Sanctuaries and Cults of the Late Minoan Iiic-Subminoan Period

Politics and research agendas have had a major role in shaping the archaeology of Crete. This article focuses on the history of research on Lyktos, one of the most important ancient cities of the island, to explore the impact of academic and non-academic factors on archaeological fieldwork. Relying on wide-ranging archival research and extending from the Renaissance to the early twenty-first century, the analysis covers the fluctuation of international scholarly interest in Lyktos, the often abortive plans for excavations by numerous British, Italian, German and Greek archaeologists, and the ways in which fascination with the ancient city relates to broader political and disciplinary history. I also synthesise the small-scale fieldwork conducted at the site and reconstruct its archaeological landscape from the Bronze Age to the Medieval period, offering several new insights in local topography and material culture. This work challenges the characterisation of Lyktos as a ‘phantom city’ and highlights the significance of the site for the archaeology of Crete.

Section: The Twilight Of International Interest In the Interwar Periomentioning

confidence: 99%

Politics, Research Agendas and Abortive Fieldwork Plans Over Lyktos, Crete: A History of Archaeological Research

Kotsonas

2019

“…Like the probable dining buildings, they are of essentially axial form (though exact plan varies), and usually set slightly apart from the rest of the built zone, with a large space suitable for public gatherings adjacent to them. Here, a large flat-bottomed hollow just downslope to the southeast would fulfil this function admirably (Day 2009b; Eliopoulos 2001; 2004; Gesell, Day and Coulson 1988, 289–90; Gesell, Glowacki and Klein forthcoming; Klein and Glowacki 2009; Pendlebury et al 1937–8, 75–6; Prent 2005, 126–54, 188–200; Rutkowski 1986; Tsipopoulou 2001; 2009). Cult buildings also have concentrations of specialised equipment setting them apart from domestic cult areas, including, particularly, large wheelmade female figurines, plaques and tubular stands (Day et al 2006; Day 2009b; Gesell 1985, 47–58; Tsipopoulou 2009).…”

Section: Building A1 (Figs 2–6)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Surviving Crisis: Insights From New Excavation at Karphi, 2008

Wallace

Mylona

2012

Seventy years after its first investigation, Karphi (Karfi) on Crete was the subject of a new pilot excavation in 2008. The main aim was to provide the first up-to-date detailed contextual records for the site across a representative area, thus filling in interpretative gaps left by the original extensive excavation. This paper presents and analyses these records with the aim of investigating the likely complexity of social systems at one of the largest new communities founded in Crete after the collapse of Bronze Age states c.1200 bc. Recent research has tended to focus on small villages, or on sites which later developed into poleis, meaning that crisis-period remains are poorly preserved. Occupied only between the crisis horizon of c.1200 bc and an important nucleation of Cretan communities at large ‘proto-polis’ settlements occurring in the early tenth century, the large Karphi site offers insight into the special challenges of creating large, potentially diverse new communities in crisis circumstances. It has one of the most dramatic of the new settlement locations, on steep-sided peaks 1100 m above sea level in an area which had never previously been settled. The social and economic adjustments needed here were particularly sharp and urgent, and the paper examines the structures which enabled them, using preliminary analyses of bioarchaeological data from the new project to assist reconstruction of the economy. The site has had other, highly specialised uses in its history, on which the new excavation has thrown light. The results highlight not only the resonance of this landscape in ancient consciousness, but also the ways in which such resonance could be exploited, both in the socially volatile post-collapse period and in the context of enhanced social and economic complexity as polis states started to come into being. Finally, a first set of radiocarbon dates from the new excavation is presented and assessed with regard to the dating of the Cretan Bronze to Iron Age transition and its wider ramifications.

“…At Aphrati, in central Crete, the inscribed pieces of bronze weaponry discovered, dating from the late 7th and early 6th centuries bc , have been interpreted both as votive spoils, by Perlman, and as records of personal victories ( Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 52 [2002], 829–842; Perlman 2002, 219–21, nos. 8–21; see also Prent 2005, 385–6, Erickson 2002, 75–6 and Hoffmann 1972, 2–16).…”

mentioning

confidence: 98%

“… 3 A paucity of weaponry is especially apparent if set against the more frequent discoveries of Archaic armoury on the island, thereby marking a clear deviation from the preceding traditions when body armour and weaponry were deposited, not just in sanctuaries on the island, but in a variety of burial contexts such as the North Cemetery at Knossos (Prent 2005, 384; Coldstream and Catling 1997; Snodgrass 1996, 577–85). At Aphrati, in central Crete, the inscribed pieces of bronze weaponry discovered, dating from the late 7th and early 6th centuries bc , have been interpreted both as votive spoils, by Perlman, and as records of personal victories ( Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 52 [2002], 829–842; Perlman 2002, 219–21, nos.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Cretan Slinger at War – A Weighty Exchange

Kelly

2012

Lead slingshots discovered on Cretan sites carry considerable weight regarding the nature of warfare on the island in the Late Classical and Hellenistic periods. On Crete, inscribed lead sling bullets have been reported from nine archaeological sites while a further inscribed slingshot, issued by the Phalasarnians, has been discovered on the neighbouring island of Antikythera.Text on slingshots was conceived of, and cast as, an integral component of the weapon, thereby representing a fundamental aspect of the weapon's design. Slingshots bearing text are illuminating artefacts as not only can they reflect military action, leadership and civic affiliations, but they also raise questions regarding literacy levels within the forces and prompt debate concerning the psychological potential of such communications. It is the purpose of this paper to present the growing corpus of Cretan material against a wider backdrop of evidence, with a view to understanding the overarching role and purpose of such inscribed communications and to assess the degree of Cretan conformity with, or deviation from, broader military trends.