Praisos IV: a preliminary report on the 1993 and 1994 survey seasons

Whitley, Anthony James Monins; Prent, Mieke; Thorne, Susan

doi:10.1017/s0068245400000587

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Other inscribed loomweights were found by Bosanquet in the vicinity, all discoid (see Guarducci 1942, 6.31, 32 and 33; Conway 1901–2, 136). Pyramidal loomweights were common elsewhere on the First Acropolis; see Whitley et al 1999, 254 fig. 16.…”

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Praisos V: A Preliminary Report on the 2007 Excavation Season

Whitley

2011

Annu. Br. Sch. Athens

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This is a report on the excavations undertaken in 2007 at the site of Praisos in eastern Crete. Three trenches were opened just next to the so-called Andreion or Almond Tree House on the NW slopes of the First Acropolis, excavated by R.C. Bosanquet in 1901. The upper layers of two of these trenches (A-200 and A-300) consisted of re-deposited material of Classical and Hellenistic date, which we infer came from Bosanquet's dump. Material from these upper layers comprised tile, pottery (including numerous examples of Cretan necked cups), loomweights and terracotta plaques with a distinct masculine iconography. Excavation also reached lower Late-Classical–Hellenistic floor levels, on which a number of pithoi survived in situ. Some of these pithoi are considerably older than the floor level, a terminus post quem for which is provided by a bronze coin. The abandonment of these houses must be dated to the final phases of Praisos' occupation, before 146 bc. There is however nothing to suggest that the city itself was subject to a fire destruction. Rather, the city seems to have undergone a forced abandonment followed by deliberate demolition.

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confidence: 99%

“… 7 For the EDM survey, see Whitley et al 1995. For preliminary results of fieldwalking, see Whitley et al 1999; Whitley 1998; 2006.…”

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Praisos V: A Preliminary Report on the 2007 Excavation Season

Whitley

2011

Annu. Br. Sch. Athens

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“…These must be later than the seventh century, but not so much later that they can be considered ‘Hellenistic’. The other are the pithoi decorated with raised bands and stamped rosettes, which have been found in Praisos (Savignoni 1901; Whitley, Prent and Thorne 1999, 248, fig. 14, no.…”

Section: The Antiquity and Longevity Of Cretan Pithoimentioning

confidence: 95%

Κατεσκαψαν Ιεραπυτνιοι: The Destruction of Political Communities in the Second Century Bc and the Resilience of the Cretan Polis

Whitley

2023

Annu. Br. Sch. Athens

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Recently there has been a revival of interest in both the historical and archaeological dimensions of the destruction of cities. The destruction of the principal settlement of a polis is one thing, the effective eradication of the political community quite another. What did it take to destroy a political community? The historical record is full of references to destructions of one polis by another in late Classical to Hellenistic times in Crete. And though not all of these destructions led to the end of the political community in question, some did, and between the Classical period (where we know of 49 poleis) and the Roman conquest of Metellus (where we know of only 24) the numbers of Cretan poleis were drastically reduced. The destruction of Praisos by Hierapytna between 145 and 140 BC (Strabo 10.4.12) was one such case. This seems to form part of a horizon of destructions (of Dreros, Apollonia and Phaistos) that took place between 200 and 140 BC. Florence Gaignerot-Driessen has demonstrated that there is a clear ritual dimension to this in the case of Dreros, a dimension indicated elsewhere by the use of the verb κατέσκαψαν. Excavations at Praisos have shed light on this question. This paper argues that, while there is no evidence for a widespread destruction by fire, there is clear evidence for the ending of Praisian sanctuaries and the forced abandonment of houses and (most intriguingly) the abandonment of large storage vessels. A particular archaeological ‘signature’ of these abandonments, evident at Dreros, Phaistos and Praisos, is the abandonment of the ‘household pithos’, which in many cases seem to be older than the houses in which they have been found. The paper also argues that these archaeological signatures of what had to be destroyed in order to eradicate a political community in turn shed light on what made this particular form of ‘citizen state’ so resilient.

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“…Moreover, it was precisely during this period that the state entities that dominated the political landscape of the island during the second half of the first millennium BC seem to have had their formative years. New studies being conducted at such sites as Afrati and Kato Syme (Erickson 2002), Eleutherna (Erickson 2004;Stampolidis 1990Stampolidis , 2002, Itanos (Apostolakou et al 2004(Apostolakou et al -2005Duplouy 2009;Greco et al 2003), Kommos (Shaw 2000), Praisos (Whitley 2006;Whitley et al 1995;Whitley et al 1999), and Vrokastro (Hayden 2oo4a, 2004b), however, have begun to shed some much-needed light on this so-called Dark Age and, as a result, challenge more traditional views of stagnation on the island. Of particular importance in this regard is the site of Azoria, where recent excavations have produced a wealth of evidence suggesting that the seventh and sixth centuries BC was a period of active sociopolitical development.…”

Section: F It Zsi M On Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Urbanization and the Emergence of the GreekPolis: The Case of Azoria, Crete

Fitzsimons¹

2014

Making Ancient Cities

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Perhaps the most striking development accompanying the emergence of the Greek city-state (ca. 1200-480 BC) was the appearance of new urban centers whose form, contents, and construction provided the most visible and effective means of creating, reinforcing, and symbolizing the social, political, and economic relationships that characterized the new polis system. Excavations at the site of Azoria (East Crete) have brought to light an unparalleled collection of architectural data, largely unobscured by later activities, that provides one of the best opportunities to study the architectural correlates of urbanization in the Greek world. This paper explores three levels of the built environment at Azoria-the domestic, the civic, and the urb.an-and demonstrates that the architectural landscape of the nascent city-state not only served to reflect the dramatic social and political developments that accompanied the emergence of the polis, but in effect, also functioned a.s an active agent in their creation. Current models of state formation in the Greek world envision a radical shift in sociopolitical structure from either pastoral or mixed village-farming communities operating within a chiefdom-based or big-man society to more elaborate sociopolitical and economic systems characterized by drastically rearranged social organizations, complex inter-and intraregional trade networks, and more extensive integration between rural landscapes and their new urban cen

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Praisos IV: a preliminary report on the 1993 and 1994 survey seasons

Cited by 10 publications

References 16 publications

Praisos V: A Preliminary Report on the 2007 Excavation Season

Praisos V: A Preliminary Report on the 2007 Excavation Season

Κατεσκαψαν Ιεραπυτνιοι: The Destruction of Political Communities in the Second Century Bc and the Resilience of the Cretan Polis

Urbanization and the Emergence of the GreekPolis: The Case of Azoria, Crete

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