Other Stones
Folded-arm figurines (FAF's) appear for the first time in a variety of distinct types. Much rarer and much
more striking are seated male harpists (sometimes found in pairs), standing male players of pipes, female
FAF's seated on stools or high-backed chairs, a male seated on a stool holding a raised drinking cup, male
warriors wearing a {baldric} [a leather or textile strap designed to hold up a sheath for a weapon] over
their shoulders and sometimes holding a dagger, "two-storey" female FAF's (a smaller one standing on
the head of a larger one), three-figure groups, and occasional anomalous types (e.g. a female in FAF pose,
but with one arm across the back and one across the front).
Stone vases include, as in the pottery, various types of footed cup, an occasional marble version of a
frying pan or sauceboat, and a few vessels in the form of quadrupeds (mostly sheep) and birds. White
marble is the preferred material for these vessels, but banded bluish-gray marble is occasionally used. A
very pale, cloudy green stone resembling jadeite is used to produce miniature cups that were carved as
parts of fingerrings or else were attached to other objects by short, tubelike appendages; the unusual
material and its employment to produce tiny containers, often attached to items that probably functioned
as jewelry, suggests that these miniature cups may have been used to consume small quantities of some
valued substance (compare snuff boxes). A soft, dark green stone known as chlorite schist is a popular
choice for vessels decorated with patterns in low relief such as spirals or incised patterns such as
herringbone and hatched triangles. Such vessels often take the form of small lidded chests or pyxides that
appear to imitate buildings of various types ranging from simple huts to an extremely complex multiple
granary said to have been found on Melos (see further below).
Metal
Metal artifacts are now much more frequent than they were in the Grotta-Pelos culture. Tools and
weapons include tweezers, daggers, adzes/chisels, and fish-hooks. Sources of metal that were exploited in
the EC era have been located on the islands of Siphnos (lead and silver) and Kythnos (copper); the region
of Laurion in southeastern Attica on the Greek Mainland also was, to judge from the results of extensive
analyses of finished artifacts found at a large number of EH and EC sites, a major source of lead, silver,
and copper ores during the EB 2 period. A mine at the site of Thorikos was found to contain pottery of
both late EH II and early EH III types, further proof for the exploitation of metal sources in that region of
the Mainland from the EBA onwards.

29

External Connections
The Keros-Syros culture has extensive contacts with EM II Crete (Cycladic FAF's are imported and
inspire the local Cretan imitation known as the Koumasa type), the EH II Mainland (sauceboats, bronze
types, FAF's in marble, tomb types), and late Troy I and Troy II. The Keros-Syros culture appears to
develop directly out of the late "Kampos Group" of the Grotta-Pelos culture.
"KASTRI GROUP" OR "LEFKANDI I" CULTURE/EARLY CYCLADIC IIB OR IIIA (ca.
2450/2400-2200/2150 B.C.)
Architecture
Settlement
(1) Kastri on Syros is a small fortified citadel ca. 50 m. across perched on a steep hilltop. In the valleys
just below are the numerous cemeteries of Chalandriani which consist mostly of Keros-Syros tombs but
which also include some typologically indistinguishable graves of this later "Kastri Group" phase. The
fortifications consist of a wall with six hollow projecting bastions built of small to medium-sized slabs
(no large blocks as in the fortifications of MBA Ayia Irini and Phylakopi III). Outside this wall is a
second defensive wall or breastwork. Entrance into the fort is gained through one of the bastions. The
interior of the settlement consists of clusters of small rooms separated by narrow alleyways. Hearths were
found in three rooms, one containing a crucible and a hoard of metal objects in tin bronze. Other
crucibles, as well as stone moulds, were found in the settlement, and there is also evidence of leadworking on the site. The latest assessment of the evidence concludes that only melting and recasting took
place in this settlement, no smelting of metal-bearing ores. Weapons found include two short daggers and
the earliest well-dated slotted spearhead found west of the Anatolian Mainland. (2) Panormos on Naxos is
another, even smaller fort some 25 m. long. The exterior is irregular, with several roughly semicircular
bastions and a single entrance from the east. A pile of circular stones lying just outside of this entrance
has been somewhat improbably interpreted as a supply of slingstones for the defenders. (3) Mt. Kynthos
on Delos seems to have been yet another small fort perched on a hill and consisting of several bastions
within which are some irregularly shaped rooms and at least three small apsidal houses. (4) Ayia Irini on
Keos witnesses during period III several neatly constructed additions to, or remodelings of, the very tidily
built rectangular structures of the Keros-Syros period II.
All four of these sites are abandoned during or at the end of this period, only Ayia Irini being
subsequently occupied but not until much later in the Middle Cycladic period. Every one of the four
except Kastri had been occupied in earlier stages of the EC period.
Tombs
These are apparently unchanged from those of the Keros-Syros culture, to judge from tombs excavated
both at Chalandriani on Syros and Akrotiraki on Siphnos.
Pottery
New and distinctive in this phase is a class of fine, semifine, and semicoarse pottery characterized by
brilliantly burnished red, black, and yellowish-brown surfaces and occurring in a distinctive range of
shapes consisting of one-handled tankards, two-handled cups, examples of the so-called {depas
amphikypellon} [a very tall, cylindrical cup furnished with two vertical loop (i.e. round-sectioned)
handles, both slightly upswung so as to define a heart-shaped outline], plates, and shallow bowls with
incurving rims and broad, unpierced lugs set just below the rim. Globular pyxides of the preceding phase
continue, but are now black-burnished and usually decorated with rectilinear plastic and incised ornament
imitating the cords of basketry, rather different from the incised and/or impressed patterns of the KerosSyros phase. Black-burnished jugs decorated with groups of incised vertical lines and teapots (= pyxides
with a tubular spout) featuring plastic and incised decoration like that on the pyxides are rare. Painted
pottery is now restricted to a single shape, a footed one-handled cup decorated with dark-on-light, widely
spaced cross-hatching. Some of the pottery is now wheelmade for the first time. Despite these novelties, a
high percentage of the pottery at sites such as Ayia Irini which had also been occupied during the
preceding phase consists of familiar Keros-Syros types.
Marble
The few preserved pieces seem comparable to those of the preceding Keros-Syros culture.
30

Metal
Despite the small number of known sites, the evidence for metal-working is impressive as a result of the
finds from Kastri. Much of the metalwork from this site has close typological parallels in western
Anatolia and analyses have revealed that much of it is tin-alloyed bronze, a type of bronze otherwise
commonly attested in the Aegean at this time only in Troy II. A rare silver diadem from Kastri, decorated
with circular abstract patterns, quadrupeds, and what may be a human form having a bird's head, is
usually viewed as a badge of rank; the {repouss} [embossed decor, produced by lightly pounding sheet
metal with a cushioned hammer over a carved matrix in wood or stone] ornament, like the object itself, is
extremely unusual for this period, so any interpretation of the item's significance is necessarily very
speculative, but it is clearly very different in both form and decorative style from any object found in a
Keros-Syros cultural context.
External Connections
This cultural phase in the Cyclades is contemporary with and closely comparable to the EH IIB "Lefkandi
I" culture of Euboea, eastern Attica, and Boeotia on the Greek Mainland and there seems to be no good
reason not to refer to these two by the same name. The pottery has strong western Anatolian affinities and
is probably contemporary with Troy III, Limantepe late EB 2, and Poliochni Red to Yellow. Although
many features of this cultural phase in the islands are unquestionably Cycladic, there can be little doubt
but that the dramatic shift in the pottery, as well as in the metalwork at Kastri, reflects an influx of
population from the east which passed through the islands enroute to Euboea and the central Greek
Mainland. The small forts typical of the architecture of this phase presumably reflect the insecurity of the
times. The architecture of these fortifications may be viewed as miniaturized versions of the great
defensive circuits of earlier stages in the EBA at sites such as Troy I-II and Limantepe. The sudden
abandonment of the Cycladic forts is at present unexplained. Equally mysterious is the absence of any
sign of conflict or destruction at sites where "Lefkandi I" material directly overlies Keros-Syros material
(Ayia Irini, Mt. Kynthos), while at Chalandriani and at Akrotiraki on Siphnos the same cemeteries and
types of tomb are used by the "Lefkandi I" population as had been used by the Keros-Syros population.
The fortifications at Kastri have often been compared to those of later EH IIA Lerna and they are
probably contemporary, although the distinctive pottery of the "Lefkandi I" culture never appears at Lerna
(but note that two imported marble cups, one from a secure context of early Lerna IV [at most, a
generation or two after the destruction of the House of the Tiles], are stone versions of the "Lefkandi I"
two-handled cup). Similar fortifications also appear in the western Aegean somewhat later at Kolonna on
Aegina in City V of the EH III Tiryns culture.
EARLY CYCLADIC III (ca. 2200/2150-2050/2000 B.C.)
At the moment, there is little or no evidence for human settlement in the islands during this period of 100150 years. At no known site has continuity of occupation from the "Lefkandi I" phase (EC IIB or IIIA) to
the Phylakopi I phase (MC I or EC IIIB) been established. Renfrew's "Amorgos Group" is more likely to
be contemporary with the Phylakopi I culture and with a small group of pottery from the islet of
Christiana near Thera than it is to be a late phase of the Keros-Syros culture.
PHYLAKOPI I CULTURE/MIDDLE CYCLADIC I OR EARLY CYCLADIC IIIB (ca. 2050/20001900/1850 B.C.)
Architecture
Settlement
The rectangular blocks of rooms in Phylakopi I.2-3 suggest a "neater" architecture than the haphazard and
irregular conglomerations characteristic of the small forts of the "Lefkandi I" phase. But it should be kept
in mind that Kastri, Panormos, and Mt. Kynthos are small forts and not major settlements; the neat
architecture of period III at Ayia Irini is fully comparable to that of Phylakopi I.2-3.
Occupation at both Phylakopi and Paroikia (Paros) appears to continue unbroken from this period until
well down into the Late Bronze Age. The evidence from a surface survey of the island of Melos strongly
suggests that, by the beginning of this period, a nucleation in settlement had taken place: the numerous
small settlements and cemeteries of the Keros-Syros culture had coalesced into a single major settlement
at Phylakopi. Whether this concentration of population at a single site is true of other Cycladic islands
31

remains to be established, but the situation on Keos (Ayia Irini) and Paros (Paroikia) may well be similar
to that on Melos.
Tombs
At Phylakopi, tombs are now rock-cut chambers whose use extends throughout the Middle Bronze Age.
The closest parallels for these tombs are those at Manika on Euboea of the Korakou and "Lefkandi I"
cultures (EH IIA-B) and at Pavlopetri in Laconia (EH IIA?), although the Melian tombs are larger and
somewhat more complex in plan.
Pottery
The fine wares fall into two major groupings: (1) Incised ware: Popular shapes in this dark burnished
ware are duck vases, truncated conical pyxides, lids, and jugs. (2) Painted ware: The painted pottery is
characterized by a dull, but not truly matt, paint. Decoration consists of rectilinear patterns in a dark-onlight scheme. The favorite shapes are carinated bowls, beaked jugs, kernoi, and one-handled cups.
Marble
A few schematic figurines are known from Phylakopi I and later contexts in the islands, but the FAF
disappears after the "Lefkandi I" phase and the production of marble vessels declines drastically at the
same time. Thus a significant shift in the manufacture of marble artifacts parallels the dramatic change in
the settlement pattern towards the end of the Cycladic Early Bronze Age.
External Connections
There seems to have been relatively little contact between the Phylakopi I culture and Minoan Crete. A
fair amount of pottery of Phylakopi I types is said to have been found at Knossos, but no Minoan pottery
comes from an unimpeachable context of Phylakopi I.2-3 on Melos. The discovery of MM IB-IIA
imports in Phylakopi II indicates that the Phylakopi I culture cannot end much later than ca. 1850 B.C. at
the latest. The distribution of duck vases suggests that Phylakopi I is at least partially contemporary with
later Anatolian EB 3 (Troy V). Mainland connections at Kolonna, Eleusis, Athens, Lerna, Argos, and
Eutresis suggest that Phylakopi I is contemporary with Middle Helladic (MH) I and early MH II. It is
tempting to suggest that the Phylakopi I culture is an outgrowth of the Keros-Syros culture after this had
been affected by the intrusive "Lefkandi I" culture with its strong western Anatolian affinities, but so long
as the nature of the cultural assemblage which immediately precedes Phylakopi I remains a mystery, such
a hypothesis must remain pure speculation.
COMMENTS ON EARLY CYCLADIC FIGURINES AND REPRESENTATIONAL ART
Grotta-Pelos Figurines
The Plastiras type probably developed from Neolithic figurines of the standing type, while fiddle-shaped
schematic figurines appear to be an abstracted form of the Neolithic type of seated figure with folded
legs. The Louros type is viewed either as a development from the fiddle-shaped variety (Getz-Preziosi) or
as derived from the Dimini type current in LN Thessaly (Renfrew). With the exception of the nose,
sculpturally indicated facial features are limited almost exclusively to the Louros and Plastiras types.
Plastiras figurines regularly had inlaid eyes and navels. The gender of Louros figurines is rarely made
explicit, but most Plastiras figurines are unambiguously gendered and there appear to be almost as many
male figures as females, in marked contrast to the situation in the following period. Some male figures of
both Louros and Plastiras types wear horizontally ribbed, beehive-shaped caps that are probably to be
understood as helmets. Some {anthropomorphic} [i.e. in the shape of human figures] marble vessels exist,
linked stylistically to the Plastiras type of figurine by the depiction of the arms in low relief on the torso,
but {zoomorphic} [i.e. in the shape of animals] figurines or vessels, regardless of material, are extremely
rare in the EC I period.
Keros-Syros Folded-Arm Figurines
Figurines of these types are to be considered as representing reclining rather than standing figures, to
judge from the rendering of the feet and knees. Painted decoration (eyes, mouths [rare], hair, tattoo marks
on the forehead and cheeks, occasional necklaces and other details on the body] is limited to marble
figurines with folded arms and occurs for the most part on only two varieties of such figures. The latest
types of folded-arm figurines lack either carved or painted details.
32

Red and blue pigments were clearly valued by the EBA inhabitants of the Cyclades. The pigments,
implements used to grind them, and various types of storage containers used to hold them[bone tubes or
miniature dark-burnished terracotta jars, both decorated with incised ornament] are common in EC
graves. It has been suggested that the presence of these objects in graves implies a ritual painting of the
deceased's relatives or of the deceased him/herself as part of the funeral rites. The presence of painted
details on the figurines is said to be a reflection of this practice.
The attribution of FAF's (and, to a limited degree, also of marble vessels) to individual artists on the basis
of similarities in basic type and proportions has been vigorously pursued in a series of studies by GetzPreziosi. But her methodology, and hence the claim that authorship can be identified on the basis of such
relatively simple forms of art in a preliterate era, has been seriously questioned by Renfrew (1991),
Cherry (1992), and Chippindale and Gill (1993).
Other Varieties of Keros-Syros Representational Art
Representational art during the EC II pereiod in forms other than FAF's may be subdivided into threedimensional (marble figurines and vessels; the figural heads of bone and metal pins; zoomorphic
terracotta vessels; models in stone and metal) and two-dimensional (incised motifs on pottery) categories.
Aside from female FAF's, lying down or more rarely seated, marble is used to produce a variety of male
"action figures" (musicians, warriors, drinkers) and a small number of "group figures" (see above).
Marble vessels occasionally take the form of sheep or birds; in one case a marble frying pan is
ornamented with a continuous series of doves (?species) sitting on a low perch extending from one side to
another of the vessel's shallow interior. The bone and metal heads of pins often terminate in animal
figures, either birds or goats. At least three or four examples are known of hollow-bodied terracotta
hedgehods (so-called "teddy-bears") which rest on their rumps and hold a cup in their extended forearms,
as though about to drink from it; since the bodies of these animals are linked to the cups by a perforation
but otherwise lack any holes, the animals could be imagined as drinking when being filled and as
vomiting when being emptied.
Models of man-made objects include a set of lead boat-models said to come from Naxos. Typologically
similar to the incised boats depicted on a number of frying pans from Chalandriani on Syros, these lead
models suggest that the large crews of up to fifty paddlers/oarsmen needed to man such ships could be
recruited on at least two Cycladic islands, despite the dispersed pattern of settlement that probably
characterized most of the larger islands. Thus while the discovery of numerous such boat depictions at
Chalandriani on Syros testifies to the size and maritime preeminence of that single site, the evidence for
boats of more or less the same size from Naxos may be viewed as evidence for an unusual degree of intersettlement cooperation on that island if no one site there could field a crew big enough to man such a
vessel.
Chlorite schist was used most often as a material to produce vessels that at least mimicked, if they did not
faithfully reproduce, real EC architecture, in the form of elliptical or roughly circular huts with pitched
roofs (the roofs being rendered as separately carved lids). The largest and most complex such "house
model" is said to have been found on Melos and consists of a small rectangular court ringed on three sides
by seven large cylindrical structures (silos/granaries?) and entered by means of a {trilithon} [the two
jambs and the lintel each composed of a single large stone] doorway from a porch capped by a doublepitched roof. All these chlorite schist models stand on four horizontally ribbed, truncated pyramidal legs,
and most are decorated with complex spiral patterns or horizontal ribbing in low relief. It is unlikely that
either the legs of the relief decoration reflect real architectural details, and consequently it is uncertain to
what degree the models should be taken as reflections of real EC buildings. No one familiar with the facts
of EC settlement architecture or subsistence agriculture, for example, can accept that a building on the
scale of that suggested by the Melian "multiple granary" ever existed on Melos or on any other Cycladic
island in the third millennium B.C.
The incised motifs on Keros-Syros frying pans depicting the sum, boats, fish, and female genitalia should
be evaluated in the context of how these particular ceramic types functioned, a topic most
comprehensively surveyed to date by Coleman but most recently by Doumas. The fact that fryaing pans
are the only Keros-Syros ceramic type to serve as the vehicle for representational art, in concert with the
fact that some of the motifs in question appear to have been employed only at specific sites (the boats
occur uniquely at Chalandriani, for example), suggests that these vessels may have been intended at least
in part as display pieces. The art with which they were decorated may, for example, have served as
33

indicators of lineage or status or both. Alternatively, these motifs may be connected with the religion of
the islanders, as argued by Goodison, and constitute effectively our only evidence for this dimension of
EC life, unless the marble figurines, also, as many believe, are ritual objects of some kind.
Lesson 5: The Early Minoan Period:The Settlements

CHRONOLOGICAL PROBLEMS
o

EARLY MINOAN I (ca. 3100/3000-2700/2650 B.C.)

Pottery

Architecture

Stone

Metal

External Relations

EARLY MINOAN II (ca. 2700/2650-2150 B.C.)

Pottery

Architecture

Stone

Metal

Internal and External Relations

EARLY MINOAN III (ca. 2150-2050/2000 B.C.)

Problems of Definition

Pottery

Architecture

Early Minoan Crete: The Settlements

CHRONOLOGICAL PROBLEMS
The construction of a useful and valid relative chronological framework for Early Minoan (EM) Crete has
been made difficult by a number of independent problems:
(1) Most of the EM material known to us until fairly recently was excavated between 1900 and 1920
when excavation techniques in the area were in their infancy and the standards for excavation recording
were generally rather poor.
(2) A number of important sites excavated between 1930 and 1965 have never been published in any
detail (tholos tombs at Lebena; village at Ellenes Amariou; EM I well at Knossos; etc.).
(3) At the major palace sites of Knossos and Phaistos, the EM levels were largely terraced away when the
first palaces were built in Middle Minoan (MM) IB. There is every indication that these sites were of
major importance already in the EM period, but the architecture of this period, as well as what must have
been a valuable series of stratified deposits, have been lost forever.
(4) The practice of re-using EM tombs for large numbers of inhumation burials (circular tholos tombs in
the Mesara Plain in the south; rectangular house tombs with multiple chambers in the northeast and east)
has made it impossible to isolate significant numbers of individual EM burials with their associated grave
goods. As a result, we have a mass of EM material from these tombs which can be relatively dated only in
stylistic terms. We are therefore unable to trace chronological development in detail for numerous classes
of objects which are found primarily in tombs: seals, stone vases, bronzes, figurines, etc.
34

(5) Evans' highly artificial division of the period into EM I, II, and III, largely on the basis of the
stratigraphy observed at Knossos, has caused a good deal of trouble because EM pottery in general, and
that of the EM III phase in particular, varies considerably from region to region within Crete. Only
recently has enough pottery of the EM period been studied and published in sufficient detail (see
especially the work of Day, Whitelaw, and Wilson, building on the earlier work of Warren) to allow such
ceramic localism and its development to begin to be assessed properly.
EARLY MINOAN I (ca. 3100/3000-2700/2650 B.C.)
The existence of such a period as a distinct phase was for a time denied by Levi on the basis of his
excavations at Phaistos, but at the end of the 1950's Hood found a well at Knossos which was filled with
pottery of exclusively EM I types. Alexiou's subsequent discovery of a mixed FN-EM I level stratified
below an EM IIB level in Tholos Tomb 2 at Lebena, together with Warren's and Tzedhakis'
documentation of a distinct EM I phase at Debla in west Crete, established by the mid-1970's that a
distinct EM I assemblage did indeed exist throughout the island.
Pottery
EM pottery in general is distinguished from that of the preceding LN-FN periods by the introduction of
the jug shape and by the presence of large amounts of painted ware. At least four major ceramic classes or
wares of the EM I phase are worthy of mention:
Pyrgos Ware (Betancourt 1985: 26-29):
The favorite shape in this pattern-burnished ware, normally black, gray, or brown in color, is the chalice.
Shapes and decoration suggest that this ware may be derived from prototypes in wood, the patternburnish being a conscious attempt to imitate the grain of the wooden original. This ware is found most
commonly in northern Crete, occasionally in the south, but not in the east. It disappears rather quickly
after EM I.
Incised Ware (Betancourt 1985: 32-33):
The favorite shapes in this ware, also dark-surfaced, are the bottle and the low pyxis. Found only in the
north and northeast of Crete and either imported from the Cyclades or closely modelled after Cycladic
prototypes, this ware is important for establishing the contemporaneity of the EM I period and the
Kampos phase of the Grotta-Pelos culture of the Early Cycladic I period.
Ayios Onouphrios Ware (Betancourt 1985: 29-31, 40-43):
The paint of this dark-on-light pattern-painted ware varies from red through brown to black depending on
firing conditions. The favorite shapes are jugs, two-handled cups, and bowls. Painted patterns are almost
exclusively rectilinear (usually groups of diagonal parallel lines). Examples of the ware may be divided
into two broadly defined groups or styles which appear to have some chronological significance. Thus
Style I of the EM I period is characterized by round bottoms on the vases and by simple decoration which
is designed to emphasize the shape of the vessel. Style II of EM II, on the other hand, features flatbottomed or footed vases, an extensive use of cross-hatched patterns, and generally a less intimate
connection between vessel shape and decoration. Ayios Onouphrios ware is at home primarily in the
north and south central portions of the island; Style I does not occur in the east, while Style II is never
common there. Local EM II developments of Ayios Onouphrios I include Koumasa ware in the south
center and Myrtos ware in the southeast.
Lebena Ware (Betancourt 1985: 31-32):
This ware, characterized by patterns in white added over a solidly painted dark red ground, is apparently
complementary in terms of its shape range to Ayios Onouphrios ware; there are no jugs, most of the
shapes being low dishes, plates, and bowls. Vases often have round bottoms and the patterns are similar
in design to those appearing on Ayios Onouphrios ware. Like the latter, Lebena ware is at home primarily
in north and south central Crete and presumably originated in the Mesara plain. It probably survived into
the earlier part of the EM II period but clearly lacked the popularity and enduring influence of the darkon-light-painted Ayios Onouphrios class.

35

Architecture
At the end of the Neolithic period, there were open settlements at Knossos and Phaistos, but most Late
Neolithic sites are in caves (Trapeza, Miamou, etc.). Some caves continue to be occupied in EM I, but the
number of open sites now increases. However, relatively little is known about EM I architecture. There
are traces of rectangular buildings at Mochlos; at Debla in west Crete there are small free-standing
buildings on a hilltop far up in the foothills of the White Mountains, perhaps seasonally occupied
shepherds' huts rather than a permanent settlement and hence atypical rather than characteristic; at Ellenes
Amariou there are multi-room blocks as well as one free-standing building; and at Phaistos there is a
rectangular room with a red-plastered floor. A well over ten meters deep of this period has been found at
Knossos. There were probably fairly large villages during this period at both Knossos and Phaistos, but
little of either has survived.
Stone
The lack of stone bowls from this phase at Lebena suggests that this industry had not yet begun on Crete;
two Predynastic or Early Dynastic Egyptian stone bowls said to have been found in a LN building at
Knossos are claimed by some to show that such objects were already being imported. No seals definitely
datable to EM I have as yet been found, but they may well already have existed. Marble figurines of the
so-called Ayios Onouphrios type may already have been made in EM I (for the type, see Pendlebury, The
Archaeology of Crete Pl. XII:1, middle row; XII:2, right, top and bottom). A marble animal figurine of
this date is known from Lebena.
Metal
No metal has yet been found in a purely EM I context, but the copper axe from LN Knossos shows that
metallurgy was undoubtedly being practised. The discovery of copper daggers and awls at Pyrgos and
Kanli Kastelli where no material of EM II date has been found may indicate that objects such as this were
already being produced in EM I.
External Relations
Pottery in the form of Incised Ware shows contact with the Grotta-Pelos culture of the Early Cycladic I
islands of the central Aegean. There may also have been some loose contact with western Anatolia and
the Levant, but no external contacts are very strong.
EARLY MINOAN II (ca. 2700/2650-2150 B.C.)
Pottery
Ayios Onouphrios ware and probably also Lebena ware continue from EM I. Pyrgos ware disappears as
does the coarse Incised ware with its Cycladic connections. The following new wares are significant:
Fine Gray Ware (Betancourt 1985: 40):
Very fine in texture, gray in color, and normally featuring a polished surface, this ware is typical of the
earlier part of the period that is therefore designated EM IIA. The favorite shapes are spherical and
cylindrical pyxides. Decoration, exclusively incised, typically takes the form of short diagonals,
semicircles, rings, and dots. This ware occurs throughout the island, though never in very large quantities.
Vasiliki Ware (Betancourt 1985: 43-48):
Solidly painted but intentionally mottled and generally dark-surfaced, this ware occurs in small amounts
in some EM IIA deposits in east Crete but becomes overwhelmingly dominant among the fine wares in
the subsequent EM IIB phase throughout the eastern and southern portions of the island. The favorite
shapes are flat-bottomed jugs, teapots, dishes, spouted bowls, and goblets. Jugs and teapots often have
applied pellets ("eyes") on either side of the spout. Always relatively rare in the north central and western
regions of Crete, this ware declines steeply in popularity even in the east and south after EM IIB.
Aside from strictly utilitarian pottery, terracotta was also used occasionally as a medium for
anthropomorphic and zoomorphic vessels which presumably functioned as ritual vessels both within
settlements (e.g. "The Goddess of Myrtos") and in burial ceremonies (most of them having been found in
tombs).

36

Architecture
The three major excavated sites are Vasiliki on the west side of the isthmus of Ierapetra, Fournou Korifi
(Myrtos) on the south coast ca. 12 kms. west of Ierapetra, and Trypiti on the south coast some 40 kms,
further west of Myrtos. The first two sites peak in the EM IIB phase, near or at the end of which both are
destroyed by fire; the last appears to reach its peak in the subsequent EM III phase, although it was
already occupied as early as EM I and had become a substantial settlement by EM II. In the earlier EM
IIA phase, there are traces of substantial buildings at Vasiliki and Palaikastro, so the large EM IIB
complex at Vasiliki is not entirely without a predecessor.
Vasiliki
Preserved and excavated are two wings, at the southeast and southwest of what was originally considered
to be a single very large building with four such wings arranged around a large central courtyard. The
surviving wings are each about one hundred feet long and consist of numerous rooms including both
storage areas and what appear to be residential apartments connected by corridors. The southwest wing is
preserved at ground level, while the southeast wing exists only in the form of a basement, due to the slope
of the low hill on which the site is located. To the west is a paved court, over part of which the southwest
wing was built. The construction technique may be described as "half-timbered rubble masonry": the
limestone fieldstones of the walls are packed in a mortar of mud and are supported by a timber frame
consisting of squared timbers running horizontally and vertically just under the plastered wall faces and
connecting rounded beams running transversely through the thicknesses of the walls. The upper walls
were built entirely of mudbrick, while wooden beams overlain by reeds, cane, and mud were used for
ceilings. Some walls were covered on the interior with red-painted lime plaster. The original American
excavator of the site, Seager, assigned virtually all the EM remains at the site to a single building, huge
for its time, which he christened the "House on the Hilltop" and restored along the lines of the later
palaces of the Middle and Late Minoan periods. Reinvestigation of the complex in the late 1960's and
early 1970's by Zos led to the realization that the two surviving wings are in fact two separate buildings
datable to slightly different periods within the EM IIB phase. There are therefore no grounds for
considering the composite "House on the Hilltop" to be an EM II predecessor of the Minoan palace plan
complete with large central court, paved west court, and so forth. However, the now separate structures,
renamed the "Red House" (old southeast wing) and the "West House" (old southwest wing), are still
evidence for complex and relatively sophisticated architecture quite different in terms of both plan and
building technique from the "House of the Tiles" and other monumental buildings of the contemporary
Greek Mainland. Continued excavation at Vasiliki through the early 1990's strongly suggests that the EM
II settlement here never consisted of more than about four large houses extending over an area of roughly
80 x 40 m. or 0.32 {hectare} [1 hectare = 10,000 sqaure meters]. A carbonized olive pit from a sealed EM
IIB deposit is a welcome supplement to the less securely dated olive pit recovered at Myrtos, but neither
the size of these olives nor, clearly, their number provide much evidence for the degree to which this fruit
was exploited, much less whether it was "wild" or "domesticated". A two-part mould from Vasiliki attests
to EM II metalworking on the site.
Myrtos
Fully cleared in only two short seasons (1967-68) and fully published just four years later, this tiny (30 x
50 m.) but enormously important site has two main phases of occupation, both datable within the EM II
period. Minor differences in the pottery between the two phases permit the distinction of EM IIA (Period
I) and EM IIB (Period II), the first characterized chiefly by the presence in small quantities of Fine Gray
ware and by a wide range of dark-on-light pattern-painted pottery, the second by a restricted range of
dark-on-light pattern-painted pottery and by the dominance of Vasiliki and other solidly painted wares.
The site was completely destroyed by a violent fire which has been dated by radiocarbon to between 2292
and 1770 b.c. (= 2960-2150 B.C.). Thermoluminescence dating of some of the pottery ranges from 25802170 B.C., with an average of 2373 B.C. The archaeological date originally proposed by the excavator for
EM II was ca. 2600-2170 B.C., within which he placed the date of Myrtos' destruction at ca. 2200 B.C.
(For comparative purposes, the House of the Tiles at Lerna was destroyed ca. 2300 B.C.). More recently,
the excavator has reported the Myrtos destruction dates to be 2850-2305 B.C.
One possible reason for the foundation of the site in EM IIA is a population rise in central Crete which
caused expansion to the east and the foundation of numerous settlements there (including Vasiliki). There
is no apparent gap in the occupation of Myrtos between Period I of EM IIA and Period II of EM IIB.
37

Relatively little architecture of Period I is preserved, the most interesting by far consisting of a small
potter's workshop (Rooms 47-51, especially 49 and 51). The complete plan of the settlement of Period II
was excavated as preserved. It consists of a conglomeration of ca. 65 rooms, corridors, and open areas all
packed into an area of 0.15 hectare. This complex is bounded on the exterior to the south and west by a
wall of ordinary width, hardly to be considered a "fortification" but nevertheless pierced by just two
openings: a main entrance at the south approached by a raised walkway from the outside, and a second
entrance at the west. The east side of the site lies along the edge of what amounts to a cliff, while the
northern boundary is unique in being relatively poorly defined. Major passageways lead through the
settlement from north to south and from east to west, in each case beginning at one of the main entrances.
Walls are built of mud-packed rubble but lack the half-timbered framework of contemporary Vasiliki.
Walls and roofs were extensively plastered, walls sometimes being painted red. Roof construction was
simple and flat: olive branches overlain by reeds and lime plaster. The absence of roof-spans greater than
2.5 m. implies that there were no large trees in the area which could have supplied large roofing beams.
Floors consist simply of bedrock covered with a variable thickness of white clay to make the floor surface
approximately level. There is no evidence anywhere in the settlement for a second storey, but the flat
roofs of many rooms were probably used as outdoor work and living spaces and several roofed areas
appear to have been accessible only from above (i.e. through a trap-door in the roof).
Warren initially interpreted the architectural complex of Period II at Myrtos as a unity, presumably
administered by a central authority and featuring a number of functionally specialized workrooms,
storage rooms, and other activity areas such as cult rooms which served an entire community estimated at
ca. 100-120 individuals. In other words, Warren saw the complex as a miniature version in some
important respects of the later Minoan palaces and hence possibly ancestral to them. Even before the site's
full publication, Branigan had outlined a somewhat different interpretation according to which the entire
complex was the residence of a local ruler in which he, like Warren, was prepared to see a direct
antecedent of the later palaces. In a fundamental re-interpretation of the evidence a decade later,
Whitelaw identified the complex as an agglomeration of five or six independent units, each of essentially
the same size and complexity, which he suggested were individual family dwelling units. The growth of
the settlement in stages from the original dwelling unit to the eventual group of five or six can be traced
by a painstaking analysis of wall joints and abutments. This reconstruction of the settlement's history and
basic organization is also supported by a careful analysis of the movable finds and their contexts: such
functionally specialized spaces as occur within the settlement are multiple rather than single (e.g.
kitchens; storerooms; workspaces housing looms, washtubs, etc.) and are in most cases recurring features
of the individual dwelling units (two rooms fronting on public courtyards which may have been designed
to accommodate public rituals would be exceptions). There is no evidence in either the architecture of, or
the finds from, the individual units for the existence of a social hierarchy within the settlement. According
to Whitelaw, the whole settlement in its final stage is likely to have housed a small kinship group of some
fifty individuals descended in part from the builders of the first dwelling unit of Period II. Rather than
being the residence of a rather humble central authority of some kind, the complex is instead good
evidence for the basically egalitarian nature of EM society, the basic social unit of which may have been a
group closely comparable to the contemporary nuclear family. Thus Myrtos appears quite closely
comparable in terms of size, population, and length of occupation (three to four generations) to the typical
Cycladic settlement of the Early Bronze Age (see preceding handout).
Trypiti
So far published only in brief preliminary reports, this spectacularly photogenic but small cluster of
rectilinear rooms closely resembles Myrtos in its location on a fairly steep hill within a couple of hundred
meters of Crete's south shore. As at Myrtos, two principal building phases have been identified and the
settlement as a whole amounts to no more than six or so individual buildings crowded very tightly
together.
Stone
The long-lived Minoan stone vase industry begins during the EM II phase. Numerous examples were
found in the tombs at Mochlos in the northeast and also in the tholoi of the Mesara plain in the south
center. Stone vase fragments from the settlement at Myrtos were probably imported from the north coast,
perhaps from Mochlos. Stone vases made of chlorite schist and bearing incised decoration (e.g. Hood,
APG Figs. 130-131) belong specifically to EM II, but a large number of other materials were in
contemporary use and continued to be exploited in subsequent periods (e.g. marble, serpentine, tufa).
38

Sealstones are also now definitely being produced: four finished and three unfinished seals, as well as one
sealing, were found in the EM IIB levels of Period II at Myrtos, a discovery which also indicates that
seals were both being produced on that site and used to create impressions on lumps of moist clay.
Another sealing has been found at Trypiti. All stamp seals with simple rectilinear designs (usually
nothing more complicated than cross-hatching), the Myrtos seals are certainly not up to the standard of
the EH II seals of Lerna III from a purely aesthetic point of view.
Marble figurines become more common. The Ayios Onouphrios type continues to be produced, foldedarm figurines (FAF's) of Cycladic types are imported from the central Aegean, and eventually a
specifically Cretan imitation of the Cycladic FAF known as the Koumasa type is manufactured locally in
Crete.
Metal
Objects of metal now occur in quantity for the first time. Numerous daggers of copper and bronze are
found in tombs, as well as a good deal of jewelry (especially at Mochlos). A typical dagger was found in
the EM IIA strata of Period I at Myrtos. Metal tools (i.e. saws, chisels, axes), however, continue to be
rare.
Internal and External Relations
Both Vasiliki and Myrtos were completely destroyed by fire near or at the end of the EM IIB period.
Myrtos was never reoccupied; Vasiliki continued to be a village for centuries but never again produced
complexes as impressive as the Red and West Houses. There is no question of an invasion of Crete by a
foreign population, since the cultures of the EM III and MM I periods develop smoothly from that of EM
II, but some sort of centralization of political power may have been taking place within Crete during the
last century or two of the Early Bronze Age. Much more evidence is, however, required to prove the
existence of such a process of centralization and, if it is real, to chart its path.
Extensive contact with the Cyclades is documented by the marble figurines of folded-arm type, by incised
stone vases produced in chlorite schist, by the overall similarity between the two areas in dagger and
tweezer types of copper, and by imported Cycladic pottery in both settlement and funerary contexts.
Contacts between Crete and the Greek Mainland are established by the discovery of EH II Urfirnis
sauceboat fragments in an EM IIA context at Knossos and in mixed EM-MM deposits at Platyvola in
west Crete, as well as by the presence of a few probably EM seals and amulets in EH contexts and an
occasional EM vase in a Cycladic context. Minoan activity at the site of Kastri on Kythera is considered
by some to mark the establishment of a Minoan colony at that site as early as the EM II period, by far the
earliest Minoan settlement outside of Crete itself, but the earliest colony there is probably no earlier than
MM I, earlier Minoan remains there simply being debris left behind by west Cretan fishermen who made
seasonal trips to the area. Contact of some sort with the Levant is attested by the ivory used to make
Minoan seals. Stone bowls of Egyptian manufacture may show contact either with Egypt (direct) or with
the Levant (indirect).
EARLY MINOAN III (ca. 2150-2050/2000 B.C.)
Problems of Definition
Evans defined this period ceramically by the appearance of a white-on-dark pattern-painted pottery
decorated in a style altogether different from the earlier Lebena ware of EM I-II. This definition relied,
however, primarily on the ceramic sequence typical of sites in eastern Crete (e.g. Gournia, Vasiliki) and
not on the sequence at the site of Knossos which Evans himself was excavating. For many years, Evans'
definition of EM III caused considerable confusion for excavators working at sites outside of eastern
Crete and was a particular problem for archaeologists interested in the period immediately preceding the
construction of the first palaces at Knossos, Phaistos, and perhaps Mallia in MM I. Andreou's dissertation
of 1978 resolved much of this confusion by publishing in some detail a large deposit from Knossos (the
Upper East Well group) which certainly postdates EM II but which equally clearly precedes Knossian (or
north central Cretan) MM IA, a period itself represented by Andreou's Kouloures group. The result of
Andreou's work is that EM III is now definable as a distinct period in north central as well as in eastern
Crete. It is, however, a brief period in comparison either to the EM II phase which precedes (500 years
long) or to the MM I phase which follows (250-300 years long).
Pottery
(Betancourt 1985: 53-63)
39

In eastern Crete, EM III pottery is characterized by a white-on-dark pattern-painted style which includes
both rectilinear and curvilinear (e.g. circles, spirals) ornament. Such pottery seems to develop directly
from a light-on-dark pattern-painted class present in small quantities in the EM IIB period at sites such as
Myrtos. In north central Crete, there is relatively little light-on-dark-painted pottery in this phase and none
whatsoever decorated with spirals. In fact, dark-on-light-painted pottery is more popular in the Knossos
area, though patterns are rare and most of the painted decoration is purely linear (i.e. banding).
Particularly characteristic of the north central region is the footed or flat-based goblet or "egg-cup"
(Hood, The Minoans 38 Fig.14), a shape which occurs in the eastern part of the island only in the form of
imports. What is happening in the south at this time (i.e. in the Mesara plain) is not yet clear. Neither
barbotine nor polychrome painted decoration make their appearance anywhere until MM IA.
Architecture
Assignable to this period at Knossos is the so-called "hypogeum" (possibly an underground, corbelvaulted granary) at the south end of the later palace, as well as one large wall, presumably from a
monumental building of the period, located in the northern part of the later palace's west court. Hood has
suggested that the latter wall, built entirely of small stones rather than of the large squared blocks which
are typical of the MM IB palace, may be part of an EM III palace at Knossos. In view of the extensive
terracing and consequent demolition of most EM structures in the central part of the palace hill at
Knossos, this suggestion will probably never be capable of either substantiation or refutation.
Lesson 6: The Early Minoan Period: The Tombs

CAVE BURIALS

RECTANGULAR BUILT TOMBS ("HOUSE TOMBS")

Typology

Origin

Distribution and Chronology

Late Types

Method of Burial

CIST TOMBS
o

Typology

Distribution and Chronology

THOLOS TOMBS OF THE MESARA

o

Typology

The Problem of the Roof

Method of Burial

A "Cult of the Dead"?

Theories on the Origin of the Tholos Tomb Form

Chronologically Significant Features

LARNAX BURIAL

PITHOS BURIAL

CONCLUDING POINTS

40

Early Minoan Crete: The Tombs

CAVE BURIALS
Burial in caves was the standard form of burial during the Late Neolithic period in the north and east of
the island. There is no evidence so far for LN burials in southern Crete predating the earliest use of tholos
tombs in the Final Neolithic. During Early Minoan (EM) I-II, burial in caves continues in the north and
east and lasts into EM III and even MM IA in the east.
Burials in caves are almost always found in a highly disordered state with the bones of numerous
individuals all jumbled up together (a single exception at Ellenes Amariou was an extended inhumation
lying on its back). Often a number (but not all) of the bones are burnt. The reason for the jumbling up of
the bones is probably repeated burial in the same small area with no regard being paid to earlier burials.
Burnt bones are probably the result of periodic fumigations rather than of sacrificial rituals or of funerary
meals involving cooking. There is no significant evidence for a cult of the dead.
RECTANGULAR BUILT TOMBS ("HOUSE TOMBS")
Typology
There are two broad divisions of the form known as the {Minoan house tomb} (1) Complexes consisting
of a series of long and narrow parallel chambers within a single rectangular building (Palaikastro,
Archanes, Gournes, Siva, Platanos) (2) Complexes consisting of a group of square and oblong "rooms"
within a single building (Mochlos, Gournes, Palaikastro, etc.). There are no obvious chronological
differences between these two classes and they are sometimes both found at the same site. The tombs of
the second class, best represented at Mochlos, have walls built of stone slabs which sometimes still stand
to a height of 2.5 meters. In some cases, a bedrock cliff-face is used as the back wall. These buildings
were certainly roofed, presumably with flat rather than pitched roofs. Their door jambs were built of
several courses of stone, while their entrances were closed with large stone slabs.
Origin
Parallels with contemporary domestic architecture have suggested to some that these tombs were intended
to copy houses of the living and hence to serve as true "houses for the dead".
Distribution and Chronology
This form of tomb is most common in the northeast and east. The earliest dated examples begin to be
used in EM II and they generally go out of use during the MM II period, although the latest dated tomb at
Mochlos (VI) was used as late as MM III. In the Mesara, complexes of long parallel chambers (i.e. Class
1 above) appear next to the tholoi at Siva and Platanos and seem to be late EM or even MM additions
designed to contain bones and grave goods removed from the tholoi proper (i.e. ossuaries).
Late Types
During MM I, monumental versions of this tomb type appear. At Ayia Varvara B, the tomb consists of a
complex ca. 13 meters square into which are packed seventeen cells of irregular shape and size.
The most impressive monumental example of this tomb type is Chrysolakkos at Mallia which measures
38.50 by 29.80 meters. In its initial use (dated to the final pre-palatial phase, MM IA), this tomb consisted
of a complex of small rectangular chambers fronted on the east by a rectangular unit consisting of a long
N-S corridor on the west and a series of "cult rooms" at the south and east. The west side of the corridor
features a set of {orthostate}s [cut blocks set in such a way that their greatest dimension is oriented
vertically] alternating with niches. To the east of this facade unit is a raised altar and a kernos set into the
floor at its base. A {kernos} is a stone slab having multiple shallow circular depressions hollowed out of
its upper surface, usually lined up in a partial or complete circle or quadrilateral with rounded corners;
often found in the immediate vicinity of entrances, such slabs have been variously interpreted as gaming
boards or as some kind of receptacle for small offerings (so-called "first fruits"). The odd corridor
featuring niches and orthostates, as well as a type of cup with a pointed base that has been found
associated with this phase of the tomb complex, have been compared by Watrous with contemporary
Egyptian forms; neither the architectural feature nor the vase shape has a convincing Minoan pedigree.

41

Shortly after its construction, this whole complex of chambers was enclosed within a single wall, much of
it consisting of a splendid series of hard gray limestone blocks that are characterized by clear saw-cutting
marks and deep dowel holes made with a large tubular drill. These technically very sophisticated building
blocks are all in secondary use in the positions in which they were found at Chrysolakkos, so must
originally have been used in an earlier building, very possibly sited at some distance away from their
present location and quite likely not to have been a tomb. In this second phase of construction at
Chrysolakkos, the level of the area outside of the surrounding wall to the east was raised and the earlier
corridor and "cult rooms" were buried. A paved area extended around the whole complex, bounded along
the east side by an imposing colonnade of large piers, square in plan. Inside the main enclosure wall,
larger and more substantial interior walls than heretofore divided up the grave chambers in a new way.
The absence of preserved entrances suggests that access to the individual chambers was through the roof.
Method of Burial
Tombs of this form were used for multiple inhumations. They appear to have been periodically swept out
and the bones and grave goods piled up in one area against a wall or jammed into a particular chamber. In
the EM III and MM IA periods, burials in larnakes and pithoi began to be placed in tombs of this type.
The appearance of individual larnax and pithos burials and the roughly contemporary multiplication of
"cells" at Ayia Varvara and Chrysolakkos indicate a concern for individualized burial which is absent in
the fully communal tombs of EM II.
Both Soles and Whitelaw have commented on the fact that the house tombs of Mochlos and other sites in
northern Crete (e.g. Gournia and Sphoungaras, Mallia), on the assumption that each tomb of this type
served a kinship group probably to be identified as a single nuclear family, provide evidence for a
hierarchical social organization, since the tombs are differentiated by size, proximity to the settlement,
architectural elaboration, and quality of grave goods. But this claim has been emphatically denied by
Watrous, who provides alternative explanations for the distinctions noted by Soles at Mochlos and
Gournia and who considers the tombs at Mallia cited by Soles to be almost entirely of protopalatial (MM
IB-II) date.
CIST TOMBS
Typology
The types are essentially those in use in the contemporary Cyclades.
Distribution and Chronology
Cist graves are relatively rare in Crete and occur chiefly in the northeast (Mochlos, Pseira, Zakro, Ayia
Photia) where Cycladic influence was strongest, although there is at least one example in the south at
Arvi. The type does not continue beyond the EM period, and is undoubtedly a facet of the strong Cycladic
influence detectable in several different media in EM II Crete. At Ayia Photia, the ceramic and bronze
finds from tombs of this type exhibit unusually close Cycladic connections dating from as early as the EM
I phase.
THOLOS TOMBS OF THE MESARA
This is by far and away the most distinctive and also most problematic of all EM tomb types. More than
seventy of these tombs are known from upwards of forty-five different sites. The vast majority of these
tombs, and all of the early ones with the exception of that at Krasi, are located in the south of the island,
mostly in and around the Mesara plain. The earliest tholoi, in at least one case (Lebena A) in use as early
as the Final Neolithic, are found south of the Mesara plain proper on the southern slopes of the Asterousia
mountains. For over a millennium, this type of tomb appears to be the only one commonly employed for
burial in southern Crete and in some instances (e.g. Kamilari) such tombs were still being used well into
the Late Bronze Age (certainly as late as LM I, possibly as late as LM IIIA).
Typology
In plan, the {Minoan tholos tomb} is circular, with a diameter of between four and thirteen meters. The
generally thick walls (0.70-2.50 m.) are constructed of unworked fieldstones (although Kamilari has
roughly worked blocks), usually with larger stones on the inside and outside faces enclosing a core of
smaller stones; clay is used as a binding medium. These earlier Minoan tholoi are always founded on
bedrock, and are built either on a level surface or against a rocky overhang (Ayios Kyrillos, built partially
42

underground, is a notable exception). That is, these tholoi are not sunk into the earth or into a hillside.
Entrance into the tomb is almost invariably from the east. Doorways, usually small (rarely over 1.00 x
1.00 m.) and in the EM examples normally consisting of a simple trilithon arrangement, are almost
invariably closed by a large rectangular slab on the outside. Lintel blocks are occasionally thicker in the
center, an indicator that builders were concerned about the possibility of breakage due to the heavy loads
these blocks carried, but only one tomb (Megali Skini) preserves evidence for a triangular corbel-vaulted
void above this block, a so-called {relieving triangle}. This common feature of later Mycenaean
subterranean tholoi is designed to redistribute the weight of the superstructure above the center of the
lintel by angling it at a diagonal to the ends of the lintel and the jambs of the doorway below; as a result,
the lintel itself is "relieved" of the weight and so is less likely to crack and eventually break at the
midpoint of its span.
Complexes of rectangular rooms ("annexes") are frequently built against the circular wall of the tholos
around the entrance. Only in the MM I tholos at Apesokari do these annex walls bond with the tholos
itself, thereby indicating unambiguously that the annex and tholos were built at one and the same time; at
this site, however, the bonding in question appears to belong to a rebuilding of the circular tomb chamber
at some point following its original construction. Thus certainly in most, and perhaps in all cases, the
annexes were secondary accretions against the outer wall of what was originally a plain circular tomb
chamber. Some annex rooms which lack normal doorways can only have been entered from the roof.
Most tholoi reveal a slight overhang of the interior wall - that is, most tholoi are corbelled to some extent.
In some tombs, the interior faces of the walls have been hammer-dressed to form an even curve, an
element of sophistication unattested in contemporary domestic architecture. A number of tholoi have a
series of slabs projecting from the exterior wall. These slabs do not always occur in the same area of the
plan nor is their number fixed nor do they appear only in tombs of a particular date or area. They are
usually placed between 0.3 and 1.0 m. above ground level and between 0.2 and 1.0 m. apart. Explanations
for these slabs include: (a) (Parabeni, Xanthoudides): They were used to "key" a covering mound of earth
over the tomb [but there is no evidence at all that such a mound ever existed] (b) (Levi, Xanthoudides):
Such slabs constitute a type of scaffolding used during the tomb's construction [but why do they occur
only at a low level and extend around only a part of the tomb's circumference?] (c) (Branigan): They
facilitated access to the top of the wall so that the wooden roof over the tomb could be removed during
fumigation of the tomb [but again, why do they appear only at such a low level?]. A number of tombs
have a thickened wall in one portion of the circumference (e.g. Apesokari). Platanos A and
Marathokephalon II have a series of short wall stubs projecting perpendicularly from the circular wall,
and some have interpreted these walls as buttresses, although they seem much too flimsy for this purpose.
No doorways are so small as to suggest that burial was made through the roof instead.
The Problem of the Roof
The question which for a long period was dominant in studies of these tombs is whether or not they were
covered with a complete stone vault. That is, what did such tombs look like in elevation?
Arguments in Favor of a Stone Vault
(1) The tholoi must have had a roof of some kind (although Seager did in fact suggest at one point that the
tombs were simply unroofed). There is no evidence for a flat roof in the form of internal supports, which
would have been absolutely necessary for the large span of the bigger tombs. Therefore, the roof was
vaulted.
(2) Evidence for a collapsed stone vault is frequently found in the form of masses of collapsed stonework
inside the tomb above the floor.
(3) The corbelling of the interior wall face indicates that the tombs were covered by a corbelled vault.
(4) The exterior walls are often extremely thick and tend to be thicker the larger the tomb. This extreme
thickness is designed precisely to sustain the immense weight of a complete stone vault.
(5) The thickening of the exterior wall at some points, the occasional use of protruding wall stubs as
buttresses, and the occasional building of a tholos against a natural stone outcrop are all additional clues
which point to a stone vault.
(6) The projecting slabs were used as scaffolding in the process of laying the upper courses of the stone
vault.
43

Arguments Against a Stone Vault

(1) Although collapsed stonework is indeed found inside the tombs, not nearly enough of it has been
found in such a position to complete a stone vault. Usually, enough is preserved to raise the level of the
wall only by another 0.50 m. or so. In addition, the collapsed stonework is often of a slightly different
type (triangular stones) suggesting a possibly different method of construction in the upper walls.
(Incidentally, proponents of a full stone vault argue at this point that much of the original stonework has
been quarried away by modern villagers living nearby.)
(2) The construction of the preserved walls is nowhere near strong enough to support a stone vault. The
construction technique utilizing large amounts of clay packing and relatively small stones is simply too
weak. While an earthen mound heaped over the tomb would probably serve to withstand the outward
pressure of the vault, there is no evidence that such earthen mounds ever existed, and tholoi were never
sunk into the earth like later Mycenaean tholoi (except for Ayios Kyrillos, which is founded only some
two meters underground).
Possible Solutions
(1) Pini concludes that at least the smaller tholoi up to a diameter of ca. 7.50 m. were fully vaulted in
stone. The most cogent objections to such vaulting really only apply to the largest of the tholoi.
(2) Hood has suggested that the top of the tomb was covered by a light, timber-reinforced mudbrick vault
[but there is no evidence whatsoever of decomposed mudbrick in the tombs].
(3) Branigan suggested in 1970 that the top of the tomb was covered by a light, flat roof built of wood
which could easily be removed when the tomb had to be fumigated. The projecting slabs would have
provided access to the top of the stone portion of the tomb in order to facilitate the removal of the roof.
The spans of the larger tombs would not be impossibly large for such flat timber roofs since the spans
would have been reduced to between some four and seven meters by the corbelling of the tomb's inner
face.
(4) The discovery at Archanes in the 1970's of a relatively small MM IA tholos tomb whose vault was
very nearly fully preserved in stone seemed to substantiate Pini's view, at least insofar as the smaller and
later tholoi were concerned. But then it was claimed by Cavanagh and Laxton in 1981 that the structural
mechanics of a corbelled vault require a minimum ratio of 0.53 between the wall thickness and the radius
of a fully vaulted structure. Only one of the forty-four tholoi for which measurements were supplied in
1976 by Pelon satisfied this criterion, and so for a brief period there was a swing in the pendulum of at
least some archaeological opinion to the view that no virtually no Early or Middle Minoan could have
been fully vaulted in stone.
(5) In the revised edition (1988) of his now classic work on the Mesara tholoi, Branigan came to the
conclusion that the recent evidence from Archanes and other sites indicates, on the contrary, that most, if
perhaps not quite all, tholoi were, in fact, fully vaulted in stone, and this opinion has more recently been
enthusiastically endorsed by Watrous (1994).
Method of Burial
Hundreds of inhumations were deposited in most tholoi with no regard being paid to previous interments.
The insides of the tombs therefore often consist of a confused mass of bones and grave goods. Traces of
fire in a number of tombs (but not in all) suggest periodic fumigations. In some cases, a layer of sterile
white sand separates one burial stratum from another, and this occasional renewal of the floor would
presumably be an alternative method of "cleaning up" the tomb. There is good evidence, in the form of
nearby built ossuaries, that the contents of the tomb were periodically removed and redeposited in
subsidiary structures. Perhaps the best evidence of this kind for a long-term sequence of usage in the
communal burial structures from a single site, tholoi as well as rectangular ossuaries, comes from
Archanes. The long history of these structures' construction and use from EM II through MM II has been
conveniently summarized by Watrous (1994).
Two or even three tholoi were often in contemporary use at the same site, a fact which suggested to
Branigan in the early 1970's that the tholoi might have "belonged" to individual clans within a village
rather than always to the village as a whole or to even larger "tribal" groupings. More recently, fieldwork
44

by Blackman and Branigan in the Ayiofarango valley of south Crete and Whitelaw's analyses of earlier
mortuary data from the Mesara indicate that each tholos may actually have been the tomb of an even
smaller EM social unit, the nuclear family. Every EM settlement identified by intensive survey in the
Ayiofarango has one or two associated tholoi, while some tholoi even seem to be paired with small
outlying farmsteads. The placement of tholoi, in Branigan's view, is governed largely by considerations of
proximity to the settlement which it served: tholoi almost always lies within 250 meters of a
contemporary settlement.
The very long periods of use for which the finds in many tholoi are evidence reveal that the social groups
which such tholoi served must have been very small if they were intended to contain all the corpses
generated by that group. In cases where two or more tholoi served a single settlement, the tombs are
normally of about the same size and have provided roughly comparable ranges of grave goods, thus
suggesting that Mesara society in the EM period, with the probable exception of Phaistos, may have been
more egalitarian than the supposedly stratified social order suggested for such north Cretan settlements as
Mochlos, Mallia, and Gournia (see above).
The artifacts from the tombs (vessels of both pottery and stone, tools and weapons, jewelry, and seals)
show that a dead person was buried with his or her personal belongings as well as with food and drink
(for the next life?). Since the dead were supplied with food and drink, they were presumably primary
burials (i.e. fully articulated bodies) and not secondary collections of bones. Most of the grave goods
show signs of use in mortal life (i.e. they were not designed specifically for funerary purposes). Two
groups of finds, however, may well have been designed exclusively for funerary usage: stone vases, many
of which are too small for any practical use and examples of which are rarely found in settlement
contexts; and anthropomorphic and zoomorphic ceramic vessels which are found only very rarely in
settlements (e.g. "The Goddess of Myrtos"). During EM I-II, the tombs appear to have been used for
funerary rituals only. Such rituals appear to have required only a restricted range of grave goods and to
have been attended by relatively small numbers of celebrants. A significant change takes place in the
subsequent EM III - MM I periods, when tholoi began to be sited regularly above and overlooking the
settlement which they served (e.g. Kamilari, Ayios Kyrillos, Gypsadhes, Vorou). At the same time, the
range of goods placed in tombs was dramatically expanded, while the architecture of the tombs was
enhanced with paved courts and terraces (Archanes, Apesokari, Moni Odegetria) where ceremonies
attended by larger groups could have been held.
A "Cult of the Dead"?
(1) Apesokari (MM I): The rectangular complex in front of the tholos includes two constructions
identified as altars, one inside the annex and one just outside. Interpretations of this arrangement have
been that: (a) one altar was for religious authorities (inside), one for the common people; (b) one altar was
for members of the immediate family or of the clan (inside), the other for the rest of the village; (c) one
altar was used during the actual burial ceremony (inside), the other for a continuing "cult of the dead". In
fact, there is not much support for any of the above interpretations.
(2) Terracotta Model from Kamilari (MM III-LM I): [Hood, APG 105 Fig.88] Are the two smaller scale
figures worshipping the four larger seated figures? Are the seated figures divinities or simply heroized
dead? Or does the whole model, one of several multi-figured terracottas from a relatively late stage in the
use of this tomb, have no connection with either death or cult?
(3) The discovery of masses of plain, ordinary drinking cups stacked in piles in some annexes suggests
that some kind of funeral ceremony or cult ritual took place at some tholoi. Branigan has suggested that
this ceremony was a farewell toast to the dead.
Theories on the Origin of the Tholos Tomb Form
External Origin
(1) (Hutchinson, Branigan): EM tholoi are somehow derived from mudbrick tholoi of the Syrian Halaf
culture attested at the site of Arpachiyah [but the Halaf tholoi date to the late 5th millennium B.C. (i.e. are
at least 500 years too early) and are evidently domestic rather than funerary architectural forms].
(2) (Evans, Xanthoudides, Pendlebury, Alexiou): EM tholoi are derived from circular tombs in Nubia or
from Old Kingdom vaulted tombs in Egypt. This theory was very popular when many of the finds in the
Mesara tholoi (figurines, amulets, stone bowls, scarabs) were considered to have been imported directly
45

from Egypt or Libya. However, these objects, whether or not they came to Crete directly from Egypt
rather than through the hands of Levantine intermediaries, are now considered to be later than EM I in
date and so have become irrelevant in any discussion of the tholos' origin. As far as pure architecture is
concerned, Nubian tombs are flat-roofed and usually solid cairns, similar in their circular plans to the EM
tholoi but radically different in their sections. In addition, they are of late 3rd millennium B. C. date and
thus postdate most EM tholoi. Old Kingdom tombs in Egypt have barrel rather than corbelled vaults and
thus also are not closely comparable to the EM tholoi.
(3) (Hutchinson): EM tholoi are to be derived eventually from Early Neolithic circular houses at
Khirokitia on Cyprus by way of the small circular tombs of the Final Neolithic period at Kephala on
Keos. The objections to this theory are: (a) the Cycladic tombs are minuscule when compared to the large
EM tholoi at sites like Platanos, Koumasa, and Ayia Triadha; (b) EM tholoi cluster in the south of Crete,
whereas Cycladic influence in the island, particularly in EM I, is restricted almost entirely to northern
Crete; (c) there is no good reason to connect the EN houses from Cyprus with the FN tombs from
Kephala.
Indigenous Origin
(1) (Branigan): There is no evidence in earlier or contemporary Cretan architecture for a circular plan.
However, tholoi may be viewed as free-standing imitations of caves, the only sites used for burials in LN
Crete. Caves are relatively rare in the Mesara area, and EM expansion into the Mesara plain may have
necessitated the invention of the tholos form. A difficulty with this theory is that the tholos type diffuses
over a wide area geographically and becomes remarkably standardized as an architectural type all within
the EM I period. Moreover, most of the earlier tholoi were built not down in the plain of the Mesara, but
rather in the foothills of the Asterousia Mountains, on both their northern and southern slopes. Since EM I
is a long (ca. 600 years) period, some argue, there may have been sufficient time within it to encompass
full development and standardization of the tholos form. In further support of such a view, some of the
earliest tholoi show peculiarities that may be symptomatic of the type's recent development (e.g. entrance
at the south, two entrances at both south and east, construction incorporating rock outcrops, etc.).
Chronologically Significant Features
Most tholoi were built either in EM I or in MM I. Although there is no consistent development of the
tholos form, there are nevertheless a few features which appear to be characteristic of the later tombs:
(1) Later tombs are generally smaller (only 6 of 28 early tombs have a diameter of below 5 m., while 8 of
14 late ones do).
(2) Later tombs feature built doorways, not trilithons (7 of 8 late tombs for which the relevant details have
been published).
(3) Later tombs have higher doorways (3 of 4 late tombs whose doorway heights we know have doorways
over 1.5 m. in height). Larger doorways were no doubt required due to the use of larnakes and pithoi as
individual burial containers within tholos tombs beginning in the EM III period
(4) Later tombs feature a rectangular annex which incorporates the vestibule/antechamber to the tomb (5
examples; similar annexes at Platanos B and C appear to be later additions to pre-existing structures).
(5) Later tombs feature improvements in masonry, such as coursing and the employment of cut blocks.
LARNAX BURIAL
A larnax in the EM period is elliptical in plan and relatively low in elevation. It has no legs and is never
painted. In origin, it is probably a copy in clay of a simple wooden trough. Burial in larnakes begins in
EM III. At Pachyammos and Gournia in east Crete, larnax burials consist simply of larnakes being placed
in individual pits cut into sterile soil or bedrock. At other sites in north Crete, larnakes are deposited
inside of built tombs of the "house" type. By the MM period, this custom has been extended to tholoi of
the EM or Mesara type, especially at Archanes (notably in Tholoi Epsilon and Gamma). Larnax burial in
the Early and Middle Bronze Age Aegean world is peculiar to Crete. Within Crete, it reflects a trend at
the end of the EM period toward individualized burial.

46

PITHOS BURIAL
This form of burial appears at the very end of the EM period at the same sites where larnax burial is more
or less contemporarily introduced. It becomes far more popular in the MM period. Pithos burial is
common in western Anatolia in the Early Bronze Age and also occurs in the Final Neolithic cemetery at
Kephala on Keos and in the EH II "round graves" on Lefkas. It is, however, relatively rare during the
Early Bronze Age on the Greek Mainland and in the Cyclades, while in the Middle Bronze Age in these
areas it is a form used mostly for the burial of children and infants.
CONCLUDING POINTS
The following peculiarities of pre-palatial (i.e. EM I through MM IA) Minoan burial customs are worthy
of particular note:
(1) Burial practices during this period are highly regionalized, with house tombs prevalent in the north,
tholoi dominant in the south central region (i.e. the Mesara), cave burial favored in the far east and far
west, and cist graves typical of some sites in the northeast.
(2) The native forms of burial that are particularly characteristic of the pre-palatial Bronze Age on Crete that is, excluding cave burial as a holdover from the Neolithic and cist burial as a fashion imported from
the Cyclades, and perhaps even by brought to Crete by immigrant islanders - are both collective and
supraterranean (i.e. above-ground) ways of disposing of the dead. They stand in marked contrast to the
preference of both islanders and mainlanders for burial of the dead below ground, either individually or
else in small numbers in relatively small tombs. In their emphasis on togetherness of an entire
community, Minoan burial customs closely parallel their preference for living virtually on top of one
another, cheek-by-jowl, in their settlements.
(3) These collective, above ground burial structures of the Minoans had extraordinarily long lifetimes,
sometimes in excess of 1000 years. Like their decision to live together for upwards of 1500 years at
Knossos before they began to colonize the island of Crete in the fifth millennium B.C., this unusual
conservatism speak in favor of a culture in which inherited custom played a far more significant role than
elsewhere in the Bronze Age Aegean.

Lesson 7: Western Anatolia and the Eastern Aegean in the Early Bronze Age

INTRODUCTION
o

TROY I (West Anatolian EB 1: ca. 3000/2900-2600/2550 B.C.)

EARLY TROY I
o

Architecture:

Metal:

Stone

Bone

Terracotta:

Pottery:

Burials:

MIDDLE TROY I
o

Architecture:

Metal:

Stone:

Pottery:

LATE TROY I
47

Architecture:

Stone:

Pottery:

FINAL TROY I
o

Architecture:

Relative Chronology of Troy I as a Whole:

TROY II (West Anatolian EB 2: ca. 2600/2550-2250 B.C.)

Architecture:

Metal:

Stone:

Terracotta:

Bone

Pottery

Burials:

Chronology:

TROY III (West Anatolian EB 3 (early): ca. 2250-2100/2050 B.C.)

Architecture:

Metal

Stone

Terracotta:

Pottery

Burials

Animal Bone:

Chronology:

Summary of Troy I-III

TROY IV (West Anatolian EB 3 (middle): ca. 2100/2050-2000/1950 B.C.)

Architecture:

Metal:

Stone:

Terracotta

Pottery:

Burials

Animal Bone:

Chronology

TROY V (West Anatolian EB 3 (late): ca. 2000/1950-1900/1850 B.C.)

Architecture:

Metal:

Terracotta:

Pottery
48

Burials:

Animal Bone:

Chronology:

Summary of Troy IV-V

LIMANTEPE

THERMI ON LESBOS

Pottery and Chronology:

Architecture:

Other Artifacts:

POLIOCHNI ON LEMNOS
o

Black/Nero (I)

Blue/Azzurro (II)

Green/Verde (III)

Red/Rosso (IV)

Yellow/Giallo (V)

Brown/Bruno (VI)

Summary of Poliochni

GENERAL COMMENT ON ARCHITECTURE AT TROY AND RELATED SITES IN THE

NORTHEASTERN AEGEAN

Western Anatolia and the Eastern Aegean in the Early Bronze Age
INTRODUCTION
It was Heinrich Schliemann's decision to excavate at the mound of Hisarlik in 1870, in an effort to prove
that Homer's epic tale of the siege of Troy was an historical event rather than mere mythology, that
launched the subdiscipline of Aegean prehistory. Schliemann's exposure of a series of superimposed
Bronze Age fortresses at the site, in the burnt ruins of one of the earliest of which he claimed to have
found a series of "treasures" rich in metal artifacts - that is, hoards of bronze, silver, and gold objects were ample confirmation to him that Priam's legendary capital had really existed. In an extensive
sequence of excavation campaigns (1870-73, 1878-79, 1882, 1890) that were eventually halted only by
Schliemann's death in Naples in December, 1890, he uncovered not only an enormous amount of the
prehistoric remains at Hisarlik but also a good deal of the overlying Greek and Roman city that the
historic inhabitants of the place referred to more often as Ilion (or Ilium) than Troi (or Troia). After a
brief pause, excavations at the site continued for two additional seasons (1892-93) under Schliemann's
architect and former assistant, Wilhelm Drpfeld. Then a World War came and went, along with a
generation and a half of archaeologists, before excavation at the site was resumed for seven years (193238) under the direction of Carl W. Blegen, an American leading a team from the University of Cincinnati
that included Jack L. Caskey, the future of excavator of Lerna in the 1950's and of Ayia Irini (Keos) in the
1960's. Then along came another World War, followed by the passage of another generation and a half of
archaeologists prior to the latest round of excavations at Hisarlik (1990 - present) by a German-American
team co-directed by Manfred Korfmann of the University of Tbingen working on the prehistoric levels
and Brian Rose of the University of Cincinnati concentrating on the historical Greek and Roman city. As
a consequence of having been excavated over so long a period by both German and American
expeditions, the site conventionally referred to as Troy both in prehistory and in the historical era
(although as of 1998 we actually know the name of only the historic site for sure) is one of the most
thoroughly explored and fully published sites in the world, even though due to its size and complexity it
may not be anywhere nearly as well understood as smaller and simpler settlements like Myrtos.
An enormous archaeological literature on Troy now exists which now extends back, thanks to
Schliemann's exemplary promptness in publishing his findings, over 120 years. Much of this scholarship
49

has, of course, been constantly being superseded by the latest findings of the most recent group of
excavators to work at the site. Up through the Second World War, Drpfeld's publications were
considered definitive; for the past forty years, the pronouncements of Blegen and his co-workers have
held much the same authority. But already the new fieldwork undertaken by Korfmann has shown that the
picture of Troy presented by Blegen and his predecessors was fundamentally flawed in a number of
important respects. In what follows, the basic elements of the stratigraphic characterizations of the EBA
sequence at Troy - the cities numbered from I (at the bottom, on sterile soil) up to V (a settlement which,
like the contemporary Phylakopi I culture of the Cyclades, spans the transition from the EBA to the
MBA) - are derived from Blegen et al.'s publication of the relevant strata in the first two volumes of his
team's final report (1950, 1951). These thumbnail sketches of Troy's material culture during the EBA will
be supplemented where relevant by the findings to date of Korfmann's crew, published annually in a
periodical founded specifically for this purpose, Studia Troica.
One final note about the EBA remains from Troy: despite their extremely impressive nature and the
undeniable fact that they have played an uniquely important role in the development of the discipline of
archaeology in the Aegean basin, they need to be put into perspective with far greater care than has been
done in most handbooks on Aegean prehistory. The discovery of equally important Early Bronze Age
sites at points further south on the western Anatolian coast (e.g. Limantepe and Panaztepe), as well as on
the large islands of the eastern Aegean not far offshore (e.g. Poliochni on Lemnos, Thermi on Lesbos,
Emporio on Chios), some of which have only quite recently begun to be investigated on any significant
scale (especially Limantepe), ought to keep us from awarding to Troy an unchallenged preeminence in
the scholarly literature of today which the site has held since its initial excavation but in all probability
did not possess during the third millennium B.C. Troy was first occupied ca. 3100/3000 B.C., a century or
two after the Bronze Age is conventionally considered to have begun in northwestern Anatolia. By the
time of its foundation, Poliochni had been occupied for centuries, Emporio for millennia, and Limantepe
is likely to have been equally well established. Troy was, to be sure, an important site from the very start but it was only one of a whole string of very impressive fortified coastal settlements extending at least as
far south as Samos and probably all the way down to Kos.
TROY I (West Anatolian EB 1: ca. 3000/2900-2600/2550 B.C.)
Deposit ca. 4 m. deep. Blegen's excavations resulted in the identification of ten architectural phases (a-j)
divided into Early (a-c), Middle (d-f), and Late (g-j). To these, Korfmann has now added at least five or
six more, which he suggests ought to be referred to as Final Troy I (l-p/q), phase Ik being the latest phase
of Late Troy I.
EARLY TROY I
Architecture:
Traces of a battered fortification wall ca. 2.50 m. thick found by Schliemann and Drpfeld indicate that
the site was of the "fortress" type from the very beginning. Relatively large, free-standing houses are built
of mudbrick on a stone socle. From phase Ia there is an apsidal house (103), and from phase Ib an
overlying rectangular "megaron" (102) of impressive size (7.0 x 18.75 m.). Korfmann's cleaning
operations at the bottom of Schliemann's "Great Trench" have revealed an extensive series of parallel
buildings which include the two megara published by Blegen and that take their orientation from the line
of the fortification wall at the southern limit of this trench.
Metal:
Present from the beginning, this exists in the form of needles, pins, awls, and a hook of copper.
Stone:
Marble or limestone is used for schematic human figurines, related to but significantly different from
those of the EC cultures in the central Aegean; there are, for example, no figurines that can be accurately
described as of a "folded-arm" type, nor are there any figures carved in sufficient detail to be identified as
representing specific "occupations" (e.g. musicians, warriors, etc.). Different varieties of stone are
employed for celts, hammers, axes, and numerous querns and grinders. The chipped stone is of flint.
Bone:
Used primarily to make pins and awls, bone was also utilized for ornaments of various sorts.

50

Terracotta:
This material is used for, aside from pots, such items as weaving accessories (spindle whorls and
loomweights) and one human figurine.
Pottery:
Most of the pottery is dark monochrome burnished ware. Sparse decoration normally consists of
rectilinear incisions filled with white paste but there is also occasional plastic decoration. Common shapes
are conical or slightly flaring bowls with thickened interior rims, carinated bowls, jugs with cutaway
necks, and basins on three legs. The bowls often have tubular lugs at or just below the rim. Some of the
incised decoration takes the form of highly stylized human facial features. The prevalence of incised
decoration in simple rectilinear patterns on the thickened interior lips of bowls invites comparison with
the similar decoration of late EH I "fruitstands" of the Talioti phase in the Peloponnese.
Burials:
No adult burials were found in the University of Cincinnati's excavations in the 1930's but six infant
burials were discovered under the floor, as well as just north, of House 102. Two of these graves were
simple pit burials, while in four the infants were interred within pithoi or large jars.
MIDDLE TROY I
Architecture:
A fortification wall (IW) still stands 3 m. high in the southern part of the settlement. The principal
gateway through it was flanked on both sides by projecting towers. A second gateway, similar in plan,
probably pierced the wall on the east side. Houses continue to be large and free-standing but no complete
plans were recovered.
Metal:
New are lead fragments used to mend broken vases and a terracotta mould for a metal dagger or
spearhead indicating local production of metal implements.
Stone:
Fragments of two stone vases were found. More impressive is the fragment of a large stone stela bearing
shallow relief decoration in the form of a human head and upper body, the earliest sculpture on this scale
in Anatolia or the Aegean.
Pottery:
Changes are minimal. Pattern-painted light-on-dark decoration appears as an alternative to incisions filled
with white paste, but it is rare. The first Aegean ceramic imports appear, including fragments of EH/EC II
Urfirnis which show that the middle of Troy I overlaps in date with the Korakou culture on the Greek
Mainland and the Keros-Syros culture in the central Aegean islands.
LATE TROY I
Architecture:
The fortifications are extended in places as much as 5 m. outward. The sections of wall new in this phase
consist of an earthen rampart, strongly battered and faced with a single layer of stones in contrast with the
solid stone construction of the earlier wall IW. House types continue unchanged. There is evidence for a
destruction by fire of Troy Ij.
Stone:
Melian obsidian appears for the first time, but only in small quantities.
Pottery:
No major changes distinguish the pottery from that of Middle I, but a black surface color becomes more
common and more regular (i.e. there is less mottling of vessel surfaces, implying improved control over
the firing process). Aegean imports continue and now include certain sauceboat fragments.

51

FINAL TROY I
Architecture:
Identified only quite recently by Korfmann in the levels underneath the great megara IIA and IIB at the
core of the Trojan EBA fortress, these five or six building phases have yet to be defined in any detail
ceramically. In the last phase (Ip or Iq), the first buff wheelmade plates and shallow bowls, previously
considered typical of the earliest stage of Troy II, appear.
Relative Chronology of Troy I as a Whole:
Early I is contemporary with the later Eutresis culture of EH I and the advanced Grotta-Pelos culture
represented by the so-called Kampos group of EC I. Middle and Late I are contemporary with early
phases of the Korakou (EH IIA) and Keros-Syros (EC IIA) cultures on the basis of imported Urfirnis and
sauceboat fragments in these levels at Troy.
TROY II (West Anatolian EB 2: ca. 2600/2550-2250 B.C.)
Deposit usually ca. 2 m. thick, much less than for Troy I, possibly because the debris of the various
phases was often cleared away entirely when a new architectural level was laid out but perhaps also due
to the fact that Troy II is somewhat shorter-lived than Troy I. Eight architectural phases (a-g). There is no
cultural break between Troy I and II nor any within Troy II.
Architecture:
The fortifications are greatly extended in phase IIa and are provided in parts with projecting rectangular
towers. The walls are pierced by two large gateways (FL, FN), each flanked on both sides by massive
towers. At the end of phase IIa, the citadel was destroyed by fire. In phase IIb, the walls are rebuilt on
roughly the same plan. In phase IIc, the fortifications are again extended outward. At this time, two
impressive gateways (FM, FO) with a more open double-gated plan are constructed, and FM at the
southwest is approached by a magnificent stone-paved ramp. These phase IIc fortifications remain in use
with little in the way of modification except at the gates until the end of Troy II. As far as houses are
concerned, there are only traces of them from phase IIa but these are large. In phase IIb there is evidence
for a megaron-like building under Megaron IIA. In phase IIc, the citadel is dominated by a series of huge
parallel megara constructed within an interior walled compound. The largest of these is Megaron IIA,
approached through a propylon (IIC) leading through the wall of the inner compound, which itself has a
colonnaded portico on the inside. At least four other megara (IIB, IIE, IIH, IIR) are ranged along both
sides of IIA. A fifth megaron (IIF) lies outside the inner compound to the south, as does a multi-roomed
structure (IID) to the southwest. Distinctive in the architecture of Troy IIc are the shaped stone bases
attached to the thickened ends of the lateral walls of the major buildings [the so-called {anta}e; this term
most frequently describes the ends of the long walls of a megaron, especially at the front in the building's
porch]. In both gateways and megara, these cut stone bases supported wooden sheathing ("parastades")
around the mudbricks at the walls' ends, causing the wall thickenings termed antae. The walls of Megaron
IIA were made of mudbrick set within a half-timbered framework (horizontal, transverse, and probably
also vertical beams) on top of a massive stone socle 1.5 meters wide. The main room of this enormous
megaron (45 m. long by 13 m. wide) had a large (diam. 4 m.) circular hearth on its axis, but there was no
evidence found for the throne located in much later Mycenaean palaces with comparable plans against the
middle of the right-hand wall as one enters. In Troy IId, the colonnaded court around the megara was
extended outward ca. 3 m., but otherwise the architectural design of the fortress remained much the same
until the end of Troy II except that the number of monumental megara declined in favor of more
obviously residential dwellings taking the form of blocks or "insulae". Period IId is characterized by
extensive rubbish pits (" bothroi"), perhaps designed originally as emplacements for large pithoi. Troy
IIg, within which only one monumental megaron survives (IIA from Troy IIc), was totally destroyed in a
massive fire.
Metal:
Large amounts of gold and silver, as well as tools and vessels of copper and bronze, were found by
Schliemann and Blegen in the burnt destruction horizon of Troy IIg. The prosperity of Troy II suggested
by the architecture is confirmed by these finds which, aside from pure wealth, also attest to the wide
extent of Troy II's contacts with other areas both within the Aegean and beyond. Gold jewelry is
52

particularly striking and can be compared with that from destruction deposits at Poliochni (Yellow Phase)
on Lemnos and with pieces from tombs at Mochlos (Crete) and Alaca Hyk (inland Turkey). Good
Aegean parallels also exist for such items as silver tweezers (at Manika on Euboea) and for the idea of a
multiple sauceboat (in the Cyclades), although the Cycladic parallels for the latter are purely ceramic and
pale by comparison with the famous two-handled example in gold from Troy of a hybrid sauceboat plus
"Kastri group" two-handled cup. At least one half of the copper-based artifacts from Troy II are already
high-tin bronzes. The only other site in the Aegean area to have produced so much tin-bronze at this early
date is Kastri on Syros which in both its metalwork and its pottery reveals clear Trojan influence and may
in fact have been settled by refugees from the final disaster which destroyed Troy II.
Stone:
Aside from figurines of types found already in Troy I, a number of stone implements reveal Aegean
contacts: a steatite blossom bowl (Minoan), a spool-shaped pestle of marble (Helladic or Cycladic), and
Melian obsidian. Four magnificent stone axes [2 of nephritoid (?), 1 of jadeite (?), and 1 of lazurite),
imitating weapons produced in bronze, have their closest parallels in roughly contemporary finds from the
central and northern Caucasus, as well as in finds some seven centuries later from a hoard found near
Borodino in Besserabia. Two of the four splendidly carved and polished axes from Troy II preserve traces
of gilding.
Terracotta:
Spindle whorls are common. In one IIg house was found evidence for a loom in the form of three or four
parallel rows of loomweights, although this hardly proves the existence of a true weaving industry at
Troy. Spindle whorls are now often decorated with incised patterns. Only one terracotta figurine fragment
was found.
Bone:
In addition to pins, needles, and awls, a bone tube decorated with incised patterns almost certainly is an
import from the Cyclades (where it would have been used as a pigment container), while two bone
plaques with knobbed decoration have close parallels in Sicily, Malta, and Lerna IV (EH III
Peloponnese).
Pottery:
In early Troy II, the pottery continues the tradition of Troy I. As Troy II progresses, more of the pottery is
red to tan in color instead of black, although black-polished ware is still common. In Troy IIb, the first
evidence for the use of the fast wheel appears in the form of bowls with flaring sides. The introduction of
the wheel leads to the popularity of new shapes, shallow dishes and plates in red-slipped-and-polished
ware. Such wheelmade types increase in quantity in Troy IIc. In phase IId, the depas amphikypellon, a
highly distinctive form of two-handled tankard or flagon, appears in red-washed ware. One- and twohandled tankards, first appearing in Troy IIa, have become extremely popular by the middle of Troy II.
The first face-pots and face-lids appear between middle and late Troy II. The anthropomorphic features of
these vases are generally agreed to be directly descended from the incised facial features on the interior
rims of the bowls of Troy I.
Burials:
Only three were found by the Cincinnati expedition in the 1930's: (a) Adult female (30), contracted in pit
in hollow of fortification wall of Troy IIa. No grave goods. Pit lined with a few slabs set on edge. Dated
to Troy IIb-c. (b) Child (8), contracted in pit under house floor. No grave goods. Dated to Troy IIf. (c)
Child (12-13), flexed in pit under house floor. Bit of lead wire with body. Dated to Troy IIg. It seems that
intramural child burial was practised, but adult burials must have been made outside the settlement.
Chronology:
Troy II is broadly contemporary with the middle and later stages of the Korakou and Keros-Syros cultures
of EH IIA and EC IIA respectively.
TROY III (West Anatolian EB 3 (early): ca. 2250-2100/2050 B.C.)
Deposit 2.0-2.65 m. deep. Three or four architectural phases. Town demolished at end of Troy III,
although for no obvious reason.
53

Architecture:
Free-standing houses are rare, if they occur at all. Most "houses" at first appear to be one-to-three-room
apartments in larger complexes, one apartment sharing party walls with another, but it is not altogether
clear how these larger units might differ from the insulae of late Troy II. Characteristic of Troy III is the
tendency to construct buildings entirely of stone rather than of mudbrick on a stone socle. No portion of a
fortification wall was found by Schliemann, Drpfeld, or Blegen, but Korfmann has found two stages of a
fortification wall assignable to this period about halfway between the later Troy II gates FM and FO and
somewhat to the south. This discovery explains the consistently horizontal deposition of Troy III strata
noted by Blegen within the probable line of these fortifications.
Metal:
Not very much was found. Of 22 copper pins, one is of Cycladic type but the rest all have parallels in
Troy I-II.
Stone:
The marble and limestone figurines are of types found in Troy I-II and the amount of obsidian found is
fairly small.
Terracotta:
Spindle whorls continue to be common, the types continuing from Troy II. Animal figurines (clearly
quadrupeds, but are they dogs, sheep, or cattle?) appear for the first time but are poorly modelled.
Pottery:
This is virtually indistinguishable from that of Troy II. Shapes include flaring bowls, tankards, depa,
spouted and beaked jugs, face-pots and face-lids. Imported EH and/or EC vessels are mostly large,
possibly brought to Troy III primarily for their contents. A new shape is the beak-spouted jug. Korfmann
estimates the amount of Troy I ceramic types still in use during Troy III at roughly 50% of the total
pottery found in a deposit of the latter period. This fact suggests that the lighter colored, wheelmade
wares which become increasingly more popular during Troy II and III may have served as high-status
table wares and should not be viewed necessarily as the standard or even typical pottery of the EB 2 and
earlier EB 3 periods at Troy.
Burials:
None were found by the Cincinnati expedition.
Animal Bone:
There is a large enough increase in the number of deer bones to make deer the most common animal
represented. This fact presumably represents a significant increase in hunting, but the reason for such a
change is unknown.
Chronology:
Troy III is probably contemporary with the "Lefkandi I", or "Kastri group", culture of the EC IIB
Cyclades and the EH IIB central Greek Mainland. In the northern Peloponnese, the contemporary culture
would be the last stages of the Korakou culture of the EH IIA period - the time of Building BG and the
House of the Tiles at Lerna III, for example.
Summary of Troy I-III
As a result of his first six seasons of excavation at Troy, Korfmann has concluded that the culture of
Blegen's first three "cities" exhibits so many continuities in fortification and domestic architecture,
pottery, figurines, spindle whorls, etc. that it should be viewed as a unity. Because of its extremely close
links with the material culture of a substantial number of other fortified, coastal sites on both the western
Anatolian mainland and several of the large islands in the eastern Aegean (Chios, Lemnos, Lesbos),
Korfmann proposes that this culture be named the "Maritime Troia culture". In addition to its extensive
Aegean distribution, this culture extends north beyond the Dardanelles/Hellespont into the Sea of
Marmara.

54

TROY IV (West Anatolian EB 3 (middle): ca. 2100/2050-2000/1950 B.C.)

Deposit 1.70-2.0 m. deep. Five architectural phases (a-e). The town is totally redesigned at the beginning
of Troy V, but as in the case of Troy III, there is no known reason for Troy IV's demolition.
Architecture:
Traces of a fortification wall are said to have been found on the south and east sides, but these were not
substantial. Houses are built on a different orientation from that typical of Troy III and are once again
built of mudbrick on a stone socle. A possibly new house plan consists of a row of about four two-room
residential units fronting on the same street, a new form of block or "insula". The domed oven is
introduced at the beginning of the period.
Metal:
Very little was found, seven of the eleven pieces recovered by the Cincinnati expedition being pins. None
of the types are new.
Stone:
The figurines are of familiar types, as is the chipped stone of flint and obsidian.
Terracotta:
A greater percentage of the common spindle whorls are decorated (ca. 65%), but otherwise these are
much the same as in Troy III.
Pottery:
Straw-tempering, first employed in Troy III for large vases, is now normal. By this time, most vases are
wheelmade, although some continue to be handmade. A new shape is the jar with wing-like handles and
spiraliform plastic decoration. Red-cross bowls are also new, but the rest of the pottery is much the same
as before.
Burials:
None were found by the Cincinnati expedition in the 1930's.
Animal Bone:
Deer is still the most popular single species, followed by pig, sheep/goat, cow, and rabbit.
Chronology:
A wing-handled jar of the type characteristic of Troy IV was found by Caskey in Lerna IV, and a
fragment of Early Helladic III pattern-painted pottery found at Troy was assigned Troy IV as a context.
Thus Troy IV is at least partially, and perhaps largely, contemporary with the EH III period on the Greek
Mainland.
TROY V (West Anatolian EB 3 (late): ca. 2000/1950-1900/1850 B.C.)
Deposit 1.50 m. deep. Three to four architectural phases. There is no evidence for a destruction of any
particular kind at the end of Troy V.
Architecture:
No fortification wall has been found, but the horizontal stratification of Troy V levels strongly suggest
that the site was ringed by a fortification, and Korfmann claims to have found some actual evidence for
this in the central portion of Schliemann's "great trench". The architecture of the houses is much the same
as in Troy IV, but the walls are more neatly built, the rooms more regularly laid out, and the residential
units somewhat larger. There is an increase in built-in furniture such as fixed hearths, ovens, benches, etc.
Rooms are kept cleaner and therefore less material has been preserved for the archaeologist. All of these
developments suggest a general rise in the standard of living.
Metal:
A knife, a chisel, three pins, and a few odd bits of wire were found. Analyses show that tin-bronze is now
normal.
Terracotta:
55

The range of types is identical to that typical of Troy II-IV.

Pottery:
No significant changes differentiate this from the pottery of Troy IV.
Burials:
One infant burial was found by the Cincinnati expedition in a pit below a house floor. There are no adult
burials nor evidence outside the settlement for an extramural cemetery.
Animal Bone:
The evidence for deer decreases and the bones of pig and cow now become the most frequent types
found.
Chronology:
The red-cross- bowls common in Troy V appear much earlier in the EH IIA period at Lerna (stratum III)
and Caskey regards the two occurrences as independent phenomena. Troy V is probably contemporary
with the Phylakopi I culture of the MC I period in the Cyclades, with the earliest MH on the Greek
Mainland, and with MM IA on Crete.
Summary of Troy IV-V
There appears to be a significant shift in material culture between Troy III and Troy IV, a change that
Korfmann would like to recognize by calling the culture of Troy IV-V the "Anatolian Troia culture" so as
to stress its greater connections with the interior of Anatolia in comparison to its more Aegean-oriented
predecessor, the "Maritime Troia culture". Several of the features that in Blegen's account make their first
appearance in Troy III are considered by Korfmann rather to be diagnostic of this later "Anatolian Troia
culture": the extensive use of party walls in domestic architecture; the use of organic tempering for
pottery; the increased exploitation of wild species in the faunal record, presumably reflecting increased
attention to hunting; and the appearance of such ceramic types as beak-spouted jugs with cutaway necks,
{trefoil} [i.e. trilobate, with a pinched out, troughed spout at the front opposite the handle] mouths on
jugs, and red-cross-bowls.
LIMANTEPE
This site lies on the western Anatolian coast some 25 kms. west of modern Izmir and immediately
adjacent to the major Ionian city of Clazomenai. Excavated only during the past decade, and
intermittently rather than continuously, this impressive site has yielded a richly stratified Bronze Age
sequence in which settlements IV (EB 3 transitional to MB), V (EB 2, with three sub-phases), and VI (EB
I) are of principal interest in the present context. Both the EB I and EB 2 settlements are ringed by
massive fortification systems exhibiting projecting bastions (Limantepe V) and battering as a feature of at
least the lower portion of the city walls (Limantepe V-VI). These fortifications, still preserved in places
up to over six meters in height and thought to have once stood at least twelve meters high, extend around
the entire settlement and can be traced underwater for several hundreds of meters where the original
height of the settlement has been eroded by the sea. The underwater portion of the site, so far only
mapped and not tested at all by excavation, includes a clearly defined mole or breakwater, 30 m. long and
still standing 5 m. high, and thus a partially protected harbor. The architecture of the EB 3 period
(Limantepe IV) appears significantly different, consisting of several freestanding buildings that are
elliptical in plan. A building within the walls of Limantepe V at one point considered possibly to be an
example of a "Corridor House" appears rather to be a series of long, narrow storage rooms built up
against an imposing interior terrace wall. The EB architecture makes extensive use of mudbrick, but there
are as yet no obvious uses of cut stone nor of half-timbering.
The pottery of the later EB 2 period (Limantepe V late) is of considerable interest in witnessing the
sparing appearance of wheelmade pottery, much of it in the form of red- and black-slipped and burnished
tankards and two-handled cups that are some of the characteristic shapes of the "Kastri group" in the late
EB 2 Cyclades. It may well be that the area of the western Anatolian coast around Limantepe was the
source of the Anatolianizing pottery in the "Kastri group" assemblage, whether imported peacefully or
brought by warrior bands migrating across the Aegean from east to west at the close of the EB 2 period.

56

THERMI ON LESBOS
Excavations published in 1936 identified five levels (I-V, beginning at the bottom), all of EBA date.
Pottery and Chronology:
The pottery is broadly comparable to that of Troy I. There is no evidence for the fast wheel nor for
distinctive shapes such as the depas amphikypellon or the beak-spouted jug. However, in level V were
found fragments of EH (or EC) II Urfirnis sauceboats. Although Thermi I-V were for forty years
synchronized with Troy I, Podzuweit's detailed ceramic analysis of 1979 suggested that the Thermi
sequence was contemporary with all of Troy I-II. Now that Korfmann's excavations at Troy have shown
that pottery of Troy I types continues to be dominant throughout Troy II and even into Troy III, the
absence at Thermi of the paler-firing, often wheelmade wares previously considered diagnostic of Troy II
need no longer be considered as significant as heretofore, especially if these more technologically
advanced Trojan wares functioned as status objects. Thermi clearly belongs to Korfmann's "Maritime
Troia culture"
Architecture:
Thermi I-II are unfortified, but a wall defends the site in phases III-V. The domestic architecture is
typified by long, narrow rectangular houses usually consisting of between three and five rooms and often
sharing party walls. In contrast to the hierarchically organized "royal fortress" of Troy, Thermi comes
across as a more egalitarian "walled town", a larger version of the more recently excavated settlement at
Demirci Hyk which, like Troy, is located on the northwest Anatolian Mainland but much further inland
than Troy itself.
Other Artifacts:
Terracotta figurines, so rare at Troy, are common at Thermi where they are clearly preferred to the stone
versions so popular at Troy. Metal items include daggers, a spear, and a knife.
POLIOCHNI ON LEMNOS
As published, this settlement goes through seven phases: Black/Nero (I), Blue/Azzurro (II), Green/Verde
(III), Red/Rosso (IV), Yellow/Giallo (V), Brown/Bruno (VI), and Mycenaean (VII).
Black/Nero (I)
In this village of oval huts, the pottery is thick-walled and black-burnished. Tools are made exclusively of
stone and bone, there being no metal. Although this settlement is usually dated before Troy I, Podzuweit
argues that it is contemporary with early Troy I.
Blue/Azzurro (II)
This larger settlement is furnished with a defensive wall. Metal finds include pins, awls, and a dagger.
Furthermore, a mould for a shaft-hole axe indicates local casting of tools and weapons. Stamp seals also
appear. This town is dated to early Troy I by Renfrew, to late Troy I and early Troy II by Podzuweit.
Green/Verde (III)
Red/Rosso (IV)
A hoard of bronzes, including a shaft-hole axe and a series of daggers and other forms of tools and
weapons, comes from this level. This settlement is dated to late Troy I and early II by Renfrew, to midTroy II by Podzuweit.
Yellow/Giallo (V)
A fortified town considerably larger than the contemporary walled citadel of Troy, this settlement consists
of houses constructed as large multi-roomed "insulae", or blocks. At the core of these insulae are megaron
units, but these are combined with corridors and rows of smaller rooms into architectural ensembles that
are quite different in detail from either the freestanding megara of Troy I-II or the party-walled megara of
Thermi III-V. As in Troy IIg, a good deal of gold jewelry was found in the ruins of this phase, as well as
an imported cylinder seal. Renfrew and Podzuweit agree in putting this phase contemporary with late
Troy II, Troy III, and perhaps part of Troy IV.

57

Brown/Bruno (VI)
After a gap in occupation, Poliochni is resettled at this time, probably at a date contemporary with Troy
V.
Summary of Poliochni
Phases Blue, Green, Red, and Yellow at Poliochni clearly correspond to various stages of Korfmann's
"Maritime Troia culture". The connections are clearest in Phases Red and Yellow, but the amount of
wheelmade pottery at Poliochni, though greater than at Thermi, never rivals that to be found in
contemporary deposits at Troy. As in the case of Thermi, Poliochni appears more like a "walled town"
than a "royal fortress" along the lines of Troy. The settlement architecture of Poliochni Giallo (Yellow),
however, reveals more variability in size and internal appointments than does that at Thermi, so perhaps
the social structure of the community resident on Lemnos was neither as egalitarian nor as autocratic as
the contemporary groups living at Thermi and Troy, respectively.
GENERAL COMMENT ON ARCHITECTURE AT TROY AND RELATED SITES IN THE
NORTHEASTERN AEGEAN
Both at Troy and elsewhere, sites of the earlier EBA (Thermi, Demirci Hyk, Troy I-IIc) are
characterized by large megara of much the same size, each consisting of just two to three rooms. When
freestanding, these megara presumably had doubly pitched roofs, but when built up against one another in
the way they are at Thermi and Demirci Hyk, they must have had flat roofs. In the later EBA
(Poliochni Yellow, Troy IIg-IV, and possibly Limantepe later EB 2), such architecture gives way to
smaller complexes which incorporate megaron units of greatly reduced size. These buildings must have
had flat roofs, too.

Lesson 8: The "Lefkandi I" and Tiryns Cultures of the Early Hellaadic IIB and Early Helladic III
Periods

INTRODUCTION
o

THE "LEFKANDI I" CULTURE OF THE EH IIB PERIOD (ca. 2450/2400-2200/2150

B.C.)

Distribution

Architecture

Burial Customs

Pottery

Stone, Metal, Bone, etc.

Source

The Relative Date of the "Lefkandi I" Culture

THE TIRYNS CULTURE OF THE EH III PERIOD (ca. 2200/2150-2050/2000 B.C.)

Distribution

Pottery

Architecture

Burial Customs

Stone

Bone

Metal

Terracotta
58

Conclusions

The 'Lefkandi I' and Tiryns Cultures of the Early Helladic IIB and Early Helladic III Periods

INTRODUCTION
The end of the Early Bronze Age (EBA) on the Greek Mainland, as in the islands (see handout on the EC
Period), witnessed a dramatic series of changes in material culture, the precise nature and sequence of
which are still the subject of considerable debate among specialists. A major impediment to progress in
this area has been the failure on the part of excavators to publish their material promptly. Of the halfdozen most important sites of the period on the mainland (Lerna, Pefkakia, Thebes, Tiryns) or
immediately adjacent islands such as Aegina (Kolonna) and Euboea (Lefkandi, Manika), only Pefkakia
has so far been published fully with respect to the critical periods in question. The following summary is
therefore necessarily sketchy and may well require radical revision as more of the crucial sites are
gradually published in greater detail.
THE "LEFKANDI I" CULTURE OF THE EH IIB PERIOD (ca. 2450/2400-2200/2150 B.C.)
Distribution
This assemblage is the Mainland equivalent of Renfrew's "Kastri Group" (Barber's and MacGillivray's
"EC IIIA") in the Cyclades. Common to both is a series of distinctive red- and black-burnished ceramic
forms clearly derived from Western Anatolian prototypes. Although Rutter's proposal to refer to both the
Mainland and the Cycladic manifestations of this "Anatolianizing" culture with the same label, "Lefkandi
I", has yet to be universally accepted, there is general agreement that the widespread appearances of these
Western Anatolian ceramic types in the central Aegean and along the central portion of the eastern Greek
seaboard are all to be viewed as parts of a single phenomenon. The distribution of "Lefkandi I" ceramic
types on the Mainland (including the islands of Aegina and Euboea) is a restricted one and includes only
coastal Thessaly (Pefkakia), Euboea (Lefkandi, Manika, etc.), eastern Attica (Raphina), Boeotia (Eutresis,
Orchomenos, Thebes), and Aegina (Kolonna). On Aegina and in eastern Attica, such pottery occurs in
small (Kolonna) or moderate (Raphina) amounts together with pottery typical of the Korakou culture of
EH IIA, while at Pefkakia in Thessaly the "Lefkandi I" pottery occurs as only a small element in a
ceramic assemblage dominated by Early Thessalian types. At Lefkandi and in the tombs at Manika,
however, contexts containing such "Lefkandi I" pottery include little or no EH IIA pottery. The situation
in Boeotia is unclear, but the slim amount of evidence so far available from Thebes and Orchomenos
suggests that "Lefkandi I" pottery and completely typical Korakou culture pottery do not co-exist,
although some Korakou culture types survive into "Lefkandi I" levels. Clearly, the percentage of
"Lefkandi I" ceramic types varies enormously from site to site. Significant is the fact that no such
material has yet been positively identified in the Peloponnese nor anywhere on the interior of the
Mainland except in Boeotia.
Architecture
The basal level (I) at Lefkandi has been exposed only in a small area within a deep sounding, with the
result that the excavated architecture of this phase at that site is insubstantial. However, the fact that no
less than five distinct architectural phases could be assigned to this lowermost stratum, during which
some development in the ceramic assemblage is said to be detectable, shows that the period represented
can hardly have lasted less than half-a-century and may well have been considerably longer. At Thebes,
parts of two large apsidal "longhouses"/megara belonging to this phase have been cleared, a significant
discovery in that buildings of this type are unattested prior to this in central or southern Greece but
become the standard type in the following EH III and MH periods. Like the associated pottery, this novel
form of domestic architecture may be viewed as "Anatolianizing". A similar "longhouse", but rectangular
rather than apsidal in plan, occurs at Pefkakia in the levels containing "Lefkandi I" pottery. At
Orchomenos, a series of D-shaped buildings similar in plan to small apsidal structures found on Mt.
Kynthos (Delos) in the Cyclades are possibly to be assigned to this phase.

59

Burial Customs
The only site at which burials assignable to this culture have been excavated is Manika on Euboea. Here,
the method of burial, multiple inhumation in rock-cut chamber tombs, is identical to that practised during
the preceding Korakou culture phase at the same site. Thus at Manika, as at Chalandriani on Syros
(although in that case a different form of tomb is involved), the burial customs of the preceding phase
survive locally into the "Lefkandi I" phase.
Pottery
As in the corresponding cultural assemblage in the Cyclades, the most distinctive wares are red- and
black-burnished, while the favorite shapes include plates (often wheelmade), bowls with incurving rims,
one-handled tankards, two-handled cups, depa amphikypella (at Orchomenos and Pefkakia only), and rare
beaked jugs and incised spherical pyxides (most commonly found in the tombs at Manika). Virtually all
these new shapes are derived from Western Anatolian prototypes of late Troy II or Troy III date, as is
presumably also the use of the fast wheel. In Boeotia, a few additional shapes such as the petal-rimmed
(or crinkle-mouthed) tankard, the Bass bowl (a shoulder-handled bowl with everted lip), and the
"Trompettenkanne" (a round-mouthed jug usually having an angular body profile) occur. Of these, the
Bass bowl has a long local history going back to the EH I period, while the other two appear to be local
developments in this phase which may have been at least partially inspired by the Anatolian influence
evident in much of the "Lefkandi I" ceramic assemblage.
Stone, Metal, Bone, etc.
None of these categories can be meaningfully assessed until the sites at which significant deposits of this
phase have been found are adequately published.
Source
This culture of the late EH II central Greek Mainland is perhaps best viewed as the result of a transAegean population movement from Western Anatolia through the northern Cyclades (attested there by the
EC IIB or EC IIIA "Kastri Group" of Naxos, Delos, Syros, and Keos) and Sporades (at the site of
Palamari on Skyros) to the eastern seaboard of central Greece (Euboea, Raphina, Pefkakia). Although the
"Lefkandi I" culture penetrates westward into the interior of Boeotia (Thebes, Eutresis, Orchomenos), it
does not appear to have extended southwards into the Peloponnese, although traces of its influence are
found as far south as Aegina in the middle of the Saronic Gulf and at Phylakopi on Melos. This westward
movement across the Aegean is not marked by violence at any known site. Indeed, there is considerable
continuity from the EH/EC IIA to IIB periods at sites such as Chalandriani (Syros), Ayia Irini (Keos),
Raphina (Attica), and Thebes and Eutresis (Boeotia). Although it is at first difficult to imagine such a
dramatic change in ceramics, and in some cases seemingly in architecture as well, having taken place
without the introduction of new people(s), some authorities (e.g. Davis) have suggested trade rather than
migration as a preferable interpretative scenario. In this view, the widespread distribution of western
Anatolian pottery types, which always occur in relatively small quantities and in many cases stick out as
clear imports at their sites of discovery, would be explained as reflecting a fairly intense exchange in
"high-tech" table wares (wheelmade. sliiped and burnished vessels that often imitate metallic prototypes)
employed principally in the context of drinking (cups, tankards, and jugs), probably of alcoholic
beverages by adult males. While this assessment of the purely ceramic changes taking place makes
perfectly good sense, however, it does not explain the radical changes in settlement pattern and the
production of marble vessels and figurines that follow this phase in the islands, nor the equally dramatic
changes in settlement architecture and burial customs that follow this phase on the Greek mainland.
The Relative Date of the "Lefkandi I" Culture
In the debate between Barber and MacGillivray on the one hand and Rutter on the other as to the
sequence of events at the end of the EBA in the Cyclades (see handout on EC Period), one of the more
significant points at issue is the relative chronological position of the "Lefkandi I" culture. MacGillivray,
considering this assemblage to be contemporary with the earlier part of the EH III period on the Greek
Mainland, views it as running parallel with the Tiryns culture, which explains at least in part his choice of
"EC IIIA" as a descriptive label for the Cycladic version of it. Rutter, considering the "Lefkandi I"
assemblage to be contemporary with the end of the EH II period on the grounds of its stratigraphic
associations at sites such as Raphina and Kolonna, views it as ancestral to the Tiryns culture, hence his
preference for the term "EC IIB" as opposed to MacGillivray's "EC IIIA". The terminological issue is
60

trivial, but the question of the ancestry of the Tiryns culture is not. It is unclear from MacGillivray's
publications on the subject how he would account for the development and distribution of the Tiryns
culture on the Greek Mainland during the EH III period.
THE TIRYNS CULTURE OF THE EH III PERIOD (ca. 2200/2150-2050/2000 B.C.)
Distribution
At Lerna and Tiryns in the Argolid, this cultural assemblage is found stratified directly above settlements
of the Korakou (EH IIA) culture which had been destroyed by fire. Here and elsewhere in the Argolid and
Corinthia, there is no intervening "Lefkandi I" (EH IIB) cultural stage. In Laconia and Messenia in the
southern Peloponnese, there is no evidence for either the "Lefkandi I" or the Tiryns cultures (except for a
very late EH III assemblage recently published from the basal levels at Nichoria and from the Deriziotis
Aloni site near Ano Englianos), despite the fact that these areas have been quite thoroughly explored.
Rather, an early Middle Helladic cultural assemblage appears to succeed the Korakou culture either
directly or after a period of abandonment of undetermined duration at sites such as Ayios Stephanos
(Laconia) and Vodhokoilia (Messenia). At Kolonna on Aegina, remains of the Tiryns culture are
stratified immediately above a late phase of the EH II period whose architecture is comparable to that of
Lerna III of the Korakou culture (a probably fortified settlement within which is the "White House", a 20
x 9 m. version of the "Corridor House" type best represented by the House of the Tiles at Lerna) but
whose pottery includes a few pieces typical of the "Lefkandi I" assemblage of central Greece alongside a
mass of vases characteristic of the EH IIA Korakou culture. In central Greece at the sites of Thebes,
Eutresis, Orchomenos, and Lefkandi, strata of the Tiryns culture overlie those of the "Lefkandi I" culture.
Not enough evidence is available from Attica to determine the course of events in this area. The full
distribution of the Tiryns culture thus includes: Argolid, Achaea, Arcadia, Elis (i.e. the northern
Peloponnese); Boeotia, Phocis, Locris, Euboea (i.e. central Greece south of Thessaly); the Ionian islands
(Ithaca and possibly Lefkas).
Pottery
The best known pottery consists of two classes of pattern-painted ceramics: (1) "Patterned ware": a darkon-light class, at home primarily in the Peloponnese, whose ornament is geometric and almost exclusively
rectilinear, exhibiting a preference for hatched, cross-hatched, and fringed motifs, especially triangles; (2)
"Ayia Marina ware": a light-on-dark class, at home primarily in central Greece, whose ornament and
shape range are similar to, and yet at the same time consistently somewhat different from, those
characteristic of "Patterned ware". The dark paint on both wares is moderately lustrous and appears to be
descended directly from the "Urfirnis" paint of the EH II period. Favorite pattern-painted shapes common
to both classes include tankards (usually two-handled), rim-handled cups, Bass (= shoulder-handled)
bowls, large jars, and askoi. Jugs and pyxides, the latter with spherical bodies and cylindrical necks, are
peculiar to the dark-on-light "Patterned ware", as are the distinctive cylindrical tumblers known as ouzo
cups, which are usually decorated only with bands rather than with geometric patterns. A good deal of EH
III pottery is just solidly painted with the same dark paint/slip used in "Patterned ware". The smaller open
shapes (drinking and eating vessels such as cups, Bass bowls, and tankards) are subsequently burnished
(= Caskey's "Dark slipped and burnished ware"), but the larger shapes, both open and closed (large bowls,
water jars, jugs, and askoi), are not and the characteristically sloppy painting on many of these large vases
led Caskey to christen this unburnished class "Smear ware". One other distinctive ceramic class of this
culture consists of fine gray burnished vases, almost invariably kantharoi, Bass bowls, and tankards. This
gray ware is the EH III ancestor of the characteristic Middle Helladic ware known as "Gray Minyan". At
Lerna, Lefkandi, and Tsoungiza/Nemea, a good deal of this EH III fine gray burnished pottery is
wheelmade, whereas almost all of the rest of the pottery of this period is handmade. The cooking pottery
of the EH III period is also distinctive, very often being decorated with knob-like projections on the
shoulder or at the body's point of maximum diameter (= Caskey's "Knobbed ware"). All in all, the pottery
of the Tiryns culture is quite different from that of the Korakou culture of the EH IIA period. Many of the
new EH III shapes seem to be inspired by forms of the EH IIB "Lefkandi I" culture (e.g. tankards,
kantharoi) and such "Lefkandi I" influence may also be detected in the wheelmade manufacture of EH III
fine gray burnished ware and in the EH III fondness for burnished vessel surfaces. On the other hand, the
popularity of pattern-painted pottery in the Tiryns culture seems to owe nothing to the "Lefkandi I"
assemblage, but rather may stem from the tradition of dark-on-light pattern-painted pottery at home in the
EC IIA Keros-Syros culture of the Cyclades, an approach to ceramic decoration which was sometimes
imitated on the Greek Mainland during the EH IIA period in the Argolid, the Corinthia, and eastern
61

Attica. Moreover, it is likely that the light-on-dark motifs of central Greek "Ayia Marina ware", as well as
many of the dark-on-light motifs of Peloponnesian "Patterned ware", are probably derived from a
tradition of incised decoration within which incised motifs on a dark-burnished ground were filled with
white coloring matter. Such incised pottery occurs in small quantities among the earliest EH III pottery
from Lerna IV, is quite common in early EH III deposits at Olympia (Elis), and also occurs in small
quantities on jugs, pyxides, and teapots of the "Lefkandi I" culture in both central Greece and the
Cyclades.
Architecture
At Lerna (stratum IV), a tumulus was raised over the ruins of the EH IIA House of the Tiles and for some
time no new buildings encroached upon this mound. The houses of Lerna IV are usually apsidal, but
occasionally rectangular, "longhouses"/megara. That is, they are regularly free-standing units of two to
three rooms with narrow alleyways running between them, with an axially located entrance in the (or a)
short side, and normally with a shallow porch in front of this axial entrance. The earliest such building
from Lerna IV is crudely built of wattle and daub laid over a timber framework, but thereafter these
houses are constructed of mudbrick laid on a rubble stone socle. In places, as many as seven building
levels are stratified one over the other within Lerna IV. These buildings, though occasionally quite large
(12 x 7 m.), are usually flimsy and must have had short "lifetimes" of not much more than a generation at
most. Characteristic of stratum IV at Lerna are the large numbers of "bothroi", most of them evidently
serving as rubbish pits in their final use, though many may have been dug originally for the purposes of
storage. Similar bothroi are typical of EH III sites elsewhere in the Argolid and the Corinthia. At
Olympia, several free-standing apsidal "longhouses" comparable to those of Lerna IV are datable to an
early phase of EH III. At Kolonna on Aegina, Cities V and VI belong to the EH III period. Both were
fortified, unlike any other settlement of the Tiryns culture presently known. Domestic architecture has so
far been published only from City V, within which blocks of houses incorporating megaroid units seem to
have been standard. Such blocks invite comparison with the similarly designed "insulae" of late Troy II
and Poliochni V (Yellow) and once again represent a significant departure from the architectural
traditions typical of the Korakou culture at this site.
Burial Customs
Very little is known about the burial practices of this culture. At Lerna, nine infant burials were found
within the settlement (seven in simple pits, one in a jar, and one in what may have been a poorly
constructed cist; two pits and the possible cist were furnished with stone cover slabs). There were no
grave offerings in any of these tombs. Adults must have been buried in extramural cemeteries, if they
were buried at all. At Olympia, three children were found individually buried in pithoi furnished with lids
consisting of stone slabs. These tombs likewise were located within the settlement area, and two of the
three contained one or two pots as grave offerings.
Stone
Distinctive EH III ground stone tools include shaft-hole hammer axes and so-called "arrow-straighteners".
The latter may actually have been used in the production of bone tools, which are themselves now
considerably more common than in EH II levels. Stone pestles/rubbers and Cycladic marble figurines do
not occur in EH III contexts.
The types of chipped stone tools and knapping techniques change very little between EH II and EH III at
Lerna. The numbers of imported, ready-made blades of chert, however, as well as the numbers of locally
produced blades made from imported obsidian decline markedly, suggesting that a flourishing inter-site
network of exchanges in chipped stone tools during the EH II period may have gradually collapsed, or
perhaps been more suddenly disrupted, before the beginning of the EH III phase. Support for the notion
that Lerna was forced to become more self-sufficient with respect to tools of flaked stone exists in the
increased production of tools, and an expanded utilization of flakes, in locally available chert. The greater
relative frequency of stone tools within the overall chipped stone assemblage during the EH III period at
Lerna has furthermore suggested that stone implements may increasingly have been used in situations in
which metal tools would have been employed during the preceding EH II period.
Bone
A bossed bone plaque from Lerna IV has good parallels in the western Mediterranean and similar plaques
were imported further east into Troy II. Bones of an equid, larger than an ass but smaller than a true
62

horse, first appear in Lerna IV. Evidence for true horses has been found in EH III levels at Tiryns and is
also claimed in contemporary Thebes.
Metal
A dagger, a nail, a pin, and a stone mould for a dagger come from Lerna IV. A hoard consisting of a
hammer axe, two flat axes, two chisels, and two punches comes from Thebes, while a knife is known
from Eutresis. The Thebes hoard contains types similar to those found in the ensuing Middle Helladic
period. From City IV at Kolonna comes a complexly constructed furnace built within the filled-in rooms
of the "White House" of City III. This construction, the only significant piece of architecture which can
presently be assigned to "City IV" (the earliest phase of the EH III period so far recognized at the site) has
been identified as a smelting furnace for the production of copper metal from ore, but there is
considerable doubt as to whether it functioned in this way rather than simply as a melting furnace for
processing scrap metal. At the site of Thorikos in eastern Attica, a substantial deposit of EH IIB and EH
III pottery from a mine that also produced evidence of use in late Mycenaean as well as historic times is
welcome direct confirmation for the exploitation of metallic ore sources in the Laurion area before the
end of the EH II period. Unfortunately, the extensive later working of this mine has effectively obliterated
any detailed information about the nature and extent of the EB 2 mining operation.
Terracotta
At Lerna, new types such as cone-shaped figurines and "anchors" are known at other sites already in
contexts of the EH IIA Korakou culture. No animal figurines of EH IIA types continue anywhere,
however, nor do terracotta fire-dogs, spoons, or ladles. A pattern-painted dark-on-light schematic human
figurine from Lerna IV is unique.
Conclusions
As it is presently understood, the Tiryns culture of the EH III period appears to be the result of a process
of "cultural fusion" between the Korakou and "Lefkandi I" cultures, one which sometimes appears to have
been achieved through violence (e.g. at sites in the Argolid) but which elsewhere took place peacefully
(e.g. in central Greece, where the "fusion process" may be said to have been initiated a good deal earlier,
well before the end of the EH II period). Significantly, this process of fusion did not extend all over
Mainland Greece. In Messenia, Laconia, and the interior of west-central Greece (Aetolia, Acarnania), the
Korakou culture may have continued while the Tiryns culture flourished elsewhere. The evidence for
external contacts of the Tiryns culture is relatively sparse. Fragments of "Patterned ware" have been
found in Thessaly (Argissa, Pefkakia), Macedonia (Kritsana), and Troy (probably Troy IV), but notably
not in Crete, nor on Kythera nor in the Cyclades. Imports to Lerna from outside the Peloponnese at this
time include a wing-handled jar of Troy IV type from the eastern Aegean, a few probable Cycladic or
Aeginetan vases, and a few from Euboea and central Greece, but nothing from Crete.
In a very real sense, the Tiryns culture may be viewed as "transitional" between the Korakou culture of
the EH II period and Middle Helladic culture. Another significant feature of the Tiryns culture, aside from
its relative brevity and its transitional character, is the fact that it assumes, at least ceramically, easily
identifiable regional forms (e.g. Olympia/northwest Peloponnesian vs. northeast Peloponnesian vs.
central Greek), something which is not so readily detectable in the Korakou culture but which is a
pronounced feature of Middle Helladic and early Mycenaean culture.

Lesson 9: Middle Helladic Greece

CHRONOLOGY

SETTLEMENT PATTERN

ARCHITECTURE

Fortifications

Domestic

POTTERY
63

Minyan

Matt-painted

Cooking Pottery

Imported Pottery

STONE

BONE

METAL

TERRACOTTA

BURIAL CUSTOMS

THE SITE OF KOLONNA ON AEGINA

Middle Helladic Greece

CHRONOLOGY
Although the Middle Helladic (MH) period may be as much as 500 years long (ca. 2050/2000-1550
B.C.), no single system of subdividing it has yet been agreed upon. A threefold division will be employed
here, as follows: MH I, ca. 2050/2000-1900 B.C. (Dickinson's "Early Minyan"); MH II, ca. 1900-1700
B.C. (Dickinson's "Decorated Minyan" and "Mature Minyan"); MH III, ca. 1700-1575/1550 B.C.
(Dickinson's "Late Phase"). Redating of the great explosion of the Santorini volcano from ca. 1500 to ca.
1625 B.C., if upheld, will require adjusting the end of the MH period to ca. 1700/1675 B.C. and
shortening each of the above subperiods accordingly.
SETTLEMENT PATTERN
The typical MH site is located on the top of a rocky hill or eminence. In contrast to the dispersed
settlement pattern of the Korakou culture in the EH II period, that of the MH period seems to be a
nucleated one with a relatively low overall site density. MH culture is at home throughout the
Peloponnese and central Greece (including sites on the interior of Aetolia such as Thermon) as far north
as the Spercheios River valley. MH ceramic imports are common in the northern Cyclades and in
Thessaly, occasional in coastal Macedonia and Troy VI, and rare but present in the southern Cyclades and
Crete. Malthi in Messenia is the only site to have been more or less completely excavated, but Lerna V
will be the type site when it is fully published. Although the pottery from Kolonna VII-IX on Aegina
consists overwhelmingly of standard MH types, the settlement there is sufficiently different from any
known MH site on the Mainland in terms of its size and wealth that it should perhaps be considered in a
special category, neither MH nor Middle Cycladic but rather intermediate between the two, much as Ayia
Irini on Keos is during the EBA.
ARCHITECTURE
Fortifications
A fortification wall is certain at Malthi, Peristeria, and Pylos in Messenia and at Kiapha Thiti in Attica.
Possible examples occur at Brauron and Thorikos. A wall at Plasi near Marathon in Attica, claimed as a
fortification, is not well dated. Mainland fortifications of this period are nowhere near as imposing as
those in the islands (e.g. Ayia Irini IV-V on Keos, Kolonna VII-IX on Aegina) or at Troy (VI).
Domestic
The typical MH house is a freestanding megaron (sometimes described as a "longhouse"), either
rectangular or apsidal in plan and consisting of two or three rooms separated by interior crosswalls.
Construction is of mudbrick on a low stone socle. Half-timbering does not occur. The entrance to such a
house is usually located axially in one of the short sides. The long walls often project on either side of the
entrance wall to terminate in antae, thus creating a shallow porch at the front of the house. At Lerna, the
MH I houses of early stratum V are characterized by precisely the same plans as are the EH III houses of
stratum IV, but the construction of the later houses is somewhat more robust (higher stone socles, thicker
walls) and their lifetime was therefore probably intended to be somewhat longer than was that of the
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flimsier structures of Lerna IV. A feature which becomes more common at Lerna in the middle and late
stages of the MH period is the attachment of an enclosed rectangular yard with one or two small
storerooms constructed in its corners to the basic megaroid house unit.
POTTERY
MH pottery falls into three major classes: a group of monochrome burnished wares conventionally
referred to as "Minyan"; a series of pattern-painted wares decorated with one or more paints which lack
luster altogether and which are therefore termed "Matt-painted"; and unpainted, dark-surfaced, and
relatively coarse wares which may be lumped together under the general heading of "Cooking pottery".
The wheel, although first employed for pottery manufacture in the "Lefkandi I" and Tiryns cultures of the
EH IIB and III periods, is not in common use until the MH period, throughout which many pots also
continue to be handmade.
Minyan
The term "Minyan" was originally coined by Schliemann very early in the history of Aegean prehistoric
archaeology and applied to a distinctive variety of dark-burnished pottery which he had found at
Orchomenos, the home of the mythical king Minyas. The monochrome burnished pottery manufactured
from moderately to extremely fine clays which is presently described as "{Minyan ware}" can occur in
Gray, Black (or Argive), Red, and Yellow varieties. The most common shapes in all varieties of Minyan
are open forms, for the most part goblets and kantharoi which are clearly recognizable as evolved forms
of the Bass bowl and kantharos of the EH III Tiryns culture. The crisply articulated, angular forms of
Gray Minyan vases in particular have given rise to the theory that they are copies of metallic prototypes,
despite the fact that metal objects of any kind are relatively rare during the MH period and metal vessels
are virtually non-existent. The angular profiles of Gray Minyan vases are in fact probably due simply to
the common utilization of the fast wheel in their production. High, ribbed pedestal feet ("ring stems") are
particularly characteristic of MH II-III Gray Minyan in central Greece, although they are also attested on
MH III Yellow Minyan goblets in the Argolid and Corinthia. In the final phase of the MH period in the
northeastern Peloponnese, goblet feet become considerably lower and the ribs disappear in favor of
shallowly incised rings. Decoration of Minyan during MH I usually takes the form of grooving on the
upper shoulder of bowls and kantharoi. During MH II, incised parallel semicircles ("festoons") and
stamped concentric circles also become quite common, especially on Black/Argive Minyan. Gray Minyan
is most common in central Greece, but is also frequent, especially in MH I-II, in the Peloponnese.
Black/Argive Minyan is above all characteristic of the northern Peloponnese and is the variety of Minyan
most commonly decorated with incised and stamped ornament. Red Minyan is most commonly found in
Attica, Boeotia, Aegina, and the northern Cyclades. Yellow Minyan first appears in later MH II or in MH
III. Because of its light surface color, this last variety is often decorated with dark, matt paint, in which
case it is treated by archaeologists as Matt-painted rather than as Minyan.
Until about 1960, Gray Minyan was often identified as the pottery of northern invaders who destroyed EH
civilization ca. 1900 B.C. and introduced MH material culture into the Greek peninsula. However,
Caskey's excavations at Lerna as well as more recently excavated sequences at several other sites have
made it abundantly clear that Gray Minyan, rather than being new in the MH period, is the direct
descendant of the fine gray burnished pottery of the EH III Tiryns culture. Moreover, it seems likely that
the Black/Argive variety of Minyan is nothing other than an evolved version of the EH III "Dark slipped
and burnished" class. Thus Minyan pottery, if it is to be associated with an intrusive population element at
all, must be connected with an EH III "invasion" ca. 2200/2150 B.C. and not with a MH one ca. 1900
B.C. Furthermore, there is nothing particularly "northern" about the ancestry of the EH III progenitors of
MH Minyan except that they almost certainly came to the northeastern Peloponnese from central Greece
(i.e. from the north with respect to the Peloponnese). How they arrived, or alternatively developed
indigenously, in central Greece is a question which has yet to be resolved.
Matt-painted
The term "Matt-painted" describes the lack of luster of the paint which is used to produce dark-on-light
patterns on a variety of light ground "wares" which differ considerably in terms of their surface
treatments, fabric compositions, and even colors. Occasionally, a light matt paint is applied over a solid
coating of dark matt paint to produce patterns in a light-on-dark style, but such treatment is very rare in
comparison to the frequency of the dark-on-light style. Indeed, complete coatings or even broad expanses
of solid paint are extremely rare in {Middle Helladic Matt-painted} pottery, possibly because the paint (or
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slip) in question was more difficult to acquire or prepare, hence more "expensive", than the semilustrous
paint/slip ("Urfirnis") utilized in the preceding EH II-III periods. Most decorated MH closed forms, such
as jars and jugs of various types, are Matt-painted, but this sort of pattern-painted decoration is also
applied to a fairly wide range of cups and bowls. Large vessels tend to be produced in coarser fabrics than
small ones for the simple reason that the bigger pots need more tempering material to serve as a clay
binder. Regional variation is quite pronounced insofar as fabric and paint colors, as well as ranges of
motifs, are concerned. In general, patterns are rectilinear and abstract until MH III when Cycladic and
Minoan influences inspire imitations of a variety of curvilinear motifs, including some which are
naturalistic. The appearance of bichrome or polychrome matt-painted wares used to be considered another
phenomenon of the late MH period, but it now seems that the vast majority of such wares belong
chronologically to the Late Helladic (LH) I period, although in most technical and stylistic respects they
can hardly be differentiated from earlier MH matt-painted wares.
In contrast to the Minyan wares, Matt-painted wares represent a fairly sharp break with the traditions of
pattern-painted pottery current in the EH III Tiryns culture, whether in central Greece or in the
Peloponnese. What seems to be at issue here is the switch from an iron-based paint which is easily
mottled and hence cannot be fired as a single color without truly expert control over the firing process to a
manganese-based paint which simply does not mottle, no matter how it is fired. Why uniformity in the
color of the paint used for dark-on-light patterns should all of a sudden have become a concern at the end
of the EH III period is unknown.
Cooking Pottery
All forms of MH cooking pottery represent straightforward developments from types current in the EH III
Tiryns culture. Perhaps most distinctive is a wide-mouthed jar or deep bowl with a single high-swung
vertical strap handle springing from the rim. Commonly decorated with coarsely incised ornament, rimhandled jars of this kind are often referred to as "{Adriatic ware}", for no good reason other than that
Valmin, the Swedish excavator of Malthi, so christened them as part of a misguided effort to stress the
western connections of the material he had recovered from that site.
Imported Pottery
Found in some quantity from the very beginning of the MH period at coastal sites in the eastern
Peloponnese, from Ayios Stephanos and Pavlopetri in Laconia to Lerna, Asine, and Kandia in the
Argolid, are wares decorated with either solid coatings or dark-on-light patterns executed in a lustrous,
iron-based paint ranging in color from black through brown to red. Frequently added over a solid coating
of this dark, iron-based paint are bands or patterns in either a matt white or a matt purple paint or both.
The fabric of these wares varies from fine (for small open and closed shapes) to medium coarse (for
larger shapes, mostly closed) but the vast majority of such Lustrous Decorated (the generic term for such
wares) vases are produced in just two fabrics, one fine and one medium coarse, which are likely to
represent only a single production center. In their shapes and much of their decoration, these {Lustrous
Decorated} wares are usually closely imitative of, and sometimes actually indistinguishable from, Middle
Minoan light-on-dark and polychrome-painted wares. Indeed, at least some of these pieces are genuine
MM imports, but the bulk of such pottery is made neither at any known Cretan center nor at the
Peloponnesian sites where it has been found. On balance, it seems likely that most Lustrous Decorated
pottery was produced either at the Minoan colony of Kastri on Kythera (definitely a permanent Minoan
settlement from the MM IA period onwards) or at some site on the eastern Peloponnesian coast where a
markedly Minoanizing ceramic industry had been established as early as MM IA. At least two other
important problems associated with this Lustrous Decorated pottery, aside from its place of manufacture,
have yet to be solved. First, what were the Mainlanders exchanging for this pottery? Second, why is it that
this imported pottery, produced in non-native shapes and decorated in non-native styles with non-native
motifs, provoked virtually nothing in the way of local imitations for centuries and yet, at the end of the
MH period, local imitations of both Cycladic and Minoan ceramic models suddenly became so common
at coastal sites throughout the Peloponnese that a distinctively new ceramic tradition, which we call
"Mycenaean", developed within a generation or two?
A second major group of ceramic imports at MH sites is characterized by a highly distinctive form of
mineral temper which includes platelets of gold-colored mica (probably biotite). Although such temper,
even if it all proves to come from one locale, could in theory have been imported as temper to a wide
variety of different sites, each of which then produced its own range of gold-mica-tempered pottery, the
66

MH pottery which features the gold-mica temper is in fact so uniform stylistically over such a long period
of time that it must have been the product of a single site or region, one near or in which the distinctive
temper in question was locally available. Moreover, scientific analyses of these "gold-mica" fabrics, both
mineralogical studies employing petrographic analysis and trace-element studies based on such
techniques as instrumental neutron activation analysis (INAA), have thus far confirmed that they are all
very similar both mineralogically and chemically. The region of production is presently thought to be the
volcanic island of Aegina; the dominant site on this island is the large fortified coastal center on the
northwest coast which goes by the name of Kolonna, from the single surviving column of a much later
Archaic temple to Apollo which is its most prominent visible feature. The easily recognized and widely
exported pottery which has come to be known as "{Aeginetan}" was produced principally in three quite
distinct classes: red-slipped-and-burnished bowls and goblets; medium coarse to coarse one-handled and
handleless ccoking pots; and a wide assortment of matt-painted tableware (bowls, jugs, kantharoi, etc.)
and storage vessels (barrel jars, narrow-necked jars, hydrias, amphoras, etc.). Aside from a similarly
tempered fabric, these vases have in common the extensive employment of "potters' marks", usually in
the form of signs incised or impressed on or near the base but on some cooking pots in the form of one or
two applied clay pellets on the shoulder or next to the lower handle attachment.
Like Lustrous Decorated pottery, Aeginetan gold-mica-tempered vases make their first appearance
outside their immediate area of production right at the beginning of the MH period. The distributions of
these two major groupings of export wares overlap at coastal sites in the Argolid, but the Aeginetan
classes are found chiefly around the Saronic Gulf and in central Greece (Boeotia, Attica, Euboea) and do
not occur in the southern Peloponnese until the early Mycenaean period. Moreover, unlike Lustrous
Decorated pots, Aeginetan vessels are found in quantity at inland sites as well as coastal ones, and are
common at least as late as LH IIA at Tsoungiza, whereas Lustrous Decorated vases disappear after LH I,
perhaps being supplanted by decorated Mycenaean wares produced at Argive centers. The scale of
Aeginetan ceramic production is fully as impressive as the architecture preserved at the site of Kolonna
(the most impressive prehistoric site on the island of Aegina; see further below) and reinforces the notion
that the political entity which such finds represent may have been just as complex as any contemporary
Minoan palatial polity.
STONE
Chert seems to be more commonly used than obsidian for chipped stone tools. Typical MH forms are
leaf-shaped arrowheads and saw-toothed sickle elements ("{denticulate}s"). Polished stone tools include
shaft-hole hammer-axes, maceheads, and grinders or pestles of various sorts. Sandstone whetstones are
fairly common, as are circular discs of schist with central perforations which might have been used in the
preparation of standardized thicknesses of cane for basketwork.
BONE
Tools or implements made of bone include awls, punches, knob- or groove-headed pins, worked boars'
tusks, and antlers for hafting celts, picks, and hammers. The first bones of equus caballus, the true horse,
occur rarely in Lerna V, at more or less the same time as evidence for the same species of equid first
appears in Troy VI. The domesticated fowl, or chicken, also makes its first appearance in Lerna V.
METAL
Copper and bronze oocur in the form of knives, chisels, flat-axes, daggers, spearheads, tweezers, earrings,
hair-coils, bracelets, pins, rings, and beads. There are no swords as yet from Mainland sites, although
several date from the Middle Bronze II era from sites on both Crete (especially Mallia, and probably also
the Arkalochori Cave) and some western Aegean islands (e.g. Kolonna on Aegina). Gold, silver, and
electrum are rare and occur only as jewelry. Lead clamps are used for mending pots. Overall, many fewer
metal artifacts are known from the MH period than from the considerably earlier EH II period, although
the two are roughly equivalent in duration.
TERRACOTTA
Spools and spindle whorls are fairly common, the latter occasionally decorated with incisions. There are
no figurines.

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BURIAL CUSTOMS
Intramural burials have been found in most excavated MH settlements. Extramural cemeteries of cist and
pit graves also exist, but all of these are of MH III date at the earliest (Sesklo, Eleusis, Mycenae, and
Zygouries), some of those routinely dated to the MH period being in fact of LH I date (e.g. Prosymna). A
special kind of extramural "cemetery" is the tumulus. A low wall, circular in plan, supports a low mound
of earth into which cist and pithos burials are sunk. Such tumuli used to be considered rare, but
substantial numbers of them were found in the 1960's and early 1970's. They are particularly common in
Elis and Messenia in the western Peloponnese (Vodhokoilia, Kaminia, Koukounara, Routsi, Peristeria,
Papoulia, Samikon, Makrysia) and Attica (Aphidna, Vrana, Thorikos, possibly the north slope of the
Athenian Acropolis) but also occur in the Corinthia (Corinth), the Argolid (Argos, Asine, Dendra), Locris
(Marmara), and Phocis (Elateia). By no means all of them are of MH III date, although some certainly are
(e.g. Asine, Corinth). The tumulus at Aphidna, for example, is at least as early as early MH II and that at
Vodhokoilia is probably MH I. There may well be some connection between such early MH tumuli and
the considerably earlier EH II tumuli at Nidhri on Lefkas.
Grave goods are quite rare in any form of tomb in the early MH period, but become more numerous as the
period progresses and culminate in the stupendously rich tombs of the Grave Circles at Mycenae.
Likewise, the size of individual graves increases with time, and more and more burials are extended
rather than contracted. All these developments appear to be signs of increasing affluence. The most
common types of MH burials are cists and simple pit burials. Until the end of the MH period, most burials
are single inhumations. Multiple burial, though not normal, does occur, whether in the form of two or
three bodies in a single cist or pit (mother and child or children; husband and wife) or several burials
within a single tumulus.
THE SITE OF KOLONNA ON AEGINA
Remains of the late Middle Bronze Age (MBA) and Mycenaean settlements at this site have not survived
in situ, having been displaced by building activities of the Archaic, Classical, and later Roman periods.
However, the surviving fortifications of the earlier MBA at Kolonna are the most impressive in the
Aegean area after those at Troy. Furthermore, a cut poros block built into the Late Roman fortification
wall at the site appears to exhibit many of the features of a Neopalatial Minoan ashlar block and may
represent a piece of late MH or early Mycenaean masonry re-used in an architectural context almost two
thousand years later in date.
A striking and relatively recent find at Kolonna is a "shaft grave" containing the partially flexed skeleton
of a young adult male accompanied by a bronze sword, a shoe-socketed bronze spearhead, several bronze
daggers, a handful of obsidian arowheads, large numbers of perforated plates made from boars' tusks that
once covered a leather cap and transformed it into a helmet, gold diadems, and a rich array of fine
imported pottery from both Crete and a northern Cycladic center (possibly Ayia Irini). This
extraordinarily wealthy assemblage, particularly inasmuch as it is all to be associated with a single
individual, dates from MH II and is thus appreciably earlier than the contents of the earliest shaft graves
from the Argolid. Located directly outside of the later Mycenaean fortification wall ringing Kolonna, this
richly furnished "warrior burial" invites comparison in terms of its architecture and placement with built
chamber tombs in the western Cyclades, such as those located outside the main gate into the fortified
Middle and Late Bronze Age town of Ayia Irini on Keos. The emphasis on showy military equipment
(sword, boars'-tusk helmet, shoe-socketed spearhead, daggers, arrowheads), gold (in the form of diadems
and also of gold fittings on some of the weaponry), and exotic imported pottery is remarkably reminiscent
of the finds from the later MH III through LH IIA shaft graves at Mycenae. It is difficult to avoid
concluding that this MH II built grave at Kolonna served as a model that the later "princes" of Mycenae
were imitating, and the prominent placement, sheer wealth, and attention devoted to weaponry further
suggest that this is the burial not merely of a warrior but of a political and/or military leader as well.

Lesson 10: Middle Minoan Crete

POTTERY, CHRONOLOGY, AND EXTERNAL CONTACTS

o

Middle Minoan IA (ca. 2050/2000-2000/1950 B.C.)

68

Middle Minoan IB (ca. 2000/1950-1900/1850 B.C.[palace sites], 1750/1720 [non-palatial

sites])

Middle Minoan IIA-B (ca. 1900/1850-1750/1720 B.C.)

Middle Minoan IIIA-B (ca. 1750/1720-1700/1675 B.C.)

ARCHITECTURE
o

Palaces

Monumental Non-Palatial Complexes

The "Town Mosaic" from Knossos

The House Model from Archanes

BURIAL CUSTOMS
o

Larnax Burial

Pithos Burial

Tholoi of Mesara Type

Chamber Tomb

RELIGION

WEAPONRY

FIGURES

WRITING
o

Pictographic or Hieroglyphic Script

Linear A

The Phaistos Disc

POTTERY, CHRONOLOGY, AND EXTERNAL CONTACTS

[The absolute dates listed below are essentially those suggested by Manning 1995: Appendix 8.]
Middle Minoan IA (ca. 2050/2000-2000/1950 B.C.)
The pottery of this phase develops directly out of that of the preceding EM III period. At Knossos, it is
best represented by the finds from the houses under the kouloures (see below under "Architecture:
Palaces") in the area of the later palace's West Court. The east Cretan equivalent is typified by the finds
from House D at Mochlos and House B at Vasiliki. In the Mesara, the phase is well represented by a large
deposit from Patrikies. At Mallia, pottery from houses underlying the southern edge of the later palace is
contemporary. Polychromy in a light-on-dark style (the use of both white and red/orange on a solidly
painted dark ground) begins in this phase, though it is relatively rare, especially in the east. Also
beginning in this phase is the particular form of relief decoration known as "barbotine". Dark-on-light
pattern-painted pottery is still common, however, especially at Knossos, and all pottery is still handmade.
The straight-sided cup (also known as a Vapheio or Keftiu cup) makes its first appearance. A major
difference between EM III and MM IA pottery at Knossos is the far greater frequency of curvilinear
decoration in the later period. In the east, representational or naturalistic motifs appear on pottery, more
often floral than faunal. Although a good deal of MM IA pottery, as well as imitations of it, comes from
coastal sites of the eastern Peloponnese (see handout on MH Greece), little has been found in the central
Aegean islands (e.g. at Phylakopi on Melos) and only a very few pieces have been found further east, on
Samos and on Cyprus. The site of Kastri on Kythera was probably first permanently settled by Minoan
colonists in this phase.
Middle Minoan IB (ca. 2000/1950-1900/1850 B.C.[palace sites], 1750/1720 [non-palatial sites])
The first certain palaces are now constructed at Knossos and Phaistos. The pottery is characterized by the
first use of the fast wheel, by increasingly thinner vessel walls, by more complex polychrome decoration
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(Walberg's Early Kamares), and by crinkled rims and other features indicative of the influence of
metalwork. The { carinated} cup first appears now and continues to be common through the MM IIIA
period. Close contacts are maintained with the eastern Peloponnese and now are extended for the first
time on a similar scale to the central Aegean islands (Ayia Irini on Keos, Phylakopi on Melos, Paroikia on
Paros, and probably Mikri Vigla on Naxos). The earliest Minoan pottery from the Dodecanese (the
Serraglio on Kos, Ialysos/Trianda on Rhodes) and the coast of Western Anatolia (Iasos, Miletus, Knidos)
is probably also of this period. Cretan sherds of MM IB-IIA date have been found at Kahun and Harageh
in Egypt in levels datable to the early 19th century B.C. Minoan objects are now also firmly attested at
such Levantine sites as Ras Shamra (ancient Ugarit) and are more numerous on Cyprus.
Middle Minoan IIA-B (ca. 1900/1850-1750/1720 B.C.)
These two designations describe ceramic styles (Walberg's Classical Kamares) current at the palatial sites
of Knossos, Phaistos, and Mallia but rarely found outside of them except in certain specialized cult
contexts (e.g. the Kamares Cave or the peak sanctuary on Mt. Iuktas). As a result, MM IIIA directly
succeeds MM IB at most Minoan sites, although MM II is stratified between MM IB and MM III at
Knossos and Phaistos and therefore does have some chronological value, however limited. At Knossos
and Phaistos, the end of MM IIB is marked by a major destruction horizon (probably due to an
earthquake) which defines the end of the Protopalatial or Old Palace period. At Mallia, a shrine and the
impressive Protopalatial complex known as Quartier Mu appear to have been violently destroyed by fire
at about the same time or perhaps slightly later. During the 18th century, ceramics became a major art
form and the best "{Kamares ware}" (also known as "eggshell ware" due to the thinness of its walls - it is
so fine that many have argued that it must have been mouldmade rather than having been thrown on a
wheel) is of a technical and artistic quality never again attained during the Aegean Bronze Age.
Significantly, use of this extremely fine tableware, elaborately decorated with complex abstract patterns
and occasionally representational motifs in the form of stylized plants, animals, or human beings, was to
all intents and purposes restricted to the palatial centers where it was produced, to cult centers on peaks
and in caves which were probably maintained by the palatial lite, and to foreign centers which arguably
acquired it through the medium of gift exchanges between their lites and those of the Minoan palaces. A
notable feature of this class of pottery is the rich polychromy of its decoration in a light-on-dark style
employing abundant white and a number of shades of red, orange, and yellow on a black ground. By far
the richest assortment of this pottery comes from the place at Phaistos, and the Mesara area of southern
Crete is arguably the region within which this particular art form reached its technical and aesthetic
apogee.
Middle Minoan IIIA-B (ca. 1750/1720-1700/1675 B.C.)
This period witnesses the rebuilding of the palaces at Knossos, Phaistos, and possibly Mallia (where the
existence of a true palace in the Protopalatial period is not altogether certain at present), as well as the
construction of the palace at Zakro. Pottery no longer appears to have constituted a major art form in this
phase (= Walberg's Post-Kamares), with the result that MM III vases, though perfectly serviceable and
technically still of high quality, seem dull and lack-luster compared to those of MM IB-II. Most tableware
is either unpainted, solidly painted, or decorated with white patterns on a dark coated ground. Polychromy
is relatively rare. The { carinated cup disappears during this period and the most popular drinking vessels
are straight-sided (Vapheio or Keftiu) cups and semiglobular "teacups". At Knossos, the pottery from the
Temple Repositories and the Room of the Lily Vases, as well as from several quite recently published
large deposits found in houses west of the palace, exemplifies the shape and decorative ranges of the
period. During this phase, Minoan influence expands and intensifies throughout the southern Aegean. For
the first time there is good evidence for Minoan contacts with the western Peloponnese, especially with
Messenia. Minoan artists and craftsmen have been considered by some to be resident at some Mainland
sites at this time (potters at Ayios Stephanos, smiths at Mycenae). The sites of Trianda (Rhodes), the
Serraglio (Kos), Miletus, Iasos, and Knidos are thought by many to be firmly established Minoan colonies
by this time if indeed they had not been settlements of this kind earlier. In the Cyclades, Minoan influence
becomes so pervasive in this and the ensuing Late Cycladic (LC) I period that Cycladic culture in many
ways is in danger of losing a distinct identity. It is against this backdrop of marked Minoan cultural
expansion in the early Neopalatial period that, in the opinion of most specialists, the later Greek traditions
of a Minoan thalassocracy (or sea-empire) must be evaluated for their potential historicity.

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ARCHITECTURE
Palaces
At Knossos, and perhaps at Mallia, architectural remains of the Old Palaces are largely overbuilt or
otherwise masked by remains of the later New Palaces. Although this is also true for much of the Old
Palace at Phaistos, there the entire west facade, the west court in front of it and the associated theatral
area, and a good part of the west wing (including a suite of rooms usually identified as a shrine) are easily
visible due to the fact that the builders of the New Palace relocated the later western facade a considerable
distance to the east of the Old Palace's western margin. This west wing was fronted by a series of large
paved courtyards at three different levels and was entered by means of two major entrances [one into the
southwest wing near its southernmost point; a second and more impressive one at the junction of the
northwest and southwest wings where a paved { causeway crossing the west court apparently led directly
through the palace's western half and into the paved and colonnaded central court] as well as through at
least five minor entrances. In the paved courts west of the main west facades of the first palaces at both
Phaistos and Knossos are three monumental examples of the stone-lined, circular pits known individually
as a{kouloura}. The Protopalatial successors of the earlier EM III hypogeum at Knossos, these
constructions, significantly, lie outside the palace buildings themselves, in a large public court which
separates the palace from the surrounding town. Often identified in the past as storage facilites for grain,
these semisubterranean (at least in this period) structures are not at all well-suited for such a purpose, as
Strasser has made clear. They may therefore have more to do with the control and storage of water or
simply, as Evans originally thought, with refuse disposal.
To be dated earlier than the earliest surviving, positively identified palatial structures are certain novel
building techniques (e.g. the use of cut ashlar masonry; drilling of mortises in the tops of ashlar blocks to
hold tenons for the attachment of large horizontal timbers) which are prominent features of the first
palace buildings. These techniques are first employed no later than MM IA, and probably as early as EM
III, both at Mallia (the monumental tomb of Chrysolakkos) and Knossos (the massive terrace walls to the
northwest of the later palace identified by Hood as the remains of an EM III palace). These
breakthroughs, however, are not cited here to diminish the significance of the architectural revolution
which occurred when the first palaces were constructed in MM IB, for it was only then that certain tools
(e.g. the pick and the axe-adze) as well as numerous, subsequently typical Minoan architectural features
(e.g. orthostates, cut jamb and column bases, dadoes, stone drains, etc.) are either first attested or at least
attested with any frequency. Public architecture on the scale of the palaces would have required not only
specialized masons but also very large labor forces, far greater than those employed in any earlier Minoan
building projects.
Another impressive architectural form which may predate the earliest palaces and which seems to have
persisted for at least some time after these were first built before disappearing is the fortification wall.
Long thought never to have existed in Minoan architecture, fortifications have quite recently been
documented in substantial numbers by Alexiou during the last couple of centuries of the Prepalatial era
(the EM III and MM IA periods) and into the age of the first palaces (MM IB-II). They include examples
from both palatial (Knossos, Mallia) and non-palatial sites. The most impressive of the latter is a recently
discovered circuit at Kouphota (Ayia Photia) in east Crete which features both towers at intervals along
the exterior and a large, 37-room rectangular complex on the interior, all probably constructed in MM I
and abandoned before that period's end.
Recent excavations in southern Crete at the sites of Monastiraki (in the inland Amari valley) and
Kommos (on the coast just southwest of the sites of Phaistos and Ayia Triadha) have revealed additional
palatial complexes of the Old Palace period. That at Monastiraki has produced several important deposits
of sealings as well as a well-preserved building model (of a shrine?) comparable in a number of respects
to the somewhat later example from Archanes (see below). The newly recognized palatial complex at
Kommos [Building AA] is a large building organized around a central rectangular court which is bounded
on the north and south short sides by stoas fronted by half-a-dozen columns; unlike the nearby palace at
Phaistos, that at Kommos was not built until late in the Protopalatial period, during MM IIB, and
consequently had quite a short "lifetime" before being buried in the Neopalatial era under another palatial
complex [Building J/T].

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Monumental Non-Palatial Complexes

Impressive Protopalatial structures which are clearly not palaces in form (although they may have had
many of the functions of a Minoan palace) are best studied at Mallia. To the northwest of the later palace
is a large rectangular open space (29.10 x 39.80 m.) furnished with a plaster floor and enclosed on all four
sides by massive foundations which originally supported banks of seats. This space was probably the
functional equivalent at Mallia of the theatral areas at Knossos and Phaistos, here four-sided because the
unit as a whole, owing to the flat topography of the site, could not be easily built up as high as at Phaistos
and Knossos. To the southwest is a large, for the most part subterranean (as preserved) building known as
the "Hypostyle Crypt". Within it are a series of five large storerooms furnished with rows of platforms on
which pithoi holding liquids were set and along which elaborate drainage facilities were constructed to
recover anything that was spilled. Rooms with carefully plastered walls to the west of the storerooms are
furnished with benches and have been suggested by the French to constitute a council hall.
A good deal further to the west is a large, irregularly shaped and multistoreyed complex known as
Quartier Mu which actually consists of three distinct house units, the most impressive of which is the
"Central House" covering an area of some 450 m.2 and consisting of some thirty rooms on the ground
floor alone. This large building includes a shrine at the west with a fixed rectangular hearth at its center,
four storerooms along the north having the same elaborate provisions for drainage as those in the
"Hypostyle Crypt", a paved hall, a sunken "lustral basin" of the type common in Minoan palaces and later
Neopalatial villas, a lightwell, and two stairways leading to upper floors which are no longer preserved.
Industrial (E), storage (NW), and residential and cult (W) areas are neatly compartmentalized and
segregated as in the contemporary palaces. Architectural features in this structure without parallel in EM
houses include ashlar masonry, columns and cut-stone column bases, and pavements and { causeways of
cut slabs. This and other large Protopalatial houses are evidence for an emerging stratification in MM
society not attested in this fashion during the EM period, during which all houses at a given site (e.g.
Myrtos) are of essentially the same size. On the other side of a narrow road from the three large houses of
Quartier Mu are located three contemporary workshops: one used by smiths in which were found several
moulds for the production of bronze tools; one by potters whose tools included moulds for the production
of figured attachments to clay vases in the form of shells, fish, and cats; and one by seal-cutters who
appear to have specialized in three-sided prisms. These smaller and much less elegantly appointed
buildings are considered by the excavators to have housed artisans employed by the higher-ranked
residents of the quasi-palatial structures across the street to the west. Found mostly within the larger,
more impressive residences were numerous clay objects of different forms inscribed with signs of the
"Hieroglyphic" script: 9 tablets, 13 medallions, 2 cones, 16 noduli and several kinds of sealings. The
entire complex was short-lived, having been both built and destroyed (by a fierce fire) within the MM II
period (ca. 1800-1700 B.C. by the conventional lower chronology).
Whether all of these distinct buildings at Mallia were simply annexes of a Protopalatial palace which
occupied the same site as the preserved Neopalatial palace or were instead dispersed elements with
palatial functions which did not coalesce into a single building until the Neopalatial period at the site still
remains to be established. It is, however, clear that major portions of the Neopalatial palace site were
occupied by significant constructions in the Old Palace period (e.g. the probable shrine in the northeastern
part of the later west wing from which come a ceremonial bronze sword and the well-known stone axe in
the form of a leopard; a second probable shrine under the later residential quarters, somewhat further
north in the later palace's west wing, in which two other swords and a collection of miniature juglets, one
incised with a hieroglyphic inscription, were found; the storage rooms of the later palace's east wing
which feature moulded channels and buried jars in the plastered floors so that, as in the Hypostyle Hall
and the storerooms of the mansions in Quartier Mu, loss from spillage of valuable liquids could be kept to
an absolute minimum).
The "Town Mosaic" from Knossos
A series of some two dozen mould-made faence plaques representing building facades which probably
served to decorate a wooden chest and which were found in MM IIIA fill near the Loomweight Basement
in the east wing of the Knossian palace is known as the "Town Mosaic". Other fragments of this complex
work of art represent trees, soldiers, goats, oxen, the prow of a ship, and bits of sea water. The whole
composition may have been comparable to that on the silver "Siege Rhyton" from Shaft Grave IV at
Mycenae or to that of the "Fleet Fresco" from Thera, both of which are quite a bit later in date (LM IA).
All of the houses have two or three storeys. Windows are common in the upper storeys, rare on the
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ground floor. A common feature is a small rectangular projection above the flat roof, marking a covering
over the staircase leading to the roof as the somewhat later three-dimensional model building from
Archanes described below makes clear. A number of features of the buildings represented by these
plaques (e.g. frequency of ashlar masonry; beam-end friezes; combinations of half-timbering and ashlar
masonry) do not appear to correspond with the realities of most MM house architecture.
The House Model from Archanes
Found in a room identified as a possible workshop within an impressive building of MM IIIA date, this
piece is paralleled in Minoan art only by an as yet unpublished model from a palatial complex at
Monastiraki (on display in the Rethymnon Museum) and by some scrappy fragments of another model (or
models) from Knossos. The Archanes model is a small (0.31 x 0.29 x 0.15-0.18 m. high) terracotta model
of a two-storeyed building having windows, columns, a lightwell opening onto a typical Minoan hall, a
stairway, and a projecting balcony on the second storey. Like the facades of the "Town Mosaic", it is
invaluable for the information it provides about the elevation of Minoan buildings, probably townhouses,
of the 18th and 17th centuries B.C. Actual townhouses at Knossos of the MM III period (e.g. the House of
Fallen Blocks and a recently excavated house on Gypsades Hill) are comparable to that represented by the
Archanes model in that they occupy small areas in plan and feature no more than three rooms on the
ground floor. Such humble dwellings lie at the opposite end of the spectrum of MM domestic architecture
from the large manses characteristic of Quartier Mu at Mallia.
BURIAL CUSTOMS
Larnax Burial
In the MM period, larnakes become shorter and deeper when elliptical than they had been in the EM
period. At the same time, the rectangular form, which always lacks legs in the MM period, appears. MM
larnakes are painted only very rarely. By the end of the period, the custom of larnax burial has spread
throughout east and central Crete and is unknown only in the west.
Pithos Burial
Appearing for the first time not long before the MM period begins, this is perhaps the most common type
of MM burial. Pithoi containing bodies may be deposited in simple pits, either isolated or in groups
referred to as "pithos cemeteries", in caves, in tholoi, in rectangular ossuaries, and in chamber tombs.
When used for burials, pithoi may be laid sideways, stood on their rim, or stood right side up. The size of
the individual pithos varies considerably, usually according to the size of the corpse it contains. Pithoi,
like larnakes, are rarely painted. Most appear to be re-used domestic vessels rather than items made
expressly for funerary purposes. This mode of burial continues into the LM I period but has become very
rare by LM III. Though attested from Chania in the west to Siteia in the east, it is perhaps most popular in
the north and east.
Tholoi of Mesara Type
Tholos tombs of this type continue to be used, as well as to be built, until at least as late as MM II and
probably until quite far into the MM III period. An important series of such tombs was excavated in the
1960's and 1970's at the site of Archanes not far south of Knossos. The latest of the Archanes tholoi, said
to have been constructed in MM IA and to have gone through no less than six architectural phases before
its final use in the LH IIIA period, is peculiar in having a dromos (or entrance corridor) which links it
typologically with the earliest tholoi of "Mycenaean" type found both on Crete and on the Greek
Mainland. It now seems more likely than ever that the "Mycenaean" tholos tomb is derived directly from
the Early Minoan or "Mesara" type of tholos, despite the claims by a number of British authorities (e.g.
Cavanagh and Laxton, Dickinson) that the "Mycenaean" tholos owes no debt of any kind to the earlier
Minoan form. Another of the Archanes tholoi (Tholos C or Gamma), this one of MM IA date, is notable
for its relatively complete state of preservation, which unmistakably reveals that small tholoi of "Mesara"
type were indeed fully vaulted in stone. This particular tomb is also important for revealing close links
with the Cyclades in the form of a number of both stone and bone or ivory FAF's which it contained.
Chamber Tomb
Destined to become the most common type of tomb in the LM period, the chamber tomb is first attested
by several examples of MM II-III date in the Mavrospelio cemetery near Knossos and in the Epano
Gypsades cemetery at the same site. The normal Minoan, as well as Mycenaean, chamber tomb has a
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horizontal or downward-sloping entrance passage, the dromos. This usually widens a bit at the end closest
to the door of the tomb and its side walls often have an inward inclination as they rise. The actual
doorway of the tomb, the stomion, is narrower than the dromos and opens into what is usually a roughly
rounded or rectangular tomb chamber with, at least on Crete, a ceiling which is either flat or convex (i.e.
domed). Aegean tombs of this general type have been variously derived:
(1) [Evans] The Minoan form is derived from Egypt, the Mycenaean from the Minoan.
(2) [Persson] Both Minoan and Mycenaean forms are independently derived from Egypt.
(3) [Pini] The Minoan form is derived from Cyprus, where chamber tombs begin in the local Cypriot
EBA. The Mycenaean form is derived from the Minoan form through such sites as the Minoan colony at
Kastri on Kythera.
Pini's argument runs as follows: In both late MM and LM chamber tombs, pieces of bedrock are
sometimes left in the form of piers within the chamber to help support the roof. The plans of such tombs
are as a result bi- or tri-lobate and are particularly close to those of somewhat earlier Cypriot tombs.
Significantly, such multi-chambered plans are rare on the Greek Mainland at any time during the
Mycenaean period. Antechambers are rarely if ever present in Minoan chamber tombs, in marked contrast
with the situation in Egypt where the antechamber of such a tomb remained open so that sacrifices and
offerings could be made to the dead. A Minoan chamber tomb, on the other hand, was sealed by a
blocking wall built across the stomion and the dromos was then completely filled in. If a tomb marker of
some kind was not placed in the dromos fill, the location of a Minoan chamber tomb could easily be
forgotten within a year or two of its last use, an unthinkable happening in Egypt.
It is, of course, by no means impossible, as Dickinson has pointed out, that chamber tombs could have
been independently "invented" on both Crete and the Mainland or, alternatively, that both the Minoan and
the Mainland examples are somehow connected with either EH versions of the basic form known from
sites such as Manika in Euboea and Pavlopetri in Laconia or with early Middle Cycladic examples such
as those from Phylakopi. In any case, the later chamber tombs, unlike tholoi of the "Mesara" type, have
no consistent orientation in terms of their entrances or the alignment of their dromoi. The direction in
which a dromos runs is entirely determined by the topography and often the geology of a particular
necropolis. Individual chamber tombs normally contain multiple inhumation burials, but the manner in
which these burials are disposed within the tomb chamber - in pithoi, larnakes, wooden coffins, or simply
laid out upon the tomb floor - varies considerably. Chamber tombs are particularly characteristic of northcentral Crete and are relatively rare in the east.
RELIGION
Both hilltops and caves for the first time reveal unambiguous evidence of being used for cult purposes in
the MM I period. Of the fifty or so hilltops which have been claimed as Minoan "peak sanctuaries", at
least twenty-five are generally considered to be accurately identified as such and at none of these does the
evidence for cult activity predate central Cretan MM IA. Cave sanctuaries are fewer in number (Amnisos,
Idaean, Iuktas, Kamares, Psychro, Skoteino, Stavromyti) but are similar to the peak sanctuaries in that
cult begins at them no earlier than MM I. It is likely that the development of both forms of cult place is to
be connected with the rise of the palaces in MM IB or slightly earlier. Certain artifactual types, such as
polychrome Kamares pottery and inscriptions in Linear A or a script allied to that on the Phaistos Disc
(see below), are found only in the palaces or at such specialized cult locations, another fact suggesting a
direct connection between the two. In all probability, the lite who built and occupied the first palaces on
Crete maintained its power through claims to a special connection with divinities which were worshipped
at special cult places established by that lite.
WEAPONRY
MM weapons are relatively rare, and this fact has led to the somewhat simplistic conclusion that the
Minoans were peace-loving and simply did not indulge in warfare. An interesting hoard of apparently
ceremonial weapons was found in the ruins of a Protopalatial building, perhaps part of an "Old Palace", at
Mallia. The hoard includes the earliest sword in the Bronze Age Aegean, a long, tangless rapier with a
gold-sheathed hilt and a rock-crystal pommel, as well as a brown schist axehead in the form of a rampant
leopard, extensively decorated with running spirals, and a dagger, also hilted in gold, which was probably
a companion piece for the sword. Two other swords, one having a gold-plated pommel decorated in the
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repouss technique with the figure of an acrobat, were found in another late Protopalatial context at
Mallia, under the later residential quarters of the Neopalatial palace.
FIGURES
There is a great variety of human and animal figurines during this period. The best known are the faence
"snake-goddesses" from the MM IIIB Temple Repositories at Knossos, the terracotta figurines of male
and female worshippers from peak sanctuaries at Petsopha, Kophinas, Iuktas, and several other locations,
and the groups of large bulls being grappled with by tiny human beings from tholos tombs in the Mesara.
WRITING
At least three different systems of writing in Crete can be dated to the Middle Minoan period:
Pictographic or Hieroglyphic Script
This appears in MM IA and continues into the MM IIIB period, a "life history" of some 500-550 years.
The signs are, as the name of the script implies, pictorial and the script has an overall "glyptic" character.
The earliest examples occur on MM I seals with three or four sides. The number of surviving texts is
small, examples coming only from Knossos, Phaistos, and Mallia. The texts themselves are very short.
Aside from the numerals (a decimal system), the script is undeciphered and is likely to remain so. There
is no uniformity in the direction in which the script is written.
Linear A
The discovery of early Linear A (so-called "Proto-Linear") texts in the ruins of the First Palace at Phaistos
has pushed back the date of this script's first appearance to MM IIA or perhaps even to MM IB. It used to
be thought that Linear A developed directly out of Pictographic (about one third of the signs in Linear A
closely resemble Pictographic forms), but it now seems possible that Linear A and Pictographic are
virtually contemporary in terms of their appearance. Linear A never appears on seals and has a general
"graphic" character. Texts read uniformly from left to right and there is an extensive use of {ligature}s
(combined or compound signs). There appear to be definite local variations in this script. It has a
relatively wide distribution, having been found at some twenty different sites on a wide variety of
different objects. Only three sites outside of Crete itself have so far produced examples of true texts (as
opposed to an individual sign or two) in this script: Ayia Irini on Keos, Phylakopi on Melos, and Akrotiri
on Thera. Texts occur most frequently on clay tablets. Major archives have been found at Ayia Triadha
(168 tablets) dating to LM IA and at Chania dating to about the same time period. Tablets are also known
from Archanes, Knossos, Mallia, Phaistos, and Zakro. Significantly, texts are also known on six stone
libation tables from various sites, on spoon-shaped mortars, on a doorjamb, on a gold ring, on a miniature
gold axe, on silver and gold pins, on a bronze tablet, on a fair number of bronze ingots, and in cuttlefish
ink on the inside of a clay cup. The latest Linear A inscriptions appear to be no later than LM I and hence
all predate the supposed Mycenaean occupation of Knossos in LM II and early LM IIIA. The language of
Linear A is definitely different from the archaic form of Greek which is the language of the graphically
related Linear B script. The Linear A script, like Linear B, is a syllabary and consists of some 85 distinct
signs. Various decipherments of Linear A have been claimed but none have met with general approval.
While it is possible that the language of Linear A comes from a known language family (e.g. Semitic or
Indo-European) and hence that closely allied languages still exist, it is just as likely that the language of
the Minoans, like modern Turkish or Basque, had no close linguistic relatives even in antiquity, in which
case the chances of its ever being deciphered are exceedingly slim.
The Phaistos Disc
"...an approximation to printing, immense in potentiality but null in effect - a freak."
Found in the north part of the palace at Phaistos in a MM IIIB context, this baked clay object lacks close
parallels in Crete and is likely to be an import. The "writing" consists of stamped signs in groups of
between two and seven divided by horizontal and vertical incised lines. The signs are to be read from the
outside towards the inside, retrograde. On one side of the disc there are thirty-one groups, on the other
thirty. The text is so neatly fitted into the space available for it that the impressed "writing" must have
been fully planned before execution. There are forty-five different signs, so the script is probably a
syllabary rather than an alphabet. There are no obvious numerals. The script may be of southwest
Anatolian origin - Lycia has been suggested - but this is not much better than a guess, since no
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comparable contemporary scripts are in fact known from that part of Asia Minor. Similar signs, perhaps
evidence of the same script, have been found on a bronze axe from the Arkalochori Cave.
Lesson 11: The First Palaces in the Aegean

SIGNIFICANT ASPECTS OF THE LARGER PROBLEM

o

Time and Chronology

Locale

Function

Settlement Pattern

The Basis of the lite's Authority

The First Palaces in the Aegean

The History of the Problem
Until quite recently, few Aegean prehistorians devoted much time or effort to the questions of how and
why palatial civilization arose in the Aegean world where [on Crete] and when [in the early second
millennium B.C.] it did. The earliest writers on the subject tended to view the Minoan palaces as inspired
by and, to some degree or another imitations of, functionally similar buildings in the Near East. Such
authorities also saw in the peculiarities of Minoan palatial culture expressions of a nature-loving, antimilitaristic population whose geographical isolation, coupled with a rich environment, resulted in a
"complex society" or civilization quite distinct from those of Egypt, Mesopotamia, or, at a somewhat later
date, the Greek Mainland. During the later 1960's and early 1970's, however, there was a general
tendency to abandon invoking the Near East and other areas outside the Aegean as the sources for major
developments within it. Instead, notions of indigenous development came to the fore and the Early
Minoan period was increasingly viewed as a long period of gestation during which many of the forms
which were to characterize the later palatial culture of Crete were devised. Renfrew in 1972 was the first
to propose a theoretical model for the indigenous development of "civilization" in the Aegean. At the end
of the 1970's and the beginning of the 1980's, alternative models were suggested by Gamble and Halstead.
By far the most prolific, as well as most provocative, authority on the subject during the middle and later
1980's Cherry, who deserves much of the credit for making "the emergence of the state" one of the most
genuinely interesting and multifaceted problems presently confronting Aegean prehistorians. At
essentially the same time, Runnels pointed out the weaknesses in Renfrew's emphasis on new
developments in agriculture and suggested that Renfrew's alternative explanatory model based on trade
provided the key to understanding the rise of complex society in the Aegean. The most recent extended
treatment of the problem is by Manning (1995), who has argued in favor of an enhanced role of social
factors at the expense of economic ones. At more or less the same time, Watrous (1987, 1994) has sought
to revive the view that the Minoan palatial system owes more to Near Eastern models than has been
generally conceded since the publication of Renfrew's The Emergence of Civilization in 1972.
The Nature of the Problem
At the beginning of the Early Bronze Age in the later 4th millennium B.C., there is no evidence on Crete
for the existence of powerful authorities operating out of dominating architectural complexes at a few
sites of major importance ("central places"). There is also to all intents and purposes no evidence for
social ranking or stratification nor for craft specialization or the institutionalized division of labor. An
agriculture based on cereals and pulses is the basis of a self-sufficient subsistence economy in no way
dependent on exchange extending beyond the local residential unit. But the palatial society of MM IB
Crete in the 19th century B.C. boasts monumental architectural ensembles which we call "palaces", the
centers of small-scale states ruled by governing lites. Within the palaces, provision is made for the
storage of large agricultural surpluses, for the production of prestige artifacts in a wide variety of
materials of which a number are necessarily imported from outside the island, and for record-keeping in a
series of scripts of which unfortunately none have yet been deciphered.
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The problem is not so much to explain how the particular architectural form of the palace itself took
shape but rather to account for the social, economic, and political developments which made such a
complex necessary. In other words, the problem is to document what is commonly termed in
contemporary archaeological parlance "the emergence of the state". Cherry has defined "state" in this
context as follows: a state is a powerful, complex, permanently instituted system of centralized political
administration. It exercises sovereignty in carrying out basic political functions (e.g. maintaining
territorial rights and internal order, or making and executing decisions regarding group action) and its
authority in these matters is buttressed by sovereignty in the use of force within its jurisdiction. States are
also societies with relatively complex and specialized administrative organization, involving
hierarchically ordered personnel who perform specialized administrative tasks and make decisions.
Renfrew and Redistribution (1972)
"...the growth of the palaces has to be seen in the first instance as the development of redistributive
centers for subsistence commodities, controlled by a well-defined social hierarchy. The emergence of
Aegean civilization can be comprehended only if this central point is kept in view." [The Emergence of
Civilization 297]
Renfrew's redistributive model may be summarized as follows:
(1) At the end of the Neolithic period, the subsistence base of farmers in the southern Aegean was
diversified by the addition of the olive and the vine to the earlier staples of cereals and pulses. This
resulted in the genesis of "Mediterranean polyculture", subsistence agriculture based on the triad of
wheat, the olive, and the grape.
(2) The result of this diversification was local specialization in agricultural production, lower and flatter
land lending itself to cereals while the slopes with thinner soil cover were better suited for the cultivation
of olives and vines. The increase in land available for cultivation led to increased productivity with a
consequent rise in population.
(3) "Redistributive chiefs" emerged at the local level to take charge of and arrange the resulting
interdependence of farmers producing specialized products. The redistributive process also required large,
new buildings where agricultural produce could be centrally stored pending its redistribution.
(4) The chiefs encouraged craft specialization and the production of prestige goods, which in turn
required increased agricultural production and reinforced the interdependence of the specialized farmers.
Although Renfrew's model accounts for the emphasis in the first palaces on storage facilities for
agricultural produce and on workshop areas for specialized artisans, and although it explains why the first
palaces appeared in the southern Aegean where modern vine and olive cultivation is most at home and
where the highly varied terrain particularly favors specialized agricultural production (in contrast to both
Thessaly and Macedonia), it also suffers from a number of weaknesses, namely:
(a) Despite increasing efforts by excavators to recover the maximum amount of botanical remains, the
fact is that the evidence for the cultivation of both the vine and the olive at the early date and significant
scale posited by Renfrew is very thin.
(b) It is highly unlikely that EBA farmers would have taken advantage of a more diversified subsistence
base to specialize. Rather, then (as now) smallholders would probably have chosen to diversify their
production in order to insulate themselves against the failure of any one crop.
(c) Renfrew's model postulates basically altruistic motives on the part of the earliest chiefs in an
emerging social hierarchy. Yet the vast majority of ethnographic data suggests that emergent lites are
anything but altruistic.
(d) Renfrew also assumes that the change in the subsistence base (i.e. the addition of the olive and the
grape to the list of domesticates) would result in surpluses, as well as in specialized production. Yet it is
not at all clear what the incentive for surplus production would be for the individual farmer.
Gamble (1979)
Gamble envisages a manipulative, perhaps even forceful, lite rather than Renfrew's implausibly altruistic
one. This lite either coerced or cajoled the population to live in large nucleated settlements like
Phylakopi I.2-3 rather than in tiny farming villages. As a result, self-sufficient mixed farming became
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impracticable for many farmers because they were too far removed spatially from their landholdings.
Farmers were thus forced to specialize in particular products whose identity depended to some extent on
the distance of their land from the new nucleated settlement. In this way, the small farmer became
increasingly dependent on the redistributive power of the lite.
Such an argument is somewhat circular since the basis of lite power (forced economic specialization,
leading to the interdependence of the population and the need for redistribution) takes shape only after
nucleation of settlement, which was in turn dependent on the already existing power of the lite.
Halstead and Social Storage (1981, 1986)
In the southern Aegean where rainfall is both low and erratic, the possibility of crop failure is relatively
high. In such an environment, farmers may have adopted the strategy of giving surplus grain to needy
neighbors in the expectation that their help would be reciprocated in times when they themselves had
suffered a crop failure. Since southern Greece's topography and climate differ appreciably over very short
distances, reciprocal exchanges of this kind could be very effective even though practised between
populations living quite close to one another in space. This model of "social storage" furnishes a rationale
for the production of surpluses as a form of insurance against short-term crop failure. Another form of
surplus storage which likewise does not take the form of putting the surplus directly into a silo or other
storage facility is to feed surplus grain to animals which can then be consumed for their meat when the
crops do poorly. Sheep are particularly valuable in that they produce wool as well as meat. Since wool
can be the source of textiles, the form of insurance chosen in this instance against crop failure will
produce a dividend even when times are good.
The "social storage" model again posits a certain degree of altruism on the part of the human participants
in the reciprocation process. A variant of it would eliminate this, however, by having surpluses be
exchanged for prestige craft items which could be redeemed for food when the recipient of such items
himself felt the pinch of insufficient food.
Sherratt, van Andel, and Runnels and the Secondary Products Revolution (1981, 1983, 1988)
Van Andel and Runnels reject the notion that Halstead's model of "social storage", conceived as a strategy
to avoid risk in a marginal environment, can have resulted in the palatial economies of the Aegean for two
reasons: first, since no society could hope to accumulate a surplus at the expense of its immediate
neighbors, for the simple reason that whatever surplus it did generate could theoretically be called upon
by those neighbors in an emergency, there was no particular incentive for the creation of truly significant
surpluses; and second, the palatial economies which eventually arose on Crete were located in
comparatively fertile and climatically less risky areas, that is, not in regions where the principles of
"social storage" might have been best appreciated and most readily adopted.
Van Andel and Runnels prefer to return to an alternative explanatory hypothesis championed by Renfrew
in 1972, one focussing attention on trade (whether commercial or based upon gift-exchange of prestige
items), craft specialization, and the resulting accumulation of wealth by an lite. In their view, a modest
network of trans-Aegean trade routes had gradually come into existence between late Mesolithic and
Final Neolithic times. Late in the 4th millennium B.C., the introduction of animals exploited for traction
in tandem with the ard and the use of animal fertilizer opened up extensive areas of previously unused
land to rain-fed agriculture. In addition, increased emphasis on the secondary products generated by
animal husbandry (e.g. milk, cheese, wool/hair, hides) raised the demand for grazing land. Thirdly,
improved shipbuilding technology as evidenced by the advent of the longboat (at least by the time of the
Keros-Syros culture of EC IIA, if not earlier) and the sail (certainly by the EM III period) made possible
bulk transport of goods on a scale and across distances not previously practicable.
The result of these changes was the colonization and exploitation of the Aegean islands and of previously
neglected areas of the Peloponnese, a process which still further promoted trade and possibly at the same
time increased the variety of the items exchanged. The broadly contemporary development of lead,
copper, gold, silver, and bronze technology and what one imagines was a brisk exchange of both metallic
raw materials and finished goods further enhanced the development of trade networks. These would have
been punctuated by exchange centers (emporia) at fairly regular intervals, centers where wealth may have
accumulated quite rapidly in the hands of emerging lites. The seats of these lites eventually became the
foci of the first Aegean states.

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The model proposed by van Andel and Runnels is not without its own problems. They are very casual
about chronology and lump together in fairly tight cause-and-effect fashion a series of developments
which spanned more than a millennium. Their emphasis on the prominent role of Sherratt's "secondary
products revolution" may be misplaced in that weaving (of wool, one imagines) was clearly already a
major industry at Knossos well back in the Neolithic and thus hardly a novel development of the 3rd
millennium. Moreover, if trade played such an important role in the emergence of lites, why did obvious
middlemen like the Cycladic islanders, who furthermore had the readiest access to such regionally
restricted raw materials as obsidian (Melos), emery (Naxos), marble (several islands), silver and lead
(Siphnos and eastern Attica), and perhaps copper and gold as well, not become the architects of the
Aegean's first palatial polities? If van Andel and Runnels are right, it is far from clear why Minoan Crete
should have been the home of the Aegean's first civilization, although Aegina's importance at the same
early stage of the Middle Bronze Age is very well accounted for by their model.
SIGNIFICANT ASPECTS OF THE LARGER PROBLEM
Time and Chronology
Despite the widespread feeling that the rise of the palaces was a gradual process which stretched over
centuries, there is no good reason why it could not have been a relatively sudden phenomenon, a
"revolution" rather than the result of slow and measured "evolution". To demonstrate that various features
of Minoan palatial culture have Early Minoan ancestries, as Branigan, Renfrew, and Warren have done
repeatedly, is not to establish that the Minoan palatial system was an inevitable outgrowth of EM culture
nor do such demonstrations in and by themselves make any contribution to the question of whether the
appearance of the first states in Crete was a relatively sudden or a gradual event. As Cherry has
eloquently observed, time is not a cause of change but rather a dimension in terms of which change is
measured - the ingredients of Minoan palatial civilization are not simply EM culture plus the passage of
time!
At present, the relative and absolute chronologies of the critical period between later EM II and MM IB
are fairly coarse. In order to be able to decide between revolutionary and gradualist hypotheses on the
subject of Minoan state formation, much more work on Minoan pottery of these periods is required. But
improving our understanding of Minoan ceramic development by the publication in greater detail of
substantial deposits of pottery will not automatically result in a more finely tuned chronology, since
variability from deposit to deposit will also be conditioned by spatial and functional variables (i.e. how
did the pottery vary from region to region during the period in question, and what functional ranges of
pottery are present or absent in a given excavated context).
The common assumptions that Minoan culture developed not only gradually (i.e. the rate of cultural
change was slow but constant) but also inexorably (i.e. culture necessarily becomes more complex or
"advanced" with the passage of time) are not warranted. The example of EH-MH cultural development on
the Greek Mainland clearly shows that culture regressed from the Korakou culture of the EH IIA period
to the Tiryns culture of EH III in terms of complexity. If the notion of unidirectional development cannot
be sustained for the Mainland, why should it be considered to hold true over precisely the same period of
time on the island of Crete?
Locale
As both Lewthwaite and Cherry have pointed out, any viable explanation for the rise of palatial
civilization on Crete must also account for why equally complex societies did not develop elsewhere in
Mediterranean Europe, especially in insular environments which are quite closely comparable to that of
Crete (e.g. Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, Cyprus). In the southern Aegean, the only site which appears to have
been at all comparable to the Protopalatial centers of Crete in terms of wealth in the first half of the
second millennium B.C. is the fortified coastal settlement of Kolonna on Aegina. Was it, in fact, a peer of
the early states on Crete? If so, why did it not survive as such into the Late Bronze Age?
Function
In attacking the problem of the origin of palatial civilization on Crete, archaeologists all too often assume
that the functions of the so-called "New Palaces" of the Cretan Late Bronze Age (or Neopalatial period),
or even those of the somewhat later Mycenaean palaces of the Greek Mainland, may be projected
backwards in time to the quite poorly known "Old Palaces" of the Middle Minoan (or Protopalatial)
period. Cherry once again has cautioned that such an approach is unwarranted. Not only did Aegean
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palaces vary in form with time but the societies for which they served as economic and presumably also
political focal points are likely to have differed considerably as well. Any explanation for the Aegean's
first palaces must proceed from as thorough as possible an understanding of how those palaces in
particular appeared and functioned.
Settlement Pattern
The distribution of settlements across the landscape and the nature of the settlement hierarchy are certain
to have changed quite dramatically on either side of the point in time when palatial "central places"
emerged on Crete. Yet no intensive regional surveys encompassing the location of a Minoan palace have
yet been published, although the final report on one conducted by Watrous and Vallianou in the western
Mesara plain in the neighborhood of Phaistos is in press (see Watrous et al. 1993 for a preliminary
report). Surveys of this sort, by making apparent what sort of change in settlement pattern took place and
approximately when it did, will be of considerable help in establishing when and how quickly the rise of
the state occurred on Crete. Moreover, in the process of analyzing the results of two or more such
surveys, it should be possible to compare the changing settlement patterns and hierarchies in such a way
as to reveal whether or not state formation followed more or less the same course in terms of these
variables throughout the island of Crete. In situations where the initial appearance of palatial functions
[e.g. writing, specialized craft production of such luxury goods as seals, polychrome (Kamares) pottery,
and ceremonial weaponry (swords and axes for display rather than for routine stabbing or cutting
purposes)] is associated with quite different kinds of settlement design (e.g. Phaistos vs. Mallia), it would
be extremely interesting to learn whether the patterns of settlement surrounding such varied central places
also differed appreciably.
The Basis of the lite's Authority
The conspicuous absence of the pronounced militaristic tendencies in Minoan society which are such a
prominent feature of Mycenaean culture raises the obvious question of how an emerging Minoan lite
established or maintained its authority. It may well be that the manipulation of religious ideology may
have lain at the very heart of the Minoan rulership's power, in which case correlations between changes in
cult practice and the emergence of the state are to be anticipated. Relatively little is presently known
about Minoan religious practices during the EM and MM periods so that in this area, as in studies of
settlement patterns and ceramic chronology, much work needs to be done (see also handouts on Middle
Minoan Crete and on Minoan Religion).

Lesson 12: Minoan Architecture: The Palaces

COMMON FEATURES OF MINOAN PALACES IN THE NEOPALATIAL PERIOD

o

Central Court

West Court

Magazines

Residential Quarters

Banquet Hall

Piano Nobile (Public Apartments)

Cult Rooms along the West Side of the Central Court

Guest Room Suites

Theatral Area

Grain Silos ("Kouloures")

THE ORIGINS OF THE MINOAN PALATIAL FORM

AESTHETIC CONSIDERATIONS AND PLANNING

SUPPLEMENTARY OBSERVATIONS
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Minoan Architecture: The Palaces

COMMON FEATURES OF MINOAN PALACES IN THE NEOPALATIAL PERIOD
As McEnroe astutely observes, the second palace at Knossos "is a building that may encompass the
breadth and depth of its culture more eloquently than any other single building in the history of European
architecture." Though by far the largest of the later palaces (surface area measured at one level: ca. 13,000
m.2; note that much of this area was covered by two or more storeys of building), Knossos is merely one
example of an architectural type which is repeated in four presently known examples [also Mallia, with
surface area of 7,600 m.2; Phaistos, with surface area of ca. 6,500 m.2; Zakro, with surface area of ca.
2,800 m.2]. It has been cogently argued that the central building at Gournia is a smaller scale palace, and
a recently excavated structure just east of Siteia at Petras is evidently an even smaller one. Portions of
what are virtually certain to be large-scale palaces have been exposed at Chania in west Crete and at
Archanes just south of Knossos. In the early to middle 1990's, much of a palace somewhat larger than that
at Zakro has been cleared by G. Rethemiotakis at the site of Galatas, a little less than 20 kms. southeast of
Knossos in the Pediadha Plain west of Kastelli. A large LM I building with a rectangular central court at
Kommos in the Mesara appears to be yet another, albeit one whose lifetime as a palace appears to have
been unusually short (only some 50 years at most). Thus this class of building is far more common than
most handbooks would make it appear. It also exists on a far wider variety of scales than is
conventionally admitted. The following survey of recurring features in this class of building is based upon
the original set of four palaces: Knossos, Phaistos, Mallia, and Zakro.
Central Court
This is usually oriented north-south, but is aligned more northeast-southwest in the case of Zakro. At
Knossos (54 x 27 m. = 1458 sq. m.), Phaistos (63 x 22.5 m. = 1417.5 sq. m.), and Mallia (48 x 23 m. =
1104 sq. m.), Graham considered this space to measure ca. 170 x 80 of his "Minoan feet" of 30.36 cms.
each (or 200 x 100 of Preziosi's "Minoan feet" of ca. 27 cms. each), at Zakro (29 x 12 m. = 348 sq. m.) ca.
100 x 40 of Graham's "feet". Graham has argued that the bull-leaping sports of the Minoans were
conducted in the central court, but not everyone agrees. The orientation has been variously explained: to
provide maximum sunlight to the colonnades bordering the central court [Lawrence, Hood]; to have the
major axis pointing directly toward a sacred mountain, Iuktas at Knossos (southward) and Ida at Phaistos
(northward) [Scully]; or to have the openings into the cult rooms along the west side of the central court
facing toward the rising sun [Shaw].
Courts of other "court-centered" Minoan buildings that have been claimed at one time or another as
"palaces" have the following measurements and areas [ike the above measurements, these figures are
taken from AJA 102(1998) 103 n.45]: Kommos Building T: 38 x 29 m. = 1102 sq. m.; Galatas: 36 x 16 m.
= 576 sq. m.; Gournia: ca. 25 x 17.5 m. = 437.5 sq. m.; Petras, phase 1: 13 x 6 m. = 78 sq. m.; Palaikastro
Building 6: 10.7 x 7.3 m. = 78.1 sq. m.
West Court
A large paved area west of the main (western) palaces facade at Mallia, Phaistos, and Knossos, this
feature is crisscrossed by "causeways", pathways of cut limestone slabs carefully laid and raised slightly
above the level of the cobbled court.
Magazines
All four palaces are distinguished by having large areas of their ground-floor plans devoted to storage
facilities. Mallia perhaps has more in the way of such storage facilities than any other palace, certainly in
terms of the ratio between the area of the ground floor devoted to storage and the total area of the palace
at this level. At Knossos and Mallia the main series of magazines open to the west off a long north-south
corridor in the west wing of each palace. At Knossos magazines are virtually restricted to the area just
inside the west facade, but at Mallia they occur inside the west facade, in the east wing, and also in the
northeast quarter. At Phaistos, the major magazines run north-south on either side of a broad east-west
corridor located in the west wing just south of the monumental west entrance into the palace. Major
magazines do not seem to be a feature of the palace at Zakro, but there is a group of less imposing storage
facilities located in the northwest corner of the palace there. At Knossos, Phaistos, and Mallia, the
exterior face of the west magazines constitutes the west facade of the palace, the most carefully built of
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all the palace facades. These west facades are characterized in plan by a stepped series of projections,
each of which corresponds to a clump of magazines on the interior. Normally at or near the middle of the
west facade of each such "block" of magazines is a shallow recess which, Graham has argued, marks the
location of a window embrasure at the level of the second floor or "Piano Nobile" (see below).
Alternating projections and recesses are also a feature of the Protopalatial retaining wall defining the
northern limit of the theatral area at Phaistos, of the contemporary west facade of the palace building at
that site, and of the north wall of the rectangular Protopalatial complex of 37 rooms at Kouphota (Ayia
Photia) near Siteia..
Residential Quarters
In the palaces of Knossos, Phaistos, and Mallia, there are groups of rooms which, to judge from
similarities in the plans both of the groups as a whole and of the individual rooms which make up the
group, appear to represent functionally equivalent units which have come to be called "Residential
Quarters". At Knossos, perhaps the most famous of all such units is located in the southeast quarter of the
palace at the foot of the Grand Staircase. At Phaistos and Mallia, the equivalent group of rooms is located
in the northwest portion of the palace. There was also a second "Residential Quarters" at Phaistos to the
east of the central court near its north end and it is probable that at Knossos at least two, and perhaps as
many as three or four, existed one on top of the other in the palace's southeast quadrant.
These "Residential Quarters" normally consist of: (1) a hall-forehall-lightwell combination (Graham's
"Men's Hall": two contiguous rooms separated by a pier-and-door partition, with a lightwell at one end
and a pier-and-door partition either at the other end or along one side or both); (2) a more private room
(Graham's "Women's Hall" linked to the hall or forehall by a corridor which is usually dog-legged; (3) a
"Lustral Basin" opening directly off the private room; and frequently, (4) a toilet, again closely connected
with the private room. Aside from the palaces, a number of Minoan villas and townhouses possess such
groups of rooms (e.g. Ayia Triadha, the Little Palace at Knossos, and Houses Da and Za at Mallia).
Banquet Hall
Graham has argued that a particular variety of large hall furnished with eight or more internal roof
supports, whether columns or piers, recurs on the second floor of the palaces at Knossos, Mallia, Phaistos,
and Zakro, as well as in Tylissos House A. In all cases, this hall is located either at the north end of the
central court (Mallia, Phaistos, Zakro) or at the north end of the building (Knossos, Tylissos) and is
conveniently served by stairways leading to pantries and kitchens on the ground floor. It is never part of
the complex of halls comprising the so-called Piano Nobile to the west of the central court. Graham has
identified these isolated second-storey halls as banquet rooms. Their segregation from other large and
important halls on the second floor may be due to a desire on the part of the Minoans to isolate dining as a
social activity or simply to restrict the odors associated with cooked food to a specific quarter of the
palace far removed from halls of audience, residential apartments, and so forth. These dining facilities are
routinely approached by two distinct stairways or sets of stairways, one linked with food storage and
processing areas on the ground floor ("service staircase") and the second leading up from more public
spaces opening directly onto a large court ("guest staircase", at Mallia, Phaistos, and Tylissos).
Piano Nobile (Public Apartments)
The evidence for major "halls of state" (or reception halls) on the second floor of the palaces in the west
wing consists of
(1) analogies with other forms of architecture, for example the palazzi of Renaissance Italy, in which
important rooms constituting the so-called "Piano Nobile" existed on the floor above ground level;
(2) broad flights of stairs at Knossos and Mallia which lead up from the central court to a level above that
occupied by the magazines in the west wing;
(3) fragments of elaborately decorated plaster found fallen into the area of the west magazines at Knossos,
as well as door jamb and pillar bases fallen into the same area at Knossos, Mallia, and Phaistos;
(4) the fact that the blocks of magazines themselves appear to correspond to single architectural units,
whether halls or large rooms, on the level of the second floor. Some of the magazine walls are thickened
at regularly spaced positions to support columns or piers on the second floor which in turn supported yet
another storey or the roof.
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At Zakro, the halls normally associated with the "Piano Nobile" appear to have been transferred to the
ground floor level, where they occupy the east half of the west wing and front directly onto the central
court, a position occupied in other palaces by the cult rooms which at Zakro seem to have been shifted
into the west half of the west wing, available due to the absence of major blocks of magazines in this
position at this particular palace.
Cult Rooms along the West Side of the Central Court
At both Knossos and Mallia, there are "pillar crypts" in ground-floor rooms west of the central court. As
in the "pillar crypts" of some townhouses (e.g. South House, Southeast House, and Royal Villa at
Knossos), the single or double pillars in these crypts bear incised signs (e.g. double axe, trident, star, etc.),
interpreted by some archaeologists as symbols of a divinity responsible for earthquakes. The "pillar
crypts" are thus considered by some as cult places in which rites designed to propitiate such a destructive
divinity were conducted. Most of the area just west of the central court at Knossos, except for the stair
leading up to the Piano Nobile, appears to have been taken up by cult rooms [from south to north: "pillar
crypts" and associated Temple Repositories, Tripartite Shrine (restored by Evans on the basis of four
column bases found in situ and the miniature Grandstand Fresco found elsewhere in the palace), and the
Throne Room complex]. A somewhat similar arrangement may have existed at Mallia. Some of the odd
rooms along the west side of Phaistos' central court may also have served religious functions. There
certainly appear to have been rooms in which cult paraphernalia was stored west of the central court at
Zakro, but these lie in positions which at Knossos and Mallia would have been occupied by magazines
(see above).
Guest Room Suites
At Knossos, these subsidiary domestic suites lie south of the "Residential Quarters" at the very southeast
corner of the palace. At Phaistos, two groups of such rooms (16, 20, 21; 17-19), both of which include
"Lustral Basins", occur near the palace's southwest corner. At Mallia, a possible group of such rooms
exists at the southwest corner of the palace between the grain silos and the main south entrance to the
palace. Finally, at Zakro a group of such rooms west of the south end of the west wing could only be
entered from the south, that is from outside of the palace proper.
Theatral Area
Although the function of such shallowly stepped areas is uncertain, they are usually considered to be
accommodations for a standing, or less probably a seated, audience. Possible social contexts for the
assembling of such audiences include attending political gatherings, witnessing religious ceremonies
[sacred dances? bull-jumping, assuming this had a religious function?], or simply being entertained [again
by dancing and/or bull-jumping, if these were in fact secular activities, and possibly by boxing and
wrestling as well]. At Knossos, the theatral area is located at the northwest corner of the palace. The steps
of it which run east-west and lead down to the north were constructed in MM I. The steps running northsouth to the east of this first series, as well as the so-called "Royal Box" built in the angle between the
two series, were added in MM IIIA at the beginning of the Neopalatial period. At Phaistos, the theatral
area lies at the north end of the middle west court and constitutes the division between the middle and
uppermost levels of the west court at this site. The original theatral area here was largely buried during
the period of the later palace when the west facade of the palace building was shifted eastward and the
original west court was buried under several feet of debris capped by a plastered pavement. Probably to
compensate for this reduction in the space devoted to the theatral area, a new, eastern extension of it was
added, oriented perpendicularly to the Protopalatial steps and doubling in function as an entryway into the
Neopalatial palace. The theatral areas at Phaistos and Knossos are thus both converted into L-shaped
constructions, similar in their plans to the contemporary but much smaller theatral area at the north end of
Gournia's "public court" (see handout on LM non-palatial architecture). At Mallia, no unmistakable
theatral area survives, but sets of three or four broad steps with low risers are probably to be restored
around three or all four sides of the so-called " Agora" to the northwest of the palace proper, on top of the
broad rubble foundations that ring this space. There is no obvious theatral area at Zakro.
Grain Silos ("Kouloures")
The function of these arge, semisubterranean cylindrical structures built of rubble and ordinarily
unplastered on the interior, is uncertain during their heyday in the Protopalatial period (see handout on
Middle Minoan Crete). At Knossos, three are preserved in an east-west row in the southern part of the
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west court. Built over MM IA houses, they were filled in with debris from the destruction of the Old
Palace. At Phaistos, four are preserved in much the same location as at Knossos and again they belong to
the Old Palace period only. At Mallia, a series of eight rather shallow kouloures in two rows of four,
several preserving a base at the center to support a raised floor which would have helped to keep dry the
grain they probably once contained, are located in a walled enclosure set into a recess between the west
court and the west facade of the palace at its southern end. These last were in use during the Neopalatial
era, although their date of construction is uncertain.
A striking feature of these monumental cylinders is their placement in every instance in front of the
principal facade of the palace. This fact suggests that, in addition to whatever practical importance they
had, they also had considerable symbolic significance. The EM III hypogeum below the south front of the
later palace at Knossos should probably be viewed as the earliest in a long series of such monumental
cylindrical constructions at palatial sites.
THE ORIGINS OF THE MINOAN PALATIAL FORM
Graham in 1962 enunciated three potential explanations for the relatively sudden appearance of an
evidently rather standardized Minoan "palace plan":
(1) The plan developed gradually from such Early Minoan predecessors as the "House on the Hilltop" at
Vasiliki or the settlement complex at Fournou Koriphi (Myrtos), both of EM IIB date. Intermediate
between these and the fully developed plan of MM IB palaces such as those at Knossos and Phaistos
would be buildings such as the partially preserved EM III monumental building at Knossos identified by
Hood as a "proto-palace".
(2) The plan was imported from abroad. Buildings which are as complex as the first Minoan palaces,
which are somewhat earlier in date, and which share certain features with Minoan palaces are known at
Beycesultan (southwest Anatolia), Mari (in northern Syria on the upper Euphrates), and Alalakh (also in
northern Syria but nearer to the Mediterranean coast).
(3) The Minoan palatial form was the brainchild of a Cretan architectural genius, much as the pyramid in
Egypt is known to have been the creation of Imhotep, the vizier of the Pharoah Zoser of the Third
Dynasty who built the famous Step Pyramid at Saqqara.
In deciding between these options, Graham noted that the truly distinctive features of Minoan palaces in
particular and of Minoan architecture in general are not derived from architectural traditions current
outside of Crete. Such distinctive features include: (a) the Minoan hall-forehall-lightwell combination (or
"Men's Hall") (b) the pier-and-door partition (c) the lightwell (d) the use of alabaster veneering (e) the
"Lustral Basin" or sunken bathroom (f) columns which taper downwards (g) columns with oval crosssections (h) porticoed central courts (Mallia, Phaistos) (i) porticoes with alternating piers and columns
(Mallia, Gournia) (j) monumental stairways (k) the placement of major public rooms on upper floors
(Piano Nobile, banquet hall) (l) the door or gateway with a central column. In view of this and the fact
that relatively little was known of EM culture when he wrote (Myrtos had yet to be excavated), Graham
opted for the third of his hypotheses, the notion that the palatial form was due to a Cretan Imhotep.
The recent excavations at Mallia of a series of major but unconnected building complexes of the Old
Palace period ("Agora", "Hypostyle Crypt", Quartier Mu: see handout on Middle Minoan Crete) may
prove to be of considerable value in the historical reconstruction of how the Minoan palace evolved as a
distinct architectural form. To be sure, these complexes belong chronologically to a period (MM IB-II)
when full-fledged palaces were already in existence at Knossos and Phaistos. However, at Mallia, where
the evidence for the existence of a true palace in the Protopalatial period is not secure at this point, these
structures may represent a developmental stage at a major site preceding the construction of a unified
palatial structure, a stage potentially comparable to the EM III or MM IA situation(s) at Knossos and
Phaistos. In this stage, the various units later found incorporated within a single building, the palace, are
dispersed over a broad area in quite distinct blocks. From a functional point of view, these various blocks
together may constitute a palace but they have yet to be juxtaposed physically in an architectural unity.
The theory that the Minoan palace arose in such a fashion, as the gradual piecing together of several
distinct blocks, is hardly new. Evans proposed such a scenario over sixty years ago with reference to
Knossos. Since the various architectural ensembles known as "palaces" resemble each other far more in
terms of their constituent parts than they do as complete entities, the hypothetical process outlined above
for their architectural evolution seems to make the best sense of the evidence at present available. Of
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course, the reconstruction of the process by which the form of the Minoan palace took shape is not at all
the same as accounting for the rise of the social institutions which made such an architectural complex
desirable or necessary (see handout on First Aegean Palaces). Moreover, concluding that smaller,
functionally discrete blocks preceded the combination of those blocks into a larger architectural unity
hardly explains how the individual blocks, quite complex architectural ensembles in and by themselves,
were developed.
AESTHETIC CONSIDERATIONS AND PLANNING
About Minoan planning, Graham observes, "...the guiding principle in this planning of the quarters about
the central court was not aesthetic - there is no attempt to arrange them symmetrically, for example - but
practical. The efficient arrangement of these quarters in a well-coordinated whole evidently took
precedence over any theoretically conceived architectural scheme;...." To this one might add a point
stressed by McEnroe, namely that overall variety seems to have been as important a principle of Minoan
architecture as does the repetition of modal units within it. That is, frequent as are such basic elements as
lightwells, pillar crypts, lustral basins, Minoan halls, and so forth in both palaces and Neopalatial villas,
the particular combinations of these elements into individual buildings are unique, whether they be
extraordinarily complex structures (palaces) or relatively simple ones (villas).
The focus of a Minoan palace is clearly the central court. This focal point is a large open area surrounded
by a large number of architectural blocks which tend to have specific and at the same time discrete
functions. We have no unambiguous evidence which proves that the central court was used for large
public gatherings, although it is possible that the Minoan sport (or ritual?) of bull-jumping took place
there and assemblies of various kinds certainly could have also. Since the vast majority of activity within
a Minoan palace on a day-to-day basis, however, almost certainly took place in the units surrounding the
central court rather than in the court itself, we may justifiably term Minoan palatial architecture as
basically "centrifugal".
Most visitors to the palace at Knossos would have been steered by the major access routes through the
small city surrounding it to the west court and would therefore first have confronted the building from the
west across sufficient open space to be struck by three features in particular. First, they would have been
impressed by the sheer size of the building, which in comparison to the area it covers is comparatively
low, even squat. Second, the architecture of the palace is arranged in an irregularly stepped series of
projecting rectanguloid masses resembling a compactly arranged pile of cardboard boxes of different
sizes. This irregular contouring of the palace's exterior is true both of its plan (especially of the west
facade, but also of the remaining three facades of what is in effect a rectangular structure) and of its
elevation, which would have featured flat roofs at a wide variety of distinct levels interrupted irregularly
by the unroofed spaces over courts and lightwells. The sheer bulk of the building in the horizontal plane
coupled with the irregularity of its exterior surfaces would have made it difficult for the visitor to obtain a
quick impression of its true size. Rather, s/he, especially a prehistoric islander or Mainlander who was not
used to seeing large-scale settlement architecture of any kind, would have perceived the building as
having no borders, as being virtually limitless. Finally, perhaps to compensate for the irregularity of the
building in three-dimensional terms, the construction of the west facade put heavy emphasis on horizontal
lines (plinth, orthostate course capped by a large horizontal timber, row of windows at the same elevation
in the second storey) only partially counteracted by some vertical accents (corners of magazine blocks,
recesses at centers of these blocks).
The Minoan use of vertical supports, whether columns, pillars, or piers, is quite distinct from later
Classical practice. Greek and Roman architects preferred to multiply a given column type over fairly long
expanses. Although there is some variation in the forms of Classical supports, they are almost invariably
circular or square in plan, have either plain or vertically fluted shafts which taper upwards, and have
capitals assignable to one or another of half-a-dozen basic types (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian, Pergamene,
Tuscan, etc.). Minoan supports, on the other hand, may be round, oval, square, rectangular, or cruciform
(including several variants under this one heading) in plan; the shaft may taper upwards or downwards; if
not plain, these shafts may be decorated vertically or spirally, with flutes or with bulges; and, to judge
from the surviving representations in frescoes and from their varicolored stone bases, the supports may
have been colored in a variety of different ways as well. In view of this startling variety, one wonders
what a real pier-and-door partition may have looked like - for no representations of these survive in
Minoan pictorial art. Minoan supports are often used individually or in small groups; when employed in
long colonnades (as around the central courts), they are usually of alternating types [piers and columns
85

(Mallia) or piers on stone bases of different heights (Phaistos)] rather than all the same. They did not
provide a building with unity by their uniformity but rather attracted attention to distinct parts of a
structure by their variety,either alone or in particular combinations.
SUPPLEMENTARY OBSERVATIONS
The highly variable situations of the known palaces preclude any simple generalization about where these
enormous complexes were located in the natural landscape. Although most do not command their
immediate surroundings, at least two (Phaistos, Galatas) are located at or near the ends of long ridges with
splendid views out over the surrounding countryside of the Mesara and Pediada Plains, respectively,
while the small palace at Petras has a similar sort of setting overlooking the north coast just to the east of
modern Siteia.The palaces at Knossos and Gournia, on the other hand, sit on low hills which are
overlooked by nearby ridges. The palace at Zakro lies at the lowest point in a small coastal plain and is
dominated by hills to both north and south, over both of which spread the town at the core of which the
palace lies. The palace at Kommos is similarly positioned, except that it lies at the southern end of the
town to which it belongs. Mallia sites in what is today a very flat and relatively broad coastal plain, once
again at the heart of the settlement that surrounds it; here, however, the local contours may have looked
quite different in antiquity, with the result that the Malliote palace's present appearance may be quite
misleading.
All palaces have multiple entrances, most of which lead ultimately to the central court by way of
corridors that usually take a few right-angled turns enroute from the palace's exterior to its core. No
entrance is specifically marked as the principal entrance; at both Mallia and Knossos, for instance,
causeways lead to both the main north and west entrances, while at Mallia the south entrance is wider
than either of the other two, while the east entrance leads most directly to the central court.
Circulation of light, air, and water by means of both open drains and closed conduits (i.e. piping) is a
clear priority for the builders of these complexes. Concern for such circulation of the first two leads to a
plethora of colonnades, lightwells, clerestories, pier-and-door partitions, and windows in these structures,
while concern for circulation of the last has resulted in extraordinarily complex drainage systems.
As noted by D'Agata, Knossos is unique in displaying large specimens of "horns of consecration" in
places of special prominence, such as in the West Court. Another feature that is above all typical of
Knossos is the lavish decoration of the walls of the palace with figured wall-paintings on several different
scales and in painted stucco relief as well as in two dimensions (see handout on Late Minoan Painting).
Among the themes that are particularly at home in the frescoes of the Knossian palace are depictions of
processions and of bull sports (i.e. bull-jumping, bull-grappling, catching of bulls in nets, etc.).

Lesson 13: Minoan Domestic and Funerary Architecture of the Neopalatial and Post-Palatial
Periods

SETTLEMENT ARCHITECTURE

A SELECTION OF IMPORTANT NON-PALATIAL BUILDINGS

o

Ayia Triadha

Little Palace at Knossos

Royal Villa at Knossos

Nirou Khani

Gournia

BUILDING TYPES PECULIAR TO POST-PALATIAL CRETE

TOMBS OF THE NEOPALATIAL AND POST-PALATIAL PERIODS

o

Pit and Cave Burials

Chamber Tombs

Shaft Graves
86

Shaft-Niche Graves

Built Chamber Tombs with Vaulted Roofs

Peculiar Forms of Built Tomb

Cist Tombs

Burial Containers

Minoan Domestic and Funerary Architecture of the Neopalatial and Post-Palatial Periods
SETTLEMENT ARCHITECTURE
The following site categories have been identified by Cadogan during the Neopalatial period in Crete:
I. Small towns with blocks of living units defined by cobbled streets: Palaikastro, Pseira. Note that blocks
(or "insulae") of this kind are also characteristic of contemporary settlements in the Cyclades such as
Akrotiri, Phylakopi, and Ayia Irini.
II. Settlements with a central main building (sometimes in the form of a palace) and a surrounding town
of small buildings: Phaistos, Gournia, Myrtos Pyrgos (with, respectively, a regular palace, a small-scale
palace, and a villa as central buildings).
III. Towns with a palace at the center surrounded by large houses or mansions: Knossos, Mallia, Zakro.
At Knossos, the surrounding mansions include the Little Palace, the Royal Villa, the South House, the
House of the Chancel Screen, the "Unexplored Mansion", the House of the Frescoes, the Southeast
House, the House of the Sacrificed Oxen, etc.
IV. Towns (or villages?) consisting of large and separated houses [e.g. Mochlos, the houses being spaced
out along a waterfront] or of large houses all in a relatively small clump [e.g. Tylissos, Ayia Triadha(?)].
Are these perhaps to be considered somehow as "resorts" (Mochlos) or as rich outlying "suburbs" of other
major centers (Tylissos, Ayia Triadha)?
V. Isolated rural villas: Vathypetro, Sklavokampos. These are probably just centers for the collection of
agricultural surpluses in sparsely populated areas.
One of the more distinctive features of the Neopalatial period is the existence for the first time of large
and sumptuously appointed buildings which are neither palaces nor ordinary residential structures. Often
called "villas", these buildings may occur by themselves and in isolation (Category V), as the centers of
villages or small towns (Category II), in clumps (Category IV), or clustered around the largest palaces
(Category III). A comparable class of structures is not readily detectable in the Protopalatial period.
Whether or not these "villas" represent a distinct social class in Minoan society, a "nobility" of some sort
as Evans imagined, remains to be determined.
A SELECTION OF IMPORTANT NON-PALATIAL BUILDINGS
(see line drawings at end of text for this class meeting, or consult the appropriate figures in Graham 1962,
1987)
Ayia Triadha
(Graham, The Palaces of Crete Fig.10)
This site, destroyed like all of the palatial centers except Knossos in LM IB, was re-occupied in LM IIIA
and became a major, although as yet poorly understood, site in the Post-Palatial period. In the Neopalatial
period, a spacious and lavishly decorated L-shaped complex stood here at the west end of the same ridge
on whose east end the palace of Phaistos is located. Often identified as a "summer palace" for the
authority resident at Phaistos, the complex at Ayia Triadha is probably not a single structure at all but
rather a pair of large mansions or villas comparable to those at Tylissos, a site which may have been a
"suburb" of Knossos in much the same way as Ayia Triadha was of Phaistos.
Southern Part of West "Wing" or "Villa"
A row of rooms served by a single long corridor is often identified as the servants quarter but is more
likely to be a storage and workshop area (9).
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Northwest Corner of West "Wing" or "Villa"

A well preserved set of "residential quarters" is approached from the paved court to the southeast by a
staircase leading down and lit by a window opening onto a lightwell at the north. From the stairway, the
visitor enters a "Men's Hall" (3 + 12) which opens toward the northwest onto an L-shaped portico (11)
with terraced gardens beyond. At the east, tne "Men's Hall" opens onto a lightwell (the same which
provided light for the stairway), on the other side of which is a room with a gypsum-paved floor, gypsumpanelled walls, and a bench along the wall on three sides (4). Off this room in turn opens a room which
has a raised platform in the northeast corner (for a bed?). North of the "Men's Hall" is a "Women's Hall"
(13) with pier-and-door partitions on three sides, beyond the eastern of which a staircase leads down
through a door to another hall, this one lit by a square lightwell colonnaded on two sides.
Central Part of North "Wing" or Villa
Several rooms crowded with large pithoi (5-6) define another storage area which is to be assigned to a
"north villa", while the rooms with a similar function to the southwest mentioned above are to be
connected with a second "west villa".
East End of North "Wing" or Villa
A series of major apartments separated by pier-and-door partitions open onto lightwells at the east
through porticoes or windows (1-2). At the southeast corner, a major staircase leads up to what was
probably a series of equally important apartments on the second floor.
Little Palace at Knossos
(Graham, The Palaces of Crete Fig.13)
Located ca. 230 m. northwest of the palace and itself extending over a surface area of some 800 m.2, this
large and impressive mansion is linked on the east to the palace by the major thoroughfare called the
"Royal Road" and is linked on the west by a bridge at the second-storey level to the so-called
"Unexplored Mansion" (excavated by the British in the mid-1970's and published in the mid-1980's). The
major rooms of the Little Palace are located on its east side and are only partially preserved. At the north
is a large "Men's Hall" divided into two by the usual pier-and-door partition and opening throughout its
length toward the east through another pier-and-door partition onto a colonnaded veranda with a splendid
view toward the palace and the Kairatos valley. South of the "Men's Hall" is a peristyle (the only
comparable colonnaded court occurs in the palace at Phaistos), which is in turn approached from the
south by a broad, three-stepped staircase. At the south end of the building on the basement level are three
pillar crypts. At the northwest end is a toilet. Just to the south of the toilet is a "Lustral Basin", converted
in a Post-Palatial re-occupation phase into the so-called "Fetish Shrine". Still further south is a major
stairway leading up to the second floor.
Royal Villa at Knossos
(Graham, The Palaces of Crete Fig.14)
Located ca. 150 m. northeast of the palace, this townhouse measures ca. 18 x 10 m. in surface area and
stood at least three storeys high. The entrance to the villa, as restored to the east, opens directly into a
light well at the east end of a "Men's Hall" which occupied the central portion of the ground floor. The
floor of the major half of the "Men's Hall" is paved with gypsum slabs, while the walls of this room are
faced with a veneer of the same material. At the west end of the hall, a stone balustrade 0.81 m. high and
pierced in the center by a three-stepped stairway, separates the hall from a narrow space which is restored
as being open up to the level of the room over the second floor (i.e. this space is two storeys high). In a
niche in the west wall of this high-ceilinged space were found the remains of a stone seat or throne.
Columns at the ends of the balustrades on either side of the stairway leading up to the niche helped to
support the first-floor ceiling over the "Men's Hall", and a pedestalled stone lamp was found on the stairs
themselves. North of the "Men's Hall" is a pillar crypt, the best preserved example in Minoan architecture.
The walls in the crypt are constructed of coursed gypsum blocks, while the ceiling was supported by large
tree trunks which rested in notches cut in the tops of the walls and on the top surfaces of a large beam
which ran north-south across the room resting on the central pillar of the "crypt". A channel and two
basins ("cists" on the plan) are cut into the floor around the pillar and may have been designed to catch
liquid offerings poured during cult ceremonies in this room. Stairways lead up to the second floor, one at
the northwest from the "pillar crypt" and another at the southwest of the villa. The latter stairway turns up
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to both east and west of the first flight above the level of the first landing, a stairway design unique in
Minoan architecture. The unusual arrangement of stairways and the peculiarly roofed space west of the
"Men's Hall" have suggested to some scholars that some form of religious chicanery took place in this
building. In the southeast quarter of the villa is a suite consisting of a small hall (E), a "closet" (toilet?)
(F), and a possible bathroom (G). This suite, together with a narrow hall lit by a lightwell at the south (H),
is loosely comparable with the combination of "Women's Hall", "Lustral Basin", and toilet at the palaces
of Mallia, Phaistos, and Knossos, and like them connects with a "Men's Hall" by means of a dog-legged
corridor (A) in the by now familiar unit termed a "Residential Quarters".
Nirou Khani
(Graham, The Palaces of Crete Fig.31)
The site is located on the north coast, some 13 kms. east of Heraklion. A normal "Men's Hall" divided in
two by a pier-and-door partition (2 + 2a) is separated from a sizable, paved east court by two columns.
This arrangement is a bit unusual in that the hall opens directly onto a court rather than onto the more
normal lightwell. A floor paved with slabs is a feature of many of the rooms (e.g. 5, 8, 9, 12), while
several rooms also have their lower walls panelled with gypsum veneer (e.g. 2a). Storerooms exist both
within the villa proper (15-18) and in a subsidiary enclosed area to the north (24, 25, 31) which also
includes a series of cereal bins (26-30). The contents of some storerooms are peculiar: forty to fifty clay
altars were stacked in room 18, four large stone lamps in room 14, four very large and thin bronze double
axes in room 7. The axes are so fragile that they must have been symbolic rather than functional (cf. the
double axes on poles portrayed on one side of the famous Ayia Triadha sarcophagus). Fragments of a
large pair of stone "Horns of Consecration" were found in the east court just north of a niche in that
court's south wall. Evans and Xanthoudides used these finds to interpret the villa as that of a "high priest".
Graham merely observes that the building's architecture is quite conventional and does not in itself set the
building apart from many other rural villas of the Neopalatial period.
Gournia
(Graham, The Palaces of Crete Figs. 8-9)
This town in eastern Crete was excavated from 1901 to 1904 by an expedition from the University of
Pennsylvania under the direction of three women (the leader of whom, Harriet Boyd Hawes, was married
to a Dartmouth professor!). The site is particularly significant as the most extensively excavated (i.e. fully
cleared) town of the Neopalatial period in all of Crete. On the south side of the crest of the low hill on
which the site is located is a large open court resembling the central courts of the major palaces. To the
north of this court is a heavily eroded building which has some features typical of a palace. For example,
its principal facade faces west onto a small paved court, is constructed of cut blocks of poros limestone
resting on a low projecting plinth, and is characterized by multiple setbacks behind which are storage
magazines. At least one of the blocks of magazines, that just south of the western entrance to the building,
has a shallow recess in the center of its west front. At the north end of the large court is an L-shaped
"theatral area" which constitutes part of the building's south facade. Within the building, north and
slightly west of the "theatral area", is a colonnade of alternating piers and columns running north-south.
The original layout of the building is unclear because of its poor state of preservation, but it was probably
a small-scale palace located very near the center of this small coastal town. To the north of the palace,
near the summit of the hill, is a small, rectangular one-room shrine approached from the west by a
cobbled street leading up from the "circumferential highway" that loops around the hill.
BUILDING TYPES PECULIAR TO POST-PALATIAL CRETE
During his recent excavations just west of the Stratigraphical Museum at Knossos, Warren has uncovered
all of two low cylindrical structures and part of a third. All three date between later LM II and early LM
IIIA2 (i.e. ca. 1425-1375/1350 B.C.), at which point the area in question, a densely settled residential
district both before and afterwards, boasted no other buildings at all. Two of the structures are small
(diameters of 3.0 and 3.22 m.), the third considerably larger (maximum diameter of 8.38 m.). All have
solid cores of rubble and earth faced with exteriors of coursed ashlar masonry. The two smaller circles
have simple vertical sides, are nowhere preserved to their original heights but in both cases probably
stood no higher than a meter, and preserve nothing in the way of an access stairway to their upper
surfaces. The larger circle has a profile resembling two superimposed discs, the smaller (diameter of 7.64
m.; two courses high) on top of the larger (diameter of 8.38 m.; one course high). It also preserves traces
89

of two floors on top (one of beaten earth below one of irregular stone slabs) and a simple access stairway
against its west side. In the larger circle, twelve of the surviving forty-eight ashlar blocks bear a "mason's
mark", always in the form of a reversed, three-stroked Z. By contrast, only two blocks from one of the
smaller circles bear a "mason's mark" and these are different both from each other and from the
aforementioned Z. These carefully built cylinders cannot be the foundations for houses or towers nor are
they containers for liquid or dry contents (e.g. cisterns, bathing pools, granaries). Furthermore, the small
ones are far too small to have served as threshing floors. Warren identifies the largest as a dancing floor
(choros; compare the terracotta models from the Kamilari tholos and Palaikastro, as well as the
description in the Odyssey of the one which Daidalos is said to have built for Ariadne at Knossos). The
smaller circles, if not simply for smaller groups of dancers, are interpreted as stands for musicians or as
podia for one or more presiding religious officials.
Dating exclusively to the LM III "reoccupation" period at sites destroyed in LM IB are megaron
complexes, such as House H-e at Gournia (which has an excellent parallel in the LH IIIA1 megaron at
Phylakopi on Melos) or a large building of which only the foundations survive overlying the northern of
the two LM I villas at Ayia Triadha. Most authorities consider it unlikely that earlier rectangular, porchand-hall units in Minoan architecture such as the LM II Throne Room at Knossos or the LM IB "Men's
Hall" at Nirou Khani already described are to be interpreted as Minoanized forms of the megaron so
characteristic of Mainland Greek architecture from the EH III period onwards.
TOMBS OF THE NEOPALATIAL AND POST-PALATIAL PERIODS
The variety of tomb types on Crete is even more impressive during the LM period than it had been during
the EM period (see separate lesson for plans or consult the appropriate drawings in Pini 1968):
Pit and Cave Burials
Although rare, both forms do continue from earlier periods.
Chamber Tombs
This is the single most common LM tomb type, having been introduced into Crete during MM II-III (see
handout on MM Crete). Such tombs consist basically of dromos (entrance passageway leading down into
earth or bedrock), stomion (doorway opening into tomb chamber), and thalamos (tomb chamber itself)
[e.g. Pini 1968: Fig.37]. Burials could be simply laid on the floor of the chamber or corpses might be
placed in larnakes or pithoi which themselves rested on the chamber floor. Also commonly found are cists
or shafts cut into the tomb floor, into which simple bodies or bodies inside larnakes were lowered. Most
LM chamber tombs are of Post-Palatial (LM III) date. LM I chamber tombs are at present very rare,
perhaps because many of them were re-used in the LM III period, at which time their LM I contents were
removed. LM II examples are also relatively few in number. After each burial, the tomb chamber was
closed off by a blocking wall built across the stomion and the dromos was filled with earth. The location
of a tomb was presumably marked by some form of post stuck into the dromos fill, but no such markers
have survived, a fact which suggests that, if these indeed existed, they may all have been made of wood.
Temple Tomb at Knossos
(Pini 1968: Fig.36)
First constructed in MM IIIB and then rebuilt following a partial collapse in LM IA, this monumental
tomb consists of two storeys. The lower has a rectangular rock-cut chamber at the west end whose roof
was supported by a single pier. The walls of this chamber were veneered with gypsum and the floor was
paved with slabs of the same stone, a central square around the pier lying at a somewhat lower level than
the floor next to the walls (cf. the "pillar crypt" in the Royal Villa described above). This chamber was
entered from an antechamber whose roof was supported by two more piers. Above the antechamber was a
cult room on the second floor. The antechamber was remodeled in the period following the LM IA
collapse through subdivisions of its western and northern portions by means of thin partition walls into a
number of small compartments which were found occupied by numerous burials when the tomb was
excavated. The antechamber was entered through a corridor flanked to north and south by bastion-like
chambers, within the southern of which a stairway leading up to the second storey was built. The corridor
in turn was entered from a lightwell which had a portico with two columns on its opposite side. Entrance
to the lightwell, and hence to the rest of the tomb, was by means of a passageway coming in from the
direction of the palace to the north. In contrast to less elaborate chamber tombs, the Temple Tomb
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incorporates a significant number of built (as opposed to simply rock-cut) features. It was also clearly
designed to remain at least partially visible after a burial had been made. Persson saw in this tomb
evidence of strong Egyptian influence of Middle Kingdom date, but both Graham and Pini have argued
that all of the elements in it can in fact be paralleled in Minoan palatial architecture.
Tomb of the Double Axes [= Isopata Tomb 2] at Knossos
(Pini 1968: Figs.16-17) In this chamber tombs, a rock-cut pier projects from the back wall of the tomb
chamber, the end of the pier being carved in the form of a half-column. Stone benches, such as that
carved out along one wall of the chamber, are fairly common in LM chamber tombs but the grave shaft
whose unusual plan gives the tomb its name is not, although such shafts may occur in either the chamber
or the dromos.
Shaft Graves
Graves of this type are relatively rare both in Crete and on the Greek Mainland. The Minoan examples are
probably inspired by Mainland prototypes, although on Crete the shafts may hold either simple bodies or
bodies in larnakes. Most Minoan examples are found in the Knossos area. The upper edge of the tomb
shaft is often cut back into a ledge on which roofing slabs could rest. In the Knossos area, particularly in
the Zapher Papoura cemetery, shafts are large rectangular pits up to 2 m. deep, in the floor of which are
cut smaller shafts for the burial itself. The smaller shafts constituting the grave proper would have been
roofed by stone slabs. A variant form at Zapher Papoura consists of a double-shaft divided into two by a
rubble wall, the body being placed in one compartment and the grave goods in the other at a considerably
lower level (Pini 1968: Figs.82-83).
Shaft-Niche Graves
These graves constitute a small group of LM II-IIIA tombs found only in the Knossos area, particularly in
the Zapher Papoura cemetery (Pini 1968: Figs.84-86). The tombs are shaft graves up to 4.35 m. deep with
a niche cut into one of the longer side walls at the bottom, usually ca. 1 m. high by 2 m. long. These
niches contain an extended burial walled off from the shaft proper by a double row of stones. Burials in
such tombs are always simple, never in larnakes or coffins. Such tombs are rare on the Greek Mainland
but do exist, although most seem to be of LH III date. The origin of this tomb type is presently unclear. Its
peculiarities may be due to a desire to foil tomb robbers.
Built Chamber Tombs with Vaulted Roofs
The home of tholoi of the "Mycenaean" type in Late Minoan Crete is particularly the eastern portion of
the island, only isolated examples being known from other areas. On Crete, vaulted tholos tombs of the
Late Bronze Age may have rectangular as well as circular plans. According to Pini, only the LM III
tholos at Maleme definitely had a pyramidal rather than a hemispherical or keel-vaulted roof. A circular
or rectangular pit was dug for the tomb, walls of rubble or of cut stone would line this pit (and in some
cases the sides of the dromos as well), and, if the vault of the tomb projected above ground level, a mound
of earth was heaped over it. Only in the case of the Maleme tomb is there any evidence for a wooden door
giving access to the tomb chamber. In other cases, the chamber doorway or stomion was blocked with a
rubble wall as in ordinary chamber tombs.
In comparison to the situation on the Mycenaean Mainland, subterranean tholoi of the Late Bronze Age
are relatively rare on Crete. A variant form with a keel-vault rather than the normal hemispherical vault of
a tholos is exemplified by three tombs with rectangular rather than circular tomb chambers: the Royal
Tomb (Pini 1968: Figs.96-97) and Isopata Tomb 1 (Pini 1968: Fig.98) at Knossos and a tomb at Damania
(Pini 1968: Fig.95). In keel-vaulted tombs, the short sides of the tomb chambers have continuously
vertical walls and it is only the long sides which are corbelled above a certain point to form the vault.
Four vaulted tombs at the sites of Apodolou, Damania, Stylos, and Maleme have relieving triangles above
the lintels of their stomia, a clear instance of Mycenaean architectural influence (see lesson on
Mycenaean Tholoi). The entrances to the Royal Tomb and Isopata Tomb 1 at Knossos are preceded by
built antechambers with vaulted roofs. In the Royal Tomb there are in addition a pair of niches in the
sides of the dromos which also have corbel-vaulted roofs. The lower part of the dromos of the Kephala
Tholos at Knossos (Pini 1968: Fig.90) is also roofed, although here simply with flat slabs, and in this
dromos, as in that of the Royal Tomb, there are two side niches. The Royal Tomb at Knossos is dated to

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LM IB-II with re-use in LM IIIB. The Kephala Tholos at the same site is often dated as early as MM IIIB,
but is probably no earlier than LM IB.
Tholos A at Archanes of LM IIIA date has a side chamber hewn out of the bedrock to the visitor's left of
the main chamber. This tomb may well be the archetype for the better known Treasuries of Atreus at
Mycenae and of Minyas at Orchomenos, Mycenaean tholoi of later date (LH IIIB) on the Greek Mainland
which have a similar side chamber located on the visitor's right.
Peculiar Forms of Built Tomb
The "chamber tomb" at Ayia Triadha which contained the famous painted sarcophagus is a rectangular
room measuring only 2.40 x 1.95 m. in area and having walls 0.90 m. thick preserved to a maximum
height of 1.20 m. above ground level (Pini 1968: Fig.112). It has an off-axis door in its east wall. The
well-known sarcophagus rested on the chamber floor, while an unpainted larnax was found in a shaft
grave cut in the floor alongside it. The roofing of this tomb, built entirely above ground, is problematic
but is unlikely to have been a vault.
Cist Tombs
With the exception of cists cut in the floors of built chamber tombs such as the Royal Tomb and Isopata
Tomb 1, the only LM examples of this tomb type contained some child burials at Mallia, probably of LM
III date.
Burial Containers
These are of four types: (1) wooden coffins, rarely preserved, even if only in the form of soil
discolorations; (2) larnakes of the elliptical "tub" type, modeled after contemporary bathtubs such as that
found in the Lustral Basin of the "Residential Quarters" at Knossos; (3) larnakes of the rectangular
"chest" type on four, or sometimes six, legs, a cheaper copy in clay of a wooden prototype whose
panelled sides are imitated in the terracotta versions; (4) pithoi, very popular in the MM period as burial
containers, but largely, although not completely, replaced by larnakes in the LM period.
Lesson 14: Late Minoan Painting and Other Representational Art: Pottery, Frescoes, Steatite
Vases, Ivories, and Bronzes

LATE MINOAN POTTERY

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Introduction

Late Minoan IA

Late Minoan IB

Marine Style

Alternating Style

Late Minoan II

Late Minoan IIIA

Late Minoan IIIB (ca. 1340-1190 B.C.)

Late Minoan IIIC (ca. 1190-1125/1100 B.C.)

FRESCOES
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Classification

General Characteristics of Minoan Mural Painting

LATE MINOAN POTTERY

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Introduction
The transition from Middle Minoan (MM) to Late Minoan (LM) is marked in pattern-painted pottery by
the shift from a preference for the light-on-dark technique to one for a dark-on-light treatment. The LM I
period as a whole is that during which Minoan influence throughout the southern Aegean (Peloponnese,
Cyclades, Dodecanese, southwestern Anatolia) reaches its apogee. In the later part of LM IB, but
seemingly not at its very end, all Cretan palaces except Knossos were violently destroyed, together with
an extremely large number of villas and towns. Most of these sites were re-occupied, but usually not until
the LM IIIA period, while not one of the destroyed palaces was rebuilt as such. Pottery of the short but
critically important LM II period has been found at relatively few sites (Chania, Knossos, Kommos,
Phaistos, Rethymnon) but exists in quantity at Knossos, especially in rich deposits from the recently
excavated and published "Unexplored Mansion". LM IIIA is sometimes further subdivided into 1 and 2,
the point of division between the two falling shortly before a major destruction horizon at Knossos in
which the palace itself was burnt. The distinction between LM IIIA and LM IIIB is rather fuzzy and the
transition from one to the other is not marked by any significant historical event. LM IIIC, on the other
hand, begins at about the same time as the Mycenaean palatial centers on the Greek Mainland are being
destroyed in a relatively short space of time, never to be rebuilt. Whether or not the palace at Knossos
continued to function as such after the destruction of early LM IIIA2 is, after a debate that is now some
twenty-five years old, now approaching resolution (most authorities would now agree that it remained a
functioning palatial center into the 13th century B.C. or LM IIIB period), but no one has ever maintained
that it survived as a major administrative center into the LM IIIC period. In general, it is fair to say that
the pottery of post-LM II Crete, although always retaining certain distinctively Minoan characteristics
such as a preference for one- rather than two-handled drinking vessels, becomes more and more just one
of several regional Aegean ceramic schools which are basically variations of a single "Mycenaean"
tradition.
Late Minoan IA
(until recently dated ca. 1550-1500 B.C.; now perhaps to be moved back to ca. 1675-1600 if the explosion
of the Santorini volcano is to be dated ca. 1625 B.C.)
Most Popular Decorated Shapes
straight-sided (= Vapheio or Keftiu) cup, semiglobular cup, bridge-spouted jar, beaked jug, ewer.
Most Popular Motifs
spirals (frequently with details in added white) and floral motifs (foliate band, reed or grass pattern,
rosette) in particular, but also the ripple pattern continuing from MM IIIB.
Late Minoan IB
(once dated ca. 1500-1450 B.C.; now perhaps to be moved back to ca. 1600-1500 B.C.)
The bulk of LM IB pottery cannot be easily differentiated from that of the preceding LM IA phase, not
even if pattern-painted pottery alone is taken into consideration. However, the products of a number of
superior ceramic artists who worked initially at Knossos but spread their stylistic innovations either by
themselves travelling to other sites to produce their pottery or by training apprentices to do so, both on
Crete and on the Greek Mainland, are distinctive. Such vases occur in sufficient numbers that most
substantial deposits of this period throughout the southern Aegean contain either whole or fragmentary
specimens, some clearly imported from Knossos while others are just as clearly local (or at least nonKnossian) products. At least two distinct styles of vase-painting peculiar to the LM IB period, the Marine
Style and the Alternating Style, may be isolated among these extremely fine vases, which many
authorities feel represent the acme of Minoan ceramic art. The Marine Style, characterized by densely
packed, naturalistically portrayed marine motifs, may be somehow derived from a branch of fresco art
which was particularly at home in the Aegean islands (especially Thera). The ceramic style may thus
conceivably have been developed in Crete by refugee Cycladic artists in the immediate aftermath of the
explosion of the Santorini volcano. The Alternating Style, a sparer and more disciplined approach to
ceramic decoration in which two isolated motifs alternate around the body of a vase, may be somewhat
later in date than the Marine Style since it hardly occurs in typical LM IB destruction contexts on Crete.
Alternatively, it may have originated in western Crete at Chania and may not have reached those areas of
Crete, especially in the east, which were hardest hit by the LM IB destruction horizon because of
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geographical rather than chronological constraints. These two LM IB styles are found together in the
same deposits at island sites such as Kastri (Kythera) and Ayia Irini (Keos), so they clearly overlapped to
some degree. Many of the shapes decorated in these styles are specialized ones - for example, rhyta
(fillers) of several different varieties are particularly common in the Marine Style - and it has therefore
been suggested that Marine Style vases may have been designed specifically for religious purposes.
Marine Style
Most Popular Shapes
rhyta (conical, piriform), bridge-spouted jug, stirrup jar; very few cups.
Most Popular Motifs
murex (whorl-shell), nautilus (argonaut), octopus, dolphin, seaweed, sea anemone, star.
Alternating Style
Most Popular Shapes
semiglobular, bell, and stemmed cups; beaked jug; bridge-spouted jar.
Most Popular Motifs
Figure-of-eight shield, double axe, sacral knot, sea anemone, trefoil rockwork.
Late Minoan II
(once dated ca. 1450-1415 B.C.; now perhaps to be moved back to ca. 1500-1450 B.C.)
Although some have theorized that LM II pottery is simply a ceramic style characteristic of either late LM
IB or early LM IIIA1 rather than evidence for a distinct period, the stratification of recently excavated
deposits at Knossos and Kommos makes clear that a distinct LM II phase does indeed exist. New vessel
shapes appearing at this time are the Cretan form of the Ephyraean goblet, the horizontal-handled bowl,
the krater, and the squat alabastron, of which two or three have solid Mycenaean ancestries. Also
Mycenaean in character are certain decorative developments, such as a trend away from naturalism and
toward abstraction in individual motifs and a greater tendency for symmetrical and zonal compositions.
These latter changes in syntax are best seen on a series of large jars found mostly in the palace at Knossos
which constitute the bulk of the evidence for the so-called "Palace Style" of LM II-IIIA1. The Mycenaean
flavor of much of what is new in LM II ceramics should be correlated with the appearance of Mycenaean
tomb types (especially shaft and shaft-niche graves) and a Mycenaean emphasis on the deposition of large
quantities of wealth in tombs (especially in the form of weapons, metal vases, and jewelry) at about the
same time. Most authorities view these features, all of which occur together in the so-called "Warrior
Graves" found in several distinct cemeteries around Knossos at this time, as evidence for the presence of
a resident Mycenaean population in the Knossos area, probably in the form of a militarily dominant but
numerically insubstantial warrior aristocracy of some kind.
Late Minoan IIIA
(once date ca. 1415-1340 B.C.; now perhaps to be moved back to ca. 1450-1340 B.C.)
The pottery of the LM IIIA period develops smoothly from that of the preceding LM II phase with
increasing abstraction evident in the motifs and an enhanced emphasis on zonal compositions confined
for the most part to vessel shoulders. Ceramic continuity is best documented at central Cretan sites in both
the north (e.g. Knossos) and the south (e.g. Kommos), whereas in the east there is a discontinuity evident
between the material from the LM IB destruction deposits and the earliest "re-occupation" pottery of LM
IIIA. Whether the absence of LM II material from the east signifies a drastic decline in population in this
part of the island in the period ca. 1450-1400/1375 B.C. is presently a topic of considerable debate.
Certainly the pottery of the LM IIIA period is more standardized throughout the island than it had been in
LM I, an indication that a regionally differentiated Neopalatial ceramic tradition had given way to a more
centralized one by the early Post-Palatial period. Whether or not such a change in ceramics reflects the
emergence of Knossos as the cultural, hence arguably socio-political, capital of the entire island after a
less centralized period when several distinct regions had been individually administered from as many
independent palatial centers during the LM I period is another much debated question. As time goes on,
the range of painted motifs declines in number. A good marker of the later LM IIIA2 phase is the
appearance of the plain or solidly painted, short-stemmed, one-handled goblet or "champagne cup", a
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form which can be interpreted as a compromise between the one-handled flat-based cup traditionally
preferred as a drinking vessel by the Minoans and the two-handled stemmed goblet preferred by
Mycenaean Mainlanders.
Most Popular Decorated Shape
semiglobular cup; kylix; stirrup jar; piriform jar; amphoroid krater.
Most Popular Motifs
foliate scroll, flower, scale pattern, trivurved arch and zigzag (both with a variety of fills).
Late Minoan IIIB (ca. 1340-1190 B.C.)
Once again, no truly significant break is detectable in ceramic development as LH IIIB succeeds LM
IIIA. Indeed, Minoan ceramic specialists are so hard-pressed to distinguish between LM IIIA2 and LM
IIIB that many deposits are simply dated "LM IIIA2/IIIB". For the first time, the horizontal-handled, or
deep, bowl becomes as common an open shape as the kylikes and semiglobular cups continuing from LM
II-IIIA. Both the deep bowl and panelled decoration, hallmarks of the advent of the LH IIIB ceramic
phase on the Greek Mainland, are indicative of LM IIIB on Crete and attest to a continuing dependence of
Minoan Crete on the Mainland for some ceramic innovations. Large, rather coarse stirrup jars labelled
with painted inscriptions ("dipinti") in Linear B, evidently transport vessels for the shipping of wine or
oil, are probably restricted to the LM IIIB period and were produced mostly, perhaps even exclusively, in
western Crete. Most other shapes are much the same in LM IIIB as in later LM IIIA, but the motifs which
decorate them tend to become even more abstract. Particularly common on Minoan closed shapes (stirrup
jars, amphoroid kraters) of this period are highly stylized octopuses.
Late Minoan IIIC (ca. 1190-1125/1100 B.C.)
Yet again, the transition from one ceramic phase to the next is gradual rather than sudden, despite the fact
that there is a fairly dramatic shift in settlement pattern around this time from low-lying sites near the
coast to more easily defensible locations, whether near the sea (e.g. Kastri near Palaikastro) or far
removed from it (e.g. Karphi, above the Lasithi Plain). The deep bowl is now the dominant open shape in
settlement contexts, while the most common motifs are panelled patterns and antithetic spiral
compositions. In the advanced LH IIIC period, as elsewhere in the Aegean at about this same time, a
relatively elaborate but regionally restricted decorative style is developed, known as the "Fringed Style"
from the popularity of rows of short bars attached as outlines to major motifs. The general development
of shapes during the LM IIIC phase parallels that apparent throughout the Aegean at this time.
FRESCOES
All known Minoan figured frescoes are of Neopalatial date. Very few frescoes have been found at either
Mallia or Phaistos. Most of the Minoan fresco corpus comes from Knossos and Ayia Triadha, although a
fair number of paintings also come from villa sites such as Amnisos (House of the Lilies) and Tylissos.
Although the large numbers of frescoes from Akrotiri on Thera, Ayia Irini on Keos, and Phylakopi on
Melos are heavily indebted to Minoan traditions of wall-painting, they should not be viewed as purely
Minoan but rather as representative of one or more distinct Late Cycladic schools of fresco art.
Within the palace at Knossos, the following subjects are most common:
(1) Bull-leaping and bull-catching compositions, both ordinary frescoes and painted stucco reliefs, on a
variety of different scales.
(2) Boxing and wrestling scenes, mostly (if not entirely) in the form of painted stucco reliefs.
(3) Heraldic griffin compositions, again both as ordinary frescoes and as painted stucco reliefs.
(4) Processional scenes in architectural settings where the painted processions on the walls are likely to be
mimicking real-life processions in those same spaces (e.g. Corridor of the Procession, Grand Staircase).
Hood considers scenes of this type all to be Post-Palatial in date and to be a concession to the tastes of the
Mycenaean overlords of Knossos during this period. The artistic source for such scenes is likely to be
Egypt.
Other types of scene are found outside the palace at Knossos or at other sites, but the pictorial repertoire
within the Knossian palace in particular would seem to have been a restricted one.
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Classification
The following broad divisions of Minoan mural painting can be isolated:
Painted Stucco Relief Frescoes
(a) "Priest King" (from near south entrance to central court of palace at Knossos)
(b) Bull (from above North Entrance Passage of palace at Knossos)
(c) Scenes of boxing, wrestling, and bull-jumping/grappling, together with frieze of heraldic griffins
flanking isolated columns (from East Hall of palace at Knossos)
(d) Lion seizing prey (from southeast corner of palace at Knossos)
(e) Seated women or goddesses (from Pseira)
Frescoes with Human and Animal Representations
Life-size
(a) Procession Fresco (from Corridor of the Procession in palace at Knossos)
(b) Cat stalking a bird (part of larger composition from probable shrine within "western villa" at Ayia
Triadha in which a kneeling woman picks flowers while a second female, perhaps a goddess, stands in
front of a possible shrine)
(c) Partridge Frieze (from Caravanserai at Knossos)
(d) "Saffron Gatherer" or Blue Monkey Fresco (from palace at Knossos)
(e) Bluebirds and monkeys in a rocky but flower-covered landscape (from House of the Frescoes at
Knossos)
Under Life-size but not Miniature
(a) Taureador Fresco (from Court of the Stone Spout in palace at Knossos)
(b) Palanquin Fresco (from south edge of palace at Knossos)
Miniature
(a) Grandstand Fresco (from Early Keep at northwest end of central court in palace at Knossos)
(b) Sacred Grove Fresco (from Early Keep at northwest end of central court in palace at Knossos)
(c) Boxers (from Tylissos)
Formal Patterns or Heraldic Animals on a Large Scale
(a) Frieze of Figure-of-Eight Shields (second floor of "Residential Quarters" in palace at Knossos)
(b) Frieze of rosettes, with overpainted frieze of spirals ("Queen's Megaron" in palace at Knossos)
(c) Heraldic griffins flanking throne (Throne Room in palace at Knossos). Often considered unusual for
its strict symmetry and heraldic style, this fresco has been thought by some to reflect Mycenaean tastes
since it belongs to the period when Mycenaean Mainlanders are for other reasons thought to have been in
charge at Knossos. However, a similar composition in painted stucco relief from the area of the East Hall
dates well before the period of the Mycenaean "occupation" (Hood, APG 74 fig.56C), so the theme is
perfectly at home in Minoan Neopalatial wall-painting.
Decorated Floors
(a) Dolphin Fresco (from area of "Queen's Megaron" in palace at Knossos). Restored by Evans in a
vertical position high on the wall of the ground floor of the "Residential Quarters", this fresco is more
plausibly identified by Hood and Koehl as the decoration of a collapsed floor from an apartment on the
second storey.
(b) Marine scene (from shrine at Ayia Triadha). Consisting of fish and an octopus, this painted floor is of
uncertain date, either LM I (preceding the local LM IB destruction) or early LM IIIA (roughly
contemporary with the famous sarcophagus).
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General Characteristics of Minoan Mural Painting

1. Specific skin color conventions exist for the sexes, probably adopted from Egyptian wall painting but
possibly indirectly through Syria (e.g. Tell Atchana): red for male, white for female.
2. While genre scenes are common, there are no unmistakably particularized scenes, whether historical or
mythological.
3. Scenes from nature are realistic in terms of the movements of animal or human participants. The artists
were keen observers of action. Likewise, flowers and birds are portrayed "naturalistically", although
specialists knowledgeable in the fields of botany and ornithology have often shown that the plants and
animals in question have no true counterpart in nature but merely appear to be represented accurately. By
contrast, the backgrounds in Minoan frescoes are often obviously "fantastic", represented as if seen from
above and characterized by gaily painted rocks which sometimes resemble stalactites and at other times
look like Easter eggs. There is no attempt to indicate depth by means of perspective or diminution of
figure scale with distance.
4. The range of colors is remarkably varied.
5. There is a comparatively wide variety of scenes and individual motifs in Minoan painting as a whole.
Fresco was a major art form which often influenced pottery and possibly seal-cutting as well. The decline
of ceramics as a major art form at the end of the Protopalatial period may well be due to the appearance
for the first time of figured mural painting at the beginning of the Neopalatial period.
6. With the possible but dubious exceptions of cross-hatching on the bellies and forelegs of the wingless
sphinxes from the Throne Room and of parallel chevrons on the centerpieces of the figure-of-eight shields
from the second floor of the "Residential Quarters", there appears to have been no attempt to indicate
relief by means of shading in Minoan fresco art. One of the female bull-jumpers in the Taureador Fresco
has lines on her body and legs seemingly intended to indicate musculature, but this too is an isolated case,
in this instance of the employment of so-called "relief lines". As Hood notes, when the artist desired to
indicate relief, (s)he chose to reproduce it physically in plaster, although only in large-scale figures.
7. The appearance of two or more registers in a mural (e.g. Procession Fresco, Camp Stool Fresco) may
be an indication of Post-Palatial date, indicative of Egyptian influence and perhaps of Mycenaean taste.
Hood considers the same to be true of all procession frescoes.
8. Underwater scenes may have been restricted to the decoration of floors. The use of marine motifs for
the decoration of plaster floors was later adopted by the Mycenaeans in the palaces of Tiryns and Pylos.
Note the absence of hunting scenes and scenes of warfare, both to be extremely popular in Mycenaean art.
Chariot scenes are also relatively rare, although two fragmentary examples are known from Knossos and
chariots appear twice on the LM IIIA Ayia Triadha sarcophagus. Some commentators have noted that, in
its choices of the specific time within an action, Minoan pictorial art tends to focus on the moment
immediately preceding violent action (e.g. the cat stalking the bird from Ayia Triadha) or on that
immediately following (e.g. the hobbled bull on the "quiet" gold cup from Vapheio; the victorious boxer
standing over his fallen opponent on the Boxer Rhyton from Ayia Triadha). This observation may have
some truth in it, but one cannot deny that the Minoans occasionally depicted the instant of maximum
violence, especially in bull-jumping scenes (e.g. the goring of the jumper on the Boxer Rhyton).

Lesson 15: Minoan Religion

THE NATURE OF THE EVIDENCE

PLACES OF WORSHIP

Caves

Peak Sanctuaries

Domestic Shrines

MINOAN CULT FURNITURE

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THE AYIA TRIADHA SARCOPHAGUS

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Front Side

West End

Back Side

East Side

Problems

MINOAN DIVINITIES
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The Snake Goddess

Mistress of Animals (or of the Mountain)

Goddess of Vegetation

Male Divinity

EVIDENCE FOR HUMAN SACRIFICE

o

Protopalatial Sanctuary at Anemospilia (Archanes)

Site of Western Extension to Stratigraphical Museum at Knossos

Minoan Religion
THE NATURE OF THE EVIDENCE
This consists of the following four broad classes, the last of which will not be dealt with in any detail in
this course:
1. Locations of cult activity.
2. Representations of cult activity in Minoan art on such items as seals, signet rings, mural paintings,
sarcophagi (larnakes), and pottery.
3. The nature of cult "furniture" (i.e. figurines, "horns of consecration", "baetylic pillars", "libation" jugs,
altars, tripod "tables of offerings", etc.).
4. Garbled memories of Minoan cult practice preserved in later Greek myth and ritual.
Since Linear A is as yet undeciphered, there is effectively no contemporary textual evidence regarding
Minoan religion. Even if Linear A were deciphered, it is unlikely that much information regarding
Minoan cult practices, much less Minoan religious ideology, would be forthcoming above and beyond the
names of the divinities which the Minoans worshipped.
PLACES OF WORSHIP
Caves
Caves were first used in Crete as dwellings or at least as habitation sites in the Neolithic period. Toward
the end of the Neolithic, they also began to be used extensively as cemeteries, and such usage continued
throughout the Early Minoan period and in some areas even longer. Caves appear to have first been used
as cult places early in the Middle Minoan (Protopalatial) period, at more or less the same time when the
first Cretan palaces were being constructed. There may very well be some connection between the
establishment of powerful central authorities in the palaces and the institution of worship in caves. The
evidence for the use of caves as cult places consists of pottery, animal figurines, and occasionally bronze
objects. Such objects are found not only in caves which had previously served habitation or funerary
purposes but also in caves which had as their earliest known function the housing of some religious
activity. In addition to artifacts, some cult caves contain large quantities of animal bones, mostly from
deer, oxen, and goats and no doubt derived from some form of animal sacrifice.
One of the better known cult caves is the "Cave Of Eileithyia" near Amnisos, associated with the divinity
Eileithyia on the basis of a reference in Homer's Odyssey. This cave is some 60 m. long, between 9 and
12 m. wide, and 2 to 3 m. high. Near the middle of the cave is a cylindrical stalagmite ca. 1.40 m. high
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which is enclosed by a roughly built wall 0.45 m. high. Within the enclosure and in front of the stalagmite
is a roughly square stone, perhaps some form of altar.
The caves that have furnished by far the richest assortments of votive objects are: the Kamares Cave, on
the south slope of Mt. Ida at about 6000 feet; the Dictaean or Psychro Cave, on the west side of the
Lasithi Plain in the foot hills of Mt. Dikte; the Idaean Cave, on the west side of the Neda Plain and on the
northern slopes of Mt. Ida; and the Arkalochori Cave, not far south of the newly discovered palace at
Galatas (with which the cult at this cave must have been closely connected). The Arkalochori Cave in
particular has produced an astonishingly rich array of bronze votives, principally in the form of weapons
such as swords, daggers, and double axes.
Peak Sanctuaries
These are cult centers located at, or just below, the tops of prominent local hills, not necessarily "peaks"
on true "mountains". Such sites are characterized by deep layers of ash (without animal bones, hence
interpreted as the remains of bonfires and not of blood sacrifices of some kind) and by large quantities of
clay human and animal figurines. Like the cult caves discussed above, the earliest peak sanctuaries date
from the MM I period and most of the two dozen or more confirmed examples of such cult locales have
produced material of this date. Moreover, the cult caves and peak sanctuaries are virtually the only sites
other than the palaces themselves to have produced certain artifactual types such as the finest Kamares
pottery, "tables of offerings", and objects inscribed in Linear A other than unbaked clay tablets. Thus a
close connection between the palaces on the one hand and these extramural cult centers on the other is
readily apparent, not simply in the dates of their respective appearances but also probably in the ideology
behind them and in the human sponsors of that ideology, the palatial lite.
Many of the human figurines from peak sanctuaries are in fact individual human limbs or parts of the
body, separately modelled and pierced by a hole for suspension. It has been suggested that these separate
limbs are comparable to terracotta parts of the body found in Classical shrines dedicated to healing
divinities, and that by analogy the peak sanctuaries are also to be understood as those of healing
divinities. However, the parts of the body represented in the Minoan sanctuaries (arms, legs, and heads
primarily) are not exactly parallel to those found in Classical sanctuaries (which include numerous eyes,
breasts, and genitalia as well as major limbs). Moreover, the large numbers of animal figurines found at
the peak sanctuaries obviously cannot be explained in the same way, although these may have served as
substitutes for genuine sacrificial animals or as votive pledges that such animals would be sacrificed
elsewhere at some other time, since blood sacrifice does not seem to have been an acceptable practice at
peak sanctuaries. It is likely that the detached human limbs from these sanctuaries originally formed parts
of complete "dolls" held together by string inserted through the commonly found perforations. Metal
artifacts are found only exceptionally (e.g. a hoard of non-functional double axes at Iuktas) and pottery,
except for miniature vases, is equally rare. In both these respects, as well as with regard to animal bones,
the finds from peak sanctuaries are quite different from those in cult caves.
The two major peak sanctuaries so far excavated and published are Petsofa in eastern Crete (elevation 215
m.; serving the town of Palaikastro) and Iuktas (elevation 811 m.; not far south of and hence presumably
serving Knossos, this sanctuary is even closer to Archanes and almost certainly served this latter center as
well). At both these peak sanctuaries, the earliest period of certifiable cult use is dated to the beginning of
the MM period. In the earliest levels, there are no architectural remains, merely the ashy deposits and the
figurines already discussed. In MM III, an imposing building was constructed on Mt. Iuktas consisting of
three parallel terraces, oriented north-south, of which the upper two at the west were approached by an
east-west ramp at the south. On the west side of the uppermost terrace, a long stepped altar (4.70 m.
north-south by 0.50 m. high) overlies several cracks in the bedrock, one of which leads down to a natural
chasm located between the two upper terraces which has so far been excavated to a depth of 10.50 m.
without the bottom having been reached. The lowermost terrace at the east consists of a series of five or
six roughly square rooms in a single row, all opening uphill toward the west. On the downhill, exterior
side of this lowermost terrace to the east, the junction of wall foundation and wall proper leave a narrow
bench 0.45 m. wide running north-south which evidently served as a display space for votive offerings.
Both the finds and the architecture at this particular peak sanctuary are of unparalleled magnificence
among cult locales of this class, as one might perhaps have expected of the sanctuary which served the
site of Knossos. At Petsofa, a three-room building was first erected in MM III, again a long time after the
sanctuary was first used. It is quite possible that these peak sanctuaries were visited only on special
religious holidays, much as similar mountaintop chapels are today in Greece, since in many cases the
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sanctuaries are too remotely located to have served daily religious purposes. A peak sanctuary is
portrayed in considerable detail on the famous Sanctuary Rhyton found in the LM IB destruction level of
the palace at Zakro. It is likely that a peak sanctuary is also depicted in the northern section of the Fleet
Fresco of LM IA date from Akrotiri on Thera.
Rutkowski has argued, on the basis of various possible connections between peak sanctuary cult and
pastoral farming (e.g. location of peak sanctuaries in areas associated with summer transhumance of
sheep and goat herds, frequency of terracotta animal figurines at peak sanctuaries) that "peak sanctuaries
came into existence mainly to relieve the fears and cares of the shepherds and cattle breeders." But the
close links between palatial centers, peak sanctuaries, and cult caves suggest that Cherry's view that peak
and cave sanctuaries are evidence for the ideological manipulation of the ordinary Minoan by an
emerging lite who also managed the palaces is likely to be closer to the truth. The appearance of
permanent architecture at several peak sanctuaries other than Petsopha and Iuktas no earlier than MM III
(Gonies, Kophinas, Modhi, Pyrgos, Traostalos, Vrysinas) has been connected with the appearance of
villas throughout Neopalatial Crete and with what some feel to be the enhanced authority of Knossos at
about the same time. Rutkowski has suggested that peak sanctuary cult became more institutionalized in
the Neopalatial period under Knossian royal authority, perhaps with permanent priests in residence at the
sites now boasting architecture. In this scenario, Iuktas is felt to have occupied the apex of a hierarchy of
peak sanctuaries. much as Knossos did in one of villas and palaces. Peak sanctuaries appear to go into
steep decline after the end of LM I, in contrast with cult caves which continue to be patronized frequently
during the LM III period. The decline in peak sanctuaries, however, is probably limited to the east where
in the period following LM IB there was a dramatic decline in population, whether due to the fallout from
the Santorini eruption or to a Mycenaean invasion. In the center and west of the island where settlement
was continuous from LM IB through LM II and into LM IIIA, there is good evidence for continuity of
cult at peak sanctuaries such as Mt. Iuktas.
Domestic Shrines
In her recent study of such cult places, Gesell distinguishes between three social contexts [town (fully
public), palace (semi-private? for ruling class only?), and house (private)] and three architectural types
[bench sanctuary, lustral basin, pillar crypt]. Only the bench sanctuary may be attested as early as the
Prepalatial (EM) period (e.g. the supposed shrine at Myrtos in which the so-called "Goddess of Myrtos"
was found), to survive throughout Minoan prehistory and into the Iron Age. Pillar crypts and lustral
basins are forms which are restricted to the Protopalatial and Neopalatial periods. Four of the best known
Minoan sanctuaries of the domestic class are briefly described below:
Shrine of the Double Axes at Knossos
(Gesell 1985: no.37, Plan 25, Pls. 46, 118)
Post-Palatial (LM IIIB) bench sanctuary located in the southeast quarter of the palace at Knossos. This
tiny (1.5 m. x 1.5 m.) shrine was abandoned with its religious furniture in situ and is thus extremely
valuable as a source for our understanding of Minoan religion at least toward the end of the Bronze Age.
The room's floor area is divided into three sections at different levels. In the front (lowest) part lie several
large vases. In the middle area, a tripod "table of offerings" is embedded in the floor, and to either side of
it are groups of small jugs and cups. At the back of the room is a raised bench ca. 0.60 m. high on which
are fixed two stuccoed clay "horns of consecration". In each case, between the "horns" is a round socket,
presumably to hold a double axe such as the small one of steatite found resting against the left-hand pair
of "horns". (The evidence for such a reconstruction comes from the iconography of seals and vasepainting, in both of which a central double axe between the "horns" is common.) Between the two pairs of
"horns" were found a bell-shaped female figurine and a smaller female statuette of Neolithic type, perhaps
a treasured heirloom. To the left of the left-hand pair of "horns" was a male figurine holding out a dove,
while to the right of the right-hand pair were two more bell-shaped female figurines, one with a bird
perched on her head. The last is often considered to be a goddess while the remaining figures are
identified as votaries.
Town Shrine at Gournia
(Gesell 1985: no.10, Plan 4, Pl. 119)
Post-Palatial (LM IIIB) bench sanctuary located near highest point of settlement, close to its center. This
small (3 m. x 3 m.) shrine belongs neither to a palace nor to any other large building, but is rather a self100

contained architectural unit approached by a cobbled road leading up the hill from the west. It was in a
rather poor state of preservation when excavated, but its floor was littered with a large amount of cult
paraphernalia, some of it comparable to that from the roughly contemporary Shrine of the Double Axes at
Knossos. The lack of associated pottery makes the dating of this shrine somewhat uncertain, but it
probably was last used in the LM IIIB period. There was a low bench along its right-hand (southern) wall.
In the northeast corner was a plastered tripod "table of offerings" around which were placed four "snaketubes", the base of a fifth "snake-tube" resting on the tripod "table of offerings" itself. Found in the debris
of the rooms was a bell-shaped female figurine, around whose body is twined a snake. Two snakes also
twist around one of the "snake-tubes". Fragments of other human figurines were found, as well as four
terracotta birds and two terracotta snakes' heads.
Sanctuary Complex to West of Central Court at Knossos
(Gesell 1985: no.33a-f, Plan 19, Pl. 22)
Approached by a short and shallow flight of steps leading down from the central court, this complex has
several distinct elements, all of which are accessible from a single stone-paved anteroom with a short
stone bench against its north wall, the Lobby of the Stone Seat. To the west through a pier-and-door
partition are two pillar crypts of similar size (3.5 m. x 5.3 m.), both with a central pillar liberally incised
with double axes on all exposed faces of each block (including the top surface of the uppermost block in
each pillar) except for the west faces of the blocks in the eastern pillar. Both crypts are of Neopalatial
date, the eastern with two rectangular basins ca. 0.25 m. deep sunk into the floor to east and west of the
rectangular central pillar (cf. the pillar crypts in the Royal Villa and Temple Tomb), the western with a
depressed rectangular space in its paved floor all around the square central pillar. Two narrow storage
rooms oriented north-south open off of the eastern pillar crypt and under the threshold leading into the
eastern one was found a rich collection of fragmentary cult paraphernalia of MM IA date (the Vat Room
Deposit: faence figurine fragments, beads, and inlays; clay sealings; gold sheet; copper beads; shell
inlays; etc.).
To the north of the Lobby of the Stone Seat, two storage chambers oriented east-west open off of each
other in a fashion comparable to the organization of the pillar crypts just described. The southern (the
Room of the Tall Pithos) is unremarkable, but under the floor of the second (Temple Repositories) were
found two empty, shallow cists below which were two larger and considerably deeper cists filled with
MM III pottery in the uppermost 1.10 m. of fill and with fragmentary cult paraphernalia and greasy earth
containing carbonized botanical material and stag horns in the lowest 0.40-0.50 m. The cult items include
three largely preserved "snake goddesses" of faence as well as fragments of others, miniature votive
robes in faence, faence plaques of a cow and a wild goat nursing their young, shells, crystal, ivory, and
faence inlays, stone "tables of offering", a marble cross, scraps of gold foil, etc., etc.
To the northeast of the Lobby of the Stone Seat and facing onto the central court are the foundations of a
Neopalatial Tripartite Shrine, largely restorable on the basis of the painted representation of such a shrine
in the miniature Grandstand Fresco. Finally, to the southwest of the Lobby of the Stone Seat, fallen from
a room above christened the "Treasure Chamber", was found a cache of twenty-four Neopalatial stone
vases, twelve of them rhyta (including three in the form of lions' heads) and several of them Egyptian
imports.
Not all portions of this complex are restorable at any one moment in time, but together they reveal that
this area of the palace was a focus of cult activity from the earliest days of the palace or even just before
its construction (Vat Room Deposit of MM IA) down through the Neopalatial period and perhaps even
into the Post-Palatial era, at which time pithoi and Linear B tablets show that the area in and around the
Lobby of the Stone Seat was a central storage facility and point of disbursement for oil.
Throne Room Complex to West of Central Court at Knossos
(Gesell 1985: no.34a-f, Plan 22, Pl. 10)
Located near the northeast corner of the west wing of the Knossian palace, the "Throne Room" proper is
part of a larger four- or five-room block which was apparently devoted first and foremost to cult rather
than to the display or exercising of political authority. The anteroom (6.0 m. x 5.7 m.) is entered through a
pier-and-door partition and down three shallow steps from the central court (cf. a similar entrance to the
"Men's Hall" in the Little Palace from the peristyle court to its south). There may have been a wooden
throne against the right-hand (northern) wall of the anteroom between two short lengths of a gypsum
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bench. A longer gypsum bench runs along the entire south side of the room and the floor is attractively
paved with stone slabs. To the west and entered through an off-centered doorway is the Throne Room
proper, named after the stone throne (Europe's oldest) set against the north wall and flanked by stone
benches which also extend along the west wall and in front of the parapet which separates the area around
the throne from the Lustral Basin to the south. Flanking the throne, as well as the door leading out of the
room to the west, are pairs of large, antithetical wingless griffins; the throne is also immediately bounded
on both sides by a palm tree directly above an example of the so-called "triglyph-and-half-rosette"
pattern, here possibly to be understood rather as an altar with incurved sides. The southern part of the
room is occupied by a large Lustral Basin (the scene of the Minotaur's murder by Theseus in Mary
Renault's The King Must Die). The floor of the room was attractively paved with a border of gypsum
slabs framing a central rectangle of red-painted plaster. Near the east entrance, this floor was covered
with an overturned pithos and five stone alabastra (normally stored in shallow sinkings on the west side of
the north-south corridor immediately west of the Lustral Basin), a circumstance which suggested to Evans
that a ritual may actually have been in progress when the palace burned down early in the LM IIIA2
period (ca. 1385 B.C.). Behind the Throne Room to the west are two small chambers or annexes which
served to house cult paraphernalia and two more storage chambers also accessible from the Throne Room
by means of a short north-south corridor lie to the south. In its present state, the Throne Room block dates
from LM II-IIIA2 early, the period of the Mycenaean occupation of Knossos.
MINOAN CULT FURNITURE
Double Axe
Although some large bronze examples of the {double axe}, the most common of all Minoan religious
symbols, were clearly used as tools, miniature specimens in unsuitable and sometimes precious materials
(e.g. gold, silver, lead, steatite, terracotta), as well as very fragile bronze examples (e.g. the gigantic
specimens from Nirou Khani), must have had a purely sumbolic function. The earliest examples date
from the middle of the EM period. Double axes often appear in representational scenes, usually set in the
top of stone bases or between "horns of consecration". Their precise significance is disputed. In the Near
East, axes of this sort are often wielded by male divinities and appear to be symbols of the thunderbolt.
Since in Crete the double axe is never held by a male divinity, an alternative view which ascribes its
frequency in art to its popularity as a sacrificial instrument has considerable appeal. Miniature examples
may have functioned as charms or amulets. Plutarch (Quaestiones Graecae 302A), a Greek author of the
second century A.D., reports that the Carian (a southwest Anatolian population) word for double axe was
labrys, a word likely to be connected with the mythological name for Minos' palace and the Minotaur's
lair at Knossos, labyrinthos (= "place of the double axe"?).
"Horns of Consecration"
Examples of "{horns of consecration}" at various scales and occur both as three-dimensional objects of
stone or terracotta (e.g. just south of the Theatral Area at Knossos or in a niche along one side of the court
at Nirou Khani; twice on the bench in the Shrine of the Double Axes at Knossos), often stuccoed, and as
painted or sculpted representations on murals, altars, vases, seals, and larnakes. Typically they serve
either as stands for a narrow range of other cult implements (double axes, libation jugs, branches) or as
architectural crowning members (on both altars and roofs). The original significance of the "horns" is
uncertain. It has been suggested that they are stylized bulls' horns, a symbol of the moon's crescent or of
the rising sun, or simply an odd form of pot support.
Altars and Sacrificial Tables
There are a number of types, perhaps the commonest of which are: (a) stepped (as on the Ayia Triadha
sarcophagus) (b) rectangular, with a cap projecting all around at the top (c) round or rectangular in plan,
with incurving sides in profile, and apparently portable. In scenes of animal sacrifice, a table rather than
one of the above forms of altar is used as the surface on top of which the victim was bound and
slaughtered (cf. Ayia Triadha sarcophagus). Altars of type (c) are often found in association with gates or
major entranceways, as shown by M. Shaw, sometimes in multiples of two (Lion Gate at Mycenae) or
four (main entrance to the Tourkogeitonia complex at Archanes)
"Table of Offerings"
In form, the "{table of offerings}" is basically a thick disc resting on three short legs and having a shallow
depression in the top. Usually made of clay and occasionally stuccoed, these items may have served
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sometimes simply as portable hearths. Legless versions, rectangular in plan and made of stone rather than
clay, are usually referred to as "{libation table}s".
Kernos [kernoi, in the plural]
A {kernos} is simply a ceramic vessel consisting of multiple receptacles of the same shape. Vessels of
this sort are a fairly prominent feature of the Phylakopi I culture in the Cyclades, but there need be no
connection either typologically or functionally between the Minoan and Cycladic forms. The term
"kernos" is that applied to similar vessels used in Classical mystery cults at Eleusis and elsewhere.
"Snake Tube"
A "{snake tube}" is a tall, cylindrical ceramic vessel, sometimes lacking a bottom, with snakes
occasionally modelled in relief on the exterior. Gesell has shown that such objects should probably be
identified as stands designed to support shallow bowls and dishes which held either incense or offerings
of some kind. That is, they were probably not intended to be "houses" for a domestic snake, as their name
implies. Most examples date from LM IIIB-C, and they may therefore all be examples of an item
associated with Post-Palatial Minoan cult.
{Libation Jug}
This is simply a specimen of a special form of ewer having a globular body, a tall neck, a beaked mouth,
and a high-swung loop handle.
Pillar-shaped Stones (or {baetyl}s)
An example of such a natural form at a cult location is the stalagmite in the Cave of Eileithyia at
Amnisos. On seals, free-standing columns or pillars, both with and without capitals, are shown within
small enclosures and in the presence of worshippers. Such columns or baetyls also appear flanked by
antithetic animals (e.g. the relief on the Lion Gate at Mycenae). The place of the column may be taken by
a human figure, arguably a god or goddess, in what is otherwise a closely comparable composition. The
column or baetyl may therefore symbolize a deity or be a symbol for the palace of the king (as is often
argued for the column in the Lion Gate relief) or for the shrine of a divinity. In this connection, the
flanking animals are considered to be "protectors", appropriately enough in that they are usually lions or
griffins. In the pillar crypts of Minoan palaces and villas, square piers are often found incised with a
variety of signs, including double axes, stars, and tridents. Although these piers serve a structural
function, they may also have been considered sacred in some sense. Hence it has often been suggested
that the signs incised on them constitute some form of divine invocation to secure the building in which
they occur against the dangers of earthquake and fire.
Trees
On the Ayia Triadha sarcophagus, libations are being poured into a {krater}, or mixing bowl, set between
the bases of two tall columns. Each of these columns is capped by a double axe on which sits a bird. The
columns are covered with green projections and so may be intended to resemble trees (date palms?) or
simply to be columns covered with leaves. Leaves in the form of lengths of the foliate band pattern
sometimes substitute for the handles of double axes in vase-painting, while branches are often set up
between "horns of consecration". On seals, a tree often appears inside a small enclosure in the presence of
worshippers and appears to have the same function in such a context as the columns or baetyls discussed
above.
Birds, Bulls, Agrimia, and Snakes
Birds appear frequently in religious scenes (e.g. the Ayia Triadha sarcophagus). An individual bird is
usually identified as a "{divine epiphany}" - that is, as the manifestation of a divine being (in this
instance, in non-human form) - although sometimes a bird appears to be an identifying attribute of a
divinity rather than an alternative form of one. Other frequently occurring animals are bulls, {agrimi}a
(Cretan ibexes or mountain goats), and snakes. The first two often occur in the form of votive figurines
and probably figured importantly as sacrificial animals. The last may have been a prominent symbol in
earth (or chthonic) cults, just as birds may have been in sky (or atmospheric) cults.
Demons [sometimes called Minoan genii]

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At first glance, this animal-headed figure wearing what appears to be a loose skin over its back and
commonly carrying a libation jug, looks like a man in costume, but its legs and feet are those of an
animal. Occasionally portrayed in the pose of the "Master of Animals", this {demon} or {Minoan genius}
is a corruption of the Egyptian goddess Ta-wrt, who occurs in the form of a hippotamus. In Egypt, Ta-wrt
is a beneficent spirit but not a major divinity. In Crete, demons often appear in multiples of between two
and four (when the pictorial field in question provides sufficient space to accommodate them) and to
function as divine servants. On the so-called Genius Rhyton from Mallia, the two sizes of genius depicted
suggest that the Minoans may have conceived of them as a category of being that could somehow be
ranked by age or status.
THE AYIA TRIADHA SARCOPHAGUS
The sarcophagus was found in a looted tomb of the early 14th century B.C. (LM IIIA) at Ayia Triadha.
The form of the tomb was unusual, but its few remaining contents, aside from the sarcophagus itself, were
unremarkable. The sarcophagus is unusual in that it is a rare stone version of the otherwise common
enough terracotta burial chest or larnax. The scenes on the sarcophagus, painted on lime plaster applied
over the limestone body of the chest, are unique in Aegean funerary art. Quotations in the descriptions
below are taken from C. Long, The Ayia Triadha Sarcophagus (Gteborg 1974).
Front Side
"The pouring scene represents the mixing of liquids, probably wine and water, in a krater in honor of a
goddess or goddesses symbolized by the double axes mounted on either side of the krater. The birds
perched on the double axes probably indicate the arrival of the deity(-ies) and have been summoned by
the music of the lyre...." The ceremony takes place outside the tomb. "The Minoan funerary libation
would not require the quantity of liquid being prepared in the krater, and the scene might better be
regarded as the preparation for the Mycenaean funerary toast."
"The recipient in the presentation scene probably represents the spirit of the deceased observing that his
obsequies are being performed with all proper dignity and beginning to sink beneath the ground on his
way to the afterworld, as does the ghost of Patroklos in the Iliad. His motionless stance with arms
concealed indicates he is neither deity nor living human, nor is he wrapped like an Egyptian mummy or
laid out like the corpses on the Tanagra larnakes. The rite being performed may have been intended to
secure for the deceased a happy life after death in addition to admission to the afterworld....The building
behind the recipient can be equated with the tomb in which the sarcophagus was found.... The boat might
provide transportation for the journey to the afterworld, and the cattle might represent either sustenance
for the journey or the bulls supplied for funeral games in honor of the deceased. The absence of parallels
for the gifts in cult presentation scenes may be evidence that they are funerary."
West End
In the upper register is a fragmentary male processional scene (something being brought to the tomb?),
while a chariot drawn by two Agrimia and carrying two women fills the lower register. Agrimia appear to
have had religious connotations in a good deal of Minoan art, and it is possible that the two women in the
lower register are as a consequence both goddesses. If they are indeed goddesses, they seem to have no
connection with the mortal scene above but may indicate by their participation in the procession that they
are favorably disposed toward the dead.
Back Side
At the right is a shrine with a tree at its center. To the left of the shrine is an altar, above which is a
libation jug and a basket-shaped vase (kalathos) full of fruit (?). A woman stands in front of the altar with
her hands held palms down above it. Behind her is a sacrificial table on which a bull is strapped down for
sacrifice. Below the table and fixed in the ground is a conical rhyton into which the bull's blood will drain
and thus seep into the earth. Next to the rhyton and perhaps held in reserve for a second stage of the
sacrifice are two agrimia. Behind the table is a flute player. Further to the left is a procession of female
figures, only the first of whom is well preserved. This figure advances to the right with her arms
outstretched and palms down. The indication of the hands' position and the arrangements for the blood to
drip into the ground indicate that the sacrifice is to an earth (" chthonic") or underworld figure. It is
probable that this sacrifice is part of the funerary rites on behalf of the deceased on the opposite side.
East Side
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A pair of females ride in a chariot drawn by two winged griffins, above which flies a single bird. The two
females must be divinities because of the supernatural form of the griffins. Like the females on the
opposite end, these figures are probably to be interpreted as escorts for the deceased on his way to the
Underworld.
Problems
Are all the scenes to be interpreted as having a single focus or theme? Or are the scenes on the front
(pretty obviously indicative of a cult of the dead) to be separated from those on the back (arguably some
kind of divine cult, perhaps connected with a deity of vegetation)? Some authorities are so impressed by
the evidence for divine cult in these scenes that they deny any connection at all with a cult of the dead and
identify the figure of the "dead man" as a god or as the image of a god. Others maintain that all the scenes
are connected with a cult of the dead: the double axes should be understood as cult objects which can
serve in both divine and mortuary cults, while the birds may as well represent the soul of the dead as the
epiphany of a deity.
Nilsson felt that both divine and mortuary cults were involved and saw only one way in which to resolve
this dichotomy, namely to assume that the dead man was deified and worshipped after his death. He
associated this "heroization" of the dead man with the notion that the dead individual was in fact a
Mycenaean overlord of Ayia Triadha and not a Minoan. The mixture of the two forms of cult (mortuary
and divine) on the sarcophagus thus became for him a Minoan response to the demands of their
Mycenaean overlords. But there is no evidence from the tomb for any cult associated with the dead man.
In fact, the sarcophagus was re-used, which suggests that no special veneration was accorded either the
corpse or its tomb. Moreover, there is very little evidence from Greek Mainland sites for a Mycenaean
cult of the dead persisting for any appreciable length of time after an individual's burial.
MINOAN DIVINITIES
A survey of the representational art which illustrates Minoan religious activities clearly indicates that
those figures which are plausibly to be identified as divinities rather than as mortals are overwhelmingly
of the female sex. In addition, it is clear that, if individual divinities are to be identified on the basis of
different sets of attributes associated with particular figures, several distinct Minoan goddesses existed.
The Snake Goddess
Represented by the MM III "Snake Goddesses" of the Temple Repositories at Knossos as well as by some
of the later bell-shaped terracotta figurines of the LM III period, this particular goddess is usually
considered to be a household divinity and interestingly does not appear on seals.
Mistress of Animals (or of the Mountain)
A famous seal impression from Knossos (Nilsson 1950: Pl.18:1; Gesell 1985: Fig.114) shows a female
figure holding a staff and standing on top of a cairn or rocky hill. She is flanked by antithetic lions,
beyond which are a shrine on one side and a saluting male on the other. A second seal from Knossos
(Nilsson 1950: Pl.18:4) shows a capped female with a staff walking next to a lion, another pose of the
same Mistress of Animals figure.
Goddess of Vegetation
Dominating female figures on a number of seals (e.g. Nilsson 1950: Pl.17:1) are often identified as
deities.
Male Divinity
Male figures identifiable as divinities are rare and are often represented on a smaller scale than female
figures, not necessarily deities themselves, in the same scene.
(a) Seal showing a male with a spear (?) descending through the air in front of a large pillar with a pillarshrine further behind. The female in front of him is usually considered to be saluting or "adoring" him
(Nilsson 1950: Pl. 13:4).
(b) A youthful (i.e. beardless) male is occasionally depicted on seals standing between "horns of
consecration" or posing as a Master of Animals (Nilsson 1950: Pls. 19:4, 20:4).
(c) A tiny figure standing behind a figure-of-eight shield in the air above a series of much larger female
figures is sometimes identified as a male divinity (Nilsson 1950: Pl.17:1).
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EVIDENCE FOR HUMAN SACRIFICE

Two fairly recent discoveries strongly suggest that the Minoans indulged in this "barbaric" form of blood
sacrifice.
Protopalatial Sanctuary at Anemospilia (Archanes)
Excavated in the summer of 1979, this four-room building set within a low enclosure (temenos) wall
serves as a reminder that our views about a past culture may be subject to sudden and drastic change as
the result of a single new discovery. The building, oriented roughly to the cardinal points and entered
from the north, lies on the northern slopes of Mt. Iuktas some seven kilometers south of Knossos. In plan,
it consists of an east-west corridor at the front off of which open three non-connecting rectangular rooms
oriented north-south. In the east room were found large numbers of clay vessels containing agricultural
produce, many of them arranged on a series of three steps, perhaps an altar, at the back (south) end of the
room. In the central room, more vases containing agricultural produce were found. These too tended to be
located toward the south (rear) end of the room, in the vicinity of a raised platform on which were found
two terracotta feet, all that remained, in the excavators' opinion, of a cult statue made mostly of wood,
only the carbonized remains of which were actually discovered. Near the statue and its base, part of the
limestone bedrock was left exposed above floor level rather than being cut down and the excavators
identify this outcrop as a "sacred stone" over which blood offerings may have been poured. In the west
room, three skeletons were found in positions which indicated that all three had met a violent end: (1) An
18-year-old male, the skeleton so tightly contracted that he is considered to have been trussed in a fashion
comparable to that of the sacrificial bull on the Ayia Triadha sarcophagus, was found lying on his right
side on a platform in the center of the room. Among his bones was a bronze dagger 0.40 m. long, on each
side of which was incised the frontal head of a boar. Close beside the platform (or sacrificial altar) had
stood a pillar with a trough around its base, the trough probably designed to catch the blood from animal
(and human) sacrifices. The dead youth's bones were discolored in such a way (those on his upper/left
side being white, those on his lower/right side being black) as to suggest to a visiting physical
anthropologist that the youth, estimated to have been 5' 5" tall, had died from loss of blood. (2) A 28year-old female of medium build was found spreadeagled in the southwest corner of the room. (3) A male
in his late thirties, 6' tall, was found on his back near the sacrificial platform, his hands raised as though to
protect his face, his legs broken by fallen building debris. On the little finger of his left hand he wore a
ring of silver and iron. On a thong around his wrist he wore a stone seal on which the intaglio device was
a boat.
In the corridor constituting the front room of the building, aside from rows of still more vessels
containing agricultural produce, was found a fourth skeleton, too poorly preserved for sex and age to be
determinable. Scattered widely around this body were found 105 joining fragments of a bucket-shaped
clay vessel bearing a red-spotted bull in relief as decoration on one side. This was the only vase of the
roughly four hundred vessels recovered from the building to be found littered over such a wide area, and
the excavators theorize that it was dropped in the corridor by the fourth person when (s)he was felled by
the collapsing debris of the building.
The sanctuary was destroyed by fire, probably as the result of an earthquake, at the end of MM II,
possibly in the same earthquake which destroyed the Old Palaces at Knossos and Phaistos at this time.
The collapsing roof and masonry of the upper walls killed three of the four individuals found within the
structure, but the eighteen-year-old was probably already dead. A somewhat similar isolated shrine of the
same period, although lacking the dramatic artifactual and human finds of the Anemospilia sanctuary,
was excavated in the 1960's at Mallia (Gesell 1985: no.76).
Site of Western Extension to Stratigraphical Museum at Knossos
In a LM IB context in excavations just to one side of the Royal Road some distance northwest of the
Little Palace at Knossos, 327 children's bones were found in a burnt deposit in the basement of a building
christened the North House. Originally attributed to between eight and eleven children provisionally aged
between ten and fifteen years old, between 21% and 35% of these bones, which included skull fragments
as well as other bones, all found in an unarticulated heap, exhibited "fine knife marks, exactly comparable
to butchery marks on animal bones, resulting from the removal of meat. Cannibalism seems clearly
indicated. Among possible interpretations are ritual usage (otherwise unexampled in the open town of
Knossos) and lack of all other food because of poisoning or other deleterious effect of gases or fall out
from intense activity of the volcano of Thera." Subsequent analysis has revealed that the bones in fact
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need belong to no more than four individuals, two of whom can be quite precisely aged by means of their
teeth to eight and twelve years. Some phalanges (finger or toe bones) from young humans, a human
vertebra with a knife cut, some marine shells, some shells of edible snails, and burnt earth were found
filling a pithos in the "Cult Room Basement", a room across a corridor from the "Room of the Children's
Bones" in which the cache of 327 children's bones were found. The context within the pithos suggests
that some portions of young children were cooked together with a variety of other edible substances.
Together with the major concentration of children's bones were also found some sheep bones including
articulated vertebrae. One of the latter had a cut mark in a position indicating that the beast's throat had
been slit, so that sheep sacrifice may have been connected with the death and dismemberment of the
children, whom forensic experts have established to have been in perfect health at the time of their deaths.
There is unfortunately no method by which these skeletons can be accurately sexed, so we remain
ignorant as to whether they belonged to boys, girls, or both. Could there be some connection between
these butchered children, the youths and maidens who jump bulls in Minoan representational art, and the
tribute of Athenian boys and girls paid to the legendary king Minos to which Theseus, the heroic
Athenian prince, put a stop with the loving help of Minos' daughter Ariadne by killing the monstrous
Minotaur?
Lesson 16: The Shaft Graves

INTRODUCTION

FORM OF TOMB
o

Shaft Grave

Grave Circle

FORM OF BURIAL

GRAVE GOODS FROM THE GRAVE CIRCLES AT MYCENAE

Grave Steles

Weaponry

Metal Vessels

Stone Vases

Seals and Signet Rings

Amber

Pottery

Conclusion

THE PROBLEM
o

Some Theories

The Shaft Graves

INTRODUCTION
True shaft graves of the type found in Grave Circles A and B at Mycenae are relatively rare on the Greek
Mainland. The best known examples other than the Mycenae tombs are the two from Lerna which were
found completely robbed but which can be confidently dated to the same period, late Middle Helladic
(MH) to Late Helladic (LH) I, as the Mycenae grave circles on the basis of massive quantities of
fragmentary pottery of this date which filled both tombs. A shaft grave found at Ayios Stephanos
(Laconia) in 1977 also dates to the late MH period but was poorly furnished, containing nothing more
than the extended corpse of the deceased. Other shaft graves of the same period are known from Argos,
but those from Knossos on Crete, Kambi on Zakynthos, and several sites in Attica (Alyki, Athens, Perati,
perhaps Varkiza) are all considerably later. Grave Circle A at Mycenae is usually dated ca. 1600-1500
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B.C., Grave Circle B ca. 1650-1550 B.C., but Dickinson has suggested a shorter span of usage for both
circles, ca. 1600-1500 B.C.
FORM OF TOMB
Shaft Grave
A shaft grave is really nothing more than an enlarged cist grave entered through the roof from a shaft
several feet deep which was itself dug from the contemporary ground surface. Shaft graves may be roofed
by timbers, reeds or twigs, and waterproofing clay or simply by large flat slabs. After a burial was made,
the shaft above the tomb's roof was filled with earth and the location of the tomb was often marked by a
rectangular outline of fieldstones (Ayios Stephanos, Mycenae) within which a grave stele might be
implanted (Mycenae).
Grave Circle
The two circles at Mycenae may have supported low earthen tumuli, although some specialists argue that
the ground inside the circle was basically flat. In any case, the idea of a "grave circle" itself is probably
derived from the circular funerary tumuli of the MH period at such sites as Vrana (Marathon), Aphidna,
Vodhokoilia, Elateia, and Argos.
FORM OF BURIAL
The individuals buried in the Shaft Graves at Mycenae were on the whole larger and more robust,
whether male or female, than the contemporary or earlier MH occupants of graves of other kinds. It is
debatable whether this difference on its own is indicative of a new racial stock or simply of a richer and
hence better fed stratum of MH society.
Burial in a shaft grave normally takes the form of an extended inhumation, usually lying on its back.
Multiple burial is common, in contrast to the normal practice of single burial in MH cist and pit graves.
Earlier burials in a shaft grave are often pushed aside or stacked up in a corner when a new burial is
made. Bodies were often covered with burial shrouds to which cut-outs of gold foil were affixed by
means of thread sewn through string-holes in the gold sheet. Gold masks are attested in the cases of six
adult male burials and one child burial of uncertain sex. Adult females were not provided with such
masks.
There is evidence for funeral meals celebrated at the time of burial in the form of broken vases and animal
bones which are commonly found in the earth fill of the tomb shaft.
GRAVE GOODS FROM THE GRAVE CIRCLES AT MYCENAE
Grave Steles
These are not universal nor does every individual even in a tomb over which two or more steles were
placed appear to have been provided with his/her own. The steles from Mycenae constitute the first largescale relief sculpture of the Mainland Greek Bronze Age. Plain (i.e. unsculpted) parallels have been found
above a few contemporary graves at nearby Argos, but the practice of marking burials with what are in
effect decorated tombstones is peculiar to Mycenae and, with the exception of a single 12th century B.C.
example, restricted to the Shaft Grave era. Chariot scenes (whether these are to be interpreted as
illustrations of warfare, of hunting, or of races at funeral games) are quite common on these Shaft Grave
steles, but most of the decoration is abstract (spirals, wavy lines, etc.).
Weaponry
There are numerous swords of two basic varieties: Type A (more common; rounded shoulders, short thin
tang, very long; derived from Minoan prototypes such as the Protopalatial "ceremonial" swords from
Mallia) and Type B (relatively rare; squared shoulders, broader tang, shorter and broader blade; derived
from Minoan and Levantine prototypes in the form of daggers but first developed into a true sword on the
Mainland, probably at Mycenae). Some swords are decorated on the blades with incised ornament, as
often representational as abstract, while the hilts are often covered with richly decorated gold sheet and
the pommels consist of handsomely carved lumps of ivory, alabaster, or marble.
Daggers and knives are also common. Some of the daggers are inlaid with figured scenes rendered by
means of "painting" in a variety of differently colored pure metals and their alloys. These scenes include
both hunting episodes (suiting Mainland tastes) and scenes of nature (familiar from Minoan art and
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possibly derived ultimately from Egypt in some cases). Spearheads too are frequent, and numerous
arrowheads make clear that the bow was also a standard piece of Mycenaean armament, as one might
have suspected in any case from some of the representational scenes depicted on other artifacts found in
the Shaft Graves.
Metal Vessels
Of gold, silver, and bronze, most of these pieces are of Minoan shapes (e.g. Vapheio cups, ewers, rhyta),
but Mainland tastes are also reflected in the numerous two-handled goblets and kantharoi which are
particularly common among the gold vessels. Some unusual shapes in silver include a rhyton in the form
of a bull's head comparable to Minoan examples in steatite, the "Silver Siege Rhyton" (decorated in relief
with the scene of an attack on a fortified town) and the "Battle Krater" (decorated in relief with a scene of
crowded combat between warriors outfitted with boars'-tusk helmets), and the "Stag Rhyton" (possibly an
import from central Anatolia where zoomorphic rhyta of this type are quite common in Hittite art). Of the
twenty-eight vessels of solid gold, most are rather clumsily made and exhibit technical features which are
atypical of Minoan craftsmanship in precious metalwork. These are therefore almost without exception to
be considered the products of local craftsmen. The vast majority of the forty-two silver vessels, on the
other hand, are far more carefully made and exhibit technical features well paralleled in silver plate found
in Protopalatial and Neopalatial Crete. The bulk of these silver vases are therefore identified either as
imports from Crete or as products of Minoan craftsmen made on demand for Mainland patrons at
Mycenae.
Stone Vases
The examples from the Shaft Graves are of standard Minoan types. Ostrich-egg rhyta are probably also
Minoan products, although the raw material clearly comes from Egypt or Syria.
Seals and Signet Rings
The technology to make these, and even the idea of the seal as an artifactual form, are Minoan, there
having been no seals in use on the Mainland at any point during the earlier MH period. The scenes of
warfare and the chase on several of these seals and rings are again Mycenaean in spirit.
Amber
The raw material for numerous large necklaces of amber beads is imported from the Baltic to the far north
and was brought to Mycenae by means of a lengthy and no doubt complex exchange network which
apparently did not involve Crete at all.
Pottery
The ceramic assemblage from the Shaft Graves is a mixture of Mainland (mostly Gray and Yellow
Minyan, fine and relatively coarse Matt-painted), Minoan (some LM IA imports) and Minoanizing (some
imitations of MM III light-on-dark-painted vessels whose center of production is as yet unknown), and
Cycladic (Matt-painted vessels including several decorated with polychrome patterns) types.
Interestingly, the major non-Helladic ceramic component is Cycladic rather than Minoan.
Conclusion
Dickinson observes, "The heterogeneity [of Shaft Grave material] extends to the decoration, and suggests
that the craftsmen were manufacturing individual objets d'art rather than an established corpus of types,
and had considerable reason to experiment. This would most easily fit a situation in which industries were
being newly established on the Mainland, without strong previous traditions." He continues, "...what is
clearly lacking is any large or characteristic group of objects whose parallels must be sought elsewhere
than the Aegean, and this tells very strongly against any theory that the Shaft Grave people were foreign."
THE PROBLEM
The Mycenaean period begins with a great "bang". The contents of the Shaft Graves are the richest finds
ever made in the Aegean area. The contrast with the general poverty of the MH period is immensely
striking. How is such sudden, dramatic, and peculiarly localized change to be explained?
Some Theories
I. [Evans]: The Shaft Grave monarchs were Cretan conquerors of the Argolid.
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Contra: Although many of the artifacts in the Shaft Graves may have been made by Minoan artisans,
there is nothing in the mode of burial or the skeletal material from these tombs to warrant concluding that
their occupants were Minoans. There are in fact Minoan colonists being buried abroad at this very time on
the island of Kythera, in chamber tombs at the site of Kastri. The finds in their graves and the types of
tomb in which they are buried are quintessentially Minoan. Why would Minoans buried at Mycenae have
behaved so differently?
II. The distinctive features of the latest graves in Circle B and of the graves in Circle A [such as grave
steles, masks, evidence for use of the chariot, unusual art styles [e.g. the hexagonal box decorated with
gold plaques characterized by what has been called a "barbaric/nomadic" style of relief work)] could
represent a group, perhaps from central or northern Europe, who took over an already flourishing center
and adopted many local customs, thereby becoming quickly "Aegeanized" because of their own lack of a
sufficiently "advanced" cultural tradition.
Contra: Chariots did not exist in northern or central Europe at this time. A chariot-using group could only
have come from the Near East, and such a group would have had to abandon completely a much more
sophisticated cultural tradition to embrace the prevailing, rather backward one of the MH Greek
Mainland. In any case, why would invaders, whether northern or eastern, choose the Argolid and
Mycenae to settle in, as opposed to Thessaly or Boeotia (richer agriculturally) or Argos (more
strategically placed within the Argolid itself)?
III. [Dickinson]: First of all, the Shaft Graves are evidence for a general shift in burial customs to a
situation where the dead were buried with most, if not all, of their movable wealth in life. Note especially
the wide functional range of the grave goods found in the tombs of Circles A and B in sharp contrast with
the limited functional variability of typical MH funerary assemblages.
Mycenae's rulers at this time must have taken over control of the entire Argive Plain, presumably by
using the superior types of armament which occur for the first time, and in quantity, in the Shaft Graves.
Mycenae may also have dominated the Corinthia and the eastern Argolid, since no traces of major sites of
this period have been found in those areas. The agricultural surplus of this area would have served to feed
the craftsmen who produced the treasures of the Shaft Graves, presumably Cretans for the most part but
also possibly some Cycladic islanders and a few Mainland apprentices destined to become the master
craftsmen on the Mainland in the following generation.
However, agricultural surplus does not, and cannot, explain the presence at Mycenae of vast amounts of
precious raw materials (gold, silver, amber, ivory, rare stones, bronze, etc.), since the Argolid itself has no
gold or copper mines, much less sources of ivory, amber, and so forth. Two scenarios have been proposed
to explain this wealth of raw materials:
(1) The Shaft Grave princes looted Neopalatial Crete.
(2) The Shaft Grave princes were well-rewarded mercenaries working for the Egyptian princes of Thebes
who were to become the Pharoahs of the 18th Dynasty after ca. 1570 B.C. when they drove the Hyksos
invaders out of Egypt and inaugurated the New Kingdom.
Both scenarios suggest a sudden acquisition of wealth, much too sudden an acquisition to account for the
gradually growing wealth visible in the Shaft Graves at Mycenae which span a full century of time. In
addition, the Shaft Grave princes were probably not well enough organized as a fighting force to have
played much of a role in the war against the Hyksos in Egypt. Besides, how could they have helped the
Egyptian Pharoahs when the Hyksos controlled the Nile Delta located between Greece and Egyptian
Thebes? As far as raids on Crete are concerned, we have no evidence for major destruction levels on
Crete at this time, and again the Mycenaeans are unlikely to have been well enough organized, quite apart
from lacking the basic naval capabilities, to take on the Minoans.
The nature of the Cretan craftsmen employed at Mycenae (who must have been palace-trained artisans)
and the large quantities of raw materials used at Mycenae whose ultimate source must have been the Near
East rather than Crete (e.g. gold and ivory, as well as the know-how of chariotry) are evidence for a
"special relationship" between the Shaft Grave princes and one or more of the Minoan palaces. Only the
Minoans had the ships and the foreign contacts to acquire the raw materials in question, since there is
little evidence for any significant seafaring abilities on the part of the Greek Mainlanders at this time
(pace Iakovides, AJA 83(1979) 101-102; see Davis, AJA 85(1981) 69-70). What, then, is the nature of this
"special relationship"? The possibilities include:
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(A) Tribute from Knossos to Mycenae. This is hardly believable at this stage of Mainland development
and obvious Minoan pre-eminence.
(B) Payment from Knossos to Mycenae for a service or a local northeast Peloponnesian raw material. But
what? The lack of possible candidates for such a service or material disqualify this hypothesis.
(C) Payment for a raw material over whose route of access into the southern Aegean the Shaft Grave
princes at Mycenae exercised strict control. The raw material in question may have been tin, a necessary
ingredient for the production of bronze. In the Protopalatial period, the Minoans probably obtained tin
from the Near East, but during the 17th and 16th centuries B.C. the Near East was in turmoil due to the
rise of the Hittites, military expansion on the part of both the Hurrians and the Kassites, and the long-term
conflict between the Egyptians and the Hyksos, and thus the old trade network in this material may well
have broken down. The Minoans, forced to look elsewhere for their tin, may have explored sources such
as the Carpathian Mountains north of the Danube in Rumania and Hungary, the eastern Alps, Etruria, and
possibly even Brittany or Cornwall. The evidence of early Mycenaean pottery on the Aeolian Islands just
north of Sicily and the presence of Baltic amber in both Messenia and the Argolid in early Mycenaean
contexts may be indicative of exchange networks with continental Europe involving some other, more
important material such as tin.
IV. [Davis]: Stylistic and distributional analysis of vessels of precious metal (silver and gold) in the 16th
and 15th centuries B.C. throughout the southern Aegean reveals that the Mainlanders had ready access
during the period of the Shaft Graves to large quantities of gold. Twenty-eight gold vessels from the Shaft
Graves are part of a total of over 15 kgs. of this material employed to make a variety of different artifacts
for these tombs. By contrast, only one entirely gold vessel is known from Crete before ca. 1400 B.C., a
small and light cup (wt.: 68 gms.) from a "Warrior Grave" of the late 15th century B.C. which was
probably the tomb of a Mycenaean rather than a Minoan in any case. The Minoans used gold skilfully in
bimetallic silver-and-gold vases or in thin sheets applied over stone vases carved in relief, but did so very
sparingly and economically. The Mycenaeans of the Shaft Grave period, on the other hand, produced
relatively crude objects out of gold and made no obvious effort to "stretch" the available quantities of this
material so as to make optimal use of it. Silver, on the other hand, was in quite common use on Crete and
all but a half-dozen or so of the forty-two silver vessels from the Shaft Graves at Mycenae were either
imported as finished objects from Crete or made on demand at Mycenae by Minoan craftsmen to suit
Mainland tastes.
This evidence suggests that the commodity over which the Mycenaeans exercised control was not tin but
rather gold. The Mainlanders in the areas of Mycenae and Pylos somehow managed to gain control for a
brief time of an extremely lucrative exchange with the inhabitants of Transylvania who had only recently
begun to mine gold in significant quantities. In exchange for technological expertise in bronzecasting and
the distribution of superior Aegean weaponry in the form of swords, these small groups of Mycenaeans
received massive amounts of gold bullion which they used to produce flashy artifacts for their tombs, to
secure handsome imports from Crete and elsewhere in the eastern Mediterranean, and presumably also to
establish and maintain a newly acquired political and military status at home in the Argolid and Messenia.
Comment: Davis' theory has the virtues of explaining why certain early Aegean sword types are found in
Rumania and why a few small groups of Greek Mainlanders seem to have had access to far larger
supplies of gold in the later 16th century B.C. than did all of Minoan palatial civilization at its apogee. By
positing that the Mycenaean control over gold was relatively short-lived but enormously valuable almost
immediately, Davis explains the relative suddenness of the Mainland Greeks' acquisition of wealth, while
the fact that it was Greeks from Mycenae and Pylos who happened to be lucky enough to be "in the right
place at the right time" accounts for the peculiar distribution of early Mycenaean wealth through what
must be presumed to be some sort of "historical accident". This wealth is manifested, it should be
stressed, not only by the presence of gold in quantity but also by that of amber in equally impressive
amounts, and in the case of the amber there is no doubt but that its ultimate source is northern Europe.
Did the amber and the gold somehow reach the Peloponnese together? On the negative side, Davis'
explanation of Shaft Grave wealth is unusually specific in its reconstruction of events, although not so
specific and coincidence-laden as to be altogether untestable through future programs of excavation and
physico-chemical analyses.

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Lesson 17: Akrotiri on Thera, the Santorini Volcano and the Middle and Late Cycladic Periods in
the Central Aegean Islands

THE LATE BRONZE AGE ERUPTION OF THE SANTORINI VOLCANO

THE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS AS ESTABLISHED FROM THE STRATIGRAPHY AT

AKROTIRI

THE IMPACT OF THE THERAN VOLCANIC ERUPTION BEYOND SANTORINI

THE FRESCOES FROM AKROTIRI

COMMENTS ON THERAN MURAL PAINTING IN COMPARISON TO CONTEMPORARY

MINOAN FRESCOES

Akrotiri on Thera, the Santorini Volcano, and the Middle and Late Cycladic Periods in the Central
Aegean Islands
THE LATE BRONZE AGE ERUPTION OF THE SANTORINI VOLCANO
Early in the Late Bronze Age, the volcano at the center of the island of Santorini (or Thera) erupted on a
scale which may have had no parallel among eruptions over the past four or five millennia by volcanoes
located in or near densely populated areas of the globe. The caldera (or crater) created by this eruption of
the Theran volcano is said to have measured as much as 83 square kilometers in area. It presently extends
down as much as 480 meters below sea level inside of the wall of cliffs which ring it and which
themselves rise up as much as 300 meters above sea level.
There has been an impressive amount of debate during the last twenty-five years in particular over the
nature and sequence of the cataclysmic phenomena which led up to and resulted from this enormously
impressive volcanic eruption, debate in which both vulcanologists and archaeologists have played leading
roles. The impact of the eruption on the cultural history both of the smaller Aegean and of the larger
eastern Mediterranean worlds has also been extensively discussed, principally by scholars from the same
two disciplines. The reconstruction which follows is that most widely shared as of 1986, a little less than
fifty years since Spyridon Marinatos published his landmark article postulating a connection between the
Theran eruption and the collapse of Minoan palatial civilization. This theory ultimately led Marinatos in
the late 1960's and early 1970's to begin excavation at the site of Akrotiri on the southern tip of Thera, a
site which has turned out to be a prehistoric Aegean version of the better known sites of Pompeii and
Herculaneum buried in 79 A.D. by the eruption of Vesuvius in the Bay of Naples. Since Marinatos' death
in the mid-1970's, the director of the program of excavation, restoration, and publication at Akrotiri has
been Christos Doumas.
THE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS AS ESTABLISHED FROM THE STRATIGRAPHY AT
AKROTIRI
A major earthquake caused extensive damage to the town of Akrotiri well before the volcanic eruption
buried it. Copious evidence for the purposeful demolition by wrecking crews of buildings partially
destroyed in the earthquake has been found in the form of piles of rubble and earth debris heaped up in
the principal roads leading through the settlement and retained behind roughly built dry-stone walls of
rubble. Marinatos' exposure of some houses which had been repaired in a rather makeshift fashion and
subsequently re-occupied led him to conclude initially that the site had been permanently abandoned by
most of its inhabitants as a result of the earthquake but that parts of it were inhabited before the volcanic
eruption by "squatters". According to Marinatos, these "squatters" proceeded to loot the houses of the
wealthy and to stockpile whatever wealth they were able to find, although such wealth consisted of little
more than agricultural produce since the former inhabitants had evidently had enough time to strip their
homes of all but a few of their readily portable valuables. Doumas has correctly denied the existence of
such "squatters" in view of the now plentiful evidence at Akrotiri for a systematic program of demolition,
levelling of debris, and rebuilding represented throughout the site. This indicates that the settlement's
entire population undertook an extensive program of restoration following the earthquake, one which was
still in progress when the volcano erupted and buried the town. Particularly striking evidence of the
intentional demolition of structures weakened by the earthquake are "demolition balls", very large
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ellipsoidal ground-stone implements with two grooves around their waists which were no doubt used in
very much the same way as are contemporary "wrecking balls" and which have been found in some
quantity on top of the levelled debris resulting from the cleaning up of the earthquake damage.
The length of time which elapsed between the earthquake which badly damaged Akrotiri and the volcanic
eruption which buried it was initially considered to be a very short one by Marinatos, and Doumas as
recently as 1983 suggested that it might have been a matter of only a few months. However, more
detailed comparisons by Marthari of the ceramic material from the heaped up earthquake debris with that
from the volcanic destruction horizon reveal significant differences which suggest that years rather than
months separated the two events, perhaps as much as two or three decades. The process of rebuilding and
restoration begun shortly after the earthquake was nevertheless still in progress when the volcano erupted,
as the partially plastered and painted condition of the second-storey bedroom in the West House indicates.
Two vessels full of dried plaster and a third containing dried paint show that this room was actually in the
process of being decorated when the site was hastily abandoned, this time for good. As both Marthari and
Palyvou have shown, the repairs made necessary by the earlier earthquake were extensive in scale and
would have taken an organized and numerous population a good deal of time to effect. Thus the scope of
the architectural restorations is in harmony with the evidence of the pottery in requiring a period of years,
probably even decades, between earthquake and eruption. Of equal significance is the fact that, while
some houses were totally demolished, most were salvaged to some degree, so that the basic settlement
plan of Akrotiri as preserved under the pumice of the volcanic explosion is that of the pre-earthquake
phase at the site (very early Late Cycladic [=LC] I) rather than a novel creation of mature LC I. In
Minoan terms, the final abandonment of Akrotiri took place late in, but not quite at the end of, LM IA; in
Mainland Greek terms, the abandonment dates to LH I, some time bfore the final use of Grave Circle A at
Mycenae in LH IIA.
The absence of any bodies and the dearth of metal artifacts or other portable objects of obvious material
value in the ruins of Akrotiri clearly indicate that the inhabitants had ample warning of the imminence of
the volcanic eruption which buried the island so deeply in ash and other volcanic debris that it became
uninhabitable for as much as a century or two. At Akrotiri, the lowest stratum of this volcanic debris
consists of a thin layer of pellety pumice some 3 cms. thick, the top of which was crusted as though water
had fallen on it after its deposition. Slight oxidation of this layer suggests that it was exposed to the
atmosphere for anywhere between two and twenty-four months before itself being sealed by a subsequent
pumice fall. The first layer of pumice, preserved as a significantly deeper stratum in locations on Thera
closer to the volcano than Akrotiri and less exposed to erosion, may in fact have been the warning which
induced the Therans to flee, since it probably lacked the volume to have caused extensive damage or loss
of life. A second stratum of rather larger pumice varying between 0.50 and 1.00 m. thick at Akrotiri but
again deeper elsewhere on the island then fell. The final deposition of tephra (volcanic ash) attributable to
this eruptional sequence is over five meters thick at Akrotiri but up to fifty meters thick elsewhere on
Thera and includes large boulders of basalt in addition to the lighter and smaller bits of pumice which
themselves now measure as much as fifteen centimeters across. There is no archaeological evidence for
how long the full series of eruptions lasted, but vulcanologists have reached a consensus that the process
was a fairly rapid, hence short-lived one. The absence of any clear signs of erosion at the preserved tops
of the ruins of Akrotiri supports the notion that complete burial of these ruins followed close upon the
heels of the events which produced the ruins in the first place, that is, the initial stages of the eruption.
The distribution of pumice derived from the eruption is quite well known thanks to a series of deep-sea
cores recovered from the southern Aegean and some careful sampling of strata exposed by both
archaeological excavation and road-cuts on the island of Crete. Not surprisingly, in view of the prevailing
wind patterns in the Aegean, most of the pumice from the eruption is found to the southeast of Santorini.
The Greek Mainland and western Crete would have been altogether unaffected by the ash fall, but eastern
Crete would have been covered by a maximum of ten, and more probably by between one and five,
centimeters of fine pumice. Archaeologists eager to establish a correlation between the Theran eruption
and the collapse of Neopalatial Crete feel that such a quantity of ash would have had a disastrous effect
on agriculture in eastern Crete. However, others point out that such a relatively thin layer of pumice
would have been eroded away by wind and rain within a year or two and would in fact enhance rather
than detract from the fertility of the soil. A layer of Theran ash was identified in the late 1980's in some
lake sediments in western Anatolia, indicating that the windborne dispersal of this ash had a much more
northern and eastern distribution than previously suspected.
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Often associated with the eruptions of insular volcanoes are tsunamis or tidal waves. In the case of Thera,
a tidal wave would have been created by the collapse of the magma chamber within the volcano and the
creation of a large, deep crater or caldera into which the sea would have rushed. For many of those
seeking to connect the Theran eruption with the sudden decline of Minoan Crete in the fifteenth century
B.C., the major destructive aspect of the eruption has been not the ash fall but the associated tidal wave.
In the middle of the debate in the mid-1970's over the nature of the Theran eruption and its effects,
Doumas in fact claimed that the collapse of the magma chamber and hence the appearance of the tidal
wave was an event which postdated the volcanic eruption itself by a decade or more, thus explaining how
events on Santorini directly caused the collapse of Minoan civilization even though Akrotiri was buried in
late LM IA while the wave of destructions of sites throughout Crete which defines the end of the
Neopalatial period cannot be dated earlier than LM IB. More recently, the vulcanologists have claimed
that the Santorini caldera formed quite gradually and that a tidal wave, if indeed there was one at all,
would not have been on anything like the scale envisaged by Marinatos and other proponents of the link
between the Theran volcano and the sudden decline of Neopalatial Crete.
THE IMPACT OF THE THERAN VOLCANIC ERUPTION BEYOND SANTORINI
Despite numerous and varied arguments by a host of reputable scholars [e.g. Marinatos (1939), Page
(1970), Doumas (1974), Luce (1976)] that one or more of the events associated with the period of
extreme activity of the Santorini volcano surveyed above [i.e. earthquake(s), ash fall(s), tidal wave(s)]
had a direct and disastrous effect on Neopalatial Minoan civilization, the simple facts are that the great
earthquake which badly damaged Akrotiri is to be dated quite early in LM IA (either ca. 1650 or ca. 1560
B.C.?), that the entire town was buried in meters of volcanic ash still within the LM IA period (ca. 1625
or ca. 1550/1540 B.C.?), and that the wave of destructions (most of them including fires) which defines
the end of the Neopalatial period on Crete and to which the palaces at Mallia, Phaistos, and Zakro all fell
victim cannot be dated earlier than LM IB (ca. 1480/1470 B.C.?). Hood [TAW I (1978) 681-690] claims
that clear evidence of the earthquake which so severely damaged Akrotiri before the town was buried is to
be found at several sites on Crete where it is clearly dated to LM IA. More importantly, tephra from the
later eruption of the Theran volcano has been found within the past decade in LM IA contexts on Rhodes
(at Trianda) and Melos (at Phylakopi) as well as on Crete itself, ample confirmation that the eruption
preceded the LM IB destruction horizon on Crete by a significant amount of time. Thus no direct
correlation can be established between the Santorini volcano and the collapse of Neopalatial Minoan
civilization.
THE FRESCOES FROM AKROTIRI
The exceptional state of preservation of all artifactual categories buried deeply under meters of volcanic
debris from the eruption of ca. 1500 B.C. has almost automatically made Akrotiri one of the two or three
most important prehistoric sites in the Aegean. The study of perhaps no other category of artifact has been
so deeply affected by the discoveries at Akrotiri as that of mural painting or frescoes. Not only are the
Theran frescoes preserved in larger fragments than the more or less contemporary murals from other sites
in the Cyclades (Ayia Irini, Phylakopi) and on Crete (Knossos, Tylissos, Ayia Triadha) but most of them
can be assigned to specific positions on particular walls which are themselves extremely well preserved,
so that the decoration of entire rooms can be reconstructed with a considerable degree of confidence.
Most of the frescoes thus far published from Akrotiri are figured, but rarely occur in more than one or two
rooms within what is identifiable structurally and functionally as an individual building unit. A whole
series of fascinating iconographic problems has surfaced as the result of the recovery of these magnificent
paintings. For example, what is the function of mural painting within a building (i.e. in what
rooms/spaces does it appear, with what artifactual associations, and depicting what sorts of figures and/or
scenes)? How are the different scenes within a given room, sometimes at different scales and at different
levels on the walls, to be "read" as a unit? Indeed, are they necessarily to be viewed as closely connected
thematically simply because they appear in the same room?
The major groups of frescoes from Akrotiri published thus far are:
1. West House:
(a) Room 5: Two life-sized nude fishermen in narrow panels below a frieze of variable width on the upper
wall showing a fleet of ships moving between two towns (south wall; 40 cms. high), a riverine landscape
(east wall; 20 cms. high), and a religious ceremony on a hill and warriors disembarking from their ships
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in two seemingly distinct scenes (north wall; 40 cms. high). The frieze ran along the west wall as well,
but little of this portion of it has survived.
(b) Room 4: A series of life-sized stern cabins (ikria) on the north wall, a thin partition shared with Room
5 which bore the fleet scene on its other side; a life-sized "priestess" from the east jamb of the doorway
connecting Rooms 4 and 5; flower pots with lilies on the two jambs of a window in the west wall, the sill
and the lower jambs of the same window being painted to resemble veined stone such as marble or
gypsum. The rest of the room was in the process of being plastered and painted when work was suddenly
stopped and the site was abandoned.
2. Sector Beta, Room 6: Blue Monkey Fresco, closely comparable to a more fragmentary and stylistically
somewhat earlier composition found in the palace at Knossos.
3. Sector Beta, Room 1: Pairs of gazelles on two or three walls juxtaposed with a single pair of boxing
boys in one relatively narrow panel.
4. Sector Delta, Room 2: Springtime Fresco or Fresco of the Lilies.
5. House of the Ladies, Room 1: The west half of the room features life-sized clumps of papyrus, while in
the east half two life-sized women dressed in a Cretan fashion wait on other figures who are largely
missing.
6. Xeste 3, Room 3: The frescoes from this area of the building decorated the walls of both the ground
floor and an upper storey. On the ground floor, the northeastern part of the room was occupied by a
sunken "lustral basin" of Minoan type. At the level of the upper storey, young women on the north and
east walls gather crocuses in a rocky landscape and bring them from both sides to a central "goddess"
seated on a platform supported by altars on the north wall. Immediately flanking the "goddess" to left and
right and in postures of worship/adoration are a monkey and a griffin respectively. On the north wall at
the ground floor level, three more girls appear as follows: at the left, a girl walking right and holding out a
necklace in one hand; in the center, a seated girl facing right and clutching her forehead in pain because
she has hurt her foot, which is bleeding; and at the right, a girl walking left but facing right toward the
door or altar on the east wall. The east wall is entirely occupied by what appears to be an ashlar wall with
an elaborately decorated, closed door at its center, directly above which is a pair of "horns of
consecration" dripping with a red substance which is likely to represent blood; the "wall", "door", and
"horns of consecration" may all together constitute a large altar toward which the attention of all the girls
on the north wall is directed. Other fragmentary figures, including more girls as well as at least one male
figure, are considered to belong to the decoration of the west and south walls at both levels.
COMMENTS ON THERAN MURAL PAINTING IN COMPARISON TO CONTEMPORARY
MINOAN FRESCOES
Male figures appear to assume greater importance in at least some Theran paintings (e.g. the fishermen,
warriors, and captains from Room 5 of the West House; the boxing boys from Room B1) than in most
Minoan painting, but the female plays an important and often dominant role in several Theran
compositions (Xeste 3; House of the Ladies; "priestess" from the West House) and often appears dressed
in a thoroughly Minoan fashion (but note the unusual garb of the "priestess").
Relief frescoes are thus far unknown from Akrotiri, as are large scale griffin compositions and bulljumping scenes, all of which are particularly characteristic of Knossian palatial murals. The compositions
of Xeste 3 on both levels may have constituted forms of processional scenes, on the ground floor toward
the altar on the east wall and on the upper storey from both directions toward the seated "goddess" on the
north wall, compositional schemes paralleled at Knossos both in the Corridor of the Procession and on the
Grand Staircase.
In details of dress (including flounced skirts, tight-fitting short-sleeved jackets leaving the breasts
exposed, textile patterns, and some forms of jewelry) and in depictions of scenes of nature (e.g. the Blue
Monkey and Springtime frescoes), the Theran murals often closely resemble Minoan wall paintings. At
least two features common in the frescoes from Akrotiri, however, are not well paralleled on Crete and
are unlikely to be patterned after Mainland/Mycenaean models either. The first is the peculiar hairstyle
affected by many figures of both sexes in which much of the head is painted blue (probably indicative of
a shaved head rather than of a specially deesigned skullcap of some sort) and only a few long locks whose
positions vary considerably from individual to individual are indicated in black. It is possible that
differing hairstyles are indicators of age, as Koehl has argued is the case for similar though seemingly not
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identical variations in male (but not female!) hairstyles in Neopalatial Crete. The second feature possibly
peculiar to Thera is the wearing by females of exceptionally large earrings. Identical earrings from the Shaft
Graves of Circle A at Mycenae are better viewed as evidence for the adoption of a Cycladic fashion by
wealthy and progressive Mainlanders than as indicating the presence of Mycenaeans on Thera at this time.
The miniature fresco from Room 5 of the West House, arguably the most complex single work of art of
the Aegean Bronze Age thus far recovered in anything like its entirety, has already provoked an enormous
literature in which a broad spectrum of opinion is represented on such topics as the identity of the ships in
the fleet scene, the identity of the warriors carrying the tower shields and wearing boars'-tusk helmets on
the north wall, the locale of the two towns on the south wall, etc., etc. It is questionable whether such
problems can be resolved with the evidence presently available. However, it is worth observing that
scenes such as the towns on the south wall and the disembarkation of warriors from their ships on the
north wall have contemporary (e.g. the Silver Siege rhyton from Grave Circle A at Mycenae) as well as
earlier (the Town Mosaic from Knossos) parallels in other media. Note also that the ships of the fleet have
several features in common with the vessels incised on EC frying pans a millennium or so earlier in the
Cyclades.
Lesson 18: The Nature and Extent of Neopalatial Minoan Influence in the Aegean and Eastern
Mediterranean Worlds

CRETE
o

The "Warrior Graves" of the Knossos Area

The Introduction of Mainland Pottery Shapes

The First Finds of Amber on Crete

A General Air of Militarism at Knossos

MAINLAND GREECE

THE CRAFTSMEN WHO MADE THE JEWELRY, METAL VESSELS, AND WEAPONS OF
THE LM/LH II-IIIA1 PERIODS

THE DESTRUCTION OF KNOSSOS (ca. 1385/1375 B.C.?)

MYCENAEAN KINGDOMS ON CRETE FOLLOWING THE DESTRUCTION OF

KNOSSOS, ca. 1385/1375 B.C.

AEGEAN CONNECTIONS WITH EGYPT IN THE AMARNA PERIOD (ca. 13601340 B.C.)

THE MYTH OF THESEUS AND THE MINOTAUR

The Nature and Extent of Neopalatial Minoan Influence in the Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean
Worlds
THE BEGINNING OF THE NEOPALATIAL PERIOD ON CRETE (ca. 1750/1720 B.C?)
In MM IIIA, new palaces were built at the sites of Knossos, Kommos, Mallia, and Zakro. This building or
rebuilding activity defines the beginning of the Neopalatial (or New Palace) period on Crete. At Phaistos,
the Old Palace, destroyed like those at Knossos and Kommos at the end of MM IIB period, does not
appear to have been replaced until LM I, possibly not until as late as LM IB; the administrative center of
the Mesara throughout the Neopalatial era, at least after the destruction and abandonment of major
portions of the palace at Kommos in early LM IA, was the site of Ayia Triadha.
MINOAN NEOPALATIAL EXPANSION IN THE SOUTHERN AEGEAN (MM III THROUGH LM
IB; ca. 1750/1720 - 1490/1470 B.C.?)
The Cyclades
Minoan influence had been fairly strong in the Cyclades since the beginning of the Protopalatial (or Old
Palace) period on Crete (MM IB), that is, since the beginning of the Second City at Phylakopi on Melos
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(Phase C in Renfrew's revised phasing of the site) and the re-occupation of Ayia Irini on Keos (Phase IV),
which had been abandoned since the floruit of the "Lefkandi I" or "Kastri group" culture (Phase III) at the
end of the EC II period. In the Neopalatial period, Minoan influence becomes even more marked at such
sites as Phylakopi (Melos), Paroikia (Paros), Ayia Irini (Keos), and Akrotiri (Thera). The vast majority of
the evidence for this influence consists of pottery, whether Minoan imports or local imitations of typical
Minoan shapes and decorative patterns in wares such as Cycladic Matt-painted. There are also, however,
other indications of this influence. A fragmentary Linear A tablet has been found both at Phylakopi and at
Ayia Irini. Other types of inscription in Linear A have been found at these sites as well as at Akrotiri,
while signs incised on objects from Kythera and Naxos have been claimed, though not yet confirmed, to
be yet further examples of Linear A. A typically Minoan bronze statuette of a "saluting" male comes from
Ayia Irini, as do fragments of over fifty large-scale terracotta statues of women dressed in the Minoan
fashion which were displayed in the town's temple (see lesson on Cycladic and Mycenaean Religion). The
frescoes of the Flying Fish and of the Lilies from Phylakopi and of the Blue Monkeys from Akrotiri
would not be out of place on Crete itself. At Phylakopi, fragments of the Flying Fish mural had fallen into
one of two rooms in the same block which were furnished with central piers and which some scholars are
prepared to accept as Cycladic versions of Minoan pillar crypts. There are several legends or myths
preserved in Classical sources about Minos, the king of Crete, ridding the Aegean of pirates and installing
his sons as viceroys in the islands. Perhaps the most striking of these is a story told by Bacchylides, an
early 5th century lyric poet from Keos, which concerns the founding of a colony on that island by one of
Minos' sons. The temptation to connect this mythical foundation with the site of Ayia Irini is almost
overwhelming. Many of the architectural features encountered in the buildings so far excavated at
Akrotiri appear to be derived from Minoan architecture: pier-and-door partitions, "horns of consecration",
the "lustral basin" in Xeste 3, stone staircases leading to upper floors, second-storey toilets such as the
one in Room 4 of the West House, but, strangely, as yet no examples of light-wells.
At the same time, Cycladic culture is not totally overwhelmed. Certain features occur on island sites
which are not paralleled in Crete and which suggest that there was still a Cycladic "cultural identity.
Thus, although the straight-sided (Vapheio) cups and semiglobular cups inspired by Minoan prototypes
are common in the Cycladic repertoire, panel cups and carinated bowls are the truly standard open shapes
of the later Middle Cycladic and early Late Cycladic periods. Cycladic Matt-painted pottery flourishes
and Melian bird jugs are imported into the Argolid as well as into the palace at Knossos itself. Indeed,
Melian imports to Knossos are known from as early as MM IB (= Phylakopi II.1). Both Ayia Irini and
Phylakopi are fortified settlements in the early Late Bronze Age, while contemporary fortifications are
certainly exceptional and perhaps altogether lacking on Crete. Although the architecture of House A at
Ayia Irini, probably identified correctly as the residence of the town's ruling authority, has a number of
features likely to have been inspired by Cretan prototypes (e.g. frescoes, multiple stairways, elaborate
drainage facilities, and a paved though not colonnaded light well), it lacks such distinctively Minoan
elements as pier-and-door partitions or a "lustral basin". Theran fresco art is also noticeably different
from that which characterizes contemporary Crete (see lesson on Thera).
Schachermeyr has theorized that Cycladic towns of the early LBA such as Akrotiri, Ayia Irini, and
Paroikia were comparable to medieval and renaissance maritime republics such as Venice, Genoa, Pisa,
Amalfi, Lbeck, and Hamburg in being small but independent political entities having extensive
commercial contacts. Cherry, Davis, and Schofield have drawn attention to the especially intense Minoan
contacts with the western Cyclades (Thera, Melos, Keos) and have suggested that a major trade route (the
"Western String") ran from Crete to the Mainland by way of these islands. Through this, the Minoans
acquired silver and lead from the mines of southeastern Attica in the vicinity of Laurion and Thorikos.
The site of Kastri on Kythera differs from sites on the remaining islands of the western and central
Aegean in that it was a Minoan colony (that is, a settlement populated largely, perhaps exclusively, by
Minoans and their descendants) rather than a Cycladic settlement heavily influenced by Minoan art and
culture and possibly including a small resident Minoan population. The recent excavation of an unusually
richly furnished peak sanctuary on Kythera provides further evidence for the particularly heavy degree of
Minoanization that characterizes that island during the Neopalatial era; the only other peak sanctuary of
Minoan type located outside of Crete itself is the site of Troulli on Keos, a hilltop not far from the
Minoanized seaside fortress of Ayia Irini.
The Dodecanese and the Western Coast of Asia Minor

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Intensive Minoan contact with these areas is established beginning probably in MM IIIB, although
possibly somewhat earlier on Carpathos and Rhodes and at Knidos and Miletus. The evidence for such
contact consists largely of pottery from Rhodes (Trianda, Ialysos), Carpathos, and Kos (Serraglio) in the
Dodecanese and from Miletus, Iasos, and Knidos on the coast of Asia Minor. Extensive architecture of
the period preceding the end of LM IA has been exposed only at Trianda. At most of the rest of these
sites, remains of this era are deeply buried under later occupational debris and lie very close to, if not
actually below, the modern water table, thus rendering the architecture effectively inaccessible. Minoan
influence is relatively insignificant as far north as the Troad, to judge from the few Minoan imports into
Troy. It is probable that the site at Trianda on Rhodes is an actual Minoan colony rather than a settlement
of indigenous Rhodians within which lived a few Cretan migrants, and the same may be true of the
Serraglio on Kos. The situations at Miletus, Iasos, and Knidos, however, are altogether uncertain because
material of the later MBA and early LBA from these sites has thus far been published in only a very
abbreviated fashion. In order to be able to evaluate the nature of Minoan "influence" on such sites, some
quantitative estimates of the relative proportions of Minoan and Minoanizing material on the one hand
and local western Anatolian material on the other is clearly required.

The Greek Mainland (especially the Peloponnese)

Abundant evidence for an expansion of Minoan influence on the southern Greek Mainland both spatially
and quantitatively appears toward the end of the Middle Helladic period and is best examined area by
area. It may be observed at the outset that the evidence for direct Minoan influence in parts of the
Mainland north of Attica is negligible to non-existent. The fact that Minoan or Minoanizing artifacts,
usually in the form of pottery, are found from the very beginning of the MH period (= MM IA) in
considerable quantities at coastal sites in Laconia (Ayios Stephanos, probably Pavlopetri) and the Argolid
(Asine, Kandia, Lerna) should also be kept in mind.
Messenia
In this area, Minoan influence is most readily discernible in the adoption of the tholos as a tomb type
already in the late MH period, the earliest excavated example being that at Koryphasion. These early
Messenian tholoi are already of the Mainland/Mycenaean subterranean type but were in all likelihood
inspired by late versions of the Minoan tholos of Mesara type, as well as by indigenous circular forms of
tomb such as the tumuli of the MH period. A connection between such tumuli and the Mainland type of
tholos is strongly suggested, for example, by the construction of an early Mycenaean tholos within the
circumference of an earlier MH tumulus at the site of Voidhokoilia. The largest of the three early
Mycenaean tholoi at Peristeria bears two incised "masons' marks" on the ashlar masonry of its facade
which some consider to be signs in the Linear A syllabary. Pottery stylistically assignable to MM
IIIB/LM IA, either genuine Minoan and imported from Crete or Minoanizing, is found at Koryphasion
and at several other sites in Messenia (e.g. Nichoria).
Laconia
Evidence from both Crete and the site of Ayios Stephanos at the head of the Gulf of Laconia indicates
that the green-flecked porphyry known as lapis Lacedaemonius, available only in southern Laconia, was
being sought by Minoan lapidaries (a {lapidary} is a craftsmen working in hard stones to produce items
such as seals and vessels) as early as early LM IA. In addition, there are grounds for believing that one or
more Minoan potters might have been resident at Ayios Stephanos in the late MH (= MM IIIB) period,
although it is not known whether such artisans came from Crete itself or from the Minoan colony on
Kythera. Two signs incised on an otherwise nondescript ground stone implement found in a surface level
at Ayios Stephanos have also been tentatively identified as constituting a short Linear A inscription.
Argolid
Many of the artifacts found in the Shaft Graves of Circles A and B at Mycenae have been argued to be of
Minoan manufacture. This is most likely to be true of the inlaid daggers, of the silver, bronze, and stone
vessels, and of the seals and signet rings. One of the bronze vessels from Shaft Grave IV even carries a
two-sign inscription in Linear A (Karo 1930: no. 576). However, many of these objects are decorated
with scenes which are not at all common or do not occur at all in contemporary or earlier Minoan art. It
has therefore been suggested that many of these objects were made by Cretan artists at the specific
request of Mainland employers, in some cases in a material such as gold which was plentiful at this time
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at Mycenae but rare on Crete. The peculiar combination of Mainland subject matter and/or raw material
(in the case of gold) with Minoan style argues against the theory that many of the finds from the Shaft
Graves are booty from Mycenaean piratic raids on Crete. Most of the hypothetical Minoan craftsmen
working for the Shaft Grave princes will have been smiths who may have also produced, in addition to
objets d'art made of precious materials, the large quantities of superior armaments found in their masters'
tombs. Some objects, such as the grave steles, may as well be the products of Mainland apprentices as of
Minoan artisans trained in Neopalatial workshops. As in the case of Ayios Stephanos, the Minoan
craftsmen whose masterpieces furnished the Shaft Graves should probably be envisaged as resident aliens
on the Greek Mainland. In an interesting contrast with Messenia, which alone among other regions of the
Greek Mainland has produced early Mycenaean goldwork fully comparable with that from the Shaft
Graves, the ruling class of the Argolid does not seem to have adopted the tholos as a tomb form of its own
until the later LH I period or even LH IIA, at least one and perhaps as much as two or three generations
after its appearance in Messenia.
The Nature of Minoan Power in the Aegean during the Neopalatial Period
To what extent is Thucydides' report (I.4, 8) that Minos established a sea-empire (thalassocracy) in the
Aegean by virtue of the strength of his fleet an accurate reflection of some Bronze Age historical reality?
There is as yet no scholarly consensus on this issue although it has been the subject of a good deal of
recent scholarship (e.g. Hgg and Marinatos 1984). Only a few of the large number of significant
questions which arise in this connection are briefly treated below:
1. If a Minoan thalassocracy like that described by Thucydides did exist, when did it flourish?
Minoan influence was felt strongly in much of the Aegean world throughout the palatial era (i.e. from ca.
1930 to ca. 1500 B.C.) but in areas such as the coastal Peloponnese from as early as ca. 2050/2000 B.C.
Although it is just possible that Minoan political and/or military power could have been dominant in the
Aegean for as long as four or five centuries, indeed even for seven, most authorities who believe in an
historical Minoan thalassocracy would place it either in the Neopalatial period (ca. 1750-1500 B.C.) or in
the brief period when a functioning palace existed only at Knossos under the domination of what most
feel was a Mainland Greek dynasty or overlordship (ca. 1500-1375 B.C.) or conceivably during both
periods.
2. Did the Minoans establish a network of colonies throughout the Aegean as one facet of their control
over the area?
Although such colonialism at first seems anachronistic in the Aegean of the second millennium B.C., it
cannot be denied that the city state of Athens developed a colonial policy of this sort in the second half of
the fifth century B.C. nor that the settlement at Kastri on Kythera, and probably that at Trianda on Rhodes
as well, seem to have been populated only by Minoans in the earliest phases of the Late Bronze Age.
Whether one can hope to recognize archaeologically the presence of small ruling groups of Minoans in
the midst of Cycladic or Mainland Greek populations is questionable. Even in cases such as Ayia Irini,
Phylakopi, and Akrotiri where Minoan influence is strongest and where Linear A texts have been found,
the evidence is insufficient to document the presence of Minoans in ruling roles.
3. Did a navy such as that cited by Thucydides as the basis for Minos' control over the islands exist in the
Aegean of the second millennium B.C.?
The representations both of the fleet on the south wall of Room 5 in the West House at Akrotiri and of a
cluster of warships floating just offshore on the north wall of the same room are surely evidence for the
existence both of warships as a class of vessel and of the capacity to organize such ships into militarily
more potent entities like fleets. Of course, the fleet(s) illustrated in the West House need not be Minoan
nor need such a fleet have been permanently employed in ridding the Aegean of pirates and establishing a
Minoan hegemony. In fact, the ships in the West House frescoes could well have been used at irregular
intervals and for short periods of time in piratical raids, whether against other islands in the Cyclades or
against Crete itself. It may have been just such a fleet that Homer's Agamemnon assembled at Aulis for
the attack on Troy two or three centuries later.
4. Can all Minoan influence which is detectable during the Neopalatial period throughout the Aegean
and beyond it, on Cyprus and in the Levant and Egypt, be explained purely in terms of trade/exchange,
together with the employment of Minoan artisans abroad (as, for example, by the Shaft Grave princes)?
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In other words, can all indications of Minoan influence be explained without attributing both military
capabilities and a militaristic philosophy to the Minoans?
Yes.
THE EXPLOSION OF THE THERAN VOLCANO (ca. 1625 B.C.?)
Two extremes of opinion on the subject of the connection between this explosion and the collapse of
Neopalatial Crete are presented below. It is possible to combine the two and maintain a middle-of-theroad position on this topic (see lesson on Santorini Volcano).
(a) The Theran explosion was responsible, whether directly or indirectly, for the destruction of numerous
palatial as well as minor centers in Crete during the LM IB period. A consequence of the explosion was a
widespread agricultural failure in eastern, and probably to some extent also in central, Crete as a result of
a substantial deposition of wind-blown tephra over these portions of the island. A militarily dominant
fleet, if it ever existed, was destroyed by tidal waves generated either by the eruption itself or by the
formation of the caldera in its aftermath.
(b) The Theran explosion was not at all responsible for the LM IB destruction horizon on Crete. These
destructions were rather the result either of local tectonic earthquakes (Pichler and Schiering) or of human
agency in the form of invading Mycenaeans (Hood, Popham) who took over the palace at Knossos and
ruled most of Crete in the ensuing LM II through early IIIA2 periods (ca. 1500-1375 B.C.).
THE LM IB DESTRUCTION HORIZON ACROSS CRETE (ca. 1490/1470 B.C.?)
In most historical reconstructions of the earlier Late Bronze Age in the Aegean, this horizon of
destruction, which seems to have affected virtually every Minoan residential site of any consequence, be
it a palatial center (Mallia, Phaistos, Zakro), a complex of villas (Ayia Triadha, Tylissos), a small town
(Gournia), a village clustered around a villa (Myrtos Pyrgos), or just an isolated villa (Sklavokampos), is
usually treated as a short-lived phenomenon. Detailed ceramic analyses by Niemeier, however, suggest
that the destruction levels at these various sites may be spread over quite some period of time, from very
early in LM II to the period of transition from LM II to LM IIIA1. In other words, the destruction
"horizon" may really be the product of perhaps as much as a generation or more (25-40 years) of
unsettled times, during which marauding groups varying considerably in terms of their absolute numbers,
political allegiances, and perhaps even ethnic compositions may have attacked and looted the numerous
repositories of Minoan Neopalatial prosperity abundantly stocked during the previous two centuries. Life
on Crete during the LM II period may thus not have been much different from that on the Greek Mainland
during the period ca. 1220-1180 B.C. (end of LH IIIB and early LH IIIC) or that in France during the
Hundred Years' War.
THE MYCENAEANS AT KNOSSOS (LM II-IIIA2 EARLY; ca. 1490/1470-1385/1375 B.C.?)
CRETE
The palatial centers of Phaistos, Mallia, and Zakro had been destroyed and were never rebuilt as palaces.
Knossos, on the other hand, continued to be used as a palace, although it is by no means clear who was in
charge of it. Possibilities include: (a) a Mycenaean king who conquered Crete ca. 1500 B.C., destroyed all
known palaces except for Knossos, and ruled central and eastern Crete as a Mycenaean kingdom; (b) a
Mycenaean viceroy installed at Knossos by the Mycenaean conqueror hypothesized in (a) above and
subject to that conqueror, who himself continued to rule a Mycenaean kingdom on the Mainland where he
resided at the same time as he managed his new Cretan possessions through a surrogate; (c) a Minoan
dynast who destroyed all other Minoan palaces except Knossos and who maintained his power with the
aid of Mycenaean mercenaries resident at Knossos. Other scenarios are also possible.
The major body of evidence for this period consists of the contents of a number of richly furnished tombs
in several different cemeteries, most of them located around the palace at Knossos. Collectively known as
the "Warrior Graves", these tombs contain the burials of both men and women, the men conspicuously
furnished with weaponry, jewelry, and often with vessels of bronze and occasionally of precious metals as
well. These burials have most frequently been interpreted as those of an intrusive Mycenaean military
caste which suddenly appeared on Crete, for the most part around Knossos, in the aftermath of the LM IB
destruction horizon and which disappeared equally abruptly after the destruction of Knossos early in LM
IIIA2. Contemporary with these burials is a shift both in Minoan ceramics and in Cretan art in general
which has been considered to reflect Mainland Greek tastes. However, the most recent analysis of the
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"Warrior Graves" by Kilian-Dirlmeier, in addition to establishing the existence of at least three distinct
class rankings of the individuals buried within them, has made a strong case for the identification of these
burials as those of Minoans rather than of Mycenaeans. Both male and female burials exhibit enough
variability in terms of their grave goods to be subdivided into three grades of ranking, although the
criteria that define these grades are naturally somewhat different for the two genders.
The Linear B tablets from Knossos, inscribed in a syllabic script which has been deciphered as an early
form of Greek, have usually been attributed to levels of this period at Knossos, with the result that many
scholars have argued that the persons in political control of Knossos must have been Greek-speaking
Mainlanders who introduced their language as the official language of the palace bureaucracy. However,
Palmer, Hallager, and an increasing number of other specialists now feel that the tablets belong not to the
late 15th or even early 14th century B.C. (= LM IIIA2 early) but rather mostly to the mid-13th century
B.C. (= LM IIIB) when the palace at Knossos was finally destroyed. Some groups of tablets from
Knossos, however, probably belong to earlier periods, having been preserved by previous destructions of
parts of the palace in fierce fires. The tablets are therefore omitted from consideration here as evidence
for the identification of the ruler(s) at Knossos in the period 1500-1385 B.C. The remaining evidence for
the presence of Mycenaeans on Crete from ca. 1500 until the destruction of the palace at Knossos in a
fierce fire ca. 1375 B.C. may be summarized as follows:
The "Warrior Graves" of the Knossos Area
These graves are found predominantly in the three cemeteries of Zapher Papoura, Ayios Ioannis, and
Sellopoulo, although a few also occur in the separate Isopata, Mavro Spelio, New Hospital, and
Gypsadhes cemeteries. Each of the cemeteries has certain idiosyncrasies which may be indicators of
different social groupings (if they belong to Minoans) or perhaps places of origin (if they are those of
Mycenaeans) within the populations in question. Characteristic of these "Warrior Graves" in general are:
(a) The "non-Minoan" form of the tombs, whether these are shaft-niche graves as at Zapher Papoura or
chamber tombs exhibiting Mainland Greek features (e.g. particularly long dromoi having side walls
which incline inward toward the top) as at Sellopoulo.
(b) The fact that many of these tombs contain only a single corpse and, even when holding multiple
burials, date from a time range no broader than LM II-IIIA2 early.
(c) The fact that many of the cemeteries in which they occur do not appear to have been in use before LM
II (i.e. these are cemeteries newly established in the period of the supposed "Mycenaean occupation").
(d) The fact that the finds in these tombs exhibit a preference for weapons as burial goods not seen
heretofore in Crete but characteristic of wealthier Mainland Greek tombs since the time of the Shaft
Graves at Mycenae.
(e) The fact that hoards of bronze vessels are relatively common in these tombs, as in Mainland Greek
tombs since the era of the Shaft Graves, whereas hoards of this kind are rare in earlier Minoan tombs.
(f) The fact that certain Mainland Greek ceramic shapes, especially the two-handled goblet or kylix, are
particularly popular in such tombs.
(g) The fact that large amounts of jewelry, possibly insignia of rank, are worn by the dead in these tombs.
Similar LM IIIA tombs with many of the same traits have been found at Katsamba (on the coast north of
Knossos, possibly the harbor town which served the palace), Archanes (in a tholos tomb of Mycenaean
type furnished with a side chamber containing the rich, intact burial of a "Mycenaean princess"; note also
a grave enclosure filled with shaft graves marked by steles, all the tombs within which had unfortunately
been robbed), and Phaistos (the chamber tombs of the Kalyvia cemetery, especially Tomba dei Nobili
no.8).
The Introduction of Mainland Pottery Shapes
These include the LM II goblet closely related to the LH IIB Ephyraean goblet and the low, rounded
alabastron.
The First Finds of Amber on Crete
Relatively common in Messenian and Argive tombs of the LH I-II periods, this material first appears on
Crete in Knossian "Warrior Graves" of the LM II period.
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A General Air of Militarism at Knossos

Most evident in the finds from the "Warrior Graves", this warlike spirit is also detectable in art, as on the
Palace Style jar from Katsamba decorated with a boars'-tusk helmet masquerading as a jellyfish. The
increasing rigidity of Minoan art as seen in the LM II Palace Style, the heraldic Griffin Fresco of the
Knossian "Throne Room", and the large-scale figure-of-eight shields from the second floor of the
Residential Quarters of the palace, while not strictly militaristic in character, is also often taken to be
indicative of the presence of Mainland Greeks at Knossos during the LM II-IIIA2 early periods. To these
new currents in art Hood would add the predilection for processional frescoes and for frescoes composed
of multiple registers.
MAINLAND GREECE
The vast majority of our evidence for early Mycenaean culture (LH I-IIIA1, ca. 1680-1400 B.C.) is
funerary in nature, from shaft graves, tholoi, and chamber tombs. The excavation by the British of a major
LH IIB-IIIA1 architectural complex, at least a mansion if not an early palace, at the site of the Menelaion
near Sparta and the exposure of a pair of good-sized LH I megara by an American team at NemeaTsoungiza go only some way toward redressing this imbalance in the available evidence. A few features
of early Mycenaean culture are of particular interest when viewed against the backdrop of the evidence
for Mycenaeans at Knossos in the period ca. 1500-1375 B.C.:
(a) Wooden coffins are first used to hold corpses in MM III chamber tombs on Crete. Such coffins
become much more popular in the LM II-IIIA1 "Warrior Graves" at Knossos. The few coffins so far
known from Mainland Greece come from early LM IIIA Athens. After the LM IIIA period, Minoan
coffins are regularly of the terracotta larnax form.
(b) After the Shaft Grave period at Mycenae, the next group of Mycenaean tombs on the Mainland which
contain large hoards of bronzework date to the early LH IIIA period. Most of these tombs are located in
the Argolid at the sites of Dendra, Asine, and Mycenae, but some occur in Messenia at Tragana and
Nichoria. Is this material to be identified as plunder or tribute from Crete? Does it indicate from where the
Mycenaean warriors resident at Knossos came? What kind of a society is it which allows so much
tangible wealth, particularly in the form of metals, to be removed from circulation within the society and
to be buried with its dead? The Mycenaeans consistently adopted this practice (Shaft Graves, tholoi of LH
I-II periods, LH IIIA tholos and chamber tombs, ?"Warrior Graves" at Knossos) during the first three
centuries of the Late Bronze Age; the Minoans did not. Rich Mainland Greek burials consistently, from
the MH III period onwards, also contained a good deal of weaponry.
THE CRAFTSMEN WHO MADE THE JEWELRY, METAL VESSELS, AND WEAPONS OF
THE LM/LH II-IIIA1 PERIODS
All the evidence suggests that these artists were Minoans based at Knossos. With the destruction of
Knossos ca. 1400 B.C., not only do the artists appear to have been killed off, since bronzework in general
suffers a severe and permanent decline in the Aegean, but the supply of bronze as a raw material also
appears to diminish markedly, a fact which implies that Knossos had been in control of the copper trade,
whether with Cyprus or with some other source of supply in the eastern Mediterranean such as
southeastern Turkey, and that this trade network had supplied the entire southern Aegean with the raw
materials for bronze.
THE DESTRUCTION OF KNOSSOS (ca. 1385/1375 B.C.?)
Everyone considers this destruction by a violent fire to have been the result of human agency, primarily
because the evidence for a Mycenaean military presence in the Knossos area disappears afterwards. The
particular agents of the destruction have not been securely identified. Candidates include (a) a single
Mycenaean prince from the Mainland who resented Knossian dominance in the Aegean (cf. the Theseus
myth), or alternatively a coalition of such princes; (b) a rebellious Minoan subject population fed up with
subservience to its Mycenaean overlords. With this in all likelihood penultimate rather than final
destruction of the palace of Knossos, mercantile, and probably political, dominance within the southern
Aegean passes from Crete to the kingdoms of the southern Greek Mainland.
MYCENAEAN KINGDOMS ON CRETE FOLLOWING THE DESTRUCTION OF KNOSSOS,
ca. 1385/1375 B.C.

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At about the same time as the destruction by fire of the Knossian palace at the beginning of LM IIIA2,
there are indications that independent polities arose in other parts of Crete for the first time since the wave
of LM IB destructions that marked the end of the Neopalatial era a little more than a century before. In
the Mesara, the site of Ayia Triadha witnessed the construction of an enormous megaroid structure
[conventionally referred to as either Building B (Niemeier) or Building ABCD (Shaw)] over the ruins of
the two rich LM I villas that had served as the administrative headquarters of the region in Neopalatial
times. Roughly contemporary and located some 75 meters to the northeast is an extremely large, twostoreyed stoa having a facade of alternating large, high-based piers and small, low-based columns on the
ground-floor level. This structure, if it did not actually function as a commercial building, presumably
served as a large-scale storage facility. Still further to the northeast, just to the east of the southern of two
EM tholoi on the northern margins of the site, two chamber tombs built above ground and featuring
unusually thick walls were constructed side by side. The eastern tomb, much better preserved and the
earlier of the pair, contained two larnakes, both found robbed. In a shaft in the floor was an unpainted
terracotta larnax, while on the floor of the tomb chamber was the famous frescoed larnax known as the
Ayia Triadha sarcophagus, unique in being made of stone, coated with lime plaster, and decorated with
complex polychrome figured scenes on all four sides (see Late Minoan Architecture and Minoan Religion
handouts). The architecture, placement, and contents of these tombs suggest that they may be the final
resting places of a small but distinguished group of LM IIIA2-B inhabitants of the site, in all probability
the royal family of a Final Palatial kingdom in the Mesara. Fragments of paintings executed in a style
identical to that manifested on the sarcophagus, perhaps even painted by the same artist, come from a
fresco dump in the settlement. They may once have decorated the walls of an important building, possibly
the giant megaroid structure that is likely to have served as the kingdom's palace.
Less than ten miles to the south at the harbor town of Kommos, a huge supply of handsomely cut Minoan
ashlar blocks from the Neopalatial palace (Building T) at this site were re-used in assembling a vast,
single-storeyed, six-gallery structure (Building P) built over the leveled remains of the former palace's
east wing. The largest complex to have been constructed anywhere on Crete during the LM III period,
Building P appears to have functioned as a monumental ship-storage facility. Together with a specially
designed form of undecorated transport amphora, fragments of thousands of which were found in its
ruins, this impressive shipshed is eloquent testimony to the wealth that the dynast who ruled from Ayia
Triadha controlled. Numerous fragments of vases from Egypt, the Levant, Cyprus, and Italy found at
Kommos provide copious evidence for merchandise coming into southern Crete from throughout the
eastern Mediterranean during this period, although no such vessels occur in contemporary levels at Ayia
Triadha. At the same time, quantities of agricultural produce were being shipped out of the Mesara's chief
port in the region's trademark "short-necked amphora", bound for destinations that remain to be
identified.
A separate kingdom appears to be represented by the Linear B tablets discovered in LM IIIB [13th
century B.C.] levels during the early 1990's in a salvage excavation at Chania in west Crete. Since the
Bronze Age town of Chania is buried underneath the modern, Turkish, Venetian, Roman, and Greek cities
known by the name of Kydonia in ancient times, the movable finds(pottery, seals, tablets, etc.) from Final
Palatial Chania are at this point more impressive than its architecture; nothing on the scale of Ayia
Triadha's royal buildings or Kommos' monumental shipshed has yet been found there.
It is likely that other independent LM III polities existed in east Crete, where the pottery of LM IIIA2-B is
quite different from that of the island's central and western regions. Thus the history of Crete after the
great fire at Knossos in the early LM IIIA2 period is one of political fragmentation and increasing
regionalism in material culture. At least as late as the earlier 13th century B.C. (LM IIIB early), Linear B
was being used as a script for keeping records in the Greek language at both Chania and Knossos. It is
therefore assumed that palatial administrations existed at both sites for up to at least two centuries after
the LM IB destructions of the last purely Minoan palatial administrations that kept similar records in
another language using the Linear A script.
AEGEAN CONNECTIONS WITH EGYPT IN THE AMARNA PERIOD (ca. 1360-1340 B.C.)
During the reign of the heretical pharoah Akhenaten (= Amenhotep IV), the capital of Egypt was moved
downstream from Thebes to the new city of Akhetaten (= modern Tell el-Amarna). This city was only
occupied from ca. 1352-1338 B.C., and the large quantities of Mycenaean pottery found within it are
therefore supplied with a fairly precise absolute date. The almost complete absence of Minoan pottery at
Amarna is one indication of Mycenaean mercantile dominance within the Aegean at this time. More
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significant is the Mycenaean character of the settlements which have by this time replaced sites
characterized until the end of the LM IB period (ca. 1500 B.C.) by Minoan cultural remains at Trianda on
Rhodes, Ayia Irini on Keos, Phylakopi on Melos, and Miletus and Iasos in Asia Minor.
THE MYTH OF THESEUS AND THE MINOTAUR
This myth almost certainly commemorates the destruction of Minoan power by a Mainland (Mycenaean)
prince. But are we to see in Theseus the destroyer of the Minoan palaces in the LM IB period and the first
Mycenaean dynast at Knossos ca. 1500 B.C. or rather the destroyer of Knossos in ca. 1375 B.C.? (Mary
Renault opts for the second possibility in The King Must Die and The Bull from the Sea). And who is the
legendary Minos? A truly Minoan monarch or merely the Mycenaean ruler or series of rulers who
managed to control Knossos for roughly a century before being swept away when the last of the great
Minoan palaces went up in smoke early in the LM IIIA2 period?
The Linear B tablets from Knossos, if correctly dated to the 13th century B.C. (rather than to the early
14th), show that Knossos continued to function as a palace, although probably one of a quite different sort
both formally and operationally, for as long as four or five generations after the destruction of ca. 1375
B.C. However, its dominating position in the southern Aegean, certainly cultural and artistic and very
probably political as well, seems to have declined rapidly, if not immediately. From ca. 1375 to 1250 or
1200 B.C., Knossos would appear to have been the center only of a northern and eastern Cretan political
entity, probably a Mycenaean kingdom comparable to those of the contemporary Argolid or Messenia (cf.
the figure of Idomeneus, king of Knossos in the Iliad). As outlined above, it is likely that a similar but
separate western Cretan kingdom existed with its capital at Chania, and yet another, south Cretan
kingdom with its capital at Ayia Triadha and a great international port at Kommos flourished in the
Mesara.

Lesson 19: Mycenaean Tholos Tombs and Early Mycenaean Settlements

DEFINITION OF THE MYCENAEAN FORM OF THOLOS TOMB

WACE'S GROUPINGS OF THE THOLOS TOMBS AT MYCENAE

Group I: Cyclopean Tomb, Epano Phournos Tholos, Tomb of Aegisthus

Group II: Kato Phournos, Panagia Tholos, Lion Tomb

Group III: Treasury of Atreus, Tomb of Clytemnestra, Tomb of the Genii (or Perfect
Tholos)

COMPARISON OF MYCENAEAN THOLOI OF THE LATE BRONZE AGE AND EARLIER

CRETAN THOLOI OF THE MESARA TYPE
o

The Gap in Time

Structural Differences

Functional Differences

The Rarity of Late Bronze Age Tholoi on Crete

The Function and Distribution of Mycenaean Tholoi

Mycenaean Tholos Tombs and Early Mycenaean Settlements

DEFINITION OF THE MYCENAEAN FORM OF THOLOS TOMB
The {Mycenaean tholos tomb} consists of a circular, subterranean burial chamber, sometimes referred to
as the {thalamos}, roofed by a corbelled vault and approached by a {dromos} [= entrance passage] that
narrows abruptly at the {stomion} [= doorway] actually opening into the tomb chamber. The chamber or
thalamos is built of stone rather than simply being hewn out of bedrock. Tholoi of this kind are usually,
though not invariably, set into slopes or hillsides. Burials were either laid out on the floor of the tomb
chamber or were placed in pits, cists, or shafts cut into this floor.
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WACE'S GROUPINGS OF THE THOLOS TOMBS AT MYCENAE

The nine tholoi at Mycenae constitute by far the largest collection of monumental tholos tombs of
Mycenaean type to have been found at a single site. This series of tombs spans the period from LH IIA to
early LH IIIB (i.e. ca. 1525 to 1300/1275, or a period of some eight to ten generations). The names of the
tombs derive from their locations (Epano Phournos, Kato Phournos, Panagia), from finds made in them
(Lion Tomb, Tomb of the Genii), from architectural features (Cyclopean Tomb, Perfect Tholos), or from
members of the mythical ruling house of Mycenae (Aegisthus, Atreus, Clytemnestra); these names are
traditional and have no particular significance with respect to the protohistory of the Aegean Late Bronze
Age (i.e. they could just as well be numbered serially from 1 to 9). The tholoi are spread apart at quite
some distance from one another, but three cluster near the entrance to the acropolis of Mycenae and face
either north (Lion Tomb) or south (Tombs of Aegisthus and Clytemnestra). The largest tholos (the
Treasury of Atreus, so named following the identification of the tomb provided in the 2nd century A.D.
guide to the monuments of Greece written by Pausanias) flanks the main approach road to the citadel at
Mycenae from the plain below and faces east. The remaining five tholoi are all located on the opposite
side of the Kalkani ridge from the Treasury of Atreus and face west. The British archaeologist Alan Wace
assigned these nine tombs to three distinct groups on the basis of their use of particular raw materials and
of cut as opposed to undressed stone, as well as on the employment of certain decorative and engineering
refinements.
Group I: Cyclopean Tomb, Epano Phournos Tholos, Tomb of Aegisthus
These tombs have diameters of 8.0, 11.0, and over 13 meters respectively. They are characterized by the
following distinctive constructional features:
(a) Construction is executed throughout in rubble masonry composed of hard limestone fieldstones (i.e.
no cut stone is employed).
(b) There is no blocking wall at the exterior end of the dromos.
(c) No particular care is taken in the construction of the stomion (doorway) except for the use of larger
stones in the jambs.
(d) Short lintel blocks roof the stomion. The innermost lintel block is not carved to match the twin curve
in the vault of the tomb chamber.
(e) There is no relieving triangle above the lintel blocks of the stomion.
(f) No walls line the dromos except in the Tomb of Aegisthus, in which such lining walls are restricted to
those portions of the dromos above the level of the ground surface from which the tomb was originally
cut.
The Tomb of Aegisthus, by virtue of the two phases detected in the construction of its stomion and the
partial lining of its dromos with stone walls, is truly transitional between Groups I and II. The original
stomion constructed of rubble bonds with the rubble walls lining the dromos. A facing of cut
conglomerate (the two lowest courses) and poros (soft limestone; the seven courses above) blocks was
added later in front of the original stomion. This secondary facade is purely decorative, since it bears none
of the weight of either the stomion's roofing or of the tomb chamber's vault.
Group II: Kato Phournos, Panagia Tholos, Lion Tomb
These tombs have diameters of 10, 8, and 14 meters respectively. They are characterized by the following
distinctive constructional features:
(a) The dromoi are lined with mixtures of hard limestone rubble and poros {ashlar} [that is, blocks having
exterior faces cut as rectangles] masonry.
(b) Two of the three tombs preserve traces of a blocking wall at the exterior end of the dromos.
(c) The stomion is built of cut conglomerate blocks, although these blocks are hammer-dressed and not
cut with a saw.
(d) A relieving triangle is regular above the lintel blocks of the stomion.

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(e) The exterior facades of the stomia in two of these three tombs are faced by poros ashlar masonry
which covers the conglomerate masonry of the rest of the stomion (cf. the secondary facade of the Tomb
of Aegisthus in Group I).
(f) The basal course within the tomb chamber consists of hammer-dressed conglomerate blocks.
(g) The innermost lintel block of the stomion is cut to match the curves, both horizontal and vertical, of
the vaulting in the tomb chamber. The lintel blocks are much longer than were those of the tholoi in
Group I.
(h) The Lion Tomb had a wooden door at the exterior end of the stomion to control access into the tomb
chamber, rather than the rubble blocking wall in this position typical of the other tombs in both this group
and Group I. The evidence for this door consists of cuttings in the {soffit} [underside) of the outermost
lintel block to hold the pivots on which the two leaves of this door were hung.
Group III: Treasury of Atreus, Tomb of Clytemnestra, Tomb of the Genii (or Perfect Tholos)
These tombs have diameters of 14.5, 13.4, and 8.4 meters respectively. They are characterized by the
following distinctive constructional features:
(a) In two of the three tombs, the dromoi are lined with ashlar conglomerate masonry, hammer-dressed
rather than sawn. In the Tomb of the Genii, the lining walls are of rubble limestone, a feature explained,
like the smaller size of this tomb, as an economy measure on the part of its builders.
(b) The stomia, inclusive of their exterior facades, are built of ashlar conglomerate masonry, many of the
blocks being sawn rather than hammer-dressed.
(c) The tomb chambers are constructed throughout of ashlar conglomerate masonry. The blocks are
hammer-dressed in the Treasury of Atreus but mostly sawn in the Tomb of Clytemnestra.
(d) The exterior facades of the stomia in the Treasury of Atreus and the Tomb of Clytemnestra are
extensively decorated with relief sculpture in a variety of colored stones (red and greenish-gray marbles
from the quarries near Kyprianon in Laconia for the Treasury of Atreus' facade; gypsum probably from
Crete, bluish limestone, and greenish-gray marble from Laconia for the Tomb of Clytemnestra's facade).
This relief decoration consists of half-columns and a variety of horizontal friezes, the constituent slabs of
which are dowelled to the conglomerate blocks of the stomion facade proper. In both tombs, the hole of
the relieving triangle would have been masked by relief sculpture.
(e) The Treasury of Atreus has a rectangular side chamber opening off the main tomb chamber, a feature
paralleled only in Tholos A at Archanes (early 14th century B.C.) and in the Treasury of Minyas at
Boeotian Orchomenos (probably 13th century B.C.). The principal burials in the Treasury of Atreus were
probably placed in this side chamber. Two fragments of relief sculpture in gypsum which feature bulls,
both now in the British Museum, are thought by most authorities to have formed part of the original
sculpted decoration of the walls of the side chamber, although some scholars have placed them on the
exterior facade of the stomion. The side chamber of the Treasury of Minyas also featured relief sculpture
in the form of an elaborate composition of interlocking spirals which decorates the two enormous schist
slabs forming the ceiling of this room. Nail holes in parallel horizontal rows on the interior of the vault of
the Treasury of Atreus' main tomb chamber probably held gilded bronze rosettes. Once again, the
Treasury of Minyas at Orchomenos is similarly equipped.
(f) Within the stomia there is evidence of separate thresholds, wooden doorframes, and wooden doors.
These doors were placed in the middle of the length of the stomion rather than just inside the exterior
facade as in the earlier Lion Tomb. Such a relocation of the doors was probably designed to protect them
from exposure to weathering. Authorities who believe that the entire dromos of these enormous tombs
was filled in following a burial, only to be dug out again when a subsequent interment was required,
interpret the door frame's relocation as a way of shielding the door from direct contact with the earthen
backfill in the dromos: a rubble blocking wall constructed across the exterior end of the stomion would
keep the fill in the dromos from penetrating the stomion and coming into contact with the doors. The
elaborate decoration of the facades of the Group III tholoi, however, as well as the employment of cut
stone carefully pointed with plaster since the second phase of the Tomb of Aegisthus' facade at the end of
Group I, surely show that the facades of these magnificant tombs were intended to be showpieces. It is
therefore unlikely that the dromoi of these tombs were ever purposefully filled in while royalty held sway
at Mycenae.
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(g) Relieving triangles above the lintel blocks of the stomion, blocking walls at the exterior end of the
dromos, and the cutting of the innermost lintel block of the stomion to match the twin curves of the tomb
chamber's vault are all features of this group which are also characteristic of Group II. The size of some
of the lintel blocks in the tombs of Group III is gigantic: the innermost lintel block in the Treasury of
Atreus, for example, is estimated to weigh some 120 tons.
The above groupings of the tholoi at Mycenae are based purely on architectural criteria and cannot be
substantiated by the contents of the tombs. In fact, all of the tholoi at Mycenae were found robbed and
only random scraps of their original contents, hardly reliable for dating purposes, were found during their
excavation. The architectural development discernible in these tombs is assumed to be linear. That is, a
tomb with more advanced architectural features is automatically assumed to have been built later than one
characterized by more primitive features. The dromos of the Treasury of Atreus was cut through a large
ceramic deposit of the LH IIIA1 period, the so-called Atreus Bothros, and one sherd assignable to the LH
IIIB period was found sealed under a threshold block in the same tomb. Group III is thus usually dated to
the LH IIIB period (ca. 1340-1200 B.C.).
Wace's groupings apply only to Mycenae and do not reflect the development of tholos tomb architecture
over all of Mainland Greece. Only one other tomb comparable to those of Wace's Group III is known in
Greece (the Treasury of Minyas at Orchomenos), and very few are comparable to those of his Group I.
The earliest tholoi at Mycenae probably date to LH IIA, the period when the final burials in the Shaft
Grave circles were being made. The latest tholoi are probably of LH IIIB date and compare closely in
terms of some of their architectural features (especially the use of the saw and decoration with relief
sculpture) with the Lion Gate at the same site. There is no evidence for post-palatial (i.e. LH IIIC or later)
tholoi at Mycenae.
COMPARISON OF MYCENAEAN THOLOI OF THE LATE BRONZE AGE AND EARLIER
CRETAN THOLOI OF THE MESARA TYPE
For a long time, any connection between the Mycenaean form of tholos and the earlier Minoan tholoi of
Mesara type was denied and the ancestry of the Mycenaean form was thus unclear. Although recent
discoveries have tended to bridge the gap between the two types, thus making it quite likely that the
Mycenaean form was at least partially indebted to, if perhaps not descended exclusively from, the earlier
Minoan form, several prominent authorities (e.g. Dickinson, Cavanagh and Laxton) still deny any
significant connection between the two. The traditional problems with deriving one from the other have
centered around the following four observations:
(a) There is a considerable gap in time between the latest Mesara tholoi and the earliest Mycenaean
tholoi.
(b) There are significant structural differences between the two types.
(c) There are significant functional differences between the two types.
(d) The rarity of tholoi in Crete during the Late Bronze Age indicates that the Mycenaeans could not have
adopted the form from a Minoan prototype at this time, while the gap in time referred to in (a) above
precludes their adoption of a Minoan type at some earlier period.
The Gap in Time
Tholoi of Mesara type used to be considered exclusively as Early Minoan tombs, but it has been
convincingly demonstrated not only that some were built as late as the MM II period (e.g. the Kamilari
tholos near Phaistos) but also that some were used as late as the very end of the Middle Minoan period
(Gypsades tholos at Knossos) and even well into the Late Minoan period (LM IIIA at Kamilari and
Archanes Tholos B). At the same time, the Mycenaean tholos used to be considered an exclusively Late
Bronze Age tomb type, although it is now recognized that tholoi of this type were built before the end of
the Middle Helladic period (e.g. the Koryphasion tholos near Pylos in Messenia). There is, therefore, not
much of a gap in time between the two forms of tholos, indeed arguably no gap at all.
Structural Differences
These may be treated under a number of headings:

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Siting:
Mesara tholoi are built above ground in level areas. Mycenaean tholoi are normally sunk into hillsides,
and even when built in relatively flat areas (e.g. at Marathon) are underground.
Earth Covering:
Mesara tholoi were never covered by earthen mounds. Although dug largely underground in the first
place, Mycenaean tholoi, if their uppermost portions projected above ground level, were covered by an
earthen mound, often held in place by a large, circular retaining wall.
Roofing of the Tomb Chamber:
Although it has now been established that tombs with a diameter of less than ca. 7 meters were fully
vaulted in stone (evidence of Archanes Tomb Gamma), the larger Mesara tholoi almost certainly did not
have complete stone vaults. In contrast, all Mycenaean tholoi, even those with diameters of as much as 14
meters, were fully roofed with a corbelled vault in stone.
Entrance:
Mesara tholoi have small doorways almost always located on the east or southeast side of the tomb. The
doorway almost never stands at the end of a passageway or dromos. However, later Middle Minoan tholoi
tend to have larger doorways, while the original entrance to Tholos B at Archanes, of MM IA date
according to the excavator, lies at the end of a roofed passageway approaching the tomb at ground level
from the southeast. Mycenaean tholoi have doorways of monumental proportions which stand at the ends
of long dromoi. Since the orientation of the dromos and doorway are determined by the local topography,
Mycenaean tholoi are not entered from any particular point of the compass.
The principal structural differences between Mesara and Mycenaean tholoi (siting, earth cover, regularity
of complete vaulting in stone, presence of dromos, lack of consistent orientation to entrance) all stem
from the fact that Mesara tholoi are designed as above-ground structures while Mycenaean tholoi are
subterranean. In the case of the only other substantial structural difference between the two, the size of the
doorway, it is possible to argue that a trend from smaller to larger doorways can be detected within the
corpus of Mesara tholoi which finds its logical culmination in the huge portals of Mycenaean tholoi
(although the expanded size of doorways in later Mesara tholoi is presumably due to the need to
accommodate larnakes and pithoi as individual burial containers within such tombs, while the Mycenaean
emphasis on doorways of monumental proportions is probably part and parcel of the monumentality of
the entire tomb and perhaps a reflection of the restriction of this tomb type to members of the ruling class
throughout most of Mainland Greece). The basic difference between above-ground and subterranean
siting is presumably the result of differing attitudes among the Minoans and Mycenaeans toward the dead
and where they belong. Such an ideological difference should not be cited as a reason for denying the
derivation of the Mycenaean tholos from the Mesara type as an architectural form.
Two features of Mycenaean tholoi merit particular emphasis insofar as the ancestry of the form is
concerned. First, the form is circular in plan, just as is the MH tumulus. The close connection between
these two varieties of elite burial structures is made clear from the construction of an early Mycenaean
tholos at Vodhokoilia in Messenia within, and perfectly centered on, an earlier MH tumulus. The
evidence from Thorikos (see below) provides additional support for viewing the underground vaulted
tholos as a direct descendant of large-scale cists or flat-roofed chambers constructed within above ground
tumuli. Secondly, a good number of early Mycenaean tholoi are placed on or close to the tops of hills
(e.g. Velatouri at Thorikos; Vodhokoilia; Pylos), much as later palace buildings were. Such choices of
siting for a tomb type that was intended to be subterranean required the construction of artificial mounds
to cover the vaults of the tombs in question. Thus the siting of the Vodokoilia tholos within the earlier
MH tumulus was effectively necessitated by the fact that the surrounding terrain on the hilltop where the
tomb was placed consists of exposed bedrock, in this case very hard limestone: either the tholos went into
the tumulus, or else the tholos would have to come down off the top of the hill.
Functional Differences
The Mesara tholoi were evidently used as tombs by the entire population of a Minoan settlement. In
contrast, Mycenaean tholoi for the most part appear to have been reserved for the uppermost strata of
Mycenaean society. The use of tholoi on the Mainland only by "royal families" is certainly true at the
major sites in Attica, Boeotia, and the Argolid, and probably also in Laconia and Thessaly. In Messenia,
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on the other hand, the tholos form of tomb is so common that it may have been used by other classes of
society than just the ruling families. A tomb near Pylos, sometimes identified as a grave circle but almost
certainly a badly destroyed tholos, contained numerous pithos burials in addition to extended inhumations
in pits cut into the tomb floor. The presence of pithos burials and of the remains of no less than twentyseven adult skeletons within the tomb suggest that the burial practices within this tomb were not all that
different from those prevailing in Middle Minoan Crete where MM tholoi regularly contain pithoi and
larnakes in which the bodies of the dead were placed and where the individual bodies interred within a
given tomb routinely number in the dozens, if not the hundreds.
The Rarity of Late Bronze Age Tholoi on Crete
Since the gap in time between the latest Mesara tholoi and the earliest Mycenaean tholoi has been shown
to be in effect non-existent, the fact that there are relatively few Late Bronze Age tholoi on Crete is of
little more than academic interest in a discussion of the origins of the Mycenaean tholos form. Clearly the
Mycenaeans derived their form of tholos from Middle Minoan and earlier tholoi and not from Late
Minoan examples of this form. Most LM tholoi are, as it happens, actually of the Mycenaean variety and
are examples of the extensive series of Mycenaean cultural forms which first appear on Crete in the LM II
period and which have been considered to mark the beginning of a Mycenaean occupation of Knossos. At
the same time, although LM tholoi are themselves derived from Mycenaean precursors, certain variations
of the Mycenaean tholos form are peculiar to Crete and hence appear to be purely Minoan versions of
their Mainland Greek prototype. These variants include vaulted tombs with a square or rectangular rather
than circular tomb chamber (e.g. Royal Tomb and Isopata Tomb 1 at Knossos; most of these tombs are
keel-vaulted rather than corbel-vaulted). A normal tholos with a side chamber, Archanes Tholos A, is
possibly modelled after the MM IA Tholos B at the same site, a tomb which continued in use through the
LM II-IIIA era of the Knossian Warrior Graves. The plan of Tholos A itself appears to have been copied
later on the Mainland at Mycenae and Orchomenos by the so-called Treasuries of Atreus and Minyas. The
developmental history of Aegean tholoi thus becomes extremely complicated in the Late Bronze Age.
The Function and Distribution of Mycenaean Tholoi
The Mycenaean tholos first appears in Messenia (Koryphasion, Pylos, etc.). The conversion of the basic
tholos form from the Mesara type of Minoan Crete to the Mycenaean type therefore probably took place
in Messenia. The purported Linear A inscription on the facade of the largest of the Peristeria tholoi of LH
IIA date even suggests that the process of importing this Minoan form and converting it into a Mainland
variant may have been the result of a Minoan architect's working for a Messenian prince. From Messenia,
the Mycenaean tholos diffused to the Argolid, Laconia, and coastal Attica during the LH IIA period. The
earliest tholoi in Aetolia (Ayios Ilias) and Thessaly (Kapakli) are of LH IIB date, contemporary with
which are the earliest Cretan tholoi of Mycenaean type dating from LM II. By the LH III period, the type
has diffused into inland areas of Greece remote from the original Messenian source (e.g. inland Attica and
Thessaly, even northwest Greece at Parga). However, the tholos tomb was never popular in Boeotia.
The Mycenaean tholos is usually restricted in its use to members of the uppermost class in society, the
kings, princes, and major "barons" and their immediate families. Only in rare cases on the Greek
Mainland (notably in Messenia) do tholos tombs serve for burials of a broader cross-section of a local
population. Most often, the less-than-royal members of Mycenaean society were buried in chamber
tombs. This fact allows two significant conclusions: first, that there was a distinct gulf, or class
distinction, in most Mycenaean societies between rulers and the remainder of the population, in marked
contrast with the egalitarianism in death characteristic of Early Minoan societies; and second, that sites at
which tholoi are found on the Greek Mainland, particularly those at which this tomb type appears in some
numbers, are to be understood as the seats of political power in the Mycenaean period. The restriction of
tholoi to comparatively few sites in the later Mycenaean period (i.e. LH IIIB) is presumably to be
interpreted as evidence that Mycenaean kingdoms of this age were larger than the smaller "dukedoms"
and "baronies" of the early Mycenaean period. In other words, with the progress of time, political power
within Mycenaean Greece was increasingly concentrated in fewer hands.
There is a wide variety of tomb types in early Mycenaean Greece, particularly in Messenia and Attica
(Dickinson 1977: 59-65; 1983). Such variety is probably to be explained as the result of differing
adaptations by the Mainland Greeks at different p(l)aces of Minoan forms, both tholoi and chamber
tombs, as well as by the persistence of Middle Helladic forms in some areas. Attica is especially peculiar
with the elliptical tholos and odd built chamber tombs at Thorikos, the somewhat similar built chamber
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tombs of Eleusis, and the chamber-tombs-within-tumuli of Vrana near Marathon. The tholos is never
adopted to any significant extent in neighboring Boeotia, although the chamber tomb is an extremely
popular form there.
It is interesting to note that the Mycenaean tholos occurs only once in the Cyclades (a recently discovered
example on the island of Tinos) and never in the Dodecanese, despite the fact that these islands seemingly
become "Mycenaean" in all other respects in the LH III period. How should this fact be interpreted?
Possibilities include:
(a) The Cycladic social system was not ordered in such a way that such a tomb type could flourish in the
islands. Perhaps the islands were controlled by mercantile oligarchies rather than by individual warlords?
(b) By the LH III period when the islands were either first "Mycenaeanized" culturally (the Cyclades) or
first settled by Mainland Greek colonists (the Dodecanese), there were no rulers within the islands of
sufficient stature to be able to afford the construction of a tholos tomb.
(c) The Cyclades and Dodecanese were settled or dominated from an area of the Greek Mainland where
the tholos was never popular, such as Boeotia or Arcadia.
Aside from the single example of a tholos on Tinos, there is also one tholos known from the western
Anatolian coast, a small example of uncertain, but probably LH IIIB or IIIC, date near Kolophon.
Of the nine tholoi at Mycenae, Dickinson dates the construction of no less than six to the LH IIA period
(ca. 1500-1450 B.C.). These tombs are therefore unlikely all to be the tombs of rulers, since six monarchs
within the space of half a century seems too many. Dickinson argues that the two largest (Tomb of
Aegisthus, Lion Tomb), which are also the two closest to the citadel and the earlier grave circles, are
probably royal, while the others are more likely to be those of collateral branches of the royal family.
"The considerable development in technique visible at Mycenae could well spring from the construction
of so many tombs in such a relatively short space of time, perhaps two generations."
The sequence of royal tombs at the top of the Velatouri hill published by J. Servais, above the metal-rich
settlement at Thorikos, illustrates the development of royal funerary architecture in the earlier Late
Bronze Age on the Greek Mainland in a fascinating way. The earliest (LH I) of these very large tombs is
a large subterranean cist roofed by massive schist slabs and overlain by a simple megaron at ground level;
both cist and megaron were enclosed within, and covered by, an enormous circular mound retained on the
outside by a low parapet wall roughly comparable in size and height to that still partially preserved
around Grave Circle B at Mycenae. The design of this monument (Thorikos Tomb V) is strongly
reminiscent of the positioning of the EH II House of the Tiles under an EH III tumulus at Lerna; an even
closer formal and chronological parallel exists in Tumulus II at nearby Vrana (Marathon). What is
particularly striking about the Thorikos tomb is the conjunction of funerary (subterranean cist) and
settlement (above ground megaron) forms enclosed within, and buried by, a low tumulus. The
arrangement suggests that an individual's complete personality, both as a living being and as a postmortem spirit, is being provided with a permanent monument. The second royal tomb just to the north is
the famous elliptical tholos (Thorikos Tomb IV, of LH IIA date) , furnished with a short, unlined dromos
and a relieving triangle above its now cracked lintel. The third tomb (probably later LH IIA), located
some distance to the south and sited on the eastern flank of the hill rather than on the crest of the saddle
linking Velatouri's twin peaks as are the other two, is a normal round tholos, provided with a longer and
now lined dromos and once again with a relieving triangle that has failed to keep the underlying lintel
from cracking.

Lesson 20: Mycenaean Residential Architecture: Palaces and Ordinary Housing

DISTRIBUTION AND DATING OF MYCENAEAN PALACES

FEATURES COMMON TO MORE THAN ONE OF THE MYCENAEAN PALACES

o

Central Megaron Unit

Court from Which the Megaron Unit Is Entered

Secondary Throne Room (or Queen's Megaron)

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Bathroom

Concern for Views

INDIVIDUAL FEATURES PECULIAR TO SPECIFIC PALACES

o

Pylos

Tiryns

Mycenae

Gla

MYCENAEAN AND MINOAN PALATIAL ARCHITECTURE COMPARED

Mycenaean Residential Architecture: Palaces and Ordinary Housing

DISTRIBUTION AND DATING OF MYCENAEAN PALACES
Mycenaean palatial structures are now known at the following sites on the Greek Mainland:
(a) Argolid: (1) Mycenae (2) Tiryns [Palaces were probably also located at Midea and Argos but have
either been eroded away by natural processes or destroyed by subsequent building operations.]
(b) Messenia: (1) Pylos
(c) Laconia: (1) Menelaion
(d) Attica: (1) Athens (probably)
(e) Boeotia: (1) Thebes (2) Gla (3) Orchomenos (probably)
(f) Thessaly: (1) Iolkos (possibly)
The best preserved palaces, fully cleared, are those at Pylos, Tiryns, and Gla. Those at Mycenae and the
Menelaion are only partially preserved, while those at Thebes and Orchomenos have been only partially
exposed. The palace at Athens has been almost totally destroyed, to the extent that we can say little more
than that a palace almost certainly once existed on the Acropolis. A substantial building at Iolkos is
claimed to be a palace by its excavator, but the only part of it to have been exposed does not prove it to
have been a palace.
By far the earliest palatial building to have been excavated is that at the Menelaion of LH IIB-IIIA1 date
(ca. 1450-1400 B.C.). The palaces of Mycenae, Tiryns, and Thebes need be no earlier than LH IIIA2 (ca.
1400-1340 B.C.), while those at Pylos and Gla were built no earlier than LH IIIB (ca. 1340-1200 B.C.).
The construction dates of the palatial structures at Athens, Orchomenos, and Iolkos are either unknown or
unpublished. The Menelaion building was destroyed in LH IIIA1 and not rebuilt on the same scale until
late LH IIIB. The palatial building at Gla appears to have been destroyed early in LH IIIB. The palaces at
Mycenae, Tiryns, Thebes, and Pylos, as well as the rebuilt Menelaion complex, were finally destroyed at
the end of LH IIIB. No LH IIIC palaces are known, and this period (the 12th and earlier 11th centuries
B.C.) appears to have been comparable to the Post-Palatial period on Crete in terms of the absence of
large administrative complexes.
FEATURES COMMON TO MORE THAN ONE OF THE MYCENAEAN PALACES
Central Megaron Unit
This appears at Pylos, Tiryns, Mycenae, the Menelaion, and probably at Orchomenos. Smaller, less
elaborately furbished megaron units occur in non-central positions at Gla. Characteristic features of this
unit are: (a) Tripartite division into porch, vestibule, and throne room; (b) Large circular hearth, centrally
located in the throne room; (c) Four columns arranged in a square around the hearth in the throne room;
(d) A throne against the middle of the right-hand wall in the throne room (only Pylos and Tiryns for
certain, but probably also Mycenae); (e) Plastered floors decorated with painted patterns in the throne
room, the vestibule, and the porch (Pylos, Mycenae, and Tiryns); (f) Access to the throne room only from
the vestibule, through an axially placed doorway; (g) Two columns between antae in the porch; (h) Rich
decoration of the walls throughout the unit by means of frescoes. The megaron at the Menelaion lacks a
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central hearth, columns, and most of the other features listed above but the palace building there is closely
comparable in its overall design to the architectural layout of the palace at Pylos.
Court from Which the Megaron Unit Is Entered
A large court lies directly in front of the megaron unit at Mycenae, Tiryns, and Pylos. This court is
surrounded by colonnades on three-and-a-half sides at Tiryns, on two-and-a-half sides at Pylos, and
probably on just one-and-a-half sides at Mycenae. The court is entered at both Tiryns and Pylos from a
propylon placed slightly off the short axis of this rectangular court. At Mycenae the court is entered either
by means of a corridor or from the top of the so-called "Grand Staircase".
Secondary Throne Room (or Queen's Megaron)
This feature is attested at Tiryns (in the form of a two-room megaron unit, the throne room having a
central rectangular hearth while the porch in front of it opens onto a partially colonnaded court), at Pylos
(a single elaborately decorated room on the east wing with a central circular hearth but no certain throne),
and at Mycenae (a single room with a throne against its north wall, on the opposite side of the court from
the main megaron unit).
Bathroom
This feature is attested only at Pylos and Tiryns. In neither case is the room in question linked closely to
any megaron unit. Each has its own anteroom.
Concern for Views
The placement of the palaces at Mycenae, Tiryns, Pylos, the Menelaion, and Gla on the summits of hills
or limestone outcrops could be taken as evidence that a view was a common concern of Mycenaean
palatial architects, but it is far more likely that the occupants of these palaces simply wanted their
residences to be located physically above any other structure within their capitals as symbols of their own
elevated social status. That is, the Mycenaean palace dominates its immediate physical environment in
much the same fashion as one imagines that a Mycenaean monarch dominated his social one.
INDIVIDUAL FEATURES PECULIAR TO SPECIFIC PALACES
Pylos
In its last phase, this palace features extensive storage areas and workshops, both around the central
megaron unit (but separated from it by corridors) and in independent buildings clumped around the
central block of the palace. A banquet hall comparable to those in Minoan palaces and, like those, set off
from other quarters of the palace is located in the west wing. A small one-room unit to the southeast of
the main palace block within a complex of rooms identified as the palace armory is often identified as a
possible shrine, but the evidence for such a function is far from compelling. The site as a whole was not
fortified during the LH IIIB period, although it appears to have been in an earlier LH IIIA phase.
Tiryns
At Tiryns, two additional large courtyards precede the court in front of the megaron unit, the three being
linked by two large H-shaped propyla (gateways), each having a pair of facades with two columns
between antae. The outermost courtyard, approached through a series of gates from the main entrance to
the citadel, is flanked on the east by a colonnade fronting a series of square chambers, an architectural
ensemble possibly modelled after the earlier LM IIIA "Agora" at Ayia Triadha on Crete. Below the
square chambers is a series of corbel-vaulted subterranean chambers opening off a long corbel-vaulted
corridor, the so-called "East Galleries". Like the similar set of "South Galleries" at the southern end of the
citadel, these underground chambers probably served as storage chambers, functionally comparable to the
magazines in the west wings of Minoan palaces.
Mycenae
The most distinctive individual feature of the palace at Mycenae is the "Grand Staircase", a monumental
stair which in two flights provides access to the palace court from the terrace below to the south.
Gla
The so-called "palace" at Gla is altogether unlike the palaces of Mycenae, Tiryns, and Pylos in its design.
It is L-shaped, has no dominating central megaron unit, and lacks a court which precedes the main
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megaron. It is, however, located at the highest point within a walled citadel and is thus comparable at
least in terms of its location to the palaces at Tiryns and Mycenae. The two wings of the L-shaped palace
are both flanked by a major corridor, and the individual rooms within one wing correspond quite closely
in size and placement within the wing to the rooms of the other wing. This symmetrical effect is then
repeated in the large complex of buildings (called "the Agora" for no very good reason) located to the
south of the palace within its own perimeter wall. The architectural peculiarities at Gla suggest that the
"palace" here had quite a different function from that of the Argive and Messenian palaces from which
most of our evidence for Mycenaean palatial architecture comes.
MYCENAEAN AND MINOAN PALATIAL ARCHITECTURE COMPARED
The location of the central megaron unit within each of the three best preserved Mycenaean palaces
clearly indicates that it was the architectural focus of the entire palatial structure. A visitor to the palace is
inevitably led, indeed steered, directly toward this megaron. From the fact that the megaron contained a
throne against the right-hand wall of its principal room (compare the position of the throne in the earlier
Throne Room at Knossos, but also note the presence of a second throne in the "Queen's Megaron" at
Tiryns and in the so-called "Throne Room" at Mycenae), as well as from the extraordinary decorative
embellishment of the megaron complex, this unit seems likely to have been the place where the
administrative authority resident in the palace held court. In this sense, Mycenaean palatial architecture
may be characterized as centripetal, in contrast to the centrifugal nature of Minoan palatial architecture.
Note that the megaron block in a Mycenaean palace is isolated and not an integral part of a more complex
unit, as all large or elaborately decorated spaces within a Minoan palace appear to be.
Mycenaean palaces reflect much more individuality in their design than do Minoan palaces in the sense
that there are far fewer recurrent features in the former than in the latter. Individual features within
specific Mycenaean palaces appear to have been adopted almost haphazardly (at the whim of a particular
ruler?) from Crete: the banquet hall at Pylos; the "Grand Staircase" at Mycenae; the wall with multiple
apertures connecting porch and vestibule in the Tirynthian megaron, loosely comparable to a Minoan
pier-and-door partition; the lavish use of colonnades at Tiryns. The Mycenaean heritage from Crete in
terms of palatial architecture appears to have consisted primarily of the concept of the palace itself as an
administrative center. The heart of a Mycenaean palace, the main throne room with its large central
hearth, is simply a monumental version of the normal private house of the EH III and MH periods and has
no connection with Minoan architectural forms. Individual Minoan architectural features are, to be sure,
taken over by the Mycenaeans, but these are selectively rather than universally adopted, except perhaps in
the case of the extensive uses of frescoes, cut stone masonry, and downward tapering columns. These last,
however, are architectural attributes of arguably lesser overall significance than the designs of
architectural spaces. As in the cases of funerary architectural forms, most notably the tholos, the
Mycenaeans have adopted something Minoan but have altered, even perverted, it to suit their own societal
needs. With regard to both their tholoi and their palaces, it is the Mycenaean ruling class rather than the
Mycenaean population at large which has absorbed Minoan forms into Mainland Greek building
practices. With the downfall of this ruling class as a dominant political force ca. 1200 B.C., the Minoan
forms represented by Mycenaean palatial architecture, the Linear B writing system, and even tholoi in
areas other than Messenia and Thessaly disappear from Mainland Greece.
Whereas the Minoan palace qualifies as an artifactual type because it consists of a combination of
constantly recurring units, the Mycenaean palace is not immediately recognizable as a type because the
units of which it consists are so variable. Indeed, it is perhaps legitimate to view the Mycenaean palace
simply as a highly elaborate Middle Helladic megaron with the nature and degree of the elaboration left
up to the individual dynast. In this connection, it is worth emphasizing again that Minoan features
adopted in Mycenaean palaces consist of relatively simple forms and never of a complex of two or more
major architectural spaces. The emphasis on circulation of light and air in Minoan architecture is
altogether disregarded by the closed and somewhat stuffy nature of Mycenaean palatial design. Imagine
what the interior of a Mycenaean throne room must have been like with a fire always burning on the large
central hearth! There is nothing in Mycenaean domestic architecture comparable to the villas and
mansions of Neopalatial Crete. "Lower towns" existed below the hilltops at Mycenae, Pylos, and Tiryns,
but little of these has as yet been cleared and it is therefore still impossible to compare a Mycenaean town
with such Minoan equivalents as Gournia or Palaikastro, notwithstanding the attempt by the Minnesota
Messenia Expedition in the late 1960's and early 1970's to expose the plan of an entire Mycenaean
settlement at Nichoria. The hilltop of a Mycenaean palatial center was always reserved for the residence
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of the monarch and its associated outbuildings, and frequently this distinction between royal domain and
that of the common people was emphasized by the construction of massive fortification walls around the
former. Such a distinction is of course lacking on Crete, not only because Minoan palaces were not
always placed on hilltops (Mallia, Zakro) but also because Minoan Neopalatial fortifications as such are
to all intents and purposes non-existent.
It is important to make the distinction between "palace" (a term identifying the residential architecture
reserved for royalty) and "citadel" (a term which marks the site so identified as fortified but not
necessarily the seat of a royal residence). Pylos in the LH IIIB period is a palace but not a citadel;
Mycenae, Tiryns, and Athens are both palaces and citadels; Gla is a citadel but arguably not a palace;
Thebes is a palace but perhaps not a citadel.
Along the lines of the palatial relative chronology commonly used for the Minoan Bronze Age of Crete,
one could outline the following Mycenaean palatial chronology for the Greek Mainland during the Late
Bronze Age only:
LH I-IIA Early Mycenaean (or ca. 1680-1500 B.C.
Pre-Palatial)
LH IIB-IIIA1 Protopalatial ca. 1500-1400 B.C.
LH IIIA2-IIIB Neopalatial ca. 1400-1200 B.C.
LH IIIC Post-Palatial ca. 1200-1050 B.C.
It is tempting to associate the beginning of the above Protopalatial period with the LM IB destruction
horizon which marks the end of the Neopalatial period on Crete. Likewise, the dividing line between the
above Protopalatial and Neopalatial periods is perhaps to be connected with the destruction of the palace
at Knossos early in the LM/LH IIIA2 period, ca. 1385/1375 B.C. Thus far, the only building identifiable
as a "Protopalatial" Mycenaean palace is the Menelaion of Periods 1 and 2 in Laconia, although the
excavator of Tiryns has claimed that the earliest palace there under the LH IIIB megaron dates from the
LH IIIA1 period.

Lesson 21: Mycenaean Public and Funerary Architecture: Fortifications, Drainage Projects, Roads,
and Chamber Tombs

FORTIFICATIONS
o

Methods and Materials

Dates and Building Programs

Entrances

Distribution of Fortified Sites

The Source of Inspiration for Mycenaean Fortification Systems

DRAINAGE PROJECTS
o

The Copas of Boeotia

The Tiryns Dam

ROADBUILDING

CHAMBER TOMBS

Mycenaean Public and Funerary Architecture: Fortifications, Drainage Projects, Roads, and
Chamber Tombs
FORTIFICATIONS
Methods and Materials
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Mycenaean fortification walls tend to be built along the edge of a sharp change in elevation in the local
topography so that the masonry of the wall combines with the natural contours of the site to create an
even more formidable obstacle for would-be attackers. The walls are usually founded in extremely
shallow beddings carved out of the bedrock. "{Cyclopean}", the term normally applied to the masonry
style characteristic of Mycenaean fortification systems, describes walls built of huge, unworked limestone
boulders which are roughly fitted together. Between these boulders, smaller hunks of limestone fill the
interstices. The exterior faces of the large boulders may be roughly hammer-dressed, but the boulders
themselves are never carefully cut blocks. Very large boulders are typical of the Mycenaean walls at
Mycenae, Tiryns, Argos, Krisa (in Phocis), and the Athenian Acropolis. Somewhat smaller boulders
occur in the walls of Midea, whereas large limestone slabs are characteristic of the walls at Gla. Cut stone
masonry is used only in and around gateways, conglomerate at Mycenae and Tiryns and perhaps both
conglomerate and limestone at Argos.
Dates and Building Programs
Three-part building programs have been detected at both Mycenae and Tiryns, although it is unclear
whether the various stages of building at the two sites are contemporary. At both sites, the earliest
fortification systems are dated to the later LH IIIA period, while the final fortification networks
(including water-supply systems at both sites) are dated to the advanced LH IIIB period, ca. 1250 B.C.
The Mycenaean fortifications of the Athenian Acropolis are said to be of LH IIIB date, although the
evidence for such a dating is not very abundant. The water-supply system at Athens can, however, be
dated quite confidently to the end of the LH IIIB period, this system being in all probability an imitation
of the functionally similar arrangements at Mycenae and Tiryns. Gla's fortifications were apparently built
all at once in the early LH IIIB period. The walls at Midea, Argos, and Krisa have yet to be dated
accurately.
The major extension of the Tirynthian fortification system to the north in that site's third phase of
fortification building used to be considered as the enclosure of a large open space in which herds of
animals might be kept during times of siege, but the German excavations directed by K. Kilian in the late
1970's and early 1980's within this {Unterburg} [i.e. Lower Citadel] have shown that the space in
question was fairly densely occupied by houses. Both at Mycenae and at Tiryns, a major feature of the
extensions built in the third phase of fortification at these sites was the inclusion of tunnels leading from
within the walls of these extensions to underground water sources outside the walls. In both cases, the
water sources in question lay at relatively low levels beneath the hilltops which were enclosed within the
walls, and the builders of these fortifications evidently rejected the option of weakening the fortification
circuit as a whole (or perhaps simply of marring its visual impact) by including the water sources within
the walls. Sally ports were located fairly close to the tunnels leading to the water sources in order to
provide defense of these water supply systems in case a besieging enemy tried to foul the water or destroy
the tunnels themselves. The tunnels leading to the water sources were cunningly camouflaged where they
extended beyond the area actually enclosed within the fortification walls. The water supply systems at
Mycenae, Tiryns, and Athens are clear evidence for a concern with siege warfare never before attested
during the Aegean Bronze Age except in the form of an apparently earlier (and possibly ancestral?) LH II
or IIIA underground water source just outside the fortification wall at Ayia Irini on Keos. The
construction of the large south and east galleries at Tiryns, presumably facilities for the storage in
quantity of surplus agricultural produce, can be viewed as reflecting the same concern on the part of their
builders.
A feature peculiar to Mycenae and Tiryns is the construction of a number of rather small, corbel-vaulted
chambers within the thickness of their fortification walls. At Mycenae, these are located in a stretch of the
north wall, while at Tiryns they occur frequently in the walls of the "Unterburg". The function of these
chambers is not always clear, nor need it have been one and the same for all. Some were simply storage
spaces like the somewhat similar but much larger chambers which comprise the bulk of the south and east
galleries at Tiryns. Others may have functioned as guardposts. Yet others, furnished with arrow slits,
seemingly served as archers' watchports.
Entrances
At both Tiryns and Gla, access to major gates in the fortifications is by way of a long, fairly steep, and
artificially constructed ramp. At Mycenae, such a ramp leading up to the Lion Gate is a natural feature of
the local topography at the site. In general, Mycenaean gateways are so designed that an attacker would
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have to present the side on which he would normally carry his offensive weapons (the right side,
unshielded if he wanted to wield these weapons effectively) toward the defenders in approaching the gate.
The second, or inner, gate leading to the palace area at Tiryns in that site's third phase of fortification is
virtually identical in its plan and elevation to the Lion Gate at Mycenae, and most scholars view one as a
conscious imitation of the other, although it is impossible to state with any degree of certainty which was
the first to be built. Both Mycenae and Tiryns have one major entrance and one minor (or postern) gate,
as well as one or more "sally ports" in the extensions representing their third phase of fortification
construction. Gla is unusual in having four major gates located at roughly the cardinal points of the
compass. This peculiarity is a further indication of a specialized function for this Boeotian citadel that
distinguishes it from the standard Mycenaean fortress. Athens and Midea appear to have been normal in
having one major gate and a postern.
Distribution of Fortified Sites
The distribution of Mycenaean citadels in the late Mycenaean period is a peculiar one. Such fortresses are
common in the Argolid (Mycenae, Tiryns, Midea, Argos, Asine, and possibly Nauplion) and in Boeotia
(Gla, Eutresis, Haliartos and several other minor sites around the Copac basin, possibly Thebes and
Orchomenos). In Attica there is only the Athenian Acropolis, while in Messenia and Laconia there are no
known LH IIIB fortification systems of any importance. One question which immediately arises is against
whom were such fortifications intended as a form of protection. At least two possible varieties of
response suggest themselves: (a) against attackers from other Mycenaean political entities; (b) against
attackers from outside the Mycenaean cultural sphere. Since the Argolid has most often been considered
to have been ruled by a single Mycenaean monarch in the later 14th and 13th centuries B.C., the second
answer has normally been the preferred one, and support for the notion of an external, non-Mycenaean
threat to the Argolid has been seen in the trans-Isthmian fortification wall of the LH IIIB period
discovered and partially cleared by Broneer. However, it is by no means impossible that the major
Mycenaean centers in the Argolid were each ruled by independent princes. Greek legend suggests that
there were at one time independent kingdoms based on Thebes and Orchomenos in Boeotia, while in the
Argolid we know of mythical kings at Mycenae (e.g. Atreus, Agamemnon), Tiryns (e.g. Heracles,
Diomedes), and Argos (e.g. Acrisios). The paramount importance of Agamemnon in Homer's Iliad has
led most scholars to assume that the king of Mycenae dominated the Argolid, and this view has received
support from the wealth of the Shaft Graves and the large number of tholoi (including the magnificent
Treasury of Atreus; see handout on Mycenaean Tholos Tombs) at that site. Nevertheless, few scholars are
now willing to consider Homer a reliable historical source for the Mycenaean period, and the Shaft
Graves and most of the tholoi are in any case features of the early Mycenaean era and not of the 13th
century B.C. The fortifications and palatial architecture of Tiryns are at least as impressive as those of
Mycenae in the later Mycenaean period. Now that Linear B tablets have been discovered at both sites, a
fact suggesting that the two may well have maintained independent administrative archives, there seems
to be no compelling reason to assume that Tiryns was controlled by Mycenae at this time. If the two were
in competition, their similarities in defensive architecture may even be viewed as evidence for a 13th
century B.C. "arms race"! At the same time, in Messenia where the Linear B tablets from Pylos suggest
that the entire province was controlled by a single monarch, there is no evidence at all for LH IIIB
fortified citadels. Should we not interpret this fact as indicating the absence of inter-Mycenaean rivalries
and competition in this region? Presumably, the king of Messenia was confident of his ability to protect
his capital by keeping his enemies, whether Mycenaean or non-Mycenaean, far from Pylos itself, whereas
the monarchs at Tiryns, Mycenae, Midea, Argos, Asine, Eutresis, Thebes (?), Orchomenos (?), etc.,
controlling significantly smaller kingdoms and lacking significant buffer zones with which to protect their
capitals, felt forced to invest in defensive architecture on a grand scale.
The Source of Inspiration for Mycenaean Fortification Systems
Mycenaean fortification architecture clearly owes nothing to Minoan inspiration. Not only are Minoan
fortifications virtually unknown after the end of the Protopalatial period but all Mycenaean fortification
systems date from a period well after the collapse of Minoan power in the southern Aegean. It is possible
that the idea of fortification programs on a grand scale was adopted from the Hittite sphere of influence in
central Anatolia. However, in terms both of scale and of architectural details, Hittite fortifications are
quite different from those of the Mycenaean citadels. Perhaps the most likely sources of inspiration for
Mycenaean defensive circuits are the fortification systems at such Cycladic sites as Phylakopi and Ayia
Irini or even closer island centers such as Kolonna on Aegina. On the other hand, much of what is most
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distinctive about Mycenaean fortification architecture may in the end prove to be the product of purely
indigenous developments from humble Middle Helladic antecedents.
DRAINAGE PROJECTS
The Copas of Boeotia
The Copac basin was a seasonal lake, never very deep, until the late 19th century A.D. when it was
permanently drained and converted into the well-irrigated plain which is now one of central Greece's
most fertile agricultural areas. From inscriptional evidence, it is known that drainage programs were
undertaken in the Copas in Classical Greek and Roman times as well. The modern drainage of the Copas
has also revealed that the basin was drained in late Mycenaean times, only to become reflooded sometime
near or shortly after the end of the Mycenaean period due to the plugging, whether natural or artificial, of
the sinkholes (or katavothroi) at the northeast end of the basin. The Mycenaean drainage of the Copas, a
massive hydraulic engineering project, provides the only reasonable explanation for the existence of a
major Mycenaean palatial site at Gla on a low limestone island rising up from the floor of the basin near
its northeast corner. This site is now normally interpreted as a fortified administrative center and military
strongpoint designed to protect the drainage network whose focus lies not far to the northeast of the site.
In addition to Gla itself, a number of other fortified sites sprinkled around the natural wall of limestone
which encircles tne Copas on the north, east, and south are interpreted as fortresses designed to ensure
the drainage system's continued, successful operation. The drainage of the Copas would clearly have
been of immense profit to all those who lived around the former lake. The major site in this area is
Orchomenos at the basin's west end, but Haliartos to the south is also an important site and it is not
unlikely that even Thebes, lying at quite some distance to the east of the Copas' east end, would have
stood to gain from the vast increase in rich arable land available for cultivation once streams draining into
the basin had been channeled into canals leading directly to the katavothroi.
Huge earthen dykes furnished with Cyclopean retaining or facing walls were built along the north and
south sides of the Copas. Water entering the basin from the south and southwest was channeled between
the south dyke and the natural limestone rim of the basin on the south side. At the southeast corner of the
Copas, this single dyke was doubled across the Bay of Daulos to form a channel 41 meters wide, the
inner dyke being some 19 meters thick at this point. A similar canal was created further north where the
southern arm of the drainage network crossed the Bay of Karditsa. Along the northern edge of the Copas,
a much larger dyke was constructed just south of the limestone rim of the basin on this side to channel the
much larger amount of water entering the basin from the northwest in the Melas and Kephissos Rivers.
This northern dyke is up to 66 meters thick and incorporates within its thickness two parallel walls each a
full two meters thick. To the north of Gla, the northern branch of the system is carried across the Bay of
Topolia in a large canal framed by two dykes to meet the southern branch at a point northeast of Gla. The
combined canal, varying from sixty to eighty meters wide, then extends east to the large Vinia
katavothros through which the water flows down to lower-lying lakes to the east. The dykes lining the
combined canal measure up to forty and fifty meters across and are lined on the interior with solid stone
walls three meters thick.
The scale of this vast undertaking, which includes the construction of the enormous citadel at Gla, dwarfs
any other Mycenaean building project yet known. The Treasury of Atreus, even the walls of Tiryns, seem
trivial by comparison. The evidence from Gla suggests that the project was initiated and completed early
in the LH IIIB period (ca. 1350-1300 B.C.?). Gla was destroyed, and presumably the drainage system
along with it, well before the end of the 13th century B.C. Myth, in the form of a story about Heracles and
his Theban followers destroying Orchomenos and flooding its basin, suggests that intra-Mycenaean
rivalry between Thebes and Orchomenos may have led to the collapse of the system within such a short
time of its completion. Thebes itself was destroyed not long afterwards, perhaps, as legend suggests, by a
coalition of "Argive" princes (the so-called Epigonoi, or sons of the famous Seven Against Thebes)
whom Drews has suggested were in fact Thessalians, a conjecture which makes far better geographical
and political sense.
The Tiryns Dam
Located about four kilometers east of Tiryns near the modern village of Ayios Adrianos, the dam was
designed to divert the periodic floods running down a streambed directly to the lower town of Tiryns by
redirecting these floodwaters into a newly dug channel leading south-southwest around the south, rather
than the north, end of Prophitis Ilias, a prominent hill about one kilometer east of Tiryns and the site of its
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cemetery of tholos (on the west side) and chamber (on the east side) tombs. The new channel, by running
around the end of Prophitis Ilias furthest from the site of Tiryns itself, conducted the formerly destructive
floodwaters to the sea in a non-destructive path further to the east of the original streambed. The dam
project involved not only the construction of a huge earthen embankment lined with Cyclopean masonry
across the earlier western streambed but also the digging of a deep channel to the east across the natural
contour lines of the Argive Plain. Although not comparable in size to the Copas earthworks, this dam
was nevertheless an immense undertaking which had as its goal not the creation of new agricultural land
but simply the protection of a town from the dangers of periodic flooding. Geomorphological studies in
the Argive Plain by E. Finke (now Zangger) have revealed that the dam's construction can be dated quite
closely to the LH IIIB2 period.
ROADBUILDING
Within the Argolid, there is good evidence for a fairly sophisticated road network which linked the major
Mycenaean sites in the Argive Plain and even extended beyond that plain proper, north to the Corinthia
and east to the eastern Argolid. The evidence consists of bridges across ravines (e.g. at Kazarma in the
eastern Argolid; just south of Mycenae itself across the so-called Chaos Ravine) and of drainage culverts
built of limestone boulders with corbel-vaulted channels running underneath the roadbed (e.g. several
examples on the road from Mycenae to Berbati). The only rationale for such constructions is that they
were designed to accommodate vehicular traffic in the form of chariots and wagons. Traces of similar
road networks have been found in Messenia (between Pylos and Nichoria), in Attica (between the Attic
and Thriasian plains dominated by Athens and Eleusis, respectively) and, it is claimed, in Phocis
(between Amphissa and the Maliac Gulf). It is worth noting that carefully constructed roads are not a
feature of later Classical Greek civilization until the 5th century B.C. at the earliest.
CHAMBER TOMBS
Unlike tholos tombs with their corbel-vaulted burial chambers, neatly circular or, exceptionally, elliptical
in plan, chamber tombs are typically rock-cut rather than built, have irregularly shaped but roughly
quadrangular plans, and feature dromoi with unlined side walls that incline inward noticeably toward the
top. Because of the multiple inhumation burials which they normally contain, chamber tombs are
generally considered to have been family tombs, although there is no particularly strong evidence for their
having been designed to hold the members of a family as opposed to some other form of social group.
At some sites, chamber tombs of the normal type (dromos, stomion, and chamber cut out of bedrock) are
rare, most probably because the appropriate geological conditions promoting the creation of such tombs the existence of relatively soft rock under a cap of harder stone - are not available in the immediate
vicinity of a site. At Eleusis and Thorikos, for example, the limestone bedrock of the hills on which the
sites are located was evidently just too hard for the excavation of chamber tombs. Instead, the
Mycenaeans built underground chambers of rubble limestone masonry and employed huge schist slabs to
roof them. Short passages approaching these chambers near the end of one long side substitute for the
longer dromoi of regular rock-cut chamber tombs and make these built chambers L-shaped in plan. At
Vrana near Marathon, burial in built chambers or large cists within circular tumuli continues a local
Middle Helladic tradition of burial throughout the Mycenaean period, a tradition also attested in the LH I
Tomb V at Thorikos (see handout on Mycenaean Tholos Tombs).
At Tanagra in Boeotia, burials are made in painted larnakes placed within normal chamber tombs, a
practice identical to burial habits in Late Minoan Crete but unique to this one site on the Greek Mainland.
At Thebes in Boeotia, where a palace existed but tholoi did not serve as an elite burial form, royal burials
appear to have been made in gigantic chamber tombs such as the "Painted Chamber" discovered in the
early 1970's. This imposing tomb has two roughly parallel dromoi on a scale comparable to the dromoi of
the tholos tombs at Mycenae. In plan, it consisted of two large chambers, placed side by side and linked
by an internal doorway. Each chamber was approached by its own dromos, and large portions of the
chambers as well as of the stomia leading into the chambers were coated with plaster and decorated with
frescoes. The right-hand chamber had benches along some of its walls, also plastered and painted. The
chambers were found robbed and the only find reported from within this monumental construction is an
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ivory pyxis decorated with griffins. Because of its peculiar architectural and decorative features and the
lack of any skeletal material within it, Schachermeyr theorized that this complex was not a tomb at all but
rather a shrine or mortuary chapel designed to serve some cult of the dead.
Shaft graves of one sort or another, as well as simple pits and cists, continue throughout the Mycenaean
period at a number of sites, but single burial, except for children, is the exception rather than the rule.
Inhumation is standard. Cremation is very rare until the LH IIIC period, at which time it appears
sporadically throughout the Mycenaean world, possibly a fashion imported from the east (Anatolia?)
which, however, does not become common until the Protogeometric period of the Early Iron Age.

Lesson 22: Aspects of Mycenaean Trade

THE CAPE GELIDONYA SHIPWRECK

o

Location

The Wreck

The Ingots

Tin

Bronze Scrap

Pottery

Weights

Scarabs

Cylinder Seal

Conclusions

THE AMBER TRADE

GENERAL REMARKS ON TRADE IN THE AEGEAN LATE BRONZE AGE

o

Raw Materials

Manufactured Goods

Agricultural Produce

Aspects of Mycenaean Trade

THE CAPE GELIDONYA SHIPWRECK
Location
The wreck lies in ninety feet of water on a rocky bottom off the point of a small island located just
offshore from Cape Gelidonya, which forms the western end of the Gulf of Finike, the major gulf on the
south coast of Asia Minor. The cape is known today, and was known in antiquity, as a dangerous point
for coastal shipping.
The Wreck
Very little of the ship itself was preserved because of the rocky bottom on which it settled and the strong
currents in the area which prevented the wood of the ship from being covered in the marine silts
necessary for the preservation of ship timbers in submarine environments. Most of the archaeological
remains consist of the ship's cargo, whose distribution on the bottom indicates that the ship settled evenly
rather than tipping over in the process of sinking. The most striking portion of this cargo is a series of
copper and bronze ingots, mostly of the four-handled or so-called "oxhide" type weighing ca. 20 kgs. (=
45 lbs.) apiece. The oxhide ingots were found stacked in three major piles, although some of these stacks
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had slid apart down the rocky slope of the bottom over the centuries. Traces of matting on many of the
ingots suggest that there were layers of matting between the individual ingots in the stacks. Most of the
smaller "bun" and "slab" ingots were also found in stacks. The rest of the metal cargo, consisting of both
complete and fragmentary bronze implements, was found scattered throughout the site, although often
patchily concentrated in the form of small clumps. These tools had probably been stored originally in
wicker baskets, one partially preserved example of which was found. The distribution of the metal finds
suggests that the ship was some ten meters long. The small amount of pottery found on the site had no
meaningful distribution. A concentration of artifacts which are best interpreted as personal possessions
(scarabs, ship's lamp, maceheads, a sheep { astragal}, a cylinder seal, weights, and traces of food in the
form of fish bones and olive pits) was found in Area G and indicates that some kind of cabin was located
at this end of the boat, in all probability the stern. Between some wood fragments interpreted as the inner
lining of the hull and the metal cargo was found a layer of sticks which presumably protected the ship's
hull from possible grinding action caused by shifts in the heavy cargo on top of it. The ship was a small
merchant vessel, comparable to modern caques/kakis, which was carrying at least a ton of nonperishable cargo. It may also have been carrying perishables, but these have not survived. There is no
evidence from the remains of the ship itself, in the form of preserved portions of a distinctive method of
ship construction, for the nationality of the ship.
The Ingots
The Oxhide Type
Measuring on the average ca. 0.60 m. long by 0.45 m. wide by 0.04 m. thick, at least thirty-four such
ingots were part of the cargo. No less than twenty-four of these had signs stamped into them while the
metal of the ingot was still soft. A few have had secondary, incised signs scratched into them since the
metal cooled. Similar oxhide ingots have been found in Syro-Palestine (Tell Beit Mirsim, Ras Shamra),
Cyprus (Enkomi, Mathiati), the sea off the coast of Asia Minor near Anatalya and Kas, Crete (Palaikastro,
Zakro, Mochlos, Knossos, Kommos, Ayia Triadha), Mainland Greece (Mycenae, the sea off the coast of
Euboea), Sicily, and Sardinia. Small models of this type of ingot have also been found in Egyptian
Thebes. All full-sized ingots of this type which have been analysed are of pure copper, aside from those
of pure tin found more recently on the Ulu Burun wreck (see below). Representations of such ingots
occur quite commonly in Egyptian art, mostly in tomb paintings from the reign of Thutmosis III (14901436 B.C.) onwards. Particularly well-known are the paintings in the tombs of Useramon, Rekhmire, and
Meryra. The latest of these representations, a relief of the reign of Ramesses III (1192-1160 B.C.) at
Medinet Habu, is probably simply a copy of a representation in the Ramesseum of Ramesses II (13th
century B.C.) at Thebes. In other words, no Egyptian representations portraying such objects still in use
date after ca. 1200 B.C. Oxhide ingots also appear to be represented on several Linear B tablets from
Knossos and also possibly on a few Minoan and Cypriot seals of the Late Bronze Age. Ingots of this kind
are also represented on two major works of Cypriot 12th century B.C. art, a bronze stand from Kourion
and the famous "Dieu au Lingot" (= god standing on an ingot) from Enkomi.
The term "oxhide" is almost certainly a misnomer in the sense that such ingots were not intended to be
copies of an actual dried oxhide nor were they somehow equivalent to an ox in value. The four handles
were developed simply to make the ingots more easily portable. These ingots were cast in open terracotta
moulds, but were not always cast in the same size and certainly did not always weight the same. They
therefore cannot be interpreted as units of currency. The stamped and incised marks which they often bear
are not signs of any particular script and are probably best interpreted as miners' or smelters' symbols,
loosely comparable in significance to the marks found incised or impressed quite frequently on pottery in
the Bronze Age Aegean. These marks thus may have identified the source of the copper in an ingot. The
distribution of such ingots, particularly those known from underwater sites, suggests that they were
produced to facilitate the transportation of copper as a raw material. Because of the paintings in the
Egyptian tomb of Rekhmire where the carriers of such ingots are labelled as "men of Keftiu", it has been
assumed that the principal carriers of such ingots were Minoans or possibly Mycenaeans. However, there
is considerable debate over the precise location of "Keftiu" and, in any case, we have no firm basis for
believing that the "men of Keftiu" had a monopoly of the trade in oxhide ingots. George Bass feels that
the Levantines, whether Syrians or Canaanites, could equally well have trafficked in such ingots. The
balance of our evidence suggests that the copper of the ingots themselves was mined on Cyprus where,
Bass feels, production of the ingots themselves was managed at various times under Minoan and Syrian
control. After ca. 1400 B.C. and the collapse of Minoan palatial civilization, Bass feels that control of
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ingot manufacture passed into the hands of the Syrians, but others feel that the Minoans may have been
replaced in this role, as they were in so many others, by the Mycenaeans. Vassos Karageorghis, the
director of the Cypriot Antiquities Service, feels that the copper industry on Late Bronze Age Cyprus was
entirely contolled by the Cypriots. At the moment, we simply do not have convincing evidence as to
which, if any, national group dominated the production of copper and its distribution throughout the
eastern Mediterranean in the 14th and 13th centuries B.C.
Samples from a substantial number of copper ingots of "oxhide" type have been subjected to lead-isotope
analysis with the aim of establishing the source of the copper they contain. The ingots from the Cape
Gelidonya and Ulu Burun wrecks are (almost?) without exception cast from Cypriote ores, as are all the
LM III ingot fragments from the Minoan harbor site of Kommos. But the LM I ingots from Ayia Triadha
have a lead isotope "signature" incompatible with a Cypriot source and may be derived from Anatolian
ores. Sardinian ingots have been claimed to be products of Cypriot ores on the grounds of their lead
isotope ratios, although this makes little sense in view of the frequency of copper ore sources on Sardinia
itself; of course, the Sardinian sources have not yet been shown to have been exploited during the Bronze
Age, so it is just conceivable that Cypriot metal may have been transported to the island from the eastern
Mediterranean when the traffic in metal ingots was dominated by Cypriot and Aegean (whether Minoan
or Mycenaean) carriers.
The "Bun" or Plano-Convex Type
Measuring ca. 0.20 m. in diameter and 0.03-0.04 m. thick, twelve complete ingots, eight almost complete,
nine broken half-ingots, and fragments of other miscellaneous ingots of this type were found in the
Gelidonya wreck. Of three such ingots analysed, one analysed by Bass was of bronze (87% copper, 7%
tin) while two others analysed in 1976 were of pure copper. It has now been suggested that all of these
ingots were actually of pure copper, Bass' bronze analysis having somehow resulted from a confusion of
samples in the laboratory. None of the ingots of this type bear markings. Plano-convex ingots are
common throughout the eastern Mediterranean in the Late Bronze Age and are normally of pure copper.
Early examples of Middle Bronze Age date are known from Acemhyk and Alaca Hyk in central
Anatolia. Although similar in terms of metallic composition to the oxhide ingots, bun ingots are smaller,
hence more portable, and were probably cast more simply within the base of the smelting furnace rather
than in moulds located outside the furnace.
The "Slab" Type
Measuring ca. 0.20-0.30 m. long by 0.06-0.08 m. wide by 0.01-0.015 m. thick, all nineteen of these ingots
were found in Area G. The three such ingots analysed had tin contents of 1.83%, 1.0%, and 5.27% but are
mostly of copper. The low tin content, too low for good bronze, may indicate that they were produced
from remelted scrap metal. There are no markings on these slabs, but since they have a uniform weight of
ca. 1.0 kg. and were all found in the hypothetical cabin area of the wreck, they may represent a primitive
form of currency.
Tin
Under the copper ingots in Areas G and P were found three piles of powdery, white tin oxide, seemingly
all that remained of the tin which the ship was also carrying as part of its cargo. The source of tin for the
Bronze Age cultures of the Aegean is a very hotly disputed question. Although the ultimate source of the
Gelidonya tin is unknown, specialists are quite sure that it did not~come from Cyprus. The tin from this
wreck is significant in a larger sense as the earliest known, purely industrial tin after that recently found in
much greater quantities and in the form of oxhide ingots of metallic tin at the Ulu Burun wreck, which
dates some 100-150 years earlier.
Bronze Scrap
This material includes a wide variety of objects useful in agriculture, woodworking, metallurgy, warfare,
and several purely domestic activities: picks, hoes, shovel, mattock, pruning hooks, sickle, double axes,
adzes, axe-adzes, chisels, hammer, swage block, awls, nails, punch, needle, knives, spearheads, razor,
spatula, bronze vessel fragments, tripod stand fragments, spit, bracelets/anklets, rings, and hooks. Most of
these were already fragmentary at the time of the wreck and were presumably being transported for their
scrap value. The best parallels for most of these objects come from Cyprus, and it is therefore theorized
that the last port of call in the merchantman's voyage west to the Aegean had been on Cyprus.
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Pottery
Relatively little pottery was found, and what there was was poorly preserved. The pottery may be
characterized as "cosmopolitan" and could have been readily obtained in Lebanese, Syrian, or Cypriot
ports. There is some Mycenaean pottery, but all of this is of types current in the Levant. Both Cypriot and
Syro-Palestinian ceramic types have also been identified. Unfortunately, the pottery cannot be closely
dated; a fairly broad chronological range of ca. 1250-1150 B.C. has been suggested for it.
Weights
Weights would have been necessary for a merchant captain conducting trade in any commodity but would
have been especially needed by one who dealt with metals which were normally alloyed, for the creation
of such alloys would have required reasonably precise measurements of the constituent metals, tin and
copper in the case of bronze. Of the sixty weights found on the wreck site, all but two were found in the
cabin area. In view of the difficulties encountered in excavating at a depth of ninety feet and because of
the diminutive sizes of the weights themselves, it is likely that the number of weights on the ship when it
sank was a good deal higher. In shape, the weights are sphendonoid (shaped like sling-bullets), domed,
truncated conical, spherical with a flat base, cylindrical, and discoid. Eight are of metal, fifty-two of
stone. At least six "weight standards" were claimed by Bass to be represented, namely:
(1) A standard based on a unit of 7.30 gms., identified as the "Phoenician standard" of 7.32 gms.
Multiples of 4, 5, 6, 8(?), 9, 15, 20, 28, 32, and 64 units were identified among the weights.
(2) A standard based on a unit of 9.32-9.33 gms., identified as the Egyptian qedet. Multiples of 1, 3, 6,
7(?), 10, 19, 20(?), 25, 30, 49, and 50(?) units were identified among the weights.
(3) A standard based on a unit of 9.50 gms, identified as the Syro-Palestinian qedet. Multiples of 1, 5, 7,
8, 9(?), 30, and 4 1/2 (?) units were identified among the weights.
(4) A standard based on a unit of 10.30 gms., identified as the Syrian nesef. Multiples of 1, 2, 5, 18, 3 1/2,
and 4 2/3 units were identified among the weights.
(5) A standard based on a unit of 10.50 gms, identified with some hesitance as the Phoenician nesef.
Multiples of 1, 1/3, 4 1/3, 2 1/2, 7 1/2, 3 2/3, 3 1/3, 4 2/3, and 6 2/3 units were identified among the
weights.
(6) A standard based on a unit of 11.50 gms, identified as the Canaanite shekel. Multiples of 4, 5, 6, 8, 7
1/2, 6 2/3, and 8 2/3 units were identified among the weights.
(7) A standard based on a possible unit of 12.30 gms., the identity of which remains unknown. Multiples
of 1 and possibly of 4, 7, 4 1/2, and 5 1/2 units were identified among the weights.
These weights were viewed by Bass as allowing the merchant to trade with Egypt, Syria, Palestine,
Cyprus, the Hittite Empire, Crete, possibly Troy, and probably the Greek Mainland. Unfortunately, the
wide geographical range of the identified weight standards, as well as our relative ignorance of the
prevalent weight systems in use in the prehistoric Aegean, preclude any conclusions about the route of the
ship or its nationality.
Since the publication of the Gelidonya wreck, the large collection of similar weights from the earlier Ulu
Burun wreck have been analysed by Pulak, while the Minoan weight system prevalent throughout the
southern Aegean in Neopalatial times has been treated in depth by Petruso. Further analysis of the
distribution and interpenetration of different metrological systems during the Late Bronze Age in the
eastern Mediterranean will no doubt provide valuable insights into socio-economic conditions within this
region in the years to come.
Scarabs
Five scarabs found in the cabin area were probably used as charms or talismans, or perhaps as seals, and
presumably belonged to one or more members of the ship's crew. In date they range from the Second
Intermediate Period (1785-1567 B.C.) through the late 18th or early 19th Dynasty (late 13th century
B.C.). Some of them were obviously several hundred years old by the time of the wreck, but the latest
suggests a date for the wreck in the late 13th century B.C.

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Cylinder Seal
A single cylinder seal, arguably the property of the ship's captain, was found in the cabin area. It is an
heirloom of the 18th century B.C., probably made in Syria.
Conclusions
The ship loaded with metal ingots and bronze scrap which was wrecked off Cape Gelidonya sank around
1200 B.C. or a little later. It was nine or ten meters long and probably served both as a carrier of raw
materials and as a sort of itinerant smithy, the merchant-captain being both a supplier and a craftsman
who dealt in finished goods to order. The course of the ship has been argued to have been east to west,
from Cyprus into the Aegean, but neither this nor the beginning and end points of the ship's voyage can
be specified with any precision. Bass has argued that the ship was Phoenician or Canaanite, but Muhly
and others have argued that it was Mycenaean. Certainty on this point is equally impossible in view of the
available evidence. Indeed, one may question whether most cargo ships of this period were considered to
have any "nationality" at all in the sense of being part of a given political entity's "merchant marine".
There is no literary evidence whatsoever for the identification of the nature, much less the individual
identity, of the authorities who owned or managed vessels of this sort during the Late Bronze Age in the
Aegean world. Before the discovery of the relatively nearby Ulu Burun wreck near Kas, now dated to ca.
1310 B.C., that at Gelidonya was the earliest ship ever to have been excavated. It remains an invaluable
source of evidence for the study of trade, metallurgy, and metrology in the Late Bronze Age of the
cosmopolitan eastern Mediterranean world.
THE AMBER TRADE
The source or sources of the amber found in the Aegean can be determined by means of infrared
spectroscopy. Most of the amber from Mycenaean Greece, as well as that from Italy and elsewhere in the
Mediterranean, comes from the Baltic Sea. In Mycenaean contexts, amber occurs almost exclusively in
the form of beads and of multiply perforated rectangular plaques known as {spacer plate}s.
The presence of amber, which is not an artifact per se but rather a material, in areas where it does not
naturally occur is not necessarily an indicator of intercultural contact, but only of some sort of exchange
system operating between or through two or more cultures. In other words, the presence of Baltic amber
in southern Greece is not necessarily evidence that the Mycenaeans travelled north to the Baltic nor that
northern Europeans visited Mycenaean Greece. The amber in question could easily have passed through a
multitude of hands in an exchange network which brought the material by a series of relatively short hops
over what in the end was a long distance. In any case, amber is light and a great deal of it can be carried
by one man. Numerous finds of it need therefore not imply that several trips were made to obtain it.
Amber was in antiquity, and still is, valuable. It is attractive for its color, is smooth and warm to the
touch, and possesses certain electrical properties which in ancient times may well have been considered
magical. As an organic substance, amber weathers badly and thus can easily have disappeared entirely
from the archaeological record. It can even decompose in a museum collection after its recovery, if not
properly treated by conservators.
There is no evidence from Egypt for true amber, as opposed to other fossil resins, before the 18th Dynasty
(ca. 1570 B.C. onwards). The earliest amber in the Near East may date from ca. 1800 B.C. at Assur and
Hissar (level IIIC), or it may date from as early as ca. 2400 B.C. in the finds from a grave at Tell Asmar.
Further study of the material described as "amber" in these contexts is needed to confirm such a high
dating for the initial use of the material in this part of the world. In Greece itself, there is no certain
evidence for amber before the very end of the Middle Helladic period, and there is no certainly earlier
amber from any other area of the eastern Mediterranean.
Greece's earliest amber comes from Shaft Grave O in Grave Circle B at Mycenae and from an early
tholos at Pylos in Messenia, both of which contexts are dated to the latest phase of the MH period (ca.
1725-1675 B.C., on the high Aegean chronology). Other finds of this substance, from Peristeria Tholos 3,
from Pylos Tholos IV, and from the Shaft Graves at Mycenae, date from the immediately following Late
Helladic I period. A total of over 1560 pieces, 1290 of these from Shaft Grave IV in Circle A alone, is
known from latest MH and LH I contexts.
In LH II, amber finds amounting to some 820 pieces in all are confined to the Argolid and the Pylos area
within Messenia, with the exception of a few pieces from Thebes in Boeotia. The grand total of 2380
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pieces of LH I-II amber easily outnumbers the total of all other pieces of Aegean amber from all
prehistoric contexts postdating the end of LH/LM/LC II. But the early Mycenaean amber, though
abundant in terms of total pieces, comes from just twelve different Aegean sites.
In LH/LM IIIA, amber is found in the Peloponnese, central Greece, and Cycladic islands, as well as at
other sites to the south and east (Kos, Crete, Cyprus, Syria) and also in islands to the west (Zakynthos,
Sicily, Aeolian islands). The finds come from fewer individual contexts of discovery, but from a larger
number of distinct sites (17). The number of pieces known shrinks to 182, 160 of which are dated to
LH/LM IIIA1 alone, while only 22 date to LH/LM IIIA2. The appearance for the first time of amber at
Knossos in this period has been taken as further evidence for the presence of Mycenaean Mainlanders at
that site during LM/LH IIIA1. the later part of the Warrior Grave horizon at that site.
Only about forty pieces from eight sites are dated to LH IIIB. Within the Peloponnese in this period,
amber is found only in the Argolid. Amber now appears for the first time in northwest Greece, in Aetolia
and in Epirus.
During the LH IIIC period, there appears to have been a minor revival in the popularity of amber, with
more than sixty pieces known from a total of fourteen sites. The distribution is now broad, including
Rhodes, Alalakh in Syria, Crete, Egypt, and the western island of Kephallenia. From late LH IIIC and in
"Submycenaean" contexts, only nine pieces are known from just three sites on Salamis, in Elis, and in
southern Italy.
The quantity and concentration of amber at just a few sites in the LH I and II periods is striking. Renfrew
has suggested that amber reached the Mycenaean kings by means of a "prestige chain" of royal giftexchanges stretching across Europe in which the Mycenaeans formed the southernmost link, but the
reason for the creation of such a chain is at present a puzzle. In LH IIIA, less amber is spread over a wider
area. Single beads now appear in tombs, in contrast with the whole necklaces of LH I-II times, and were
perhaps considered to have had amuletic powers. The source of LH IIIA amber may simply have been the
residues of LH I-II amber rather than new imports. Indeed, a system of gift-exchange in this commodity
may now have operated within the Mycenaean world, the old one across Europe having broken down for
some reason. While amber excahange in the LH IIIB period suffers a still further decline, the evidence for
this material increases in LH IIIC times and this fact may indicate renewed contact with Balkan suppliers
at this time.
The first Baltic amber arrived in Greece ca. 1725-1675 B.C., possibly in only three consignments (one
each for Mycenae, Pylos, and Kakovatos [Messenia]). The next consignment need not have arrived until
the transition from LH IIIB to LH IIIC ca. 1200 B.C., this time possibly through middlemen in northwest
Greece, as suggested by finds of the material in Aetolia and Epirus. The early consignments, it has been
argued, probably came to the Peloponnese by sea, possibly from as far away as Britain on the basis of
remarkable similarities between Mycenaean and British spacer plates. The later consignment, much
smaller in size, is more likely to have come overland to the head of the Adriatic, then down the west
coasts of what are now Yugoslavia, Albania, and Greece, and hence finally into the Aegean.
GENERAL REMARKS ON TRADE IN THE AEGEAN LATE BRONZE AGE
Other items that were clearly exchanged during the Late Bronze Age, many of them in the context of
genuine commerce or trade, include:
Raw Materials
Precious metals such as gold, silver, and electrum; ivory from both elephants and hippopotami; ostrich
eggs; stones for use in architecture (e.g. gypsum), jewelry (e.g. lapis lazuli), and stone vases and seals
(e.g. lapis Lacedaemonius, carnelian), and tools (andesite, obsidian); spices utilized in the production of
perfumed oils and unguents (e.g. coriander, frankincense, myrrh).
Manufactured Goods
Pottery; seals; carved ivories; textiles; furniture; stone and metal vessels; weaponry.
Agricultural Produce
Wine; olive oil; flax; hides; wool.

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Many of the above items, just as the two explored in greater detail above (bronze; amber), were probably
exchanged through distinct and largely independent distribution networks.
Lesson 23: Troy VI

STRATIFICATION

ARCHITECTURE
o

Fortifications

Domestic Architecture

Religious Architecture

FUNERARY PRACTICES

POTTERY

MISCELLANEOUS FINDS

THE DESTRUCTION

CONCLUSIONS

Troy VI
STRATIFICATION
Eight sub-phases (a-h) have been identified in deposits between five and six meters deep around the edge
of the citadel within the area enclosed by the fortifications.
ARCHITECTURE
Fortifications
At least three major phases of wall construction are represented which are hypothetically correlated with
the Early, Middle, and Late phases identified within the culture of Troy VI as a whole. Three major
gateways (VI Z, VI Y, and VI T) correspond to these three principal phases of fortification architecture.
Gates VI Y and VI Z lie inside of VI T, just to the east of the so-called Pillar House. Little has survived of
the first and second phases of wall construction, but enough is preserved to show that the walls of Troy
VI were always characterized by vertical offsets breaking the wall up into sections, a novel feature of
Trojan fortification architecture which appears to be decorative rather than functional. The fortification
wall of Middle Troy VI probably ran along the line of the south wall of the Pillar House and the east wall
of House VI F.
The fortification wall of Late Troy VI was built in sections to replace the preceding fortifications of
Middle Troy VI. These later sections were constructed in several slightly different masonry styles and
their building clearly extended over a long period of time. The circuit wall of Late Troy VI, preserved in a
great horseshoe swinging from the northeast around to the west, is pierced by five unevenly spaced gates
of different types. The wall is built of cut limestone blocks, the faces of which are rectangular (= ashlar).
Although the courses of limestone blocks are not all of equal height (that is, the masonry is not
{isodomic}), the joints between the blocks in successive courses are carefully alternated so as to
maximize the strength of the construction. The wall is over four meters thick, and the stone portion of it,
some nine meters high in places, was originally surmounted by a superstructure in mudbrick. The exterior
face of the stone portion of the wall is strongly battered, and towers projecting from this face at a number
of points illustrate the architects' concern for the capability of defenders to direct enfilading fire on
attackers, particularly in the vicinity of major gates. Where towers are not placed beside such gates, the
walls at the gates themselves overlap in such a way as to force an enemy to expose himself to attack from
two sides at once. A water supply in the form of a large cistern was constructed within Tower VI g, the
northeasternmost portion of the circuit wall also known as Section 1.

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The order of construction of the walls of Late Troy VI is as follows: Section 5 in the west; Sections 2 and
3 in the east, dated to Troy VIf, ca. 1400 B.C.; Sections 1, 4, and 6 at the northeast, south, and northwest
respectively, the last being securely dated to Troy VIg; and finally, the addition of Towers VI h and VI i,
both dated to Troy VIh. These walls were bedded on foundations extending a meter or more below the
contemporary ground level outside of the citadel, but the foundations rest neither on bedrock nor on
virgin soil, in contrast with standard Mycenaean practice. Perhaps the leaving of a cushion of earth
between the foundations and bedrock was a conscious anti-seismic precaution, although it does not seem
to have served its purpose since the walls were destroyed at the end of Troy VIh in what most authorities
feel confident in identifying as a massive earthquake. While the exterior face of the wall was battered in
its lower portion, the interior face rose vertically. There is some evidence, best preserved in Section 3, to
suggest that in the late phases of Troy VI the original mudbrick superstructure of the wall, which
presumably rose vertically on both faces and was some four meters thick, was replaced in all sections of
the wall except in Tower VI g at the northeast, where mudbrick was found still in situ, by a thinner stone
wall some two meters thick, preserved in places up to two meters in height but originally higher. Behind
this strictly vertical, uppermost portion of the curtain wall was a parapet two to three meters wide which
served as a fighting platform for the defenders and which itself lay some two meters above the
contemporary ground level within the citadel. Whether this parapet was roofed or not is unknown.
The method of construction of the walls of Troy VI, especially clear in cross-section in Section 6 at the
west, is entirely different from that characteristic of the Cyclopean building tradition of Mycenaean
foritification architecture or that typical of Minoan construction employing ashlar blocks. The roughly
rectangular blocks of Troy VI's walls make contact not only at their exterior faces (as in Minoan and
derivative Mycenaean ashlar masonry) but for the entire width of the block. Moreover, the wall as a
whole is not built as two megalithic "skins" with a fill of smaller rubble, as is typical of Cyclopean
masonry, but rather consists of a solid mass of carefully fitted ashlar blocks. As was true during the Early
Bronze Age at Troy, the construction of fortifications around the royal citadel appears to have been a
more or less continuous activity throughout the Middle and Late Bronze Ages. That is, as was true of the
pharoahs' use of pyramids during the Egyptian Old Kingdom, the rulers of Troy appear to have used the
construction of fortifications surrounding their citadel as a massive, never-ending public works project.
Perhaps the most important discovery of the renewed excavations at Troy in the 1990's under M.
Korfmann is the exposure of an outer ring of defensive architecture consisting of a wide ditch located ca.
450 meters SSW of Section 4 of the previously known walls of Troy VI. This ditch has so far been traced
for ca. 200 meters in a shallow E-W arc at what must have been its southernmost end. Periodically
interrupted by unexcavated "bridges" that presumably mark the locations of major entryways through this
defensive circuit, the ditch is likely to have been the foundation trench for an exterior city wall which has
been entirely robbed out by later builders in historical times. A short length of what is likely to be a
portion of the same wall system, but here consisting of blocks still in situ, has been found just to the east
of Section 1 at the original citadel's northeast corner. This newly discovered circuit defines what is to be
identified as a fortified lower city, a standard feature of Near Eastern urban centers of the third and
second millennia B.C. The original fortress of Troy VI thus becomes an inner royal citadel, the site of the
king's palace, the city's chief temples, and perhaps also the residences of the king's principal officials.
At the southwestern tip of the ridge on whose west end Troy is situated, portions of a second ditch have
been exposed whose relationship to the first is not yet clear. In some places the first ditch is also
accompanied on the interior by a relatively thin cutting in the subsoil for what might best be termed a
stockade; its chronological and functional relationship to the much wider ditch just beyond it to the south
likewise remains to be established.
Domestic Architecture
No palatial structure survives within the fortress, presumably because it stood at the apex and center of
the citadel, an area shaved off in Hellenistic and Roman times down to levels well below those of Troy
VI. There is, however, good surviving evidence for urban planning inside the fortifications in the form of
rings of concentric terraces. Although only the lowest of these is well preserved, the side walls of the
buildings constructed on it, which in most cases are the short sides of the buildings in question, are not
parallel to each other but are instead aligned along the paths of hypothetical radii within the preserved
semicircle of the citadel as a whole. In other words, the space within the fortress appears to have been
subdivided according to a radiating plan of concentric terraces.
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House 630 of Early Troy VI, located just north of the Pilllar House's east end, shows that the houses of
Troy VI were from the beginning large, rectangular structures with relatively simple plans, quite unlike
the multiroomed structures sharing party walls which were typical of Troy V. The houses of Late Troy VI
exemplify no standard plan, although they are uniformly large. Houses VI A, VI B, and VI C are megara.
House VI G, rectangular in plan but only partially preserved, has an eccentrically located door in its long
southeast wall. The Pillar House, rectangular in overall plan and subdivided into three major sections at
its basement level, has two large pillars in its main room which taper markedly toward the top and which
presumably supported columns at the level of the second storey. Entrance was from the north through the
long wall on this side. House VI F is also rectangular and preserves good evidence for half-timbering in
the form of beam-slots in its walls. This building too was probably two-storeyed, and at least two stages
in its history are represented by two sets of interior supports which rested on stone bases set into the floor.
House VI F was entered by two different non-axial doorways in its west and south sides during its two
principal phases of construction, the first dating from Troy VIe and the second from Troy VIg. As in the
Pillar House, there are traces of an interior stairway in House VI F leading up to the second storey. House
VI M, dated to Troy VIh, has an unusual L-shaped plan with an open court occupying the space between
its two wings.
The broad spans of the ground-floor spaces of these Troy VI mansions suggest that the second-storey
superstructures above them were constructed of relatively light materials, that is, of wood rather than of
mudbrick. The extensvie provisions for storage on the ground floor make clear that the actual residential
quarters of these structures were all located on the second floor, in much the same way as was true in the
vernacular architecture of much of western Turkey in the recent past.
Religious Architecture
A poorly understood form of religious architecture has been identified in the row of four (of a possible
original six?) monolithic pillars which stood in front of Tower VI i just to the west side of the principal
gate leading into the citadel. Within Tower VI i just to the north, traces of two possible columns standing
on a raised platform, itself surrounded by a circular paved area, suggest the possibility that a shrine was
located inside the tower at ground floor level. It is tempting to connect a possible Trojan cult involving
pillars and columns with the piers and columns (or baetyls) frequently represented in Minoan cult scenes,
despite the fact that the connections between Troy and Minoan Crete never seem to have been particularly
strong.
FUNERARY PRACTICES
In an area ca. 50 meters long by 15-20 meters wide on the southern edge of the Trojan plateau, just
outside the line of the newly discovered ditch defining the outline of Troy VI's lower city, was found a
cemetery of cremation burials in jars dating exclusively to Troy VIh, the final phase of that settlement.
Although the cemetery consisted of a minimum of 182 burial urns, only nineteen were found in situ, due
to the considerable disturbance which this area of the plateau had suffered in later times. No evidence for
an enclosure wall of any kind around the cemetery was found. The burial urns, buried in relatively
shallow pits extending for the most part down to bedrock, were packed around with small stones at their
bases to keep them upright and were originally closed by lids in the form of flat stones or ceramic plates
or kylikes. Most urns contained the cremated remains of more than one individual, and some contained
the cremated remains of both adults and children. A good number of the urns were broken or damaged
even before they were used as burial receptacles. The gravegoods left with the dead are generally poor (a
vase or two, with only a few instances of small fragments of precious materials). Blegen views the
poverty of these tombs as indicative of the humble societal status of the individuals buried.
Traces of other small cremation plots were found at various other points around the plateau, as well as a
fragmentary mudbrick structure that may have been an actual crematorium, all of which are dated to Troy
VI but no more precisely within that period. No cemetery of any Trojan prehistoric period other than Troy
VI has been found at the site, although extensive searches have been made for the Early Bronze Age
cemeteries which are thought to have existed somewhere outside the walls. Is it a peculiar accident of
discovery that has preserved for us a cemetery of Troy VIh but one of no other certainly distinct period?
Or are the cremation burials of a large number of adults and children the remains of a massive burial
program connected with the final disaster which befell Troy VI, an earthquake which demolished the
impressive walls of the citadel and which presumably caused considerable loss of life among the
inhabitants? Should we consider cremation burial in urns the normal mode of burial for the Late Bronze
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Age inhabitants of Troy or was it a special mode of burial designed to accommodate the large numbers of
dead who perished in the earthquake and whose bodies, if not soon buried, might become the source of a
disease which would have attacked the survivors?
Answers to these questions may be facilitated by Korfmann's disovery int he 1980's of a cemetery of
similar jar burials at Besik Tepe, located about 8 kilometers southwest of Troy in a shallow embayment
that provides the first natural harbor south of the entrance to the Dardanelles on the western Anatolian
coast. Often identified in the past as the most likely anchorage of any naval force attacking Troy from the
south, Besik Tepe would also be the logical stopping point for ships seeking to pass through the
Dardanelles enroute to the Sea of Marmara or the Black Sea beyond but forced to wait for the necessary
favorable winds from the south. Like the burials on the ridge at Hisarlik, those on the beach at Besik Tepe
include men, women, and children. One of the male graves is that of a warrior who was not only buried
with his "killed" sword wrapped around his ash urn but who also had a very large krater set up over his
grave as a permanent above ground burial marker, in much the same fashion as much later masterpieces
of Geometric pottery were set up over the graves of Athenian nobles in the 9th and 8th centuries B.C.
POTTERY
Of the ninety-eight different shapes current during one or another phase of Troy VI, no less than ninety
are new in that period. There is thus a sharp break in the ceramic tradition between Troy V and Troy VI,
made even more emphatic by the strong ceramic continuity detectable throughout the Trojan Early
Bronze Age (i.e. Troy I-V).
A hallmark of the pottery of Troy VI is a gray ware, termed "Gray Minyan" by the excavators, which
closely resembles in its wheelmade manufacture and lustrous, soapy-feeling surface the Gray Minyan
pottery of Middle Helladic Greece. French, however, has argued convincingly that the gray-burnished
pottery of Troy VI should not be termed "Minyan" since it is a local West Anatolian Middle Bronze Age
ware in all probability derived from the so-called "Inegl Gray ware" of the Early Bronze 3 period found
in the region southeast of the Sea of Marmara. Indeed, there is even some gray ware in Troy V, so that the
gray ware of Troy VI could be said to have had some local antecedents at Troy itself. Middle Helladic
Gray Minyan is similar to the gray ware of Troy VI in conception and even to some extent in technique,
but the shape ranges of these two ceramic classes are different with the single exception of the ringstemmed (or Lianokladhi) goblet. The presence of this shape in Trojan gray ware, along with the presence
of Middle Helladic (and probably Cycladic) Matt-painted wares, are evidence for contacts between Troy
VI and the Greek Mainland during the Middle Bronze Age. French argues that the idea of a grayburnished ware was very probably exported to Greece during the latest Early Bronze 2 period when
Anatolian influence is to be detected in the Kastri Group and Lefkandi I assemblages. The first Gray
Minyan (or Fine Gray-burnished) ware appears at Lerna in Early Helladic III (Lerna IV) when the pottery
of Mainland Greece had become "anatolianized" as a result of the fusion of the "Lefkandi I" and Early
Helladic IIA (or Korakou culture) traditions. It should be noted that the Bass bowl of Lerna IV is totally
absent from the Trojan shape repertoire. Middle Helladic Gray Minyan is the result of an internal
development on the Greek Mainland unrelated to developments in Western Anatolia. The Greek Bass
bowl is modified into the ring-stemmed goblet during the early MH period and then is adopted by the
Trojans in Early Troy VI. This fact indicates that Troy VI begins only after the Middle Helladic period
has started in Greece. Thus Troy V is probably at least partially contemporary with early Middle Helladic.
Matt-painted pottery, always rare at Troy and probably always imported from the southern Aegean,
begins to appear in Troy VIb. Mycenaean pottery begins in Troy VId as LH I and continues in Troy VIe
as LH II, in Troy VIf-g as LH II-IIIA, and in VIh as mostly LH IIIA but with a little LH IIIB. The
destruction of Troy VI thus took place in Mycenaean terms during the LH IIIB period. In the last phases
of Troy VI, Mycenaean pottery is locally imitated in the form of painted vessels made in the local Tan
Ware.
MISCELLANEOUS FINDS
Five sword pommels of white marble or alabaster from both the Early and the Late phases of Troy VI are
presumably local imitations of Mycenaean forms or conceivably even actual imports. Also new are three
pyramidal steatite weights, a distinctive type of whetstone, and beads of glass paste, the last apparently
another sign of Mycenaean influence. Ivory first appears in any quantity in Troy VI, very possibly
imported from Mycenaean spheres of influence. Terracotta spindle whorls are no longer decorated as they
had been in the Early Bronze Age. The first horse bones on the site appear at the beginning of Troy VI.
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By contrast, on the Greek Mainland such bones have been found at Tiryns, and possibly also at Lerna, in
EH III contexts. Thus, somewhat paradoxically, the domesticated horse is attested a bit earlier in southern
Greece than in northwestern Anatolia.
THE DESTRUCTION
The excavators have argued from the massive amounts of collapsed stonework in the fortifications and
elsewhere around the site that a violent earthquake destroyed Troy VIh. There are no convincing signs of
a general conflagration all over the site. Some authorities have seen in the myth of the Trojan Horse a
metaphor for this earthquake, in that the horse was sacred to Poseidon, the Greek divinity responsible for
earthquakes.
CONCLUSIONS
There is a major cultural break at Troy between Troy V of the Early Bronze Age and Troy VI of the
Middle and Late Bronze Ages. This break is discernible in fortification and domestic architecture, in
pottery, in the faunal assemblage (with the appearance of the horse), in various categories of
miscellaneous finds, and, some would say, in burial customs. Trojan contacts with Mainland Greece are
apparent from Early Troy VI onwards, and become increasingly stronger up until the time of Troy VI's
destruction. Minoan contacts, on the other hand, are minimal. As in the Early Bronze Age, Troy was in
the Middle and Late Bronze Ages arguably a royal citadel, but one of a noticeably different type in a
number of details from those characteristic of the later Mycenaean Mainland. Even in the absence of a
palace in Troy VI, we may note the differences between Troy and a Mycenaean fortress in terms both of
urban planning, fortification architecture (including gate systems, tower construction, and provision for a
water supply), and domestic architecture within the citadel itself.

Lesson 24: Mycenaean Pictorial Art and Pottery

FRESCOES
o

Categories of Subject Matter

POTTERY
o

Late Helladic I-IIA (ca. 1675/1650 - 1490/1470 B.C.)

Late Helladic IIB-IIIA1 (ca. 1490/1470 - 1390/1370 B.C.)

Late Helladic IIIA2-B (ca. 1390/1370 -1190 B.C.)

Late Helladic IIIC (ca. 1190-1050 B.C.)

Detailed Survey of Mycenaean Ceramic Developments, Period by Period

Late Helladic I (ca. 1675/1650 - 1600/1550 B.C.)

Late Helladic IIA (ca. 1600/1550 - 1490/1470 B.C.)

Late Helladic IIB (ca. 1490/1470 - 1435/1405 B.C.)

Late Helladic IIIA1 (ca. 1435/1405 - 1390/1370 B.C.)

Late Helladic IIIA2 (ca. 1390/1370 - 1320/1300 B.C.)

Late Helladic IIIB (ca. 1320/1300 - 1190 B.C.)

Late Helladic IIIC (ca. 1190-1050 B.C.)

Mycenaean Pictorial Art and Pottery

FRESCOES
The most comprehensive, recent study of Mycenaean wall-painting is that by Sara Immerwahr (1990), a
work which also surveys Minoan painting and therefore devotes considerable attention both to the
differences between Minoan and Mycenaean fresco art and to the origins of figural wall- and floor149

painting in the Aegean world. Much of what follows here is based on an earlier survey of Mycenaean
wall-painting by Mabel Lang in her publication of the murals from the palace at Pylos (1969). Aside from
Pylos, substantial numbers of wall-paintings are also known from Mycenae, Orchomenos, Thebes, and
Tiryns. Mycenaean frescoes need not come from palaces, although the vast majority of them so far
published do. There are, for example, post-palatial (i.e. LH IIIC) frescoes known from Mycenae, as well
as frescoes of the palatial period from a private house in Argos and a "mansion" or possible mini-palace
at Zygouries (the so-called "Potter's Shop"). The earliest Mycenaean frescoes so far discovered come
from dump deposits at Mycenae and probably date to the LH IIA period of the late 16th or early 15th
century B.C.
The Pylos frescoes - those found in the ruins of the palace, whether actually in situ on walls or fallen from
them, as well as those found in various dumps around the palace - may all be dated to the later LH IIIB
period, ca. 1250-1200 B.C. These frescoes show:
(1) That much the same range of representational motifs appears in frescoes of ca. 1250 B.C. as can be
found in frescoes of the period ca. 1750-1375 B.C. on Crete [Neopalatial and earlier Final Palatial
pereiods] and in the islands. Thus the art of fresco painting is characterized on the Mycenaean Mainland
by a tenacity of tradition that can be compared with that of oral formulaic poetry, particularly well
illustrated in the poetry of Homer.
This tradition was established by the Minoans, although Cameron has observed a number of features in
the depiction of large-scale female figures in Mycenaean frescoes of the LH IIIA-B periods which are to
be derived from Theran (or generally Cycladic) rather than Minoan antecedents and which suggest that
fresco art may have been transmitted to the Mainland from Crete through the Cyclades rather than
directly. One result of the extreme conservatism of Mycenaean fresco art is that it is impossible to date
Mycenaean murals by their subject matter alone. The repetitiousness of Mycenaean fresco iconography
also suggests that "pattern books" of some sort may have been in circulation on the Greek Mainland
during the later half of the Late Bronze Age.
(2) That fresco formulas, like the literary formulas in oral poetry, may in theory become misunderstood
with the passage of time. Thus, for example, Mycenaean versions of bull-jumping differ so substantially
from Minoan ones that modern authorities have questioned whether bull-jumping was still an activity
actually practiced by the Mycenaeans. That is, the novel compositional aspects of such scenes could
reflect misunderstanding of an artistic formula rather than a genuine change in the sport of bull-jumping.
(3) That the chronology of Mycenaean fresco art established by Rodenwaldt on the basis of the murals
excavated at Tiryns by Schliemann and Drpfeld is wildly optimistic. Rodenwaldt had maintained, for
example, that in early frescoes ground lines and contour lines were avoided, that borders of simple bands
were preferred to toothed borders, and that changing background colors were preferred to a constant blue
backdrop. He had concluded that the earlier frescoes were simply better paintings. The contextual
evidence from Pylos shows that such stylistic criteria are meaningless for the purposes of identifying
chronological stages in the development of fresco art there. For example, at Pylos borders of simple bands
are late while the toothed borders are early.
Lang feels that at least the Pylos frescoes, if not all Mycenaean wall-paintings, were more often
decorative than functionally significant in some other sense. There is, in her opinion, no reason to believe
that any of the Pylos paintings show true representations of everyday life in the form of hunting or
combat, processional or religious scenes. Since the subject matter of all these paintings is derivative, they
need not reflect contemporary activities. In this sense, then, there is a pronounced contrast with Minoan
palatial fresco art, which in its choice of scenes certainly seems to have concerned itself primarily with
real activities conducted on a regular basis in or around the palace building (i.e. bull-jumping, dancing,
boxing, and processional scenes). However, it must be kept in mind that the purely decorative character of
the wall paintings at Pylos may simply reflect the individual tastes of the local dynast, as do a number of
the architectural peculiarities of that palace. At other palaces on the Greek Mainland, murals may have
played a rather different functional role, and hence Lang's conclusions about the use of frescoes as
"wallpaper" may not be applicable to all or even most Mycenaean fresco art. Yet even if the Pylos
frescoes are conceded to be largely decorative in function, certain motifs and themes are clearly
considered appropriate for specific architectural locales: large lions and wingless griffins, for example,
occur only in rooms with large ceremonial hearths, while processions of large-scale human figures
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decorate the walls of the porch and vestibule immediately preceding the throne room. As in Minoan
painting, marine creatures typically decorate floors rather than walls (although a frieze of nautili appears
on at least one Pylian wall), in marked contrast to the situation in the Cyclades (e.g. the extensive use of
marine motifs on the walls of Room 5 in the West House at Akrotiri).
Categories of Subject Matter
Scenery
"Pylos has little to show of nature for nature's sake." There is nothing at Pylos comparable to such scenes
as the "Springtime Fresco" from Akrotiri, the frescoes showing blue monkeys picking flowers or romping
about in a troupe from Knossos and Akrotiri, or the famous mural showing a cat stalking a bird from Ayia
Triadha. Indeed, at Pylos many living forms including bluebirds, dogs, and nautili are reduced to the
status of lifelessly repeated motifs employed in continuous friezes. The only plant forms which remain
natural at Pylos are the flowers sometimes carried by women.
Animals
Animals have varied roles in the Pylos frescoes, but all animals are depicted primarily in terms of their
interaction with human beings. Scenes within which only animals appear in a naturalistic landscape are
extremely rare. In the hunting scenes, animals are man's victims. They are included in other scenes as his
property or his helpers (horses, dogs, a bull). Animals also figure importantly as symbols, presumably of
royal power, in the form of alternating lions and wingless griffins. Only once at Pylos does an animal
appear in a natural setting, in the form of a life-size deer in a fragmentary scene which includes a papyrus
plant, found in Stairway 36 east of the main megaron and either fallen from a room on the second storey
or, more probably, decorating the wall of the throne room opposite the throne itself.
The employment of animals in anthropocentric settings appears to be common to all Mycenaean wall
painting and not a characteristic of the Pylos murals alone. Compare, for example, such well-known
scenes as the boar hunt from Tiryns (known also in a virtually identical rendering at Orchomenos), the
deer hunt from Tiryns, the bull-jumping panels from Mycenae and Tiryns, and the appearance of horses
hitched to chariots at both Tiryns and Mycenae.
Disconnected Vignettes
In two distinct areas within the palace at Pylos (the inner propylon; fallen into Room 20 from the second
storey), a broad medial frieze framed above and below by narrow friezes of nautili features various
unconnected, small scenes scattered across a solidly colored background that alternates from blue to light
tan or white. The individual small scenes, or vignettes, including shrine facades, individual grazing
animals, and gossiping pairs of ladies, probably recurred again and again over this medial frieze in much
the same fashion that the motifs of contemporary wallpaper are endlessly repeated.
Somewhat similar, but seemingly less regular and repetitive, and so likely to be thematically significant
rather than purely decorative, are the figures of the lyre player accompanied by a bird, two distinct pairs
of men at a smaller scale seated at tables feasting, and a much larger bull (possibly part of a sacrificial
scene) which decorated the wall in the throne room just to the spectator's right of the throne. These three
sets of figures have been argued by McCallum to be part of a single composition in which a bull is being
led into the palace first for sacrifice, and the for consumption in the royal hall hall by the king and his
retainers. A noteworthy feature of the feast in the megaron is the singing of a bard reciting epic poetry to
theaccompaniment of music he plays on a lyre. If McCallum is correct, a further peculiarity of
Mycenaean fresco art at this site would be the radical discrepancy in scale between the various elements
of this larger composition, a discrpancy that appears to have nothing to do with any attempt to indicate
spatial depth or distance.
Human Activity
Two classes of such scenes may be differentiated on the basis of varying scales and subjects. Scenes on a
small or miniature scale at Pylos include scenes of the hunt, of battle or of the preparation for battle, of
offering and sacrifice, and of banqueting. Hunting and battle scenes on this small scale are also known
from Mycenae, Tiryns, and possibly Orchomenos. The subject matter of these frescoes is thus far not well
paralleled at this scale in Minoan painting (except possibly in the miniature frescoes from Tylissos that
depict, among other things, boxers), but does appear to have had antecedents on a miniature scale in LM
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IA frescoes from Ayia Irini on Keos and Akrotiri on Thera. Scenes featuring life-size human figures of
both sexes are common enough at Pylos but all appear to be processions of one sort or another. Similar
scenes occur at both Tiryns and Thebes, and all such scenes are of course closely comparable to LM IIIIIA antecedents in the Corridor of the Procession and on the Grand Staircase at Knossos.
POTTERY
The development of Mycenaean pottery can be broken down into four major stages as follows:
Late Helladic I-IIA (ca. 1675/1650 - 1490/1470 B.C.)
The fine wares decorated with lustrous paint which constitute the basis for the differentiation between
distinct LH I and LH IIA styles are heavily dependent on Minoan prototypes for both shapes and painted
patterns. There is, at the same time, a considerable Middle Helladic "hangover" which takes the form of a
persistence of Matt-painted wares and Middle Helladic shapes. For at least the first half-century of the
period under discussion, the component of Mycenaean ceramics inspired by Minoan models constitutes
only a small fraction of the total amount of pottery in early Mycenaean contexts. There is currently a good
deal of debate as to where the first recognizably Mycenaean (as opposed to Middle Helladic) style of the
Late Helladic I period arose. Some see this development taking place in the northeast Peloponnese
(probably in the Argolid, in the vicinity of Mycenae), but equally compelling evidence suggests that this
style appeared first in the southern Peloponnese, probably in Laconia, as the result of Minoan potters,
possibly from Kythera, taking up residence at coastal sites on the Greek Mainland such as Ayios
Stephanos.
Late Helladic IIB-IIIA1 (ca. 1490/1470 - 1390/1370 B.C.)
With the collapse of Minoan palatial civilization and the possibility that Mycenaeans were temporarily in
control of the palace at Knossos, the Mainland ceramic tradition begins to break away from Minoan
stylistic domination. The lengthy process by which Mainland Greek potters concocted increasingly more
abstract versions of what were originally naturalistic Minoan forms of ornament begins in earnest in this
phase and is soon transmitted to Crete itself.
Late Helladic IIIA2-B (ca. 1390/1370 -1190 B.C.)
Shortly after this stage begins, the palace at Knossos suffers a major destruction, after which Mycenaean
cultural forms become as dominant throughout the southern Aegean as Minoan forms had been earlier, if
not indeed more so. During this period Cyprus, the Levant, and Egypt for the first time come into close
and intense contact with the Aegean, as masses of imported Mycenaean pottery from sites throughout the
eastern Mediterranean reveal. The Mycenaean pottery style of the first three-quarters of this two-centurylong era has been termed the "koine style" (from Greek koinos = "common, shared") after its remarkable
uniformity, both technical and stylistic, over a vast area of the eastern and central Mediterranean. It
becomes virtually impossible during this century and a half to distinguish where in the Mycenaean world
a particular vase is likely to have been made. Pottery from the Lipari islands north of Sicily in the west to
that from Cyprus and the Levant in the east forms a stylistic continuum and regional traits are extremely
difficult to detect.
In the second half of the 13th century B.C. - that is, the advanced LH IIIB period that is actually known as
LH IIIB2 in the northeastern Peloponnese - this stylistic uniformity begins to break up at more or less the
same time as Peloponnesian exports to Cyprus decline dramatically.
Late Helladic IIIC (ca. 1190-1050 B.C.)
Within twenty years of the destruction of the last Mycenaean palaces, ceramic regionalism becomes
moticeably more apparent, presumably reflecting the progressively more severe breakdown of trade and
international contacts during this troubled period. Pottery noew begins to deteriorate in quality and, in
spite of a brilliant but brief renaissance in various areas of the Aegean around the third quarter of the 12th
century which produced a series of regionally distinct ceramic styles of high quality and considerable art
historical interest (e.g. Close Style, Octopus Style, Pictorial Style, Fringed Style), this decline in the
ceramic art continues inexorably until, at the end of the LH IIIC period (equivalent to so-called
"Submycenaean" in some areas), Mainland Greek pottery sinks to a nadir in both technical and artistic
terms after which it can only improve. The pottery of this final period is characterized by a poverty in the
repertoires of shapes and painted patterns which indicates that the production of pottery may have been
reduced to little more than a household industry, in contrast to the large and productive workshops which
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had been supported in better times by the palatial economies of a sizable number of flourishing
Mycenaean kingdoms.
Detailed Survey of Mycenaean Ceramic Developments, Period by Period
Late Helladic I (ca. 1675/1650 - 1600/1550 B.C.)
The pottery of this period varies considerably from area to area. In general, the further south the site, the
greater the degree of Minoan influence. The ware which most closely distinguishes the pottery of this
phase from that of the late Middle Helladic period is a fine ware painted with patterns in lustrous paint in
a dark-on-light style (the so-called "LH I style"). Both the shapes (the favorites being the Vapheio cup,
the semiglobular cup, the alabastron, and the piriform jar) and patterns of this ware are largely derived
from LM IA pottery. Also appearing at this time is a fine ware coated all over with paint varying from red
to black in color, depending on firing conditions. This ware, Mycenaean monochrome painted, is the
direct descendant of Gray and Black Minyan, which disappear during the course of LH I, and the most
popular single shape is therefore not surprisingly the goblet. The Yellow Minyan of late Middle Helladic
merges imperceptibly into Mycenaean unpainted ware, the favorite shape again being the goblet. A
variety of Matt-painted wares continue from late Middle Helladic into LH I. For example, most of the
large closed vessels of LH I which bear any painted decoration at all are Matt-painted. Large bowls and
kraters decorated in two colors of matt paint in styles known as "Aeginetan Bichrome" and "Mainland
Polychrome" are also typical of the LH I period. Some Minoan and Cycladic shapes, such as Vapheio and
Panel cups, are manufactured in Mainland wares (e.g. Matt-painted, Gray Minyan, Mycenaean
unpainted).
Late Helladic IIA (ca. 1600/1550 - 1490/1470 B.C.)
The amount of fine pottery decorated with lustrous paint increases dramatically in this phase, and there is
increased uniformity, both in the painting style and in other aspects of the overall ceramic assemblage,
throughout the Peloponnese. Central Greece, however, is still characterized by pottery more Helladic than
Minoanizing, a clear indication that the shift in ceramics caused by Minoan influence travelled gradually
rather than suddenly, from south to north and probably from the coast toward the interior. The shape
range of the LH IIA decorated style expands beyond that typical of LH I to include goblets, jugs, and jars.
Although heavily dependent on LM IB models for its motifs, this LH IIA style includes relatively few
close imitations of the distinctively Minoan Marine and Alternating styles of the period. Matt-painted
wares become much less common and Gray Minyan has by now disappeared.
Late Helladic IIB (ca. 1490/1470 - 1435/1405 B.C.)
The hallmark of this period is the Ephyraean style, most commonly represented on goblets but also
attested on ewers and jugs, a style quite possibly to be interpreted as a Mainland spin-off of the LM IB
Alternating style. The restricted shape range of the Ephyraean style suggests that potters may have
exploited it only for producing matched drinking sets of jugs, goblets, and dippers (or high-handled cups)
plus the occasional krater [or mixing bowl]. The total stylistic dependence of Mainland Greek pottery on
Minoan ceramics is now at an end. Indeed, the pottery of LM II Knossos, in particular the Minoan version
of the Ephyraean goblet, shows that artistic influence was now travelling in the reverse direction, from the
Mainland to Crete. Typical painted patterns are ivy, lilies, nautili, and blotchy stipple. Matt-painted
pottery is by now very rare and has to all intents and purposes disappeared by LH IIIA1.
Late Helladic IIIA1 (ca. 1435/1405 - 1390/1370 B.C.)
The early Mycenaean goblet now begins to lengthen its stem and to have a shallower bowl on its way to
becoming the late Mycenaean kylix. The Vapheio cup, a hallmark of early Mycenaean pottery, is
transformed into the later Mycenaean mug and becomes much rarer in this form. The stirrup jar first
appears in appreciable quantity. The most popular patterns are fine stipple and curve-stemmed spirals,
while naturalistic motifs become both less popular and more stylized. In the monochrome painted and
fine unpainted wares, the goblet also begins its metamorphosis into the kylix.
Late Helladic IIIA2 (ca. 1390/1370 - 1320/1300 B.C.)
The kylix is now the dominant open shape in settlement deposits, while the stirrup jar, piriform jar, and
alabastron are the most frequently found shapes in tombs. Two new motifs are introduced which soon
dominate pattern-painted decoration: the whorl-shell and the LH III flower, both in stylized rather than
naturalistic forms. The large deposits of Aegean pottery from Tell el-Amarna in Egypt, particularly in
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terms of the closed forms, provide an excellent illustration of the contemporary shape range.
Monochrome painted ware by this time has a shape range restricted largely to kylikes and stemmed
bowls, although in some areas such as Attica there are also a number of closed shapes, especially jugs, in
this ware. Fine unpainted ware has a vast range of both open and closed shapes.
Late Helladic IIIB (ca. 1320/1300 - 1190 B.C.)
The pottery of this period is distinguished from that of the preceding LH IIIA period by the presence of
the deep bowl in both painted and unpainted wares and by the appearance of the unpainted conical kylix.
Panelled patterns are also indicators of a LH IIIB or later date. It is not long before the deep bowl ousts
the kylix as the most popular decorated shape, although the kylix retains its dominance in unpainted ware
until the early LH IIIC period, after which unpainted ware appears to decline drastically in popularity.
Two subphases within the LH IIIB period have been distinguished in the Argolid:
(a) LH IIIB1: characterized by an equal mix of painted deep bowls and kylikes, the kylikes being mostly
of the "Zygouries" type and the deep bowls all being of the "Group A" type.
(b) LH IIIB2: characterized by the complete absence of pattern-decorated kylikes and by the appearance
of the "Group B" and "Rosette" types of deep bowl.
It is unclear how long the first sub-phase is relative to the second, but the palaces of Mycenae and Tiryns,
as well as the citadel at Midea, are destroyed at the end of LH IIIB2. The palace at Pylos and the site of
the Menelaion near Sparta are also destroyed late in LH IIIB, although it is not currently possible to date
their destructions precisely with relation to those in the Argolid.
Late Helladic IIIC (ca. 1190-1050 B.C.)
The growing ceramic regionalism characteristic of this period reflects the collapse of a strongly
centralized political system and of the efficient communications network which accompanied it. Thanks
to the relatively large number of site-wide destructions suffered during these troubled times, it is possible
to subdivide it into several different phases:
Early Phase
The "Medium Band" type of deep bowl appears. Linear decoration only is characteristic on most painted
shapes. Occasional new shapes, such as the carinated cup, appear, and new arrangements of decoration, or
decorative syntaxes, on specific shapes (e.g. linear banding on semiglobular cups and kylikes) distinguish
new versions of old shapes from their LH IIIB predecessors. An odd, handmade and burnished class of
pottery lacking an ancestry within the Mycenaean world appears in contexts immediately post-dating the
great destructions of the Argive palace sites and major citadels. This non-Mycenaean pottery has close
parallels with pottery from Troy VIIb1, southern Italy, and Sicily, where, however, such pottery appears
to be equally alien to the established local ceramic traditions. Although the original homeland of such
pottery has been hypothesized perhaps most convincingly to be the Middle Danube region of central
Europe, there is as yet no scholarly consensus on this subject.
Developed Phase
There is a renaissance in pattern-painted pottery, much of it bearing representational rather than purely
abstract motifs, in a variety of regional styles: Close Style (Argolid), Octopus Style (eastern Attica,
Cyclades, Dodecanese), Pictorial or Fantastic Style (Lefkandi), Fringed Style (Crete). Non-Mycenaean
handmade and burnished pottery disappears at some sites but appears to persist at others. Scenes
depicting warriors become increasingly popular, both as foot-soldiers (e.g. the famous Warrior Vase from
Mycenae) and as chariot-borne troops.
Late Phase
The pottery of this phase is thus far poorly known. However, it is clear that the exuberant decoration of
the Developed Phase has disappeared. Patterns are very simple when they do occur. Most of the pottery,
in a very restricted range of shapes, is decorated either with simple bands or with a solid coating of paint.
The phase known as "Submycenaean", attested principally in Attica and the Argolid, is simply the last
stage of this final sub-phase of the LH IIIC period.

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Lesson 25: The Linear B Tablets and Mycenaean Social, Political, and Economic Organization

THE DATE OF THE KNOWN LINEAR B TEXTS

THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE DECIPHERMENT OF LINEAR B AS GREEK

THE MYCENAEAN SOCIAL ORDER

WA-NA-KA [wanax]

RA-WA-KE-TA [lawagetas]

TE-RE-TA (telestas)

KA-MA-E-U [kamaeus(?)]

E-QE-TA [heqetas]

KE-RO-SI-JA [geronsia]

DA-MO [damos]

KO-RE-TE, PO-RO-KO-RE-TE [koreter, prokoreter]

DO-E-RO, DO-E-RA [doeros, doera]

CONCLUSIONS

The Linear B Tablets and Mycenaean Social. Political, and Economic Organization
The Nature and Use of the Linear B Script
Linear B is a principally syllabic script written with some 89 different signs which have been deciphered
as representing both bare vowels (i.e. a, e, i, o, u) and open syllables of the form consonant+vowel (e.g.
pa, pe, pi, po, pu). Closed syllables consisting either of vowel+consonant or of
consonant+vowel+consonant do not occur. In addition to the syllabic signs there are over one hundred
ideograms (signs representing physical objects, numerals, measures of weight and of liquid and dry
volumes, and a variety of commodities). Forty-five of the Linear B syllabic signs have close equivalents
in Linear A, while a further ten have more doubtful parallels in the older script. There is therefore general
scholarly consensus that Linear B was derived from Linear A for the purpose of writing a different, nonMinoan language which happens to have been deciphered as an early form of Greek. It is still unknown
where, when, why, by whom, and under what circumstances the Linear B writing system was devised for
this purpose although several suggestions have been proposed as solutions to each of these five
fundamental questions.
Linear B, in the form of sign groups which form words as opposed to isolated signs with a variety of
possible significances, occurs in only two forms of text. The first and most important consists of tablets of
unbaked clay which have survived due to the fact that they were burned and hence crudely fired, usually
in fires which destroyed the buildings in which they have been found. These tablets are of two principal
types: long and thin "palm-leaf" tablets and rectangular "page" tablets. The second form of Linear B text
consists of painted inscriptions on ceramic vessels, for the most part large, coarse stirrup jars on whose
shoulders between one and three words were painted before the vessels were intentionally fired.
Tablets have been found only at palatial centers, whether on the Mycenaean Mainland (Mycenae, Tiryns,
Pylos, Thebes) or at non-Mainland sites controlled by Mycenaean rulers (Knossos, Chania). In the case of
Pylos, Thebes, and Knossos, tablets were found in palace archives, although at both Pylos and Knossos
tablets have also been found in a variety of contexts within the palaces other than special archive rooms.
At Mycenae, tablets have been found in burnt debris within the citadel, arguably fallen down the hillside
from the palace on top of the hill, but they have also been found in LH IIIB1 contexts in houses outside
the citadel, houses which may conceivably have belonged to merchants rather than to the king himself. At
Tiryns, tablets have been found only in debris on the slopes of the citadel; their original place of storage is
uncertain. The only major archives to have been discovered thus far where the material preserved is
sufficiently abundant for us to be able to attempt reconstruction of major portions of the administrative
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system of a Mycenaean kingdom are those at Pylos (1107 tablets written by 32 different scribes) and
Knossos (3369 tablets written by 100 distinct scribes).
In contrast, painted Linear B inscriptions have been found at both palatial and non-palatial sites on both
the Mainland and Crete: six or more examples at the sites of Thebes, Mycenae, Tiryns, and Chania, and
between one and five examples at the sites of Orchomenos, Kreusis (in southwestern Boeotia), Eleusis,
Knossos, and the Mameloukas Cave (in western Crete). A good number of these jars were made, and
hence painted, in West Crete in the Chania area during the LM IIIB period. They indicate not only that
Greek was spoken during this period in western Crete but also that Chania was the capital of a
Mycenaean kingdom at this time. The concentration of inscribed stirrup jars in Boeotia, the Argolid, and
Crete is notable: of some 140 known jars of this type, none have so far been found in the well-explored
region of Messenia (whose capital at Pylos has been extensively excavated) nor have any been found in
the Cyclades or in any area of the Peloponnese outside of the Argolid.
THE DATE OF THE KNOWN LINEAR B TEXTS
The tablets from the citadel of Mycenae and from Thebes, as well as all but five of the over 1100 tablets
from Pylos, are firmly dated to the end of the 13th century B.C. by the burnt destruction contexts in which
they were found. The tablets from Tiryns probably date from the same period, although they were found
in wash deposits containing later material. The tablets from the houses outside the walls at Mycenae are
earlier in date, although probably no more than fifty years earlier. How much earlier than ca. 1250 B.C. a
group of five odd tablets from Pylos may be, three of which resemble Knossian Linear B more closely in
paleographic terms than they do Mainland Greek Linear B, is uncertain. For many years, the tablets at
Knossos were dated within the period ca. 1425-1385 B.C. [end of LM II or ca. 1425 B.C. (Evans); early
LM IIIA2 or ca. 1385 B.C. (Popham)], but there is a growing consensus that they are to be attributed not
to the destruction horizon of ca. 1385 B.C. at Knossos but rather to a subsequent destruction of the site
sometime in the mid- to later 13th century, that is, to a period broadly contemporary with the Linear B
tablets from the Mainland. The most recent and perhaps most decisive piece of evidence in favor of a later
dating in the 13th century B.C. for the Knossos tablets is the discovery of a pair of tablets at Chania in a
LM IIIB1 destruction context, one of which appears to have been written by a scribal hand already known
at Knossos. All of the inscribed stirrup jars which come from well-dated contexts are datable to the 13th
century B.C. (LM/LH IIIIB) and these include an example from Knossos itself. It is now beginning to
appear that Linear B, both on the Mainland and in Crete, is a phenomenon strictly of the 13th century
B.C. It is therefore becoming increasingly difficult to argue that Linear B was created much if at all
earlier than ca. 1350-1300 B.C. Theories that connect the beginning of Linear B with the appearance of
Mycenaeans at Knossos ca. 1450-1425 B.C. or with the presence of Minoan artisans on the Greek
Mainland at an even earlier period ca. 1600-1500 B.C. (the era of the Shaft Grave burials at Mycenae)
may have to be abandoned as a result of the redating of the Knossos tablets.
THE ACCEPTANCE OF THE DECIPHERMENT OF LINEAR B AS GREEK
Most Aegean prehistorians have accepted Ventris' decipherment of 1952, but there are some notable
exceptions (e.g. Sinclair Hood). The grounds for continuing to reject the decipherment may be
summarized as follows:
(1) The "spelling rules" of Linear B are so complex that a given word as "spelled" in Linear B may be
interpreted (that is, transliterated and spelled out in the modern Western European alphabet) in a large
number of different ways. It is therefore argued that the interpretation of any one word is a largely
subjective process. [For the Linear B spelling rules, see M. Ventris and J. Chadwick, Documents in
Mycenaean Greek [2nd edition] (Cambridge 1973) 42-48].
(2) Even a "deciphered" Linear B text is often largely or completely unintelligible because the Mycenaean
Greek words have no cognates in later Greek. The decipherers argue that such Mycenaean words dropped
out of the Greek language at some point between ca. 1200 and ca. 650 B.C. In a number of instances
where such later Greek cognates do exist, the Mycenaean Greek predecessor clearly means something
rather different, an indication, or so the skeptics argue, that the language of Linear B is being forced to
become Greek. In a number of cases where words are unintelligible, their lack of "meaning" is explained
by the decipherers as being due to the fact that the word in question is a proper name, either of a person or
of a place. The skeptics argue that this is a further instance of the decipherers' refusal to admit that Linear
B is in fact not Greek at all.
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The decipherers point out that the clumsy spelling rules are a result of the fact that Linear B is derived
directly from Linear A, a writing system designed for a non-Greek language. Features such as consonant
clusters, terminal -s, and distinctions between r and l , g and k, and p and b, all of which occur in Greek,
do not appear to have been characteristic of this Minoan language, and hence cause bizarre problems in
the "spelling" of Greek words in the modified form of Linear A (i.e. Linear B) which was used to write
Greek.
THE MYCENAEAN SOCIAL ORDER
The following terms in Linear B refer to Mycenaean officials and form the basis of our reconstruction of
the Mycenaean social order:
WA-NA-KA [wanax]
Mentioned at both Pylos and Knossos, only one wanax appears to have existed at either place. The use of
wanax as an archaic form of the normal word basileus for "king" in the Iliad and the evident importance
of this personage at Pylos justify the English translation of "king" for WA-NA-KA. In some cases, wanax
appears to be used in the tablets as a divine title, but this does not necessarily imply that the wanax was
some sort of priest-king. Some tradesmen - a potter, a fuller, and an armorer(?) - are referred to by the
adjectival form wanakteros and were therefore presumably in some sense in the "royal" service. Some of
the painted stirrup jars from Thebes, Eleusis, Tiryns, and Chania are labelled in paint with the same
adjective, wanaktero. These jars, which are among those almost certainly made in western Crete,
presumably contained produce (wine or oil) from "royal" vineyards or olive orchards. They are
particularly significant as indicating that there was a LM IIIB wanax of western Crete, presumably one
resident at the important site of Chania (Classical Kydonia, Linear B KU-DO-NI-JA). The wanax of
Pylos was a major landholder. It has been suggested, on the basis of unfortunately inconclusive evidence,
that his name was Enkhelyawon (or something similar). There is no archaeological evidence for the
Iliad's King Nestor, nor is Enkhelyawon recognizable among any of the Messenian heroes of Classical
saga and legend.
RA-WA-KE-TA [lawagetas]
Mentioned at both Pylos and Knossos, again only one such figure appears to have existed at either place.
At Pylos, he occurs second after the wanax in a list of major landholders. As in the case of the wanax,
certain personnel are qualified with an adjectival form derived from lawagetas, lawagesios. Etymology
suggests that lawagetas literally means "leader of the people" (las + gein). Parallels for such a figure in
Teutonic societies suggest that he may have been a war leader. However, there is no solid evidence from
Mycenaean archaeology that he fulfilled such a function - he may have been a crown-prince or something
else altogether.
TE-RE-TA (telestas)
Such personnel are known at both Pylos and Knossos. The title telestas occurs almost exclusively in texts
dealing with land tenure. In the list of landholders from Pylos referred to above, three telestai appear who
together hold as much land as the wanax and who, on average, hold as much as the lawagetas. Telestai
are numerous - we know of fourteen at PA-KI-JA-NE in the Pylian kingdom and of at least forty-five at
Aptara in western Crete. It is far from clear exactly what the function of a telestas was, but there are two
major theories:
(1) Telestai were religious officials of some kind. PA-KI-JA-NE was a cult center in the Pylian kingdom
and the later Greek word tele has religious connotations.
(2) Telestai were fief-holders, persons who held land from someone (possibly the king) in return for
services which they rendered to him. The Greek word tele often has the meaning of "taxes" or "dues".
KA-MA-E-U [kamaeus(?)]
Although this title occurs at both Pylos and Knossos, at Knossos it may be no more than a personal name.
The term appears to describe a form of landholder whose holding (kama-land) differs in some as yet
undetermined way from the holdings of the wanax, the lawagetas, and the telestai which are called
temenoi. The men who bear the title of kamaeus appear to be humble and include a baker(?) and a "slave
of the god".
E-QE-TA [heqetas]
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Heqetai are known from both Pylos and Knossos. In Classical Greek, the equivalent word (hepetas)
means nothing more than "companion, follower". But Palmer and others have compared Mycenaean
heqetas to Homeric hetairos and translate the term in the sense of "companion to the king" (compare
Alexander the Great's hetairoi/companions, a select group of royal comrades-in-arms, as well as the Latin
word comes (also meaning "companion") which became a military title in the later Roman Empire and
went on to give rise to such aristocratic titles as the French comte and the English count). In the Linear B
tablets, heqetai are distinguished by the use of the patronymic following their names, an otherwise rare
way of identifying an individual in the tablets. Heqetai appear in contexts dealing with bodies of troops
(the "watchers of the sea" in the O-KA series of tablets from Pylos) where they seem to function as staff
officers or possibly as liaison officers to the king or central military authority. They are also occasionally
mentioned in contexts relating to land tenure. They may have slaves and are distinguished by a particular
kind of garment (probably a cloak of some kind) and by a particular type of chariot wheel. The
implication that heqetai possessed chariots has led most scholars to view them as a warrior caste of some
kind, closely attached to the wanax. The temptation to connect the heqetai as a class with the occupants of
the LM II-IIIA1 "Warrior Graves" at Knossos has therefore been considerable, although the Linear B
tablets in which heqetai are mentioned probably all postdate the era of the Knossian "Warrior Graves" by
at least a century and perhaps by as much as 175 years. A comparable chariot-borne warrior class known
in Akkadian as the mariyannu existed somewhat earlier in some Near Eastern societies (e.g. among the
Hurrians).
QA-SI-RE-U [quasileus = basileus]
Personnel bearing this title are known from Pylos, Knossos, and Thebes. The connection of Linear B QASI-RE-U with Homeric basileus meaning "king" is undeniable, but it is equally clear that the Mycenaean
quasileus was nothing more than some kind of chief or leader of a small group, in one case a group of
bronzesmiths. In some contexts the quasileus may have been in charge of small, outlying districts, in
which case the metamorphosis from Mycenaean "village headman" to Homeric "chieftain/king" would be
explicable in view of the chaotic conditions which followed the collapse first of Mycenaean palatial
civilization and then of Mycenaean civilization in a broader sense during the period ca. 1200-1000 B.C.
An extreme view held by Palmer insists that QA-SI-RE-U and words derived from it never occur in
Mycenaean contexts not involving craftsmen in some way and therefore that quasileus signifies nothing
more than a man in charge of an industrial or manufacturing unit.
KE-RO-SI-JA [geronsia]
Attested only at Pylos, this word in the single instance where it occurs is associated with a man who is
known from another context to have been a quasileus. It is thus possible that the geronsia is a council of
elders presided over by a quasileus or chief, presumably a local administrative council rather than a body
with responsibilities for any wider area, such as a province or the kingdom as a whole. The Classical
Greek equivalent attested in many different Greek city-states is the gerousia or council of elders
(gerontes).
DA-MO [damos]
In the Knossos and Pylos tablets, the damos is an entity which can allocate landholdings. It is perhaps
best translated as "village", an English term which can refer either to the people of the community or to
the land held by that community. The Linear B evidence strongly suggests that the damos is nothing more
than a group of individual landholders, that is, a collective landholding body. There is nothing to suggest
that the term also had political significance, as it came to do in the Archaic and Classical periods with
reference to the "common people" (demos) as opposed to a hereditary nobility (aristoi; gennetai).
MO-RO-QA [moiroqquas]
Attested at both Pylos and Knossos, this word is the title of a local official whose importance is indicated
by the fact that a man by the name of Klymenos was at the same time MO-RO-QA, the commander of a
military unit, and a KO-RE-TE. Chadwick concludes that MO-RO-QA was a rank rather than an office,
but this need not have been so. There may be some connection between this title and the Classical Greek
word moira meaning "share, portion", the MO-RO-QA being a "shareholder" of some sort.

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KO-RE-TE, PO-RO-KO-RE-TE [koreter, prokoreter]

Such officials are known at both Knossos and Pylos. The titles bear a suspiciously close resemblance to
the Latin terms curator and procurator ("guardian" and "manager, imperial officer/governor"
respectively). The Linear B evidence suggests that the koreter was a local official in charge of one of the
sixteen major administrative units within the Pylian kingdom, and the prokoreter was evidently his
deputy.
DO-E-RO, DO-E-RA [doeros, doera]
Such personnel are common at both Pylos and Knossos. Although the later Greek cognates doulos and
doule mean "male slave" and "female slave" respectively, the Mycenaean Greek forms may have had a
significance closer to "servant, bondsman/bondswoman". Some DO-E-RO are clearly the property of
living individuals, while others are described as being "of (= belonging to) a god/goddess". There is some
evidence that the children of parents of whom only one was a slave were also slaves, a situation unlike
that prevailing in Classical Greece. Slaves of a divinity are the most common form at Pylos, but it is
possible that a "god's slave" had a status quite different from that of other slaves, since s/he could have
leases on land and appears to have lived in much the same fashion as ordinary free persons.
CONCLUSIONS
If the decipherment of Linear B as an early form of Greek is accepted, we may conclude that the
Mycenaean social order features at least some, and possibly all, of the following:
1. A king, the wanax.
2. A warrior caste, the heqetai.
3. A class of slaves or serfs, the doeroi and doerai.
4. Priests and priestesses of particular divinities (see following handout on Mycenaean religion), as well
as "slaves" of divinities.
5. A series of local administrative officials (koreter, prokoreter, possibly also quasileus) and possibly
local councils (geronsia).
A notable feature of the Linear B texts is the complex system of land tenure which evidently existed in
the Pylian kingdom. This system has been argued by some to be at least partially feudal in nature (i.e. to
feature lands held from the king in return for services rendered to him), but others have denied the
existence of any evidence for feudalism. Hutchinson has compared the Mycenaean economic system to
that typical of Medieval monasteries.
To judge from the known tablets, there appear to have been a number of distinct kingdoms within
Mycenaean Greece, all of which seem to have been independent. In the Pylos texts, Pylos (or PU-RO in
Linear B) is clearly the capital of a Messenian kingdom and there is no mention of any superior monarch
or paramount king whom the wanax of Pylos acknowledged as an overlord, in contrast with the existence
of such a figure in the person of Agamemnon of Mycenae in the Iliad. Within the Argolid, we now have
possible evidence for the existence of independent Linear B archives at Mycenae and Tiryns, and it is
thus possible that these two sites may have been the capitals of independent kingdoms. All other sites
where Linear B tablets have been found are normally considered to have been the capitals of independent
kingdoms (Pylos, Knossos, Thebes).

Lesson 26: Mycenaean and Late Cycladic Religion and Religious Architecture

INTRODUCTION

MYCENAE
o

The Temple

The House with the Fresco

The Terracotta Figures

159

TIRYNS

AYIA IRINI

Middle Bronze Age

Late Bronze Age Preceding the Great Earthquake of LM IB/LH IIB, ca. 1490 B.C.

Late Helladic IIIA-B (ca. 1490-1200 B.C.)

Late Helladic IIIC (ca. 1200-1050 B.C.)

Early Iron Age (ca. 1050-700 B.C.)

Archaic to Hellenistic Periods (ca. 600-200 B.C.)

The Statues

PHYLAKOPI
o

Main Period of Use (ca. 1360-1120 B.C.)

Post-Destruction Phase (ca. 1120-1090 B.C.)

SUMMARY: Mycenaean and Late Cycladic Cult Buildings and Parallels with Late
Minoan Domestic Shrines

MYCENAEAN RELIGION AS EVIDENCED IN THE LINEAR B TEXTS

o

Texts from Knossos

Texts from Pylos

Mycenaean and Late Cycladic Religion and Religious Architecture

INTRODUCTION
As late as 1960, the evidence for Mycenaean and Late Cycladic religious architecture consisted of no
more than a single probable shrine within a house of undistinguished plan at LH IIIC Asine. Since then,
remarkable discoveries have been made at Mycenae and Tiryns on the Greek Mainland and at Ayia Irini
and Phylakopi on the Cycladic islands of Keos and Melos. Although only the finds from the shrine at
Phylakopi have as yet been published in detail, both these and preliminary reports on the finds at
Mycenae, Tiryns, and Ayia Irini have vastly increased our understanding of Aegean Late Bronze Age
religion outside of Crete over what was known in the year when Vermeule's Greece in the Bronze Age
was first published. The following summary focuses on the four newly discovered shrines and on the
evidence from Linear B texts from both Knossos and Pylos regarding Mycenaean cult practice.
MYCENAE
In the area within the citadel south of Grave Circle A and southwest of the palace, on a series of terraces
extending from just inside of the fortification wall to the slopes directly below the palace, a complex of
religious buildings has been cleared by W. D. Taylour and G. E. Mylonas. The best known of these
buildings, those excavated by Taylour and his team, are known as the "Temple" and the "House with the
Fresco". The entire complex, however, extends further to the southeast and includes Tsountas' House and
some altars on a terrace in front (i.e. to the north) of that building.
The Temple
This building has a megaroid plan consisting of a porch (the so-called "Vestibule") and a main room (the
so-called "Room with the Platforms'), with two annexes opening off of the back of the main room. The
western annex, a small triangular area, is often referred to as the "Alcove". The eastern annex, a small
rectangular room approached by stairs leading up from the main room, has been christened the "Room
with the Idols".
The Vestibule
Measuring some three meters deep by four-and-a-half across, this space contained nothing of note except
for a few nondescript vases. Some rubble constructions at the southwest are enigmatic. The entrance from
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the southwest was blocked up immediately after the great destruction within the citadel at the end of the
LH IIIB period.
The Room with the Platforms
In the approximate center of this room, which measures about 5.1 meters deep and 4.2 meters across, is a
low rectangular das with rounded corners, the whole plastered over with white clay. The position of this
feature suggests that it may have been a hearth, but no traces of any burning were associated with it.
Bases to support three wooden columns were found in a north-south row in the eastern portion of the
room. Against the east wall at its northern end was a series of rubble-built steps leading up into the Room
with the Idols. Along the north side of the room and stretching from the steps just mentioned to the west
wall were a number of plastered platforms with their tops at a variety of different levels. On the
northeastern platform stood a female idol in situ, its base actually plastered into the platform, with a small
tripod table of offerings crudely made of mud-plaster in front of it. The idol faced westward toward the
higher platforms in this direction.
The Alcove
In this peculiarly shaped triangular space, the bedrock, which rises generally toward the north and east in
this area, projects above the floor level in the northeastern portion of the room. The room is entered from
the Room with the Platforms at the south over a low sill located above the platforms in that room's
northwest corner. The southwest wall of the Alcove is awkwardly designed to link the northwest corner of
the Room with the Platforms to basements of other buildings further to the north. Poorly constructed, this
wall is considered by Taylour to have functioned as a screen wall shutting off any view of the bedrock
outcropping in the Alcove from persons walking down the passageway further to the west. With this
interpretation of the Alcove's southwest wall, Taylour suggests that the exposed bedrock within the room
had some cult significance, a viewpoint echoed by the excavator (Sakellarakis) of the much earlier
Minoan sanctuary at Anemospilia on the slopes of Mt. Iuktas in Crete with regard to a similar
outcropping in the central room of that more recently discovered cult building. The Alcove contained
numerous fragments of large terracotta figures (or idols) which in most cases mended up in such a fashion
as to produce less than half of the bodies of the original figures. Joins between fragments found in the
Alcove and other pieces from the nearby but not adjoining Room with the Idols indicate that these figures
were deposited in an already fragmentary state in the two annexes at the same time.
The Room with the Idols
Measuring approximately two meters square, this small room contained fragments of about eight large
terracotta figures standing between 0.50 and 0.60 m. high, of which the three most complete had their
faces turned toward a wall. Among eight somewhat smaller figures, one is a gaily painted and
considerably smaller (0.28 m. high) female, holding her breasts and decorated with painted motifs
suggestive of a late LH IIIA or early LH IIIB date. A good deal of pottery was found in this room,
including a bowl filled with an ivory comb, a small ivory figurine, a scarab bearing the name of Queen
Tiye of Egypt, the wife of Amenhotep III who reigned in the early 14th century B.C., a cowrie shell,
some beads of amber, rock crystal, lapis lazuli, and carnelian (all once part of a necklace?), and numerous
ornaments of glass-paste. The pottery was largely unpainted and was accompanied by three tripod "tables
of offerings" made of unbaked clay coated with stucco. Among the finds in the room were also at least six
terracotta snakes in coiled positions, two of them complete and all measuring 0.22 to 0.28 m. in diameter.
The door to the Room with the Idols from the Room with the Platforms had been walled up and
whitewashed prior to the great destruction by fire in this area at the end of the LH IIIB period, so that the
cult paraphernalia both in the former room and in the Alcove had been partially broken and purposefully
redeposited and, at least in the Room with the Idols, sealed before the citadel at Mycenae fell victim to
either sack or earthquake at the end of the 13th century B.C.
The House with the Fresco
Accessible only from the northwest, this complex is unconnected with the Temple to the southeast. The
building could not be fully cleared by Taylour, so that the rooms in its western portion cannot as yet be
described.

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Anteroom
The entire west side of this roughly square space is taken up by a broad doorway whose threshold consists
of a large block of conglomerate. Since thresholds of this material are not found elsewhere in this area of
the citadel at Mycenae, it has been suggested that this building must necessarily have been of some
importance. A second doorway at the southeast leads into the Room with the Fresco.
The Room with the Fresco
Measuring ca. 5.3 meters east-west by 3.5 meters north-south, this room has at its center a large oval
hearth bordered by large stones along its north and south sides. At the west end of the hearth is a drumshaped feature of clay-plastered earth in whose west side is a semicircular cutting where a wooden post or
column once stood. At the opposite or east end of the hearth, another earthen feature, in this case
horseshoe-shaped in plan, was also clay-plastered. In the center of the back of the horseshoe are traces of
another post or column emplacement, while there is a socket for yet another wooden fixture in the south
arm of the horseshoe. A good deal of pottery, some fairly complete, was found in and around this hearth,
which furnished abundant evidence of burning to support its functional identification.
Against the north wall of the room rested a terracotta larnax with a few vases lying around it. Along the
south side of the room ran a bench approximately one meter high and 0.70 m. wide, the upper surface of
which consisted of a layer of large stone slabs. No objects were found resting on the bench, but the fill
within it cntained a veritable treasure: numerous complete terracotta vases, some crushed lead vessels, a
stone macehead, a stone vase, an ivory sword pommel, and two superbly carved ivory figures, a couchant
lion 0.17 m. long and the head of a young man. The head has small holes for attachment drilled through
the neck, as well as a large vertical perforation from the neck through the top of the head; it may have
formed part of a scepter or piece of furniture.
In the room's southeast corner is a large platform built up against the mudbrick east wall. Just north of the
platform is a low step in the form of a quadrant of a circle. The southern end of the east wall of the room
and the adjoining north face of the platform were decorated with a fresco which preserves parts of five
human figures. At the right, in front of a column, is a large standing female figure facing left and holding
a spear or staff (?); she faces a second large female facing right, standing in front of a second column, and
holding what may be a large sword with its tip resting on the ground. Between these two female figures,
likely to be goddesses rather than mortal women, are two small male figures facing left, one above the
other, in a narrow vertical panel. Some distance away to the left and at a lower level is a smaller female in
front of yet another column; she is seated, holds two sheaves of grain (?), and appears to have had a
rampant animal, whose identity cannot be determined from what survives of it, in front of her. The entire
Room with the Fresco appears to have been purposefully filled in just before the great destruction at the
end of the LH IIIB period, since there is no trace of burning or destruction within it at floor level. The
fresco which gives the room its name was whitewashed over before the room went out of use.
The Room with the Ivories
This L-shaped room opens off the east end of the Room with the Fresco. In its northern part were found
numerous bits of ivory, including a cubical core, which at first suggested that the room functioned as an
ivory workshop. However, further digging revealed a low das in the southwest corner of the room on
which rested a small, elaborately painted female figure with raised arms. She faced northeast into the
room and directly in front of her was a little pile of 44 beads of glass paste. The floor of this room was
also littered with a large number of terracotta vases of no particular distinction.
West Room
Accessible only from the Room with the Fresco, this space was only partially excavated by Taylour and
produced no features of particular significance.
The Terracotta Figures
Large Figures
Twenty-one such figures are largely restorable, although few are altogether complete. Two quite evenly
represented sexes were originally distinguished by Taylour on the basis of differences in the modelling of
the upper torso and in the hair treatment: barrel chests were taken to identify males, flattened chests
females, while hair signified females, baldness males. Two figures with flattened chests but no hair
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necessarily had to be tentatively identified as "androgynous" or "hermaphroditic", a circumstance which

cast into considerable doubt the whole process of sexing the figures. More recently, Moore has suggested
that sex was not an important attribute of the figures in view of the fact that they are not clearly and
unambiguously divided into two and only two groups.
The arms of these figures are invariably raised. In four cases, the figures have both arms raised vertically,
perhaps to hold something like a necklace strung between the two hands. In four other cases, figures hold
their arms forward and upward but bent at the elbow so as to hold in front of them some form of cult
object, partially preserved in two cases, one being a hammer-axe held by a "male". In the cases of three
other figures, one certainly and two probably have the right arm raised vertically and the left extended
forward and bent at the elbow in the pose of a contemporary banner carrier. The painted decoration of all
these figures is individualized, although it consists of no more than varying coverage with a solid coat of
paint. Numerous holes pierced through the head and upper body may have aided in the firing of the
figures but perhaps also served as points from which added decoration in the form of jewelry, clothing,
etc. might have been hung. The bodies are coil-made, the heads wheel-made.
Smaller Figures
About half the size of the large figures, only three well-preserved examples exist, although there are
fragments of others. All are painted with patterned ornament in contrast to the solid coats of paint which
characterize the larger figures. Of the three complete pieces, all of which are female, one was found in the
Room with the Ivories, one in the Alcove, and one in the Room with the Idols. A very similar figure was
found by Mylonas some time ago in the northern part of the citadel at Mycenae, while the lower half of
yet another was found in a pure LH IIIA2 context at nearby Tsoungiza-Nemea in the summer of 1986. Of
the three from Mycenae found by Taylour and his team, the one found in situ on the das in the Room
with the Ivories has raised hands, thus resembling in its pose the Psi type of small Mycenaean female
figurine. The one from the Alcove is in the form of a piriform jar with added head and arms, the arms
held just below the breasts. One hand of this figure is actually missing, while the other grasps an only
partially preserved, and hence unidentifiable, attribute. The third figure, from the Room with the Idols,
holds her breasts.
Snakes
Some seventeen are preserved. Although unparalleled in this particular form, snakes are common enough
in Minoan cult
Significance
At least some, and possibly all, of the smaller anthropomorphic figures were objects of worship: this
much seems clear from the one found in situ on a das in a corner of the Room of the Ivories with a
number of offerings in front of it. The large, solidly painted figures, however, represent votaries or
worshippers in Moore's opinion, thus explaining why their sex is not a particularly important feature and
why each of the three attested dispositions of the arms is repeated multiply rather than the posture of each
and every figure being unique. The snakes are unlikely to have been worshipped themselves and probably
served simply as attributes of a chthonic, or earth, cult. Much of the cult paraphernalia, including nearly
all the figures, were sealed in blocked off or backfilled rooms before the final destruction of the palace at
Mycenae, perhaps to protect them from vandalism. Originally, most of the figures presumably stood on
the numerous platforms in the main room of the Temple. In spite of the possible presence of male figures
among the terracottas, all the major figures in the mural of the Room with the Fresco are female, arguably
all goddesses.
TIRYNS
A small megaroid shrine has been discovered recently by the German excavators of the Unterburg (or
Lower Citadel) at Tiryns. It consists simply of a very shallow porch opening into a small main room
which employs the fortification wall of the Unterburg as its back wall. The main room has a hearth at its
center and a bench against the back wall, a plan roughly comparable to that of LM III shrines such as the
Shrine of the Double Axes at Knossos. The Tirynthian shrine, in use for several phases during the LH
IIIC period but apparently no earlier than this, stood on one side of a relatively large open area in the
Lower Citadel. In each of its several distinct phases, pattern-painted female figures with raised arms stood
on the bench in its main room.
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AYIA IRINI
Just inside the main city gate was found a rectangular structure, which early in its history consisted of at
least six rooms and measured ca. 23 x 6 meters, surrounded on three sides by streets or passageways and
entered for most, if perhaps not quite all, of its existence from the southeast through one of its short sides.
This building has an extremely long history, having been constructed in the Middle Cycladic period
(probably as early as the 18th century B.C.) and continuing to be a focus of cult until the Hellenistic
period (3rd century B.C.). Although it has not yet been fully published, a rough outline of its use may be
reconstructed from preliminary reports. The southeast end of the building is not preserved due to the
encroachment of the sea and consequent erosion.
Middle Bronze Age
The building was constructed well before the end of the Middle Cycladic period. At the west end, the
earliest floor in what appears at this time to have been the main cult chamber (XI) consisted of a series of
low, stone-paved platforms of varying sizes with tops at a variety of distinct elevations. From this room
only could the innermost room of the structure (XII) be entered by stepping up over a raised threshold in
the rather narrow doorway which connected the two. From Room XI, one stepped down by means of a
lower threshold and a still lower marble step block onto the flagstone-paved floor of Room IV, along
whose north wall ran a high and narrow bench. The paved floor of Room IV sloped down markedly
toward the southeast and underneath it was found debris associated with the earliest use of the building in
the Middle Bronze Age. Room IV was linked at the east to Room V by an axially located doorway with a
raised threshold and an associated pivot stone which shows that an actual door was located here. In Room
V, an earthen floor lay at a somewhat lower level than the contemporary floor in Room IV and
underneath this, as in Room IV, was found debris associated with the earliest Middle Bronze Age use of
the building. Against the north wall of Room V was a stepped bench and in the middle of the floor were
patches of burnt material. In both Rooms IV and V, several subsequent floor levels of the Middle Bronze
Age were noted, and the threshold between the two rooms was raised progressively through time as the
floors themselves rose. No published data concerning the architectural arrangements in the small Rooms
VII and XIII during this period are available.
Late Bronze Age Preceding the Great Earthquake of LM IB/LH IIB, ca. 1490 B.C.
The LM IA-B/LH I-IIA strata from Rooms IV-V are totally missing, having presumably been dug out in
the subsequent LH IIIA-B periods. In Room XI, however, a beaten earth floor of the LM IB period was
found covering the earlier platforms. On this floor, toward the western side of the room, were found
numerous fragments of large terracotta statues of women, broken and jumbled in such a fashion as to
indicate that they had probably fallen either from a high wooden (hence no longer preserved) bench or,
perhaps more probably, from the floor of a room above on the second storey. Associated with the statues
was a considerable amount of pottery, among which were two high-handled ewers comparable in their
shape to the libation jugs of Minoan cult. Following the disastrous LM IB earthquake, Room XII to the
north was evidently purposefully packed solid with debris and never re-used. The deposit on the floor of
Room XI was also almost completely sealed with debris, to the extent that only one or two of the
fragmentary statues projected from the hard upper surface of this debris. No subsequent activity is
attested in Room XI until Protogeometric times (10th century B.C.), and it is possible that the doorway
between Rooms XI and IV may have been sealed shortly, perhaps immediately, after the earthquake. The
architectural arrangements in the small Rooms VII and XIII are, as for the previous period, unpublished,
but some miscellaneous finds from Rooms VII to be attributed to this period include a bronze model boat
and a bronze male figurine portrayed in the characteristic Minoan posture usually identified as a saluting
gesture. Some authorities have noted a general resemblance between the plan of the Temple at this stage
and that of the contemporary Temple Tomb at Knossos.
Late Helladic IIIA-B (ca. 1490-1200 B.C.)
No material of these periods was found in Rooms XI-XII and only scattered LH IIIA-B pottery was found
in disturbed levels in Room IV directly above levels of the Middle Bronze Age. A threshold in the
doorway between Rooms IV and V, a step just to the east of it in Room V, and an associated floor level in
Room V may belong to this phase. At this time, the entrance from Room V to Room IV was flanked on
either side by pi-shaped structures, a bench was constructed along the south wall of Room V, and on the
axis of this room toward the southeast end was found a stone base which may have supported a column.
Fragments of the earlier terracotta statues concentrated in Room XI were found in levels of this phase in
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Room V in both this and the following phase, and some of these fragments were found actually
incorporated into the masonry of walls and benches.
Late Helladic IIIC (ca. 1200-1050 B.C.)
No remains of this period come from Rooms XI-XII at the west, but at the east end of the building (Room
V) and in Corridor VII copious deposits of pottery of this phase show that the building was extensively
modified and refurbished during the 12th century. In Room V, the collapse of the southwest and
northwest walls necessitated a reconstruction in which the earlier pi-shaped structures flanking the
doorway to Room IV were overbuilt by a straight bench along the northeast wall and an L-shaped bench
along the southwest and northwest walls as far as the doorway to Room IV. The doorway to Room IV
was narrowed and a new threshold inserted at a higher level. In the center of Room V was built a
rectangular podium (1.15 x 2.10 m. in plan), possibly to be interpreted as an altar. In the north corner of
the room was a mass of clay whose source and purpose is something of a mystery. The pottery found on
the floors associated with this new architectural phase, both in Room V and in Corridor VII, dates from
late in the LH IIIC period, ca. 1125-1100 B.C. Subsequently but still before the end of the Bronze Age,
the north and west walls of the room collapsed and necessitated further rebuilding, at which time, if not
before, the temple building as a whole appears to have been abandoned as a larger architectural unity. In
the north corner of Room V was built a small rectangular room (BB) with a narrow bench along its
southwest long wall and an entrance through the short southeast wall facing the sea.
Early Iron Age (ca. 1050-700 B.C.)
During the Protogeometric period (ca. 1050-900 B.C.), Room XI was used again for the first time since
the earthquake of ca. 1440 B.C. To the east within the area formerly occupied by Room IV and in its west
corner was found a small rectangular room or enclosure (AA), further to the east of which was found a
rectangular base (C), perhaps an altar. Room XI continued to be used in the 9th and 8th centuries. From
the late 8th century dates an earthen floor on which was found a large ring base surrounded by stone
slabs. In the center of the ring base and supported by it was the vertically erected and extremely worn
head of one of the statues found about a meter below on the LM IB floor of the same room. Collapsed
building debris sealed this late 8th century level and rendered the western part of Room XI unusable for
some time, but cult continued in the ensuing Orientalizing (7th century B.C.) and later periods in the
eastern half of the room.
Archaic to Hellenistic Periods (ca. 600-200 B.C.)
No well preserved architecture of these periods has survived. However, graffiti on the feet of Archaic and
Classical drinking cups identify the divinity worshipped at this spot in those periods as Dionysos. The
latest finds consist of coins of the later 3rd century B.C.
The Statues
Over fifty terracotta female statues ranging in scale from life-sized to half of life-sized (height of ca. 0.70
m.) have been identified among the fragments recovered from the strata within the temple dating to ca.
1440 B.C. or thereafter. The statues are made in a variety of local clays ranging from very coarse to, in a
few cases, relatively fine. There is no evidence for the practice of coating the surfaces with a finer clay
slip, but all the statues are likely to have been painted, although only a few traces of such decoration
actually survive. The figures all represent standing females with arms slightly bent at the elbow and hands
placed akimbo at the waist. In some cases the figures stand straight, while in others they seem to bend
forward a bit at the waist and to have slightly bent knees. All figures wear long flaring skirts, usually
featureless below a double half-round belt (or girdle) but in one case flounced. The skirts extend to the
bottoms of the statues; the feet of the figures are never represented. The hollow skirts are mostly open at
the bottom, but some are sealed by low platforms of clay. In some cases the torsos of the figures are
covered partially by short-sleeved, open-bodiced jackets of Minoan style indicated in relief. Other torsos
at first seem to be wholly nude, but were almost certainly covered partially by similar jackets executed in
paint which has since worn off completely. Some figures have what appears to be a close-fitting collar or
flat band around their necks, probably a necklace. Others substitute a long, heavy garland in the same
position. The hair is normally piled high on the head in two thick coils, and a long braid of hair trails
down the back.
The figures were built from the bottom up, the skirts first being modelled in coils up to the waist, at which
point a wooden pole was usually inserted vertically in the middle of the figure and the torso was built up
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as a solid mass around this. The breasts, in most cases large, were sometimes modelled over conical cups
inserted into the torso. A second wooden pole was normally added horizontally at the shoulder level to
support the modelling of the upper arms. In other cases, the core of the curving arms consisted of a supple
piece of wood, bent into a curve running from shoulder to waist and identified in one instance as an osier
branch. The head was usually built up around the top of the vertical pole running through the body. Skin
was painted white, the cloth of the jacket yellow, and a single necklace red. Firing holes are a common
feature of the figures and the wooden armature described above regularly burnt out when the figure was
fired. Peculiarities in the techniques of construction and in some anatomical features suggest that a
number of different artists produced the figures, all of which seem to represent dancing females,
presumably votaries rather than either goddesses or priestesses.
All but one of the statues were made before the earthquake of ca. 1440 B.C. which defines the end of
period VII at Ayia Irini. A few fragments come from deposits sealed during the preceding period VI
(contemporary with LM IA), but it is uncertain whether statues of this sort were being produced at the site
prior to the early Late Bronze Age when Minoan influence, readily detectable in the clothing and general
style of the statues, became overwhelmingly strong at the site. Numerous fragments of a statue made
without the aid of a wooden armature (like a few of those found in the LM IB destruction debris of period
VII) come from a LH IIIA2 context (mid-14th century B.C.) in Room VII of the temple, once a stairwell
but at this time probably just a storeroom. This piece, very similar to the earlier statues in costume and
pose but quite distinct from them in some aspects of its construction technique, shows that production of
these figures did not suddenly and finally cease with the great earthquake which ended period VII.
PHYLAKOPI
The last of the major Late Bronze Age sanctuaries described here to be excavated (in 1974-75) but the
first to be fully published (in 1985), the complex of two shrines at Phylakopi offers interesting points of
comparison and contrast with the Temple at Ayia Irini and the Cult Center at Mycenae.
Main Period of Use (ca. 1360-1120 B.C.)
The West Shrine was built in the LH IIIA2 period (ca. 1360 B.C.). Wall 661, constructed ca. 1300 B.C.,
created a well-defined open space, bounded at the south, in front of this shrine's main entrance from the
east. The fortification wall and the eastern shrine were added in the earlier LH IIIB period ca. 1270 B.C.
All of these constructions were badly damaged in what seems to have been a major earthquake ca. 1120
B.C., which may also have been responsible for the final destruction of the temple building at Ayia Irini
preceding the construction of the small shrine BB there.
West Shrine
The main room (6.6 x 6.0 m.) was entered from the east, a smaller southern entrance having been blocked
at some point, possibly when Wall 661 was built. Altars were found in the northeast, northwest, and
southwest corners. Male figurines, one of the truly distinctive features of the Phylakopi sanctuary, were
associated only with the northwest altar. Two female figurines were found near the southwest altar and a
third near the northwest altar. In the middle of the main room's west wall is a door leading into two
smaller rooms. This doorway is flanked on both sides by a window about 0.70 m. above the floor. The
southern window was walled off at one point with the result that a niche was created in the east wall of
the interior room, Annex A. In the southwest corner of Annex A was found the headless body of the
beautifully decorated female figure known as "The Lady of Phylakopi" (0.45 m. high), probably a
Mainland product of the LH IIIA2 period. Next to her was a crudely modelled female figure and nearby
the "Lady"'s head. In the niche referred to above were four wheelmade bovine figures and a grotesque
female human head with a protruding tongue or chin. Just north of the door opening to the west out of the
main room was found a splendid seal of rock crystal decorated with a couchant goat.
East Shrine
On the floor of this smaller shrine (4.8 x 2.2 m.) were found a wheelmade bovine figure, several smaller
terracotta quadrupeds, and no less than ten seals.
Post-Destruction Phase (ca. 1120-1090 B.C.)
After the destruction of ca. 1120 B.C., the Annexes A and B of the West Shrine were filled in, as was the
southern half of the main room behind a crudely constructed east-west retaining wall designed to hold
back debris from the destruction. All three areas thus went out of use after the earthquake. The northwest
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altar continued to be associated with male figurines, but joins suggest that all of these were probably reused examples of the pre-destruction phase. The East Shrine continued in use and from its uppermost
floor deposit came a miniature gold-sheet mask, possibly used to cover the face of a figurine made in a
perishable material, fragments of an ostrich-egg rhyton, and several small terracotta figurines. However,
the shrines did not continue in use for very long following the earthquake, in marked contrast with the
situation at Ayia Irini.
SUMMARY: Mycenaean and Late Cycladic Cult Buildings and Parallels with Late Minoan
Domestic Shrines
The basically tripartite ground plan of the Temple at Mycenae (i.e. porch, main room, twin annexes at the
back) is similar to that of the Throne Room at Knossos and to the basic scheme of the Temple at Ayia
Irini on Keos. A much simpler plan is apparent in the small shrine in the Tirynthian Unterburg, itself
reminiscent of the Shrine of the Double Axes at Knossos: a single room with a bench along the back wall
on which stood terracotta images of divinities and probably votaries as well. The twin annexes of the
more complex sanctuaries at Knossos, Ayia Irini, Phylakopi, and Mycenae appear to have served
primarily for the storage of cult furniture. Benches (Knossos, Room with the Fresco at Mycenae, Tiryns,
Ayia Irini) or platforms (Temple at Mycenae, first annex in Temple at Ayia Irini) are common fixtures
and presumably functioned principally as stands so that divine images rested at a level above that of their
human worshippers. Either hearths, dases, or tripod tables of offerings are also common features in the
centers of the major cult rooms. Probably of considerable significance is the fact that both Mycenaean and
Late Cycladic cult buildings are independent structures, not built within major administrative complexes
such as the palaces at Mycenae and Tiryns or the megaron at Phylakopi. Thus the Mycenaeans and the
islanders of the later Late Bronze Age appear to have avoided the Minoan practice of including several
shrines within their most imposing forms of settlement architecture. To date, there has been no
convincing evidence found for either Mycenaean peak sanctuaries or Mycenaean cult caves. The
Mycenaean sanctuary on the hill occupied by the later Classical sanctuary of Apollo Maleatas at
Epidauros has been cited by some as a Mainland Greek version of a Minoan peak sanctuary, but it is
likely to have been associated with a nearby settlement and thus may not qualify as an independent and
spatially isolated sanctuary comparable to its putative Minoan prototype.
MYCENAEAN RELIGION AS EVIDENCED IN THE LINEAR B TEXTS
Texts from Knossos
At Knossos, divinities are mentioned in contexts dealing with offerings made to them, often at specific
times (i.e. in certain months). The methods and scheduling of sacrifices appear to be rigidly codified.
Certain times are referred to as O-U-TE-MI (ou themis = "not right"). The following divinities are named:
1. PO-TI-NI-JA Potnia (= "mistress")
2. A-TA-NA PO-TI-NI-JA Potnia (from?) Atana (= "Athena"?)
3. A-RE Ares?
4. E-NU-WA-RI-JO Enyalios (later Classical epithet for Ares)
5. PA-JA-WO-NE Paiawon (as "Paian", later Classical epithet for Apollo)
6. PO-SE-DA-O-NE Poseidon
7. E-NE-SI-DA-O-NE Enosidas (= "Enosigaios" or "Earthshaker")
8. DI-WO Zeus
9. DI-WI-JA Diwia (female counterpart of Zeus)
10. PI-PI-TU-NA Diktynna??
11. DA-PU-RI-TO-JO PO-TI-NI-JA Potnia of the Labyrinth
12. E-RE-U-TI-JA Eleuthia (= Eileithyia, Classical goddess of childbirth)
13. E-RI-NU Erinys? (name used for Classical Fury or as a cult
epithet of Demeter)
Two other figures receive offerings but are probably cult personnel rather than divinities:
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1. A-NE-MO I-JE-RE-JA Priestess of the Winds (hiereia anemon)

2. QE-RA-SI-JA Teiresias?? (a well-known seer of myth)
Offerings are also often made to:
1 PA-SI TE-O-I All the gods (pasi theois, in the dative case)
Most of the above gods are familiar to us from contemporary cult on the Greek Mainland. It is somewhat
surprising that none of the goddesses which are generally considered to be "old Aegean powers" as
various forms of Mother Goddess (e.g. Demeter, Aphrodite, Artemis, Hekate, Britomartis) are found
mentioned in these texts. There is no figure which can be convincingly connected with the dove or snake
goddesses familiar to us from Minoan art, nor is there any mention on the religious tablets of bulls, horns
of consecration, double axes, or other common objects of Minoan cult apparatus. Part of the reason for
this must be that the Knossos Linear B tablets are products of Mycenaean rule at Knossos, and Minoan
cult may have been partially suppressed by the official religion of the invading Greek rulers.

Sanctuaries
The palace is not specified by any particular name in the tablets dealing with religious matters nor is any
specific cult area within the palace mentioned with the possible exception of a place called the
Daidaleion. In those instances where no place is specified in a tablet, it is probable that the offering
described therein took place in the palace itself or in the surrounding town.
The nearby town of Amnisos is often mentioned as the site of an offering. Here Eleuthia, Erinys, Ares,
Enosidas, and all the gods were worshipped. Just above the site of Amnisos, a Minoan cult cave has been
excavated. This cave may be the same as one mentioned in Homer's Odyssey as being sacred to the
goddess Eileithyia (see lesson on Minoan Religion).
The Linear B texts from Knossos also mention a sanctuary called the Daidaleion where offerings were
made to QE-RA-SI-JA and to all the gods. Another possible shrine by the name of Diktaiou appears
twice. Perhaps this was a cave on Mt. Dikte, known in later times as the birthplace of Zeus. Besides
Amnisos, three other towns are mentioned where specific deities were worshipped, presumably because
each of them were locations of shrines or sanctuaries belonging to those specific divinities.
Offerings
All offerings appear to have been bloodless. Mentioned are a pot of honey, spices such as fennel and
coriander, and jugs of oil. Wool, cheese, barley, and wine are possible offerings. Sheep are connected
with the figure of Potnia, but not as offerings.
The method of sacrifice is never described. However, the fact that the offerings came from palace stores
suggests that the sacrifices were at least semi-official and periodic in nature (as opposed to personal and
spontaneous offerings, which must have taken place but were simply not recorded on the tablets). Months
are mentioned on the tablets, so the offerings took place at specific times. One of the month names
appears to be derived from the name of Zeus, Diwios. One specific festival is also mentioned, TE-O-PORI-JA (= theophoria), in all likelihood some kind of processional ceremony comparable to that portrayed
in the fresco of the Corridor of the Procession.
Cult Personnel
The Priestess of the Winds is most often mentioned. She receives honey on behalf of the powers which
she serves. If QE-RA-SI-JA is correctly identified as an augur, he will have been one of those who
interpreted the flight of birds or the rustling of trees, not an inspector of entrails since no blood sacrifices
appear to have been made. There are some minor figures known as KI-RI-TE-WI-JA who may have been
sprinklers of grain.
Texts from Pylos
The Pylos texts provide a much broader range of information than those from Knossos, in addition to
furnishing more specific features of cult. Two facts are immediately clear. First, none of the distinctly
Cretan religious figures such as Eileithyia or PI-PI-TU-NA/Diktynna(?) appear in the Pylos texts. The
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Pylian pantheon is purely Hellenic, a fact which suggests that we should not overestimate the influence of
Minoan religion on that of the Mainland during the Bronze Age, as was the tendency when the evidence
consisted exclusively of artistic representations, in the days before the decipherment of Linear B. Second,
the proportion of male to female divinities in the tablets is almost even, in marked contrast with the
impression conveyed by the relative frequencies of gods and goddesses identified with some degree of
probability in Mycenaean art, where male deities are decidedly rare. In both cases, excessive reliance on
representational art is shown to have been misleading.
The following deities are mentioned on Linear B tablets from Pylos:
1. PO-TI-NI-JA Potnia
As at Knossos, Potnia has a number of epithets, some of which are certainly local but one of which is
more likely to refer to her sphere of influence. The epithet A-TA-NA is so far unknown on the Greek
Mainland.
(a) PA-KI-JA-NI-JA Sphagianeia?? (local)
(b) I-QE-JA Hippeia (sphere of influence: "of horses"?)
(c) A-SI-WI-JA Aswia (local)
(d) NE-WO-PE-O ?
(e) U-PO-JO ?
2. PO-SE-DA-O-NE Poseidon (evidently the most important deity at
Pylos, to judge from the frequency with which he is
mentioned in the texts there)
3. PO-SI-DA-E-JA Posidaieia (female counterpart of Poseidon)
4. DI-WE/DI-WI-JE-U Zeus
5. DI-WI-JA Diwia (female counterpart of Zeus)
6. E-RA Hera (appears together with Zeus on one tablet)
7. A-TI-MI-TE Artemis
8. E-MA-A Hermes?
9. A-RE-JA Ares?
10. DI-WO-NU-SO-JO Dionysos (possibly a person rather than a god)
11. PE-RE-*82 Peleia?
12. I-PE-ME-DE-JA Iphimedeia (in Greek myth, mistress of Poseidon
and mother of the giants Otos and Ephialtes)
13. MA-NA-SA ?
14. TI-RI-SE-RO-E Trisheros? (the "triple hero"??)
15. DO-PO-TA Despotas? (the "lord")
16. MA-TE-RE TE-I-JA Mater theia ("Mother Goddess")
17. WA-NA-SO-I Wanasoi ("the two Queens"?)
18. DI-PI-SI-JO-I Dipsioi ("the thirsty ones"?)
Instead of "all the gods" as at Knossos, the Pylos texts sometimes mention simply:
1. TE-O-I the gods
2. TE-O (the) god

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Sanctuaries
There was a major sanctuary, apparently of Potnia, at PA-KI-JA-NE (Sphagianes?), an as yet unidentified
location within the Pylian kingdom. The sanctuary of the god Poseidon, on the other hand, appears to
have been located near the palace at Pylos itself. There may have been other sanctuaries for Zeus and for
one or two other divinities.
Although the term "sanctuary" has often been used in the above discussion, there is in fact no word for
"sanctuary" in Linear B comparable to the terms used in later Classical Greek (e.g. hieron, naos, alsos).
The "sanctuaries" identified in Linear B are based on a concentration of cult personnel at a particular
location (e.g. at PA-KI-JA-NE) or on an adjectival formation of the god's name (e.g. Posidaion). No
certain cult buildings have been found at Pylos, and it is quite possible that there simply were no
buildings there dedicated exclusively to the practice of cult. For the Mycenaeans at Pylos, worship could
perhaps be conducted in surroundings which normally had no particular religious significance. In a
famous sacrifice by Nestor, king of Pylos, in Homer's Odyssey, the bulls are sacrificed to Poseidon on the
beach, not in a specific temple or sacred area.
Offerings
On tablet Tn 316, gold vessels, men, and women are offered to a long list of divinities. This type of
offering is unique and has led to much speculation. It is known from other tablets that there were such
things as "slaves of the god". Consequently, most authorities have seen here the consecration of certain
men and women to the service of a deity. However, others have argued that the tablet was very hastily
written, probably in an emergency, and these specialists argue that the offerings made are extraordinary
because they were made for the specific purpose of saving the palace just before it was actually
destroyed. The suggestion has therefore been made that the human beings mentioned on this tablet as
offerings were in fact human sacrifices.
On a series of oil tablets, offerings of specially perfumed oil and of this commodity alone are made to
Poseidon, the Wanasoi, the Mater Theia, the Dipsioi, and simply to the gods. Some of this oil is described
as being specifically for "annointing", almost certainly not for statues (of which we have no evidence) but
perhaps for textiles belonging to deities.
A major difference between Knossos and Pylos is the practice of blood sacrifice at Pylos. In one tablet,
offerings are made to Poseidon and Peleia: in addition to bloodless material such as herbs, cattle, sheep,
and pigs are also sacrificed. Here is the Bronze Age predecessor of the Classical Greek and Roman
suovetaurilia, the sacrifice of those three types of domestic animals in a single ceremony. In another
tablet, Poseidon receives offerings of grain, wine, a bull, cheeses, rams' skins, rams, and honey.
Festivals
Two major festivals, and several minor ones, are mentioned in the Pylos texts:
1. RE-KE-TO-RO-RI-JO lekhestroterion(?) ("preparation of the couch"?).
Perhaps a celebration of the sacred marriage of
Poseidon and Potnia at PA-KI-JA-NE.
2. TO-NO-E-KE-TE-RI-JO thronohelkesterion(?) ("setting up of the throne").
Perhaps connected with the worship of the Wanasoi.
3. ME-TU-WO NE-WO Feast of the new wine, where the Mater Theia was
worshipped (but not Dionysos!).
4. TU-RU-PTE-RE-JA thrypteria. A ceremony to celebrate the squeezing
of the grapes?
Cult Personnel
In contrast to Knossos, where only the Priestess of the Winds is certainly identified as a human personage
connected with cult, there are large numbers of both priests (I-JE-RE-U = hiereus) and priestesses (I-JERE-JA = hiereia) mentioned in the Pylos tablets. These are identified by their place of work or by their
names, almost never by the deity which they serve. The texts have very little to say about the official
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duties of these priestly functionaries. They are never mentioned in connection with sacrifices or sacrificial
gifts. It is known only that the priests and priestesses were sometimes quite rich in terms of the amount of
land they held and that they were in charge of the "slaves of the god". Besides the priests and priestesses,
certain other religious officials are mentioned: the KA-RA-WI-PO-RO (= klarwiphoros or "key-bearer")
whose precise function is unclear since it is not known to what such an official had the key; the PU-KOWO (= purkooi or "guardians of the fire"?); the KI-RE-TI-WI-JA ("sprinklers of the grain"), also attested
at Knossos; the I-JE-RO-WO-KO (= hierourgoi or "sacred workers"), perhaps those who slaughtered
animals at blood sacrifices; and the amphipoloi who may have been servants of Potnia charged with the
care of ceremonial costumes.

Lesson 27: Troy VII and the Historicity of the Trojan War

THE LOCATION OF TROY

FINAL NOTE

Troy VII and the Historicity of the Trojan War

TROY VIIa
This settlement, dated ca. 1275-1240 B.C. by Blegen, may in fact have begun as early as ca. 1300/1280
B.C. (early in the LH IIIB period, to judge from the latest Mycenaean imports in the ruins of Troy VIh)
and lasted as long as ca. 1180 B.C. (early in the LH IIIC period, on the basis of the latest Mycenaean
sherds in its ruins), despite the fact that it has traditionally been argued to have been a short-lived
settlement on the grounds that no sub-phases have been detected within it. The date of its destruction has
been a hotly debated subject. Blegen began by arguing for a date of ca. 1240 B.C. but later raised this to
ca. 1270. Nylander has argued for a date as low as 1200-1190 B.C. on the basis of the latest Mycenaean
imports, which both he and more recently Mee feel include LH IIIC types. Podzuweit has advocated an
even lower date. If we agree with Blegen, Drpfeld, Schliemann, and many others that Hisarlik is the site
of Homeric Troy (but see below for Carpenter's arguments against this possibility) and if we consider the
Trojan War of Greek myth to have been an historical event, then Troy VIIa is perhaps the most likely
candidate for the city of Priam, although a vocal minority have always expressed a preference for the
preceding Troy VIh (see Wood 1985 for a balanced appraisal of the competing claims of these two chief
candidates). Later Greeks dated the Trojan War as follows: 1184 B.C. (Eratosthenes), 1209/8 B.C. (the
Parian Marble), ca. 1250 B.C. (Herodotus), and 1334/3 B.C. (Douris). Troy VIIa perished in a general
conflagration which destroyed both the buildings within the citadel and those outside.
Fortifications
The collapsed fortifications of Troy VI were reconstructed. In the area of the east gate (VI S) between
Sections 2 and 3, a southern extension added to Section 2 made the approach to this gate more difficult
for attackers. The masonry of this addition, much less regular than that characteristic of the fortifications
of Troy VI, utilized many of the fallen blocks from the walls of Troy VI. Repair of the main south gate
(VI T) involved paving the entrance passage here and installing a drain under the paving. Extensive
repairs to the south and southeast portion of the wall (Sections 3-4) were also undertaken. All these
repairs notwithstanding, the fact is that no new program of fortification building was launched during
Troy VIIa. That is, the practice of more or less constantly constructing new defensive works that seems to
have characterized Troy from its foundation early in the third millennium B.C. until the end of Troy VI
some seventeen centuries later came to a definitive halt with the completion of the repairs to the Troy VI
system made during Troy VIIa.
Domestic Architecture
As was the case for Troy VI, the only architecture within the walls to have escaped destruction by later
building operations was found on the two lowest of the concentric terraces which characterize the Middle
and Late Bronze Age citadel of Troy. Some of the large mansions of Troy VI were reconstructed and reused, but many had been too badly damaged by the earthquake which demolished Troy VIh and were
simply built over. The houses of Troy VIIa are far more densely packed within the citadel than were the
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mansions of Troy VI. They tend to be one- to three-room structures which share party walls and are
irregular in plan. The houses on the lowest terrace are built up against the interior face of the fortification
wall, thus violating a defensive principle maintained during Troy VI. The houses of Troy VIIa are quite
sturdy and are by no means to be considered "flimsy shacks", although not surprisingly they make
extensvie reuse of building material from the collapsed structures of Troy VIh. The floors of many of
Troy VIIa's houses are honeycombed by pits dug for the emplacement of large storage pithoi below
ground level. These pithoi were sealed at the top by stone slabs, but the presence of the pits occasionally
so weakened the floor that in one case the floor appears actually to have collapsed as a direct result. The
new floor occasioned by this collapse is located in the only house of Troy VIIa which has preserved
evidence of three distinct floor levels, a fact which, together with the relative rarity of buildings with even
two separate floor levels, has been considered an argument in favor of a short lifetime for the settlement
as a whole. In marked contrast to the larger mansions of Troy VI, these houses of Troy VIIa stood only
one storey high. As a result, the living quarters of these buildings were on the ground floor and storage
had to be accommodated elsewhere. This is the reason for the subterranean placement of the numerous
pithoi of Troy VIIa: they are not evidence for siege so much as they are testimony to the dramatic
decrease in floorspace of the average Trojan dwelling from Troy VIh to Troy VIIa.
Water supplies within the area enclosed by the walls consist of a well in a paved, seemingly public court
just east of the overbuilt foundations of House VIF and of the large cistern or well in Tower VI g,
refurbished after the earthquake which destroyed Troy VIh. Remains of several houses outside the walls
(Houses 740-741 south of the east gate and House 749 at the southeast) indicate that a lower city
extended beyond the walls of the citadel in Troy VIIa as it had in Troy VI. It is not yet clear, however,
whether the total area covered by Troy VIIa was significantly less than for Troy VI and hence if Troy
VIIa's population was appreciably smaller.
Skeletal Remains
Fragments of a human skull found within House 700 just inside the south gate (VI T) may belong to the
same individual as more human bones discovered outside the same house. A lower jawbone, probably
from an adult male, was found in destruction debris overlying the floor of House 741 outside the citadel
to the east. A complete skeleton, although clearly not a burial, was discovered on top of a stratum
containing pottery of Troy VIh and VIIa types outside the fortifications to the west. These human bones,
although not representative of a large number of individuals, presumably belong to casualties of the
destruction of Troy VIIa. They are noteworthy in that human skeletal remains are absent from the
destruction debris of earlier destruction levels at Troy (especially those of Troy IIg and Troy VIh) and are
indicative of the failure of the survivors of the final catastrophe which befell Troy VIIa to recover and
bury all its victims.
Pottery and Miscellaneous Finds
The pottery of Troy VIIa is hardly distinguishable from that of Troy VIh. The few new features include
the presence of a dark-slipped Tan Ware, a new vase shape (A 52) in Minyan and Tan Wares, and a
significantly smaller amount of imported Mycenaean pottery, such imports also being somewhat later in
date than those found in Troy VIh. The miscellaneous finds from Troy VIIa are altogether
indistinguishable from those of Troy VIh.
Conclusions
The material culture of Troy VIIa is essentially identical to that of the preceding settlement, and the
residents of Troy VIIa were therefore presumably the survivors of the earthquake which levelled Troy
VIh and their immediate descendants.
The chief difference between the citadels of Troy VIh and Troy VIIa lies in the use of space within the
fortifications. The excavators have argued that a greatly increased population sought protection inside the
walls during Troy VIIa, presumably as a result of some external threat. The preoccupation of this
population with storage space as attested by the subterranean pithoi has been further interpreted to reflect
a state of siege at the end of Troy VIIa. The violent destruction of Troy VIIa has been interpreted as
evidence of the failure of Troy's inhabitants to withstand the siege against which they had apparently
prepared themselves. The destruction itself has therefore invariably been interpreted as the product of
human agency. The architectural differences between the Trojan citadels of phases VIh and VIIa can,
however, be interpreted in other ways. Thus, for example, Troy VIh can be viewed as a citadel within
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which only the ruler and his/her principal retainers resided, the latter being the occupants of the large
mansions on the lower terraces. The mass of the citizenry would have lived outside of the walls in the
recently discovered lower town of this period and/or in small agricultural villages dotted around the
Trojan plain. In Troy VIIa, a good deal of this citizenry had apparently moved within the walls, but this
change need not reflect a period of siege and could simply represent a major change in the order of Trojan
society. Perhaps Troy VIIa was no longer ruled by a monarch, while the aristocratic class which had
occupied the mansions of Troy VIh had likewise been eliminated. After all, evidence for similar social
changes may be cited from the Greek Mainland where palaces disappear as functioning entities at the end
of the LH IIIB period.
The decline in the quantity of imported Mycenaean pottery in Troy VIIa has been viewed as confirming a
preconceived notion of the attackers' identity. That is, if the attackers had been Mycenaean, it would
hardly be surprising that the quantity of Mycenaean pottery imported into Troy should have declined (or
so the argument would run). However, it is a fact that the quantity of Mycenaean pottery imported from
the Greek Mainland during the later LH IIIB period declines in other areas (e.g. Cyprus, the Levant) as
well as at Troy. It can therefore be argued that Mycenaean overseas trade was in a general slump during
this period and that this slump is as likely as a hypothetical siege of Troy by Mycenaeans as an
explanation for the dearth of Mycenaean ceramic imports into Troy VIIa. It is also true that pottery
identifiable on stylistic grounds as "Mycenaean" was produced over a large area of the Aegean during the
period in question, not just throughout the southern Greek Mainland but also on numerous central and
eastern Aegean islands and at sites on the western Anatolian coast such as Miletus. It remains to be
established how much of the "imported Mycenaean" pottery from Troy VIIa comes from the
Peloponnese, how much from Aegean islands, and how much from Mycenaean sites on the coast of Asia
Minor itself.
The date of Troy VIIa's destruction probably lies within the half-century ca. 1230-1180 B.C., although
Blegen ultimately placed it a generation or so earlier and Podzuweit has recently suggested that it should
be set a good deal later.
On the basis of the Iliad and Odyssey specifically and of Greek tradition in general, the destroyers of Troy
VIIa have traditionally been identified as Mycenaean Greeks from the central and southern Greek
Mainland. However, there is nothing in the archaeological evidence to identify precisely who the
attackers were. Indeed, there is at least some archaeological evidence which suggests that the attackers
were not Mycenaeans. For example, are the Mainland Greeks likely to have destroyed Troy at more or
less the same time as their own centers in the Peloponnese were being destroyed? It is possible to answer
this question in the affirmative if the Peloponnesian destructions were due to natural disasters (e.g.
earthquakes, as most recently argued in the cases of Tiryns and Mycenae) or if they were a direct result of
the absence of large numbers of potential defenders who were away besieging Troy, although both
scenarios do seem to stretch coincidence to its limits. Perhaps more significant is the fact that the "Coarse
Ware" of Troy VIIb1, a class of pottery which makes its first appearance at Troy immediately after the
destruction of Troy VIIa, is very closely related to the handmade and burnished pottery which appears in
more or less contemporary contexts of the early LH IIIC period at a number of sites on the Greek
Mainland as well as in Cyprus, southern Italy, and Sicily. In none of these areas does this pottery have
local antecedents, and it has been argued by Deger-Jalkotzy that such pottery is to be derived ultimately
from ceramic traditions at home in the Middle Danube area of central Europe. The "Coarse Ware" of Troy
VIIb1 may be interpreted as identifying the sackers of Troy VIIa, a population group who crossed the
Hellespont at the end of their journey from the Middle Danube through Rumania to Turkish Thrace.
Similar groups may have been involved with the sacking of numerous major Mycenaean sites in the
Peloponnese at the end of the LH IIIB period. One of several weaknesses of such a reconstruction of
events, it must be confessed, is the fact that the quantities of "Coarse Ware" in Troy VIIb1, like those of
the related handmade and burnished pottery at Mainland Greek Mycenaean sites in the early LH IIIC
period, are relatively small. Did the makers of such pottery indeed play as important a role in the political
and military history of the end of the Aegean Bronze Age as some authorities impute to them?
Troy VIIb1 (ca. 1230/1180-1150 B.C.)
The rebuilt houses of Troy VIIb1 tend to be founded on walls of Troy VIIa and thus to have plans similar
to those of the immediately preceding phase. The fortifications are said to have been
"evidently....repaired" since the houses of Troy VIIb1 abut against them. The east gate (VI S) of the
fortress may have been closed at this time, but the main gate at the south (VI T) was renovated, the road
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leading up through it being repaved at a higher level than during Troy VIIa. Although the differences in
material culture between Troy VIIa and VIIb1 are claimed by the excavators of the Cincinnati expedition
to have been non-existent, the fact is that the "Coarse Ware" of Troy VIIb1 is a novelty at this time. It is
nevertheless true that the remainder of Trojan culture appears to have continued without any perceptible
changes, the imported Mycenaean pottery now being of somewhat later LH IIIC types. The cause of the
"end" of Troy VIIb1 is called "an unsolved mystery": there is no sign of any general destruction
preceding levels of the ensuing phase known as Troy VIIb2. The duration of Troy VIIb1 is usually
estimated at about half-a-century, once again largely on the basis of the Mycenaean imports.
The excavations initiated at Troy by Korfmann in the 1990's have resulted in some extremely interesting
new finds in levels assignable to Troy VIIb1. The most important is a lentoid bronze seal inscribed on
both sides in the Hieroglyphic Hittite script with the name of a male scribe on one side and with the name
of a female, presumably his wife, on the other. The first securely identifiable example of writing yet to
have been unearthed in a prehistoric level at Troy, this find raises interesting questions concerning the
nature of Troy's relationships with the Hittite Empire to the east. Other recent finds from Troy VIIB1
contexts include a violin bow fibula in bronze, a piece of sheet-gold jewelry, and a handsome Mycenaean
seal in hard stone, presumably an heirloom since such seals had ceased to be produced in the Aegean after
the destruction of ca. 1375 B.C. at Knossos.

Troy VIIb2 (ca. 1150-1050 B.C. or later)

The houses of Troy VIIb1 were modified by the addition of extensions or by the piercing of doorways
through party walls, seemingly in order to increase the size of the individual dwelling units. Domestic
architecture during this phase is distinguished by the frequent use of an orthostate course at ground level.
The east gate by this time had definitely gone out of use, while the south gate still constituted the major
entryway through the fortifications, the roadway through it now being repaved at a still higher level.
Houses were as common built up against the outside of the citadel walls as against the inside, so that one
wonders if these walls were any longer truly functional as fortifications at this point.
Some of the pottery, a handmade and generally dark-surfaced class distinctively decorated with knobs and
grooves (so-called "Knobbed Ware"), is new in this phase and has traditionally been taken to represent a
new population element in residence at the site. Most of the pottery nevertheless consists of the Late
Bronze Age Trojan wares familiar from earlier phases, both Minyan and Tan Wares, so that much of the
population of Troy VIIb2 is usually considered to have consisted of descendants of the Trojans of Troy
VI, VIIa, and VIIb1. Some scholars have suggested that a gap in occupation may exist between Troy
VIIb1 and VIIb2. If so, it is likely to have been a short one, one to two generations at most, in view of the
re-use during Troy VIIb2 of much of the architecture of VIIb1.
A number of bronze implements found by Schliemann, although their context of discovery is not certain,
have been attributed to Troy VIIb2 and have their best parallels in Hungary. The "Knobbed Ware", too,
has parallels across the Hellespont which suggest that its makers may have migrated into the Troad from
Thrace, to which in turn they may have moved from further west. A crude and ugly terracotta female
figurine is an unusual find in Troy VIIb2.
This settlement was probably destroyed by fire after a century or less of occupation. After this, the site of
Hisarlik may have been deserted for as much as three centuries before Aeolic Greeks reoccupied it in the
late 8th century B.C. at about the time when the Homeric epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey, were being
written down for the first time. If the Trojan War was indeed an historical event of the late 13th century
B.C. and if the site of Hisarlik was the site at which this war took place, the Greeks who heard the epic
lays sung about it between ca. 1050 and 750 B.C. would have found no more than a rather unimpressive
heap of rubble and decomposed mudbrick at the spot, certainly nothing as imposing as the Cyclopean
walls of Tiryns or the Lion Gate and the Treasury of Atreus at Mycenae, at both of which sites occupation
was continuous from Mycenaean down into Classical times.
THE LOCATION OF TROY
The Iliad and the Odyssey are only two of the epics which immortalized the Trojan War in Greek saga
and legend. Another epic, the Kypria, dealt with the events leading up to the arrival of the Greek forces at
Troy at the beginning of the ten-year siege. The full text of this epic no longer survives, but a capsule
summary of its contents is preserved. The original epic was written down after the Iliad sometime in the
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7th century B.C. A peculiar feature of the Kypria is that it appears to preserve the memory of two slightly
different expeditions, as follows:
Expedition #1
(a) The Greek leaders and their forces rendezvous at Aulis preparatory to leaving Greece enroute to Asia
Minor.
(b) As they conduct sacrifices, they are confronted with the omen of the serpent and the sparrow: a snake
appears in the midst of the sacrifice, climbs a tree, and eats eight baby sparrows from a nest at the top of
the tree before swallowing their mother. Calchas, the chief seer of the army, interprets this omen to
indicate that the siege of Troy will last nine years before being successful in the tenth.
(c) The Greeks put to sea and arrive at Teuthrania in Mysia, well south of Troy. They sack the city of
Teuthrania, mistaking it for Ilion.
(d) The local Mysian hero Telephos, a son of Heracles, comes to the aid of the Teuthranians and kills
Thersander, son of Polyneices, one of the Greeks.
(e) Telephos himself is wounded by Achilles.
(f) The Greeks put to sea again, but a storm comes up and scatters the fleet before it can reach Ilion.
(g) Achilles is driven to the island of Skyros, where he marries Deidameia, the daughter of the local king
Lycomedes.
(h) Achilles heals Telephos, who has been led by an oracle to go to Argos so that he can guide the Greek
fleet to Ilion, the proper "Troy".
[The figure of Telephos here is comparable in a number of respects to the Greek hero Philoctetes in the
"standard version" of the Trojan War epic.]
Some further details are added to the story of Expedition #1 by later authors. These additions are likely to
be contaminated, at least to some extent, by the story line of the "standard version" of the Trojan War as
told in the Iliad:
(i) When the Greeks first land at Teuthrania, they are driven back to their ships by their enemies until
Patroklos comes to the rescue and repels the enemy.
(j) Patroklos is wounded and so Achilles intervenes, pursuing and wounding the local champion,
Telephos. [Compare the death of Patroklos, and the subsequent death of the local champion Hector at the
hands of Achilles, in the Iliad.]
(k) Achilles, though "swift-footed", is unable to catch Telephos until Dionysos grows a magic vine which
trips Telephos in his flight. [Compare Athena's apearance as Deiphobos in the Iliad to fool Hector into
stopping in his flight from Achilles and into turning and facing his pursuer, with disastrous
consequences.]
Expedition #2
(a) The Greek leaders finally reassemble at Aulis.
(b) Agamemnon kills a stag sacred to Artemis, and as a result Artemis sends unfavorable winds against
the Greeks which prevent them from sailing for Troy. Calchas prophesies that Iphigeneia, Agamemnon's
daughter, must be sacrificed to appease Artemis.
(c) The Greeks, on the pretext that Iphigeneia is to marry Achilles, send to Mycenae for the girl and plan
to sacrifice her. But Artemis saves Iphigeneia at the last moment by snatching her away and substituting
for her a stag.
(d) The Greeks set sail for Ilion. They stop first at the island of Tenedos, where Philoctetes is bitten by a
snake. Philoctetes is marooned on the nearby island of Lemnos because of the stench from his wound and
his incessant cries of pain.
(e) The Greeks try to land at Ilion, but the Trojans at first prevent them from landing and Hector kills
Protesilaus, the first of the Greek champions to fall in the war. Achilles kills Kyknos, a son of Poseidon,
then drives the Trojans back and the Greeks disembark to begin their long siege.
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Carpenter (1946) has argued that these two expeditions are doublets of one and the same event. He
concludes that there seems to have been some doubt in the minds of the Greeks as to where exactly Troy
was located. In the Iliad, the word most commonly used for the city of the Trojans is not "Troy" but
"Ilion". It is possible that Troy was not the name of a town at all, but rather the name of an area or district
inhabited by the Trojans. The Greeks clearly had a legend about a war against the Trojans, but may have
disagreed about where these people lived. At least one group of Greeks put them at a place called
Teuthrania in the area known as Mysia, or at least so the doublet of the Troy story in the Kypria seems to
indicate.
Further evidence suggesting that such an alternate version of the Trojan War story, along the lines of the
Teuthrania episode in the Kypria, did in fact exist can be cited. For example, there is an early variant of
the story of Telephos according to which he was born in Troy. "Pergamon" is sometimes given as the
name of the inner citadel at Troy. The only other major occurrence in Greek literature and history of the
place-name "Pergamon" is as the name of a major city in Mysia, the area where Teuthrania is located. In
the works of the Hellenistic mythographer Apollodorus, Pergamon is the name given to the fortress built
by Apollo and Poseidon for Laomedon, king of Troy. Finally, in the Iliad Achilles is reported to have
sacked a number of minor cities during the ten years of the Trojan siege. Most of these cities are located
on the southern slopes of Mt. Ida at the head of the Adramyttian Gulf, that is, in the general vicinity of
Teuthrania rather than of Troy.
The stories of Teuthrania's destruction and of the sacking of minor cities in its vicinity are likely to be
connected with the Aeolic Greek occupation of the Anatolian Mainland opposite Lesbos, a process which
in fact included the resettlement of the site of Hisarlik as well. This "Aeolic migration" is a postMycenaean phenomenon, many details of which appear to have become attached to the story of the
Trojan War, an event which is supposed to have taken place toward the end of the Mycenaean period. The
story of the siege and sack of Troy is the focus of the Homeric Iliad, a product of Ionia rather than Aeolis.
Carpenter suggests that the real "Troy" is located in neither the Troad nor Aeolis but rather that the
memory of a pan-Achaean expedition elsewhere was located at two different points in Asia Minor by
later poetic traditions: at Ilion by the Ionic poets, because they found in this area a local folk tradition
about a strong citadel sacked near the end of the Bronze Age (Hisarlik); and at Teuthrania by the Aeolic
poets, to correspond with Aeolic traditions connected with their own occupation of this area. Where, then,
was the original "Troy"?
If one is willing to accept Carpenter's line of argument this far, one can place "Troy" virtually anywhere
in the eastern Mediterranean where bands of Mycenaean Greeks may have undertaken joint piratic raids.
Carpenter goes so far as to place "Troy" in Egypt and to connect the story of the Trojan War with the
raids of the Sea Peoples mentioned in Egyptian sources at the end of the 13th and beginning of the 12th
centuries B.C.
More recently, Meyer (1975) has gone well beyond Carpenter in dissociating a historical Troy from the
mound at Hisarlik. In Meyer's view, no historical city of Troy existed anywhere. First of all, there never
was a city called Troy: the Homeric Troie is an adjectival formation derived from the name of a people,
the Troes. The conjunction of Troie and Ilion to refer to one and the same place, a city, is a late
development. Both the Troes and the settlement of Ilion are to be located in Greece, not in northwestern
Asia Minor. The names were transferred to Hisarlik in the process of the Aeolic occupation of Asia Minor
in the 8th century B.C. The original homeland of the Troes, the antagonists of the Achaeans who
themselves can only be located in Achaia-Phthiotis near Mt. Othrys, is in fact the upper Spercheios River
valley, the southern border between central Greece and Thessaly.
Another fact that should be taken into consideration in the debate over the historicity of the Trojan War
and its location at Hisarlik is the increasing evidence for the popularity in Aegean art from ca. 1800 B.C.
onward of scenes illustrating the siege of a town or city in which the attackers normally employ a fleet as
part of their assaulting force. Examples include the Town Mosaic from MM II Knossos, the Silver Siege
rhyton from Circle A at Mycenae, the painting on the north wall of Room 5 in the West House at Akrotiri,
fragments of a steatite rhyton from Epidauros [illustrated by Warren, JHS 99(1979) fig.5], a fragment of
another steatite rhyton from Knossos [illustrated in Palace of Minos III 100 fig.56], and possibly a
fragment of yet one more steatite rhyton from Knossos [illustrated by Warren, JHS 99(1979) fig.4]. These
works of art suggest that the siege of a town may have been a popular theme in Aegean pictorial art and
raise the possibility that an equivalent theme may have existed in contemporary literary (presumably epic)
art; this latter possibility has been explored in some detail by S. Morris (1989) in connection with the
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miniature frieze from Room 5 of the West House at Akrotiri. In neither case need this siege have been a
specific, and hence an historical, one. However, if it was, such a siege clearly preceded the Trojan War as
conventionally dated by many centuries.
FINAL NOTE
In any consideration of the historicity of the Trojan War, the fundamental questions to be addressed are:
(1) Where did it take place? Necessarily at Hisarlik or possibly elsewhere?
(2) When did it take place? Is there a time within the range of dates established by later Greek tradition
for the war (1334-1184 B.C.) when the Mycenaeans could have undertaken the sort of joint military
venture described by Homer, of which the Catalogue of Ships in Book 2 of the Iliad may be a genuine
Bronze Age roster?
(3) If a destruction level caused by human agency at a likely site at a date within the timespan assigned by
Greek tradition to the Trojan War can be identified, was the destruction in question the product of
Mycenaean attackers?
In terms of all three of these basic considerations, the now standard candidates for Priam's Troy, Hisarlik
VI or Hisarlik VIIa, are vulnerable. Yet it cannot be proven that Mycenaean Greeks did not participate in
the sack of Hisarlik VI or VIIa sometime between 1325 and 1200 B.C. Consequently, belief or disbelief
in the historicity of the Trojan War becomes in the end an act of faith, whichever position one adopts.

Lesson 28: The Collapse of Mycenaean Palatial Civilization and the Coming of the Dorians

INTRODUCTION

SIGNS OF TROUBLE WITHIN MYCENAEAN GREECE DURING THE LH IIIB PERIOD

Significant Destructions

Significant Constructions

Evidence from the Linear B Tablets

THE HORIZON OF DESTRUCTIONS AND ABANDONMENTS AT THE END OF THE LH

IIIB PERIOD AND THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE LH IIIC PHASE
o

The Argolid and Corinthia

Boeotia

Phocis

Laconia

Messenia

Achaea

Ionian Islands

Attica

Cyprus

Conclusions

A SELECTION OF THEORIES AS TO THE CAUSE(S) OF THE MYCENAEAN PALATIAL

COLLAPSE
o

Andronikos (1954)

Vermeule (1960)

Desborough (1964)

Mylonas (1966)
177

Carpenter (1966)

Iakovides (1974)

Rutter (1975, 1990), Walberg (1976), Deger-Jalkotzy (1977, 1983), Small (1990, 1997),
Pilides (1994), Bankoff, Meyer, and Stefanovich (1996)

Winter (1977)

Betancourt (1976)

Drews (1993)

Conclusions

The Collapse of Mycenaean Palatial Civilization and the Coming of the Dorians
INTRODUCTION
Any attempt to reconstruct the course of events on the Mycenaean Greek Mainland in the 13th and 12th
centuries B.C. and to determine therefrom the probable causes of the destruction of the Mycenaean
palaces and the collapse of the highly centralized political and economic system based upon them must
rely on a sound and detailed chronology. Since no historical documents were produced locally during this
period and since the absolute chronology of the LH IIIB and LH IIIC ceramic phases is rather "fluid"
(still being essentially dependent on cross-dating with the relatively solid absolute chronology of New
Kingdom Egypt, although there is now hope that dendrochronology may ultimately provide an
independent and more precise series of dates), the dating of events within the Aegean during the period in
question is primarily relative, depends largely on ceramics, and lacks great precision. Despite major
advances since the mid-1960's which have, for example, resulted in the distinction of two phases within
the LH IIIB period and up to as many as five in the following LH IIIC period, such a system of dating is
still inadequate for anything more than a very broad outline of events in southern Greece from ca.
1320/1300 to 1050/1030 B.C. The dates of destruction or abandonment of altogether too many important
sites are either unreliable or unknown, for a wide variety of different reasons. Although slow progress is
being made, it will be a long time yet before the numerous local catastrophes of the two centuries between
ca. 1250 and ca. 1050 B.C. can be placed with some degree of confidence into the order in which they
occurred. The summary which follows is therefore a preliminary report at best - and a selective one at
that! - on work still very much in progress.
Aside from problems with dating, there is in addition the problem caused by the constant proliferation of
theories which purport to explain the Mycenaean collapse. Relatively few of these theories have been
couched in terms whereby they can be tested by future programs of excavation and survey. To the extent
that they cannot be tested, such theories are now, and will always remain, no more than vague
possibilities. Aegean prehistorians future need to couch their hypotheses about the collapse in terms that
are susceptible to testing in the field. Only in this fashion will the number of possibly valid theories be
reduced in number and the probable causes for the collapse be restricted and, in the end, specifically
identified.
SIGNS OF TROUBLE WITHIN MYCENAEAN GREECE DURING THE LH IIIB PERIOD
The evidence cited below with regard to both destructions and construction is limited to those sites where
dating of major architectural remains is relatively secure. Numerous sites are abandoned or destroyed
either within or at the very end of LH IIIB, but the pottery from the final levels of occupation cannot be
accurately dated because it has been inadequately published.
Significant Destructions
(1) The so-called "houses outside the walls" at Mycenae (House of the Oil Merchant, House of Shields,
House of Sphinxes, West House), located on a series of terraces south of Grave Circle B, were destroyed
by fire in LH IIIB1. Wace concluded, from the evidence of stirrup jars filled with oil whose necks had
been smashed off, that the fire was purposefully set after oil had been poured over the basement of the
House of the Oil Merchant.
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(2) The so-called "Potter's Shop" at Zygouries, probably a country mansion or even a small palace, was
destroyed by fire in the LH IIIB1 period.
(3) The "palace" and citadel of Gla were destroyed by fire. Recent excavations at the site by Iakovides
have confirmed that this destruction occurred early in the LH IIIB period, at which time the Copac Basin
may well have been reflooded.
(4) There are some grounds for believing that part, if not all, of the later or so-called "New" Palace at
Thebes was destroyed at this time, although not by fire.
Significant Constructions
(1) The fortifications at Mycenae were strengthened and an underground water supply system was added,
presumably to allow the defenders to withstand a protracted siege (Phases 2 and 3 in the evolution of the
citadel at Mycenae).
(2) The fortifications at Tiryns were strengthened, the citadel was substantially enlarged by the addition
of the Unterburg (Lower Citadel), the storage facilities within the fortified area were enormously
expanded with the construction of the East and South Galleries, in addition to numerous vaulted chambers
within the thickness of the Unterburg's fortification wall, and an underground water supply system was
again added in a final stage of construction to give the fortress adequate resources in the case of a
prolonged siege (Phases 2 and 3 in the evolution of the citadel at Tiryns).
(3) Cyclopean fortifications were constructed around the Acropolis in Athens, and in a late stage of the
LH IIIB period a subterranean water supply system was added to this citadel as well.
(4) A massive program of fortification was initiated at the Isthmus of Corinth in the form of a wall which
was evidently intended to seal off the Peloponnese from invasion by land forces from the north. The
surviving evidence suggests that this enormously ambitious project was never completed.
Evidence from the Linear B Tablets
(1) The "watchers-by-the-sea" tablets from Pylos have been interpreted by some as showing Mycenaean
concern over the possibility of a seaborne invasion of Messenia.
THE HORIZON OF DESTRUCTIONS AND ABANDONMENTS AT THE END OF THE LH IIIB
PERIOD AND THE VERY BEGINNING OF THE LH IIIC PHASE
The Argolid and Corinthia
(1) A major destruction level within the citadel walls at Mycenae defines the end of the LH IIIB2 ceramic
phase. The entire area within the walls appears to have been destroyed by fire and the palace was never
rebuilt. The evidence for an earthquake at nearby Tiryns (see below) has led some excavators at Mycenae
to attribute this destruction at Mycenae to a contemporary earthquake that had a major impact at all the
sites ringing the Argive plain (i.e. at Midea as well; see below).
(2) A major destruction by fire took place within the walls at Tiryns at the end of LH IIIB2 or just
possibly in the very earliest stages of LH IIIC. Since the palace was completely excavated by Schliemann
and others before modern archaeological practices became standard, it is difficult to be sure that the
palace area was not reconstructed and reoccupied in the LH IIIC period. However, there is no compelling
evidence to suggest that a Mycenaean palace functioned at Tiryns after this destruction.
The most recent excavations in the Unterburg at Tiryns have provided masses of data for the nature and
date of this destruction. The associated pottery seems to be slightly later in date than the pottery from the
equivalently massive destruction at Mycenae. Of even greater potential significance is the strong
conviction of the German excavators that the destruction at Tiryns was caused by an earthquake rather
than being due to human agency. The Greek excavators at Mycenae, Mylonas and Iakovides, have long
championed the view that the destruction of terminal LH IIIB at Mycenae was also due to an earthquake.
It may be, then, that both Mycenae and Tiryns were destroyed at the same time by a natural disaster,
although no final consensus has yet been reached on this point.
Zangger has dated the destruction by flood of the lower town (Unterstadt) at Tiryns to the transition
between LH IIIB and LH IIIC. It is as yet unclear what the date of this event should be relative to the
citadel's destruction by fire.
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(3) At least part, and probably all, of the walled citadel of Midea was destroyed by fire in or at the end of
LH IIIB2. This destruction has been connected by Demakopoulou with the earthquake to which roughly
contemporary destruction horizons at nearby Mycenae and Tiryns have been attributed.
(4) The small settlement at Iria to the southeast of Nauplion was destroyed by fire in the earliest
recognizable stage of LH IIIC.
(5) Both Berbati and Prosymna appear to have been abandoned either late in LH IIIB or early in LH IIIC.
(6) The latest material of Bronze Age date from both Nemea-Tsoungiza and Zygouries is in each case a
small amount of LH IIIB2 pottery, but the two sites appear to have been markedly less intensively
occupied in this phase than in the preceding LH IIIB1 stage. Both appear to have been abandoned by the
beginning of the LH IIIC phase.
Boeotia
(1) Eutresis was abandoned very early in the LH IIIC period.
(2) The bulk of the so-called "New Palace" in Thebes was probably destroyed by fire late in LH IIIB.
Phocis
(1) Krisa was destroyed, although the precise date of the destruction within the LH IIIB to early LH IIIC
periods is uncertain.
Laconia
(1) The Menelaion was destroyed by fire at or near the end of the LH IIIB period.
(2) The site of Ayios Stephanos shows no evidence of occupation after the very early LH IIIC period.
Messenia
(1) The palace at Pylos was burnt either late in the LH IIIB period or at some point fairly early in the LH
IIIC phase, subsequently never to be rebuilt. Mountjoy (1997) has argued that the pottery from
destruction contexts in the palace can be dated quite closely in Argive terms to the transition from LH
IIIB to IIIC (her freshly coined "Transitional LH IIIB2/LH IIIC Early" phase).
(2) Nichoria was destroyed late in LH IIIB.
(3) The evidence for massive depopulation in the LH IIIC period is more striking in Messenia than in any
other area of southern Greece.
Achaea
There is an apparent population influx into this area during the LH IIIC period, although Papadopoulos'
1978-79 review of the evidence suggests that this may have been somewhat overemphasized by
Desborough in 1964. The primary evidence for this influx consists of an increase in tombs in the area
during the LH IIIC phase, precisely the reverse of the situation observed in Messenia, Laconia, and even
the Argolid at this time.
Ionian Islands
As in Achaea, large numbers of newly constructed LH IIIC tombs, on the island of Kephallenia in
particular, suggest a population influx into this area during this period.
Attica
(1) Although the later Athenians were very proud of the fact that they had escaped conquest at the hands
of the invading Dorians, a case can nevertheless be made for the violent destruction of the Mycenaean
citadel on the Acropolis in the earliest sub-phase of the LH IIIC period, contemporary with the
destruction of Iria in the Argolid. Although the archaeological evidence for such a destruction is good, the
agent(s) of the destruction cannot be precisely identified and thus the later Athenian boast that they
defeated the Dorians may well be true.
(2) The extremely crowded conditions in the LH IIIC cemetery of Perati in eastern Attica suggest that
there was probably at least a significant nucleation of population at, if not necessarily a population influx
into, this coastal site in this period. The settlement associated with the Perati cemetery may well have
been located on the rugged Raphtis island in the middle of Porto Raphti bay, an indication that a
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settlement on the Mainland itself (as at the nearby site of Brauron in the preceding LH IIIA-B periods)
was somehow not safe. Indeed, it is tempting to identify the population buried at Perati as migrants from
Brauron and their descendants, since both the settlement and the cemetery at Brauron go out of use at just
about the same time as burials begin at Perati.
Cyprus
Although the settlement in quantity of Mycenaean "colonists" on Cyprus during the LH IIIA and IIIB
periods is considered doubtful by most scholars, there is no doubt but that the LH IIIC period witnessed at
least two major incursions of Mycenaean "refugees" into the island. The first of these is dated early in LH
IIIC at the sites of Enkomi, Kition, Palaeokastro Maa, and Sinda, while the second took place perhaps a
couple of generations later in advanced LH IIIC.
Conclusions
The areas suffering the violent destruction of major administrative centers in the late LH IIIB period and
massive depopulation in the subsequent LH IIIC phase lie along a roughly north-south axis (Boeotia,
western Attica, Corinthia, Argolid, Messenia, Laconia). Population influxes, where these have been
detected, are in evidence both west (Achaea, Ionian Islands) and east (eastern Attica, Cyprus) of this
major north-south axis and have also been claimed further south on Crete. It is, however, too early to
establish coherent patterns with any confidence from the limited amount of data currently available.
Above all, more information is needed on the course of events in Thessaly and Macedonia at this time.
Recent excavations at Assiros and Kastanas in central Macedonia will go some way toward filling the
gaps in the evidence, but western Macedonia and Thessaly still remain blank. Evidence from stratified
settlement sites occupied during this period in such areas as Achaea, the Ionian islands, and eastern Attica
is also highly desirable. Full publication of the long LH IIIC sequence at Lefkandi in Euboea will be very
informative, but this site is unlikely to provide much useful information on the transition from LH IIIB to
LH IIIC in this area.
A SELECTION OF THEORIES AS TO THE CAUSE(S) OF THE MYCENAEAN PALATIAL
COLLAPSE
Andronikos (1954)
The collapse came about as the result of extreme social unrest within Mycenaean society and in the form
of revolts of the peasantry against the ruling class.
Comment
While it is possible to believe in social revolutions at isolated sites such as Mycenae or Tiryns or even
within a province containing one or more such kingdoms (e.g. the Argolid or Messenia), it is far more
difficult to believe that more or less simultaneous revolutions took place throughout most of the
Peloponnese as well as central Greece. In any event, this Neo-Marxist theory of internal social revolution
as a the cause of the Mycenaean collapse fails to explain the ensuing widespread depopulation of large
and fertile areas such as Messenia and Laconia.
Vermeule (1960)
"This disruption of commerce in the late 13th century may have been more disastrous for Greece than
direct invasions and this followed inevitably on the coming of the Sea Peoples whose hunt for land and
subsistence threw the Aegean into chaos." The theory posits that the Sea Peoples crippled Mycenaean
commerce by severing the normal trans-Aegean trade routes. Since the palaces, according to this view,
depended on external trading contacts for their continued existence, the widespread elimination of such
commerce led directly to the destruction of the palaces, although at whose hands is uncertain and perhaps
ultimately not very important.
Comment
The activities of the Sea Peoples are securely attested only through Egyptian sources which mention
battles against them on the frontiers of Egypt fought by the pharoahs Merenptah and Ramesses III at the
end of the 13th and early in the 12th centuries respectively. The Egyptian sources specify that these
raiders had also caused havoc in the Levant, Cyprus, and Anatolia. Most scholars are therefore willing to
see in them the destroyers of such prominent Levantine city-states as Ugarit. However, there is no sound
evidence for their presence as far north and west as the Aegean. In fact, the limited amount of
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archaeological evidence available from the central and southeastern Aegean islands (Naxos, Melos,
Rhodes, Kos) in the century ca. 1250-1150 B.C. suggests that these areas survived the collapse of the
Mycenaean palaces on the Greek Mainland relatively unscathed. Only at the site of Koukounaries in
northern Paros has a major early LH IIIC destruction level of a flourishing Cycladic settlement been
documented. Vermeule's theory is a better response to the question of why the palaces were not rebuilt
than it is to that of who destroyed them and why.
Desborough (1964)
Desborough cautiously suggested the possibility of an invasion by land from the north, although at the
time he wrote he was acutely conscious of the fact that there was virtually no evidence, except for the
destruction levels and widespread abandonments themselves, for the presence of such invaders. He did
point out that a few new classes of bronze objects, the {fibula} [or safety-pins] and the cut-and-thrust
swords of the so-called "Naue II" type, make their first appearance in the Mycenaean world ca. 1200 B.C.
However, these objects always appear in "good Mycenaean" contexts such as chamber tombs with
otherwise standard Mycenaean funeral assemblages. They consequently do not appear to have belonged
exclusively to an intrusive, non-Mycenaean population element. As a result, Snodgrass (1974) concluded
that objects of these kinds need not be taken as evidence of the invasion or immigration of northern
peoples from the western Danube basin into the Aegean (as argued by Grumach, Milojcic, and Gimbutas,
among others) because they could be considered simply as "good ideas" which "caught on" in the Aegean
area at much the same time as similar objects first appeared in northern Italy and in the early Urnfield
cemeteries of the Danube basin. All such objects, Snodgrass argued, could have been imported initially
and locally copied thereafter by peoples indigenous to the areas in question, rather than necessarily being
the belongings of invaders.
Mylonas (1966)
Mylonas felt that too much emphasis had been placed on the supposed contemporaneity of the palatial
destructions. In his view, specialists had been too busy looking for a single cause for what were a large
number of distinct localized destructions. That individual Mycenaean centers were destroyed by quite
different people for a variety of distinct reasons is supported by the destruction sagas associated with a
number of these centers in the body of Greek myth: Thebes and the Epigonoi, the sons of the more
famous "Seven against Thebes", a group of Peloponnesian heroes who had themselves failed, under the
leadership of the Theban renegade Polyneices and the Argive king Adrastus, to sack Thebes a generation
earlier; Mycenae and the House of Atreus which destroyed itself in a series of intrafamilial squabbles
(Atreus vs. Thyestes, Aegisthos and Clytemnestra vs. Agamemnon, Orestes vs. Aegisthos and
Clytemnestra); etc. Documentary evidence of a different sort, contemporary Linear B tablets as opposed
to later mythological tales, appears to show that Pylos may have been destroyed in a surprise piratic raid
by the people(s) against whom the "watchers-by-the-sea" mentioned in the O-KA tablets had been posted.
Comment
Mylonas' approach fails to take sufficient cognizance of the remarkable coincidence of the complete
collapse of palatial civilization on the Greek Mainland within a relatively short period of time, arguably
no more than a generation at most in the Peloponnese. It is unclear from his explanation why the palaces
should never have been rebuilt. The myths concerned with the Dorian invasion of the Peloponnese and
other disturbances at this approximate time are summarized by Buck (1969).
Carpenter (1966)
Carpenter suggested that in the years around 1200 B.C., that is, around the end of the LH IIIB period,
there was an extended drought which disrupted agriculture in the areas of Crete, the southern
Peloponnese, Boeotia, Euboea, Phocis, and the Argolid but which did not particularly affect Attica, the
northwest Peloponnese, Thessaly and the rest of northern Greece, or the Dodecanese (e.g. Rhodes, Kos,
etc.). Since Carpenter was not a meteorologist, many scholars felt that he lacked the requisite expertise to
substantiate his theory. In 1974, a group of meteorologists evaluated Carpenter's thesis from two points of
view: (a) was a pattern of drought such as that postulated by Carpenter in fact possible? (b) did such a
drought in fact occur ca. 1200 B.C.? In response to the first question, their answer was that the proposed
pattern was indeed possible and had in fact occurred as recently as 1954-55. While in that particular
instance the drought lasted for only one year, it was perfectly possible for such a drought pattern to persist
for the longer period of time required by Carpenter's theory. In response to the second question, the
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meteorologists' response was less definite, for the simple reason that relatively few data presently exist
from the Aegean which can be brought to bear on the problem in question. Most recently, studies by
Kuniholm and his associates of tree-growth rings from Turkey suggest that there may have been a
drought in central Anatolia at the time in question which may be connected with the collapse of the Hittite
Empire ca. 1200 B.C.
Comment
This theory has the virtue of being a hypothesis for which objective tests can be quite easily devised.
Further meteorological data concerning the climate of Greece in the 13th and 12th centuries may result in
the partial or total confirmation of the postulated drought. The question as to who destroyed the palaces is
not specifically addressed by this theory, although presumably it would have been the work of
Mycenaeans seeking to gain access to the agricultural surpluses kept in palatial storerooms rather than
that of non-Mycenaean outsiders.
Iakovides (1974)
The Mycenaean palatial economies were dependent on trade with Cyprus and the Levant. When the trade
routes connecting Greece with these areas were cut as the result of the activities of the Sea Peoples,
Mycenaean palatial civilization fell apart in a short space of time.
Comment
This theory, a slightly revised version of Vermeule's hypothesis of 1960, takes cognizance of the fact that
the Sea Peoples' activities are only well documented in the easternmost part of the Mediterranean and
therefore postulates a collapse of Mycenaean trading mechanisms at their eastern termini rather than
within the Aegean. Like Vermeule's theory, Iakovides' thesis accounts for the disappearance of the
Mycenaean palatial system after the destructions of ca. 1200 B.C. but fails to address the widepread
depopulation of the Peloponnese in the LH IIIC period or to identify who actually destroyed the
Mycenaean palaces. A decline in contacts between the Mycenaean Greek Mainland and both Cyprus and
western Anatolia begins to be noticeable in the latter part of the LH IIIB period, a fact which suggests that
the disruption of Mycenaean commercial activities with the east was a gradual and potentially rather
drawn out process rather than the relatively sudden result of a small number of closely spaced events. The
scarcity of raw materials, and of copper in particular, for specialized workers within the kingdom of Pylos
is clear from Linear B texts found at that site. Although no comparable documentary evidence has been
found at other Mycenaean centers, this shortage of imported raw materials and the breakdown in
exchange networks which such a shortage implies is usually considered to have existed throughout the
southern Aegean by the end of the 13th century B.C.
Rutter (1975, 1990), Walberg (1976), Deger-Jalkotzy (1977, 1983), Small (1990, 1997), Pilides
(1994), Bankoff, Meyer, and Stefanovich (1996)
Rutter, following in the footsteps of E. French, identified a non-Mycenaean handmade and burnished
class of pottery in early LH IIIC contexts at Korakou, Mycenae, Lefkandi, and a few other sites in central
and southern Greece. Since this pottery was locally made, it constituted evidence for the presence of a
non-Mycenaean population element within Mycenaean Greece in the period immediately following the
destruction of the major Peloponnesian centers. This handmade and burnished pottery, in Rutter's view,
had its closest parallels in the "Coarse Ware" of Troy VIIb1 and in the pottery of the Final Bronze Age
Coslogeni culture of southeastern Rumania. Rutter therefore suggested that there might be a connection
between the makers of this non-Mycenaean pottery and the destroyers of both Troy VIIa and of the
Mycenaean centers in the Peloponnese.
Deger-Jalkotzy, publishing similar non-Mycenaean ceramics from early LH IIIC contexts at the coastal
site of Aigeira in Achaea, argued that similar pottery was to be found not only in Troy and Rumania but
also in Sicily and southern Italy. In all cases, this pottery had no local ancestry and was presumably
evidence for intrusive population groups. Such groups were probably not large (i.e. not comparable in
scale to the migrating tribes who contributed to the downfall of the Roman Empire in the 4th and 5th
centuries A.D.), but rather small bands of pirates, freebooters, and unemployed mercenaries. The original
homeland of these groups, from which they filtered down into various areas of the Mediterranean by a
number of different routes, was the central Danube. These warrior bands, comparable in terms of their
activities and organization to the Vikings of the 7th to 10th centuries A.D., may indeed have constituted
the nucleus of the raiders known later to the Egyptians as the Sea Peoples.
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Comment
Despite the discovery of considerable amounts of handmade and burnished pottery at both Tiryns and the
Menelaion since Rutter's and Deger-Jalkotzy's original publications, far too little of this pottery has yet
been published for any sort of reliable estimate of its significance. Kilian has suggested that the closest
parallels for this material come from northwest Greece (Epirus) and has maintained that the earliest
examples of such pottery from Tiryns come from contexts immediately predating the major destruction at
that site at the end of the LH IIIB period. It is also apparent from Tiryns that, at least at that site, the
handmade and burnished pottery persisted in use throughout the LH IIIC period, while at Korakou and the
Menelaion such material seems to be restricted to early LH IIIC levels. Moreover, at Tiryns standard
Mycenaean shapes are imitated in the dark-surfaced, handmade and burnished fabrics. It thus appears that
there is considerable local variability in the manner in which this intrusive class of ceramics manifests
itself. Technologically comparable material has recently been identified at the sites of Kommos and
Chania in Crete. That from Kommos dates from the LM IIIA2-B periods and has its closest parallels on
Sardinia; that from Chania, on the other hand, appears to be later in date and has better parallels in
southern Italy. In both cases, the pottery in question is imported rather than locally made and
consequently need not represent resident pottery producers of Italian origin at the sites in question.
Perhaps most significantly, the pottery of this technologically inferior variety constitutes precisely the sort
of material for which Desborough searched in vain to bolster his theory of northern invaders in 1964.
Deger-Jalkotzy has connected the fibulae and "Naue II" cut-and-thrust swords identified long ago as
evidence for northern intruders into the Mycenaean world at this time with the much humbler, darksurfaced, handmade-and-burnished pottery and views all three artifactual classes as representative of a
single phenomenon. But most authorities see no compelling reason to accept such a connection. The
pottery has nevertheless often been categorized as "Barbarian Ware", or even "Dorian Ware", especially
in German scholarship on the subject. The larger topic of Mycenaean contacts with central Europe at this
time has been most recently summarized independently and with quite different conclusions by Harding
(1984) and Bouzek (1985).
An alternative approach to the interpretation of this pottery, which may be best referred to in an
abbreviated as well as neutral fashion by the term HMBW (= HandMade and Burnished Ware), has been
to view it as the result of a new mode of production: due to the collapse of the palaces and the centralized
industries which they supported, production at the household level by non-specialized, indeed relatively
inexperienced personnnel was required for the first time in centuries (Walberg 1976, Small 1990). This
approach, however, fails to take cognizance of two very important aspects of the available evidence: first,
the typological peculiarities of HMBW in shape and decoration [e.g. the recurrence of non-Mycenaean
shapes like the deep wide-mouthed jar with multiple lugs of three or four characteristic varieties
interrupting a finger-impressed plastic cordon below the rim at a number of sites spread over a wide area
including the Corinthia (Korakou), the Argolid (Mycenae and Tiryns), Laconia (the Menelaion), and even
northwestern Anatolia (Troy)]; and second, the fact that standard wheelmade Mycenaean cooking and
table wares continued to be produced in quantity throughout the Mycenaean period, thus showing that the
long-established technological norms of indigenous ceramic production on the Greek Mainland continued
in be operative with respect to the vast majority (probably 90% or even higher) of pottery being
manufactured after the palatial collapse (Rutter 1990).
The most recent review of all HMBW material so far published has extended its distribution to Cyprus
(Pilides 1994), where it seems to make its appearance at much the same time as Mycenaean refugees are
aupposed to have colonized the island in substantial numbers at the beginning of the LH IIIC period (see
above). An attractive recent suggestion for how HMBW ought to be interpreted has invoked the analogy
of the creolized ceramic products of slave societies of the 16th-19th centuries A.D. in the Americas
(Bankoff, Meyer, and Stefanovich 1996). Appropriately acknowledging the heterogeneous typology,
retrograde technology, and undistinctive intrasite as well as intersite distribution of HMBW, this analogy
suggests that this pottery represents an intrusive population element in the 12th century B.C. Aegean
playing a subservient rather than dominant role in the climactic events of that age.
Winter (1977)
Winter has made the important point, on the basis of analogies with the 3rd century B.C. Galatian
invasion of Anatolia and the 6th century A.D. Slavic invasion of Greece, both of them undisputed
historical events, that invaders on a lower cultural level than the inhabitants of the area which they invade
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often do not leave behind any sign of their presence other than destruction levels and evidence for drastic
depopulation. Even when they remain in the invaded area, as both the Galatians and the Slavs did, they
are often not archaeologically detectable or observable since they may wholeheartedly adopt the existing
material culture of the population which they have conquered.
Comment
In other words, regardless of whether the handmade and burnished pottery and the new bronze types have
any significance as indicators of the identity of a group of invaders, the destruction levels and
depopulation evident in Greece during the period ca. 1250-1150 B.C. are themselves sufficient evidence
to sustain the theory of invasion from outside of Mycenaean Greece as a rationale for the collapse of the
Mycenaean palatial system. This thesis has not found universal favor with archaeologists and historians,
as responses to Winter's original article by Thomas (1978, 1980) show.
Betancourt (1976)
Betancourt has argued that the Mycenaean economy was so specialized that a short period of disruption
of any kind, whether the result of internal social upheavals, invasion from outside, or a period of poor
weather, would lead inevitably to the collapse of the major economic centers, the palaces, a phenomenon
which would in turn cause the sort of internal chaos leading to the widespread depopulation of large areas
of the Greek Mainland, even if they were agriculturally fertile and hence potentially productive.
Comment
Both Betancourt and Hutchinson (1977) focus their efforts on establishing how fragile the Mycenaean
palatial economy was and hence address more the issue of why palatial civilization disappeared from
Greece after 1200 B.C. than that of what the initial shock or shocks may have been which led to the
destructions of the palaces in the first instance.
Drews (1993)
In a wide-ranging review of the relatively sudden demise of numerous kingdoms and empires throughout
the eastern Mediterranean region in the later 13th and early 12th centuries B.C., Drews suggests that these
collapses occurred as the result of a fundamental change in the nature of warfare in this period. In his
view, what is at issue is the replacement of the massed chariotry that had been dominant on Near Eastern
battlefields since the introduction of the horse-drawn chariot in the 18th-17th centuries B.C. by lightarmed and highly mobile infantry who relied principally on the javelin as a weapon. The success of these
new troops against chariot forces of the traditional type on 13th-century battlefields dealt a fatal blow to
militaristic polities whose power had been based on chariots and on the socially and economically
privileged warrior elite who manned them (e.g. the Hittite Empire, the Mycenaean kingdoms, the city
states of coastal Syria and the Levant, the Hurrian kingdom of Mitanni, the Kassite kingdom of Babylon,
etc.). Since the new mode of warfare entailed the abandonment of an entire social order based on the
prominence of horse-drawn battle-cars, traditional forms of kingship were likewise either altogether
scrapped or at the very least greatly modified.
Comment
The virtue of Drews' treatment of the Mycenaean collapse is that he places it in the context of a much
larger series of military, economic, and political changes that affected all of the "civilized world" of
western Asia and the eastern Mediterranean at the end of the Late Bronze Age. But in identifying a single
cause for a very complex and multifaceted combination of events that involved a very large area over a
century or more of time, Drews has unquestionably been guilty of the same kind of oversimplification
that characterizes all of the "single-answer" approaches to the widespread "systems collapse" in question.
Liverani (1994) has provided a brief critique of Drews' approach from a Near Eastern perspective. From
an Aegean point of view, what is surprising is how popular the chariot continues to be in post-palatial
Mycenaean art of the 12th century B.C., especially in view of the contemporary disappearance of such
unambiguous totems of Mycenaean royalty as the figure-of-eight shield and the boars'-tusk helmet. In
fact, rather than disappearing from the pictorial vocabulary of the LH IIIC vase painters who decorated
the kraters used at male drinking parties, chariots are not only as popular as they ever were, but are now
more often explicitly connected with warfare through the warrior garb of their occupants than was the
case in the palatial era. Since many specialists have difficulty imagining chariot-borne warriors playing
any significant role on Aegean battlefields in the first place because of the region's highly irregular
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topography, there is understandably a good deal of skepticism in this particular part of the eastern
Mediterranean as to the significance of the supposed passing of massed chariotry from the military scene.
Conclusions
The theories outlined above can be roughly categorized as follows:
(a) Economic Factors: Vermeule, Iakovides, Betancourt.
(b) Climatic Change: Carpenter.
(c) Internal Social Upheaval: Andronikos, Mylonas.
(d) Invasion from Outside the Aegean World: Desborough, Rutter, Winter, Deger-Jalkotzy.
(e) Changes in the Nature of Warfare: Drews.
In fact, the relatively sudden, extensive, and thorough eradication of Mycenaean palatial civilization is
likely to have been caused by a combination of factors. In any case, no one of the theories outlined above
addresses all of the questions inherent in a reconstruction of the Mycenaean collapse. These questions
include, but are by no means limited to, the following:
(1) How stable was Mycenaean palatial civilization in the first place? Was it flexible enough to withstand
substantial "shocks"?
(2) Were there certain "shocks" which affected Mycenaean palatial civilization as a whole? Were these in
every case ultimately responsible for the destruction of individual palatial centers or were such
destructions often the final links in highly localized chains of causation?
(3) Why were the palaces never rebuilt?
(4) Why were large areas of the Peloponnese, including some of the richest agricultural zones in southern
Greece, so thoroughly depopulated during the century following the destruction of the palaces? What
percentages of the population which disappeared died in Greece of famine and disease or in battle, and
what percentage migrated south to Crete, east to Cyprus, or west to Achaea and the Ionian islands?

Lesson 29: Post-Palatial Twilight: The Aegean in the Twelfth Century B.C.

ARCHITECTURE

BURIAL CUSTOMS

BRONZES

REPRESENTATIONAL ART

CONCLUDING COMMENTS

Post-Palatial Twilight: The Aegean in the Twelfth Century B.C.

ARCHITECTURE
Although the palaces were never rebuilt at Mycenae and Tiryns after the destructions at the end of the LH
IIIB period, these sites were certainly not abandoned in the LH IIIC phase. At Mycenae, houses within
the citadel were rebuilt both on their old foundations and on entirely new ones. Major structures like the
"Granary" just inside the Lion Gate continued to be occupied until well on into the LH IIIC period. At
Tiryns, recent excavations by the Germans suggest that the Lower Town outside the walls (Unterstadt)
was extensively rebuilt in the early LH IIIC period after the flash flood that had overwhelmed most of its
LH IIIB predecessor and required the construction of the great dam to the east of the site (see handout on
"Mycenaean Public and Funerary Architecture"). Outside the walls of Tiryns to the southeast, a large and
impressive megaroid building with a central hearth and three internal columns set in a row was built in
advanced LH IIIC. Within the Lower Citadel (Unterburg), a number of substantial buildings were erected,
as well as the tiny shrine against the west fortification wall. The fortifications at Mycenae and Tiryns no
doubt continued to function, although the evidence from Tiryns indicates that the underground water186

supply system there went out of use and was filled with a large deposit of late LH IIIB and LH IIIC
rubbish, the same being true also of the water-supply system at Athens. A magnificent LH IIIC fresco of a
life-sized, elaborately coiffed and bejewelled female figure at Mycenae indicates that wall-painting was
still practiced as a major art, at least at some sites. Substantial amounts of LH IIIC architecture are also
known from Lefkandi, Asine, Korakou, and Teichos Dymaion.
Nevertheless, in spite of the fact that Mycenaean civilization survived the disasters of ca. 1200 B.C., the
12th century on the Mainland was clearly a turbulent period. In the Argolid, Mycenae suffered another
major destruction by fire within the citadel ca. 1150/1125 B.C. and the large magaron outside the walls at
Tiryns was destroyed at about the same time. The large number of distinct LH IIIC levels at Lefkandi
attest to repeated destructions at that site. In the islands, the destruction of the twin shrines at Phylakopi
and of the temple at Ayia Irini, both ca. 1120 B.C., may have been due to a massive earthquake, but the
destruction by fire of Koukounaries on Paros two generations or so earlier was probably due to human
agency. The late 12th century and the early 11th is characterized by a general decline from which
Mycenaean culture did not recover. Burials of this period in cist graves are known from the Acropolis at
Athens and from within the citadel at Mycenae. This transformation of Mycenaean walled citadels into
burial grounds presumably represents their abandonment as major centers of settlement. Messenia and
Laconia furnish little evidence of occupation at any point in LH IIIC and were probably only sparsely
occupied throughout the period.
The 12th century in Crete appear to have been equally unsettled. It seems likely that there were influxes
of Mainland Greek migrants to the island at various times during this period, and the unsettled nature of
life on the island during the LM IIIC period is reflected in the appearance of refugee settlements such as
Karphi (on a peak high above the Lasithi Plain of central Crete), Kavousi-Kastro, Chalasmeno, and
Katalimata (on peaks and a virtually inaccessible ledge overhanging a ravine at the northeast end of the
isthmus of Ierapetra), Erganos (on a steep acropolis in the southwestern foothills of Mt. Dikte), Kastro
Kepahala (on a high ridge near the north coast and just west of Heraklion), Kastri (on a steep acropolis
above the earlier LH IIIA-B settlement at Palaikastro in east Crete), and numerous other sites explored
and mapped during the 1980's and 1990's by K. Nowicki.
BURIAL CUSTOMS
Two new funerary practices make their first significant appearance on the Mainland in the latter half of
the LH IIIC period: cremation and individual burial in cist tombs. Cremation appears in LH IIIC chamber
tombs at Perati in eastern Attica and at Ialysos on Rhodes, as well as in the cemetery of "Submycenaean"
cist graves in the Kerameikos of Athens. This mode of burial is generally considered to have been
introduced into the Aegean world from the east, possibly from Anatolia (cf. the cremation cemetery of
Troy VIh, the presence of numerous cremations in Mycenaeanizing chamber tombs at Mskebi near
Bodrum on the west Anatolian coast, and Hittite burial customs). Although cist grave burial was
considered by Desborough to be an intrusive feature in late Mycenaean Greece, a custom introduced from
the north (Epirus), most scholars now consider it to be simply a revival of Middle Helladic burial
customs. In fact, individual cist grave burials had never entirely disappeared in Greece during the period
of Mycenaean palatial civilization, and it is probable that, during the unsettled times of the LH IIIC
period, people were reluctant to go to the effort of digging out large chamber tombs for collective burial
when the chances of their remaining settled in a given area for any length of time were relatively slim.
Chamber tombs disappear as a Mainland Greek burial form before the end of LH IIIC, and tholoi persist
only in a very few areas such as Messenia and Thessaly.
BRONZES
Two new major items of metalwork had appeared in the Mycenaean world toward the end of the LH IIIIB
period: the "Naue II" type of cut-and-thrust sword, a superior weapon with a long future ahead of it in
both bronze and iron; and the fibula, a safety pin of bronze or gold with an even longer future ahead of it
in a variety of different metals. The new sword type became standard by the end of LH IIIC. The earliest
fibulae of the so-called "violin bow" type were joined by the variant known as the "arched" type during
the LH IIIC phase. Also appearing only after the beginning of the LH IIIC period is a series of long pins
of bronze which, like the fibulae, have often been considered to have their origin in non-Mycenaean areas
to the north, although some of the pin types are almost certainly Near Eastern (either Cypriot or
Levantine) in ancestry.

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REPRESENTATIONAL ART
Although writing, palace buildings and their associated economies, and massive architectural programs of
various kinds may have disappeared or ceased suddenly around 1200 B.C., architecture on an impressive
scale, figurine manufacture, and a sophisticated ceramics industry continued for at least another fifty to
seventy-five years before the repeated destructions at most major sites began to take an inevitable toll.
Other artistic media, such as seal-carving and perhaps also ivory-carving, appear to have been in a state of
decline well before the destructions and abandonments that characterize the end of the LH IIIB period,
quite possibly as a result of the unavailability of the raw materials that artisans working in such media
would have required. Still other arts, such as wall-painting, continued to be practised for a brief time in
the earlier 12th century before seeming lack of demand dictated their extinction.
Since figurines were typically produced as single figures, whether in human or in animal form, the
representational art of this post-palatial era that takes the form of true scenes - two or more figures,
objects, or landscape features that are somehow interrelated - is almost entirely restricted to pottery. As in
palatial times, the most popular figurally decorated shape is the mixing bowl (krater) used at all-male
drinking parties (symposia). The most popular scenes, however, are no longer the unhurried parades of
chariots or major sources of protein (chiefly bulls, but also deer, fowl, and fish, possibly all to be
interpreted as the principal comestibles at royal feasts) characteristic of LH IIIA1-IIIB amphoroid and
bell kraters. Rather, the activities displayed most often on the post-palatial kraters of at least the Greek
mainland are scenes of the hunt or of warriors on the march, whether on foot or in chariots.
This post-palatial pictorialism in ceramics peaks about halfway through the LH IIIC period (ca.
1160/1140 - 1120/1100 B.C.), at which point at least two artists working in a four color polychrome style
(palce clay ground; lustrous but mottled, iron-based dark paint; matt white, used only as an added color;
matt ochre) are active at Mycenae. The better documented of these painted the well-known Warrior Vase
depicting two groups of differently accoutered foot soldiers on opposite sides of the vase. Outfitted with
horned or horsehair-crested [so-called "hedgehog"] helmets, small shields, and spears, these two groups
conspicuously do not wear the armament characteristic of Mycenaean palatial culture, the body shield [of
either "figure-of-eight" or "tower" type] and the boars'-tusk helmet. These emblems of a bygone age, in
faact, no longer appear in Mycenaean art following the palatial destructions. Their last well-dated use, on
present evidence, appears to be in the frescoes that decorated the walls of the palaces at Mycenae, Tiryns,
and Pylos burnt to the ground at the end of the LH IIIB period.
The polychromy exploited in a ceramic medium by the painter of the Warrior Vase was a technique he
had evidently learned as a fresco painter, to judge from a polychrome-decorated, plastered slab (actually a
re-used Shaft Grave stele) from Mycenae that he also appears to have painted. Numerous other features of
developed LH IIIC pictorial vase painting - choice of subject matter, rendering of space, employment of
various filling ornaments for both human and animal figures as an alternative approach to the use of
polychromy, and extensive overlapping of figures - reveal that the artists chiefly responsible for the
renaissance in ceramic pictorialism ca. 1160/1140 had transferred their attention to pottery after being
trained in other media. The phenomenon of these artists switching media, not only in the Argolid but
throughout mainland Greece and the islands, is an eloquent statement about how Aegean society had
changed in just a generation or two: the monarchs who once commissioned works of art in a broad range
of media for a variety of different purposes (mostly for self-advertisement, but also to reward loyal
followers, one imagines, as well as to serve as gifts for peers) either no longer existed or else were simply
unable to supply their artisans with the necessary materials.
New choices of subject reveal an attitude suggesting that monarchy, at least of the kind familiar in the
palatial era, had been eliminated. The absence of traditional shield and helmet types has already been
cited. The animals that used to be the totems of Mycenaean royalty - the lion, the griffin, and perhaps also
the sphinx - are now portrayed in cartoon-like ways that seem deliberately to mock the grandeur once
attached to these symbols. Thus griffins no longer guard the occupants of thrones, as at Knossos and
Pylos, but instead feed their babies in a nest on a well-known pyxis from Lefkandi. Lions don't guard
thrones or other royal emblems such as columns resting on altars, as they once did in the throne room at
Pylos or in the Lion Gate relief at Mycenae, nor do they testify to the bravery of heroes who engage them
in one-opn-one combats on gold seals or relief-decorated stelai from the Shaft Graves; instead, they are
depicted, on a krater fragment from Lefkandi, in rampant, antithetic postures almost as tabby cats playing
with a ball of string. Again from Lefkandi, another krater fragment shows an adult sphinx with its
downsized offspring in a pictorial context which, like that of the griffins cited above, puts an emphasis
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more on the domesticity, and hence innocuousness, of these former guardians of royalty than on their
awe-inspiring fierceness. That is, creatures that once served kings for their apotropaic qualities now seem
to symbolize nurturing or even playful elements in ordinary domestic settings. A light-ground neckhandled amphora from Argos may provide another example of mockery of the royal past. This vase bears
three or four motifs on its belly that look vaguely like the ideograms or syllabograms of Linear B. Though
not actual Linear B signs, they do make this amphora resemble one of the large stirrup jars inscribed with
Linear B in the belly zone that have been found in some quantity in the ruins of the Mycenaean palace at
Thebes. Could it be that the Argive vase is a spoof of Mycenaean writing, "nonsense signs" painted on a
vase that is similar in function, but decided not of the same type, as the standard transport container of the
palatial trade in bulk liquid foodstuffs?
Music is alleded to in several new ways on LH IIIC pottery. A {citharode} [singing lyre-player] on a
collared jar fragment could be derived from a wall-painting such as the that depicting a bard on the wall
immediately flanking the throne in the palace at Pylos. Another jar fragment shows a group of at least
three open-mouthed singers belting out either a tune or a military chant as they march in front of a
chariot; strongly reminiscent of the three singers on the relief-decorated "Harvester Vase" found in the
LM IB destruction level of Ayia Triadha, those on this LH IIIC jar may likewise reflect singing activites
depicted during palatial times in wall-painting. A side-spouted jar from Naxos that may have been used in
funerary ceremonies depicts a series of schematic, paper-doll-like dancers in what may have been a form
of musical ceremony conducted at a burial.
More striking, perhaps, because many of the pieces in question are much better preserved are a substantial
number of vases from a surprisingly wide variety of sites that depict ships. The vessels appearing on a
pyxis found in the Tragana tholos in Messenia, on a small stirrup jar from a chamber tomb at Asine, and
on a larger stirrup jar from the island of Skyros all lack people, were all found in fenerary contexts, and
just possibly were all produced for such a purpose. By contrast, a magnificent series of kraters found
recently by Dakoronia (1987) ay Kynos-Livadhates in coastal Locris and on now display in the Lamia
Museum show warships and on-board combat, as probably do a number of more fragmentarily preserved
kraters from Kos. These kraters illustrate ships for the first time ever on the Greek mainland [aside from
the stern cabins, or {ikria}, decorating a wall in the palace at Mycenae that have been published by M.
Shaw (1980)]; in the islands, these are the first ship depictions since the LC I examples decorating the
walls of Room 5 in the West House at Akrotiri on Thera and a somewhat later building at Ayia Irini on
Keos. Like the abandonment of body shields and boars'-tusk helmets, this sudden popularity of ships has
much to say about the nature of warfare in this period, especially when taken in combination with the
prevalence of hilltop refuge sites in both the islands and on Crete.
Stirrup jars of medium size in eastern Attica, the Cyclades, and the Dodecanese become the vehicles in
the middle of the LH IIIC period for elaborate pictorial compositions centered around large octopi. These
vases are likely to spinoffs of the LM IIIA2-B octopus stirrup jars of Crete, which had included both large
vessels for the bulk transport of liquids such as oil and wine and smaller and more carefully decorated
containers probably reserved for much more costly perfumed oils. The elaborately decorated LH IIIC
octopus stirrup jars of the mid-12th century are usually of an intermediate size, too small for bulk
shipments and too large as containers of valuable essences. Given the nature of the times and the size of
the jars, the use of such containers to hold oil or wine produced as a surplus for trade thus seems unlikely.
Perhaps they held a marine product, such as the nutritious and moderately expensive fish sauce suggested
as the possible contents of the so-called "duck askoi" of the Phylakopi I culture in much the same region
some eight centuries earlier. The decorative styles of these LH IIIC octopus stirrup jars change noticeably
from region to region, eastern Attica, Naxos, Crete, and the Dodecanese each having its own
characteristic combination of shape and ornament. In the case of this particular form of post-palatial
ceramic pictorialism, its purpose appears to be as a regional marker, a way of identifying the source of the
luxury product that each such jar contained.
CONCLUDING COMMENTS
Our knowledge of the LH IIIC Greek Mainland has increased tremendously since Vermeule's Greece in
the Bronze Age was published in 1964 as the result of new excavations at Lefkandi, Mycenae, Tiryns,
Teichos Dymaion, Aigeira, Asine, Kalapodi, and other sites. Publications of material from sites excavated
before 1965 such as Perati and Korakou, as well as of finds from sites in the Cyclades such as Grotta
(Naxos), Phylakopi (Melos), and Koukounaries (Paros), have also dramatically expanded our
understanding of post-palatial Mycenaean culture. It is now apparent that the ultimate demise of
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Mycenaean civilization was a gradual process spread over a full century to a century and a half following
the destructions of the last palaces. The growing cultural regionalism throughout the 12th century serves
as a prelude to the highly localized character of Greek culture during the Dark (ca. 1050-700 B.C.),
Archaic (ca. 700-480 B.C.), and even Classical (480-323 B.C.) ages. Only in the Hellenistic (323-31
B.C.) period does the cultural uniformity which typified the Mycenaean koine during its heyday of the
14th and 13th centuries B.C. reappear in the Aegean.

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