Bramiana: Salvaging Information from a Destroyed Minoan Settlement in Southeast Crete 9781931534307, 9781623034351, 1931534306

Citation preview

Bramiana Salvaging Information from a Destroyed Minoan Settlement in Southeast Crete

PREHISTORY MONOGRAPHS 66

Bramiana Salvaging Information from a Destroyed Minoan Settlement in Southeast Crete edited by

Vili Apostolakou, Philip P. Betancourt, and Thomas M. Brogan

with contributions by Vili Apostolakou, Philip P. Betancourt, Lily Bonga, Thomas M. Brogan, Konstantinos Chalikias, Heidi M.C. Dierckx, Amie S. Gluckman, Florence S.C. Hsu, Eleni Nodarou, Sydney R. Sarasin, and Antonia Stamos

Published by INSTAP Academic Press Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 2021

Design and Production INSTAP Academic Press, Philadelphia, PA Printing and Binding HF Group – Acmebinding, Charlestown, MA

INSTAP Academic Press, a part of the Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP), was established to publish projects relevant to the history of the Aegean world, in particular from the Paleolithic to the 8th century b.c. It is a scholarly nonprofit publisher specializing in high-quality publications of primary source material from archaeological excavations as well as individual studies dealing with material from the prehistoric periods—exemplified by its Prehistory Monographs series of volumes. INSTAP is committed to engaging a variety of audiences by disseminating knowledge through its scholarly publishing program, which produces award-winning monographs at reasonable prices that are both academically and popularly acclaimed.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Apostolakou, Vili, 1957- editor. | Betancourt, Philip P., 1936-editor. | Brogan, Thomas M., editor. Title: Bramiana : salvaging information from a destroyed Minoan settlement in southeast Crete / edited by Vili Apostolakou, Philip P. Betancourt, and Thomas M. Brogan. Description: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania : INSTAP Academic Press, 2021. | Series: Prehistory monographs; 66 | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “The Minoan site at Bramiana in southeastern Crete provides evidence for a Bronze Age economy based on trade, agriculture, and craftwork. This publication uses a new system of organizing the pottery by petrography-sorting it by materials and workshop practicesrevealing a trade network of cooking pots and other clay vessels and their contents”-- Provided by publisher. Identifiers: LCCN 2021012219 (print) | LCCN 2021012220 (ebook) | ISBN 9781931534307 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781623034351 (adobe pdf) Subjects: LCSH: Bramiana Site (Greece) | Crete (Greece)--Antiquities. | Pottery, Minoan. | Bronze age--Greece-Crete. | Excavations (Archaeology)--Greece--Crete. Classification: LCC DF221.C8 B628 2021 (print) | LCC DF221.C8 (ebook) | DDC 939/.18--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021012219 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021012220

Front and back cover: satellite views of Bramiana and the reservoir, Google Earth, accessed February 5, 2021, https://earth.google.com/web/@35.04070266,25.7060754,129.4740342a,2827.19800728d,35y,0h,0t,0r.

Copyright © 2021 INSTAP Academic Press Philadelphia, Pennsylvania All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations in the Text. .............. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ....vii List of Figures.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix List of Plates .. ................................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...... xi Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii Acknowledgments. . ............................ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... xv List of Abbreviations. .......................... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. xvii 1. Introduction and Methodology, Vili Apostolakou, Philip P. Betancourt, and Thomas M. Brogan... . .......1 2. Petrographic Analysis of the Pottery from Bramiana, Eleni Nodarou. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 13 3. Coarse Cretan South Coast Fabrics, Philip P. Betancourt......................................................... 47 4. Fine Cretan South Coast Fabrics 1, Amie S. Gluckman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 53 5. Fine Cretan South Coast Fabrics 2: With Pellets, Amie S. Gluckman and Philip P. Betancourt. . . . . . . .... 61 6. Fine Cretan South Coast Fabrics 3: In-and-Out Bowls, Florence S.C. Hsu.................................... 65 7. Granitic-Dioritic (Mirabello) Fabrics, Sydney R. Sarasin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 71 8. Metamorphic Fabrics, Lily Bonga......... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 81 9. Metamorphic Fabric from Palaikastro, Lily Bonga. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 85

vi

BRAMIANA: SALVAGING INFORMATION FROM A DESTROYED MINOAN SETTLEMENT

10. Ritual Vessels, Lily Bonga. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89 11. Calcite-Tempered Fabrics, Philip P. Betancourt and Eleni Nodarou.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 12. Uncommon Fabric Groups, Philip P. Betancourt.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 13. Ground Stone Implements, Heidi M.C. Dierckx.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 14. Vitrified Clay Fragments, Antonia Stamos, Eleni Nodarou, and Philip P. Betancourt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 15. Building Materials, Philip P. Betancourt and Eleni Nodarou. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103 16. Other Finds, Philip P. Betancourt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107 17. Conclusions on the Clay Vessels and Their Fabrics, Philip P. Betancourt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 18. Trade at Bramiana, Thomas M. Brogan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 19. Reconstructing the History of Bramiana, Philip P. Betancourt and Thomas M. Brogan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 20. Before and After: Reconstructing the Bramiana Landscape through Historical Aerial Imagery, Konstantinos Chalikias.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 21. Final Comments, Philip P. Betancourt and Thomas M. Brogan.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 References .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143 Concordance .. .................................. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 155 Index .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159 Figures Plates

List of Illustrations in the Text

Illustration 1.

Map of Crete showing some sites mentioned in the text. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xviii

Illustration 2. Map of the isthmus of Ierapetra and the neighboring regions with some sites mentioned in the text... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xviii Illustration 3. The dam across the southern end of the Bramiana Reservoir, looking south from the archaeological site... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Illustration 4. Satellite image of the region surrounding the Bramiana Reservoir and south to the coast....................................................................................................2 Illustration 5.

Satellite image of the Bramiana Reservoir showing the site and the dam. . .................3

Illustration 6. The site of Bramiana on the peninsula, looking northeast from the center of the dam in 2015. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Illustration 7.

Looking south from the center of the dam in 2015. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Illustration 8. Olive trees growing on the flattened area near the archaeological remains at Bramiana in 2015, looking west. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Illustration 9.

Map of the larger region around the Ierapetra Isthmus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Illustration 10.

Plan of the sectors (S) and trenches (E) at Bramiana.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Illustration 11. Fieldwalkers conducting the surface survey in Sectors S300 and S400 at Bramiana in 2011, looking southwest.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Illustration 12.

Sectors S100 and S200, looking west. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

viii

BRAMIANA: SALVAGING INFORMATION FROM A DESTROYED MINOAN SETTLEMENT

Illustration 13.

Sector S200, area flattened by the bulldozers, looking north.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Illustration 14.

Sectors S301–S305 after excavation in 2011, from the east. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Illustration 15.

Sectors S301–S305 after excavation in 2011, from the west.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Illustration 16.

Concordance of the vessels sampled for petrographic analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Illustration 17. Petrography sections: (a) Metamorphic Fabric with Silvery Phyllite; (b) metamorphic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Illustration 18. Petrography sections: (a) metamorphic with elongate phyllites; (b) metamorphic loner. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Illustration 19. Petrography sections: (a) metamorphic overfired; (b) Cretan South Coast, low fired.. ................ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 23 Illustration 20. Petrography sections: (a) Cretan South Coast, jar fabric; (b) granitic dioritic with fine matrix and clay pellets.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Illustration 21. Petrography sections: (a) granitic dioritic, biotite rich; (b) granitic dioritic, calcareous.............. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .... 28 Illustration 22. Petrography sections: (a) granitic dioritic, red with frequent granitic inclusions; (b) granitic dioritic with micritic inclusions.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Illustration 23. Petrography sections: (a) granitic dioritic, low fired; (b) granitic dioritic, overfired. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Illustration 24. Petrography sections: (a) semi-fine to fine with clay pellets; (b) very fine with clay pellets. . ....... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 35 Illustration 25. Petrography sections: (a) Loner 1; (b) Loner 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 36 Illustration 26. Petrography sections: (a) Loner 3; (b) Loner 4, fine with clay pellets and microfossils.. ............ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 39 Illustration 27. Petrography sections: (a) calcareous with quartz; (b) raw material from the plain of Bramiana...... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 40 Illustration 28. Petrography sections: (a) calcite and grog tempered; (b) Loner 5, grog tempered. . ............... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..... 41 Illustration 29. Mudbrick collected from the surface of Sector S300 in 2011. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Illustration 30. Aerial image of the Bramiana valley taken in 1945.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132 Illustration 31.

Satellite image of the Bramiana valley taken in 2016.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133

Illustration 32.

Aerial image of the Bramiana valley taken in 1945.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Illustration 33.

Features superimposed onto a 1945 aerial image of the Bramiana valley..............135

List of Figures

Figure 1.

Pottery in coarse Cretan South Coast Fabric (1–7).

Figure 2.

Pottery in coarse Cretan South Coast Fabric (8–13).

Figure 3. Pottery in coarse Cretan South Coast Fabric (14–27). Figure 4.

Pottery in fine Cretan South Coast Fabric (28–47).

Figure 5.

Pottery in Cretan South Coast Fabric: fine (48–60) and fine with clay pellets (61–63).

Figure 6.

Pottery in Cretan South Coast Fabric, fine with clay pellets (64–88).

Figure 7. In-and-out bowls: Group A (89–92). Figure 8. In-and-out bowls: Group A (93–97), Group B (98–100). Figure 9. In-and-out bowls: Group C (101–103), Group D (104), and Group E (105, 106), and pottery in Mirabello Fabric (107–110). Figure 10.

Pottery in Mirabello Fabric (111–122).

Figure 11.

Pottery in Mirabello Fabric (123–133).

Figure 12.

Pottery in Mirabello Fabric (134–147).

Figure 13.

Pottery in Mirabello Fabric (148–166).

Figure 14.

Pottery in Mirabello Fabric (167–182).

Figure 15.

Pottery in Mirabello Fabric (183–191).

x

Figure 16.

BRAMIANA: SALVAGING INFORMATION FROM A DESTROYED MINOAN SETTLEMENT

Pottery in metamorphic fabrics (192–206).

Figure 17. Pottery in Metamorphic Fabric with Silvery Phyllite from Palaikastro (207–215) and ritual vessels in Mirabello Fabric (216, 217). Figure 18. Ritual vessels in Mirabello Fabric (218–224) and pottery in Calcite-Tempered Fabric (225–231), calcareous fabric with quartz (232, 233), and Fine Fabric with Clay Pellets and Microfossils (234). Figure 19.

Ground stone tools (235–240).

List of Plates

Plate 1.

Pottery in coarse Cretan South Coast Fabric (1–6, 9, 10, 13–18, 20, 21).

Plate 2.

Pottery in fine Cretan South Coast Fabric (28–33, 35–38, 43–46, 50–60).

Plate 3. Pottery in Cretan South Coast Fabric, fine with clay pellets (62, 64, 65, 68–73, 75–88). Plate 4. In-and-out bowls (89–106). Plate 5. Pottery in Mirabello Fabric (111, 114, 115, 119, 123, 124, 126, 128, 131, 133–138, 140–143, 145–148). Plate 6.

Pottery in Mirabello Fabric (149–160, 162–167, 169, 171–175, 177, 191).

Plate 7. Pottery in metamorphic fabric (192–194, 198, 203), Metamorphic Fabric with Silvery Phyllite from Palaikastro (207–209, 211, 213), and ritual vessels in Mirabello Fabric (216–219). Plate 8. Ritual vessels in Mirabello Fabric (223, 224) and pottery in Calcite-Tempered Fabric (225– 229, 231), calcareous fabric with quartz (232, 233), and Fine Fabric with Clay Pellets and Microfossils (234). Plate 9.

Ground stone tools (235–240).

Preface

In 2010, Doug Faulmann and his wife Kathy Hall took their little daughter Rosie to a popular picnic spot near the artificial lake that furnishes water for the city of Ierapetra on the southeast coast of Crete. Doug, the chief artist at the INSTAP SCEC in Pacheia Ammos, and Kathy, the senior conservator at the facility, were interested in observing the birds that stop at the lake during their migrations. Their daughter Rosie was six years old at the time, and they looked forward to a pleasant outing. After a short time, Rosie came up to her father with something in her hand and said, “Look, Daddy, Minoan pottery.” “No, no,” her father replied. “We don’t have Minoan pottery out here.” “Yes,” Rosie insisted. “It’s Minoan pottery.” Doug looked at what she had and realized that Rosie was right. Upon closer examination, fragments of other Bronze Age ceramics could be seen littering the ground. Rosie had discovered a previously unrecorded Minoan site. The discovery was reported to the Ephorate of Antiquities of Lasithi (formerly the 24th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities), and the director at the time, Vili Apostolakou, investigated and confirmed the presence of the ancient site. Because this area was such a popular picnic spot for the residents of Ierapetra and its vicinity, three small rescue trenches were subsequently excavated where the soil was deep enough to yield ancient remains. What was discovered was an ancient settlement from the second millennium b.c. that had been completely destroyed by bulldozing at some point prior to 1980. All the architecture had been displaced in order to create level fields for growing

xiv

BRAMIANA: SALVAGING INFORMATION FROM A DESTROYED MINOAN SETTLEMENT

olives. Only broken pottery and a few other artifacts remained to tell the story of a small Minoan settlement that existed here for over a thousand years. Bramiana is important because very little is known about the history of this part of Bronze Age Crete. Few excavated settlements from the Middle or Late Bronze Age are known either from Ierapetra or from the coastal region immediately east and west of this large modern city. Bramiana provides an opportunity to learn a substantial amount about the Bronze Age history of this little-known region. A modern approach to the study of the ceramics at Bramiana leads to significant new conclusions about the distribution patterns of this commodity at the beginning of the Late Bronze Age. This approach organizes the ceramics using fabrics that are defined by petrography. Consequently, the chapter on the trade in pottery (documenting, for example, several different sources for cooking pots and two origins for ritual vessels, both on the north coast) has provided enough new information on pottery distribution to make earlier treatments of the subject based only on style probably in need of future work. Earlier articles and reports that discuss the site include the following: Betancourt et al. 2016; Apostolakou et al. 2019; Oddo 2019a, 2019b.

Definitions and Nomenclature for the Pottery Pottery forms the bulk of the material recovered from Bramiana. Its fabrics are characterized by petrography (see this vol., Ch. 2), with the word fabric defined as the final state of the material used for a vessel or another ceramic object. The fabric incorporates characteristics derived from the original raw materials, the processing by the potters, the changes made during firing, and the post-burial alterations. The nomenclature for fabric classes follows Betancourt (2008). Fabrics that have been defined by petrography in print are capitalized (e.g., Cretan South Coast Fabric and Mirabello Fabric). Fabric classes that have not been closely defined are not capitalized (e.g., metamorphic fabrics). Named fabrics are defined by characteristic aplastic constituents, with subclasses identified by workshop practices (such as variations in clay mixes, differential levigation methods, or more than a single firing practice). The nomenclature for the shapes mostly follows Betancourt (1985). Ornamental classes are called Wares (capitalized) only if both the fabric has been defined petrographically and the surface treatment has been defined in detail (e.g., Vasiliki Ware, whose style is defined by Betancourt [1979], with subclasses made of Mirabello Fabric; and Kamares Ware, defined by Walberg [1976, 1978] as elaborate white or polychrome decoration on a dark background on vessels made of Cretan South Coast Fabric). If either the style or the fabric has not been closely defined, the class is called a style instead of a ware (i.e., the Middle Minoan Darkon-Light Style [Betancourt 1977], which occurs at Bramiana in several different fabrics). The word style is capitalized only when it is part of a named class.

Acknowledgments

The excavations at Bramiana were directed by Vili Apostolakou on behalf of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Lasithi (formerly the 24th Ephorate for Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities) in 2011 and 2012. Financial support was provided by the Greek Ministry of Culture, the Institute for Aegean Prehistory (INSTAP) and its supporters, and private donors. Some of the study was supported by grants from Temple University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Study was accomplished at the INSTAP Study Center for East Crete (SCEC) in Pacheia Ammos, Crete, at the Temple University Tyler School of Art Digital Laboratory in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and at the INSTAP Academic Press offices in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Measurements for mapping were made by Antonia Stamos and Allyson McCreery using a Topcon Electronic Distance Measuring Instrument (EDM). Additional map preparation was accomplished by Andrew Koh, Thomas M. Brogan, Philip P. Betancourt, and Diane Evitts. Trench supervisors were Konstantinos Chalikias, Lily Bonga, Florence S.C. Hsu, and Melissa Eaby. Technical assistance for the study of the pottery and other items was provided by the INSTAP SCEC in Pacheia Ammos Crete (Thomas M. Brogan, director, Eleanor Huffman, business administrator, Philip P. Betancourt, executive director). Conservation was done by Kathy Hall, senior conservator, and Matina Tzari, assistant conservator. Photomicrographs of the petrographic thin sections were taken by Eleni Nodarou. Photographs of objects were taken by Chronis Papanikolopoulos, chief photographer. Site photographs were taken by Philip Betancourt and Melissa Eaby. The stone tools were studied by Heidi M.C. Dierckx. The database and catalog were prepared by Mary A. Betancourt†, registrar, and assistant

xvi

BRAMIANA: SALVAGING INFORMATION FROM A DESTROYED MINOAN SETTLEMENT

registrars Florence S.C. Hsu, Marie Nicole Pareja, Amie Gluckman, Diane Evitts, and Sydney R. Sarasin. Artists were Doug Faulmann, Lily Bonga, Konstantinos Chalikias, Philip P. Betancourt, and the authors of the individual chapters.

List of Abbreviations

a angular BR Bramiana pottery catalog number BRM Bramiana petrography sample number c:f:v coarse:fine:void ratio cm centimeter(s) d. diameter dim. dimension EDM electronic distance measuring instrument EM Early Minoan FN Final Neolithic gr. gram(s) h. height ha hectare(s) INSTAP Institute for Aegean SCEC Prehistory Study Center for East Crete kg kilogram(s) km kilometer(s)

l.d. long dimension LM Late Minoan m meter(s) m2 square meters m asl meters above sea level max. maximum MM Middle Minoan μm micrometers PPL plane polarized light pres. preserved r rounded rest. restored sa subangular sr subrounded tcf textural concentration features th. thickness w. width wt. weight XP cross-polarized light

xviii

BRAMIANA: SALVAGING INFORMATION FROM A DESTROYED MINOAN SETTLEMENT

N

0

40 m

20

Illustration 1. Map of Crete showing some sites mentioned in the text. Drawing P. Betancourt.

N

o

o

Mochlos

Pseira

Gulf of Mirabello o

Pera Alatzomouri

Priniatikos Pyrgos

Gournia o

o

o

Alatzomouri Pefka Kalamaphka

o

Anatoli Stavromenos Anatoli Anatoli o Pandotinou Koriphi

Gaidourophas

o

Schistra o

o o Myrtos

o

o

o

Myrtos Phournou o Koriphi

o

Zoödochos

Myrtos Pyrgos

o Vasiliki Aphrodite’s Kephali

Isthmus of Ierapetra

Bramiana Reservoir

o

Bramiana

o Arapi Skala o

Gra Lygia

Makrygialos

o

o

o Ierapetra

Vaϊnia Stavromenos

00

2.5 2.5

5 5km km

Libyan Sea

Illustration 2. Map of the isthmus of Ierapetra and the neighboring regions with some sites mentioned in the text. Drawing P. Betancourt.

1

Introduction and Methodology by Vili Apostolakou, Philip P. Betancourt, and Thomas M. Brogan

Bramiana, a location 4 km west of the modern city of Ierapetra in Southeast Crete, is a small region near the Bramiana Reservoir (Ills. 1, 2). The artificial lake provides water to the city of Ierapetra and surrounding farms and villages. Two archaeological sites are known from this region. The Bramiana cemetery, which is south of the reservoir, dates to the Subminoan and Protogeometric periods (Tsipopoulou 2005, 72; for additional bibliography, see below). The second archaeological location is the settlement that is discussed in this volume. It occupies a small peninsula that juts out into the reservoir just north of the eastern end of the large earth and stone dam that holds back the water (Ills. 3, 4). The earliest pottery is from Early Minoan (EM) I to EM II, but the surviving ceramics indicate that the community flourished mainly between Middle Minoan (MM) II and the end of Late Minoan (LM) IA or the beginning of LM IB. The Bramiana Reservoir is the dominant topographic feature of a valley that runs south from the hills that dominate the Cretan landscape southeast

of the Lasithi Plain. The valley, which extends all the way to more level land near the southern coast, was a natural passage connecting the coastline of the Libyan Sea with the interior of Crete in all periods. At the coast the valley ends near the modern village of Gra Lygia. The fields and low hills near the reservoir are fertile, and they support many crops, especially olives and greenhouse vegetables. The Bramiana Reservoir is a modern artificial lake created by the building of a massive stone and earth dam across the valley to store water for this part of Crete (Ills. 5, 6). Ierapetra’s government began a modernization of its water management system in 1955 (Kokkinidis 2015, 53–54). The lake for the Bramiana Reservoir was completed in 1986, and it covers 105 hectares of land with a capacity of 15,000,000 cubic meters of water. The water management system is highly successful, and it provides for the needs of agriculture as well as for other uses (Ill. 7). The present topography for the archaeological site of Bramiana is very different from its situation

2

VILI APOSTOLAKOU, THOMAS M. BROGAN, AND PHILIP P. BETANCOURT

Illustration 3. The dam across the southern end of the Bramiana Reservoir, looking south from the archaeological site. Photo P. Betancourt.

Reservoir

N

Bramiana

x

Illustration 4. Satellite image of the region surrounding the Bramiana Reservoir and south to the coast. The white rectangles are greenhouses. Photo Google Earth, accessed July 7, 2021, https:// earth.google.com/web/@35 .03217459,25.69136163,131.1 6853876a,8636.97627711d,3 5y,-0h,0t,0r.

Gra Lygia 1 km

Libyan Sea

INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY

Reservoir

3

N

Bramiana x

Dam

Greenhouses

400 m

Illustration 5. Satellite image of the Bramiana Reservoir showing the site and the dam. Photo Google Earth, accessed July 7, 2021, https://earth.google.com/web/@35.03844801,25.70028484,67.1659421a,2191.42755664d,35y,0.0000008 5h,0t,0r.

Illustration 6. The site of Bramiana on the peninsula, looking northeast from the center of the dam in 2015. Photo P. Betancourt.

4

VILI APOSTOLAKOU, THOMAS M. BROGAN, AND PHILIP P. BETANCOURT

Illustration 7. Looking south from the center of the dam in 2015 with eucalyptus trees at the base of the dam and the plastic roofs of greenhouses visible in the distance on the left. Photo P. Betancourt.

Illustration 8. Olive trees growing on the flattened area near the archaeological remains at Bramiana in 2015, looking west. Photo P. Betancourt.

before the reservoir was constructed. Currently, it is a peninsula that is part of the lakeshore north of the eastern end of the dam (Ill. 6). Before the dam was built, the site occupied the southern end of a ridge overlooking the Bramiana valley and the Korakas stream south of the site. The hills here are covered with pale colored marls, and the soil is a combination of the disintegrated marl plus humus and other organic matter. It supports only sparse vegetation. When the site was brought to the attention of archaeologists in 2010, it had been destroyed for over 25 years. The date of destruction is estimated from the age of the olive trees planted on the level area where the buildings once stood (Ill. 8). Most of the traces of ancient human habitation were in the debris left by bulldozer and located at the southern end of the leveled area.

Relationship between Bramiana and Ierapetra in the Minoan Period

Name of the Site The name Bramiana has evolved recently. Part of the land was once owned by a man named Ibrahim (Abraham in English), and the suffix -iana is used in Crete for “the land of,” which yields “Ibrahimiana,” shortened to Braïmiana (pers. comm., K. Chalikias). The name was spelled Braïmiana and pronounced with five syllables as recently as 2005 (Tsipopoulou 2005, 52). At the time of writing this volume (2019), the word has been shortened further, and both the road signs and the local people call the site of the reservoir Bramiana.

Ierapetra is a large modern city at the southern end of the isthmus of Ierapetra (Ills. 1, 2). Indirect evidence suggests the region supported an important urban center during the Minoan period, especially during the second millennium b.c. (Chalikias 2009–2010, 42). The harbor at this location is excellent, with good protection from northern and western storms, and the valley near the coast is fertile. The major Neolithic site of Vaïnia Stavromenos (founded during that period and with a size of 10 stremmata [10,000 square meters]) is situated on a hill overlooking the valley and the harbor from the northeast (Ills. 2, 9; Chalikias 2013a, 43– 44; Nowicki 2014, 161–164; 2019, 14–16). Like many other defensible sites in Crete, the settlement was abandoned by much of its population as conditions became less dangerous during the Early Minoan period (Nowicki 2002), and its dominant position within the region must have been replaced by an important site nearer the harbor. When the inhabitants of this large site moved closer to the sea, they must have created a substantial presence on the southeast coast of Crete. The strategic location of Ierapetra at the southern end of the natural passage across Crete formed by the isthmus would have been the point at which land transport across Crete met the sea lanes (Chalikias and Oddo, eds., 2019). In any period when trade was possible, a population center at this location would have been an essential part of commerce. One must assume that a major Minoan urban site, probably with a palace,

INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY

5

N

0

1

5 km

Illustration 9. Map of the larger region around the Ierapetra Isthmus. Contour interval 100 m. Drawing P. Betancourt.

6

VILI APOSTOLAKOU, THOMAS M. BROGAN, AND PHILIP P. BETANCOURT

existed somewhere in the region, supporting both small outlying farming villages like Bramiana and other subsidiary settlements like the workshops for processing purple dye from murex shells (Hexaplex trunculus) on Chryssi Island off the coast about 14 km to the south (Chalikias 2011; Brogan et al. 2019). In this theory, Bramiana would have been one of the outlying agricultural communities that helped support a large Minoan center whose location has not been established. The best parallel for the theoretical situation at Ierapetra is the system on the nearby north coast at the other terminus of the road across the isthmus of Ierapetra (for the existence of this north–south transit as early as EM I, see Betancourt 2013a). The situation on the north coast is well known both from excavations and from surface survey. Gournia, the large urban center, had a small palace that was founded during the Middle Bronze Age (Hawes et al. 1908; Soles 1991; Watrous 1992, 2012c; Buell and McEnroe 2013, 2017). It was a manufacturing center, and beginning in the Early Bronze Age it furnished pottery, metalwork, and other goods for a series of nearby towns including Vasiliki (Seager 1907; Betancourt 1979) and Mochlos (Seager 1912; Soles 1992; Barnard and Brogan 2003). The distribution of pottery that originated at Gournia is particularly clear at Pseira where Mirabello Fabric (probably made at Gournia) is the main fabric in Middle Minoan and LM IA, with a change in LM IB to an increased use of metamorphic fabrics with phyllite as temper (Betancourt 2005, 292– 293). Near Gournia, many small satellite operations farmed the land and conducted various activities that supported the large industrial enterprise at the urban center (Watrous 2012a), which included a workshop for making dyes at Alatzomouri Pefka (Apostolakou 2008; Apostolakou, Betancourt, and Brogan 2010; Betancourt, Apostolakou, and Brogan 2012; Apostolakou, Brogan, and Betancourt, eds., 2020) and a pottery workshop at Pera Alatzomouri, Survey Site 10 in the survey of Gournia (Watrous 2012a, 110). The position of Gournia as the economic center for a surrounding region was probably normal for the Middle Minoan to Late Minoan I economy, and the situation at the south of the isthmus is likely to have been generally similar. The isthmus is the most important topographic feature for this region (Ills. 2, 9), and the opportunities it offered for transport across Crete must have determined much of the history of the towns

and villages in the vicinity. The isthmus is the only place in Crete where the east–west chain of high mountains is broken by a low passage that extends all the way across the island. Transport across this isthmus has been demonstrated from as early as EM IA by the presence of trade goods at the tiny site of Aphrodite’s Kephali (Betancourt 2013a; 2019). This small hilltop fort was located near the center of the isthmus, and it imported pottery from both coasts (Nodarou 2013, 154). Trade across the isthmus has also been demonstrated for EM II because Myrtos Phournou Koriphi, located about 12 km west of Ierapetra on the southern coast (Warren 1972), imported large quantities of Vasiliki Ware and other ceramics made of Mirabello Fabric from the north coast during this period as well as later (Whitelaw et al. 1997; Whitelaw 2015). With these connections across the isthmus already well advanced during the Early Bronze Age, trade during the later Minoan periods, although it has not been documented in detail petrographically prior to this study, must have been even more common. The development of an important urban transit center at the place where the land and water transport systems met on the southern coast is surely to be expected.

Earlier Work in the Region Few Bronze Age excavations have been undertaken in the broad region within and around the city of Ierapetra in Southeast Crete. Several factors have hindered its exploration. The early remains in this part of Crete are buried deeply by alluvial deposits, and the large modern city has also effectively covered the area near the harbor that would have supported the most important Minoan sites (Mourtzas and Kolaiti 2014). In addition, the modern system of agriculture is rapidly destroying most traces of ancient habitation in the fertile area near the metropolis by leveling the land with bulldozers and either preparing the land for olives or constructing greenhouses for tomatoes and other produce (Chalikias 2011, 6; Chalikias and Cantoro 2015). The small excavation at Bramiana contributes useful information to help fill this gap in our knowledge. Little has been excavated previously from the local region of Bramiana, which is about 4 km west of Ierapetra on the road toward Kalamaphka, inland

INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY

from the southeast coast of Crete, and northeast of the modern village of Myrtos (Ill. 2). In the first half of the 20th century, Spyridon Marinatos found small tholos tombs (the Bramiana cemetery) with burials from Subminoan and Protogeometric times (Marinatos 1932; Pendlebury 1937–1938, 111; Kanta 1980, 161; Tsipopoulou 2005, 72). The Bronze Age is only well known from places slightly west of Bramiana, near Myrtos. Two settlements just east of this modern village have been uncovered: Myrtos Phournou Koriphi, which was settled in the Early Bronze Age and had its most important phase during EM IIB (Warren 1972), and Myrtos Pyrgos, which reached the height of its wealth in late Middle Minoan to LM I (Cadogan 1977–1978). Gaidourophas, a LM I monumental building northwest of Anatoli, has been known since the 19th century (Pendlebury 1939, 297; Brown, ed., 2001, 326; Papadatos and Chalikias 2019). Settlement of the region east of these sites is less well documented. This part of southeastern Crete, however, already had a population by the Neolithic period. From surface survey we know that the site of Anatoli Pandotinou Koriphi, on a rocky hill 2.5 km north of the coast to the east of Myrtos, was inhabited in the Late Neolithic period (Nowicki 2008a, 213; 2008b, 73; 2014, 173–176; 2019, 12; Chalikias 2013a, 46). It was abandoned after the Neolithic, but Schistra, on a lower hill about a half a kilometer closer to the coast, was inhabited in the early stages of the Early Bronze Age (Nowicki 2008b, 73; 2014, 176; Chalikias 2013a, 46). A kilometer to the east is the site of Zoödochos, which was also settled in EM I, perhaps when Schistra went out of use (Chalikias 2013a, 46–47). The settlement pattern suggests the initial founding of communities on high and easily defensible hills with a movement to lower slopes beginning in Early Minoan I. By the Middle Bronze Age the conditions were such that settlements could thrive on undefended locations that were near fertile land and good sources of water, but few details have been investigated about the region near the coast and in the foothills west of modern Ierapetra. A pair of pithos burials from about MM III to LM I come from the coast at Gra Lygia (Davaras 1979; Chalikias 2009–2010, 34). No Middle Minoan or Late Minoan I settlements are known aside from Bramiana in the immediate vicinity. A little more is understood about the region from the period near the

7

end of the Bronze Age because Vili Apostolakou has excavated a cemetery from LM III at Arapi Skala north of Gra Lygia with burials in larnakes decorated with fish, plants, an octopus, and other motifs and with pottery dated to LM IIIA:2–LM IIIB (Apostolakou 1998; Smith 2019, 113–114). The location of the cemetery assocatiated with the Minoan settlement at Bramiana is not known. For the known LM III cemeteries, see Smith 2019.

Excavation Fieldwork at Bramiana was conducted between June and October 2011 under the supervision of Vili Apostolakou, director of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Lasithi (formerly the 24th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities). The first step was an intensive survey of the promontory to map the topography and the scattered cultural remains in the area. The mapping team consisted of Antonia Stamos and Allyson McCreery; the field walkers on the survey included Lily Bonga, Ariel Pearce, Konstantinos Chalikias, Thomas Brogan, Philip Betancourt, and Vili Apostolakou. To organize the collection, the promontory was divided into five uneven sectors (Ill. 10): S100 (ca. 40 m²), S200 (ca. 400 m²), S300 (ca. 210 m²), S400 (ca. 70 m²), and S500 (ca. 400 m²). It was obvious the landscape had been modified with machinery on two occasions since the 1970s, first to plant olive trees and then to clear the area around the shore of the reservoir with a bulldozer. This second action removed all but a few of the olive and pine trees growing on the promontory and completely destroyed any ancient buildings in the area (Ills. 8, 11), remnants of which were collected at the western end of sector S300 (Ill. 10). The only feature preserved in situ was a patch of burned clay recorded in Sector S100 (samples include 241 and 242), which had been vitrified by high temperatures (>1000°C). Its glassy surface resembled the lining of an ancient pottery kiln, which may once have stood in or near the local Bronze Age settlement at Bramiana. Small amounts of pottery were collected from each sector from the surface (S100–500) and from the excavations described below (Trench E301/302, Trench E303/304, Trench E305), with the largest

8

VILI APOSTOLAKOU, THOMAS M. BROGAN, AND PHILIP P. BETANCOURT

wall

S100

N

E100

burned material

coastline

S500

S200 concrete slab

mudbrick patch

S300

E303/304

E300/301

E305

0

5

10 m

concentrations recorded on the southern side of S300 (Ill. 12) and the north side of S400 (Ill. 11). This material indicates activity in the area from as early as EM I to EM II with most of the evidence from MM II to the LM IA period. Multiple objects from Sectors S100–S400 were cataloged (Ills. 12, 13). Sector S100 (seven objects of MM II–LM I date) Basin 193 Closed vessel: 178 Kil n fragments (probably of Bronze Age date): 241, 242 Pithoi: 139, 153 Straight-sided cup: 31 Sector S200 (three objects of EM IB and MM I– III date) Jar(?) and pithos: 143, 231 Jug: 131 Sector S300 (19 objects of EM–LM IA date) Basins: 118, 233 Bowls: 2, 62 Carinated cup: 73 Closed vessel: 87

S400 Illustration 10. Plan of the sectors (S) and trenches (E) at Bramiana. Drawing A. Stamos.

Conical cup: 42 In-and-out bowls: 93, 94 Jars: 38, 123, 130 Pithoi: 12, 138, 151 Tray: 111 Tripod cooking bowls: 25, 210 Tripod cooking pot: 211 Sector S400 (14 objects of EM–LM IA date) Closed vessels: 86, 176 Cooking dish: 181 In-and-out bowls: 89–92 Pithoi: 13, 17 Semiglobular cup: 52 Tray: 227 Tripod cooking pots: 187, 215 The results of the survey were used to guide a small rescue excavation. While survey areas were labeled S for survey (e.g., S100), trenches were labeled E for excavation. The first trench (E100) was opened to explore the burned area in Sector S100 (Ill. 10). A shallow pass across the space revealed

INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY

Illustration 11. Fieldwalkers conducting the surface survey in Sectors S300 and S400 at Bramiana in 2011, looking southwest. Photo M. Eaby.

that the bulldozer had completely destroyed this feature. Three more trenches (E301/302, E303/304, E305) were opened along the southern side of the promontory (in Sectors S300 and S400) near the water line of the reservoir where the survey team had recovered the largest concentrations of pottery (Ills. 10, 14, 15). The first of these trenches (E301/302 measured 2.5 x 3.0 m. The surface layer between +74.24 and +73.99 m asl was excavated as Locus E301. The soil was yellowish-brown marl (Munsell 10YR 5/4 [for Munsell colors, see Kollmorgen Instrument Corporation 1992]), and it contained few stones, none of which were worked. Removal of a second stratum (E302) between +73.99–73.22 m asl revealed bedrock at the northern end of the trench and no traces of architecture. All items discovered were mixed at random within the soil. A few unworked, natural stones were present. The finds included several bags of pottery, a weight, and a few fragments of mudbrick, while stone tools, animal bones, shell, and carbon were noticeably absent. Loci E301 and E302 (EM–LM IA) Amphorae: 132, 133, 137 Basins: 4, 6, 115, 119, 232 Bowls: 3, 63, 107 Brasero: 223 Brazier: 230 Carinated cups: 32, 36, 37 Closed vessels: 21, 59, 60, 82–84, 157, 161, 166, 173, 174, 179, 180, 197, 209 Cooking dishes: 200–203

9

Illustration 12. Sectors S100 and S200, looking west. Photo P. Betancourt.

Illustration 13. Sector S200, area flattened by the bulldozers, looking north. Photo P. Betancourt.

Cups: 68, 121 Hole-mouthed jars: 124, 127 In-and-out bowls: 97, 99–101, 104–106 Jars: 75, 165 Jugs: 56, 58(?), 194, 208 Miniature tripod bowl: 222 Mudbricks: 243, 245, 246 Mud mortar: 249 Pithoi: 141, 142, 146, 148, 149, 152 Semiglobular cups: 51, 55 Shallow basin: 109 Stand: 224 Stone tool: 237 Straight-sided cups: 43, 45, 49, 70 Trays: 226, 227 Tripod cooking bowl: 25

10

VILI APOSTOLAKOU, THOMAS M. BROGAN, AND PHILIP P. BETANCOURT

Illustration 14. Sectors S301–S305 after excavation in 2011, from the east. Photo M. Eaby.

Illustration 15. Sectors S301–S305 after excavation in 2011, from the west. Photo M. Eaby.

Tripod cooking pots: 26, 27, 183, 184, 190, 204–206, 212, 214 Tripod cooking tray: 24 Tripod offering bowl: 216 Weight: 251

Bowls: 1, 61 Carinated cups: 35, 72 Closed vessels: 22, 80, 81, 83, 154, 168–170, 195, 199 Conical cup: 41 Hole-mouthed jar: 125 In-and-out bowls: 95, 96 Jars: 7, 129 Jugs: 57(?), 207 Lid: 88 Miniature tripod vessel: 221 Mud mortar: 247, 248, 250 Pithoi: 18, 147 Semiglobular cup: 120 Shallow bowls: 28, 192 Stone lid or base: 240 Stone tool: 239 Straight-sided cups: 29, 44, 47, 53, 71 Tray: 113 Tripod cooking pots: 185, 186, 188, 189, 213



A second trench (E303/E304), measuring 2.6 x 2.0 m, was opened on the east side of the first. It contained a thick layer of loose, pale brown soil (10YR 6/3) from +73.91–73.31 m asl that was removed in two layers, E303 and E304. No architectural features were recorded. All of the stones were small and unworked. The finds included many sherds, a pair of stone tools, a stone lid, and some fragments of mudbrick or clay mortar used as building material. All of the objects were scattered randomly within the soil. Loci E303 and E304 (MM II–LM IA) Amphora: 135 Basins: 5, 114, 116

INTRODUCTION AND METHODOLOGY



Tripod cooking trays: 23, 182 Tripod offering bowl: 220

A third trench (E305) measuring 2.6 x 2.0 m was opened on the west side of the first one. The layers of loose soil in this trench were similar to those discussed above for the second trench (E303/E304). Soil was removed between +74.30–73.04 m asl revealing bedrock along the north side of the trench. The soil was loose marl. It contained a few small natural stones. The finds included pottery, mudbrick, and one stone tool. Locus E305 (MM II–LM IA) Amphorae: 134, 136 Basins: 117, 228, 229 Bowls: 64, 65, 225 Carinated cups: 33, 34 Closed vessels: 20, 155, 156, 158, 160, 162– 164, 167, 171, 172, 175, 196, 198 Covers: 40, 191, 192 Cups: 67, 69, 234 Hole-mouthed jars: 128, 156 In-and-out bowls: 90, 102, 103 Jars: 8, 39, 74, 177 Jugs: 76, 78 Mudbrick: 244 Pithoi: 9–11, part of 14–16, 19, 126, 140, 144, 145 Semiglobular cups: 50, 54 Stone tool: 238 Straight-sided cups: 30, 46, 48 Trays: 108, 110, 112 Tripod offering bowls: 217–219 Tumblers: 66, 122

Methodology for the Study The goals for the study of the finds from the Bramiana project were based on the nature of the material recovered from the small rescue excavation. Only a very small sample of what originally existed was discovered in the excavation, and it was highly fragmentary. No architectural features were present, and all the building stones that were found were unworked and irregular. The conclusion was that all of what was excavated was in a mixed secondary deposit that had been placed where it was discovered

11

by the modern bulldozers, but it had not been contaminated with any objects that were later than the Bronze Age. The integrity of the deposit was an important consideration because although the objects were not found in an original ancient context, they had not been mixed with any more recent material aside from the natural geological or biological changes affecting the soil from rains or from the biological effects of plants and earthworms or other animals. The nature of the ceramic assemblage, which consisted of sherds from periods that spanned several centuries and that did not join with one another, indicated the pieces were mixed from many different original contexts. Not a single vessel could be mended and restored. Such a small and mixed assemblage is not suited to detailed statistical analysis of the type that contributes information on the original chronological situation (i.e., Betancourt 1990, 193–235; Watrous 1992, 193–225). A statistical sample for an analysis that computes percentages of pottery classes from successive periods in order to provide meaningful percentages of what was present in the original set of assemblages must be larger and less mixed than the sample available from Bramiana. Several goals were established for the study of this fragmentary and specialized material. Determining the range of dates for the settlement was important in order to place the site within its historical position. The activities that were conducted at the site needed to be understood. Information about trade was an especially important goal because nothing was known about the movement of goods across this part of Crete during LM I before the discovery of this site. The nature of the pottery was another important consideration including any possible relation to a hypothetical large urban center at Ierapetra. Any other type of information that could be learned about the history of the site and the economy or the social position of the inhabitants was also of interest. With these goals in mind, a plan of study was devised with ceramic petrography as an essential component. Petrographic study of the pottery fabrics provides the basis for the organization of its presentation in this volume. This approach is uncommon in Minoan Crete. For most Minoan sites, the large amount of excavated pottery prevents microscopic examination of most of the material

12

VILI APOSTOLAKOU, THOMAS M. BROGAN, AND PHILIP P. BETANCOURT

because of the cost and the time involved, and only a small sample of the sherds and vases can be examined by this important technique. Organization of the material by macroscopic means (including shape and artistic style) is the only viable alternative. For the small site of Bramiana, however, only a relatively small assemblage of pottery was recovered, consisting of only a few hundred sherds. It was possible, therefore, to examine a high percentage of finds—184 cataloged objects—by thin section using the petrographic microscope to establish the principal petrographic groups present at the site (Peterson 2009). Additional sherds were added to these groups by macroscopic examination, providing the framework for the organization of the body of excavated pottery into discrete groups based on the composition of the clay fabrics. The original geographic region for some of these fabrics is known. As a result of being able to assign much of the ceramics to its original region, the pottery provides substantial new information on the trade in this part of Crete from the main period of the site, between MM IIB and LM IA. The following are the main classes of pottery present in the assemblage: Cretan South Coast Fabric, in a coarse fabric Cretan South Coast Fabric, in a fine fabric Mirabello Fabric, from the Mirabello region on the north coast

Metamorphic fabrics, origins unknown Metamorphic Fabric with Silvery Phyllite, from the area of Palaikastro Calcite-Tempered Fabric, origins unknown Several other fabrics known only from single analyzed sherds or small groups (loners) The objects assigned a catalog number were chosen to provide a range of what was available in the assemblage. More decorated than undecorated examples were selected in order to provide as complete a sample as possible of the decorated classes. An attempt was made to catalog examples of all of the shapes and styles that could be identified. In this volume, the fabrics are defined in Chapter 2 based on their major constituents, and subgroups are identified by differential workshop practices (such as using different mixes of clays or variations in the firing technology) that suggest either chronological variation or more than a single workshop using the same fabric. Additional chapters discuss the individual fabric groups. Two chapters are concerned with subjects that involve more than one fabric group, the regional style of lustrous dark-onlight pottery (Ch. 6) and the ritual vessels (Ch. 10). In both instances, vessels from more than a single origin were involved with the subject.

2

Petrographic Analysis of the Pottery from Bramiana by Eleni Nodarou

Introduction and Previous Analytical Studies The broader area of Ierapetra, in the southeastern part of Crete, has until recently been considered terra incognita because archaeologists thus far had failed to identify any major sites with the prominent exception of two excavations, the settlements of Myrtos Phournou Koriphi and Myrtos Pyrgos (Ill. 2). A study by Konstantinos Chalikias (2013b), which included survey of the aforementioned area, showed that the problem of archaeological visibility is caused by two factors—one anthropogenic, the other geomorphological—namely, intensive modern agricultural activity and alluviation. Recent excavations on the small island of Chryssi by Vili Apostolakou and Chrysa Sophianou (Apostolakou et al. 2010) and of a building in the mountains at Anatoli Gaidourophas by Yiannis Papadatos (Papadatos and Chalikias 2019), along with a survey of the mountains above Anatoli, Kalamaphka, and Malles by Tina Kalantzopoulou (Papadatos and Kalantzopoulou, forthcoming) have

demonstrated that the hinterland and uplands of Ierapetra are not an empty landscape; rather, the archaeological record is rich, varied, and interesting. With regard to pottery analysis, two preliminary publications—one of the EM II assemblage from Myrtos Phournou Koriphi (Whitelaw et al. 1997), one of the MM II domestic wares from Myrtos Pyrgos (Knappett 2000)—offer valuable but rather sporadic evidence of pottery production and circulation in the area. In the Prepalatial assemblage of Phournou Koriphi the term “South Coast tradition” is used for the first time in order to describe the local pottery fabrics connected with the ophiolite series and the flysch mélange outcropping in the Myrtos valley. Almost half of the cataloged assemblage was manufactured locally in the South Coast tradition whereas the other half was imported from the northern part of the Ierapetra Isthmus, in which 25% of the cataloged vases were produced in granitic-dioritic fabrics and 25% in the fine fabric of Vasiliki Ware (Whitelaw et al. 1997, 267–270). The Protopalatial coarse pottery from Myrtos Pyrgos was manufactured in a range of fabrics. Among

14

ELENI NODAROU

these, one fabric is connected to the flysch outcrops of the south coast, one with granitic-dioritic inclusions is connected to the northern Ierapetra Isthmus, and a few fabrics are connected to the Phyllite-Quartzite series whose deposits are very common all over East Crete (Knappett 2000). Despite the preliminary character of these analyses, both sites show common characteristics that imply certain continuities in the production and consumption of pottery in the area of Myrtos from the Prepalatial to the Protopalatial period: (1) A long-lasting local ceramic tradition existed for the manufacturing of vases with flyschrelated fabrics. (2) A regular preference for ceramic products imported from the northern Ierapetra Isthmus, manufactured in granitic-dioritic fabrics, and associated with the broader area of Gournia and Priniatikos Pyrgos. This data will be compared with the evidence from the Bramiana ceramic assemblage. Comparative analysis will provide insights on the technology of manufacture through time as well as on potential continuities and discontinuities in the patterns of pottery production and consumption in the area of Ierapetra. The analysis of the pottery from Bramiana presents certain particularities not encountered in other assemblages: there is no architecture related to the ceramic assemblage and no stratigraphic or any other type of contextual information; moreover, it comes from an irreparably altered landscape due to the construction of a water reservoir in the mid 1980s, which changed the geomorphology of the area. The pottery has been studied stylistically and petrographically in an attempt to overcome the lack of contextual information and to integrate this elusive site within the ancient landscape of the south coast.

Macroscopic Fabrics, Sampling, and Aim of Study The selection of samples for petrographic analysis was based on the study of shapes and wares and the macroscopic study of fabrics. The majority of

the assemblage consists of closed vessels, mainly medium-sized transport jars, amphorae, pithoi, and some cooking shapes, namely tripod vessels, dishes, and trays, as well as an array of fine wares. Additionally, there are sparse pieces of earthen construction materials that were also included in the analysis project. The coarse wares occur in a range of macroscopically distinctive fabrics described below: (1) A fabric with a red-firing matrix containing metamorphic (predominantly phyllitic) inclusions. The phyllite grains are elongate and platy and are silvery purple in color. This fabric is encountered mainly in cooking pots and a few closed vessels and is considered as characteristic of the area of Palaikastro (see petrographic Fabric Group 1). (2) A range of red metamorphic fabrics containing phyllite inclusions (see petrographic Fabric Group 2) in a multitude of colors as well as containing other non-plastic components, mainly white angular grits (most likely quartzite), schist, and quartz. These fabrics are encountered in cooking pots. They are not homogeneous, but they are grouped together because of the common nature of the non-plastics and the non-calcareous base clay. (3) A fabric with a yellowish to light brown buff matrix with a fine base clay containing rounded non-plastic inclusions in a range of colors (see petrographic Fabric Groups 3 and 4). This fabric is characteristic of the south coast of Crete, that is, the area from Myrtos to the western Mesara. It represents the “local” component of Bramiana and is encountered mainly in jars and a few cooking pots. (4) A fabric with a whitish buff matrix containing sparse inclusions of granitic-dioritic rocks. It is macroscopically distinct, and it characterizes the northern end of the isthmus of Ierapetra and the bay of Mirabello. It is often encountered in jars (see petrographic Fabric Group 5). (5) A red gritty fabric with angular granitic rock fragments is characteristic of the region around the Mirabello Bay. It is encountered

PETROGRAPHIC ANALYSIS OF THE POTTERY FROM BRAMIANA

exclusively in cooking pots (see petrographic Fabric Group 6). (6) A red fabric with angular calcitic inclusions dating to the Prepalatial period (see petrographic Fabric Group 8). (7) The earthen construction materials are examined separately. They are macroscopically homogeneous in a fine yellowish calcareous fabric occasionally tempered with organic materials identifiable by the elongate voids. The fine wares are much more homogeneous than the coarse ones. They are manufactured in a fine buff fabric with very rare non-plastic inclusions. They frequently contain rounded clay pellets. Finally, a significant number of vessels are affected by higher firing temperature—the surface is rough and gritty, and it has a greenish color. The fabric displays partial vitrification with a characteristic black core and bloating pores giving the fabric a spongy texture. It is not clear whether the overfired vessels were exposed to fire while they were in use, or if they were slightly distorted during kiln firing. None of them is a kiln waster. If the distortion of the original shape happened during firing, apparently this was not a problem for consumers. The majority of overfired vessels are jars, but due to the dark color and vitrification it is difficult to macroscopically characterize the fabric. The petrographic analysis of 184 samples from the Bramiana assemblage was based on the macroscopic fabric groups, the dates of the pottery, and the diagnostic shapes (Ill. 16). The aim of the analysis was to: (1) Explore the various recipes represented in the macroscopic fabric groups (2) Investigate their possible provenance, distinguishing between imported and local or broadly local fabrics (3) Characterize the overfired pottery and examine how it connects with the rest of the assemblage (4) Evaluate quantitatively and qualitatively the presence of the various fabrics in the assemblage The petrographic analysis was carried out using a Leica DMLP polarizing microscope. The descriptions follow the system introduced by Ian

15

Whitbread (1995). The following abbreviations are used: a (angular), r (rounded), sa (subangular), sr (subrounded), l.d. (long dimension), tcf (textural concentration features), PPL (plane-polarized light), XP (cross-polarized light), c:f:v. (coarse:fine:void ratio). Frequency labels are defined as follows: dominant (50%–70%), frequent (30%–50%), common (15%–30%), few (5%–15%), very few (2%–5%), rare (0.5%–2.0%), very rare (