Em i chronology and social practice: Pottery from the early palace tests at knossos

Annual of the British School at Athens

Volumn 95, Issue , 2000, Pages 21-63

  Wilson, David E ^a   Day, Peter M ^b  

^a UNIVERSITY OF WESTERN ONTARIO   (Canada)

^b UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD   (United Kingdom)

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 85012535524     PISSN: 00682454     EISSN: 20452403     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1017/S0068245400004573     Document Type: Article

References (133)

1. For a more detailed discussion of Mackenzie and Evans's ‘West Court section’ and the problems presented by it, see Wilson 1994, 24-5; N. Momigliano, Duncan Mackenzie: A Cautious Canny Highlander and the Palace of Minos at Knossos (London, 1999), 54.
2. Wilson 1994, 24-5.
3. PM i fig. 19 a-b, 59-60. Chalices of Pyrgos type have been found at Knossos in tests made by Evans and Mackenzie and these may be those to which Evans was referring. For examples from these early tests see Hood and Cadogan, forthcoming.
4. M. S. F. Hood, ‘Stratigraphic excavations at Knossos, 1957-61’, Kr. Chron., 15-16 (1961-1962), 92-8; id., ‘The Early and Middle Minoan Periods at Knossos’, BICS 13 (1966), 110-11; id. 1990 a, 1990 b.
5. For references see discussion of these deposits in find contexts section.
6. Knossos EM I well, West Court Trench FF deposit, and the 1987 North Front soundings.
7. Wilson and Day 1994.
8. For references see discussion of these deposits in find contexts section., FG 21-2, 42, 48 and pp. 12-13 for fine grey ware in other possible EM I contexts elsewhere.
9. For references see discussion of these deposits in find contexts section., PFC 1-8.
10. J. D. Evans, ‘The Early Minoan occupation of Knossos: a note on some new evidence’, Anat. Stud. 22 (1972), 115-2810.2307/3642556 Wilson 1985, 281-3, 359-64.
11. M. S. F. Hood, ‘Knossos: soundings in the Palace area, 1973-87’, BSA 89 (1994), 101-2. Our thanks to Sinclair Hood for permission to study these deposits and make mention of them here; the material from these tests is currently under study by Alan Peatfield for publication with Hood.
12. For the detailed description and the origin of fine grey and painted fine to coarse wares found in EM I contexts at Knossos, see Wilson and Day 1994.
13. Full publication of this important deposit will appear in Hood and Cadogan, forthcoming; for preliminary reports see n. 5. Again our thanks to Sinclair Hood for permission to study and sample the pottery from this deposit.
14. For brief discussion of these tests and the EM II A pottery found in them see references to individually listed tests in find contexts section. A selection of EM II pottery from the North-East Magazines will be published in Hood and Cadogan, forthcoming.
15. See n. 13.
16. See n. 13.
17. See n. 13.
18. For EM II A Knossos see Wilson 1985. 295-304.
19. Examples of the stemmed goblet are found in EM I contexts at Poros.
20. e.g. Xanthoudides 1918, fig. 10 nos. 75-7.
21. Hood 1990 a, fig. 1 no. 1; 1990 b, fig. 1. See Haggis 1997 for detailed discussion of shape typology and distribution.
22. Hood 1990 a, fig. 1 no. 8.
23. e.g. Wilson 1985, pl. 37.
24. Hood 1990 a, fig. 1 nos. 8-9.
25. Examples of the stemmed goblet are found in EM I contexts at Poros., fig. 1 no. 11; 1990 b, fig. 2 right and fig. 3.
26. Xanthoudides 1918, fig. 7 nos. 38-9. For possible rare examples at Knossos see Wilson and Day 1994, PFC 3-5.
27. Hood 1990 b, fig. 2 right for complete shape from EM I well.
28. Hood 1990 b, fig. 3 right.
29. Wilson 1985, P182, fig. 21.
30. For EM II A examples at Knossos see West Court House: Wilson 1985, P182.
31. Hood 1990 b, fig. 3.
32. e.g. West Court House: Wilson 1985, figs. 22-5.
33. e.g. West Court House: Examples of the stemmed goblet are found in EM I contexts at Poros., pl. 37.
34. For EM II A examples at Knossos see West Court House: Examples of the stemmed goblet are found in EM I contexts at Poros., P209-10.
35. West Court House: For EM II A examples at Knossos see West Court House: Examples of the stemmed goblet are found in EM I contexts at Poros., 333.
36. For published examples from West Crete, where this is referred to as Scored Ware, see e.g. P. Warren and J. Tzedhakis, ‘Debla, an Early Minoan settlement in western Crete’, BSA 69 (1974), pls. 52 d, 53 a-c. There are additional unpublished examples studied by the authors from North Central (Poros-Katsambas); South Central (Phaistos, Ayia Triadha, Moni Odigitrias, Ayia Kyriaki); and East Crete (Mallia, Mochlos). We thank N. Dimopoulou, V La Rosa, A. Vasilakis, K. Branigan, P Darcque, and J. Soles for permission to study these EM I assemblages.
37. Hood 1990 a, fig. 1 no. 12; 1990 b, fig. 2 left.
38. Hood 1990 a, fig. 1 no. 13.
39. For EM II A examples at Knossos see West Court House: Examples of the stemmed goblet are found in EM I contexts at Poros., fig. 1 no. 8.
40. Cf. EM I Well: For EM II A examples at Knossos see West Court House: Examples of the stemmed goblet are found in EM I contexts at Poros., fig. 2 no. 20.
41. Cf. EM I Well: Cf. EM I Well: For EM II A examples at Knossos see West Court House: Examples of the stemmed goblet are found in EM I contexts at Poros., fig. 2 nos. 17-18; for the general shape in EM II A see Wilson 1985, P428-34.
42. For EM II A examples at Knossos see Wilson 1985, 330-45.
43. West Court House: Wilson 1985, P259-86.
44. Hood 1990 a, fig. 1 no. 10.
45. e.g. West Court House: Wilson 1985, P307-12.
46. For examples in EM II A see the West Court House: Cf. EM I Well: Cf. EM I Well: For EM II A examples at Knossos see West Court House: Examples of the stemmed goblet are found in EM I contexts at Poros. 353-6.
47. Wilson 1994, 27.
48. Hood 1990 a, 371; 1990 b, 152-5.
49. For the EM I Well see Hood 1990 a; 1990 b. This well is also referred to elsewhere as the ‘EM I Palace Well’. For the West Court House: Wilson 1985.
50. Wilson and Day 1994.
51. However, white-on-red pottery, named ‘Lebena ware’ by Branigan, is present in the EM I of South Central Crete: K. Branigan, The Foundations of Palatial Crete (London, 1970), 27 P. P. Betancourt, The History of Minoan Pottery (Princeton, 1985), 31-2.
52. Hood 1990 a, 371.
53. PM i, 56-64.
54. Cf. EM I Well: Cf. EM I Well: For EM II A examples at Knossos see West Court House: Examples of the stemmed goblet are found in EM I contexts at Poros., 58-9.
55. Cf. EM I Well: Cf. EM I Well: For EM II A examples at Knossos see West Court House: Examples of the stemmed goblet are found in EM I contexts at Poros., fig. 17; no contexts were given for these two chalices, which were largely reconstructed in the drawing, neither can now be identified among the extant material at Knossos.
56. Cf. EM I Well: Cf. EM I Well: For EM II A examples at Knossos see West Court House: Examples of the stemmed goblet are found in EM I contexts at Poros., 59.
57. Hood 1966 (n. 5), no; M. S. F. Hood, The Minoans (London, 1971), 36-7.
58. G. Cadogan, ‘Early and Middle Minoan chronology’, AJA 87 (1983), 508 10.2307/504109 Wilson 1994, 27-30; Wilson and Day 1994; G. Cadogan, P. M. Day, C. F. Macdonald, J. A. MacGillivray, N. Momigliano, T. M. Whitelaw, and D. E. Wilson, ‘Early and Middle Minoan pottery groups at Knossos’, BSA 88 (1993), 21-8. For a similar evolutionary view of the chalice in EM I see Haggis 1997, 292-3.
59. Betancourt (n. 53), 26.
60. Cf. Hood 1990 a, 368, fig. 1 no. 1 with the Pyrgos Cave chalices: e.g. Xanthoudides 1918, fig. 10 nos. 75-7 and 82.
61. Hood 1990 a, 371 n. 7.
62. Wilson 1985, 359-60.
63. Dimopoulou, Wilson and Day (n. 66).
64. Knossos: Hood 1990 a, fig. 1 no. 11; 1990 b, fig. 3.
65. Knossos: Hood 1990 a, fig. 1 nos. 8, 12; 1990 b, fig. 2 left.
66. Knossos: broad-waisted chalice: Hood 1990 a, fig. 1 no. 1; Pyrgos Cave: narrow-waisted chalice with grooved banding on pedestal: e.g. Xanthoudides 1918, fig. 8 nos. 42-5.
67. Knossos: Hood 1990 a, fig. 1 nos. 8, 12.
68. Knossos: ‘Early and Middle Minoan chronology’., fig. 1 nos. 6, 10.
69. Evans 1994, 16; K. Manteli, The Transition from the Neolithic to the Early Bronze Age in Crete, with Special Reference to the Pottery (unpublished PhD thesis, Univ. of London, 1993), 57-9, 174-3.
70. L. Vagnetti and P. Belli, ‘Characters and problems of the Final Neolithic in Crete’, SMEA 19 (1978), 125-63; J. D. Evans, ‘Neolithic Knossos: the growth of a settlement’, PPS 37 (1971), 110-14.
71. Vagnetti and Belli (n. 74), 157.
72. Evans (n. 74), 114.
73. Evans 1994, 19.
74. Hood 1990 a, 367-9; 1990 b, 155-6.
75. Hood 1990 b, 156.
76. Wilson and Day 1994, 85.
77. Warren and Tzedhakis (n. 38).
78. D. Haggis, ‘Excavations at Kalo Khorio, East Crete’, AJA 100 (1996), 645-8110.2307/506672.
79. For recent discussion of evidence and further references see P. M. Day, D. E. Wilson, and E. Kiriatzi, ‘Pots, labels and people: burying ethnicity in the cemetery at Aghia Photia, Siteias’, in K. Branigan (ed.), Cemetery and Society in the Aegean Bronze Age (Sheffield, 1998), 133-49.
80. The EM II A pottery includes a dark-on-light painted pedestalled bowl and goblet (Xanthoudides 1918, fig. 5 no. 1; fig. 6 no. 22; Wilson and Day 1994, 34) and dark grey burnished ware footed goblets (Xanthoudides 1918: fig. 9 no. 60 and fig. 12 nos. 105-6; cf. Knossos, West Court House: Wilson 1985, 301).
81. e.g. Xanthoudides 1918, fig. 5 nos. 5, 8 and fig. 5 no. 2.
82. e.g. ‘Excavations at Kalo Khorio, East Crete’., fig. 8 nos. 42-5 and pl. B.
83. Cf. ‘Excavations at Kalo Khorio, East Crete’., fig. 5 no. 3 with Zapheiropoulou 1984, ‘fruitcup’ = fig. 3 c.
84. For discussion of the Aegean ‘fruitstand’ see S. Manning, The Absolute Chronology of the Aegean Early Bronze Age (Sheffield, 1995), 77-8; Haggis 1997.
85. e.g. Xanthoudides 1918, fig. 8 nos. 49-50.
86. Davaras (n. 91), pl. 603.
87. Zapheiropoulou 1984, fig. 3 a.
88. Day et al. (n. 83), 138.
89. e.g. Xanthoudides 1918, fig. 7 nos. 30-1.
90. Alexiou (n. 84), pl. 14 fig. 1 no. 12.
91. Zapheiropoulou 1984, fig. 1 a-b.
92. e.g. Xanthoudides 1918, fig. 5 no. 9.
93. Renfrew (n. 84), pl. E: fig. 2; Alexiou (n. 84), pl. 14: fig. 1 nos. 9, 17.
94. C. Davaras, Aghios Nikolaos Museum (Athens, n.d.), pl. 3.
95. Zapheiropoulou 1984, fig. 1 c.
96. Xanthoudides 1918, fig. 12 no. 108.
97. Zapheiropoulou 1984, fig. 2 e-f.
98. Dimopoulou (n. 66); Day et al. (n. 83), 133-49.
99. Day et al. (n. 83), 138.
100. Manning (n. 89), 168-72, 217 including arguments against a higher chronology for EM I.
101. P. M. Day, D. E. Wilson, and E. Kiriatzi, ‘Reassessing specialization in Prepalatial Cretan ceramic production’, in R. Laffineur and P. P. Betancourt (eds.), TEXNH: Craftsmen, Craftswomen and Craftsmanship in the Aegean Bronze Age (Aegaeum, 16; Liège and Austin, 1997), 275-9. The study is from Late Neolithic to MM II.
102. Wilson and Day 1994, 79.
103. PMi, 59-60 and fig. 19.
104. Hood 1971 (n. 60), 30; Betancourt (n. 53), 23-4.
105. C. Renfrew, The Emergence of Civilisation (London, 1972), 451-5.
106. Wilson and Day 1994; Day et al. (n. 109); T. Carter, ‘Reverberations of the international spirit: thoughts upon ‘Cycladica’ in the Mesara’, in Branigan (n. 83), 59-77.
107. G. Nakou, ‘The cutting edge: a new look at Early Aegean Metallurgy’, Journal of Mediterranean Archaeology, 8.2 (1995), 1-32.
108. Dimopoulou (n. 66), 451, 458; ead., ‘Workshops and craftsmen in the harbour-town of Knossos at Poros-Katsambas’, in Laffineur and Betancourt (n. 109), 433 8. Final results of the detailed analysis of the EM obsidian and metallurgical finds will be presented by Tristan Carter and Roger Doonan respectively in the final publication of the Poros Prepalatial settlement by Dimopoulou, Wilson, and Day (n. 66).
109. Y. Papadatos, Mortuary Practices and their Importance for the Reconstruction of Society and Life in Prepalatial Crete: the Evidence of Tholos Tomb G in Archanes-Phourni (unpublished PhD thesis, Univ. of Sheffield, 1999).
110. Carter (n. 114).
111. Dimopoulou (n. 66), 451, 458.
112. Mortuary Practices and their Importance for the Reconstruction of Society and Life in Prepalatial Crete: the Evidence of Tholos Tomb G in Archanes-Phourni., 451.
113. Wilson 1994, 39-40.
114. Mortuary Practices and their Importance for the Reconstruction of Society and Life in Prepalatial Crete: the Evidence of Tholos Tomb G in Archanes-Phourni., fig. 1.
115. Wilson 1994, 35-7.
116. Broodbank (n. 124), 68-9; Wilson 1994, 35-6.
117. For discussion of the possible élite social context of the EM I chalice see Haggis 1997, 296-8.
118. Wilson 1985; Wilson 1994, 32.
119. N. Momigliano and D. E. Wilson, ‘Knossos 1993: excavations outside the South Front of the Palace’, BSA 91 (1996), 1-57 D. E. Wilson and P. M. Day, ‘EM II B ware groups at Knossos: the 1907-8 South Front tests’, BSA 94 (1999), 1-62.
120. Wilson and Day (n. 129); P. M. Day and D. E. Wilson, ‘Consuming power: Kamares ware in Protopalatial Knossos’, Antiquity, 72 (1998), 350-8; ‘Knossos 1993: excavations outside the South Front of the Palace’., ‘Landscapes of memory, craft and power in Prepalatial and Protopalatial Crete’, in Y. Hamilakis (ed.), Labyrinth Revisited: Rethinking Minoan Archaeology (Oxford, in press).
121. For estimates of settlement sizes in Prepalatial Crete, see T. M. Whitelaw, ‘The settlement at Fournou-Korifi, Myrtos and aspects of Early Minoan social organisation’, in O. Krzyszkowska and L. Nixon (eds), Minoan Society (Bristol, 1983), 323-45.
122. Evans 1994, 1-2.
123. For Knossos as cosmological centre of the Palatial period, see J. Soles, ‘The functions of a cosmological center: Knossos in Palatial Crete’, in R. Laffineur and W.-D. Niemeier (eds), Politeia. Society and State in the Aegean Bronze Age (Aegaeum, 12; Liège and Austin, 1995), 405-14.
124. M. W. Helms, Access to Origins; Affines, Ancestors and Aristocrats (Austin, 1998), 79-80.
125. Dimopoulou et al. (n. 66).
126. Dimopoulou (n. 66), 451, 458; ead. (n. 116), 433-4.
127. Day and Wilson (n. 130).
128. For the importance of feasting in the reproduction and legitimation of authority, see Y. Hamilakis, ‘Wine, oil, and the dialectics of power in Bronze Age Crete: a review of the evidence’, OJA, 15 (1996), 1-32.
129. Dimopoulou, (n. 116); C. Broodbank, ‘Ulysses without sails: trade, distance, knowledge and power in the early Cyclades’, World Archaeology, 24 (1993), 315-3110.1080/00438243.1993.9980211.
130. M. W. Helms, Craft and the Kingly Ideal (Austin, 1993).
131. Day, Wilson, and Kiriatzi, (n. 109).
132. For this view, see inter alia: J. Cherry, ‘Evolution, revolution, and the origins of complex society in Minoan Crete’, in Krzyszkowska and Nixon (n. 131), 33-46; Whitelaw 1983 (n. 131), 339-40; V. Watrous, ‘Review of Aegean prehistory III: Crete from earliest prehistory through the Protopalatial period’, AJA 98 (1994), 712-710.2307/506551.
133. Nakou (n. 115), 23.