Agiasmatsi: A greek cave sanctuary in sphakia, sw crete

Annual of the British School at Athens

Volumn 95, Issue , 2000, Pages 427-471

  Francis, Jane ^a   Price, Simon ^b   Moody, Jennifer ^c   Nixon, Lucia ^d  

^a Dept of Electrical and Computer Engineering   (United Kingdom)

^b UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD   (United Kingdom)

^c BAYLOR UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^d MAGDALEN COLLEGE   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 85012498452     PISSN: 00682454     EISSN: 20452403     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0068245400004755     Document Type: Article

References (46)

1. Thanks to a generous permit obtained from the Greek Archaeological Service through the Canadian Archaeological Institute at Athens, researchers began working in Sphakia in 1987. The Survey is co-directed by Lucia Nixon and Jennifer Moody. Fieldwork was conducted in 1987-90, 1992; final site revisiting 1996; study seasons 1992-5, 1997-9. For preliminary publications of Survey material sec: L. Nixon, J. Moody, and O. Rackham, ‘Archaeological survey in Sphakia, Crete’, Echos du monde classique/Classical Views, 32, n.s. 7 (1988), 159-73: L. Nixon, J. Moody, S. Price, and O. Rackham, ‘Archaeological survey in Sphakia, Crete’, Echos du monde classique/Classical Views, 33, n.s. 8 (1989), 201-15; L. Nixon, J. Moody, S. Price, O. Rackham, and V. Niniou-Kindeli, ‘Archaeological survey in Sphakia, Crete’, Echos du monde classique/Classical Views, 34, n.s. 9 (1990), 213-20; L. Nixon, J. Moody, S. Price, and O. Rackham, ‘Rural settlement in Sphakia, Crete’, in P. Doukellis and L. G. Mendoni (eds), Structures rurales el sociétes antiques (Annales littéraires de l'Université de Besançon; Paris, 1994), 255-64; id., ‘Surveying poleis and larger sites in Sphakia’, in W. G. Gavanagh, M. Curtis (eds),Post Minoan Crete, (BSA Studies 2; London, 1998), 87-95. We have also made a video about the survey: L. Nixon and S. Price, The Sphakia Survey (Greece): Methods and Results (Oxford: Educational Technology Resources Centre, 1995), and an interactive website: Sphakia Survey: The Internet Edition, http://sphakia.classies.ox.ac.uk. The final publication of the Survey is nearly complete; it will appear, in two volumes, from OUP. This article is designed to present some of our methods and to offer a more detailed account of the Agiasmatsi material than will be possible in the final publication.
2. The field work on the cave was conducted by various members of the Sphakia Survey: Lucia Nixon, Jennifer Moody, Simon Price, Jane Francis and David Crowley (then a student at the University of New Brunswick at Saint John). The museum study and fabric analysis were primarily the responsibility of Jane Francis, (building on the work of Jennifer Moody). Lucia Nixon supervised the finds photography done by Kathy May. Jane Francis wrote sections II, III, and V and part of I; Simon Price and Lucia Nixon wrote the introduction and sections I and IV, but the article also incorporates important contributions on the pottery by Jennifer Moody.
3. On sacred landscapes see S. E. Alcock and R. Osborne (eds), Placing the Gods: Sanctuaries and Sacred Space in Ancient Greece (Oxford, 1994): C. L. Crumley, ‘Sacred landscapes: constructed and conceptualized’, in W. Ashmore and A. B. Knapp (eds), Archaeologies of Landscape: Contemporary Perspectives (Oxford and Maiden MA, 1999), 269-76. For other recent studies of landscape see P. J. Ucko and R. Layton (eds). The Archaeology and Anthropology of landscape: Shaping your Landscape (London and New York, 1999).
4. Faure 1967: 135-8.
5. Faure 1969: 200.
6. Tyree 1974: 48-50, 192, 216, 230; Rutkowski and Nowicki 1996: 49.
7. Cf. Faure 1967: 136 fig. II.
8. Faure 1967: 135 wonders if this is a new idol or an oblong altar. He also describes another group of stalagmites (cf. Faure 1967: 136 fig. 12) as resembling ‘vaguely’ a group of a human figure, accompanied by a sort of quadruped (dog?). This ‘description’ seems to us too personal to be useful.
9. We are grateful for advice on some of the pottery to: John Hayes (formerly Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto); Alan Johnston (University College London); Pamela Armstrong (Oxford); Eva Parisinou (London); and joann Freed (Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario). The drawings have been done by Anne Bowtell (Oxford), Christopher Sparey-Green (London) and Don Evely (Institute of Archaeology, Oxford). The photography is by Kathy May (INSTAP Study Center for East Crete).
10. The glass was analysed (in photographs and drawings) by Martine Newby (London). The worked stone was analyzed by Lucy Wilson (University of New Brunswick at Saint John). The few bone fragments have been studied by Tina McGeorge (Athens).
11. This fabric analysis is the work primarily of Jennifer Moody, aided by Harriet Lewis Robinson (Maine, USA). Cf. Moody and Robinson, ‘The fabrics of life in Sphakia’, the Eighth International Cretological Congress (Sept. 1996), forthcoming.
12. Some of these fabric names may vary slightly from those to be presented in the final publication of the Sphakia Survey, since the fabric analysis of all the material is still under way.
13. Chip Family is a another characteristic fabric for the Graeco-Roman period. It contains matt chips of hard shale or slate in an orange and/or buff clay. It is somewhat surprising that there are no examples of true Chip fabrics from the Agiasmatsi Cave.
14. For the Aptera lamp (Khania, Museum), see A. Delt. 17 (1961-1962), Chr. pl. 358g for the Knossos example, see K. A. Wardlc, ‘Two notes from Knossos’, BSA 67 (1972), no. 5, pp. 273, 276 and fig. 3; for the Kommos lamp, see J. W. Shaw, ‘Excavations at Kommos (Crete) during 1980’. Hesp. 50 (1981 10.2307/147722), no. C2653, pl, 58d.
15. A similar rim form can be seen on a lamp from Tell Taannek in Palestine, where locally produced examples have an everted rim with seven trefoil spouts, set on a tall foot. D. Kassab Tegzör and T. Sezer, Catalogue des lampes en terrecuite du musée archéologique d'Istanbul (Paris, 1995), 37 no.18 and pl. 18.
16. For instance, prehistoric lamps from Crete show two nozzles pulled out from a shallow bowl set on top of a tall, spreading pedestal with flat foot: an example from Platanos is cited in S. A. Xanthoudides, The Vaulted Tombs of Mesara (2nd edn; Farnborough, 1971), 97 no. 6905 and pl. 51 b; for other Cretan lamps, see also D. M. Bailey, A Catalogue of the Lamps in the British Museum i. Greek, Hellenistic and Early Roman Lamps (London, 1975), 27-8, nos Q10-11, and pls 6-7. C-H multiple-nozzle lamps from Gortyn show small, close-set nozzles on a high pedestal and a narrow channel for the bowl: B. Rutkowski, ‘Lampes sacrées de Gortyne’, Études et Travaux, 13 (1983), 321-4. For other examples, see O. Broneer, Isthimia iii. Terracotta Lamps (Princeton, 1977), 22 no. 219 and pls 4 and 18 (second half of 3rd-2nd c. BC). See also R. H. Howland, The Athenian Agora iv. Greek Lamps and their Survivals (Princeton, 1958), 154, no. 611 and pl. 48 (c. 266-225 BC); and P. Bruneau, Délos, xxvi. Les Lampes (Paris, 1965), 23, nos. 115-36 and pl. 2; 27 no. 312 and pl. 6; and 30, no. 1599 and pl. 7 (mid-2nd to early 1st c. BC).
17. Coldstream 1973: 33, dep. E, nos. 35-7 and fig. 16; these lamps date to the mid-3rd c. BC and are therefore potentially contemporary with the Agiasmatsi examples.
18. Faure 1967: 135 8. Rutkowski and Nowicki 1996: 49 also treat the cave as a possible LM III cult site.
19. Painted glass seems to have been introduced to North Italy from Syria in the 1st c. AD. There are several fragments of North Italian pottery in the cave (31, 32), and this glass could have travelled with them to Crete. See B. Rütti, ‘Early enamelled glass’, in M. Newby and K. Painter (eds), Roman Glass: Two Centuries of Art and Invention (Society of Antiquaries Occasional Papers, 13; London, 1991), 122-36.
20. The primary shape during this time was the small, open cup or bowl. The ladles are but another instance of these vessels. See discussion in previous section on ladles.
21. Knossos, above n. 18 and B. Homann-Wedeking, BSA 45 (1950), 183, fig. 23, no. 3; Selinon, below, n. 34.
22. D. E. Johnston, ‘The Byzantine basilica church at Knossos’, BSA 57 (1962), 228, nos. 92-3 and fig. 19.
23. For long-term settlements, see, for instance, the Franchthi cave (T. W. Jacobsen, ‘Franchthi cave and the beginning of settled village life in Greece’, Hesp. 50 (1981), 303-19).
24. For the use of caves as burials, see I. Pini. Beiträge Zur minoischen Gräberkunde (Wiesbaden, 1968), 3-4 AR 36 (1989-1990), 76 (Pseira).
25. Cf. below Catalogue (Items not seen by Survey), no. 24.
26. H. Georgiou, ‘Minoan fireboxes’, SMEA 21 (1980), 123-92; and ‘Coarse wares and technology’, in O. Krzyszkowska and L. Nixon (eds), Minoan Society. Proceedings of the Cambridge Colloquium, 1981 (Bristol. 1983), 75-92.
27. Bailey (n. 20), 216-17, no. Q283 and pl. 93 (7th c. BC).
28. The major finds from the sanctuary have been put on display in the Khania museum (M. Andreadaki-Vlasaki, The County of Khania through its Monuments (Ministry of Culture Archaeological Receipts Fund; Athens, 1997), 59, 61-2). The date and dedication are supplied by an inscription. Knossos, above n. 25.
29. B. A. Sparkes and L. Talcott, The Athenian Agora xii. Black and Plain Pottery (Princeton, 1970), 228-9, nos. 1991-2 and pl. 96; these ‘ladles’ are dated by context to the 5th c. and 420-390 BC respectively.
30. While it is common for prehistoric shapes to continue into later periods, it is rare for such forms to be readopted after a significant gap in later periods. For instance, the Early Iron Age, Aeolic grey ware from NW Anatolia maintains several elements characteristic of the region's prehistoric pottery; see N. P. Bayne, The Grey Wares of North-West Anatolia in the Middle and Late Bronze Age and the Early Iron Age and their Relation to the Early Greek Settlements (D.Phil, thesis, Oxford, 1963), 165. We thank Nigel Spencer for this reference. For the more general tendency to continue or resurrect prehistoric religious practices in later periods, see B. C. Dietrich, ‘Evidence of Minoan religious traditions and their survival in the Mycenaean and Greek world’, Historia, 31 (1982), 1-12.
31. For a discussion of lamps in ritual contexts, see E. Parisinou, ‘Artificial illumination in Greek cult practice of the Archaic and the Classical periods: mere practical necessity?’, Thetis, 4 (1997), 95-108.
32. For similar vessels in metal used as paterae, see M. Barbera, ‘I materiali dell'Antiquarium del Musco Nazionale Romano: ultime indagini, prime conclusioni’, Archeologia Laziale, xii.i (Quaderni di Archeologia Etrusco-Italica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Richerche; Rome, 1995), 213-23.
33. Shaw (n. 18), 226 and pls 48 c and 59 a
34. Kamares: Tyree 1974: 38-40; Rutkowski and Nowicki 1996: 30-2. Amnisos: Amnisos, i (Berlin, 1992); Rutkowski and Nowicki 1996: 21-4.
35. Melidoni: Tyree 1974: 43-5; AR 36 (1989-1990), 80 Rutkowski and Nowicki 1996: 63-5. Patsos: Tyree 1974: 45-7; Rutkowski and Nowicki 1996: 42-4. Tsoutsouros: Tyree 1974: 31-3; Rutkowski and Nowicki 1996: 39-40.
36. Watrous (n. 44), 97-111.
37. Amnisos : Amnisos i. 84. Lera: Tyree 1974: 56-8; A. Guest-Papamanoli and A. Lambraki, ‘Les grottes de Lèra et de l'Arkoudia en Crète occidentale aux époques préhistoriques et historiques’, A. Delt. 31 (1976), i. 178-243 Rutkowski and Nowicki 1996: 59-61.
38. A. Peatfield, ‘Rural ritual in Bronze Age Crete: the peak sanctuary at Atsipadhes’, CAJ 2 (1992), 59-87 10.1017/S0959774300000482 id., ‘After the “Big Bang” what? or Minoan symbols and shrines beyond palatial collapse’, in Alcock and Osborne (n. 4), 19-36; D. W. Jones, Peak Sanctuaries and Sacred Caves in Minoan Crete: A Comparison of Artifacts (Studies in Mediterranean Archaeology and Literature PB 156; Jonsered, 1999).
39. See the provisional discussion in Nixon and Moody et al. 1994 (n. 2).
40. K. Nowicki, ‘Report on investigations in Greece VIII. Studies in 1991’, Archeologia, 43 (1992), pp. 113 19, at p. 119 published the first note on this site.
41. There was a major mudslide on to the plain in the historic period, but at present it is impossible to date it closely. Although the pottery contained in it seems to be Graeco-Roman, it buries the LR basilica at Ag. Nikitas, suggesting a Byzantine to Venetian date for the event.
42. M. S. F. Hood, ‘Some ancient sites in south-west Crete’, BSA 62 (1967), 47-56 at 55-6.
43. I. F. Sanders, Roman Crete (Warminster, 1982), 123.
44. The religious history of Attica, where there was renewed pagan use of eaves in late antiquity, was very different: G. Fowden. ‘City and mountain in late Roman Attica’, JHS 108 (1988), 48-59, at 54-710.2307/632630 S. Alcock, ‘Minding the gap in Hellenistic and Roman Greece’, in Alcock and Osborne (n. 34), 247-61.
45. Above, n. 29. The cave is said by Andreas Daradoulis, our local source, to have been a refuge again during World War II.
46. For the sacred landscape of the Frangokastello plain in the Byzantine, Venetian and Turkish periods see Lucia Nixon, ‘Archaeological survey and sacred landscapes in early modern Greece: outlying churches and icon stands in Sphakia, SW Crete’ (forthcoming).