Rural Settlement in Hellenistic and Roman Crete: The Akrotiri Peninsula 9781841712703, 9781407353364

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Rural Settlement in Hellenistic and Roman Crete The Akrotiri Peninsula

Holly Alane Raab

BAR International Series 984 B A R

2001

Rural Settlement in Hellenistic and Roman Crete The Akrotiri Peninsula

Holly Alane Raab

BAR International Series 984

2001

Published in 2016 by

BAR Publishing, Oxford BAR International Series 984 Rural Settlement in Hellenistic and Roman

Crete

© H A Raab and the Publisher 2001 The author's moral rights under the 1988 UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act are hereby expressly asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be copied, reproduced, stored, sold, distributed, scanned, saved in any form of digital format or transmitted

in any form digitally, without the written permission of the Publisher.

BAR Publishing is the trading name of British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd. British Archaeological Reports was first incorporated in 1974 to publish the BAR Series, International and British. In 1992 Hadrian Books Ltd became part of the BAR group. This volume was originally published by Archaeopress in conjunction with

British Archaeological Reports (Oxford) Ltd / Hadrian Books Ltd, the Series principal publisher, in 2001. This present volume is published by BAR Publishing, 2016.

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For Neil Brandon Raab

CONTENTS

List of Illustrations

Vill

List of Tables Preface

Xi

Acknowledgements

Xl

Abbreviations

Xi

oon

Chapter 2: Theoretical Frameworks 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Urban / Rural Indivisibility 2.3 Exploitative and Benevolent Models 2.3.1 Hellenistic Evidence 2.3.2 Roman Evidence 2.4 Administrative Models 2.5 Romanization

NN

Chapter 1: Introduction

13 16 18

Chapter 3: Ancient Crete in Regional Survey 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Regional Survey Review 3.2.1 East Crete 3.2.2 East Central Crete 3.2.3 Central Crete 3.2.4 West Crete 3.3 Site Distribution Trends 3.4 Site Classifications 3.5 Land Tenure 3.6 Land Use and Production 3.7 Pottery in Rural Contexts

22 22 22 24 26 27 30 3] 33 35 37 43

Chapter 4: 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5

The Territory of Kydonia The Location of Kydonia The City of Kydonia Territorial Divisions Ancient Akrotiri Kydonia in Ancient History

45 45 47 49 53 55

Chapter 5: 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5

Pottery Study Introduction Methods of Analysis The Garage Excavation and Stratigraphy Catalog Organization and Conventions Catalog of the Garage Sample 5.5.1 Standard Ware 5.5.1.1 Late Classical/Early Hellenistic 5.5.1.2 Late Hellenistic and Augustan 5.5.1.3 Early Roman 5.5.2 Smooth Salmon Ware 5.5.2.1 Late Classical/Early Hellenistic

61 61 62 63 65 66 66 67 67 67 69 69

5.5.3 5.5.4 5.5.5 5.5.6 5.5.7

5.5.8

5.5.9 5.5.10

5.5.2.2 Early Roman Burnished Brown Ware Coarse Brown Wares Burnished Orange Ware Coarse Red Wares Black-Gloss Wares 5.5.7.1 Imports 5.5.7.2 Local Products Red-Gloss Wares 5.5.8.1 Imports 5.5.8.2 Local Products 5.5.8.3 Local Products Non-Local and Imported Coarse Products Terracotta

74 74 74 74 76 77 77 78 80 81 81 81 81 82 82 82 83 83

Chapter 6: The Akrotiri Study Area 6.1 The Environment 6.1.1 Introduction 6.1.2 Geology 6.1.3 Water and Plants 6.2 Archaeological Field Study 6.2.1 Study Framework 6.2.2 Scatters 6.2.3 Sites

6.3 Functional Categories of Sites 6.3.1 6.3.2 6.3.3 6.3.4 6.3.5 6.3.6 6.3.7 6.3.8

69 69 69 70 70 70 71 71 71 71 72 72 72 73

Nucleated Settlements Estates Large Farming Centers Small Farms Sanctuaries Burials Watch Facilities Rock-Cut Features

Chapter 7: Archaeological Sites in the Akrotiri Peninsula 7.1 About the Site Gazetteer 7.2 Site Gazetteer

84 84 86

Chapter 8: Akrotiri Settlement Patterns 8.1 Sites 8.1.1 The Central Corridor 8.1.1.1 Classical and Hellenistic 8.1.1.2 Late Hellenistic Sites 8.1.1.3 Early Roman Sites 8.1.1.4 Late Roman Sites 8.1.2 The South Coast 8.1.2.1 Classical and Hellenistic 8.1.2.2 Late Hellenistic Sites 8.1.2.3 Early Roman Sites 8.1.2.4 Late Roman Sites 8.1.3 The West Coast 8.1.3.1 Classical and Hellenistic 8.1.3.2 Late Hellenistic Sites 8.1.3.3 Early Roman Sites 8.1.3.4 Late Roman Sites 8.1.4 The Isthmus 8.1.4.1 Classical and Hellenistic

133 133 133 133 134 136 137 137 138 140 140 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 149

v1

Sites

Sites

Sites

Sites

8.1.4.2 Early and Late Roman Sites 8.2 Pottery 8.2.1 Fine Wares 8.2.2 Amphorae 8.2.3 Coarse Wares 8.3 Summary Chapter 9: 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6

149 149 149 150 154 156 157 157 157 159 160 161 162

Conclusions Site Distributions Land Tenure Land Use and Production Spheres of Interaction Late Antiquity Concluding Statement

Illustrations

164

List of Journal Abbreviations

237

Bibliography

238

Vil

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS (figures following the text)

2

—"

—

Ne

©

pd pas

OP IADAARWNo

3 Map with locations of survey projects in Crete discussed in Chapter 3 Chapter in ed mention Map with sites in East and Central Crete 3 Map with sites in West and Central Crete mentioned in Chapter 4 Chapter in d discusse Crete Map with locations in Northwest Map of Khania with sites mentioned in Chapter 4.2 Map with territorial reconstruction of Kydonia _ Standardized form for recording pottery fabrics Plan of the Garage excavation in Khania Ware Garage collection: Late Classical through Late Hellenistic Standard Ware Standard Roman Early through tic Hellenis Late n: collectio Garage . Garage collection: Early Roman Standard Ware l/Early . Garage collection: Early Roman Standard Ware; Late Classica Hellenistic Smooth Salmon Ware Garage collection: Late Classical/Early Hellenistic and Early Roman

Smooth Salmon Ware 14. Garage collection: Early Roman Burnished Brown, Coarse Brown, and Burnished Orange Wares wares 15. Garage collection: Early Roman Coarse Red Wares; black-gloss wares s red-glos 16. Garage collection: black-gloss wares; e 17. Garage collection: red-gloss wares; non-local and imported amphora a terracott ; products coarse imported and 18. Garage collection: non-local 19. Map of Northwest Crete 20. Map with topographic features of the Akrotiri peninsula 21. Photograph of Akrotiri landscape 22. Geological map of West Crete 23. Geological map of the Akrotiri peninsula 24. Map of Akrotiri showing areas inaccessible to survey 25. Photographs of the excavated Roman villa at Marathi 26. Plan of site AR 17 in Aroni, Akrotiri 27. Plan of site LT 3 in Loutraki, Akrotiri 28. Plan of site TS 10 in Tersana, Akrotiri 29. Photograph of retaining wall at site TS 10 in Tersana, Akrotiri 30. Plan of site AR 6 in Aroni, Akrotiri 31. Plan of site LT 1 in Loutraki, Akrotiri 32. Plan of site AR 14 in Aroni, Akrotiri 33. Plan of site MR 4 in Marathi, Akrotiri Akrotiri 34. Plans and elevations of chamber tombs at sites LT 3 and LM 4 in Akrotiri Khalepa, in 5 KE site at tombs 35. Plans and elevations of chamber 36. Plan of cemetery at site LT 3 in Loutraki, Akrotiri 37. Plan of site PL 2 in Paleokhora, Akrotiri 38. Photograph of quarried area at site LT 3 in Loutraki, Akrotiri 39. Map of Akrotiri with district subdivisions used in the Gazetteer tic AO. Akrotiri pottery: Geometric and Archaic; Classical/Early Hellenis domestic e 4}. Akrotiri pottery: Classical/Early Hellenistic domestic and amphora domestic tic Hellenis e; amphora tic Hellenis l/Early Classica 42. Akrotiri pottery: domestic tic Hellenis pottery: 43. Akrotiri 44. Akrotiri pottery: Hellenistic domestic; Hellenistic amphorae 45. Akrotiri pottery: Classical and Hellenistic black-gloss wares 46. Akrotiri pottery: Hellenistic/Early Roman, Early Roman domestic 47. Akrotiri pottery: Early Roman domestic 48. Akrotiri pottery: Early Roman domestic 49. Akrotiri pottery: Early Roman amphorae 50. Akrotiri pottery: Early Roman red-gloss wares

Vill

164 165 166 167 168 169 170 171 172 173 174 175 176 177 178 179 180 181 182 183 184 185 186 187 188 189 190 191 192 193 194 195 196 197 198 199 200 201 202 203 204 205 206 207 208 209 210 211 212 213

51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73.

Akrotiri Akrotiri Akrotiri Akrotiri Akrotiri Akrotiri Akrotiri Akrotiri Akrotiri Map of Map of Map of Map of Map of Map of Map of Map of Map of Map of Map of Map of Map of Map of

pottery: Late Roman domestic pottery: Late Roman domestic, amphorae, and red-slip wares pottery: Late Roman red-slip wares pottery: Late Roman red-slip wares pottery: Late Roman red-slip wares; Byzantine through Turkish pottery: Byzantine through Turkish; pottery of uncertain date finds: pottery of uncertain date; terracotta finds: terracotta; metal finds: stone quern; stone press Akrotiri with locations of Geometric to Archaic activity Akrotiri with locations of Classical and Early Hellenistic activity Akrotiri with locations of Classical to Hellenistic activity Akrotiri with locations of Late Hellenistic activity Akrotiri with locations of Hellenistic to Early Roman activity Akrotiri with locations of Early Roman activity Akrotiri with locations of Late Roman activity Akrotiri with distribution of black-gloss wares Akrotiri with distribution of red-gloss wares Akrotiri with distribution of red-slip wares Akrotiri with distribution of Classical/Early Hellenistic amphorae Akrotiri with distribution of Hellenistic and Early Roman amphorae Akrotiri with distribution of Late Roman amphorae Akrotiri with distribution of Standard Ware

1X

214 215 216 217 218 219 220 221 222 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 230 231 232 233 234 235 236

NAN

KWN

LIST OF TABLES (in the text)

Wares defined or identified in the fabric study of the Garage Collection Early Roman red-gloss wares recovered in Akrotiri Late Roman red-slipped wares recovered in Akrotiri Hellenistic and Early Roman amphorae recovered in Akrotiri Standard Ware variants recovered from sites in Akrotiri Late Roman coarse compared to other wares recovered in Akrotiri Wares in the fabric typology recovered in Akrotiri

65 151 151 152 152 153 153

PREFACE

Most ancient names in the text are transliterated from Greek into English; exceptions are those widely recognized in their anglicized Latin form (e.g., Crete, Thucydides). Because the chronological focus of this thesis extends only to the Late Roman period of the historical era, I have found it convenient on occasion to replace the word historical with ‘early historical’ or ‘late historical’ where more precision is desirable. By late historical is meant all periods from the Byzantine to the present.

XI

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I take this opportunity to thank Dr. Jennifer A. Moody of Baylor University. It is not sufficient to state that she provided free access to the primary data from her own archaeological survey of the Akrotiri peninsula for this project; Dr. Moody also made possible For sharing their the museum and field work, in ways both practical and immeasureable. I also wish to years, several of period a over Crete in home, community, and joie de vivre R. Wiseman James Professor to gratitude my express thank Wick Dossett. I cannot adequately detail, and to attention criticism, constructive teachings, of Boston University for his afloat. project the kept guidance—literally_ this thesis; the of encouragement during the writing the reading for University Boston of McClellan Murray I owe a special debt to Professor of aspects difficult more the of some through me seeing in drafts, and for his patience and help generosity the by possible made was work this of portion artifact classification. A significant of Stavroula Markoulaki of the Khania Ephoreia, who permitted the fabric study of pottery from her urban excavation, and offered much invaluable help.

In Several individuals were essential to this project in its preliminary stages. ronmental engineering-envi of Rust F. James acknowledge particular, I am pleased to Management, Inc., who contributed his survey expertise, inspiration, and much valuable time in the planning of the field work. I cannot overstate the importance of Professor J. Theodore Pefia of SUNY Buffalo in my education generally and, specifically, in the development of my project proposal; for sharing his pottery expertise during my visit at the American Academy in Rome, and many hours of memorable discussion, I am indebted to both he and Dr. Elizabeth Pefia, also of SUNY Buffalo. I thank Dr. Kathleen Slane who took the time to guide me through Roman pottery in the storerooms at ancient Corinth, and also Dr. George Harrison of Xavier University who conceded the study rights of the Akrotiri database, and offered many helpful insights into the project approach. Field work for the project was conducted under the auspices of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, with a permit provided by the Ephoreia of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities at Khania. I owe much to the Ephoreia director Maria AndreadakiVlazaki for her hospitality, and arranging for me to occupy precious work space in the Khania Museum for extended periods. Warm thanks are also in order to the museum staff, especially Katerina and Nikos Doulina, Kostas Digalakis, and Maria and Manolis Miglaki. I was also fortunate to receive field support from Dr. Moody’s student at Baylor, Randall Southers. Among the many benefits of participation in the West Cretan Studies Program were discussions and geological excursions with Dr. A.T. Grove and Dr. Jean Grove of Cambridge University, from whom I learned much. I extend a special thanks to Professors Julie Hansen, Curtis Runnels, and Paul Zimansky of Boston University for serving on the thesis committee. For all the long-distance administrative help, I can never repay Evelyn La Bree, also of Boston University. Work for the project could not have been accomplished without financial support from Boston University, Sigma Xi, and the West Cretan Studies Program. Above all is the encouragement and support I have received over the long term: this thesis rightly belongs as much to Nathalie M. Raab as to myself; thank you, for everything. | also gratefully acknowledge Col. Richard S. Hagen, Mark L. Raab, Laura and Richard Rust, Evangelio and Giorgos Kalogheraki, and Professor Guy Gibbon and Ann Gibbon.

X11

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ADelt

ApxatoAdyixov AedAtiov

AR

Archaeological Reports

BCH

Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique

BSA

Annual of the British School at Athens

IC

Inscriptiones creticae i-iv, ed. Margherita Guarducci. Stato, 1939-50.

IG

Inscriptiones graecae, ed. Deutsche Berlin. Berolini: G. Reimer.

Akademie

der

Rome: Libreria dello

Wissenschaften

zu

Real-encyclopddie der classichen Altertumswissenschaft, ed. A. Pauly, G. Wissowa, and W. Kroll. Updated edition by Hans Gartner (Munich: A. Druckenmiiller, 1980).

SEG

Supplementum epigraphicum graecum. Noordhoff, 1923-.

Alphen aan den Rijn: Sijthoff &

SIG

Sylloge inscriptionum graecarum, ed. Wilhelm Dittenberger.

TLG

Thesaurus linguae graecae; Canon of Greek Authors and Works, ed. Luci Berkowitz and Karl A. Squitier. 3rd edition. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1990.

3rd edition.

Liepzig: S. Hirzel, 1915-1924.

Xi

CHAPTER

1: INTRODUCTION

In his comprehensive work on the archaeology of Roman Crete, Ian Sanders reconstructed a prosperous agricultural economy enhanced by increased internal security and supported by a fully-populated rural landscape of small farms and _ villages. He acknowledged that little is understood of the organization of agriculture, but that dispersed settlement indicated “the continuing existence of a peasantry of uncertain status.”* In the nearly twenty years since Sanders’ book was published, there have been no full-scale attempts to build upon, or re-evaluate, these general observations from an archaeological perspective. The potential for moving beyond a focus on ancient urban culture to rural studies has greatly improved, with results of regional archaeological surveys yearly becoming available. There nevertheless remains a need for research designs to apply this expanding database in a problem-oriented fashion.~ The clearest sign of this is that, at best, Crete still receives peripheral mention in theoretical works dealing with Mediterranean society of the classical world.3 The broader chronological context of Roman settlement, which Sanders lacked, can now profitably be used to study the effects of imperialism on the agricultural basis of subsistence. As Susan Alcock (1993) has demonstrated for mainland Greece, patterns and trends of the preceding periods must inform our interpretations at every stage of research. The central position of this study is that rural development in Crete under Roman rule (beginning 67 B.C.) was built upon, and in large part determined by, traditional relationships of people to the land. To a certain extent, this statement could apply to any area of the empire insofar as pre-existing conditions must always influence new policies and decisions. A more

precise reading is intended for Crete, where it is argued

that the productive forces behind agricultural subsistence may have altered little from Hellenistic times. I propose to support this claim by examining, in the context of regional archaeological survey, a series

l 1982, 30-33. These observations, made prior to most systematic surveys in the island, held the promise of understatement. J.L. Davis emphasizes this point in a review article (1996, 463-64); the reader will also find in these pages a convenient list of new survey projects in Crete, although a number of them focus on prehistoric periods. Chapter 3 of this thesis outlines those of historical relevance. 3 Including Hanson 1995, Mattingly 1997, Parkins 1997, and Morris 1994 (with a small contribution on Crete by Susan Alcock, pp. 179-80).

of linked variables germane to a reconstruction of rural organization over the periods in question: settlement patterns, land tenure, land use, production activities, and spheres of economic interaction. The proposition was initially grounded in several general observations. First, the overall level of Romanizing influence in the countryside (for example, in the adoption of new construction techniques and materials) seemed low compared to the cities. Second, physical evidence for an organizing elite presence in rural areas, in other provinces documented by wealthy estates, was minimal. Third, the island was supported by a majority of food producers of serf status prior to the conquest, a circumstance that might both serve the interests of the new administration and limit the directions of economic growth. Combined, these factors pointed towards conservatism in the rural infrastructure. It was clear that any notion of agricultural stagnation must be abandoned on the basis of Sanders’ site inventory alone, yet the settlement expansion he proposed remained to be verified and characterized within a broader chronological context. To test the proposition, and also provide a field for drawing related inferences, a program of study was developed that focuses on rural organization within a regional setting of Crete. This region is the Akrotiri peninsula in the northwest of the island, which almost certainly fell within the territory of Kydonia (modern Khania), the dominant city-state of West Crete in the classical periods. Akrotiri was intensively surveyed

between 1978 and 1982 by Dr. Jennifer Moody as part

of the Khania Archaeological Survey Project (KASP). This project formed the basis of her 1987 dissertation, The Environmental and Cultural Prehistory of the Khania Region of West Crete: Neolithic through Late Minoan IJ. Although the analysis focused on prehistory, all periods had been included for recording and artifact collection in the survey. Dr. Moody provided full access to the original survey database in order that a study of the region’s early historical settlement and economy might be undertaken. To explore the validity of the thesis of rural stability in the Hellenistic and Early Roman periods in the Akrotiri peninsula, variables targeted for study were expressed in five sets of questions that guided research through the duration of the project. Each is followed by a brief statement of relevance:

1. Are significant differences in settlement pattern detectable in the Hellenistic and Roman periods; do site distributions and densities change with the transition, or do they remain stable? Conditions of dispersed residency in the countryside—as opposed to nucleated site distributions—are particularly relevant as a reflection of heightened community investment in agricultural activity.4 Directional shifts in site locations are also monitored as these may signify changes in market orientation or political restructuring of a territory; such responses are observed in other imperial situations. 2. Are broad differences in land tenure arrangements detectable in these periods; to what extent do sites exhibit continuity of occupation? What is the nature of variation in site sizes and functions in these periods? Following Alcock’s usage, land tenure arrangements are sought, not in the legal sense, but in the spatial relationships of different categories of sites to each other over the long term.” Insofar as broad-based changes in landholding signify a redistribution of control over agricultural production, this variable is perhaps most significant to the thesis. 3. What systems of land use prevailed during these periods; was land _ intensively farmed or under-exploited? Were strategies oriented towards subsistence or the creation of surplus? Land-use strategies are broadly detectable in the combined factors of rural site density, the extent of landscape enhancement for production (such as slope terracing and field walls), and the amount and type of land directly associated with settlement." Changes in land use, often accompanied by new patterns in land tenure,

mark important transitions in rural economies of other Roman provinces.

4. What types and levels of production activities are evident in these periods; to what extent was industry

4 This relationship, first articulated by Paul Halstead (1987),

now

holds

the

status

of

paradigm

in

Mediterranean

settlement studies. For useful commentary see Cherry, Davis, and Mantzourani 1991, 344-46. For a full exposition of these and other forces that accompany empire-building see Alcock 1989a, 99-103; also Alcock: Mattingly 1997, 106-08.

agricultural or otherwise, large-scale or cottage, rural or based in towns? Direct evidence for production of specific commodities relies more on chance recovery

of surface

finds

(such

as olive

or grape

presses,

millstones) than other variables, but the potential exists for reconstructing regional economies in some detail.

The

enquiry

is expanded

to

include

all types

industry, in the event that it might be possible compare urban and rural roles in production.

of to

5. What is the nature and scale of economic interaction during these periods; do artifact types and distributions suggest primarily local spheres of exchange or participation in wider market networks of Crete and beyond? This kind of analysis inevitably devolves most heavily upon pottery in the classical survey record. Of concern here is its use as one measure of rural connectedness to the region’s urban center in both periods, and the extent to which the countryside was integrated within the broadened, international Roman trade network. !} To build the database necessary for addressing these questions, museum study and fieldwork were conducted in Khania and the Akrotiri peninsula between 1992 and 1995. The first priority was to date the occupation phases of sites that had been generally identified as early historical in KASP. An over-reliance on pottery imports and fine wares as dating tools was best avoided, and question five required some knowledge of wares produced locally. A fabric analysis was therefore undertaken of material from stratified, excavated deposits in the city of Khania. The resulting typology was subsequently applied in the study of pottery collected by Moody

from the Akrotiri sites.

Fieldwork

for the project

entailed relocating as many sites and activity areas as possible for the detailed recording of standing remains and further study of surface artifacts, including an intensive pottery sampling procedure on selected sites. Prospection naturally extended to the broader topographic and environmental context (vegetation, soils, modern land use) of sites and site communities, particularly as regards the possible impact of these factors on site preservation. The project benefited at every stage from Moody’s own exhaustive study of geology and vegetation, which is the definitive resource for the region’s environmental history.

© Alcock 1993, 55-56.

7 The seminal work on_ these relationships (Jameson, Runnels, and van Andel 1994, especially chapter 6) incorporates specialized geological study of soil types, formation, and erosion history that is far beyond what could be attempted in the present project, which relies on a more superficial characterization of landscape zones and soils. Summaries of land use and landholding trends in many surveyed areas of the empire are found in Greene 1986.

? Hitchner and Mattingly 1991; Amouretti and Brun 1993.

A central theme in M.I. Finley’s reconstruction of the ancient economy (1999, updated edition). On pottery distributions as a reflection of economic integration or romanization, Will 1997; Alcock 1989a, 122; Sinopoli 1991, especially chapters 5 and 7; Fulford 1987.

character of development in Crete differs in important respects and can be shown to have clear roots in Hellenistic traditions, but there is no doubt that Sanders was correct in identifying a rural sector fully engaged in agriculture. A compelling contrast is found in the province of Achaia, Crete’s nearest neighbor in the Greek world, and the most widely-surveyed province of the Roman East. From Susan Alcock’s synthesis of these projects a picture has emerged of rural

Despite recognition that the ancient polis of Kydonia was one of three or four most powerful political entities in Crete, possibly achieving “super-state” status in Hellenistic times, 2 the territory’s role in events of the island generally, much less its own social, economic and political history, can only sketchily be reconstructed throughout the early historical periods. The city of Kydonia has been continuously occupied from prehistoric to modern eras. Compared to abandoned polis centers such as Gortyna and Knossos, rich in epigraphic and architectural evidence, yields of its classical periods are limited and largely dependent on opportunities for salvage excavation in modern Khania. These circumstances have rendered the city-state less amenable to comprehensive study, and there exists no single resource dealing with its cultural institutions, material or otherwise. Apart from the specific project questions, study of the city’s hinterlands has opened new prospects by focusing on the greater polis unit of Kydonia and providing a context for urban-based findings as these become available.

depopulation,

economic

redistribution favoring

elite

landowners, and under-utilization of agricultural land.!4 While these developments cannot be taken as representative of the enormous area that made up the Greek East, they form an important counterpoint to conditions in Crete. It is not inappropriate to wonder at these differences. Apart from their proximity and connection by overseas trade, Crete and Greece shared a long tradition of urbanism and similar environmental regimes, including limited fertile land and a great deal of coastline. Both remained politically aloof of the Hellenistic dynasts, and entered the empire on the heels of internal unrest and warfare. Once conquered, these territories were well removed from Rome’s frontier zone and did not require permanent garrisons to maintain them. There are, of course, critical differences, but such diverging trajectories in the basis of subsistence nevertheless establish a general problem for enquiry. They can inform the way that students of ancient Crete approach their own settlement data; especially since survey results will soon make it possible to compare trends in these provinces on an equal footing. I have therefore, where appropriate in discussion, made use of the mainland data to develop certain themes and arguments in the chapters that follow.

The Akrotiri peninsula is a region of unremarkable land-use potential. At the inception of this project I proposed that this circumstance should be of benefit in illustrating settlement and economic conditions of broader relevance to similarly average landscapes throughout the island. A progression from specific case study to more general application was anticipated for the research format. Results of the Akrotiri study came into focus at the same time that preliminary results from several recent survey projects in Crete became available. While the thesis of continuity in Hellenistic and Early Roman rural systems was proving valid in Akrotiri and elsewhere, it also became clear that certain conditions in the peninsula were not representative of those emerging in other regions. Unlike these areas, Akrotiri yielded evidence for elite rural estates as part of the long-term rural settlement structure. Why this should be the case demanded attention, and the comparative aims of the project expanded in order that the Akrotiri findings might be placed in perspective. The result is that a considerable portion of the thesis is devoted to findings outside the study area.

One critical difference between Crete and what Victor Hanson (1995) describes as the normative polis culture of mainland Greece, is the island’s tradition of agricultural subsistence based on a dependent labor force. It has long been recognized from secondary sources that institutionalized serfdom set Crete on a course fundamentally different from that of democratic core areas of the Greek world.!° Although Crete—typically grouped with Thessaly and Sparta—is with some justification cited in the literature as an example of what these core areas are not, it is also true that much is presumed about conditions within the island which in fairness remain to be more fully defined, characterized and tested. 16 Many questions

The project aims and findings also intersect with areas of broader significance in rural studies of the classical world. Intensive archaeological survey shows rural development to be a hallmark of many provinces, including those in the Roman West and North Africa, following incorporation within the empire. !? The

14 1993, chapter 2.

ID Willetts 1955, 149-152; 1965, 6-11.

12 Bennet 1990, 201.

Victor Hanson, for instance, presents a compelling but general portrait of nonagrarian states in Greece that warrants

Go

3 Greene 1986; Mattingly and Hitchner 1995.

surround the pervasiveness of the serf institution in Crete’s numerous polities, its variant forms, and when it dissolved. Archaeologists, especially, have yet to consider the phenomenon as an interpretive framework for their data. Identifying serfdom in the material record may not be feasible, but the broad settlement context in which the system operated is certainly of some comparative value as scholars continue to explore essential differences among the Greek states. This study proceeds in Chapter 2 with a discussion of theoretical frameworks that provide useful vehicles for evaluating evidence for rural settlement and economy of Crete on both sides of the Hellenistic/Roman transition. Some of these models are not new, yet none has, to my knowledge, explicitly been tried on the Cretan data. Each of the constructs considered is found to be wanting in certain respects; one of them, M.I. Finley’s consumer-city model, emerges as perhaps the most resilient. Ultimately, a hybrid of models is found necessary to account for the full range of data in Crete. Chapter 3, also general in scope, examines some methodological problems encountered in regional survey of the island, then presents a region by region summary of survey results now available, as these relate to early historical cultural landscapes. The chapter concludes by applying each of the five questions, outlined above for the Akrotiri peninsula, to the evidence derived from these other projects. With the broader context established, Chapters 4 through 8 focus on the regional case study. Chapter 4 treats topographic and historical problems that concern the location of ancient Kydonia, briefly highlights findings of excavations in the polis center, attempts to clarify territorial boundaries of the city-state relative to others in West Crete, and summarizes what little is known of Akrotiri from historical sources. A short survey of Kydonia’s role in the ancient history of Crete completes the chapter. Chapter 5 presents results of the pottery analysis carried out in Khania. It includes a small catalog of excavated wares to illustrate the classification scheme applied to the survey material and referred to in subsequent chapters. The environmental background of the study area begins Chapter 6, followed by a summary of field methods employed by KASP and in the present project, a discussion of site and off-site definitions, and a descriptive outline of the functional categories applied to sites in Akrotiri. Chapter 7 presents a gazetteer of sites in the region that includes catalogued entries of artifacts recovered during survey.

the full attention of especially 390-393).

scholars

working

in

Crete

(1995,

The Chapter 8 synthesis of the data combines a descriptive and analytical account of early historical settlement patterns in Akrotiri, concentrating first on sites within geographical subregions, then on distributions of the main classes of pottery. Chapter 9 reintroduces the questions that have guided research, and presents the conclusions derived from the study area in the context of broader trends identified in Crete. A construct is proposed that accounts for some diverging patterns across the island while upholding the theme of rural continuity. A final word concerns the chronological scope of the presentation. Although the Hellenistic/Roman transition is the primary target of the project, it quickly became apparent that it was neither feasible nor desirable to maintain a rigid period focus. Apart from their intrinsic interest, trends both earlier (Late Classical and Early Hellenistic) and later (Late Roman) have proved instructive in every aspect of rural settlement considered. All of these periods are therefore treated in discussions of island-wide survey results and those of Akrotiri specifically, with a special section on Late Antiquity included in the concluding chapter.

CHAPTER 2: THEORETICAL FRAMEWORKS

2.1

Introduction

This chapter establishes broad frameworks for evaluating evidence of change from Hellenistic to Roman rural settlements and economies in Crete in the chapters that follow. Because its classical periods have been conspicuously absent from theoretical discussions of the Mediterranean world, Crete provides new ground for considering models well-trodden in other contexts. The oft-cited ‘indivisibility’ of the classical city and its countryside has in fundamental ways influenced both the creation and criticism of many models, and is therefore addressed first. Discussion then focuses on polity-centered models that attempt to characterize the economic relationship between cities and their rural counterparts (Section 2.3, Exploitative and Benevolent Models), and proceeds to other models that introduce external factors to economic change (2.4, Administrative Models). A brief discussion of the concept of Romanization—a term often employed and repudiated at the same time—concludes the chapter. It is hoped that these various, and sometimes opposing, perspectives provide a suitable backdrop for exploring the economic archaeology and history of classical Crete in a problem-oriented fashion.

as a paradigm in classical studies; this to the extent that some scholars are questioning the usefulness of the city

as a unit of analysis, and in particular the validity of

models that present urban and agrarian separate forces with their own agendas.

spheres

as

This last position claims support from the writings of ancient authors, in which differences in the economic aims of urban and rural sectors are often treated ambiguously.> These same sources, however, fail to elucidate broad aspects of rural society beyond the operation of elite estates, so it may _ be over-generalizing to apply these perceptions to rural communities as a whole.~ What is more, if we assume that these sectors very often did comprise a unified, integrated system, it is reasonable to advance the proposition that they did not always do so, or at the very least that they were not integrated in the same ways; if we fail to leave unity as a hypothetical, open variable then we risk losing sight of mechanisms for system change. Anthony Snodgrass, quoted above, reminds the scholarly community that there were lengthy periods in antiquity when the urban and rural spheres worked successfully together; when and where they did not should provide an essential key to much larger questions, such as the collapse of the classical

polis, or the decline of the Roman Empire. / Success in

2.2 Urban / Rural Indivisibility Discourse on ancient economies often asserts the ineffectiveness of examining rural = systems independently of urban foundations: “There is no such

thing as rural settlement until there is urban settlement.

The two are logically counterposed.”! The obverse is also maintained: “In reality the whole population was intimately involved in the life and production of the countryside and the town never began to be independent of the land around it.”“ The political and economic indivisibility of urban and rural sectors set out by Karl Bucher a century ago formed the basis of Max Weber’s characterization of the ancient city as developmentally stagnant, in contrast to the medieval city, where he believed a greater division of labor effected an economically progressive separation between the two.- Recent scholarship often departs—in varying degrees—from the characterization, but rarely from the premise. The conceptual joining of the town and countryside within the ancient city has re-emerged

this sense is, of course, independent of moral overtones; we should seek to understand how and why particular urban-rural systems stabilized for any length of time, and what caused their destabilization. Looked at in this way, a rigid application of the indivisibility concept inhibits the type of juxtapositioning that allows us to pose these broader questions.

In the present study, the need to address this concept arises from the recognition that in certain periods the

relations between the town and countryside in Crete differed from those found, or believed to obtain, in contemporary society elsewhere in the Greek world; if they were indivisible, it was in different ways. The political and social basis of urban-agrarian unity achieved in Classical Greece is _ generally acknowledged. The system supported a broad-based citizenry (excluding an equally large slave population)

4 Finley 1977, 325; Alcock 1993, 117; Whittaker 1995, 22; Morley 1997, 44.

Snodgrass 1994, 483. 2 Osborne 1987, 26.

3 Bucher 1968, 345-74: Weber 1988, 48.

> Purcell 1987; Engels 1990, 5.

© Problems in locating the common farmer in literary sources are treated in Alcock 1989b, 9-10; Garnsey 1998, 108-109.

7 Snodgrass 1994, 483.

heavily engaged in agriculture, whether tending lands from an urban base, or residing in the countryside. The unity is best comprehended in the role of the

citizen-farmer in defense of the polis: hoplites were

composed of these citizens, ensuring their interest and participation in urban administrative affairs.8 The broad structure of the Cretan system at this time has been reconstructed from the Gortyn Law Code by R-F. Willetts. His findings suggest that the independent peasant proprietor did not emerge in Crete as it did in the mainland, and that the agricultural economy was based on the serfdom of a majority group of non-citizens, tied to both public and private lands. These cultivators supported an _ urban-based, aristocratic, warrior class which was organized in a system of syssitia often likened to a similar institution at Sparta. ! In contrast to the system believed to characterize much of the mainland, the urban-rural indivisibility can be firmly located in the economic structure, because the urban elites owned the land and essentially the cultivators on it; socially and in juridical matters, there was a vast divide between the two

sectors.

There were fundamental changes in the way that mainland urban and agrarian sectors were integrated in the Hellenistic period. Robin Osborne argues for a more definitive rift in the former relations of dependency, brought about by the increasing alienation of the citizen-farmer from warfare strategies which increasingly fell under the domain of professional troops. The interests of the farmer became of less concern in state affairs, weakening the social and political unity.!4 Documentary sources indicate a parallel trend, especially later in the period, of a growing division between the rich and poor and the accumulation of land by a wealthy few, at the expense of the small peasant proprietor; interpretation of evidence from archaeological survey tends to support

8 Bury and Meiggs 1978, 94-95; Hanson 1995, chapter 7.

9 Willetts 1955, 46-51; 1963. It should be noted that M.I.

Finley presents objections to applying the concept of serfdom, derived from later feudal contexts, to ancient societies; his criticism, however, is focused on the example of Sparta whose form of dependent labor, the Helotage, is unlike the manorial system in that Helots were within public

jurisdiction

and

not

privately

owned

(1999,

63-65

and

184-85). Willetts’ adoption of the term ‘serfdom’ in the Cretan context can be understood in the condition that these cultivators were not only bound to the land but could be inherited as such, and legal provisions suggest that they could and did fall under private ownership. The syssitia was a civic organization that provided military education and common meals for the citizenry (Willetts 1955, 25-27); for similarities and differences between the Cretan and Spartan system, ibid., 153-58).

11 Osborne 1987, 164; Hornblower 1986, 142.

this trend.!2 In its broad aspects, therefore, the basis of unity in the urban-agrarian system appears to be increasingly economic through this period. One of the fascinating characteristics of Crete at this time is the continued stability of the serf institution and persistence of traditional forms of landholding, as indicated in epigraphic and literary sources.°~. A weakening of the oligarchy can be traced to specific regions, but nowhere can democratic constitutions be identified with certainty; thus it is argued that chattel slavery, an essential component of ancient democracy, was slow to take hold. Crete’s farmers were excluded from military and political pursuits, and their role in state administration was never at issue. Results of archaeological survey, considered in Chapter 3.3, indicate different pre-Roman settlement trends from those observed on the mainland, with small dispersed sites becoming increasingly prevalent in some regions through Late Hellenistic times. Historical conditions increase our awareness that archaeological patterns of dispersed settlement may represent something quite different from the usual interpretation of freeholders in mainland contexts, and the possibility arises that the persistence of this pattern may be rooted in the maintenance of the traditional serf-based economy that prescribed a hereditary bond of the cultivator to the land. Conditions in the Roman Empire, particularly in the western provinces, inform much of the current reading of urban-rural indivisibility. C.R. Whittaker comments that “The interesting economic questions about manufacture or exploitation and redistribution of wealth, whether between rich and poor or between province and empire, are unrelated to the internal divisions between town and country,” and elsewhere speaks of “the complete intermeshing of urban and rural property and production.” The relations he describes address a condition documented in many Roman provinces, namely the prevalence of large agricultural estates, or villas, in the countryside that are generally recognized to be a product of urban elite investment. ! Their existence in large numbers implies a substantial narrowing of the basis of

12 On the division between rich and poor due to depreciation

of

money

and

rising

prices,

Tarn

1952,

120;

other

documentary sources are compiled in Alcock 1989b, 8-10; Hellenistic archaeological trends are discussed in Alcock

1994, 178-79.

3 Petropoulou 1985, 123-128; Willetts 1955, 176-77.

Stable conditions in Crete contrast with revolutions documented in Sparta and Thessaly: Tarn 1952, 123; Willetts

1965, 150-52.

14 Willetts 1965, 55, 70. > Whittaker 1990, 117; 1995, 19. 6 Percival 1976, 6; Purcell 1995, 169.

landholding; it is here where rural-urban distinctions lose their appeal for Whittaker, because the productive aims of the city and its territory appear to merge

completely

in the

activities

of the

elite

property

owners. As a high-level observation this seems true, although from an empiricist standpoint it does not, of course, apply to the areas he considers (primarily the western provinces and Italy) throughout the Roman period. ! Neither does it account for areas where the small rural farmstead persists alongside the larger estates of the elite, and in such cases it may be hasty to subsume the economic aims and functions of rural society under the strategies of a single social class. 8 Much of the difficulty in dealing with Roman-period settlement anywhere is the variety of landholding arrangements attested in the written sources. Conditions of tenancy are often believed to have been pervasive at this time yet are difficult to identify or distinguish archaeologically from the independent peasant proprietor; the indivisibility of urban and rural society often hangs in the balance of this interpretation. Of mainland Greece, Susan Alcock concludes that there were changes in land- tenure arrangements in the Roman period but that “Even a cursory glance at regional settlement patterns at this time demolishes any possibility of the development of an ‘independent’ countryside.” Archaeologically, a continuation of the Hellenistic pattern is observed whereby the landscape is increasingly dominated by fewer, but larger farming establishments; this trend, it is argued, was accompanied by the movement of an economically vulnerable peasant class to the cities where lay greater opportunities for employment.29 If this interpretation is correct, the integration of urban and rural economic interests indeed appears to be the case. Crete is nearly bereft of written sources that address landholding conditions in the years following the conquest, but changes in production strategies are assumed to result from the disappearance of the syssitia (the community

17 In Britain

and

some

regions

of Spain

two

to three

centuries elapse after the conquest before the villa systems

can be said to usurp the small proprietor (Millett ~ 421-431; Greene 1986, 110-115). 8 E.g., in Italy regions average

1982,

the regions of South Etruria and the Albegna Valley (Potter 1987, 113-116). More to the point in such are the specific relationships that existed between the farmer and the villa estates (treated, for example, in

Rathbone 1981, 10-23).

Conditions of tenancy are discussed in Garnsey 1998 and A.H.M. Jones 1974. Leasing of land is increasingly recognized as a phenomenon of Classical and Hellenistic Greece (Engels 1990, Appendix 5, 189-192). S. Alcock

1993,

117-18;

this scenario

by Bucher in 1912 (1968, 370-72).

was

also outlined

meals and military education of the citizenry) and new trade incentives under the Empire.~* Just what these changes were remains very much an open question. Archaeological survey documents a continuing pattern of dispersed rural settlement at this time, and the need to consider the earlier context of urban-rural conditions seems clear if we are to come nearer to an understanding of why the pattern differs from that on the mainland. A further point of contrast is found in the distribution of villa sites: based on the evidence currently available, these are thinly spread in many inland zones in the imperial period and appear to be absent in some regions. Coastal and suburban villas, on the other hand, are better attested, if not

numerous.

The basis of indivisibility advanced by Whittaker is, therefore, more difficult to locate in the Cretan landscape, and different contructs are required to account for these patterns. The impact of assimilation within the Empire on a serf-based economy is a primary consideration. If the elite failed to locate themselves on a large scale in the countryside, productive interests may yet have encouraged a restructuring in the relations of cultivators to the land. The situation at Sparta, by no means analogous in all respects, is of interest because this mainland city-state was also supported by a form of dependent labor, or Helotage.~Written sources indicate that the system dissolved under Roman domination, but Cartledge and Spawforth comment that, “it remains questionable whether Helotage was ever formally suppressed... surviving families of Helot-status working the land as tenant-farmers may simply have slid into much the same status as that of the rural peasantry’s of Roman Bithynia and Egypt, who, although technically ‘free’, were without local political rights.”“" A conversion of serf-based land units into tenancies can be advanced as a possible response in Crete, and need entail little formal reorganization of productive units in areas already under cultivation.” That the landholding structure should have changed at all must remain as a hypothesis, based upon the supposition that it was in the best interests of landowners to break dependency on a system that, while entailing a form of bondage for the serfs, also

21 Chaniotis 1995, 76-77; Sanders 1982, 132. 2 Empereur, Marangou, and Papadakis Chapter 8 for estates in Akrotiri. See note 9 above for the Helot system.

24 1989, 165-66.

1992, 643-48; see

There are, however, indications that some form of serfdom persisted into the Roman period at Lyttos (Rouanet-Liesenfelt 1992, 187-89).

ensured their inalienable right to remain on the land.26 The increased physical mobility of cultivators afforded by such a conversion would allow for greater flexibility in production strategies in keeping with a broadening economy, with surpluses that formerly went directly, in kind, into the syssitia now being drawn for taxes and rents.’ The localized impact of such a change might not, therefore, have been great compared to newly-conquered regions where cultivators formerly

relinquished little in the form of tribute.28 This only

suggests a possible direction for examining urban-rural relations with the Hellenistic/Roman transition, and ultimately faces the same problem of distinguishing tenants from freeholders in the archaeological record of dispersed settlement. The existence of freeholders remains a possibility in areas of newly expanded settlement (discussed in Chapter 3.3), although there is little reason to believe, and there is no _ historical evidence to suggest, that pre-existing properties of the elite class were transferred on any scale to smallholders after the conquest. Assuming wide-spread leasing arrangements in at least some areas, the basis of urban-rural integration must have remained strongly economic, yet the rural organization in many regions appears not to have been bound within a system of (physically) centralized estate management. Dispersed settlements suggest that wealthy landowners continued to draw surplus from multiple, _ possibly non-contiguous, units.2? In this respect, the possibility can be entertained that pre-existing rural structures

20 MIL. Finley (1999, 108) notes the following paradox: “The freer the ancient peasant, in the political sense, the

more precarious his position. The client of the archaic period or the colonus of the later Empire may have been

variously oppressed, but he was also protected by his patron from dispossession, from the harsh laws of debt, and on the

whole

from

military

service

(which

so

often

led

to

unavoidable neglect of the farm and_ ultimate dispossession).” The economic benefits of laborer mobility are noted in Garnsey 1998, 130. Ways in which the serf-based system (as opposed to independent small-scale producers) served the interests of the elite class, yet at the same time inhibited economic development, are explored in Willetts 1955,

253-54.

28 Hopkins 1980, 101-02. Hopkins also observes that tributes in kind worked to inhibit market transactions, and this suggests a possible incentive for Cretan landowners to convert their properties to tenancies (p. 103). The many demands for cash among urban-based elites are fully explored in Parkins 1997, 83-111. Finley’s comment that, “In the long civilized portions of the empire, in contrast [to the provincial west], the trend towards accumulation of land seems not to have been

accompanied by a matching effort to consolidate into larger units of exploitation,” appears to hold relevance for Crete (1999, 112), but has essentially been disproved for mainland Greece.

influenced the direction of elite strategies to a considerable degree, and was not merely a passive element in the relations of production. The manner in which rural production was organized and how it related to urban centers remains to be explored.

2.3 Exploitative and Benevolent Models Is it reasonable to entertain any other than an exploitative construct for pre-Roman periods, when historical evidence points strongly to an economy based on serf cultivators? From an archaeological standpoint, the answer is yes, not only because of the necessity for independent evaluation, but also because no assumptions can be made concerning the pervasiveness of such a system, or the absence of other land-society relationships that may have existed in tandem. The economic indivisibility of the ancient city and countryside is central to M.I. Finley’s ‘consumer city’ model of the ancient economy. Several essential features of this model expand upon the works of early sociologists, in which this relationship is made clear. Karl Bucher described the ancient city as a ‘community for consumption,’ living off the surplus of agricultural producers who were economically tied to the service of governing classes; the cities, in return, offered little scope for free labor because there was no large-scale manufacture of goods.-* Max Weber more explicitly identified the basis of urban-agrarian unity in the landowning urban elite who drew their sustenance and wealth from rural rents; the socially and politically prescribed concentration of wealth in land inhibited the development of non-agricultural production in the cities, so that no infrastructure existed for creating fair exchange and rural independence.>! Weber’s primary aim was to show that rational economics, and ultimately capitalism, failed to develop in the ancient economy. This theme was pursued by the economic historian Karl Polanyi,?~ whose work on the cultural embeddedness of the pre-modern economy also influenced Finley’s synthesis in The Ancient Economy. In Finley’s work the important components of the consumer city model are explained thus: “[it] rests not only on the presence of a decisive sector which derived its maintenance from rents and taxes rather than from commercial transactions with an ‘alien’ agricultural sector but also on the restriction of most urban production to petty commodity production, to the

30 1968, 371-72 l 1988, especially p. 48.

2 Polanyi: Polanyi, Arensberg, and Pearson 1957.

production by independent craftsmen of goods retailed for local consumption.” In response to archaeological evidence of production for export and empire-wide trade, the model stresses either the small scale, brevity, or administered nature of such enterprise and maintains that, even where large and complex economic systems existed, these are ultimately to be explained by investment in social, not economic, forms; the requirements of maintaining the elite stratum always placed a ceiling on the direction of economic activity. 4 Finley presents his model as an ideal type, noting that the Greco-Roman world it describes (1000 B.C. to A.D. 500) is an abstraction, with substantiating evidence in large part drawn from conditions in the Roman imperial period. The model is therefore a static one: while social and political changes are acknowledged, it admits of little economic change throughout this lengthy period. An explicit antithesis is found in Donald Engels’ ‘service city’ model, based on a study of ancient Korinth, which predicts a free and _ voluntary relationship of exchange between the city and the countryside. Engels calculates that lands available to the city-state of Korinth, and others, were only capable of supporting a small fraction of the total population, either directly or through rents. Urban manufactures were small in scale, but a majority of urban inhabitants earned their sustenance by providing services (judicial, religious, educational, recreational) to citizens, and these and other services (lodging, commercial facilities) to non-resident merchants and visitors. The latter, primarily, provided the income that could purchase massive amounts of imported food. Engels argues that both rents and taxes in the early empire were low, and that surpluses generated by classical farmers were substantially higher than has been generally assumed. This surplus was always in demand and, after rents and taxes, afforded the average cultivator considerable buying power for the services provided in the urban market, generating demand for both local and imported eoods.2 6 Like the consumer city, this model is essentially static, describing a system in working order, but within a rational economic framework that Finley strongly opposed. Both models present problems of testability in the material record. Finley acknowledges that quantifying

the scale of urban industry and exports can hardly be contemplated; from the archaeological point of view we may be fortunate simply to show they existed.>/ Engels’ propositions rely heavily on _ invisible quantities: the amount of imported foodstuffs, the projected amount of agricultural surplus, and the extent to which urban services benefited an entire city-state population. In the absence of written evidence that specifically addresses these issues, it is necessary to rely heavily on the presence/absence and distributions

of relevant features

and data.

For Crete, we

can

attempt to evaluate several variables shared by these models, namely: the extent to which urban centers produced specialized goods/services that rural settlements did not; the distribution of such goods in rural or urban contexts; and the location of expenditures of wealth. Both models require that we eliminate the possibility that the urban population supported itself by cultivating the surrounding territory, in the manner of the so-called ‘agro-town’; we should therefore expect to find evidence of rural residency, or failing that, indications of poor land potential in the territory accessible to the center. The service model further maintains that the consumer city could not exist where territory can be shown to be of insufficient size or productivity to support the entire polis population. With Hellenistic Crete as the test case, these territorial aspects will be considered first.

2.3.1

New

territorial

HELLENISTIC EVIDENCE

parameters

resulted

from

polis

amalgamations throughout Crete in the second century before Christ, so that by the time of the conquest the number of independent cities was reduced from forty to twenty-five, and appears to have stabilized at that point. The largest urban centers for which we have size estimates (Gortyna: under its Roman extent of 150 ha, Knossos: 60 ha) are far smaller then the estimate provided by Engels for Korinth (525-725 ha), yet their territories (920 and 770 sq km, respectively) are commensurate in size to that of Korinth (825 sq km). Much of the land belonging to Gortyna was among the most fertile of Crete, and in productivity must be rated higher than those of the Korinthia, where it is estimated that only one quarter of the territory was agriculturally viable. It is therefore questionable whether the conditions Engels requires to eliminate the consumer city model existed, either in Hellenistic or Roman

33 1999, 194.

34 Ibid., 190-95; an example of recent work in this direction is Parkins 1997.

35 Finley, ibid., 29, 61, 182. 6 Engels

land

and

1990:

for the relationship

population,

27-33;

for

rents,

between taxes,

39-41; for market and trade stimuli, 48, 126.

agricultural and

surplus,

37 Finley

1999,

132.

The difficulty of translating

archaeological evidence into scales of production that permit testing these models has been noted elsewhere (Mattingly

1997a, 210-11; R.F.J. Jones 1987, 50).

Territory estimates are from Bennet 1990, 202.

urban dwellers may have contributed to the needs of the center.

times.2? The situation of the largest city-state in East Crete, Hierapytna, is worth considering although the size of the center cannot at present be estimated. The coastal city was one of the most important trading ports of the island, but the land surrounding the center is agriculturally poor and devoid of known sites, so it can be assumed that some relationship with the greater hinterland was maintained by the center. It expanded its territory to cover an area of approximately 1050 square kilometers in the Hellenistic period, possibly because of demographic instability. Although Hierapytna’s harbor facilities are likely to have been considerable, this response suggests that the city was not able to maintain itself solely on the basis of

More evidence emerges for commuting farmers from second-order centers, or towns proper, although this category of site is often not clearly defined. The

highland plain of Lasithi appears to have been farmed

primarily from a single large settlement, secondary to the more distant Lyttos, in the Hellenistic period."" In the Eastern Mesara Ian Sanders notes four towns on the plain periphery at 7 to 8 km intervals with no smaller satellite sites in evidence; these towns, once ‘independent, came under Gortynian control in the Hellenistic period.*” The pattern is of interest in light of the proposed inverse relationship between the proximity of a town to its primary center, and its capacity to develop independent functions;*~ these towns are located between 12 and 23 km from Gortyna, and may have retained important administrative and marketing functions. Such patterns are relevant to the

services offered.

The size of cities such as Hierapytna, Knossos, and Gortyna certainly increased along with their territories, and it is apparent that the largest po/eis could not have operated as agro-towns because of the distances involved; secondary centers must have remained important in networks for exacting surplus from districts now further removed from primary centers. Most of the cities were, however, smaller (Lasaia: under 2.5 ha, Anopolis: 10 ha, Polyrrhenia: 30 ha) and it is unlikely that many achieved a population size beyond which Engels claims the agro-town ceased to be viable (10,000 to 20,000).42 Dispersed settlement in several regions at this time (discussed in Chapter 3.3) makes it clear that not all territories were farmed from their centers, but the cities of Gortyna and Kydonia have thus far yielded sparse site distributions in their immediate, fertile, hinterlands, suggesting that

role of polis centers and the distribution of services

throughout a region, but the organization of town-based cultivators, and their relation to first-order cities, is not explored in any detail in either the consumer-city or service-city models. A. Chaniotis concurs with Willetts’ historical findings, and concludes that “Large-scale agricultural production and manufacture connected with exports seem to have played no part in the Cretan economy before the Roman conquest.” Written sources for exports at this time are indeed scarce, largely contained in the works of Theophrastus who mentions Crete as a source of cypress wood for temple construction, and also praises Cretan herbs as the best available. 8

Archaeology produces two lines of evidence that Egypt

was an important recipient of Cretan ceramics. Hadra hydriae vases, found in Alexandrian cemeteries but also elsewhere in the eastern Mediterranean, have been sourced to Knossos and possibly another region in Central Crete.4? A collection of amphorae, also from Alexandria, includes stamped handles of a workshop in

39 Following Engels’ formula for calculating city size based on

surface

supported reckoned

remains

(1990,

82),

Gortyna

would

have

a population of 24,000 (compared to 87,000 for Korinth); employing his method for

determining the number of individuals the land could support (pp. 30-31), one arrives at 80,000 (compared to 17,600 for Korinth). Territory size from Bennet 1990, 202; public buildings and port facilities (although these are mostly identified as Roman) are described in Papadakis 1986a, 38-45; the

43 This does not necessarily imply free cultivators: Willetts

notes that although most of the written evidence concerns rural-dwelling

demographic crisis is discussed in Chaniotis 1995, 73-75.

serfs,

one

inscription

of the

Gortyn

Code

appears to make allowance for urban-dwelling serfs farming

The dominant Late Hellenistic states were Kydonia in the west, Knossos and Gortyna in central Crete, and Hierapytna in the east; Bennet suggests that, had Rome not intervened, these polities might ultimately have expanded to become administrative “super-states” (1990, 200-01). 42 Engels 1990, 121. Lasaia: Blackman and Branigan 1975, 30; Anopolis: Nixon et al. 1994, 256; Polyrrhenia: Niniou-Kindeli 1992, 251. The size of Cretan cities was probably not unusual, and Chester Starr suggests that even at the height of the Roman Empire most cities were under

nearby estates (1955, 49, note 4).

44 Watrous 1982, 22.

5 This area has not, however, Sanders 1976, 132-33.

46 Alcock 1993, 102. 47 Chaniotis 1995, 42.

been intensively surveyed:

8 Theophrastus, On Plants V 4, 2 and IX Cretan cypress at Epidauros is discussed in

176.

49 Callaghan and Jones 1985.

10,000 (1982, 101).

10

163, 3; use of Burford 1969,

distributions (treated in more detail in Chapters 3.7 and 8.2) show considerable variability in this respect. Fine wares are found on small rural sites in several regions, but appear to be most prevalent on those of the Western Mesara where molded relief bowl fragments have also been recovered.> By contrast, fine wares in Sphakia, which encompasses four city-states, are largely restricted to urban contexts, and a disparity is also noted between small and large Late Hellenistic sites in Akrotiri; these differences are manifest among sites in close proximity, eliminating the possibility of wholesale cultural rejection of a class of commodity.

Hierapytna; despite extensive investigations the type has not been discovered in Crete (nor Hierapytna), and may have been produced specifically for export. These examples are exceptional to most characterizations of production and trade at this time. A Greek and French collaborative project recently

completed an island-wide investigation of amphorae

production sites: only two of the nineteen sites are Hellenistic, one of which is identified in the city of Gortyna, and the other in a little understood, but possibly rural, context at Keratokambos. The distributions of vessels lead the authors to conclude that production was primarily intended for local consumption, although some movement of vessels between polities is indicated. | Apart from Hellenistic molded relief bowls, imports on any scale remain invisible, and foreign coins are attributed mainly to payment for mercenary services or piracy.

Industry in fishing and purple-dye production in a southeastern port of the Stalitai was conducted on a large enough scale for half the taxes from these enterprises and harbor dues to satisfy the demands of the conquering state of Praisos;~~ material evidence for both of these activities has been recovered in East Crete, and the importance of maritime resources in the economy of East Crete seems clear for classical periods in general. Small Hellenistic dye workshops are known inland in both urban and rural settings, but vegetable extracts were also used for this purpose and may have been obtained locally. Weaving is the only non-agricultural cottage industry that has left

Attempts to assess the urban-rural balance between food production and other specialist activities face a bias, in that excavations have tended to focus on urban areas and rural surveys, unless wasters, slag or other detritus are visible, are less likely to yield tangible evidence for industry. It may, therefore, be relevant that even under these conditions the cumulative

traces on numerous small rural sites in the form of

evidence for urban industry is not great. These include

loomweights and spindle whorls, but at present it is not possible to show how this activity may have intersected with dye producers.~” Chaniotis presents a strong case for specialized pastoralism in East Crete of the Hellenistic period, based on treaties that document husbandry and the movement of flocks on a large scale.°’ Evidence for private flock ownership is clear

several production sites for table wares. If the scale of these industries cannot be assessed, their contexts suggest a broad range: at Eleutherna, a kiln was located in what appears to be a modest courtyard house of a residential district; elsewhere, such as Kydonia or Knossos, public or industrial districts are indicated. The Knossian industry was undoubtedly well-organized at this time, and a potters’ quarter is identified in the southwestern part of the city that yielded kilns and debris.-? Did the more specialized products, namely fine wares, reach the countryside? Regional

24 These are not necessarily imports: a pottery mold was discovered in a debris pile at Knossos (Hood and Smyth

1981, 47). > Recent studies advocate that interpretations be sensitive

50 Empereur and Marangou 1992, 639-42.

to this possibility (e.g., Arafat and Morgan 1994, 131-32). 56 This from a third century decree: /C III.6.7 A,B.

The Keratokambos site produced evidence for a workshop, and its products appear to be very localized; its context, and the type of settlement its products were intended to serve, remain uncertain. Gortyna is designated a

production

Quantities

of purple

shells

and

net

weights

were

excavated in a large Hellenistic house on the islet of Leuke (AR 1983-84, 67 and 1990-91, 73), and Bronze Age

purple-dye production sites are known in many coastal areas

center on the basis of distribution fall-off, a

(Reese 1987); maritime Spytidakis 1970.

workshop was not actually located. Amphorae sourced here have been found in the neighboring city-state of Apollonia (Empereur, Kritzas, and Marangou 1991, 499-507 and

38

resources

generally

are treated

in

An urban workshop was excavated at Lato (Hadjimichali

1971); Watrous (1982) notes that J.D.S. Pendlebury excavated a workshop at one of the few rural sites in Lasithi (1936-37, 199); dye plants are treated in Chaniotis 1995, 50; maritime dye sources other than murex shells are briefly described in Sanders 1982, 32. This is not to ignore the likelihood that wax was an important by-product of beekeeping, for which abundant evidence exists on rural sites in the form of ceramic beehives, but this aspect is impossible to prove.

519-20).

Molded relief bowl fragments of the Delian class were recovered at Knossos (Callaghan 1992, 132-33); for numismatic evidence, Le Rider 1966.

3 Eleutherna is reported in Kpnrext Eorid 5 (1993)

283-6; see Chapter 5.3 for the Kydonia site; for production at Knossos see Homann-Wedeking 1950, 140-92 and Hood and Smyth 1981, 19, 47. Specialized artisans and the wide distribution of Knossian wares in Crete are discussed in Callaghan and Jones 1985.

60 Chaniotis 1995.

1]

at Lato.©® Open areas that can specifically be tied to market transactions were not incorporated in these city centers, or at least this activity was not conducted on a large enough scale to warrant special facilities. Investment in public recreational facilities was not great, and the lack of special-purpose theaters (as opposed to possible theatral areas) on Crete prior to the Roman conquest is well known, with only two Late Hellenistic examples recovered at Aptera and the islet of ancient Leuke. It is difficult to assess the port services of coastal cities, for which abundant evidence exists of Roman harbor works that must often have obliterated earlier facilities. The city of Phalasarna is an important exception, although the facilities are attributed more to piratical activity than commerce. At present, the services rendered by Cretan cities to the

(the status of the owners less so), which introduces the potential for transactions independent of the traditional urban-rural equation. Pastoralism is a production component not featured in either the consumer-city or service-city models. It is difficult, therefore, to build a case for heavy urban-rural traffic in material goods at this time based on artifact distributions. Likewise, few rural habitations of this period evince clear signs of luxury investment and evidence of farmsteads in surface survey indicates a modest norm. 62 On the other hand, religious centers in remote rural spots could be well endowed, and some clearly functioned as healing resorts with facilities for visitors.°? Evidence for private consumption in cities is rarely manifest in conspicuous _ residential =—_ architecture: houses constructed of ashlar masonry appear to be exceptional, and investment in public building was clearly more important in these communities.o The range and scale of urban services required by Engels’ model also encounter challenges at this time. Pursuant to his observation that Crete had “no advanced form of industry or commerce such as were to be found in democratic Athens,” Willetts’ presents epigraphic evidence that the traditional (Archaic) meaning of the agora as a place of open assembly continued to be employed where elsewhere it developed to denote commercial centers; the prytaneion, used for council in seclusion, is widely referred to, but the bouleterion, which elsewhere assumed the function of assembly place, cannot be identified in the judicial repertoire.

wider population

smaller poleis

(Empereur

and

achieve

monumentality).

66 Both Dreros and Lato are treated in Wycherley 1962, 53-55; for Dreros, Van Effenterre and Demargne 1937; for Lato, Demargne 1903 and more recently a series of reports, “Recherches a Lato,” in BCH 93-96 (1969-72). A different interpretation is possible at Gortyna where an auditorium-type assembly place co-existed with an agora that may therefore have been given over to commercial activity: Sanders 1982, 65-66; Pernier 1925-26; for recent excavations of the agora, AR 1997-98, 113. 8 For Aptera, see Sanders 1982, 87; for the Leuke theater,

Roman villa at Makry Gialos in East Crete appears to have estate

rarely

evidence for Hellenistic port facilities probably belies the ability of some coastal cities to pay for their food through duties and trade. The development of coastal cities such as Hierapytna, and Minoa in Akrotiri, certainly owed more to maritime resources and sea trade than to agricultural potential, even_if trade was mainly conducted along Cretan shores./9 What is

estates; although several sites of this period in Akrotiri are believed to be large private estates (see Chapter 8) and the a Hellenistic

these

There is also the concern that limited archaeological

1982, 30 on the lack of Hellenistic country

1992, 647-48).

as less, or of

edifices of benefit to the community (although in the

61 On herders as links between urban and rural sectors, see Chang 1994.

succeeded

be reckoned

If the service model fails to account for the evidence at this time, aspects of the consumer-city model require modification. Apart from the restricted distribution of fine wares in some city-states, striking differences in socio-economic status between urban and rural sectors are not apparent, making it difficult to view exploitation of cultivators as a means to great personal gain. This may simply mean lowering our sights on a scale of consumerism, and the evidence is consistent with a landowning elite that invested its wealth in

The written sources find some support where the public districts of cities have been recovered, such as the inland centers of Lato and Dreros: the agora retains the form of a small, open-air auditorium, and beyond this the range of buildings is restricted to a prytaneion, temple(s), with a small stoa and possible theatral area

Sanders

must

smaller scale, than those of their mainland counterparts from which the service model draws support.

Marangou

A number of these isolated sanctuaries are located where

springs erupt along the south coast (at Lissos, Kommos,

Lebena, Myrtos, and Syme). 4 A “fine house” of ashlar masonry existed near the later Villa of Dionysos at Knossos (Hood and Smyth 1981, 19, 43: another, the “Almond Tree House,” has been excavated below the main acropolis of Praisos, and also contained an olive press (Bosanquet 1901-02).

see AR 1977-78, 67 and 1978-79, 40. 9 Hadjidaki

1988, 463-479; further work on the harbor is

reported in AR

1990-91, 77-78.

Also, Sanders identifies

what may be Classical or Hellenistic moles in the harbor at Chersonnisos (1982, 144). On epigraphic evidence for primarily local spheres of

65 Willetts 1955, 177 and 196-200.

12

more, the rural religious centers, well-positioned for seafaring tourists, would appear to represent little islands of self-sufficiency that do not clearly fit in the consumer scheme. The historical condition of serfdom clearly works against the notion of free and fair

exchange

for

a

substantial

portion

of

the

rural

population; yet Willetts’ study suggests we may be wrong to seek impoverished conditions in the material record. Among the legal rights granted to serfs are matrimony, limited access to law courts, and possession of cattle; they were also responsible for provisioning their own homes (from which we can infer that they possessed some surplus available for disposal), were required to pay money for offenses committed, and had ultimately a right to inherit a master’s estate in the unlikely event that no heir survived of the extended family.’ ! Archaeologically, the serfs of Crete may appear little different from free peasant farmers.

2.3.2

ROMAN EVIDENCE

In 1982, Ian Sanders was forced to conclude that evidence of Crete’s participation in Mediterranean trade was minimal even though the island’s position along the Egypt-Italy grain shipment routes, and the growth of its coastal cities, begged a greater role. Results of recent studies have expanded our understanding somewhat. The production of medicinal plants has assumed greater importance with Rouanet-Liesenfelt’s findings that, in the first two centuries of Roman rule, emperors may have had a monopoly on the island’s export of herbs, and employed specialized herborists in their production and processing; at least one possible imperial estate is identified at Lyttos near the plain of Lasithi, apparently farmed by dependent laborers. >

Chaniotis presented a case for specialized production of wine for export, and the French-Greek investigation of Cretan amphorae now substantiates a wide distribution of several types in the first two centuries, especially in Italy (including Rome and Ostia), North Africa (including Egypt), and Greece./* The main classes of imports identified by Sanders still hold: marbles for sarcophagi, statuary, and for use in the massive building programs in cities such as Gortyna, Knossos, and Hierapytna; imported fine wares, with eastern and Italian red-gloss varieties especially abundant in the first two centuries after the conquest; and amphorae, with Aegean types common but not nearly so numerous as local varieties.’” This traffic suggests that the insularity which made Hellenistic Crete so amenable to a consumer-city interpretation came to a rapid end.’ Evidence for non-agricultural industries mainly derives from urban contexts early in the period. Numerous rock-cut fishtanks, often very large and usually in or very near cities, document a new strategy for exploiting marine resources. /? Crete may have been self-sufficient in certain ore and mineral resources.°9 Extensive adits, slag, concrete furnaces and other ore-processing facilities recovered in the inland city of Kantanos in southwest Crete are associated with copper, and possibly gold, mining and smelting;®! the city’s new independent status in the Roman period may reflect the importance of this industry. Glass manufacturing has been identified further east in the vicinity of the coastal city of Tarrha; unlike Kantanos, this city lacks a viable hinterland for cultivation and

74 Chaniotis

1988; Markoulaki,

Empereur,

1989; Empereur, Kritzas, and Marangou 1991.

and Marangou

> Marble from Greece (Attica, Euboea), Asia Minor (Proconnesia) and Italy (Luna), as well as Egyptian granite, is discussed in pp. 34-35, 56, and 88. These and a Cretan

source of white marble are treated in Durkin and Lister 1983 trade at this time, Petropoulou 1985, 63; for evidence that cities administered trading voyages both within Crete and

abroad, Willetts 1955,

130-31; Crete’s position along the

Egypt-Athens grain route must also be taken (Casson 1984, 72-80).

into account

| Willetts 1955, 49-51; 1965, 99-100.

Crete was not an exporter of grain, and only whetstones (with a known quarry source at Olus in East Crete), cypress and cedar wood, medicinal herbs (from written sources), and Knossian lamps could be identified as exports (Sanders

1982, 32-35). For Baldwin-Bowsky 1994, 7.

discussion

of

grain

routes,

73 This study has since been cited in support of lively trade at this time (Baldwin-Bowsky 1994, 28; Chaniotis 1995, 76), but the administered context requires caution on this point. The importance of medicinal and culinary herbs in the Roman diet generally is treated in Frayn 1975.

and Harrison 1990. Sanders 1982, 34; fine wares and their frequencies from excavated deposits at Knossos are found in Hayes 1983,

112-122 and Sackett 1992, 150-164.

Imported amphorae are catalogued in Sackett 1992 (for a summary, 177-78); Hayes 1983, 141-169 (p. 161. for frequencies); and in Hallager and Hallager 1997, 204-212. The new stability in trade is partly attributed to the cessation of Cretan piracy in the Mediterranean. Fishtanks are discussed in Chapter 3.6. Purple-dye production continued to be important, and archaeological

remains of shell processing are found in Roman houses, as well

as

1990-91,

Hellenistic

contexts,

on

73); this labor-intensive

the

islet

of Leuke

(AR

industry was important

enough to fall under imperial jurisdiction mainland (Wiseman 2001, in press). 80 Faure 1966.

81 Davies 1935, 267-68; Sanders 1982, 171.

in

the

Greek

must have depended on trade for its livelihood.82 These and other manufactures are at present only patchily represented in the larger urban centers.

investigators infer a system of production aimed at processing, containing, and exporting wine direct from

For the first century and a half following the conquest, pottery production centers are known to exist in the cities of Kissamos (where a kiln producing amphorae and lamps was excavated in what appears to be a wealthy residence), Knossos (which produced high volumes of amphorae and vessels for domestic use), Knossos’ port at Herakleion, and probably Kydonia, with amphorae continuing to be produced at the site of Keratokambos on the south coast; the distribution of these products in cities throughout Crete illustrates the greater connections that existed among polities than in the Hellenistic period.84 The Cretan amphorae project identified other urban sites, with those datable falling in the late- to post-imperial period. One of these, at Chersonisos, produced a kiln in what appears to be a suburban villa, but no date is given. Five other production centers (including Keratokambos) are situated along the eastern half of the south coastline, reportedly far from urban centers, and well positioned to avail themselves of East Mediterranean shipping routes. At the site of Makry Gialos, wine amphorae wasters were located in land adjacent to a partially-excavated seaside villa, and production is placed in the third and fourth centuries A.D.8° The settlement context of the others is not completely clear, but the site at Lagada also yielded domestic wares and tiles of second and third-century A.D. date. Several of

More evidence for estates has emerged on Akrotiri. This pattern does not, however, appear to be representative of other regions surveyed, and it is questionable whether the sum total of the evidence justifies the assertion of Empereur et al. that agricultural villas formed the basis of rural economy in

these

sites

are

located

in

fertile

zones

and

estate centers.

imperial

Crete.

The

impact

of

this

localized

entrepeneurship on the broader rural economy is far from clear. As noted in the previous section, this class of site is rare to absent in some regions, and where villas do exist it is usually in conjunction with smaller rural sites, including Akrotiri. There is every

possibility that extraction of surplus from these smaller

sites was organized by wealthy landowners, some of whom had coastal enterprises; but the majority must have resided in the cities, and this seems particularly the case in the first two centuries of Roman rule.® For the present discussion, results of the amphorae project introduce a pro-rational dimension to coastal economies that the consumer model fails to explain, and some of this activity appears to circumvent cities altogether. As with the Hellenistic period non-agricultural production in most consists of cottage industries such as again, few sites have been excavated and

to rely on evidence of surface survey.®

the

evidence of rural contexts weaving but, it is necessary

Did rural sites

benefit from traffic with urban centers? At present there is little correspondence between sites of known pottery manufacture and the locations of regions intensively surveyed; thus it is not yet possible to discuss the distribution of amphorae or other wares throughout the territories of, say, Knossos or Kissamos. Plain wares and amphorae from sites in Akrotiri share fabric with examples in Khania and were almost certainly produced there. A notable characteristic of several surveyed regions at this time is the wide distribution of imported fine wares on all classes of sites, most striking in regions such as Sphakia where Hellenistic fine wares were mainly found in the cities. Surveyors of the Western Mesara note an “impressive

82 This circumstance, as with that of several other south coast centers, is noted by Sanders 1982, 29-30. For Tarrha glass manufacture, see Weinberg (1960), who elsewhere (1959) presents circumstantial evidence for Hellenistic

production of crude glass grave vessels in the vicinity.

3 Glass and metal slag are noted at Knossos (Sanders 1982, 34); a metal-working installation is reported in excavations at Kissamos (AR 1997-98, 126); a Roman lime kiln was

exposed during excavations at Knossos (Hood and Smyth

1981, site catalogue no. 304); rescue excavations at Hierapytna yielded industrial tanks of unknown purpose (AR

1983-84, 67). For these production centers and distributions within Crete: Markoulaki, Empereur, and Marangou 1989; Empereur, Kritzas, and Marangou 1991. See Chapter 5 for

87 Sanders assigns the majority of villas in Crete to the Late Roman period (450-550 A.D.). Exceptions are the kiln excavated from a ‘country dwelling’ at Platanos (Sanders 1982, 159) and possible

Kydonia. Empereur and Marangou 1992: other urban-based industries are located at Aghios Nikolaos, Hierapytna, Matala (for which secure dates are lacking), Siteia, and Palaiokhora (dated to the second and third centuries A.D.). Ibid. The rural context of this site may be debatable: Sanders observes that, “during recent construction work the remains of many Graeco-Roman houses were noted,” and finds it likely that this was the site of the city Stalis (1982,

evidence

for

metalworking

at

a

farm

in

Ayiofarango

(Blackman and Branigan 1975, 27); wax from beekeeping remains an unknown quantity, although the quality of the Cretan honey-comb was appreciated by Pliny the Elder (Natural History 14. 81 and passim for this and other Cretan products).

136).

14

cisterns and channels that served individual properties, are numerous.2* The extent to which the rural population benefited from these channels for irrigation is nowhere clear, and elite management is indicated in the Mesara, where the head of the aqueduct that fed Gortyna is located 10 km to the north at the wealthiest rural site on the plain, possibly the governor’s residence.?> Reclamation of agricultural land by drainage has been hypothesized in the Mesara and the Lasithi Plain. More direct evidence for water control is manifest in bath buildings; these are commonly found in cities, but examples are also known in rural contexts, either associated with small settlements or in apparent isolation.?/

rise in imported pottery” from the earlier period, including a variety of Aegean amphorae. The Mesara sites also had access to new construction materials and techniques (brick-faced concrete), and probably products of a tile factory that Sanders places somewhere in the Méesara. In many regions, however, there is little to distinguish the smallest sites from their Hellenistic counterparts in terms of size, construction, or amenities. Urban residences show a more definitive rise in luxury investment, as indicated in quality stone construction, use of marble paving, frescoes, and especially mosaics.7» The physical development of Crete’s cities began in earnest in the mid- to late-first century after Christ, when imperial and local elite patronage paid for monumental building programs that transformed the major centers and embellished numerous smaller ones. The range and scale of services and facilities are

It is evident that the economy of Crete developed in new directions after incorporation into the empire; were these changes merely of degree, or more substantive, requiring that we abandon the consumer-city model? What stands out at this time is the role of coastal industry and trade, whether rural or urban-based. Finley acknowledged that ports functioning as “clearing-houses and transit points” transcended aspects of his model in their ability to pay for themselves, but he preferred to view these as atypical.?8 The geography of Crete, with so much coastline in proportion to interior territory, may render much of the island exceptional. Prior to its subjugation, Crete’s position favored autonomy and insularity, fostered by Cretan piracy which inhibited normal trade transactions. Within a more integrated Mediterranean climate, this same position effected the precise opposite, with opportunities for trade now possible from every vantage of the island’s peripheries. Few polities of this period lacked a port, and income from services of Crete’s numerous harbors may have contributed substantially to local economies. It is difficult to disprove the consumer-city model on the basis of urban-rural exchange. Conditions of the farmer improved in that surplus production now permitted greater access to the commodity market, and the smallest sites in the Mesara do show investment in construction at this time; but compared to the wealth in

typical of Mediterranean cities under Roman influence yet offer a striking contrast with pre-conquest Crete.?!

Theaters are now found in many cities and the five known amphitheaters, representing a distinctly Roman type of entertainment, are considered an unusual number for a small Greek province.?” Several ports show evidence of harbor works dating to this period, and Hierapytna apparently possessed a naumachia for mock naval battles. The most important amenities resulted from improved water management, and some of these may have extended to rural areas. Aqueducts carried mountain water over considerable distances to the cities; their remains, and the complex systems of

8° Surface assemblages are described in Watrous et al. 1993, 233; the factory of Lucius Felix is identified on stamped tiles from Gortyna and elsewhere on the Mesara (Sanders

1982,

34). 90 The fine accouterments of a group of Knossian houses is

discussed in Sackett and Jones 1979, 18-27; concentrations of houses with mosaics are also known at Kissamos (Markoulaki 1987, 33-59 and Markoulaki, Empereur, and Marangou 1989, 557-59), Kydonia, and Chersonisos (Sanders 1982, 51-55 for these and other examples). Y At their height in the second century the amenities of

Gortyna

and

Hierapytna

were

comparable,

and

included

public baths, theaters, amphitheaters, temples, administrative buildings, temples, and aqueducts; as the capital, Gortyna also possessed a praetorium (governor’s palace). For Hierapytna’s buildings, see Baldwin-Bowsky 1994, 11-14

and Papadakis 1986a, 36-54.

m4 Aqueduct terminals have been located or reported in Kouphonisi, Chersonisos, Lyttos, Knossos, Kydonia, Gortyna, Lasaia, Elyros, and Eleutherna (all in Sanders’ Gazetteer); see also Hood and Smyth 1981, 23-24 for remains at Knossos.

The best visual perspectives of

Gortyna are found in Myers, Myers and Cadogan 1992, and the main monuments are presented in Di Vita 1985, 39-71. Amphitheaters are known at Gortyna, Hierapytna, Chersonissos, and Kissamos; an inscription indicates the existence of one at Knossos (Sanders 1982, 57). 3 Sanders identified harbor moles at Chersonisos, Pseira, Hierapytna, and the other Kisamos below the city of Aptera; they are also identified at the port of Loutro (Nixon et al.

95 Taramelli 1902, 120. 96 Discussed in Chapter 3.6.

7 Baths in rural contexts (those not, apparently, belonging

to villas) are reported at Plaka Kalis, Platani Soudas, Kato Asites, possibly Ligortynos, and at Phaistos which was abandoned in the Hellenistic period (all in Sanders’ azetteer).

8 Finley 1999, 130-31.

1990, 218).

15

noted, amalgamations of territories had already been achieved by aggressor city-states prior to the conquest. There are no indications after this time of territorial restructuring on any scale. 102 Otherwise, Crete shared with Greece two conditions relevant to imperial interests: both were geographically insulated from frontier zones and did not have to contend with the demands of a heavy military presence; compared to other provinces, neither was uniquely endowed in staple agricultural resources. Factors other than these, which elsewhere invited overt intervention, must account for the impact of a new administration in Crete.

the cities the evidence from most regions cannot easily be construed as free and fair exchange. The failure of villas to develop in large numbers in imperial times (including, apparently, the Mesara) also suggests there were ceilings to wealth that could be accumulated by the cultivators themselves. Certainly urban centers sustained an income from new-especially recreational_ services, and as capital of the joint province Gortyna’s traffic was assured. With the possible exception of Hierapytna, however, there remains the significant problem with the service-city model of demonstrating that cities could not be supported by their lands, and that the need for imported foodstuffs stimulated the development of services to purchase them. If food were that scarce, it is difficult to envision a system that, used to a dependent labor force, took the step of emancipating serfs (if indeed this occurred), which could only have resulted in increasing their bargaining power over food supply.?? To conclude, analysis restricted to the polis unit does not seem sufficient to explain developments in the imperial period; the indications are that factors external to the island—not only rents, or the need to compensate a low food supply—provided the impetus for building urban wealth in the island’s economy.

2.4

Keith Hopkins predicted that economic growth was, in many provinces, set in motion by the imposition of imperial taxes, 104 In this model, tax demands required a greater circulation of money at every level: to pay them cultivators had to produce more to obtain cash from the local market; local markets, in turn, obtained cash through the export of manufactured goods. The result of this process was an increase in production in all sectors, and in trade generally throughout the empire. Because they remained at the base of the production pyramid, the new demands may have constituted a drain on small-scale cultivators. Hopkins suggests that imperial taxes were low because services of the administrative system were minimal; but local autonomy provided scope for abuse, and low taxes meant that rents demanded by landowners could be

Administrative Models

high.

Several factors endemic to Crete helped to shape the character and extent of Roman involvement. The first of these is urbanization, identified as a prime vehicle for assimilation of new territories within the Roman administrative framework.!99 Less intervention could be expected in new provinces, including much of the Greek East, already possessing sophisticated urban structures; yet where polities were very numerous the consolidation of territories better served the goals of a centralized bureaucracy. This process, identified as a feature of imperial reorganization in mainland Achaia, appears to have been unnecessary in Crete.!91 As

The model has been criticized for its dependence upon exaction of taxes in cash, rather than in kind, when often the manner of payment by provinces remains unknown.!95 RP. Duncan-Jones also counters the idea that taxation served to integrate the Roman economy, emphasizing the persistence of local currencies and commodity distributions. For Crete the evidence is circumstantial. A low level of monetization and payment in kind is advanced as the

102 Unless one is inclined to attribute the growth of several

29 Factors contributing to this question (intensification, pressures on the land) are explored further in Chapter 3.6. Cretan piracy in the Late Hellenistic period has been interpreted by some as a response to inadequate food supply

ports

over

their

inland

centers

(Bennet

1990,

deliberative policy rather than internal development.

201)

to

3 For Greece, Alcock 1997, 108; Crete was appointed a Senatorial province (Cassius Dio 53.12), which means that conditions were stable enough not to require the presence of a garrison.

but Willetts argues against this, noting that Crete could sustain and employ large numbers of Roman prisoners taken prior to the conquest. The continued success of the syssitia at this time, which fed all citizens, also suggests that surpluses extracted from serfs were not on the brink of depletion

104 Hopkins 1980, 101-125.

103 Whittaker 1990, 111.

(1. 241-43).

6 1990, 30-58. Donald Engels also questions whether taxation is a sufficient mechanism for stimulating agricultural production, and suggests that the opposite strategy might be predicted unless the farmer operated at a very marginal level

0 For recent discussions of urbanization as an instrument of Roman administration, Hanson 1997, 75-76; Whittaker

1997, 144-148.

Ol Alcock 1989a, 94-102.

to begin with (1990, 124-26).

16

potential for growth beyond what was possible when

norm by one author.!97 It is true that much of the island’s coinage was issued in bronze when silver was the imperial standard for trade. It is also unclear

trade links were fewer and less secure. Considering Crete’s position, however, it may be that imperial taxes were not a necessary condition to growth. Hopkins’ own qualifier that “much trade flowed without the stimulus of money taxes” could equally account for the

how census was taken and evidence for centuriation

which elsewhere facilitated this process, is lacking. 109 Crete nevertheless warranted the services of a full-time procurator, and financial interference is indicated early on when city mints were issued under authority of the Imperial regulation tightened by the proconsul. after Christ with the issuance of coin century mid-first The circulation of Council. ! Provincial the under bronze at the local level clearly did not inhibit the ability of urbanites to acquire wealth, and in any case significant amounts of silver must have entered the These and island via merchants and port services. could be exactions cash that suggest factors other of strength one Crete, For !T 1 accommodated.

Hopkins’

model

is that it accounts

evidence.

From an administrative point of view, what Alcock observes for Achaia seems appropriate for Crete: “Imperial priorities in this minor province were stability and acceptable taxation returns, both ensured through the encouragement of local elite groups.” The importance of pre-existing social hierarchies in promoting compatibility between local and imperial interests is widely recognized. In Crete the process is amply demonstrated in a study of urban Romanization based on epigraphic evidence. It is also indicated in the preservation of the traditional aristocracy-based board of magistrates. In the agrarian sphere, the fostering of elite interests in Achaia is believed to have

for urban-rural

differences within the context of a trade economy. Rural artifacts and features indicate that demands on surplus could be met, but that the profits accrued by cultivators varied from region to region and were usually not great. The countryside was not the place for building wealth; that remained the domain of cities and coasts which, in terms of settlement, were often one and the same. The basis of urban wealth lay not only in the products and rents extracted from the countryside: urban rents could be lucrative, as could commercial income from port services, shipping, and In these activities we find the coastal resources.

encouraged the development

107 Harrison 1993, 344-45; there is little direct evidence, but

methods

exacted as payment in kind to supply Roman troops (Starr 1982, 77), but it is doubtful that Crete was more than self-sufficient in this staple. Apart, perhaps, from wool, it is difficult to identify a product that could serve in this role. It also seems unlikely that Rome would ignore profits to be had from Crete’s sea traffic. The use of cash at every level was not unknown to Cretans prior to the conquest: a Gortynian decree of the third century B.C. demanded that all transactions in kind be, at least temporarily, reverted to cash

(Willetts

1955,

perceived

1981, and Will 1999).

opportunity;

for discussion

see Hingley

82-84 and W.S. Hanson 1997, 67-80. The various functions of this body, the kosmoi, ruled in cities are described in Sanders 1982, 12-13

Willetts 1965, 56-75.

T Alcock 1993, 223.

1997,

that and

8 Wacher 1979, 124-25. This construct was further developed in the 1980’s by Phillipe Leveau and Chr. it as part of a presented who (1983), Goudineau counter-approach (the ‘organizer city’) to the consumer-city model.

Italy

provides some of our best examples of harbor towns that

thrived from port revenues (see McCann

has

Scholars disagree over the extent to which elite promotion

cultivators possessed money, and at Lyttos serfs were required to supplement tributes in kind with money (Willetts

112 parkins 1997, 83-111; Mouritsen 1997, 62-64.

Purcell

was a deliberate Roman policy, or an internal by-product of

already seen that serf

1965, 96).

Nicholas

113 1980, 103; overseas routes established for moving surplus from imperial estates may also have opened opportunities for trade (Mattingly 1997b, 134). Alcock 1993, 223. The process included imperial patronage, citizenship grants, sponsorships to office, and the development of a ‘supra-civic’ elite network (Baldwin-Bowsky 1994).

! If Rouanet-Liesenfelt’s findings are correct, herbs and Grain was most commonly spices were requisitioned.

have

for cultivation.

expanded on this perspective, highlighting aims of intensive production and provision of centralized storage for regional produce. Villas, he maintains,

Caligula in the mid-first century A.D. (Price 1975). Territorial boundary stones were, however, erected (Baldwin-Bowsky 1994, 10). 0 Sanders (1982, 7-9) notes that these issues “became closer in size and weight to the regular imperial issues.”

we

of large estates whose

owners “dictated the degree and nature of land use under the empire.” Less intensified land use is found to be the result in that province; elsewhere, especially in the western provinces, a growth in agricultural productivity is associated with estate development. John Wacher was among the first to attach an administrative function to this phenomenon, stressing the role of estates in organizing the countryside for efficient production. He affords villas a pivotal place in the urban-rural hierarchy, in both marketing produce and_ disseminating improved

the author finds “indications of the persistent use of vehicles in the transportation of taxes in kind.” Although Gortyna minted a large issue of silver under

131-32);

|

1987, Ward-Perkins

17

logistics of the process (food storage, transport, what sold on the market, what went directly to the landowners’ household, etc.). Intermediate-sized settlements, villages and towns, are documented in all regions surveyed, but their role in organizing rural production can at this time can only be advanced as a

reflect “the effect that ancient city society had on producing coherence in the patterns of exploitation.” How can we explain the apparent lack of this coherence in many regions of imperial Crete?

very likely proposition. |

Two main conditions noted in the pages above may have combined to achieve this result. First are pre-existing landholding patterns and the effect these may have had on elite choices in production and residency. Finley finds it self-evident that, where systems of dependent labor were encountered, it was in the interest of Roman policy to maintain the traditional forms of exploitation. 20 Regional settlement patterns

Finally, social factors would have contributed—perhaps significantly_to administrative and economic choices at the local level. The traditional elite-urban equation in ancient Crete was strongly underwritten by what was essentially a caste system. Occupational and social boundaries between serf cultivators and citizens of the warrior class were firmly in place in the Hellenistic period. Willetts maintains that late in the period, when land accumulation removed an increasing number of young citizens from estate management, they did not resort to cultivation (they were in any case fed by the syssitia) but turned to pitacy and mercenary service on behalf of their cities. 12> Land ownership conferred status on the ruling elite; it is less clear from

tend to confirm continuity in landholding, although it

was hypothesized earlier that a conversion to tenancies might be predicted in a growing market economy with little necessary change in rural organization. At the same time, the growing wealth of an urban elite argues strongly for accumulation of land, and epigraphic evidence indicates that such a trend was well underway in the Late Hellenistic period.! The chief concern here is why this did not result in the consolidation of property and centralized estate management ona large scale. The most straightforward explanation is that this strategy was impeded by those already resident on the land. Even if the traditional inalienable rights of serfs had been undermined, there remained critical incentives not to disenfranchise the island’s chief cultivators, especially in a system that had evolved without recourse to chattel slavery on a large scale. The disruptive effects of land amalgamation on pre-existing farming systems have been widely discussed. 122

documentary sources

Channels

for exacting

surplus

that rural life formed a part of

the social identity of the elite stratum. Archaeologically this tradition appears to carry over into the imperial period: it was primarily in the cities that elites showcased their benefactions.126 What little the Hellenistic sources tell us about rural society mostly concerns the status of cultivators in legal and

penal affairs.

A centuries-old social structure, with its

own wide familial networks, must also be reckoned a formidable force in local administrative initiative following the conquest.

2.5

A second condition lay in the economic draw of the coasts, or urban centers with ports, in the imperial period. Opportunities for commerce compensated, possibly even selected, for the division of many elite households from their rural properties. The geography of the island, with few fertile areas at great distance from a coast, made this feasible. The bisected landscape of many regions, with fertile pockets usually restricted to small plains and terraced slopes, may also have worked against efficient exploitation from central estates; risk-reduction strategies in such environments have elsewhere been associated with fragmented

holdings. !29

|

Romanization

A recent volume debates the validity of the study of Romanization in provincial contexts. Criticism

124 The economic and administrative role of small nucleated

settlements in other imperial contexts is treated in Whittaker

1990, 114-16 and Garnsey 1998, chapter 7. 125 Willetts 1955, 243-44.

and 161. Compare

this

For the caste system, see pp. 251

situation

with

Purcell’s

observation

concerning Italy: “Production is designed for the maecellum or for benefaction; it is part of the way in which the aristocrat fits in to a citizen community, and the villa is the location of that sort of production.” (1995, 172); and Mattingly’s

from

dispersed settlements had existed successfully since the Archaic period; what is unclear at this time is the

concerning the wealth manifest in “the capital re-invested in prestige forms of rural construction and in large-scale estate buildings” in North Africa (1997b, 130). Mattingly, ed., Dialogues in Roman Imperialism (1997b); the concept is typically used to describe the assimilation of certain distinctive cultural attributes within the numerous and diverse areas that politically define the Roman Empire.

119 purcell 1995, 173.

20 Finley 1999, 69-71 and 179. 21 Willetts 1955, 243.

22 Eg. Patterson 1987, 142-144; Alcock 1989b, 31-33.

123 Osborne 1987, 38-39.

18

targets two main aspects: 1) a tendency to view culture change as unilateral, with the conquering force determining the direction of that change; and 2) the idea that the empire represents a single, homogeneous entity that can collectively be said to be Romanized _ (therefore masking tremendous variability in the responses to imperialism). Both charges are overstated in the context of current scholarship, but serve as a point of departure for an alternative approach advanced by several volume participants. This approach de-emphasizes the larger political structure, focusing instead on local-even personal—experience and reaction, notably resistance to elements perceived as intrusive. Proponents expose ‘Roman’ as an artificial construct, and support this by particularizing the diverse sources of contacts and influences to be found in individual provinces: “As ‘Roman’ items were derived from various parts of the empire, the very term ‘Roman’ for many items is a simplification...consider

why the objects, theaters, art, or religions are there or what they meant in the Cretan context. What is striking is that, in their final form, many elements show a clear resemblance to a broad, Mediterranean-wide milieu. It is difficult to deny Whittaker’s counter-argument that this is more than coincidence and must be attributed to a broader pattern, whether intentional or benign. It seems unnecessary to speak for or against a homogeneous empire: the combination of diverse and familiar elements is the product, even a hallmark, of vast networks established or fostered under Roman hegemony. Channels for trade served equally as channels for cultural transmission in Crete. Sanders, for example,

observes

the import of Italian wine amphorae into late Iron Age Britain.

might

Were these invariably perceived as Roman? or

they

sometimes

Gallic?”

have

been

considered

From this perspective Crete manifests inscrutable diversity, not only in portable objects derived from disparate parts of the empire, but in subtler forms: theaters, Sanders notes, are western in construction and eastern in design; in art, both ideas and materials were supplied from Asia Minor; eastern religions, probably the result of Egyptian contact, figure strongly as well. The practice of cabotage, all the more relevant in

discussing

an

island

economy,

prevents

us

opportunity

from

and

sanctuary

posited

to

account

for

low

economic

132 Sanders 1982, 36-37.

33 Fora study employing this concept, Will 1997, 117-133.

4 Sanders 1982, 5, 13; Baldwin-Bowsky 1994, 17, 25.

There were sufficient resident veterans for Pompey to raise part of a legion in 30 B.C., and an Italian colonia was established at Knossos after 27 B.C. (Sanders 1982, 5, 14); Tiberius sent exiles to Crete in the first century A.D., and

problem that it accuses in others, namely, moving from how

scholars perceive these elements to how they were perceived by subject populations. As a counter-critique Whittaker

Cyrenaican

(same volume, p. 156) notes that “we are too inclined to view every form of cultural diversity within the provinces as evidence of resistance to Rome.” The relevance of modern value systems to ancient lifeways is critiqued by Lloyd A. Thompson in his refutation of models of underdevelopment insight:

of temple

We have noted that imperial patronage and the aspirations of the native elite transformed the urban

128 Few studies proceed this simplistically. One can only agree with participant Hingley that an historical focus on monumental aspects of material culture has delayed the accumulation of evidence for the silent majority (p. 85); the volume does insufficient justice, however, to the efforts of numerous regional surveys in the Mediterranean which, in studying all levels of settlement, are working to redress this bias. 129 ‘Perceived’ is here key: the approach faces the same

Empire (1982). 1997, 85. This is not a new 14-15 for problems of definition. is treated in Parker 1990.

prevalence

productivity in Greece is not here in evidence.13® If Polybius’ commentary reflects, to any _ extent, prevailing Roman attitudes towards Crete, admiration for its culture was not a factor in negotiating relations or a source of reluctance to interfere. 137

visualizing many imports as direct from their source, 131 There is a certain futility to the exercise, and these origins do not further our understanding of

in the Roman 0 Hingley Percival 1976, Cabotage

the

dedications to eastern deities in southern ports along the east-west route that brought grain to Italy. ! A process elsewhere described as ‘economic Romanization’ was certainly also at work.!33 Roman economic interests can be traced to before and immediately after the conquest with the settling of Italian traders at Gortyna and Hlierapytna; an exhaustive study of the latter city concludes that trade was the primary motivation for Roman involvement in eastern Crete. Apart from those identified as traders a considerable foreign presence is indicated in epigraphic and literary sources during the first century of Roman rule.!3° If imperial intervention can be cited in financial affairs, it is not yet possible to describe its hold on the island’s trade. The ‘refusal’ of

immigrants

appear in Gortyna

soon after the

conquest (Harrison 1988, 146, 153); Pompeiian veterans are

attested at Hierapytna late (Baldwin-Bowsky 1994, 9).

36 Alcock 1997, 112-14.

in

the

first

century

B.C.

7 Greed and cruelty are qualities emphasized by Polybius (6.45.1-47.6 and 24.3.1). For discussion of Polybius’ attitudes, see Van Effenterre 1948, 283-92 and Willetts

see

1955, 162-65.

19

landscapes. It is not just the edifices that reflect the broad ideals of Roman urbanism; systems of maintaining them also accord with those in other areas of the empire. One such institution is the Imperial cult, which was administered by both the Provincial Council and municipal organizations in Crete.138 The most important venues for emperor worship were expensive public spectacles and games, hosted by priests of the cult, that took place in the theaters and amphitheaters. The role of these buildings in recreating the social and political hierarchy through seating arrangements is often observed, and their popularity in Crete is cited in support of a highly Romanized urban sector. In contrast to this promotion of imperial interests, there appears to have been little investment in new constructions connected with traditional Cretan religions, for which the old temples continued to serve. Even many small countryside shrines, Sanders notes, did not survive into the Roman period. A similar pattern—an emphasis on theaters and amphitheaters, and decreased expenditures on temples other than those related to the Imperial cult—is found in a recent survey of early imperial (Augustan) building activity in the Italian peninsula, suggesting an “emphasis on the physical manifestations of Romanization and imperial loyalty.” I

began in earnest before the conquest. !43 The subjugation of Crete was violent and took more than two years to accomplish; no unrest is reported by ancient sources after this time under Roman authority. What of the silent majority throughout these transitions? Compared to developments in other

provinces Romanization did not extend, in its more

blatant forms, to many rural territories. The wide distribution of fine wares argues for a more integrated economic network, but on its own is a less certain indicator of changing value systems. Can these conditions be viewed as a form of resistance to

imperial

It seems reasonable, therefore, to speak of the transmission of certain culture categories or emphases, and to give the process a name. It can be observed, without resorting to altruistic motives, that those already in positions of authority found something of value in these new ideas and institutions, and recast them into acceptable forms.142 This process probably

138 Imperial cult temples do not survive in Crete but are

difficult to say how pervasive emperor worship was at the local level, since the known municipal offices of cult priests established

by

colonists

and

immigrant

Knossos U/C IV.295) and Gortyna UC IV.278).

traders

The

possibility

should

not be

The institution of serfdom would seem to provide fertile ground for models of resistance in the Hellenistic period, but the means for exploring such power differentials are at present largely restricted to written evidence. Ancient authors themselves were impressed by the long-term success of the Cretan system as opposed to that of the Spartans or the Thessalians, whose serfs revolted against their conditions. Aristotle attributes this to two factors: citizens of Cretan city-states took pains not to engage serfs of rival states in warfare for fear that their own system might be similarly threatened; Crete’s isolation reduced external stimulus of rebellious tendencies. !4° Both Aristotle and Plato expound on the precarious

attested in numismatic and epigraphic evidence, especially statue dedications (Sanders 1982, 8-9, 37-38, 48). It is

were

culture?

discounted, but it proves difficult to demonstrate that the material record reflects conscious choice among these communities as opposed to economic means. The study of settlement patterns is one way to move beyond this impasse, because of its “useful blindness” to assumptions concerning social or economic motivations that drive different sectors of a population. 14> From this perspective it has already been possible to trace ways in which the countryside may have affected, and not merely been affected by, the direction of provincial policy. The position of cultivators shows no sign of deterioration from the previous period, and the traditional social separateness of the rural population emerges as a potential force in such negotiations.

of

It may be

noted that advocates of resistance models (e.g., W.S. Hanson

1997, 77) emphasize the role of provincial councils in serving the Imperial cult to the detriment of their other

important functions less suggestive of imperial propaganda, including political representation of the citizenry. These functions, and various aspects of Imperial cults in Greece, are treated in Wiseman 1984. For cults in the Roman West, see Fishwick 1978. 9 Kolendo 1981; Lomas 1997, 38-39; for Crete, see Baldwin-Bowsky 1994, 11. 140 1982, 39 and also Watrous et al. 1993, 233.

(Baldwin-Bowsky 1994, 22-24); for the practice more generally, see MacMullen 1990: 60-62. The retention of Greek language elements as an expression of ethnic definition and mediation in the imperial context of Magna Graecia is explored in Lomas 1995, 107-120. Crete was acquainted with Romans well before the conquest: Livy (37.60) reports that in 189 B.C. Quintus Fabius Labeo attempted to reclaim Roman captives from Crete, and that only Gortyna cooperated, alone yielding 4000

41 Lomas 1995, 29-31.

parpons * Gill 1994; Arafat and Morgan

A wholesale acceptance of Roman identity can equally be rejected; the practice among the aristocracy of combining Cretan personal names with Roman cognomina only begins to illustrate the complexities of the process

1994.

145 Alcock 1994, 175. 46 Politics 1269 a 29-1269 b 12 and 1272 a 40-1272 b 23.

20

balance of relations between serf and master from, of course, the latters’ perspective. !47 These dialogues are rich in the innuendoes, or ‘hidden transcripts’ sought by resistance model advocates to account for ‘discrepant experiences.’ 148 They remind us that it is an oversimplification to attribute relevance of this kind of analysis solely to the imperial situation; pre-existing, internal relations of power must also contribute significantly to our reading of cultural transitions.

147 Politics, ibid.; Laws V1 776-778.

48 The terminology and aims of this approach are presented in the introduction to Mattingly 1997b, 7-24.

21

CHAPTER 3: ANCIENT CRETE IN REGIONAL SURVEY

3.1

aspects of Crete during the Empire (“The Economy”, “Religion”, “Architecture”, etc.), but the enduring significance of the book is grasped in “Settlement Patterns in Roman Crete”; this chapter provides a region by region study of site distributions and hierarchies in the Hellenistic and Roman periods,

Introduction

Following a brief review of approaches and problems in archaeological survey that relate to the recovery of early historical settlement on Crete, this chapter focuses on the findings of regional, multi-period survey projects that are now available in publication. Investigated areas are considered in turn, with concentration on those aspects of settlement and economy that address, as far as each database allows, the research questions set out in Chapter 1. Trends and variations across these regions are then highlighted in discussion, and where appropriate are compared with patterns observed elsewhere in Mediterranean survey, especially mainland Greece. As noted in the Introduction, the Hellenistic and Early Roman periods remain the primary interest here, but where possible earlier and later trends will also be included; broad chronological frameworks not only provide a context for examining change, but help to illustrate the relative capacities of regions for settlement, independent of short-term circumstance.

considered within the known historical circumstances

specific to each. Every multi-period survey project since its publication has profited from the broad outlines of settlement history provided in these regional treatments. The general, island-wide settlement trends identified by Sanders (a predominantly nucleated, urban-based pattern in the Hellenistic period, followed by a more dispersed rural pattern in the Roman period) still hold up well for some regions, although developments in these periods can_ no longer be characterized as standard across Crete. Sanders did not have the opportunity to explore the use of intensive approaches in surface survey and, as is to be expected, herein lies the major source of discrepancies now noted in some regions. He did focus particularly on one area, the fertile Mesara plain in Central Crete, and published separately an expanded version of this study.4 The results, set against recent intensive survey of the western half of the plain by L.V. Watrous et al., demonstrate what is now a platitude in Mediterranean studies: that only intensive surveying can hope to recover the smallest-order sites. For the Mesara, this has meant the difference between a largely nucleated pattern observed for pre-Roman periods (Sanders) and a highly dispersed rural pattern that is now apparent in Classical and Hellenistic times (Watrous).> A problem fully acknowledged by Sanders, and one not yet consistently surmounted in survey projects, is the dating of historical pottery on sites. Archaic through Early Roman surface sherds suffer most from lack of periodization, and this applies

3.2 Regional Survey Review Ian F. Sanders’ book Roman Crete: An Archaeological Survey and Gazetteer of Late Hellenistic, Roman and Early Byzantine Crete, remains the single most important resource for Hellenistic and Roman archaeology of the island. Published posthumously in 1982, this work contains descriptions-and where available supporting documentary evidence-—of all sites on Crete that were known to the author in the years when results from the first intensive regional surveys were just emerging.” Thematic chapters treat various

1 The main sources for the survey projects cited in this section are: Kavousi: Haggis 1996, 373-432; Haggis 1992. Vrokastro: Hayden, Moody, and Rackham 1992, 293-354. Lasithi: Watrous 1982. Mesara: Watrous et al. 1993, 191-248; Sanders 1976, 131-37. Ayiofarango: Blackman and Branigan 1977, 13-84; Blackman and Branigan 1975, 17-36. Knossos: Hood and Smyth 1981. Sphakia: Nixon et al. 1994; Nixon et al. 1990, 213-220; Nixon et al. 1989, 201-215; Nixon, Moody, and Rackham 1988, 159-173. Sanders amasses and re-examines numerous observations of early explorers: the fifteenth-century accounts of Buondelmonti (1987); Onorio Belli, whose sixteenth-century manuscript is presented in Falkener 1854; Robert Pashley 1837; and T.A.B. Spratt 1865. More recent archaeological surveys that figure prominently include J.D.S. Pendlebury

1939, numerous yearly publications in the 1950’s and 1960’s by Paul Faure and Sinclair Hood (largely appearing, respectively, in BCH and BSA), and reports of the Greek Archaeological Service appearing in ADel/t. The first intensive regional survey in Crete was carried out by David Blackman and Keith Branigan in the early 1970’s while Sanders pursued his own study, and he was able to draw on the published results in Blackman and Branigan 1975; results

of L.V. Watrous’ intensive survey of the Lasithi Plain were

also available in a dissertation (1974), later to be published in Watrous 1982. 3 Sanders 1982, 30.

4 Sanders 1976. > Watrous et al. 1993, 230-231. 22

to fine and coarse wares alike; sherds from black-gloss wares produced locally can be just as difficult to place

within an Archaic to Late Hellenistic framework as

coarse ware sherds are for these and later periods. Where found, fine red-gloss wares fare better, because the Early and Late Roman shapes and fabrics are more easily distinguished, even when produced locally; where they are not found, the difficulties of moving beyond a broad Greco-Roman dating scheme are rife, especially where detailed coarse ware studies have yet to be carried out.° In cases where the primary interest of investigators is prehistoric settlement patterns, specialized attention to historical material tends to be delayed, and no doubt these results will also in due course be made available. For the time being, our ability to distinguish and compare Hellenistic and Roman settlement patterns remains hindered in some, but not all, regions intensively surveyed. Apart from Moody’s KASP project, seven regional surveys on Crete have so far produced historical settlement data amenable, in varying degrees, to comparative study. The surveys considered below are: in East Crete, projects at Kavousi and Vrokastro; in East Central Crete, the Lasithi Plain; in Central Crete, investigations in the Western Mesara, the Ayiofarango Valley, and in the vicinity of Knossos; and in West Crete, the Sphakia project (fig. 1.8 All of these regions, with the exception of Knossos, were the focus of intensive, multi-period survey; the Knossos survey data nevertheless represent many years of cumulative investigations within a small area in which it is unlikely that surface remains, if preserved to see, have been overlooked. Combined, the total area covered by these surveys (roughly 300 sq km) is but a small percentage of the island’s surface (ca. 8,224 sq km), yet it is fair to say that a representative cross-section of Crete’s diverse habitats is gradually emerging. The scale of the territories surveyed for the most part reflects goals of complete archaeological recovery, accompanied by detailed environmental assessments that are less feasible across very large areas under normal permit time constraints.” If we

© These challenges are apparent, for example, in the Vrokastro and Sphakia projects where imported fine wares appear to be scarce on many sites in historical periods: Hayden, Moody, and Rackham 1992, 333; Nixon et al. 1990,

217.

7 Investigations at Aghia Photia and Mallia have yet to make historical findings fully available: Tsipopoulou 1989; Miiller

1990, 921-930, and 1992, 742-753. See note 1 above for references.

Most surveys in Crete cover between 20 and 50 square kilometers. This coverage is consistent with recent survey projects in mainland Greece and the Cycladic islands, many of which are small compared to earlier, groundbreaking

consider that approximately fifty-five per cent of the island’s surface has an elevation above 400 m, it is easy to comprehend howa terrain radically bisected by uplands and valleys also selects for the definition and investigation of manageable landscape units.!9 That this same terrain in no way predicts the disposition of

ancient settlement was

early on made

clear in the

survey of the Lasithi Plain, and the challenge of incorporating extreme topographic variation within single surveys has recently met success in the projects at Kavousi, Vrokastro, and Sphakia. ! | Although methods employed in identifying and recording sites are explicitly laid out in most of the survey projects considered here, in few cases has this carried through to the consistent and detailed publishing of site features and measurements, or assessments of function, for early historical periods. To a great extent, this reflects a healthy caution in the face of significant difficulties in interpreting these

facets on multi-period sites. It is doubtful that a single

region of Crete exists that preserves great occupational

clarity,

and

precedents

are

admittedly

few

for

characterizing surface assemblages and features of any particular phase. The relative rarity of undisturbed sites is, of course, not specific to Crete, and is certainly not the whole problem. 2 Results from several surveys point to another challenge: in some regions sites simply lack distinguishing architectural characteristics for the periods in question. The Anopolis plain in Sphakia is instructive, where neither the small and large rural sites, nor the polis itself, preserve evidence of ashlar masonry or the use of concrete or brick. We may extrapolate from this that the entire region existed at a single socio-economic level in both periods, but can we be certain that these criteria are a sufficient gauge of local prosperity or class differences between sites? In such cases, especially where foundations are not preserved, there are genuine difficulties in developing site typologies beyond the criterion of size and artifacts present. The implications of this phenomenon are, and have been, significant in attempts to characterize, and date, sites. Chronologies employed surveys tend not to

for Greek periods suffer from the

in these lack of

surveys in Messenia, Euboea and Arcadia (ranging from 3500 to 5000 sq km); the benefits of wide coverage seem to be inevitably undermined by extensive recovery techniques, a problem fully explored in Alcock 1993, 35-37. 10 igures from Allbaugh 1953, 42. With the aid of ethnographic study, Watrous demonstrates that mountain travel is not a significant hindrance to highland economies on Crete (1982, 6). IZ Parallel difficulties caused by site reuse are explored in Jameson, Runnels, and van Andel 1994, 248.

3.2.1 EAST CRETE (fig. 2)

standardization observed for mainland projects; but not, perhaps, for the right reasons: the majority of Cretan projects make no explicit attempt to define beyond an ‘Archaic’, ‘Classical’, and these periods ‘Hellenistic’? framework, and in few cases are these

epochs

further

subdivided

into

‘early’

and

East Crete is represented by two nearly contiguous regions, Kavousi and Vrokastro, each the focus of intensive, systematic survey. Both regions lie at the north end of the Ierapetra isthmus that forms the narrowest north-south land bridge of the island, and include coastlines that form the southern border of the These investigations share two Bay of Mirabello. special features: 1) they are located in areas of unremarkable resource potential, like much of the island, and may therefore claim wider relevance than study areas of unusually productive land, such as the Mesara and Lasithi Plains; 2) the projects aim to provide a regional context for Late Bronze and Early Iron Age excavations, but neither depends on the existence of a large nucleated center to define or characterize the study area (neither region possesses, or is situated very near to, a large polis or prehistoric palace center). Donald Haggis, director of the Kavousi project, acknowledges that this approach may be on a focus but defends subject to criticism, potential the stressing “micro-regional patterns” by variability of settlement at different scales of analysis, and suggesting that localized activity within a landscape may be over-reached by strict adherence to hierarchical models designed to accommodate primary centers; this latter is only one, among other scales, that warrant consideration. Translated for early historical periods, the emphasis on rural settlement invites analysis to proceed independently of the traditional is society ancient which in paradigm, polis by defined y geographically, socially, and economicall Is this approach an indivisible astu/chora unit. justifiable?

‘late’

phases; this is, of course, symptomatic of the state of The historical pottery studies mentioned above. an is al. et Watrous by Mesara the investigation of that with line in much y chronolog a exception, offering recently advanced by Susan Alcock for the mainland, apart from the terminus date of the Hellenistic period: Orientalizing through Archaic periods = ca. 725-500 B.C., Classical period = ca. 500-325 B.C., Hellenistic period = ca. 325-69 B.c.!4 Only two survey projects, Ayiofarango and Knossos, make a distinction between ‘early’ and ‘late’ Hellenistic occupation; dates are not

given, but a division at ca. 250-200 B.C. is implied in

the discussions.!> The mid-first century B.C. conquest continues to define the Hellenistic/Roman transition in Crete; the effects of earlier Roman involvement on Hellenistic institutions prior to formal acquisition cannot yet be shown to warrant a revision of this traditional, event-based juncture as they have in Most of the projects follow mainland Achaia. Early Roman/Late Roman the placing in Sanders only Vrokastro differs A.D.; 400 ca. at transition Where 550 AD.!7 of date a with ly significant (‘First period Roman Late the stated, explicitly generally is some) by usage preferred the is Byzantine’ carried down to the Arab conquest of Crete in 827

A.D.

Settlement data from these surveys is summarized below. The resolution of Sanders’ regional settlement studies remains questionable in areas not intensively surveyed, yet neither can these findings be ignored where they help to fill out an island-wide picture. His observations, especially for areas of Crete not systematically traversed, will be included in the

Political geography indicates that, for these regions, it Both projects acknowledge the difficulty of is. reconstructing territorial boundaries in the Classical and Hellenistic periods. Probable secondary centers, or towns, are identified in the areas surveyed, yet they lie at the margins of two powerful, contesting city-states: Hierapytna at the southern end of the Polis parentage isthmus, and Lato to the northeast. indicates evidence remains in doubt, and inscriptional The fluctuated. have may that control of these regions “Preliminary that, Vrokastro investigators comment results indicate the primarily rural or ‘intermediate’ nature of the region during most periods: it was a border area, crossed by routes between more celebrated places.” The significance of these regions as territorial Their established. therefore, seems, frontiers polis hierarchical other participation in one or the that approach an and structures can hardly be assumed, this from valid entirely seems targets a smaller scale perspective.

discussion.

13 For problems with chronological frameworks in Greece, see Alcock 1989b, 11, note 20.

Alcock’s attempt at a standard chronology is found in 1993, 36, table 3. > Hood and Smyth 1981,19; Blackman and Branigan 1975,

30-31.

This

Hellenistic

subdivision

also

accords

with

Alcock (ibid.), but a chronological revision that combines the Late Classical and Early Hellenistic as a coherent period is increasingly advocated in mainland survey projects (see Jameson, Runnels, and van Andel 1994, 383).

6 For Achaia, see Alcock 1993, 218.

Reasons are not given; although the investigators opt to replace ‘Late Roman’ with ‘First Byzantine’, a logical starting point would still seem to be a century earlier, in keeping with the fluorescence of Christian basilicas on Crete.

24

this larger sphere of trade can only be surmised; there is no indication of varying status among the small sites, and fine wares appear to be found, primarily, at the small centers. This settlement pattern appears to hold into the Late Roman period, with a possible increase in size of the centers and some expansion in the highland

The Kavousi survey covers 21 sq km, and includes a roughly equal cross-section of mountains, foothills, and coastal alluvial plain. Highland areas of this region are well-watered by rain and perennial springs (annual rainfall is 800-1100 mm), and appear to have been suitable-if not always exploited—for terrace agriculture in all periods. The coastal plain is more arid, and with the exception of two fertile pockets, supports rocky soil of marginal use for dry farming. Taking evidence from all periods into account, Haggis identifies what he believes to be a “normative” pattern in settlement for the Kavousi region, consisting largely of dispersed, unranked clusters of rural settlement. Breaks in this pattern, he suggests, may be related to extra-regional conditions of trade and economy. One such break occurs in the seventh century B.C., entailing a depopulation of the landscape that was complete by Classical times, remaining so until the first century B.C. The abandonment is attributed to the increasing attraction of large polis centers elsewhere in East Crete, reflecting a realignment of economic activity away from small agricultural interests to international trade that focused on coastal centers. Off-site sherd densities are also low through these periods in Kavousi, indicating a lack, not only of habitation, but of agricultural activity.

areas as well.

|

The Vrokastro region lies to the west, just beyond the prehistoric town and hinterland of Gournia. For comparative purposes, the landscape is broadly similar to that of Kavousi, but lacks a sizable coastal plain. Apart from the narrow coastal strip and two river

valleys that drain the mountains, most of the 35 sq km

area surveyed lies in zones at elevations of 100-700 meters. These highlands are spring-fed and extensively terraced, with a sizable area of arable land, the Meseleri Basin, at the southern edge of the survey region. Development of settlement differs significantly from that at Kavousi. Seventeen Geometric and Archaic periods are here represented by two clusters of sites, in the southern highlands and in the north nearer the coast. Rural occupation intensified, possibly dramatically, in Classical and Hellenistic times; because Classical through Late Roman sites are for the most part treated collectively as “Greco-Roman”, it is difficult to say with assurance when a rural florescence actually occurs.

After conquering the neighboring city-state of Praesos, it is probable that Hierapytna, the most powerful of the Hellenistic East Crete city-states, extended control north to include most of the isthmus area by the end of the second century B.C. A process of re-occupation is traced at Kavousi beginning in the first century B.C.; by the second century A.D. approximately fifteen farms and two small nucleated settlements are established, dispersed on the peripheries of the plain and adjacent hills. At least some of the former produced olive-processing equipment, cisterns, and nearby burials. Remains of several large Roman buildings are found at the port settlement of Tholos, including one identified as an horreum. Haggis argues persuasively against the use of this facility for community storage, given the marginal potential of the plain’s alluvium that, at best, could support intensive agricultural strategies on a small scale. A preferred interpretation is that the warehouse served Hierapytna as a transit point for goods (often, presumably, grain) traveling the narrowest overland link between shipping routes in the southern and northern Mediterranean. A string of villages are identified along the isthmus, to the west of the Kavousi survey zone, that may have facilitated the north-south movement of surplus. In this context, the rural community at Kavousi is viewed as the result of expanding economic activity, and thus population, that targeted the north of the isthmus. Just how the livelihood of the farmers should be seen in relation to

A total of forty-four sites of these periods are identified, with particular concentrations in_ the Meseleri Basin and adjacent uplands, the fertile Istron River valley, and on or near the coast. The ancient town of Istron has been located with some certainty on the coast, and that of Oleros identified in the Meseleri highlands; the investigators note that a broad clustering of the smaller sites may reflect the separate territories of these minor centers. Epigraphic evidence suggests that Istron, once independent, lost ground in the Late Hellenistic period; whether to Lato or Hierapytna remains essentially unproven; the latter is favored in several discussions. The center appears to have relocated a half kilometer to the west, where a new concentration of material is found at the mouth of the Istron River valley. There are also preliminary indications from the survey that settling of the valley itself may, primarily, be a Roman phenomenon; if this is the case, then a shift in settlement pattern would now seem to favor the main route that connected Istron with

18 Sanders 1982, 11; Haggis 1996, 416; Chaniotis 1995, 75. M.W. — Baldwin-Bowsky = acknowledges the _I[ate second-century B.C. expansion against Istron by Hierapytna, but in discussing Early Roman territories writes that the

northern border of Hierapytna fell short of Istron, and lay rather at Oleros (1994, 6, 10).

25

Hierapytna. Apart from one site in this valley that appears to be an elite residence, site sizes, functions and the degree of continuity within Vrokastro remain to be assessed, as does the extent of Late Roman occupation. Surface pottery appears to be primarily of local origin throughout the Greco-Roman periods, with

growing citizen body.29 The coastal city lies in the driest portion of Crete, with limited agricultural

resources.

Evidence for settlement in the immediate

hinterlands is reviewed by M.W. Baldwin-Bowsky, but in the absence of intensive survey the pattern remains much as Sanders found it, virtually lacking in sites throughout the Hellenistic and Roman periods.~* For much of East Crete, evidence for Early Roman rural intensification may in part reflect a response to demographic trends rooted in the earlier period, and be Closely linked to developments in Hierapytna.

imported Roman fine wares only certain at the new

coastal center.

Thus, unlike Kavousi where expanding rural settlement on a plain of marginal productivity only accompanies new outside trade influences in Roman _ times, Vrokastro has an earlier history of dispersed rural settlement that may be seen to evolve more from the merits of the land itself, but always in the context of two contesting city-states. At Kavousi, the impact of Roman imperialism must be assessed as opportunism in a landscape that was otherwise unsettled (though not necessarily unutilized). At Vrokastro, we are aware that expansionist policies gripped the area well before the Roman conquest. Yet a preliminary study of the data suggests that only after the conquest is it possible to detect a new directionality in the settlement pattern, a visible response to outside influences. The patterns clearly call into question any easy acceptance of nucleation as the favored settlement response during Classical and Hellenistic periods in East Crete.

3.2.2 EAST CENTRAL CRETE (fig. 2) The highland plain of Lasithi (ca. 66 sq km) is the only region that has been intensively surveyed in this portion of Crete. At an elevation of 840 m with high rainfall (1500 mm), it supports a climate and growing regime that is exceptional on the island. Fertile soils of the plain and surrounding mountain foothills are further watered by springs and a river, and are especially suitable for grains, grapes and fruit trees; olives do not grow at this height. In historical times, occupation is attested by sites through the Archaic period; a reduction in settlement is apparent thereafter until the Roman period. This apparent nadir in population corresponds with the documented takeover of the territory in the sixth century B.C. by the nearby city-state of Lyttos which, it is claimed, reduced the region’s inhabitants to rent-paying serfs.22 Lyttos maintained control throughout antiquity, from its easily defended base on a mountain spur below Lasithi, and with a port on the north coast at Chersonisos.

In addition to these regions, one area further to the east warrants mention: the Siteia Valley, where Sanders identified what he felt to be a reasonably complete settlement pattern. 9 The inland Hellenistic city of Praesos dominated this fertile valley, with but a few small satellite sites, until it was destroyed by Hierapytna in the second century B.C. Thereafter the territory probably ceded to the city of Siteia on the north coast, which became independent at this time. The preliminary assessment suggests that small, dispersed sites became more numerous in the valley in the Early Roman period. The observed increase in rural sites here, at Kavousi, and likely Vrokastro (where again, it is not yet possible to isolate patterns of specific date) should also be considered in the context of recent historical and epigraphic studies of Hierapytna. A. Chaniotis presents a compelling case for demographic pressures in the city by Late Hellenistic times, which he views as the stimulus for aggressive campaigns to acquire more territory from some of its neighbors, and for initiation of numerous treaties with others, in order to secure lands for a

Lasithi was not totally depopulated in Classical and Hellenistic times, as a recent summary suggests.2> One sizable nucleated settlement is identified at Augousti in the center of the plain, and three smaller sites on the plain peripheries. Pendlebury excavated one of the latter, and found evidence in one building for wool processing. 4 Most of these continue to be occupied in the Roman period, but there is an increase in the number of small sites at this time, and a three-tiered hierarchy is now detectable with a town at Kardamoutsa and four smaller villages; altogether twenty-seven sites. Cretan comparanda for pottery

20 Chaniotis 1995, 74-75. 21 Baldwin-Bowsky 1994, 6-7.

Watrous 1982, 22-23; also discussed here is a third-century B.C. passage by Theophrastus that implicates climate change in these highlands as another possible factor in the reduction of Classical and Hellenistic settlement.

19 Sanders 1982, 17; although site intervals here are still considerably greater (between 3 and 5 km apart) than areas intensively surveyed (at Kavousi and Vrokastro many sites cluster at intervals of less than 0.5 kilometers).

23 Alcock 1994, 180. 24 Pendlebury 1936-37, 199. 26

study were limited at the time of this survey, and Early Roman components remain ambiguous; Late Roman finds point more definitely to a florescence at least by the fourth century A.D. The distribution of sites remains largely on the peripheries of the plain at intervals of approximately 1 km, but one or two sites on low-lying alluvium led the investigator, and others since, to speculate on the use of artificial drainage.*>

This settlement ebb may accord with advances over Knossian hegemony by the neighboring states of Lyttos and Gortyna. By Late Hellenistic times Knossos had not only recovered independence but acquired the

territories of Tylissos

covered an area of approximately 50-60 hectares.2? At this time only a cemetery was located on the outskirts, with little evidence for occupation in the valley outside the city proper.

Thirty years after the Roman conquest, Octavian granted the Italian colony at Capua the income from a sizable portion of land within the Knossian territory. Shortly thereafter, around 27 B.C., a colonia was established at Knossos, the only one known in Crete. It remains unclear whether this foundation was military or civilian, but among the settlers are names traced to southern Italy.-“ Landscape archaeology provides no evidence of formal re-organization, but there are clear signs of wealth entering the city in the preserved remains of an aqueduct, theaters, baths, sanctuaries, and other civic buildings. The size of Early Roman Knossos appears to conform with that of the earlier period, but for the first time there is expansion outside the city limits, where several suburban homes, or villas, have been identified. Artifacts were not collected during this survey, but Sanders observed large quantities of imported fine wares on the surface, and a rich assortment of imports is documented by recent excavations.2! Three Early Christian basilicas have been located in the vicinity, but occupation otherwise contracted in Late Roman times, and a shift to the more easily defended port at Herakleion is hypothesized.

pressures on the land. By comparison, there are fewer Roman sites per unit of land on Lasithi than in the far

less productive region of Kavousi, and half the number that is reckoned for that portion surveyed of the fertile Western Mesara region (discussed below), which is one-third the size.

3.2.3 CENTRAL CRETE (figs. 2 and 3) West and north of Lyttos lies the northern city of

Knossos whose historical edifices, where not already standing, are largely known as by-products of explorations of the Minoan palace (fig. 2). The area inventoried by Hood and Smyth is the well-watered lowland valley of the perennial Kairetos River, located inland behind the coastal hills of the port at Herakleion and circumscribed to the west, south and east by uplands. The investigation targeted the prehistoric center, the ancient polis to its northwest, and the limited valley hinterland surrounding these: a total of 10 square kilometers. Following a period of considerable activity in the Early Iron Age, Classical Knossos is characterized as a much diminished center.

from

several

sanctuaries,

evidence

This primarily urban survey includes only the immediate hinterland of Knossos, and the greater territory of the city-state remains to be systematically explored. The evidence compiled by Sanders indicates little rural activity in any direction beyond the survey limits until one reaches valleys 5-10 km to the south, where several small sites of Hellenistic, and more of Roman, date are identified. These cluster near the two small centers of Lykastos and Eltynaia, once independent, whose lands were probably incorporated by Knossos in Roman times and may have been farmed

for

occupation is slim; the possibility that the Roman urban center covers civic remains of this period is entertained, but difficult to substantiate on present evidence, and Classical burials in the area are scarce.

23

Watrous

1982,

1991, 115-121.

24; for further discussion

to the west.

possible to trace the extent of the civic center that

This is quite feasible given that sections of a massive aqueduct have been traced from Lasithi to Lyttos, and possibly from there to Chersonisos, the nearest thriving port.” Watrous dispels any impression of this region as insular or economically circumscribed by its seemingly remote geography. Even so, it may prove difficult to extrapolate from the evidence excessive

Apart

and Rhaukos

Hellenistic remains indeed are more plentiful, and it is

see Harrison

Sanders was less than convinced of a direct supply from

Lyttos to the coast, and located what he felt to be a likelier

28 For discussion of these events: Hood and Smyth 1981, 19; Sanders 1982, 11. P.J. Callaghan concurs that the city thrived at this time, based on the rich groups of pottery excavated at the Unexplored Mansion (1992, 136). These events are discussed in Sanders 1982, 5, 14, and Harrison 1988, 145.

source for Chersonisos (1982, 146). Excavations at the Unexplored Mansion may offer a different interpretation, where a significant quantity of Classical pottery was found as residual material in later deposits; it is suggested that extensive later terracing throughout the valley may have destroyed much of the evidence for Classical settlement (Callaghan 1992, 93).

31 Sackett 1992, 150-163; Hayes 1983, 97-169.

27

by tenants for Capua’s income.>* evidence illustrates one of the main

The Knossos challenges in

north edge of the plain can with assurance be identified as villas on the basis of architectural remains.2? In general, the small sites show little tendency to cluster around the towns, so occupants of the latter may have continued to farm surrounding land from their centers. This appears to be the case for Gortyna as well, but remains to be tested by intensive survey. The main features of the well-endowed capital are understood through standing remains and excavations, and the city proper occupied 150 hectares. Building activity suggests that Gortyna reached a peak of prosperity in the second century A.D. It continued to be important in Late Roman times, but a possible decline in the number of rural settlements is advanced, albeit tentatively, since quite a few sites are not closely dated. Classical antecedents were not included in this study, so for the present this evidence is limited to the intensive, multi-period survey in the Western Mesara.

reconstructing settlement patterns in Homer’s “land of a hundred cities”: the myriad forces at work in defining and redefining so many territorial frontiers and the fortunes of their centers threaten to make exceptional cases of pre-Roman patterns in nearly every region.

To the southeast lies the great alluvial plain of the Mesara, 60 km long and covering an area of 362 square kilometers: the largest, continuous tract of arable land in Crete (fig. 2). Rainfall is commensurate with that of East Crete, but two rivers nearly span the length of the plain, with old and deep soils forming in the basins. The Mesara is bounded by mountain ranges to the north, east and south, and broadens out to a coastal fan on the west where the perennial Ieropotamos empties. The Late Hellenistic city and Roman capital of Gortyna controlled the area from a central location on the plain, but in earlier periods the territory was divided among a number of small city-states. In his study of the Mesara, Sanders reconstructed the Hellenistic settlement pattern as consisting of some dozen towns and cities distributed on the peripheries of the plain or in the foothills, often littlke more than 7-8 km apart. These include Phaistos, which dominated the western end of the plain with a port at Matala; Gortyna, which is uniquely central and also controlled Rhytion near the east end of the plain; and the cities of Arkades and Priansos at the less fertile eastern extreme. Very few small rural sites were identified of this period. As with so many regions of Crete, the second century B.C. was notable for territorial aggression; ultimately, Gortyna destroyed Phaistos and expanded its hegemony across most of the Mesara.

Investigations by Watrous et al. provide thorough documentation of historical settlement patterns in the western portion of the plain, with clear periodizations and descriptions of assemblages that characterize sites of each period. The project targeted the territory around the prehistoric center and polis of Phaistos, an area of 22 square kilometers. The results show a hitherto unrealized level of rural activity. This development was already underway in the Early Iron Age: by the seventh century B.C. thirteen sites, including hamlets and _ single structure, were established in the immediate hinterland of the center at Phaistos. Site numbers double in the Classical period, and nearly all are identified as small, still suburban, farms with evidence for cottage industries (beehives, spindle whorls) and both domestic and imported pottery. Sites again double in number by the Hellenistic period, only the distribution is wider and the settlement hierarchy now includes the large center of Phaistos (with an area of one square kilometer), a town, numerous hamlets and single farms. 4 Industries represented are similar to those above, only olive presses and amphorae (along with imported fine wares)

Two new settlement trends are observed following the Roman conquest: several towns on the plain periphery move from their former defensive positions to lower

ground; small rural sites are now more numerous and

some of these occupy bottomland, suggesting more intensive land use. One rural group in particular interested Sanders, a string of sites across the eastern half of the plain, represented only by clusters of large cisterns. Remains of dwellings are not to be found, leading to speculation that these functioned as estate centers of absentee landlords; dating of the sites is not very secure, and some may be Late Roman. Apart from these postulated estates, only two sites at the

are now observed.

This period appears to represent the

peak of settlement in the region, and the investigators note that some farms are located on drier margins of productive land. Phaistos itself was largely abandoned in the second century B.C. following destruction and annexation by

33 These

32 The site of Karnari, between these centers, produced an inscription that concerns a dispute relating to the land grant (Ducrey 1969, 841). Sanders provides textual and

are at Zaro

and Nibritos,

and the former

is the

suggested residence of the governor of Gortyna (Sanders

1976, 134). These are ranked by size and provide, for the first time, a useful base for comparison across Crete (Watrous et al. 1993, 231).

epigraphic evidence that the Capua grant and establishment of the colonia were separate affairs, probably involving different lands within Knossian territory (1982, 14).

28

Gortyna. True continuity of habitation proves difficult to establish: there is a loss of sites nearest the city, but most rural sites in outlying areas are occupied in the Early Roman period, and some new farms are identified as well. Several of these are situated in wetter bottomlands, but it is not known if drainage measures would have been necessary to make such areas cultivable. Settlement hierarchies observed above appear to hold at this time. Pottery assemblages include domestic wares, amphorae, and local and imported fine wares, with a considerable rise in the latter compared to earlier periods. The same types of household industries prevail, and presses continue to be found. Cement is used in wall construction, a phenomenon rarely observed, or mentioned, in other surveys. A clear decline in site densities is observed beginning in the fourth century A.D., and only one-quarter of the former number show evidence of Late Roman occupation.

sites where these are Cretan surveys since.

preserved,

a rare

practice

in

Settlement on the coast is sparse in all periods, and there is-a complete break in activity from prehistoric times until late in the fifth century B.C. The harbor city of Lasaia was founded at this time on its small acropolis where little more than a temple is identified of this period, along with Early and Late Hellenistic sherds. The cemetery was located to the west of the town, and apart from that only two outlying sites, identified as farmsteads. At one of these, on a terraced knoll less than 0.5 km from Lasaia, the foundations of a courtyard house are preserved but these may belong to a later, Roman, phase. A second Hellenistic farm was located 3 km further west near the lesser natural harbor of Kaloi Limenes, and was also occupied later. In the Roman period Lasaia extended out over the headland below the acropolis, occupying an area of 2.5 hectares that included a series of warehouses on the shore. A small harbor settlement took root at Kaloi Limenes at this time, but there are no additional small sites until Late Roman times, and then only one. A stone quarry and two copper sources are known in the region, the latter near each of the harbor settlements. Evidence for exploitation in Greco-Roman times is tenuous, but one of the farms yielded a stone apparatus that may have been used for ore processing.>

Of all the regions surveyed in Crete, the Western Mesara is clearly an area where off-site sherd densities might be expected to he high. The average density per 100 square meters is computed at 3.17, and found to be comparable to those observed for the Nemea and Boiotia surveys on mainland Greece. The range of values, however, was found to be exceedingly wide and local effects have yet to be fully explored. > So far, only the Kavousi survey offers comparable off-site data, with averages (calculated for different portions of the plain) of 0.028 and 0.46 per 100 square meters. The low figures of the Kavousi survey are reasonably attributed to a lack of occupation prior to the Roman period. 6

The valley survey followed a narrow, 4-km swathe along the Ayiofarango River catchment. Drainage is seasonal, but springs erupt at the locations of Ag. Kyriaki and Gavaliana, both the focus for settlement at different times. As with the coastal survey, the earliest historical evidence comes from Late Classical foundations at Ag. Kyriaki, and by the Early Hellenistic period a complex of buildings were erected here that are identified with the cult of Asklepios. Outlying settlement at this time consists of two farms, located 1.5 and 3 km upstream. These and four additional farmsteads, both north and south of Ag.

Next, we have the evidence of the Ayiofarango project that consists of two small surveys in the coastal region beyond the Asterousia mountains to the south of the Mesara (fig. 2). The five kilometers of dry coastal strip that forms one survey area was perhaps more important for mineral resources and the harborage of its small center, Lasaia, than the productivity of its land. Better soils are found in the second area, the lower catchment of the Ayiofarango Valley that is accessed from the coast to the west of Lasaia. It is likely that both areas formed a territory that was dependent on Gortyna throughout early historical times. As with the other groundbreaking surveys on Crete, coarse ware comparanda were limited, and the investigators acknowledge that fine wares were most often employed to date the sites. The coastal survey remains exceptional for publishing plans of the surface

Kyriaki, were occupied in the Late Hellenistic period.

Limited excavations showed that the cult center was abandoned in the first century B.C., an event that is tied to Gortynian patronage of the sanctuary at Lebena to the east. The cult appears to have been the main draw for habitation at Ag. Kyriaki, since by Early Roman times there is a shift in settlement emphasis to the north at Gavaliana, an area that supports more cultivable land. A small, nucleated settlement appears to have existed here, with three new farmsteads in the immediate hinterlands. A terminus date for the Late Hellenistic farms could not be established, so it is not clear that this shift represents any overall growth in the

35 Watrous et al. 1993, 220-21.

© Haggis 1996, 388-89.

37 Blackman and Branigan 1975, 27.

29

valley. A Late Roman decline is more definite, and is attributed to the increasing importance of Gortyna in the second century. The only remains are at three farms, with material of the fifth through seventh centuries A.D., after which the valley ceases to be occupied until late in the Byzantine period.

produced nine such sites, on slopes or elevated ground; in Amari they cluster in two small groups, and in Spili

are more

A priority of the valley survey was to attempt a calculation of land-use potential in the region, based on the ranking of modern soil conditions in contiguous zones. Relevance for ancient settlement must temper the results, but a carrying capacity of 102-140 individuals is advanced. The figures find some corroboration in population estimates, based on the number of habitations identified and nineteenth-century censuses for villages in the valley. Peak population in early historical times is estimated at 75-100 persons in the Late Hellenistic, with 75-85 persons in the Early Roman periods. Taken at face value, the results indicate that nearly as many people lived in the region as the land could support. A number of problems have

been

identified

with

this

type

of approach,

widely

dispersed

at intervals of about 5

kilometers. Physical geography may in part explain why these sites should develop here: the valleys are fertile and at high enough altitude (over 1000 m) to place them in a zone of moderately high rainfall (800-1100 mm annually, compared with 500-800 mm for the Mesara).2” They accessed ports to the south and to the north at Rethymnon (ancient Rithymna), and Sybrita managed to maintain its city status in the Roman period, by which time numerous others of the island’s interior had lost independence.

3.2.4

WEST CRETE (fig. 3)

Apart from the KASP project, West Crete is thus far represented by investigations of the eparchy of Sphakia on the south coast. This is a large area, spanning over 30 km of coastline and ascending inland from the coast some 16 km to the heights of Mt. Pakhnes (elevation 2452 m) in the White Mountains. Four small city-states fall within the project’s purview: (west to east) Poikilassion, Tarrha, Araden, and Anopolis with its port at Loutro). Each has been studied to some extent, but intensive survey coverage has _ targeted two regions in particular, the upland plain of Anopolis with its city, and the coastal plain of Frangokastello to the east that bears no clear polis identity. Because chronological divisions have yet to be worked out through pottery study, many sites remain characterized as Archaic through Roman in date, but some preliminary definitions are possible.

and

comparable calculations are not attempted for these periods by other survey projects on Crete.28 However approximate, the small size of the area does lend itself to better control of the environmental variables, and the order of magnitude is probably fairly accurate. It seems reasonable to observe that even in this remote and unremarkable valley the available resources were put to near optimum use. Additionally in Central Crete, Sanders investigated the two highland valleys of Amari and Spili, to the northwest of the Mesara, that warrant mention for the special character of their Roman sites (fig. 3). Both valleys have outlets on the south coast near Ag. Galini (ancient Soulia) and extend from there some 25 km to the north (Amari) and northwest (Spili) through the mountains until they are linked by a pass. Sites of known Hellenistic date in these valleys are predominantly nucleated settlements, presided over by the minor polis of Sybrita in Amari and the small town at Koxare Ambelo in Spili; only two or three smaller sites of this period are identified as outliers of Sybrita. The cities and towns continue to be occupied in the Early Roman period but small rural sites are now more numerous. In Amari these are liberally dispersed throughout the valley, although the recovered pattern is unlikely to be complete. Also at this time, but more apparent in the Late Roman period, is a series of sites classified by Sanders as villas, on the basis of building remains (“well built concrete walls’) that indicate investment beyond the norm. Together these valleys

At an elevation of 600-700 m the plain of Anopolis supports a somewhat wetter regime than the typically dry southern coastlines, and until recently was an important grain-producing area. The plain covers an area of about 12 square kilometers, and served as the immediate hinterland of the polis center that lay on a ridge at its southern rim. No coherent architectural plans were preserved on the site of the city itself, but surface remains cover an area of 10 hectares, and pottery of Classical and Hellenistic date is most prevalent. Forty-eight sites of Archaic through Roman date were found dispersed across the plain at intervals of 0.25-0.50 km, and a settlement hierarchy is identified that includes thirty-eight small farmsteads and ten hamlets. A Hellenistic-Roman phase is specifically identified on thirty-five of these sites. Early Roman imported pottery appears to be well represented, but wares of local origin predominate for

38 For problems in Osborne 1987, 44-45.

40 Sanders 1982, 12, 24.

calculating

land-use

potential,

39 Rainfall figures are from Rackham and Moody 1996, 35.

see

30

other periods. The city shows little evidence of occupation after the first century A.D., and appears to have shifted to Loutro on the coast at this time. Rural settlement continued on the plain, but only twenty sites were found to be occupied in the Late Roman period including, significantly, all those of hamlet size. In keeping with the proposed shift of activity to the coast, investigations at the site of Loutro (ancient Phoenix) found limited evidence of Classical and Hellenistic activity, but abundant finds of Early and Late Roman date extending over a larger area.

Similarly, the city of Tarrha at the west end of the eparchy moved from its hillside perch to the coast at

some point in the Roman period. As noted by the authors, the phenomenon of inland cities being eclipsed by coastal counterparts in Roman times has been observed elsewhere on Crete. Four other instances that can be identified are Knossos / Herakleion, Lato / Ag. Nikolaos, Priansos / Inatos, and Polyrrhenia / Kissamos.4! Most of the island’s coastlines are represented by these cases and the pattern can only be symptomatic of Crete’s increasing security and participation in Méediterranean-wide commerce following the conquest. The coastal plain of Frangokastello occupies about 10 square kilometers, but survey coverage extended north into the base of the mountains as well. The region is described as relatively infertile, but is crossed by two seasonal rivers and until recently was cultivated in grain. In the Archaic period a small nucleated settlement existed in the foothills, which by Classical times had shifted to slightly lower ground. Several smaller sites were dispersed in these same hills, and a great many more on the plain itself, totaling twenty-three of Archaic through Early Roman date. A Late Roman phase was clearly isolated on the plain, with interesting results: twenty-two sites of this period are identified and most of them are new, with only eight preserving evidence of earlier occupation. There are two nucleated settlements; the other sites are small, often little more than 0.50 km apart. Remnants of field-wall systems have been partially reconstructed,

and estate size is calculated at 10 to 25 hectares.

1982,

30-31,

A large portion of West Crete, beyond Sphakia in the south and Khania in the north, has yet to be intensively surveyed. Known sites are plentiful, yet in no single area can clear patterns of rural settlement be extracted from the evidence compiled by Sanders. Hellenistic urban sites have probably been fully identified in the southwest region, including the main centers at Elyros, Lissos and Hyrtakina, but predictably very few small sites of this period are identified. The centers continue to be occupied in the Roman period, and there is limited evidence for the expansion of sites onto the coastal plains, particularly on the stretch of coast between Cape Krio and Paleokhora where several late villages are identified. Exploitation of the region’s metal resources is apparent at the inland sites of Sklavopoula, Kampanos, and Kantanos, which produced evidence for mining of copper and iron ores, namely adits, and at the latter a smelting furnace of Roman construction was also located.42 The disposition of urban sites is similarly known in the northwest corner of the island, most of which fell under the domain of the inland city Polyrrhenia, whose territory bordered that of Kydonia to the east. The coastal plain stretching between the Gramvousa and Rhodopou peninsulas is certain to have been important for agriculture, but known sites of Hellenistic date appear to concentrate mainly on the coast. Among these is Kissamos that attracted much patronage in Roman times, and may have replaced Polyrrhenia in importance. A few Roman sites have been identified on the plain, but most of these remain poorly defined. Exceptions are one certain nucleated settlement at Troulli (ancient Rhokka) and several sites located at the base of the Rhodopou peninsula, some 5 km apart, that Sanders identifies as possible villas on the basis of features such as bath remains, concrete walls, or columns.

The

Early/Late Roman discontinuity seems radical and remains to be fully explored. A patent observation is that all four cities to the west lack a similar coastal land resource. The desirability of a coastal location in Roman times is already indicated at Tarrha and Loutro, and an increase in urban populations may have spawned a new wave of rural dwellers to Frangokastello. As yet it is unclear if discontinuity on

4] All of these are treated in Sanders individual sites in his Gazetteer.

the plain represents a settlement hiatus followed by a new influx of inhabitants, or a more dramatic restructuring of occupied land.

with

3.3

Site Distribution Trends

It will be clear from the foregoing summaries that no single,

island-wide

trend

can

pre-Roman patterns of settlement.

be

identified

for

The results from

areas intensively surveyed are, however, sufficient to show that nucleation can no longer be considered the predominant form of polis organization across the landscape in the Classical and Hellenistic periods. The evidence, rather, invites a reversal of this position since

42 Sanders 1982, 171.

in only the Lasithi and Kavousi regions is dispersed settlement not in evidence until after the Roman conquest, and the latter was in any case unoccupied in the preceding periods. At least two regions, Vroskastro and the Western Mesara, show evidence of dispersed settlement already by Archaic times, with sites clearly favoring close proximity to regional centers. It proves difficult to isolate, more precisely, dispersal trends for succeeding periods. At present, only the Western Mesara and Ayiofarango surveys provide the definition necessary for comparing Classical and Hellenistic patterns. The former region demonstrates a fairly dramatic increase in small rural sites in the Classical period, while the latter shows the

Hellenistic period, when territorial disputes, enforced synoecisms, warfare and piracy were widespread in Crete. In particular, some reorganization of settlement might be predicted in those regions that fell under the influence of Hierapytna and Gortyna in the second century B.C. If Hierapytna’s expansionist policy aimed at emigration of a citizen body it could no longer support off its own poor land, an increase in activity might be expected in better endowed peripheral regions." " The impression from the preliminary study is that Hellenistic and Roman settlement densities were high in the frontier region of Vrokastro, but a period of florescence is not yet identified. That Kavousi should not have been targeted at this time is curious, but may be explained by an as yet undeveloped landscape and the limited prospects of a region no more fertile than at home.

beginnings of a dispersal trend by the Early Hellenistic

period. The disposition of rural sites indicates that proximity to an administrative center remained important, and at least modest growth is noted for the urban sites of both regions. These observations probably apply equally in the Vrokastro region where clearly some of the outlying “Greco-Roman” sites include phases of Classical date, and on the Anopolis Plain in Sphakia as well.

The isolated Ayiofarango valley may have been relatively unaffected by these processes; only here is the Late Hellenistic isolated as an occupation phase, where it appears to represent the peak of settlement in early historical periods. The Western Mesara also achieved its peak in site densities in the Hellenistic period. The immediate effects of Gortynian expansion are seen in the abandonment of Phaistos and its inner ring of rural sites. The century between this event and the Roman conquest is not explicitly accounted for, and we must assume from the statement, “most rural Hellenistic settlements in the Western Mesara continued to be occupied in the Early Roman period,” that the outlying sites remained inhabited after Gortynian annexation. Their survival may tentatively be credited to the existence of numerous second-order sites, or villages, in the region that could buffer the loss of Phaistos.4° There is no reason to assume that Gortyna’s motives for expansion were the same as those posited for Hierapytna, and no obvious impact on the rural sector in the western half of the plain can be detected. Reorganization based not so much on shifting populations or reallocation of land, but that aimed to increase the territory from which income could be derived, might be achieved with little visible change in the lower levels of a settlement hierarchy.4®

All told, it can be claimed that dispersed settlement, and by implication intensified land use, was a developing feature within the Classical polis. The pattern at this point cannot easily be equated with extreme pressures upon the land; rural establishments are not pushing the limits of state territories, but supplying the demand of their own from an as yet convenient distance with the added benefit of security. The Late Classical/Early Hellenistic transition on Crete must here be bridged with these same observations, but with little conviction, given the coarse resolution of survey data at this time. The pattern intensifies in the

Hellenistic

period,

with

regions

of Central

Crete

showing a marked increase in rural sites numbers, and wider distributions, from the previous period. We can provisionally add to this the Anopolis Plain in the west, where a Hellenistic/Roman phase is identified on the majority of sites. Settlement hierarchies here and in the Western Mesara illustrate the development of infrastructures to serve expanding rural patterns of some permanence. The largest administrative centers of all regions supporting rural settlement at least show evidence of occupational stability, and in some cases growth, at this time.

44 Epigraphic evidence exists for at least one such emigration of Hierapyna’s citizens to an as yet unidentified

neighboring territory (discussed in Chaniotis 1995, 74).

Few, if any, of the regions surveyed can have been unaffected by conditions prevailing in the Late

Conversely, evidence from surveys elsewhere in the Greek world may indicate that a decline in rural settlement accompanies abandonment of urban’ centers where

second-order sites are proportionately few or lacking in the

settlement system; for example, Jameson, Runnels, and van Andel 1994, 89, 383, 394; Cherry, Davis, and Mantzourani

43 Patterns of dispersed settlement are now believed to have been the norm in mainland Greece during the Classical and Early Hellenistic periods (Jameson, Runnels, and van Andel 1994, 392; Hanson 1995, 51-53).

1991, 336-349; Mendoni 1994, 150-51.

For various forms of territorial reorganization, see Alcock

1989a, 109-111.

32

Much depends on our understanding of the hinterlands and extended territory of Gortyna, which at present provides no indication of pressures on the land in pre-Roman periods. | Generally, the disposition of settlement at this time is inconclusive regarding signs of insecurity. Crete itself

may

have

spawned

more

the

Late

Roman

period

than

its

fair

share

of

privateers in the Mediterranean, but it is reasonable to assume that the coastlines at home were not immune from this activity at a time of internal warring. Nevertheless, the evidence from Vrokastro, the Ayiofarango coast, and the Frangokastello Plain in Sphakia suggests that where land resources permitted, pre-Roman rural settlement did not shun a presumably more vulnerable existence in coastal areas. Not until

are

defensive

walls

These observations suggest that the primary difference between Hellenistic and Roman rural systems lies not in the fact of intensified land use, but where resources could feasibly be developed in this manner, within the political and economic parameters obtaining in each

period.

A lingering of Doric customs, the nebulous

explanation often used to account for the once-perceived urban focus of Hellenistic Crete, can at least be discounted as a prominent factor in either period. Territorial constraints inherent to a system of numerous, independent city-states clearly operated on rural development prior to the Roman conquest. Hierapytna provides our best example of how inequalities in resource distribution, combined with political circumscription, might lead to _ radically

different survival strategies. In terms of its effects on the settled landscape, the political unification of the

systematically built on Crete. Pre-Roman fortifications are identified at less than a dozen urban sites in Sanders’ gazetteer; most of these are inland, and only three are judged to be specifically of Hellenistic date. Rural sites as yet can add little to the topic since architecture, and thus the presence or absence of towers, appears to be rarely preserved for reporting; none of the farmhouse foundations recorded at Ayiofarango provided evidence of this sort.

island can, in theory, be viewed as a continuation of state consolidation processes (and thus the elimination of borders and frontier zones) already set in motion in the Hellenistic period. What is more visible in the Roman period is a widening of economic parameters, suggested by lateral expansion into new areas, regional shifts in rural settlement, the relocating of some cities to the coasts, and in some cases the movement of centers to lower ground.

A substantial increase in rural activity across the island is apparent following the Roman conquest. The pattern

The majority of regions register a downward trend in settlement densities beginning in the Late Roman period and continuing up to the Arab conquest. In a few cases it is possible to detect, not an absolute decline in all classes of sites, but a loss that targets the smallest-order sites (for example, Anopolis, the Mesara, and Ayiofarango, where the coastal city and environs of Lasaia out-survive the small rural sites in the valley). There are also signs, in the Mesara and the Amari and Spili valleys, that large rural sites not only survive, but develop at this time. The Late Roman

of development at this time follows specific lines, and

also helps to characterize trends of the preceding period. Most notable is that the regions of Lasithi and Kavousi are now thoroughly settled following a period of low, or no, site densities. Only provisionally can areas like the Siteia Valley, the Amari and Spili Valleys, the hinterland of Knossos, and others investigated by Sanders be included, pending intensive survey. If a peak in site densities is already attained in the Ayiofarango and Western Mesara regions in the

previous period, there is no discernible fall-off in the

number of Early Roman sites. A break in continuity is indicated in the Ayiofarango Valley, accompanying a shift in site locations, yet the total number of sites seems to remain constant. A similar pattern is apparent in the Mesara, where a loss of those rural sites around Phaistos is compensated by the founding of new outlying sites. For these regions, the Roman patterns have every appearance of responding to a previously established threshold of settlement, regardless of how the tenures of individual sites may have been affected. A shift in site location favoring inter-regional communication routes is also indicated at Vrokastro, but it is not yet clear how this affected settlement densities from one period to the next.

period on Crete is notable for the number of fortresses

built, certainly in response to Arab raids from the sea. This threat falls one to two centuries later than the nucleation trends noted in several regions, so that explanations other than security must be sought. What is more, there are three important exceptions to the pattern: at the coastal plain of Frangokastello a new wave of dispersed sites occurs at this time, and the regions of Lasithi and Kavousi demonstrate, if anything, an increase in settlement densities.

3.4

Site Classifications

As indicated in Section 3.2, Cretan scholars are at an early stage in defining the various classes of historical sites that might be manifest in the survey record. Where attempted, functional categories naturally

follow scales dependent on the range of site sizes to be found in a particular region. In most cases a simple three-tiered settlement hierarchy can be identified in the Hellenistic period, consisting of small outlying sites (usually identified as farmsteads, sometimes more cautiously as individual buildings), larger outlying sites (most often identified as hamlets, but sometimes as villages, or simply clusters of buildings), and administrative centers (of a polis, although sometimes this lies outside the survey area as in Lasithi or the Ayiofarango Valley). A more complex hierarchy is detectable at this time in the Western Mesara, with the added category of a town, smaller than the city of Phaistos, and larger than the other outlying sites. Only here and in Sphakia are absolute measurement classifications provided for outlying sites. The figures are comparable, even though the Sphakia sizes are acknowledged to represent an accumulation of material spanning several periods, and for the Mesara we are only given the length of the larger site categories as measured along transects. In Sphakia the small sites fall within a range of slightly over 1.0 ha or less, with architectural debris noted as covering an area of 0.01 ha or more, which minimum figure accords well with the dimensions of preserved farmhouse foundations in the Ayiofarango valley. The maximum measurement for this class of site in the Mesara appears to be 1.0 ha, but most are about 0.25 ha in size. Larger outlying sites in both areas fall roughly between 1.0 ha and 3.0 hectares.47 Such classifications are essentially arbitrary; nevertheless, the size range of small sites tends to be inclusive, and elsewhere it is argued that sites of 0.50 to 1.0 ha in size may form a class of establishment distinct from the smallest farm.*8 After the destruction of Phaistos, the settlement structure in the Western Mesara reverts to a three-tiered hierarchy, which is maintained through the Early Roman period. A three-tiered hierarchy continues to characterize the regions of Anopolis and Ayiofarango, and to these may be added Kavousi with farm and hamlet-sized sites and a presumed, if distant, administrative center at Hierapytna; also Knossos, which achieves at least this level of complexity following the annexation of smaller poleis to the south. Only at Lasithi do we find a Roman settlement hierarchy comparable to that of the pre-Roman Western Mesara, with farms, hamlets, a town, and the city of Lyttos outside the survey area. It is worth noting that the more complex settlement patterns developed in precisely those regions of greatest farming potential, but the phenomenon cannot be tied

47 Hamlet-sized sites in the Western Mesara are 100-250 m in length.

48 Whitelaw 1994, 172.

to developments of a particular era, and on Lasithi it is most clearly defined in the Late Roman period. A leveling out of settlement hierarchies certainly accompanied the Late Roman contraction of settlement noted in many regions. Specifically, a drop in the number of small rural sites is observed in the Mesara, and at Anopolis following the withdrawal of the center to the coast at Loutro, whereas the larger rural sites tend to survive in both areas. At the upper end of the hierarchy some cities, such as Knossos and the capital

of Gortyna,

show

a steady

decline

throughout

the

period, but it is too early to claim this as an island-wide trend, and some centers, such as Lasaia, appear to survive the depletion of their hinterlands. A new two-tiered system of farmsteads (0.75 ha) and hamlets (3.35 ha) at Frangokastello belongs to this phase, with no large administrative center identified. As noted above, not all regions support a general picture of decline; the positive growth observed at Kavousi and Lasithi is accompanied by no apparent change in

settlement hierarchies.

Discussions of rural settlement inevitably face the methodological issue of identifying seasonal use versus permanent habitation of sites. The question is significant insofar as patterns of residency bear heavily on our reading of nucleated or dispersed patterns in the landscape, and on the social and economic relationships that prevailed between urban and rural sectors. Most survey archaeologists acknowledge that even in the best of conditions, only tenuous links can be made between assemblages found on small surface sites and a certain identification of permanent residency, and that the most this line of evidence can really hope to demonstrate are prolonged episodes of occupation. *” With acceptance of this limitation, there is also the recognition that it poses no great hindrance to the study of land use, because high densities of rural sites, whether they represent seasonal field-shelters or permanent dwellings, still point to intensified production in a region. For this level of analysis the cumulative evidence from Cretan surveys is not great, but where it exists it is sufficient to show that many sites identified as

49 For general discussion of this problem in Mediterranean

survey, see Whitelaw 1994, 164-186; Jameson, Runnels, and van Andel 1994, 248-50; Alcock, Cherry and Davis 1994, 160-63; Alcock 1993, 60-61; Participant discussion in Wells 1992, 59-60. Hanson is more optimistic in equating dispersed settlement with rural residency, and presents very good reasons why this was a practical necessity for intensive agriculture (1995, 53-63).

90 Alcock 1989b, 16.

farmsteads were indeed dwelled in for some length of time, and thus were not simply storage buildings. Our best evidence comes from the Ayiofarango coast and valley, where foundations of four Hellenistic and Roman farmhouses were found relatively intact. The plans of two of these consist of two or three undifferentiated rooms; the other two have ranges of rooms surrounding a central yard, and are clearly courtyard-type dwellings of a type better known on the mainland.-! Plans are not available elsewhere, but in the Western Mesara assemblages characteristic of small Hellenistic and Roman sites are described in detail. These include roof tiles, a full range of coarse domestic wares, fine wares, lamps, and the usual artifacts of weaving (loomweights, spindlewhorls) that are perhaps most indicative of long-term residence by a family unit, since the women’s looms are unlikely to have been transported at a whim. Less certain, but suggestive, are the small sites at Kavousi, at least some of which are associated with burials. With the exception of Haggis’ study of Tholos, the functions of larger sites have yet to be explored, and for the present we lack the means for evaluating their regional roles as marketing or administrative centers. The ambiguities apply equally in our current understanding of elite rural establishments. We know that they existed: thirty-one of the sites in Sanders’ gazetteer of Crete are listed as definite or probable villas, mostly of Late Roman date. These possess the usual complement of features (mosaics, hypocausts, columns, exotic stone fragments, and walls of tile or brick-faced concrete) associated with such buildings elsewhere in the empire. Sanders identifies groups of late villas in the Amari and Spili valleys and in northwest Crete, but otherwise they are known as isolated cases with little discernible pattern. Villas of Early Roman date appear to be rare, with a predilection for the island’s coastlines (see Chapter 2.3.2). In only two of the regions surveyed, Vrokastro and Knossos, have sites been identified as certain or possible villas.>> Apart from these, multi-period survey has added virtually nothing to this corpus, and we must conclude either a very low rate of preservation (or high

51 For excavated Classical and Hellenistic farmhouses, see J.E. Jones, Graham, and Sackett 1973; J.E. Jones 1963; J.E. Jones, Sackett and Graham 1962. Survey and partial excavations in the hinterland of Patrae have recovered foundations of Roman farmsteads: Petropoulos 1994, 405-424. The functions of this class of settlement are explored in Garnsey 1998, chapter 7. 3 Site PR 1 at Vrokastro (Hayden, Moody, and Rackham 1992, 299-300, note 27); sites 153, 177, and 195 at Knossos, all located immediately south of the city limits (Hood and

Smyth 1981, 22, 29, and site catalog.

rate of reuse) for such features, that the luxury country residence was not a _ particularly widespread phenomenon on Crete, or that its development was restricted to areas not yet intensively surveyed. As mentioned, recent surveys are cautious in venturing distinctions between rural sites beyond the criterion of size, and of course one hectare can describe a hamlet as well as a large working estate, lacking in the obvious signs of luxury yet every bit a product of elite investment. There is reason to expect the existence of such estates on Crete (see Chapter 2.4), yet this class of site is notoriously difficult to identify in Mediterranean survey.-4 It is apparent that some regions, such as Sphakia, produced no appreciable evidence (such as ashlar masonry or concrete) for class differences among rural sites.~~ Only in the Western Mesara are brick and cement observed to be typical of surface assemblages for Roman rural sites, but variations

among

contemporary

structures

are not reported.> 6

The result, whether reflecting a genuine rarity in many regions or the preliminary nature of analyses, is that no new comparative data generated by intensive survey have been published for elite rural settlement.

3.5

Land Tenure

Susan Alcock outlined some ways in which settlement survey data can be used to identify changing patterns of land tenure. Though not a new approach, it explicitly recognized the potential impact of large-scale system transformations, such as those engendered by assimilation within the Roman empire, on_ the organization of agricultural economies and the patterns of landholding on which they are based. It also helped to break ground in the use of Mediterranean survey. data, by showing them uniquely capable of illustrating long-term trends in landholding patterns across large geographical areas. This emphasis acknowledges the inability of archaeology to expose the complexities of short-term change in land ownership and use to be expected in any region, but assumes that at a

sufficiently broad level it should be possible to identify coherent patterns resulting from the operation of

general forces over extended periods; targeting this level is precisely what allows us to discern changes in a system from one era to the next. Specifically, regional

4 For a rudimentary attempt see Alcock

Southern

Argolid

category may

project acknowledges

1989b,

include this class of site (Jameson,

and van Andel 1994, 249).

>> Nixon et al. 1989, 207.

56 Watrous et al. 1993, 233.

97 Alcock, 1989b, 5-34.

18-19; the

that their hamlet Runnels,

not necessarily compromised when land changes hands, the condition of tenancy warrants special caution. It is widely acknowledged that leasing of land became increasingly common under the early Empire, no less in Greece than in Italy. The Italian territory of Veii, indeed much of South Etruria, experienced rural development broadly similar to that of Crete: a proliferation of small sites that existed, in this case, alongside those of large private estates, with no visible evidence for a narrowing basis of landholding. Yet it

patterns of change or stability in land tenure are identified by comparing, across periods, levels of site continuity and the ratios existing between various classes of sites. So, for example, in mainland Greece Alcock found the Hellenistic/Roman transition to be marked by an enhanced pattern of site discontinuity; while this alone fails to assure us of structural change, the trend is accompanied by changing site ratios that favored large rural estates over small farmsteads, thus making it possible to conclude that the basis of landholding narrowed over the periods in question.

can hardly be assumed

that all participants

in the

system were independent agents, and as Peter Garnsey’s interpretation suggests, such a pattern might also be predicted in regions where individually-owned properties were converted to tenancies, or proprietors to tenants.” The point here is that the obverse of patterns found to prevail in the mainland is not sufficient to discount significant structural changes in land tenure. For Crete this remains speculation, but some of the regional evidence does admit of alternative interpretation.

What does a similar exercise show for Crete? Briefly, the only region where a wholesale Hellenistic/Roman discontinuity of occupation may be indicated is the Ayiofarango Valley. Elsewhere, at Vrokastro and the Western Mesara, directional shifts of settlement can be identified, but it appears in the latter region that this relates specifically to the withdrawal of Phaistos and does not affect the majority of small sites that continue to be occupied in Early Roman times; it is too early to say whether this is also the case at Vrokastro. Preliminary results from Anopolis suggest at least some level of continuity, as most sites appear to be multi-phase, and Early Roman fine wares have a wide distribution on the plain. Likewise, most (of the admittedly few) Hellenistic sites on Lasithi continue to be occupied in the Roman era. As noted earlier, settlement hierarchies in regions already occupied tend to remain unchanged after the conquest. In none of these areas, including Ayiofarango, can it be shown that the ratios of small to large rural sites change to any meaningful extent; even where locational shifts are

For example, settlement analysis of the Western Mesara thus far presents an appearance of stability into the Early Roman period; nevertheless the investigators note that, “this pattern of continuity may be deceptive,” for the reason that the region’s Hellenistic cemeteries yielded no Early Roman burials. To this can be added an observation made here, and more generally of the Mesara by Sanders, that small rural shrines cease to be venerated after the conquest. While inconclusive, the disruption of traditions does raise the possibility of a widespread change in land ownership or occupancy,

and is not inconsistent with a conversion of farms into

identified, these accompany no apparent changes of

tenancies, such as might occur following the loss of the market at Phaistos and the withdrawal of wealthier landowners to Gortyna. A transition to tenancy might also account for the proliferation of small sites at Kavousi, where some form of large-scale ownership (public land for pastoral use, or imperial land as suggested by the horreum) might better account for the previous dearth of settlement. Of course, the fear is that such arguments must always be based on silence, since identifying tenancy in the archaeological record is exceedingly problematic. Contexts are being explored, such as sites with buildings showing considerable investment in construction, but lacking

settlement structure in the Early Roman period. If we include Lasithi and Kavousi, all regions show at least stability, if not a proliferation, of the smallest-order sites. Thus, allowing for the possibility that some of the larger rural sites may, in fact, be elite establishments, it is still possible to conclude that the basis of landholding on Crete did not become more restricted following the conquest. At least, if it did, the result was not the disenfranchisement of small farmers from their tenures. Some qualifiers are necessary because this exercise loses some of its strength where reverse conditions are indicated. First, continuity can be deceptive in any well-inhabited landscape. Stephen Dyson points out for Italy what can only be truer for Greece: that prime locations for rural dwelling were not that plentiful, and suitable sites would probably be reoccupied by many owners over the centuries. To a certain extent, then, continuity of occupation must be considered as a variable independent of broad systemic change. Further, while the integrity of a landholding system is

58 Dyson 1992, 132-34; Alcock 1993, 108-09; Starr 1982,

94-95.

59 Garnsey 1998, 129-130; for landholding patterns in South Etruria, Potter 1987, 115.

0 Watrous et al. 1993, 233; Sanders 1976, 137.

For change in sanctuary distribution as one indication of broader, structural change in polity organization, see Frederikson 1976.

36

artifact assemblages deemed commensurate; certainly some regions of Crete will offer scope for this type of analysis in the future. Evidence for discontinuities and changing ratios of sites in the Late Roman period is provocative, but extremely uneven. In few regions does resolution permit discussion of the Early/Late Roman transition in settlement, but both the Ayiofarango and Sphakia surveys acknowledge difficulties in identifying a second and third-century presence in these regions, and pre-Late Roman occupation in Lasithi also suffers ambiguities.~The continued survival of larger rural settlements following a depletion of small sites has been noted in a few areas, but in the absence of a clearly defined elite presence the pattern could as easily represent increasing nucleation of rural inhabitants as a displacement of smallholders. An increase in the number of known rural villas at this time is also suggestive, but the sample is restricted and it is not clear how this development affected surrounding settlement. The process of ruralization noted in Western provinces under the Late Empire, traditionally attributed to excessive tax burdens in kind, urban decay, and a transfer of wealth to the countryside, has increasingly been explored in the Greek East.4 Many surveys in the Greek mainland indeed show a dramatic rebound of rural settlement at this time, yet a widespread decline in urban prosperity has long been rejected.“~ The region of Sphakia offers the clearest picture of urban/rural relationships in the late Roman period, and developments in the plains of Anopolis and Frangokastello do indicate that the functions of cities was absorbed by villages at this time. More generally, there is sufficient regional variation to suggest that Crete will not fit tidily into either equation, and further progress in this matter will depend in large part on the continued targeting of urban centers in survey investigations.

3.6 Land Use and Production The association between densely settled rural landscapes and intensive land use has become one of the comerstones of Mediterranean settlement

archaeology.°®

Essentially,

it

is

based

on

the

recognition that close proximity of farmers to their

fields indicates either the desire or necessity to increase yields through labor-intensive strategies of production such as crop rotation, terracing, fertilizing, and weeding. Starting from this premise, the cumulative evidence from Cretan surveys demonstrates a clear pattern of agricultural intensification in some regions by the Hellenistic period, becoming more widespread in the Early Roman period. The evidence considered thus far suggests that the primary difference between the two periods is quantitative rather than qualitative; that is, more land is intensively exploited in Roman times, but there is no obvious evidence that the systems—as far as these can be reconstructed from settlement data—for doing so changed significantly. Two motives for intensification are generally identified in the literature: an increase in population that, within the limits of a polis, could make greater yields per land unit imperative, and increased demands of tribute and taxes by administering institutions.°7 A third, less readily endorsed by many because of the formalist economic principles implied, are positive incentives for

surplus

production,

stimulated

by

external

market

demands. The likelihood that population growth was already a destabilizing factor in Hellenistic Hierapytna has been mentioned, but the effects on surrounding territories are inconclusive. It is generally assumed that population reached its peak in the Roman period, and this was certainly the case at the greatly expanded capital of Gortyna.°? Elsewhere, where preservation has permitted the study of urban sites, growth is less clear (at Knossos, for example), and the shifting of centers in several regions complicates attempts to understand growth trends. There is very little basis for comparing the economic drain on rural inhabitants in the Hellenistic and Roman periods (but see discussion in Chapter 2.3), so it is difficult to address the second motive in any concrete way. The third cannot be discounted in the Roman period as readily as it has been in mainland contexts where it is argued that social and political, more than rational economic, factors lay behind the growth of large estates and a resulting disintensification of land use.

66 Halstead 1987, 77-87; Jameson 1994, 56-57.

62 Foxhall 1990, 97-114. 63 Blackman and Branigan 1977, 75; Nixon et al. 1994, 217: Watrous 1982, 24.

64 F 5 Alcock 1993, 218-219; Rothaus 1994, 391-396.

A general comparison of urban conditions in the Roman East and West is found in Starr 1982, 169-172. For Late Roman settlement trends in Greece: Jameson 1994, 56; Gregory 1994.

67 Cherry, Davis, and Mantzourani 1991, 339. Stephen L. Dyson, in particular, has been a proponent of rationally-driven consumer models (1985, 67-84; 1992, Chapter 5). For a rebuttal, see Shaw 1993, 35-43.

The development of this center is outlined in Di Vita

1984, 69-116. Concerning the non-rational economic basis of disintensification, Alcock (1993, 86-87) comments that, “In the Greco-Roman world, where the dominant social imperative tended toward conspicuous consumption, rather

For some regions of Crete a more broad-based rural economy is indicated by the continued existence of small farms alongside what few elite estates can be identified. Surface assemblages suggest that rampant consumerism among the bulk of the rural population can be disregarded, but modest acquisitions fueled by expanded economic markets were not beyond reach (see Section 3.7 below). Any reckoning of rural settlement density is a relative judgment, based on patterns observed at different times, and archaeologists have sought ways to more fully characterize intensified land use in the settlement record. One approach is to estimate the sizes of farming properties by using nearest neighbor analysis, or the spacing of sites, as a rough proxy. The presumption is that smaller units of land will be worked more intensively, especially where conditions demand surplus production. Alcock, Cherry and Davis have recently argued, however, that there is a threshold of property size below which intensive farming must be considered as impractical for meeting subsistence needs. They find that holdings of moderate size can more appropriately be identified with intensive practice which requires considerable investment in labor and equipment. Investigations of the Greek mainland suggest that holdings on the order of 3.6-5.4 hectares were adequate to support a single family in Classical times. Michael Jameson observes that land allotments of 4.5 hectares were common in colonial Greek situations, and a tendency for holdings to increase over time in multiples of the original unit lends credence to the view that these were minimum starter units.‘~ Victor Hanson suggests that properties of this size were the norm in Classical Greece. Regional site distribution maps appear to confirm this as a minimal landholding in Crete also in early historical periods. Only in the Western Mesara, for which the map represents a composite of all periods, are site intervals commonly under 0.25 km (translating, for contiguous sites, into 6-hectare units). At Vrokastro and Sphakia where Archaic through Roman sites are merged, distances of 0.25 to 0.50 km appear to be standard in the more fertile zones of plains or river valleys during periods of peak settlement density. These distances also hold between Early Roman sites in the zone of best soils on the Kavousi plain, but as might be expected they become greater (1.0 to 2.0 km) in less productive areas. Similarly, the scattered

than productive reinvestment and maximization of income, behavior such as this would be perfectly acceptable.”

71 Alcock, Cherry, and Davis 1994, 148. 72 Jameson 1994, 58-59.

73 Hanson 1995, 478.

holdings in the Ayiofarango Valley (often a kilometer up or downstream from each other in both Hellenistic and Roman periods) certainly reflect the sporadic availability of good land in the gorge. The preliminary impression from these regions is that the lands attached to small sites were on average greater than what is deemed necessary for subsistence needs in mainland contexts, and thus’ presumably viable for intensification. Nevertheless, the regional summaries presented above suggest that localized conditions of interrupted terrain and poor soils are more normal than rare, and ultimately these factors must be built into a rational account of landholding sizes. Indeed, for many regions these very conditions assure us that extensive modes of land use (typically associated with tracts of arable land that are large enough to make labor-intensive strategies impractical and to buffer the losses incurred by rotating fallow) are to be regarded as unlikely. The fertile and well-watered Lasithi plain stands as one important exception, and here the intervals between small Roman sites (0.75 to 1.25 km) are greater than for most regions. Landholding sizes are difficult to estimate because of the linear distribution of most sites around the edge of the plain, and the existence of the large town at the plain’s center that no doubt commanded a

large portion as its own farmable hinterland. Even so, minimal calculations of 45 to 100+ hectare units seem

unavoidable for some sites, and the holdings are still considerable if we assume only half comprised arable land of the plain. More extensive land-use strategies are certainly possible in this environment, although evidence considered below may argue against this. It is at least reasonable to ask whether the small farms are not, in fact, working centers of wealthy estates./4 A further observation for Lasithi is the very regular intervals between sites, suggesting centuriation of land in the Roman period.’ This line of evidence may point to a qualitative change in the rural structure of the region, but the impact on a previously sparsely-settled landscape is difficult to assess. In the absence of period-specific distribution maps it is only possible to note that the density of Hellenistic and Roman sites is proportionally greater in the Western Mesara, a region equally if not more valuable for agriculture. These

densities may tentatively be attributed to a lengthy

tradition of smaller landholding, firmly in place by the Roman conquest.

74 a possibility raised by Hamish Forbes for comparable situations (1994, 192-93). > Consistent with this, Watrous also notes that the rapid growth of the town at Kardamoutsa may indicate colonization of the area (1982, 24).

The expansion of sites into areas of marginal land is also closely associated with intensified land use and is considered to be characteristic of agricultural systems under pressure to produce. Because of its initial low value and the need for labor-intensive management, marginal land is usually considered the province of the smallholding class. ’ Marginality is another concept that defies strict definition, because it usually assumes meaning in relation to what is clearly optimum land within a particular region. Indeed, the concept has evolved in recent years with the recognition that two of the most important Mediterranean crops, olives and vines, can excel on soils traditionally considered poor, including rocky hillslopes. ’7 In Cretan surveys marginal land use has most often been recognized in flatland zones where soils are thin or dry and stony, or clayey and poorly drained, and the existence of sites in such areas is documented in several regions. The phenomenon accompanies peak settlement densities in the Western Mesara, where some _ Hellenistic farmsteads are reported on dry land characterized as marginal. In the Early Roman period, several of the new sites are noted in reverse conditions of alluvial bottomland. It has yet to be firmly established that drainage was required to make these lands viable in ancient times, but ethnographic study found that standing water was indeed a problem and required the construction of drainage channels in the nineteenth century. /8 In addition to these, Sanders identifies three small sites in the eastern half of the plain in similar conditions that he characterizes as undesirable and indicative of pressures on the land. 7? Similarly, one or two Roman sites were located squarely in the center of the Lasithi plain, and artificial drainage is again raised as a possibility. 80 Given the site distributions already discussed for this region, it is somewhat difficult to attribute this situation to economic exigencies of smallholders, and it is tempting

to

suggest

a

different

function

for

these

sites.

Furthermore, poorly-drained soils may undoubtedly be classified as marginal, but drainage projects represent

7 Alcock 1993, 83; Jameson 1994, 63. TT Hanson 1995, 42, 81, 168-69.

8 Watrous et al. 1993, 243.

? Sanders 1976, 136.

He also suggests (p. 137) that new

water conservation and irrigation strategies in the Roman period permitted expansion of farming throughout the plain; this appears to be the case in the eastern half where the large

groups of cisterns were found on higher ground, but Irrigation requirements did not prevent the earlier settling of

the western half. An inscription from Gortyna documents legislation for diverting river water for irrigation in the fifth

century B.C. (Willetts 1955, 215; JC TV.43 B b). For

further

1991, 117.

discussion

of drainage

here,

see

Harrison

considerable investment and best fall within the purview of a state or collective endeavor; if and where they are undertaken the resulting land must be raised in value. The question of drainage is clearly important to interpretations of land use, and the available evidence in Crete may tie the technology to the Roman period. Drainage works are certainly documented earlier elsewhere in the Mediterranean, such as Etruscan and Greek regions of Italy, yet T.W. Potter notes that projects under the empire are distinctive for their large scale. More pervasive conditions of marginal land use can be argued for the coastal plain of Kavousi where soils are described as “poor and generally unsuitable for dry agriculture.” Haggis makes it clear that only intensive strategies of land use in this environment would be feasible prior to modern irrigation works, and even then the yields are likely to have been limited. These conditions fairly eliminate profit from the land as a

motivating

factor

in development,

and

support

his

suggestion that these rural inhabitants supplemented agricultural activity with maintenance of the granary and port at Tholos (Gif indeed not the other way around). In this context, then, it may not be appropriate to view marginal land use as a direct response to the external pressures outlined above, but as a parallel development of other activities. Combined, the evidence from survey for marginal land use in ancient times is suggestive but the practice does not appear to be pervasive, and certainly nowhere approaches the scale of that documented in mainland regions during periods of comparable settlement densities. Thus far it appears to be focused in regions of particularly good land. Elsewhere Ge» the Ayiofarango valley, Sphakia, and Vrokastro 4) the

81 Potter 1987, 140-151 on upland and flatland drainage in Etruscan and Roman Italy. Hodges expresses the view that water management technologies in the Roman period did not

far surpass those of preceding periods (1980, 220-23). A different impression might be obtained from recent

investigations of the north shore of the Ambracian Gulf in mainland Greece; though slightly later in our time frame, a massive land reclamation scheme is reconstructed that entailed diversion of the Louros river (Wiseman 2001, in press).

It should also be noted that the environmental study contrasts conditions on the plain with the much more productive terraced highlands of the region, yet the

distribution of sites still favors the former, also suggesting that choice of settlement was influenced by factors other than

the desire to farm land.

For example, in the Southern Argolid where twenty-five percent of the sites are reported on thin soils in the Classical period: Jameson, Runnels, and van Andel 1994, 258. 4 Here, for example, the concentration of Hellenistic and Roman sites in optimum areas for growing is more apparent

trend is towards conservatism: good land is put to optimum use, but there is no clear evidence for the persistent exploitation of comparatively marginal areas.

Frangokastello are associated with Late Roman farms; also the farmstead site SC9 on the Ayiofarango coast sits on a knoll whose slopes preserve terrace remnants. 79 Perhaps beyond what these isolated cases tell us is the very disposition of substantial communities (as at Vrokastro) in terrain that could only be farmed after stabilization. Because they are laborious to build, terraces have sometimes been equated with the specialized production of crops such as vines and olives that provide greater value per unit of land than cereals. Ethnographic and recent historical studies show, however, that barley and wheat are common terrace cultivars, so that it may be risky to infer the existence of either subsistence or market economies where they are present.” !

The terracing and cultivation of mountain and hill slopes certainly constitutes the most visible form of intensive land use in Mediterranean regions. This practice tends to be characterized in the literature as a next resort to the cultivation of landscapes (such as fertile plains) that require less modification, and its wide occurrence is sometimes viewed as a sign of pressure to produce beyond what premium lands in a region can support. The physical geography of Crete may beg a modified version of this perspective. In some regions the growing potential of highlands and the slopes that accompany them is equal to, if not greater than, their lowland counterparts. One suspects that as long as people knew how to build terraces, slope cultivation has always been of the utmost importance in many areas, and may not represent something less than the most desirable mode of land use. Furthermore terracing, like artificial drainage, requires an initial investment of labor that also increases the value of land for subsequent generations, and maintenance requirements over the long-term may not be so great as has sometimes been assumed.

A connection between slope stability and the maintenance or neglect of terrace systems has been advanced through the study of geomorphology in the Southern Argolid. Here, episodes of alluvial deposition in lowland areas have been associated with widespread abandonment of hillslope cultivation, and thus a disintensification of agriculture, beginning in Hellenistic times. A comparable study has been conducted in the Western Mesara, and results indicate a major phase of slope erosion beginning in the Late Roman period, a time characterized by settlement contraction in the region. A minor episode is identified of Hellenistic date, yet the settlement data indicate quite the opposite of rural abandonment, and the investigators appear to favor an interpretation of instability due to overintensification. The restabilizing of the landscape in the Roman period supports the earlier proposition that a threshold of activity had been reached in the previous period.

The problem has been the secure association of these

features with particular periods in the past, although evidence is accumulating for the use of terraces in mainland and island contexts in the Classical and Hellenistic periods.98 The great antiquity of the practice in Crete is clear from Bronze Age excavations in East Crete and an exposed profile in the Western Mesara. It seems reasonable to assume that terracing was also prevalent in early historical periods when population levels on the island were high, although stratigraphic contexts are for the present lacking. There are several areas where the lack of earlier or later occupation permits a circumstantial case to be built: the Sphakia survey reports a set of terrace walls at Anopolis with only Hellenistic or Roman material nearby, and terraces on gentle slopes at

Here as elsewhere, the discussion of land use favors agriculture because direct evidence for the organization of pastoral activity is extremely limited.’~ This state of affairs represents the opposite of what can be predicted for Crete in early historical periods, from epigraphic and ethnographic study.7° The importance

90 Nixon et al. 1989, 209; Nixon et al. 1994, 260; Blackman and Branigan 1975, 26. when compared historical sites.

to the

wider

distribution

trends

for

For discussion of terrace cultivars on Crete: Moody and

late

Rackham 1996, 76-77; Hayden, Moody and Rackham 314; Haggis 1992, 379.

85 1 ohmann 1992, 51; Alcock 1989b, 25.

2 van Andel, Runnels, and Pope 1986, 118-120.

This appears to be the case, for example, in the regions of Kavousi and Vrokastro. Rackham and Moody 1992, 130; Rackham 1990, 103-104; Rackham and Moody 1996, 144-45; Hanson 1995, 462, note 52.

Elsewhere

associated

with

in

Greece,

large-scale

overintensification

landscape (Gregory 1994, 148).

4 Watrous et al. 1993, 202-03.

88 Whitelaw 1994, 166-67.

erosion

of the

Late

has

1992,

been

Antique

the Problems with identifying pastoralism in archaeological record are addressed in Cherry 1994, 101. © Much of Hamish Forbes’ evidence for modern pastoral practice derives from Crete (1994, 187-196); Chaniotis

Betancourt and Hope Simpson 1992; Rackham and Moody 1992, 129; Haggis 1992, 377; Watrous et al. 1993, 204.

40

watching the fields.?? Further, even if we assume that farmers did not own the land they exploited, the spacing of sites in most regions would still seem to suggest that individual enterprises operated on a fairly small scale. It is worth straying from the settlement data long enough to note that the abundant epigraphic evidence for pastoralism gathered by A. Chaniotis presents no clear evidence for a monopoly of animal husbandry by those of wealthy landed estates. Rather, a number of personal names in the Hellenistic period reflect ownership or occupation specifically related to pastoralism (i.e., Eumelos, “the owner of good sheep”). Chaniotis also observes that specialized pastoralism may have been the most feasible, if not the only, option available to many of immigrant status in a new polis; clearly not a class easily equated with wealthy landowners. A revision of Forbes’ model might realistically allow scope for pastoralism, specialized or otherwise, independent of elite enterprise; such need not threaten the integrity of the close relationship he envisions between pastoral and agricultural pursuits. |

of the wool industry is clearly shown in the abundance of weaving apparati on individual rural sites, but this

brings us no further to understanding the scale of

pastoralism or how specialized the practice was. This is not for a lack of attention to the topic, and important information is emerging from the Sphakia survey that included several transects in the Madhares region of the White Mountains, an area historically important for pastoral economies. Preliminary reports note the presence of Classical/Hellenistic pottery at these elevations, and the project focus promises the first opportunity for examining transhumance systems within a regional context.

Hamish Forbes has developed models that integrate pastoralism with the agricultural basis of rural society. In particular he argues that mixed agro-pastoral enterprises were probably one and the same as the small sites typically identified as farmsteads in surface In support of this he cites the frequent survey. disposition of these sites in areas of transitional relief,

offering access to both deep soils for growing and

thin-soiled slopes more

appropriate

for herding.

In

Can anything be gleaned concerning pastoralism and the Hellenistic/Roman _ transition? Large-scale pastoralism in Crete normally entails access to

light of studies suggesting that animal husbandry was

largely the specialized domain of an elite minority, he finds it necessary to adopt the position that these small farms are best interpreted as the working centers of This model can be applied with wealthy estates. highland region of Lasithi. The the some success to to grow here at least eliminates olive inability of the this cultivar, recognized as suitable to thinner soils and thus a competitor for models of hillslope land use. The region is literally surrounded by good summer pasture, and a close relationship between herding and arable agriculture can almost be assumed. As noted above, the seemingly large size of the landholdings also fits Forbes’ model rather well.

highland and coastal plains. The difficulties associated

with this dynamic in politically fragmented landscapes have been fully explored, and were certainly the basis of numerous treaties in Hellenistic Crete. It might be hypothesized that constraints on transhumance eased somewhat with the unification under Roman rule, yet an increasing focus of markets on coastal trade must also have had some effect on the traditional directions of pastoral transactions. Epigraphic and literary evidence for pastoralism of this period is very limited, but cattle figure prominently, and accounts from the coastal temple of Diktynna in West Crete suggest an organized industry of livestock leasing, shepherding by slaves, and production and sale of cheese and wool.

It is more difficult to extend the model to other regions, even where highlands are clearly implicated in land use. First, there is the problem of reconciling terraced landscapes with large scale, intensive grazing, because careful controls are required to make them compatible; at present both practices are unknown quantities in the Second, the location archaeological record of Crete.”° of sites on or near slopes can also be attributed to a reasonable practice of freeing up the best land for cultivation, in addition to offering a vantage point for

Preliminary investigations of the Sphakia Madhares produced no Late Roman (and apparently no certain Early Roman) pottery in the transects covered, and a

99 Wiseman 1978, 102-104. 0 Chaniotis

1995,

71-76.

As

noted

Hellenistic serfs possessed their own cattle. Victor Hanson

argues that a year-round

2.3.1,

integration of

livestock and crop farming was the norm on homestead farms

in Classical Greece, and reminds us necessary for threshing grain (1995, 74).

discusses epigraphic evidence for specialized pastoralism in the Hellenistic period (1995, 39-89).

that

animals

were

02 Hodkinson 1988; Osborne 1985, 47-52; Chaniotis 1995,

97 This model is developed in Forbes 1995, 325-338. 8 For a study of the relationship between pastoralism, see van Andel, Runnels, and

in Chapter

6. 103 Written evidence is presented in Chaniotis 1995, 76-77; the Diktynna accounts are recorded in /C.II.11.3.

terraces and Pope 1986,

119-120.

4l

processing equipment is also reported on some of the small Roman sites on the Kavousi plain. Apart from these and a surprisingly small sample inventoried by Sanders across the island, presses are not noted in the other regions surveyed.

decline in activity is tentatively tied to the eclipse of the city of Anopolis, at middle altitude, by the coastal

port of Loutro.

The

extra distance can hardly be

reckoned a factor here, and neither does the evidence at

this point allow for a shift of pastoral markets, say, to

the coast north of the Madhares. Further investigations are pending, but one possibility is that the population on the Anopolis plain thinned out sufficiently to permit all-season grazing on lower ground. The disruption or relocation of specialized pastoral economies is also a possibility. Because demands for manure, meat and secondary products such as cheese, milk, and wool can hardly have ceased altogether it seems best to view the evidence in the context of changing emphases in market structure. One avenue is to consider ways in which the products of pastoralism could be integrated

with an enlarged trade economy.

Millstones are even more rarely reported, but Sanders notes examples from sites located mainly in north-central regions of Crete. 108 Threshing floors are numerous in several regions of Crete, including Vrokastro and Sphakia, but suffer the same problems of dating as terraces. Grain production was at its height in the Venetian and Turkish periods to which many existing facilities are believed to belong; out of caution these features all tend to be classified as late or undatable.!9? This would appear to be the case in the

Western

For example, purple

and

Roman

date.

floors

are

not

diversified industries that are found to be typical of ancient farmsteads in much of the Greek world. This observation must be tempered by the limited but important evidence for pottery industry on several sites identified as estates (discussed in Chapter 2.3.2). Although the beekeeping industry served, apart from honey, ancient markets demands for wax, there is no reason to assume from the contexts (i.e., the Western

artifacts found on rural sites that can be tied to specific production activities. Neither the range or quantity reported is great, but presumably additional specimens of smaller objects such as weaving equipment and pottery beehive fragments will be made available in artifact catalogs. For the present these and stone presses comprise the bulk of our evidence for rural industry, and only in the Western Mesara are all three characterized as typical of assemblages on small rural

Hellenistic

threshing

In short, little evidence is available from survey for scales or types of production beyond the small,

There remains to consider the kinds of features and

of both

where

discussed, although the apparent lack of millstones as well on the ancient sites is intriguing and may indicate that even here grain was of less importance than the olive, or was limited to intensive cultivation in small plots.

derived from the murex shell produced a valuable dye for wool, and its importance as an export of East Crete is acknowledged in the Roman period. For this industry, a convergence of wool, dye, and textile production was probably required on some scale, and this implies the movement of livestock in new directions. Other examples of inland cities losing ground to their ports have been noted, and it must be expected that pastoralism found new markets in these centers, especially those where organized industries were forming that demanded its products.

sites

Mesara

Mesara) that production went beyond a subsistence or

supplemental level. 10 Neither does the evidence suggest differing strategies of production at this household level in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. At a more general level Roman fishtanks have also been recorded in surveys and reconnaissance, but these tend to be located in or very near to urban centers and as yet show no clear relation to rural patterns of

The

Hellenistic presses are identified with oil extraction while the use of the Roman presses, whether for wine or oil processing, appears to be uncertain.!96 Olive

For

model

Hadjisavvas

104 paul Halstead downplays the detriment of lowland heat

studies

elsewhere

Ayalon 1994 (on Israel). 107 This may be attributed

on livestock and observes that the need to move animals to

higher ground is at least partly conditioned by the general

in

the

Mediterranean,

see

1992 (on Cyprus) and Frankel, Avitsur, and to preservation

and

visibility

factors, such as later reuse and clearance of building stone into obfuscating piles.

unavailability of lowland areas due to cultivation (1987, 79). The various aspects of purple dye production are discussed in Jameson, Runnels, and van Andel 1994,

108 sanders’ (1982) gazetteer listings are 9/5 (Gazi) and 8/4

(Knossos); also an Early Roman gravemarker at 6/30 (armacha) depicts a donkey-mill. For threshing floors and wheat production on Crete, Rackham and Moody (1996) 76-77. Problems in dating these features are discussed in Whitelaw 1994, 170. For ancient apiculture, Jones, Graham, and Sackett 1973, 443-452; Davis 1996, 461.

316-319. © The problems of distinguishing these processes on the

basis of equipment are acknowledged even in excavated contexts, and are addressed by a number of authors in Amouretti and Brun 1993, and further highlighted in Rossiter 1998, 597-602. A comparative study of presses on Crete awaits fuller descriptions/illustrations in publications.

42

Classical and Hellenistic date in the Western Mesara: some Attic imports are noted among the earlier material; much of the later period is presumably Cretan, but is accompanied by molded relief bowl fragments. Small sites of all periods in Ayiofarango and Lasithi were dated primarily by fine wares:

be a consideration for future research in light of a similar hiatus observed for fine-ware distributions in Cyprus. ! 15 In general, the incidence of imported wares over time fits well with patterns established through excavation, although some regions show an earlier (Classical) tradition of reliance on local products than is evident at Knossos. As might be expected in the territory of the wealthy capital, Early Roman imports in the Western Mesara (including fine wares, amphorae and cooking wares) also reflect the breadth of Mediterranean contacts, both eastern and western, illustrated at the northern center (see Section 3.2.3 above). Italian products, sigillata and a few Campanian amphorae, comprise the bulk of imports in Sphakia at this time, and both Italian and Cypriote sigillatas are identified at Ayiofarango. An eastern bias is indicated at Kavousi where Eastern Sigillatas A and B are found on the larger sites, and a shift to eastern and African markets is clear in most of these regions in the Late Roman period. A Middle Roman hiatus, it should be noted, is not apparent in the urban excavations at Knossos.

imports are not distinguished. Classical and Hellenistic fine wares from Vrokastro and the Anopolis plain are judged to be mainly Cretan in origin, and in the latter region are found primarily at the polis center. Except for Lasithi, all regions show a rise in identifiable imports of the Early Roman period. These reach the smallest sites in the Western Mesara, Anopolis, and Ayiofarango, while imports at Kavousi and Vrokastro appear be concentrated in the small centers. Imported fine wares are also found on the smallest Late Roman sites in Ayiofarango, the Frangokastello plain, Lasithi and again, mostly at the small centers of Kavousi. These same regions, however, are notably lacking in material that can be securely dated to the third, and in

The results of regional survey tends to support prevailing views, based on epigraphic evidence and coinage studies, that international trade of Hellenistic Crete was limited and directed primarily at the provision of necessities, such as grain. |} Some regions were evidently self-sufficient in pottery (see Chapter 2.3.1), and to these can be added the petrographic analysis of sherds at Vrokastro, showing a clear correlation with the distinctive geology of the region; roofing tiles of local fabric are especially abundant in the survey area. 17 Regional disparities in available resources or specialized labor are to be expected, and some evidence has emerged for the movement of sourced amphorae between poleis.|

disruption in rural settlement during the Middle Roman period remains to be tested in other regions, and might

certainly seem to suggest that these products were not locally available, and only made their way in small numbers to the centers.

production. ! 11 Local pottery production, treated in more detail below, is clear for some regions, but in most cases cannot be tied specifically to urban or rural

industries.

3.7 Pottery in Rural Contexts Apart from the disposition of sites, for many regions the evidence of pottery provides the only material means available at present for characterizing the wider economic systems of which rural sites were a part. Some preliminary observations can be made concerning the distributions of imported wares and those of local origins in the regions studied. Fine

wares occur with regularity on small rural sites of

quantities of black-gloss sherds appear to be small and

possible

The scarcity of Hellenistic fine wares in Sphakia would

111 These are known at Siteia, Mochlos, Chersonisos (Sanders 1982, 32; Hood and Leatham 1958-9, 263-65), possibly Loutro (Nixon et al. 1990, 218), and Hierapytna

By contrast, it need hardly be stressed that the widespread occurrence of Early Roman imports, even on the smallest sites of some regions, is more demonstrative of an economically integrated landscape.

some

cases

the

fourth,

centuries. 14

A

(Baldwin-Bowsky 1994, 14). 2 The emphasis must be on imported fine wares because only in the Western Mesara and Sphakia surveys are

13 Lund 1992. In Cyprus, a sharp decline in the incidence of late second through early fourth-century imported and

amphorae singled out for discussion. 113 Finds of this date have yet to be characterized for those sites still occupied in the Western Mesara, and at Vrokastro.

locally-produced fine wares is observed in regional survey. The pattern does not appear to accompany discontinuity in

Specifically, a third to fourth-century gap in diagnostic

settlement,

pottery is observed in Ayiofarango (Blackman and Branigan

and

is

attributed

to

external,

empire-wide, economic instability at this time.

1977, 75), a third to fourth-century break is also found in

1 Petropoulou 1985, Spyridakis 1992, 129.

Sphakia, possibly including the second century as well (Nixon et al. 1990, 217), and Roman imports are generally scarce at Lasithi until the fourth century A.D. (Watrous

17

1982, 24).

43

61-74;

Chaniotis

1988,

Hayden, Moody, and Rackham 1992, 310, 333. Empereur, Kritzas, and Marangou

possibly

1991, 519-522.

70-71;

Thus far, region by region distributions extend to either most rural sites, or very implication, where they are present, is that inhabitants were producing enough surplus taxes, etc., to enable their participation

exchange networks.

of imports few. The most rural after rents, in wider

The proportion of coastline to

interior areas of Crete is great even though mountains are soon encountered, and correlations have been made elsewhere in the Greek world between the incidence of imports and direct access to maritime traffic.1!9 Road improvements probably eased inland travel to some degree in the Roman period, although access may be a contributing factor at Lasithi, the only region where Early Roman imports appear to be absent.!“9 This can hardly be a factor at Vrokastro or Kavousi where imports appear to be restricted to the small centers. These patterns are perplexing in regions otherwise well situated to participate in maritime and overland traffic. Kavousi’s likely role in export for the imperial annona has been mentioned, and perhaps a similar model could be tested at Vrokastro, which was more easily reached from Hierapytna via the isthmus.

119

In

this

respect,

Alcock

compares

the

favorable

geography of Keos and the Southern Argolid to less accessible regions such as Boeotia and the Nemea Valley

(1203; 50).

Alternatively, the pattern here may equally be attributed

to the nature of the holdings discussed earlier, and is consistent with the proposition that sites of the plain were working centers of larger establishments. Evidence for road improvement in Roman Crete is admittedly not great, but see Sanders 1982, 7 and Harrison 1988, 153.

44

OF KYDONIA

CHAPTER 4: THE TERRITORY

4.1 The Location of Kydonia (fig. 4)

pre-classical times.© However one chooses to read this, by the time of the classical authors West Crete was divided among a number of cities and it is possible to secure the location of Kydonia from descriptions of their positions relative to one another. Pliny the Elder, writing in the first century A.D., lists the important cities along the north coast of Crete from west to east: Phalasarna, Elaea, Kissamos, Pergamon, Kydonia, Minoa, Aptera; and the sequence accords well with the distribution of major archaeological sites known today.’ Two passages in Strabo, writing slightly earlier, are also informative:

The toponym ku-do-ni-ja occurs on Late Minoan III Linear B tablets at Knossos, and a geographical association with West Crete is securely established. The specific location of the center—possibly palatial—is not proven beyond doubt, but results from on-going excavations in the modern coastal city of Khania (and the discovery of Linear A and B texts, probably from an official archive) strongly suggest that this is the location of the prehistoric site.“ The earliest historical source for Kydonia is Homer’s Odyssey, in which some of Menelaus’ ships are thrown off course to Crete, “where the Kydonians live, round about the Iardanos river.°? The early nineteenth-century classicist Robert Pashley was convinced that this river, whose ancient name no longer survives, was the same as the Platanias (modern Keritis) river, which flows north from the White Mountains and empties into the Gulf of Khania eight kilometers west of the city.4 Although a smaller stream, the Kladisos, empties closer to Khania, the Keritis association remains most likely. Not only is its valley visually impressive, but in Pashley’s day merchant ships were known to seek anchorage at the islet of Ag. Theodori, opposite the delta, instead of attempting the dangerous shallows of the Khania harbor.

...for Kydonia is not in the neighborhood of these places at all, but lies near the western limits of the island. However, there is a mountain called Tityrus in Kydonia, on which is a temple, not the “Diktaion” temple, but the “Diktynnaion.” Kydonia is situated on the sea, facing Lakonia, and is equidistant, about eight hundred stadia, from the two cities Knossos and Gortyna, and is eighty stadia distant from Aptera, and forty from the sea in that region. The seaport of Aptera is Kisamos.® The territory of the Polyrrhenians borders on that of the

The location of the early Iron Age city of Kydonia is not mentioned in Homer, but Willetts brings to our attention a continuation of the same passage in which the ships are wrecked on a headland opposite Phaistos and on the border of Gortyna’s territory. The context places the action in the Mesara Bay on the south coast, yet also in the territory of Kydonia, and provides the earliest—if tenuous—indication of the state’s great size in

6 Willetts 1965, 28-29 (translating the continuation as: “At the border of Gortyn, in the murky sea, there is a smooth rock that runs sheer into the water, where the south wind thrusts the mighty swell upon the headland on the left, towards Phaistos, and a tiny stone wards off the swell.” Taken literally, Willetts’ interpretation places the entire

western

l Viden 1997, 37-38. 2 Moody 1987, 254-272; Bennet 1990, 195-99 (especially note

19).

Canea’

The modern

of Italian

Venetian period.

name

usage,

and

of the city derives from

is found

on

maps

portion

of the

island

under

Kydonian

control.

Compare to Bennet (1990, 195) who speculates that the palatial territory of West Crete in the Bronze Age was about half this area. The historical context of Homer’s work is debated, but the Odyssey is generally acknowledged to be a product of the eighth century B.C., encompassing traditions from as early as the Mycenaean Age (Hanson 1995, 19; Taplin 1986, 72-77). 7 Natural History 4.12.58-60. Because Elaea is only mentioned by Pliny, it is thought that the name may be a Roman doublet for Mykenai, which is associated with the

‘La

of the

3 3.292. Hye Kidswves Evarov *lapdavouv dydu péeOpa.

archaeological site of Selli on the coast between Kissamos

4 Pashley 1837, Vol. 2, 22-23. The location of this river is also addressed by Moody (1987, 253) and Viden (1997, 39). This facility may have added importance to the locality in early historical times; the Iardanos/Kydonia association is also found in the work of Pausanias (6.21.6) of the second century A.D. The Keritis is today one of the few perennial streams in Crete (Rackham and Moody 1996, 40).

and Phalasarna (Gondicas 1988, 152-59; Sanders 1982, 172; Moody 1987, Site SLL1). This is a second Kisamos, not the one included in Pliny’s list; the distinction was first made by Pashley (1837, Vol. 1, 48-49) and subsequently upheld by Faure in his analysis of the Real-encyclopddie (1959, 196, 201).

45

Kydoniatae towards the west, and the temple of Diktynna is in their territory.

Herodotus’ nearness to the event, which can be placed at 524 B.C., lends credence to the account but conflicts with claims of later authors that Kydonia was founded by the legendary king Minos of prehistoric times.!4 To reconcile the differences Captain Spratt proposed the existence of a second pre-Samian Kydonia within the region, somewhere inland from Khania.!° Excavations in Khania now suggest a more likely solution. A stratigraphic sequence in what is now understood to be part of the prehistoric town indicates occupation in all Minoan periods through Late Minoan IIIC, followed by a two-century hiatus, with an apparent refounding in the Late Geometric period. ! Viden recommends that Herodotus’ use of the word “founded” not be taken too literally, and that “colonized” may be more appropriate, occurring at a period of time when the town’s population may have been small.!7

The Diktynnaian temple complex is a well-known archaeological site on the east-facing tip of Rhodopou,

the peninsula which forms the western boundary of the

Khania Plain; !9 the contradiction in Strabo concerning its polis parentage confuses the already difficult task of determining the boundary between Polyrrhenia and Kydonia, considered in Section 4.3 below. Gunhild Viden points out that Pendlebury, in his study of Cretan roads and ancient distances, indeed found modern Khania to be equidistant from Knossos and Gortyna, although his stadion was not equal to Strabo’s.!!_ On a line between Khania and the archaeological site of Aptera to the east, the head of Soudha Bay also lies midway between the two. Further confirmation for equating Khania and Kydonia comes from the author of the Periplus, who describes the city of Kydonia as possessing a closed harbor, a marked feature of Khania’s preserved Venetian facility today. !2 Nevertheless, a passage in Herodotus has led scholars to question whether the prehistoric and historical centers of Kydonia were, in fact, located in the same place. In recounting the ventures of the Samians under the tyrant Polykrates, he maintains that they founded the city of Kydonia and “enjoyed five years of great prosperity in the island. It was they who built the temples, including the shrine of Diktynna, which are still to be seen in Kydonia. But in the sixth year they were attacked by the Aeginetans, who with the help of the Cretans beat them in an engagement at sea and reduced them to slavery.”

The physical extent of Kydonia is not provided by Strabo (who gives us the circumference of Knossos), but we can infer that it was one of the largest cities on Crete from his observation that, “There are several cities in Crete, but the greatest and most famous are three: Knossos, Gortyna and Kydonia,” and concerning Gortyna and Knossos, “when these two cooperated they held in subjection all the rest of the inhabitants, and when they had a quarrel there was dissention throughout the island. But Kydonia was the greatest addition to whichever side it attached itself.”!® Diodorus Siculus, in a lengthy account of the

ETea TEVTE, WoTe TA ipd Ta Ev Kudwrin édvta viv odtot elot ot torjoavtes Kal tov Atktivys vydv. extw dé Eter Atyivijtar avtods vavpayln viKxfoavtes njvopatostoavTo peta Kontav.

7 10.4.12-13. o¥88 yap SAws €k yertdvwv éotl Tots TOTOLS ToUTOLS T Kudovia, mpds S€ Tots EaTeEplots KElTaL Tis vijoov tepacr. Tis pévtor Kuduvias dpos éott Titupos, év tepdv éotiv, od Atktatov, dAAd Atxtivvatov. Kudwvia §’ émt Oadrdtryn peév tSputat, BAétrovoa tpds THY Aakwvikyyv. dréyer 8” Exatépas 7d LOOV, THs te Kvwoood kal tis Tdptuvos, otov dktaKkootous otadious, “Amtépas S€ dydSorjKovta, Tis rabTn S€ Oaddtryns tettapdkovta. "Amtépas § ’ etiverov éot. Kicayos mpds éotépav 8’ dpopor Tots Kudwvidtars TloAvppivio, map ” ots éott 1d Tis Auxtévuns tepdv.

4 Strabo, 10.4.8 and Diodorus Siculus 5.78. > 1865, 149-50.

Wv

one hundred burials of Classical to Roman date have been reported by the Ephorate, and numerous LMIII tombs as

0 Matz 1951, 106-117; Gondicas 1988, 287-96.

well, with early Iron Age material exceedingly rare.

l Viden 1997, 38; Pendlebury 1939, 20-30.

7 1997, 39-40.

2 The Periplus (Miller 1855, 47) is usually attributed to

8 10.4.7. TldAeus 8” elotv év tH Kpijtn mAelous pév, péyrotar S€ Kal émdavéotata. tpets, Kvwoods, Téptuva, Kuédwvia. 10.4.11. cupmpdtovoat te ydp GAAHAaLS Gtavtas dankdous Eryxov adtar Tods GAAous, otacidoacat te Svéotnoav Ta KaTa THY Vico tpoo8}ky 8 > Fv Wy Kvdwvta peyloty dtoTépots TPOO’YEVOLTO.

Scylax of Caryanda who lived in the second half of the fourth century B.C. The present-day harbor mole with its Venetian lighthouse is thought by some to overlie older foundations (Spratt 1865, 138; Sanders 1982, 170) although

there seems to be no definite evidence for this. 3.59. advtol S€ Kudwvinv tiv Extioav...guervav ”

”

8’

>

év >

tavTH 4

Kal

‘

2 EV

Kpyrn

evdatpdvynoayv ?

,

ét >

Spratt thought modern Vryses, 13 km

southwest of Khania, was a likely candidate but the site is now associated with ancient Pergamon. 6 So far, the sequence—and gap-established on Kastelli Hill (Andreadaki-Vlazaki 1990, 433-35) is corroborated by dates of fill material found in wells and large pits excavated in the same vicinity (Hallager and Hallager 1997, 202-208; Ephorate report in ADelt 47 [1992] 566-71) and by salvage excavations elsewhere in the urban area; for example, over

>

46

mythological traditions of Crete, comments that king Minos founded “not a few cities, the most renowned of which were the three, Knossos in those parts of the island which look toward Asia, Phaistos on the seashore to the south, and Kydonia in the regions to the west facing the Peloponnesos.” Though a contemporary of Strabo, Diodorus’ sources were earlier, accounting for the inclusion of Phaistos which had lost independence prior to Roman times. The eminence of Kydonia appears, therefore, to have been maintained through much of the early historical

period.~»

was, however, sufficiently known for Pashley to reference and describe the more common Kydonian bronze mints depicting a bunch of grapes and the head of Dionysos. It was long expected that remains of the classical polis would be found in the districts of the Kastelli hill (elevation 19.20 m) and Splantzia that overlook the harbor to the north, areas where excavations are uncovering the Minoan town. . These districts are located within the Venetian wall precinct, which covers a total area of about 35 hectares (Area 1 of map in fig. 5). Excavations on the hill proper and its east slope, however, revealed LMIII levels lying directly under Venetian, leading investigators to suspect that the early historical strata had been leveled ffor later construction.2> The stratigraphic sequence mentioned in the previous section, exposed at the southwest base of the hill, spans the Late Geometric through Late Hellenistic periods, thus tending to confirm the removal of later strata.“” Greek-Swedish work on the southeast slope of the hill yielded no early historical architecture, but pottery in fills, and what little was recovered from upper levels of the excavation, date from the Late Geometric through Early Roman periods. The contexts are unclear, but the finds are of interest, and include evidence for chthonic cult activity, possibly focused on Demeter, Dionysos and Pan, in these and prehistoric periods. The only intact historical building excavated on Kastelli is a portion of a Late Roman bath on its lower south slope.28

For its size and the character of its edifices,

we must look to the archaeological record.

4.2 The City of Kydonia Because of its unbroken history of occupation, the physical remains of the ancient polis were largely unknown prior to development of the Ephorate’s salvage excavation program and the Greek-Swedish excavations in the city of Khania.7! The sixteenth-century eyewitness account of Onorio Belli, who traveled through Khania just before the city’s refortification by the Venetians, suggests that some of the monumental buildings attributed to the Samians by Herodotus were then still standing. Belli recorded the existence of a Doric temple, a portion of an aqueduct, and a theater.22 His manuscript was published after Pashley who, with little to go on, rightly conjectured that the Venetian bastions had reused much of the earlier building stone.2? The ancient city’s coinage

masonry and numerous column drums.

195.78. ktioar médeLs odK dAtyas év adTh, TovTwv 8’ émubaveotatas tpels, Kvwodv pév év Tots tpds tiv *Aotav vedovor pépeot Tis vijcov, Parotov 8’ em Baratrns éotpappévynv emi peonpBérav, Kudwirav 5” év tots mpds éotrépav tétots KaT’ avTiKpd THs TleXotrovvyjoov.

date (Hallager and Hallager 1997, 202). 24 1837, Vol. 1, 23-24. The later work on Cretan coinage by J.N. Svoronos, still the best for much of West Crete, shows

that Pashley’s

7 Hahn 1997a, 209-212.

Finds include a figurine of Pan

of an enthroned goddess (from the Early Roman pit), two

miniature bell kraters, small cups, and bronze rosettes (of Archaic to Hellenistic date, from upper levels of the excavation). Earlier Greek-Swedish excavations in the vicinity produced a large Late Minoan female figurine, a deposit of deer and stag bones, and a Linear B tablet with the name of Dionysos. 28 Tzedakis 1977, 326. This consists of a room with apsidal plan, partially built in brick with walls finished in hydraulic cement, and tesserae belonging to a white and blue mosaic; a specific date is not given.

1 Both have been active from the 1960’s, notably under the direction of G. Tzedakis, C-G. Styrenius, Erik Hallager,

Andreadaki-Vlasaki,

fairly

(from the Roman ditch), two terracotta clipei and a figurine

1959, 185).

Maria

viticulture was

site KH1; Sanders 1982, 169. Limestone and plaster fragments in the Late Hellenistic destruction level indicate some building activity on Kastelli at this time (cf. note 16).

again about a hundred years later (Bury and Meiggs 1978, 120, 194). Diodorus relied on two other Cretan chroniclers of the Greek period, Dosiades—of the early third century B.C., and possibly from Kydonia—and Sosikrates (Faure

Hallager,

emphasizing

20 Hallager and Hallager 1997, 1-4; Moody 1987, Appendix

purify the city, once in the late seventh century B.C. and

Birgitta

sample

representative (1890, pl. 6, 9, 19-21).

I owe this last observation to Viden (1997, 38) who, however, only mentions the least secure of Diodorus’ sources, Epimenides. The person of Epimenides remains an enigma because he is said to have traveled twice to Athens to

Markoulaki, and Vanna Niniou-Kindelli.

The dismantling may

have begun earlier for an initial fortification of Byzantine

Stavroula

2 Belli drew a plan of the theater, which was lost prior to

the manuscript compilation (Falkener 1854, 26). Clear evidence for this can be seen today in surviving sections of the Venetian wall, which incorporate ancient

47

Early Roman times in Kydonia, although relatively few

Nowhere on Kastelli is the amount of earlier historical material as great as might be expected from urban habitation, and it may be that the primary use of the small acropolis was as a sanctuary.

burials of any type are dated securely to the second century B.C. Several square, rock-cut chamber tombs of standard Early Roman type have been excavated, and child burials in amphorae are also documented at

this time.?

The Kastelli hill falls steeply on all but the south sides, and topography dictates that ancient commercial facilities connected to the harbor should be located along the lengthy wharf which now spans the north side of Splantzia (where the Venetian warehouses are), becoming a narrow strip to the north and west of

Kastelli hill, and

|

Burials of Classical through Roman periods are most. concentrated in the vicinity of the Park of Peace and

Friendship and further southeast on Ag. Ioannis hill

where the courthouse is located. Fifty-one burials of various types were excavated in the Park where the limestone is soft for working. One excavator notes that Late Classical/Early Hellenistic graves tend to be clustered together and oriented north-south, regardless of grave type. Roman burials, on the other hand, are more spread out with no obvious orientation. Among the more interesting monuments of Kydonia are a group of large, subterranean chamber tombs—called hypogaea—two of which were discovered on the Park outskirts, with an additional five cut into the Ag. Ioannis hill. The tombs consist of a dromos (sometimes a stairway) leading into a long passage with individual chambers branching off of it on both sides.?* They are believed to be Hellenistic: one tomb is dated to the late third/early fourth centuries, although several fall in the first century B.C. transition. Precise parallels for the type are not found in Crete, and Sanders suggested an East Mediterranean influence in their construction.?~ More extensive research of these hypogaea draws a clear connection to tomb architecture in Cyrenaica and, especially, Alexandria of the First Ptolemaic period. It is proposed that they belong to families of a wealthy, possibly foreign, merchant class.?°

widening again around the sheltered

inlet at the west end of harbor. The latter area is today very densely built up, but part of a public bath house dated to the first half of the second century A.D. was excavated 200 m south of the harbor.2? In his study of Khania, Sanders focused on an area further south, just outside of the Venetian wall and near the municipal marketplace (Area 2 in fig. 5). Sporadic salvage excavations on either side of Apokoronou Street have uncovered remains of residential architecture (no complete buildings), including rooms with mosaic floors, most dating to between the second and fourth centuries A.D.29 Sanders identified the area as the wealthy, suburban district of the Roman city center

which he presumed to be within the Venetian walls.°

The location of the main necropolis, further out in the southeast quadrant of the modern city, helped to confirm the general layout of the ancient city. Kydonia’s burials are now known to extend well beyond the main necropolis, with individual or small groups of graves demarcating the east, south and west perimeters of the city (Area 3 in fig. 5). Of the early historical periods, over fifty percent of the burials located belong to a Late Classical/Early Hellenistic phase alone, and are mostly of two simple and economical types: 1) rectangular cist graves, lined with stone and covered with stone slabs; 2) tile-covered graves, as above but with a pitched tile cover or ‘hut.’ The tile-covered grave continued to be used through

32 By standard I mean a type described as such by Sanders

(1982, 40) and Carington-Smith (1982, 256-59), with a short dromos

opening

onto

lamps

and

Andreadaki-Vlasaki, with mosaics,

one of which

is inlaid with the

chamber.

The

Khania

grave

goods

and Markoulaki

(Niniou-Kindeli,

1989/90, 245-46) or

elsewhere in Crete after the Geometric period.

Greek letters AA, possibly standing for Aotoar dodadws, an

33 Niniou-Kindeli 1990, 440-41.

invitation to have a safe bath (Ephorate report in ADelt 25

1970] 417; Sanders 1982, 54).

square

benches along the walls for the reclining deceased (Ephorate report in ADelt 47 [1992] 576). These and all the early historical burials in Khania are inhumations, as is the case

29 Located in Cathedral Square this bath possessed at least two rooms

a

examples lack arcosolia but have niches in the walls for

The main passages range from 5.0 to 9.0 m in length and 1.5 to 2.0 m in height. Width, including side chambers,

|

° Two quality mosaics, one of Poseidon and Amymone and another of Dionysos, have been lifted from sites in this area and are now on display at the Khania Museum (Sanders 1982, 54; Markoulaki 1990a, 459). Other residential architecture is reported by the Ephorate in ADe/t 21 (1966) 428; 25 (1970) 471; 34 (1979) 391; and 38 (1983) 360-61; the last includes a pebble mosaic of the Late Hellenistic eriod.

ranges from 5.5 to 7.5 meters.

> 1982, 41-42. 6 Markoulaki and Niniou-Kindeli 1982, 7-118.

Other

Khania burials not discussed are reported by the Ephorate in:

Kpnrixy Eored 2 (1988), 297 and 4 (1991-93) 212; ADelt 25 (1970) 473, 31 (1976) 368, 38 (1983) 359-60, 45 (1990) 440-41, 46 (1991) 410-12, and 47 (1992) 576. A summary

| 1982, 170.

of tomb types, with a distribution map

48

of sites discovered

second through third centuries and then appears to decline. The main necropolis was abandoned sometime in the third century A.D., and relatively few burials of succeeding centuries have been recovered elsewhere in Khania.*» The Arab and especially the later Turkish occupations of Crete were particularly hard on the city’s early Christian monuments, and Khania is one of few main centers that lacks a basilica of this period.4!

Results of salvage excavations in 1990-91 in a plot off Peridou Street (Area 4, fig. 5), approximately 200 m south of the houses with mosaics, may call for a re-evaluation of the city’s layout as it was known to Sanders.>’ Trenches exposing a surface area of approximately 440 square meters yielded three spatially and chronologically distinct components: 1) a fourth century B.C. workshop specializing in production of small ceramic objects (figurines and masks), 2) a large, and probably public, bathing complex dated to the first century A.D., and 3) a

sprawling building complex

of the second to third

4.3

centuries A.D. which incorporates two stoas and lies adjacent to an open area, possibly a public plateia. The excavator believes this complex to be part of the Roman-period agora of Kydonia. It is still unknown if the Classical and Hellenistic nucleus of Kydonia remained near its acropolis, as with many Cretan poleis, or is also to be found in this vicinity—a necessary link if we are to associate Herodotus’ refounding of Kydonia with a shift from Kastelli to the southern plain. Large natural deposits of clay under and around the Late Classical/Early Hellenistic workshop suggest to Markoulaki that this may represent only one facility of a larger potter’s quarter. Although known industrial districts of the period tend to be located in city outskirts (i.e., Knossos, Korinth, and Athens) along with the cemeteries, only conjecture is possible at this point.

Territorial Divisions

Kydonia’s most powerful neighbors in the Classical and Hellenistic periods were the cities of Aptera (at the archaeological site of that name, 13 km to the southeast of Khania), Polikhni (usually identified with the remains at Meskla in the White Mountains, 14 km to the southwest), and Polyrrhenia (situated on a hill above the modern town of that name, 45 km to the

west).

Each of these city-states issued coinage, and

their independent status is otherwise indicated in state relationships, sometimes adversarial, described in ancient texts.47 Of the three cities, only the location of Polikhni is still debated. Because Hellenistic coins at Meskla include several that were issued by the city of Keraia, and the site lies at the headwaters of the Kerites river, Paul Faure prefers to associate Keraia with Meskla, and is followed in this by Daphne Gondicas.43 The attribution may, however, create more problems than it solves. Thucydides plainly states that Polikhni was a neighbor of Kydonia."* By removing Polikhni

What does now seem clear is that the well-accoutered houses to the north did not define the Roman suburbs of Kydonia, but were wealthy townhouses, probably flanking the main thoroughfare between the agora (if Markoulaki’s identification is correct) and the harbor. This, in turn, implies a larger area for Kydonia. Neither cemetery nor city walls of pre-Byzantine date have been identified, so the size of the ancient city can only tentatively be advanced at about sixty hectares, commensurate with that of Knossos. Although Sanders comments that Kydonia continued to prosper through the Roman period and beyond,>? it should be noted that few remains have been attributed specifically to the interval between the fifth century and the Arab conquest of 827 A.D. The height of expenditure in public and residential building spans the

40 Niniou-Kindeli, Andreadaki-Vlasaki, and Markoulaki

1989/90, 246; early Christian burials (fifth to ninth centuries

A.D.) are reported in Markoulaki 1990b, 437 and AR 1997-98, 124. | Pashley 1837, Vol. 1, 29 and Vol. 2, 28; Sanders 1982, 129.

42 Eg, Polybius 4.53-55; Thucidydes 2.85. The political

relations of West Cretan polities are treated in detail by Gondicas 1988, 310-30. For archaeology, Aptera: Sanders 1982, 167-8 (including full bibiography of numerous early

investigations by F. Matz), with recent work reported in AR

1995-96, 47 and 1997-98, 121; Polyrrhenia: a summary of investigations, with bibliography, is provided by Niniou-Kindeli in Meyers, Meyers, and Cadogan 1992, 251-55; Polikhni: summaries, with bibliographies, are found in Moody 1987, Appendix Site VRS1 and Sanders 1982,

168-9.

before 1989, iS found in Niniou-Kindeli, Andreadaki-V lasaki, and Markoulaki 1989/90, 243-47. 7 Preliminary report in Markoulaki 1990b, 435-440; this site, dubbed ‘Garage,’ is reviewed in greater detail in Chapter 5. Classical and Roman Knossos is estimated at 50 to 60 hectares (Hood and Smyth 1981, 22).

43 Faure 1962, 49-50; Gondicas 1988, 283-83 and map 2.

The Keritis river association is questionable since, as we have seen, as recently as the early nineteenth century Pashley recorded the name as Platanias.

2.85. ddoxwv Tpootorjoery adtyv odcav ToAEptav emfyye Sé TloAtyvitars yaptlopevos opdpors Tav Kvudwviatav.

? 1982, 27.

49

which is identified as ancient Methymna.4? Paul Faure chooses to interpret these valley sites as part of a confederacy, or koinon, that developed independently of Polyrrhenia. He further proposes that the region belonged to the Modaioi who are known only through their coinage. 0 Like Keraia, the location of Moda has proved difficult to verify, and other scholars defer to the modern village of Modi, in the center of the Khania Plain, which may preserve the ancient name.-! The problem is explored by Gondicas, who finds little basis in the regional settlement pattern for isolating the Kolenis valley sites from others on the Kissamou Plain, and also believes it unlikely that an independent territory existed in such close proximity to Polyrrhenia. Ultimately, she argues that Rhokka was probably a secondary settlement, dependent on Polyrrhenia.

from Meskla, Faure is forced to relocate it on the coastal plain directly west of Kydonia, at an archaeological site usually identified as the settlement of ancient Pergamon. This location in tum contradicts Strabo who, as quoted above, claims that Polyrrhenia is the western neighbor of Kydonia; neither does Pliny mention Polikhni in his coastal itinerary. It seems preferable, therefore, to adopt Guarducci’s original assignation of Polikhni atMeskla.4® A determination of the boundaries of these states must rely on geography, site function, and abstract modeling, because territorial markers have not been recovered. Moody’s application of Thiessen polygons, based on the main centers discussed, is reproduced in figure 6. In this reckoning, Kydonia commands most of the coastal Khania Plain, but falls short of the Rhodopou peninsula by several kilometers, precisely where the modern eparchies of Khania and Kissamou are today divided by the Tavronitis river. The territory of Polikhni is confined largely to the White Mountain slopes and foothills. The boundary between Kydonia and Aptera results in the latter state assuming control

Other sites are found in the vicinity of the Spiliaros

valley further to the west, on a line directly south of the Diktynnaian sanctuary. Faure suggests that these also watrant consideration as an autonomous region, but as the pre-Roman material consists largely of reported potsherds and burials, the area has been difficult to characterize.-> His decision to locate Pergamon here, specifically on the heights of Ag. Eirene, appears to be based on several factors. Apart from Pliny’s itinerary, which places Pergamon between Kissamos and Kydonia, there is the description by the author of the Periplus, which locates Pergamon to the south of the Diktynnaian sanctuary.“ There are also three ancient accounts concerning the founding of Pergamon by Agamemnon or his warriors, so that the presence of late prehistoric remains was a criterion in Faure’s selection of the site.> His decision to oust Pergamon from its traditionally-held location at Vrysses in the Khania Plain, in favor of Polikhni, also obliged Faure to seek a new position further to the west.>©

of the important harbors of Soudha Bay; the Akrotiri

peninsula

According

is divided

between

to this model,

Aptera

and

Kydonia.

the territory of Kydonia

encompassed approximately 150 square kilometers. As Moody emphasizes, the western border between Kydonia and Polyrrhenia requires further examination because of the high density of settlement sites known to exist, particularly in that region which forms the southern base of the Rhodopou peninsula. A primary concern is the political status of these sites, and whether they require modification of the territorial model. It is assumed that the fortified hill site of Polyrrhenia, 4 km inland from its port at Kissamos, held jurisdiction over the Kissamos Plain, which stretches between the peninsulas of Rhodopou and Gramvousa.*8 Several sites have been located in the Kolenis valley at the east end of the plain, including a hill settlement at Troulli which is believed to be ancient Rhokka, and a port

49 These sites are discussed in detail by Gondicas 1988, 265-69 and 272-76, with more recent work at Methymna

found in AR 1996-97, 122-23.

50 Faure 1960, 220.

A Proto-Geometric cemetery has been located at Modi (AR 1996-97, 122) but the site has yielded few classical remains (Sanders 1982, 27 and 168; Gondicas 1988, 284).

2 1988, 272-74.

4) No coinage has been found of Pergamon, which is only known in texts (Faure 1959, 196). The site in question, where Faure would locate Polikhni, is at modern Vrysses; Late Minoan, Classical and Hellenistic settlement remains have been excavated here (summary in Hood 1965, 106; Moody 1987, Appendix Site VRS1), but it difficult to equate

53 Faure 1959, 209-10; these sites are described by Gondicas

1988, 277-79. 4 Miiller 1855, 47. Atktuvvatov’Apréyi80s Lepdv mds Bopéav dvepov, THs xwpas Ilepyaptas...

> Faure 1963, 16-26. Pashley offers the best examination of the accounts of Servius, Diodorus Siculus, and Velleius Paterculus on the founding of Pergamon (1837, Vol. 2,

the site with a powerful city-state.

46 IC II.22.106; Sanders also prefers this association (1982, 169).

23-24).

47 Moody 1987, 251.

56 Although a Late Minoan settlement phase has also been identified at Vrysses (cf. footnote 45).

48 Sanders, 1982, 27. 50

Gondicas introduces a different line of evidence to support an association between the Spiliaros region and This concerns a passage in Plutarch in Pergamon. of the Spartan Lykurgos is said to be grave which the located on a evixy, S8ds, or “road of the aliens” near Such roads are also known from Pergamon. Gondicas adopts epigraphic contexts in East Crete.-° as a frontier term the of the standard interpretation but further territories, state of route at the border reading of the on based attaches a sacred association of frequency the on and one of the inscriptions, world. Greek the in zones frontier in sanctuaries known She suggests that Pergamon should be located in an area on the route to the famed Diktynnaion.> 9 Chaniotis and others, on the other hand, argue against a sacred context for the term in these texts, preferring

alteration of the general territorial model. Moody follows the Pergamon/Vrysses association and, noting its central location between Polyrrhenia and Kydonia, considers the possibility that Pergamon may have been

Ultimately, neutral, or inviolable, for safe passage. not greatly does this aspect of Gondicas’ reconstruction border of western the affect our original model for for evidence of lack the Kydonia. She acknowledges view to prefers and status,”* Pergamon’s independent it as part of Polyrrhenian territory, with its eastern border at the Tavronitis river.

Herodotus quoted in the first section of this chapter

instead

a political

connotation

as routes

that

a buffer

state

between

the

two

larger

sanctuary.

In either case it is probable that politically, the western border of Kydonia was the eastern border of Polyrrhenia. What is more, the texts of Strabo and

are

encourage us to question whether the Diktynnaian shrine belonged solely, in all periods, to Polyrrhenia. The inconsistencies may be a symptom of fluctuating borders with Kydonia, and a further indication that the territories modeled by Thiessen polygons are, if not exact, a reasonable approximation. 4 Important problems remain, such as the location and status of Moda, which issued coinage in the Hellenistic period. For lack of better evidence, it has been assigned to the modern town of Modi which lies between Vrysses and the coast; why, then, is it not mentioned in Pliny’s itinerary? Proximity to Vrysses—if indeed this is Pergamon-raises other questions, as does the possibility of an independent state, however small, between Kydonia and Polyrrhenia.°°

The difficulty remains the identification of Polikhni at Vrysses which, for reasons discussed above, it seems best to abort, and the preference of others to locate the center of Pergamon in the vicinity of Vrysses. Pashley He was the first to advocate the latter association. to near Pergamon points out that Servius places a finds also and Kydonia (rather than Polyrrhenia), consistent perfectly position on the Khania Plain to be with the Periplus, if we assume that Pergamon’s lands extended to the west and therefore lay to the south of the Diktynnaion.©2 In this reconstruction Pergamon is equally, if not more, likely to have belonged to the city-state of Kydonia. Again, assuming Pergamon was a dependent state, this need not require serious

The political geography to the northwest of Kydonia, that is of the Akrotiri peninsula, is equally problematic, and will be discussed separately in the section that follows. Before concluding an examination of the

63 1987, 252.

To be more specific, from Herodotus’

37 Life of Lycurgos 31.7.

58 1C | Lato 16.5; IC I Lyttos 18.9.

59 1988 281-82. discovery

milestone

at Rhodopou,

3.5

mention of the

Diktynnaion as “still to be seen in Kydonia” and Strabo’s placing of the temple first in Kydonia, then in Polyrrhenia, it is tempting to suggest that the territory of Kydonia may at one point have extended further to the west. Moda’s (assumed) proximity to Vrysses provides another

In further support, Gondicas cites the

of a Hadrianic

powers.

Plutarch’s “road of the aliens” adds weight to this thesis, but unfortunately does not help us to determine where the center of Pergamon was located. The route could lie at the western frontier of Pergamon (and thus, also of Kydonia), at the eastern frontier of Pergamon (and of Polyrrhenia) or, more in line with Gondicas, it may have provided safe passage for pilgrims to the

km

north of Aghia Eirene (JC II.11.6); while this indicates the existence of a road to the sanctuary, it is not proof of the

argument against the Vrysses/Polikhni association adopted

route which Plutarch associates with Pergamon.

0 1995, 67-68.

by

Gondicas,

Valley

Including the fact the Pergamon is more often described

who

association

nevertheless

untenable

finds

because

the

Moda/Kolenis

of its nearness

to

In fairness, her study only treats sites to the Polyrrhenia. west of the Tavronitis river in any detail, but this type of inconsistency highlights the need for inter-regional study in

as a chora than a polis in texts.

2 Pashley 1837, Vol. 2, 23; Servius On Virgil’s Aeneid

Pashley, 3.133 (written in the fourth century A.D.). Platanias, of town coastal modern the however, selected several kilometers north of Vrysses, as the possible site of Pergamon; a reasonable supposition given its inclusion in Pliny’s coastal itinerary.

problems of ancient geography.

If Pergamon was, in fact,

located further west on the Rhodopou Peninsula, it seems more reasonable to hypothesize that the archaeological site at Vrysses was Moda.

5]

area of alluvium in Crete. /2 In fact, few additional settlement sites can be added to Sanders’ inventory, so his general observations still hold (fig. 4). The immediate hinterland outside the city of Kydonia lacks clear evidence for farmsteads or other rural habitations.

Khania Plain and its bordering states it remains to consider briefly what effect the Roman administration had on the pre-existing territorial boundaries, and what the evidence of settlement archaeology in the plain-independent of historical associations— contributes to our understanding.

Portions

of

a

Hellenistic

or

Roman

farmhouse,

however, have been excavated 3 km to the south on the north-facing foothill scarp that overlooks the east end of the plain.’ The nearest settlement west of Kydonia is 6 km distant on a hill at Galatas, 4 the first of a group of sites in the center of the plain. In addition to caves, these include settlements identified at Stalos on a hill further west, and Platanias on the coast./> The sites of Vrysses and Moda, discussed above, complete the group. All are located at intervals of between 2 and 4 kilometers, and most are in elevated positions. The stretch of plain between these sites and the Rhodopou Peninsula has not produced evidence of occupation. Finally, what is described as a large Classical to Late Roman settlement has been partially excavated at Kastellos Varypetro, which overlooks the plain from the foothills directly north of Meskla, and according to the territorial model lies at the border of Polikhni and Kydonia. ’©

Of Kydonia’s three neighbors, only Polikhni lacks evidence for independent city status in the Roman period.°° While it seems likely that governance of this highland city was absorbed by Kydonia, there is no proof of this. As Moody indicates, the importance of the region at all times for pastoralism can hardly be doubted,©7 and a consolidation would expand the resource base for both territories. Sanders notes that Meskla continued to be occupied through the Late Roman period, when a basilica was built on the site. Of the independent cities, the monumental standing remains at Aptera testify to the continued importance of the city in both Early and Late Roman times; Polyrrhenia also continues as an autonomous center, but is superseded in importance and building activity by its port, Kissamos.©? The small states of Keraia and Moda no longer produce coinage and their fate, as their location, remains unknown. Pergamon is no less elusive at this time; its existence is attested by Roman authors cited above, but the archaeological site at Vrysses, with abundant Classical and Hellenistic settlement remains, has yielded very little of later periods. / Roman sherds are at least reported at Ag. Eirene, the location in Polyrrhenia preferred by Gondicas, and numerous other Roman sites have been located at the base of the Rhodopou Peninsula./! It is clear that northwest Crete underwent a reduction in the number of autonomous states after the Roman conquest, as was the case in most areas of the island. Apart from Polikhni, however, there is no indication from historical records that the borders of the more powerful states changed in any significant way.

The distribution of sites leads Sanders to hypothesize

that the land surrounding Kydonia was farmed from the city, and that extensive portions of the plain, particularly at the west end, must have been cultivated from farm centers located in adjacent upland areas. He

72 1982, 27-28; his observation is particularly true compared

with the high densities of sites recovered recently from the Mesara Plain, the largest area of alluvium in Crete.

3 Ephorate report in ADe/t 38 (1983) 361-63. The site is located on the high road between Nerokourou and Mournies:

an early phase consists of a single room (6.65 x 2.40 m)

which is believed to be an entrance corridor to the main building (unexcavated); only a single wall of the later phase was excavated, built after the destruction of the original

building. Construction in both phases was of unworked limestone, packed with mud. Only a few coarse ware vessels

In his regional study, Sanders observes that the small number of sites discovered on the Khania Plain is at

were found, but the structures are believed to be of Hellenistic/Roman date. Early Roman sherds reported at Galatas indicate a small, but difficult to define, settlement (Hood 1965, 108; Sanders

odds with what we might predict for the second largest

1982, 27, 168).

66 Sanders (1982, 12) compiles numismatic and epigraphic evidence for the status of Cretan cities from the conquest to

> House foundation walls and ‘Greco-Roman’ sherds were reported at Stalos (Hood 1965, 107; Sanders 1982, 27, 168),

67 1987, 253-54.

Roman sherds in the vicinity of modern Platanias, but the class of site to which they belong is unclear (1939, 360,

probably a farm site; Pendlebury

the fourth century A.D.

68 1982, 27, 168-69; although evidence for the Early Roman phase seems less conclusive. 9 Roman phases at both of these sites are summarized in Sanders’ gazetteer, and additional references are found in note 42 above.

located Hellenistic and

371).

76 A Venetian fortress was built over the site, which includes Hellenistic houses and Roman levels: reports in

ADelt 24 (1969) 431 and 26 (1971) 511.

70 Servius 3.133; Hood 1965, 106; Sanders 1982, 168.

An Early Roman

watchtower has also been located at Debla, further in the mountains to the southeast (Warren and Tzedakis 1974).

l See Chapter 3.2.4 for a brief discussion of these sites.

52

warfare. If unified, Kydonia gains the port of Minoa in addition to its own harbor, shared rights to Soudha Bay, and some 50 square kilometers of land. This land includes additional mountain resources, a significant consideration when we recall that the city-state of the pastoral commandeered have may Polikhni highlands to the south of Kydonia in pre-Roman The evidence considered below is not periods. conclusive in this matter of territorial division, but supplies some clues to the ancient geography of the

notes the existence of several possible Roman villas on the ridge which forms an extension of the Rhodopou peninsula and attributes their disposition to an efficient mix of arable and pastoral farming.’ ’ If these sites are indeed farming centers it is likely that they held land extending east to the Tavronitis river; the nearest site to the east of the river is Modi, leaving a 5-km settlement gap. This is little more than the observed radius within efficiently be cultivation can intensive which

practiced.’

Sanders’

conclusions

are

therefore

region.

reasonable, based on the available data. Yet it is now clear from geological investigation that much of the Khania Plain is blanketed by massive accumulations of sediment from erosion events beginning in Late Roman times (see Chapter 6 for discussion). It became clear to Moody during her work in the region that these

deposits hindered archaeological recovery,

The

ancient

name

of Akrotiri

has

received

some

attention in the literature. After exposing a series of topographical errors by his predecessors, Pashley was the first to convincingly identify the peninsula as the location of the ancient cape referred to by Ptolemy as Kyamon. I Although Ptolemy wrote about capes (e.g.,

and that

settlement patterns could not be reconstructed from This situation explains the surface survey alone. disposition of known sites in elevated areas; it does not disprove Sanders reconstruction, but alerts us to the provisional nature of settlement analysis in this region.

Kéapov

dxpov, Yakov

dkpov) and not peninsulas in

this context, the name Kyamon has since been applied to the Akrotiri as a whole,®4 a misnomer not helped by the fact that the modern name ‘Akrotiri’ describes a cape instead of the peninsula it is (that is, possessing an a possess does Akrotiri Because isthmus). promontory—Cape Trakhili—on its northwest coast, it seems reasonable to locate Kyamon there. 3 Several other toponyms can be considered.

4.4 Ancient Akrotiri (fig. 4)

We must proceed under the assumption that the Akrotiri peninsula was not an independent territory. A single city on its south coast, Minoa, was of sufficient size (archaeologically) and importance to be mentioned by ancient geographers, but there is no evidence that it held the status of an autonomous city-state at any time in its history. In addition, physical geography makes it nearly certain that at least the northwest portion of the peninsula was under Kydonia’s authority; otherwise, the city’s position must be viewed as almost absurdly vulnerable from a naval standpoint. Was the Akrotiri peninsula a unified extension of Kydonia’s territory or, as suggested by the application of Thiessen polygons, was it divided between the city-states of Kydonia and Apart If divided, Kydonia loses much. Aptera?80 of control from the agricultural lands at stake, Aptera’s of city the southeast coastline places not only the the to Minoa within its jurisdiction, but the entrance important Soudha Bay with its maritime resources, harbor services, and strategic position for trade and

The

first of these

is Apollonia,

a city

which

is

assimilated with Kydonia by one ancient author and located somewhere in the vicinity of Kydonia by two

others.°4

In one of his studies Paul Faure remarks on

evidence for the worship of Apollo in Akrotiri’s mountain caves, and hypothesizes that the peninsula, or a city on it, might therefore have been Apollonia.

81

Pashley

1937,

Vol.

1, 45-46;

the relevant passages

in

Ptolemy (Geography 3.15.1-8) discuss the four main capes

of northwest Crete, three of which can be tied to the other promontories (the tips of the Gramvousa and Rhodopou

eninsulas, and Cape Drapano to the east of Aptera).

2 Spratt 1865, 125; Theophanides 1950-51, 1.

Faure, overlooking Akrotiri’s possession of a cape, prefers to dismiss the Kyamon/Akrotiri association altogether

Cape because of this landform confusion (1960, 209). a __ significant—and be to reported is Trakhili dangerous—navigational feature in modern times (Admiralty 1945, 30). 84 Stephanus of Byzantium Ethnica on “Kydonia’: Kudwvia,

médts Kpfrys, 4) mpétepov “AtoAAwvia, amd Kudwvos sod "AmdAAwvos kal “AkakadAtdos tis Mtvw Ouvyatpos.

77 1982, 27-28. 78 Engels 1990, 24.

? 1987, 196.

Also, Polybius Histories 27.14; Diodorus Siculus 30.13. The Apollonia associated with Kydonia is one of three cities in Crete bearing this name in texts. The caves in question are > Faure 1959, 199 and 208. in more detail in discussed Arkoudiotissa, and Katholiko Faure 1960, 211-12.

0 A division into northwest and southeast halves is suggested by Moody in her study of prehistoric settlement in the region, based partly on the distance of settlement Aptera and Kydonia to Akrotiri in concentrations respectively (1987, 236 and 250-51).

53

Because Istoi-and not Minoa~—is associated with Kynosaura, it does seem logical to seek a location on the northwest seaboard. The results of archaeological survey (Chapter 8.1.3) indicate that Stavros (site SV 4) was a classical port of some importance, although an

The connection is no more tenuous than many others made in West Crete and Akrotiri is, of course, a logical candidate for merging with Kydonia. There is no mention of Apollonia in Faure’s subsequent study, which further draws on the evidence of cave sanctuaries to support a different association. He examines passages of two ancient texts: one is attributed to the Hellenistic author Aglaosthenes who records that Nikostratos (son of Menelaus and Helen, of Troy fame) founded the city of Istoi which, along with its port and territory, was known by the name of Kynosoura,°? eponymous for the Idaean nymph who nursed Zeus; the other is by Hesychius, writing in the fourth century A.D., who briefly mentions Kynosoura as a friend of the Lakonians and a (proper) peninsula of the Kydonians.°7 Faure explains the mythology in which the nymph Kynosoura nurses Zeus as a she-dog and is then metamorphosed into a she-bear, before becoming a constellation. He proceeds to identify the cult of this legend at the cave sanctuary of Arkoudiotissa (Cave of the She-Bear), high in the Akrotiri mountains, which possesses a stalactite in the

shape of a bear, and votive offerings Geometric through Byzantine periods.

inland counterpart cannot easily be identified.

The location of ancient Minoa has been hard won. A long string of scholars prior to Pashley identified the

archaeological site of Aptera as Minoa. 1 Much of the confusion surrounded a passage of Ptolemy, which describes Minoa as the place nearest to the cape of Drepano on the west side.?* There was also Pliny the Elder’s coastal itinerary (NH 4.12.58-60) placing Minoa between Kydonia and Aptera. It seemed reasonable, therefore, to locate Minoa at the next major archaeological site known east of Kydonia. After compiling a body of independent evidence that the city of Aptera occupied the site in question, Pashley’s solution was to (incorrectly) locate Cape Drepano at Aptera’s own small promontory, and to (correctly)

spanning the

?

The evidence for Kynosoura is perhaps as close as we can get to the ancient identity of the Akrotiri and the

question

of its political

allegiance.

Faure

further

speculates on the location of Istoi and its port, naturally enough focusing on two main streambeds of the Akrotiri which empty on the west coast at Stavros near Cape Trakhili and further south at Kalathas.?0

predict the existence of Minoa on the opposite coast of

86 The word means “dog’s tail.”

the Akrotiri.?° Captain Spratt followed up on this work, and discovered what he thought to be the

87 Eratosthenes Catasterismoi 2. ’AyAaoobévys év Tots Nagukcts bnot tpoddv yevéobar tod Atos Kuvocoupay, Zar 8& pilav tav [8alwv vupddv + ab’ fs ev pev TH méAreL TH Kadovpévyn “lotots todvopa toito qv, Tv ot mept Nuxdotpatov éxticayv, Kal Tov év adti Sé Atpéva, kal tov én’ advt& tétmov Kuvicovpav KAnOfjvar. Hesychius Lexicon 4611. Kuvécovpav - dvAj Aakwviky Kal dkpa tod Mapavédvos, mpds thy Evpouav TETPAPLLEVG. Kal 7 ptKpa GpKTOS Kal as xepooedijs, ToTOS Kat ol Kudwviactat otdtw KaAobvTat. These and some additional later texts are compiled in Faure’s study (1960, 209-10).

8 As Faure points out, the nursing god

coinage of Kydonia (Svoronos 1890, plate 9). Heads and plaques of Artemis are among

is depicted

evoke the form of a dog is, however, less than convincing.

| Including Buondelmonti, Domenico Negri, Cornaro, and Pococke, all of whose reasonings are summarized in Pashley

1837, Vol. 1, 36-53. 2

Geography

3.15.5.

Places

are

listed

east

to

west:

Apétravov dxpov. Muviia. Kiapov dxpov. Kudwvets. In modern terms, Cape Drepano is located 8 km to the east of the archaeological site of Aptera, which was built on a lesser

in

promontory.

Pashley drew supporting evidence from the author of the Periplus who, in describing the distance between Kydonia and Aptera, mentions the islands of Leukai and their

the Classical

and Hellenistic offerings; one might add that the Cretan

Artemis is also associated with child-rearing (Diodorus Siculus 5.73) and is mother to Arkis, born as a bear (Willetts earlier visited Pashley In fairness, 136-37). 1965,

Arkoudiotissa and wondered

The

inland settlement further south at site KA 1 is linked to Kalathas by the Kalathorema catchment, but evidence for a port facility is not as strong as one might wish. The ancient harbor settlement of Tersana (TS 10 and surrounding sites) lies between Stavros and Kalathas, but appears to comprise a single coastal community with no major pre-Roman site inland from it. The specific location of Istoi, therefore, cannot be advanced with any confidence. If we adopt the Kynosoura association, the status of Apollonia again becomes unclear; an association with a different part of the Akrotiri is possible, but there is no further indication of where this might be.

proximity to a place called Minoa; the islands are almost certainly those of Soudha and Palaiosoudha off the Akrotiri

coast: "Amd Kudwvias eis "Aotépav tepuTAéetar otad. ov. wel Se pidca pk - 6 téTos Mivw kadettar, els ov KELVTOL VijGOL TpEls, at KaAodvTat Aevkat (Miller 1855, 47).

that no legend should have

attached to it, given the suitably-shaped stalactite and the myth of Kynosoura (1837, Vol. 1, 20-21). 90 His suggestion that coastal promontories in these areas

54

men, countless men, and ninety cities. They have a mixture of languages. For there are Achaeans, stout-hearted Eteocretans [Cretans of the old stock], Kydonians, Dorians and their three tribes, and god-like Pelasgians.” We have the benefit of Strabo’s commentary on this passage at least seven hundred years later: “according to Staphylus, the Dorians occupy the part towards the east, the Kydonians the western part, the Eteocretans the southern; and to these last belongs the town of Praisos...it is reasonable to suppose that the Eteocretans and the Kydonians were autochthonous, and that the others were foreigners

remains of Minoa above the small, nearly enclosed harbor at Limni. These consisted of “city walls” ascending the slope above the harbor to the foundation of a circular tower. This association was subsequently challenged by V. Theophanides who succeeded in locating, to general satisfaction, the site of Minoa further east on the coastal plain of Marathi.?> The established position of Minoa indicates that Ptolemy was quite precise in his description of it relative to Cape Drepano, and that Pashley’s adjustments were unnecessary: even across Soudha Bay, Minoa is closer to the cape than ancient Aptera on

the same stretch of coast.

who, according to Andron, came from Thessaly...”??

There are reasons not to rely on Homer as a source of conditions at any one time, 9 but Strabo’s addition lends some credibility in this case: the Eteocretan language, believed to be a survival of Bronze-age Linear A, has been identified on Hellenistic inscriptions from Praisos. 191 For the Kydonian language group we can only observe that it was perceived as different from the Greek dialects (Achaean and Dorian) but also, along with the Pelasgian, distinct from the Eteocretan. Diodorus Siculus also describes the Eteocretans as having “sprung from the soil” and the Pelasgians as having migrated to Crete many generations after, followed by the Dorians; the Kydonians are not mentioned in his account. Willetts, favoring a late Bronze Age context for Homer’s works (conceding ‘Dorian’ as a post-Mycenaean addition), finds it possible that the Kydonians also arrived in this period from Asia Minor.!

A location at the southeast

tip of the Akrotiri also accords with an inscription which briefly mentions Minoa as situated at “the last sound [or narrows].””° We lack a clear statement that Minoa belonged to Kydonia, but neither is it politically associated, in any text, with Aptera. Strabo, furthermore, tells us that the port of Aptera was

Kisamos (10.4.12-13), which is identified at Kalami.?/

Settlement patterns on the Akrotiri (Chapter 8) do not help us towards a solution in this matter. Although sites occur in fairly distinct concentrations on the south coast, east coast, and central portion of the peninsula, these are also the areas of best agricultural potential, and may not be a primary reflection of political geography. To conclude, I find it doubtful that Kydonia, as the preeminent city-state of West Crete, relinquished all rights to one of the best natural harbors in the Mediterranean.

The first historical event tied to Kydonia is its ‘founding’ by Samians in the late sixth century B.C., as

4.5 Kydonia in Ancient History Kydonia’s Odysseus’

place in historical tradition begins with description of Crete: “Therein are many 28 Homer Odyssey 19.172-9. ’ev 8’ GvOpwtot sroAAot, GTELPEGLOL, évvyjkovta moAnes. "AAAor 8 ’ KQUL dAAwy yAGooa pepryevy év pév ‘Ayarot, év 5’ ’Eredxpyntes peyadrtopes, ev S€ Kvdwves, Awprées te Toixdixes, Stor te [TeAacyot. ? 10.4.6. todtwv dyot LrtddvAos TO pév Tpds Ew Awprets Katéyerv, TO Sé€ Svopikov Kidovas, To dé votiov ’Etedxpntas, wv elvar toAlyviov [Tpacov...tobs uév otv "Ertedxpyntas kal tods Kvdovas avtoyBovas brdp—ar eikds, Tods Sé Aottrods EmHAvdas, os EK Oettarlas dyoiv édOetv "“Avdpwv... Strabo’s source, ‘

94 1865, 130-31. >

1950-51,

1-13.

Theophanides

is certainly

correct

in

noting that the steep and rocky heights above the Limni harbor are unsuitable for supporting a settlement of any size, that the harbor is too small for much of anything except fishing, and that the ‘city walls’ probably belonged to a watchtower or lighthouse. The archaeological site of Minoa at Marathi

is discussed

in Chapter

8.1.2

and

in the

Site

Gazetteer (MR 2). The reader attempting to follow Sanders’ description of Minoa will only be confused because he fails

Staphylus of Naukratis, wrote his historical works at some point before the second century B.C. (TLG, p. 369). Starr 1961, 46-47.

to distinguish Spratt’s findings at Limni, and those of Theophanides at Marathi, as two separate sites (1982, 169).

96 IC 11.116.12. Miva

rot tH. wopwr éoydtwr.

Ol Duhoux 1982. 02 5 80.

This is

the only epigraphic evidence for Minoa, discovered in Khania. 7 Ancient moles have been observed here below the water line, along with pottery and remains of structures on the coast (Sanders 1982, 165; Faure 1960, 209).

103 1965, 28-32. A connection with Asia Minor is based on Homer’s reference to the Iardanos river in Kydonia (Section 4.1 above); Willetts believes the name is Semitic (meaning

the equivalent of ‘Jordan’). See also RE 9, 748-50.

55

described by Herodotus (Section 4.1 above). The Samians were soon thereafter defeated by the Aeginetans who, Strabo later tells us, established their own colony at Kydonia.! Possibly the city served as a gateway for Aeginetan money, which became a standard for exchange in various parts of Crete until late in the fifth century when cities began to strike their own coins.!9 Crete’s position in the great wars of fifth-century Greece is generally characterized as ambivalent, an attitude that first becomes apparent during the Persian conflict when the island refused aid to the Greek cause.! By mid-century this political isolation began to dissolve, and with the start of the Peloponnesian War we find Athenian interests gaining favor in the cities of central Crete. Thucydides reports that in 429 B.C. an Athenian representative at Gortyna, Nikias, persuaded Athenian ships—in route to Sicily—to sail against Kydonia, ostensibly to win it over because the city was sympathetic to the Spartans. “In fact he was doing all this in the interests of the Polikhnitans, who were neighbors of the Kydonians. So he went with ships to Crete and, supported by the Polikhnitans, laid waste the land of the Kydonians.”!

of 346 B.C.!!9 The conflict erupted when Knossos attacked and captured its neighbor Lyttos with the aid of Phokian mercenaries. The Spartan king Arkhidamos intervened on behalf of Lyttos, drove out the mercenaries, and the Lyttians returned to their land.!!1 The Phokian leader, Phalaikos, went on to invade Kydonia, and died in the attempt. These events occurred during the uneasy peace between Athens and Philip of Macedon, towards whom Sparta was not compliant. ! 12 Macedonian influence appears to have increased in Crete under Alexander, and in an attempt to reinforce its own position, Sparta

sent an expedition to the island in 333 B.C.

We can only speculate that Kydonia had begun to flex its border with Polikhni, but the reasons for Athenian intervention are easily found. Kydonia’s port was on the direct route of the grain trade between North Africa and the Lakonian (Spartan) port on the island of Kythera. 19 The Athenians probably meant to divert this supply, but clearly failed to win over Kydonia in the process; Kythera, in any case, was taken by an Athenian expedition a few years later. Crete’s

next century.

fifty-year period following the fall of Athens. By the middle of the fourth century, however, the struggles between the Greek states and Macedon began to infiltrate the increasingly factious city-states of the island. Alliances with one or the other foreign power were forged during Crete’s first reported internal war

6 Herodotus Histories 7.169-71. 130; Gondicas 1988, 311-12.

els

7

With the start of the Chremonidean War (267/6-61 B.C., waged by Ptolemy II of Egypt, Sparta, and Athens against Antigonos of Macedon), Ptolemy established a protectorate in the East Cretan city of Itanos which remained there for the duration of the century.! 18 Egyptian influence becomes evident-in honorial inscriptions and the spread of coinage~—in some cities of Crete, although authors differ concerning the extent to which this indicates control beyond the garrison at Itanos.!!9 The alliances of

political affinities are not well documented during the

104 616. daotkous 8’ torerdav Alyuvtjtar Kudwvlav tiv év Kpfjty kat eis "OpBprkods. 05 Le Rider 1966, 166-69; Gondicas 1988, 306-07.

Of

Crete’s cities, now divided into pro-Spartan and pro-Macdonian factions, Kydonia has been grouped with the latter along with Knossos and Gortyna. 14 This seems curious, given Kydonia’s former relationship with Sparta, and the action of Knossos’ Phokian ally. The evidence cited for the pro-Macedonian cities derives from a Cyrenaican inscription which lists numerous recipients of Macedonian grain and thus, presumably, Alexander’s allies. Whether the list truly reflects alliances in place, as opposed to those sought, has been questioned. ! ! Kydonia’s neighbors on both sides, Polyrrhenia and Aptera, supported Sparta well into the

110 The details of this conflict are recounted by Diodorus

te

Siculus (16.62).

According to Polybius, Lyttos was an ancient Spartan colony (Histories 4.54).

2 Bury and Meiggs 1978, 432-42. 3 Diodorus Siculus 17.48.

See also Harrison 1988,

107 9 5. ddokwv tpooToUtoety adThv ovcav ToAEplav éemtyye Sé ITToAtyvitars yapuldnevos dpdpors tov Kvdwviatav. Kat 6 pév AaBdv tds vats wEeTo és Kpytnv cat peta tOv TloAryvitéy edjovu Thy yi tov Kudwviataév... As an Aeginetan colony, Kydonia’s siding

4 Willetts 1955, 235; Gondicas 1988, 313-14.

ID SEG IX.2.

© Harrison 1988, 131.

IC II.11 Diktynnaion 1 (Sparta mediates treaty between

Polyrrhenia and Phalasarna); Plutarch Pyrrhos 29-30 (Apteran among Cretans who fought on the side of Sparta against Pyrrhos).

with Sparta at this time can be understood from Athen’s actions against Aegina, and Sparta’s subsequent aid of its people (Thucydides 2.27).

118 govridakis 1992, 131-33. ? For differing views of the evidence, Spyridakis 1970 and

08 Meiggs 1972, 217; Casson 1984, 70-95. ? Thucydides 4.53.

Harrison 1988, 136-39.

56

separatism worked against the efforts of any foreign power to gain a political foothold.

Cretan cities with the various powers of the war are difficult to reconstruct. Following precedent (which, we have seen, may itself be incorrect), Willetts groups Kydonia with Knossos as allies of Macedonia. Gondicas, on the other hand, characterizes this war as

The Lyttian War (221-219 B.C.) marks the beginning of a hundred-and-fifty year period of almost continuous internal warfare on Crete, only brought to a close by the Roman conquest. Lyttos was again the cause, and Knossos the perpetrator, in the extraordinary age-class conflict. Polybius reports that Knossos and Gortyna held control of the island between them, with only Lyttos abstaining. Knossos launched an attack, but found itself facing opposition from the city-states of

the first showing of Cretan solidarity—at least against

Antigonos—and prefers to align Kydonia with interests in the Greek mainland.!2! This last interpretation seems preferable, because already by 250 B.C. Kydonia is listed among the allied states of Crete, including Itanos and known supporters of Sparta headed by Knossos in the convention of Miletos. !22 Moreover, if the Alexandrian-style tomb group in Khania indeed belonged to a wealthy merchant class, - we might question an anti-Egyptian alliance (Section 4.2 above).

Polyrrhenia,

the

cause

before

the

Cretan

Koinon.!24 This, of course, does not mean that Kydonia abstained from raiding itself; piracy (especially kidnapping for the slave trade) had become a matter of official policy among the island’s states. West Crete—including Kydonia—has been identified as a main source of pirates in the Hellenistic period. Crete’s lead role as a supplier of mercenaries is also well documented from the mid-third to the mid-second

120 1955, 236.

| 1988, 315-16; Gondicas follows van Effenterre who points out that Knossos was on friendly terms with Itanos, and therefore unlikely to embrace the cause of Macedonia (1948, 203-04); Gortyna had already transferred its

allegiance

from

Macedonia

to

Sparta

before

the

youth

Gortyna.

For a brief period after the Lyttian War

Philip V

their anti-Macedonian

stance.

Philip

continued to draw on Cretan mercenaries in the Second Macedonian War (200-197 B.C.), but his influence in the island had lessened and the various Cretan states pursued, for a time, other alliances with little impunity. Rome’s first involvement in the affairs of Crete is traced to these early years of the second century. The immediate concern of the Republic was less the sporadic backing of Macedonia than the

contenders in the Hellenistic world. this ready supply ensured foreign interest throughout the period; but the Cretan a loosely-bound organization, and state

(Elutarch Pyrrhos 27.2).

of

Knossos,

centuries B.C., and the recipients include all of the

main power The value of in the island Koinon was

the

managed to pacify, through his patronage, much of Crete.!2? He subsequently instigated the Cretan War (205-201 B.C.)—-more a series of skirmishes—between Crete and Rhodes, because the latter had worked to counter his sea forces, already diminished by the First Macedonian War with Rome. Rhodes was at this time the leading mercantile center of the Aegean, and plagued by Cretan piracy. !30 Rhodes’ own diplomacy rendered Philip’s efforts ineffectual, and friendly relations were established with some Cretan states; both Kydonia and Polyrhhenia resumed, with

Eumaridas was subsequently honored by Athens for his

mediating

and

short-lived.

B.C. Athenian ambassadors were sent to Crete to deal with the problem peacefully. A Kydonian named in

Lappa,

Knossos obtained the aid of Aetolian soldiers and, supported by the Gortynian elders, they completed the destruction of Lyttos and put to death the young revolutionaries. The war was protracted after the destruction of Lyttos, whose allies sought support from Aetolia’s enemies, Philip V of Macedonia and the Achaean League. The pro-Lyttos alliance placed the cities of Kydonia and Aptera under seige to secure their support against Knossos.!28 This support was

The Milesian inscription records an agreement between the Cretan states and Miletos to exchange prisoners captured by pirates on both sides. This is only one of many indications that Cretan piracy had become a serious threat to Mediterranean coasts and waters in the third century B.c. 123 Cretans, joined by Aetolian raiders, extended their activity to Attica, and in 229

aid

single

127 Willetts 1955, 232-34.

war

28 Polybius Histories 4.53-55.

22 IC 1.8.6 and IC 1.23.1.

129 Wid. 7.11. 30 Ibid. 13.4; Tarn 1952, 174-6.

123 For Cretan piracy generally, see Brulé 1978 and Willetts

| van Effenterre 1948, 222 (who reconstructs alliances based on which states did, and did not, receive an emmissary of Macedonia in 201 B.C.).

1965, 140-47.

124 SIG 535.

25 van Effenterre 1948, 249-59; Rostovtzeff 1957, 785.

32 Spyridakis 1992, 132-33.

126 Spyridakis 1992, 129-31; Willetts 1965, 145-47.

57

friendship maintained by some Cretan states with the king of Lakonia, Nabis of Sparta. Nabis, in need of resources to maintain his stronghold had turned to sea-raiding with his Cretan allies. ! 3 Prevailing conditions are implied in terms set by the Romans in 195 B.C.: Nabis-who had reportedly employed 2000 Cretan mercenaries in his opposition to advised to Flamininus—was general, the Roman r the surrende to and , abandon his Cretan alliances A on. possessi in Cretan states that he held now is Hermion at ries dedication to Cretan mercena attributed to the activities of Nabis, and complicity with West Crete is considered likely because of its Livy’s claim that Nabis’ geographical position. !> influence extended to dominion over cities in Crete is,

for lack of substantiating

evidence,

thought

yielded its prisoners. !3 9 The territorial war resumed between Gortyna and Knossos and this time (184 B.C.) a _ land mediated successfully Claudius Appius west: the in matter another to settlement before turning taken and d occupie had it appears that Kydonia hostages from the city-state of Phalasarna, beyond Polyrrhenia to the west. The Kydonians were advised to liberate Phalasarna and to abstain from provoking Kydonia’s in other Cretan cities. ! trouble it broke a B.C. 171 in for compliance was short-lived, the seizing a, Apolloni of treaty with the southern state In lands. the up dividing city, killing its men, and force such with Kydonia retaliation, Gortyna attacked that the city nearly fell before seeking foreign aid. This came from Eumenes II of Pergamon, who was

permitted to occupy Kydonia in return for defending

it.!41 Rome, meanwhile, was engaged against Perseus in the Third Macedonian War (171-168 B.C.); in traditional fashion the Cretan states ranged themselves on both sides, and were chastised by Rome for lending as many mercenaries to Perseus as to the Republic.

to be

We are not told which Cretan states inaccurate. were allied to his cause, but can eliminate Gortyna which had lent troops to Flamininus, and probably

Polyrrhenia which honored a Roman citizen at this

time. 137 Kydonia seems a likely candidate: partially because its relations with the Republic, up to the conquest, were more ambivalent than cordial (as might be expected, if Rome’s actions against Sparta also diminished the treasuries of its allies); and partly because the protected harbors in its purview are

By the middle of the century Crete, now with a surplus of unemployed mercenaries, launched with unusual solidarity into another piratical war with Rhodes (155-153 B.c.). 143 Roman diplomacy appears to have speeded a settlement, 44 and from this time up until the turn of the first century Rome consistently applied

If the association well-suited as bases for sea raids. between Kynosoura and the Akrotiri is accepted we

itself to mediating a series of internal disputes that

involved the eastern city-states of the island. 4) Other states pursued their independent policies; so, for example, an officer of Rome’s enemy Mithridates Euergetes of Pontus won the support of Knossos in 120 B.c.!4© Cretans carried out piracy with renewed vigor in the late second and early first centuries B.C., stimulated by the demand for slaves at the Delos market, and by their association with the Cilician raiders that terrorized the Mediterranean coasts at this time. !47 Although Rome ultimately profited from the spoils of piracy, it was also a frequent victim because the Cilicians preyed on the enemies of Mithridates. Crete’s complicity in piracy and, probably more

can also recall Hesychius’ reference to the place as a friend of the Lakonians (see Section 4.4 above). Over the course of the next decade Rome twice took on the role of arbiter in Cretan affairs, both occasions involving Kydonia. Since 196 B.C. the powerful states of Gortyna and Knossos had been at war but, for reasons unknown, briefly allied their forces against Kydonia in 189 B.C. Rome sent Q. Fabius Labeo to settle the dispute, but also to retrieve a large number of Roman soldiers held prisoner throughout the island. Neither mission was very successful, and only Gortyna

133 Polybius Histories 13.8; for commentary, Runnels, and van Andel 1994, 91-92.

139 1 ivy 37.60. 40 polybius Histories 22.15.3-6.

Jameson,

41 Polybius Histories 28.14-15.

1341 ivy 34.35.

1427 ivy 43.7.1.

The inscription UG IV.729) is discussed in Jameson, Runnels, and van Andel 1994, 91-92; the authors cite van Effenterre (1948, 259) and Ormerod (1924, 20-22) on the West Crete connection.

3 Diodorus Siculus 31.34; Willetts 1955, 239-40.

144 polybius Histories 33.4; Diodorus Siculus 31.37.

These struggles, between Itanos discussed in detail by Spyridakis Baldwin-Bowsky 1994, 6.

136 Syyridakis 1992, 132.

7 Polybius Histories 13.8; Gondicas 1988, 324.

146 Strabo 10.4.10. 147 Thid. 10.4.9; Willetts 1955, 244-45.

8 These include Kydonia’s enclosed harbor, Soudha Bay (assuming Kydonia held some jurisdiction here) and also small harbors on the west coast of the Akrotiri (in particular see Tersana in the Site Gazetteer).

148

Tarn

1994, 103.

58

1952,

42-43;

Jameson,

and Hierapytna, are 134-35 and 1992,

Runnels,

and van Andel

important, the continued duplicity of its dealings with Rome and Pontus finally provoked action by the Senate. In 74 B.C. Marcus Antonius (the Elder) was given free reign to rid the Mediterranean of pirates, and three years later he attacked Cretans in their own waters. He was defeated off the coast of Kydonia by the Knossian commander Lasthenes, and the Roman troops were Cretan ambassadors made an effort taken captive. to restore goodwill at Rome but the Senate demanded an unreasonable sum of money, calculated to force a The campaign to conquer Crete was rejection. undertaken by the consul Quintus Metellus (later ‘Creticus’?) who sailed for West Crete with three legions in 69 B.c.!9! It is probable that he landed his troops at the port of Polyrrhenia, an ally of Rome, and Lasthenes where Kydonia attacked there from ul, but successf was ce The first resistan waited, !>2 who Panares, another, to Lasthenes left the command central invaded next Metellus surrendered the city. Crete, probably entering at Knossos which he seized before moving westward to take the cities of Eleutherna and Lappa. During this second campaign Cretans appealed to the Roman general Pompey for a more merciful treatment, but his representative, Octavius, fared poorly against Metellus who went on to subdue the east of the island, completing the conquest

Actium, however, Octavian Augustus officially named Crete as part of a joint Senatorial province with It is Cyrenaica, and Gortyna was made the capital. ! at ed establish was Knossos at probable that the colonia the that told also are we and this time (ca. 27 B.C.) cities of Kydonia and Lappa were granted free status by Augustus for support during the civil wars.

There is no record of organized conflict in Crete during the

six

hundred

years

that

it remained

a

Roman

province. Sanders attributes this to the “normal Roman

method of utilizing the pre-existing city-state system and only adding a governor to superintend their There is little basis for contesting this behavior.” Epigraphic and numismatic evidence is statement. sufficient for reconstructing the general political structure at the urban and provincial level (thoroughly treated by Sanders), but ancient authors comment little on events or general conditions in the province. This lack of attention probably reflects political conditions: on an empire-wide scale, the financial benefits of incorporating Crete were not great, and exports of The legitimacy of grain are not reported. Kydonia’s free status is at least documented in the city’s coinage, which was issued into the third century A.D.; Gortyna’s mints ceased a hundred years earlier, and those of most cities had gone out of commission in Whether the privilege the first century A.D.!60 extended to tax exemptions is unknown, but seems doubtful given the potential revenues from shipping For a time Kydonia may and customs at its ports. have had a monopoly on one product, the quince fruit (kydonia), named for the region to which it was probably indigenous, and exported abroad in Pliny the Our only rounded view of the Elder’s day. 62 economy in West Crete comes from the temple accounts of the neighboring Diktynnaion which, in 6 B.C., leased out slaves, cattle, and sheep, sold cheese and wool, and purchased oil and wine. 1

in 67 B.C.

Spyridakis attaches inevitability to the fall of Crete: the

immediate concerns of Rome-—piracy and Crete’s relations with its enemies-can easily be viewed as secondary compared to the island’s greatest asset, which was its central position on sea routes between Africa, Asia, and Europe. !> 3 The governance of Crete was not firmly established until after Rome’s civil Troops were occasionally raised there by the wars. first triumvirs, and following Caesar’s death (44 B.C.) Brutus briefly held the governorship. Antony assumed

control after Brutus died at Philippi, and was criticized

for his leniency and cultivation of Cretan friendships: apart from some lands which he granted to Cleopatra in the 30’s, he appears to have fabricated a decree that After Antony’s defeat at would set Crete free.!°9

these territories are discussed in Harrison 1988, 125-155.

149 sanders 1982, 3.

160 Sanders 1982, 13.

156 The background

7 Strabo 10.4.9 (with commentary in Sanders 1982, 14);

Dio Cassius 51.2.

8 1982, 4. 159 Strabo 17.3.24.

161 Starr 1982, 77-78.

50 For this interpretation, Willetts 1965, 157.

2 Natural History 15.11.

1 The main ancient sources for the Cretan War are Appian

(Sicelica 6) and Dio Cassius (36.17-19), writing second and third centuries A.D., respectively. 152 Sanders 1982, 3.

153 guyridakis 1992, 137.

5-6.

Events of this period are treated fully in Sanders

and possible motives for combining

His proxima amplitudine mala,

quae vocamus cotonea, et Graeci cydonia, ex Creta insula advecta. Harrison (1991, 118) also notes that the quince is

in the

depicted on a fresco in a Roman villa near Pompeii (citing Jashemski 1979, 313); his reconstruction of a market economy based on the export of quince, though interesting, is difficult to take further on present evidence.

1982,

163 7C 1.11.3.

155 Cicero Philippics 2.97 and 5.13. 59

With the restructuring of the Empire under Diocletian, Crete was made a single province in 295 A.D. It was first incorporated with the Diocese of Moesia, and later (under Constantine) with the Diocese of Macedonia which included mainland Greece. Christianity had already gained adherents in Crete, as indicated by a group martyrdom in 250 A.D. at Gortyna which included one Kydonian. !64 Bishop lists become available after the official recognition of Christianity, and one of three Cretan bishops was sent by Kydonia to a council at Sardis in 343.!65 By 395 A.D. the Macedonian diocese was firmly a part of the Eastern, or Byzantine, Empire. The affairs of Crete’s cities are not well documented in Late Antiquity, but the island seems to have been spared the worst of the raiding that hit the mainland in the fifth and sixth centuries, and probably retained an important position in the commerce of the Empire. This security was lost in the seventh century when the Arabs gained control of North Africa and Crete became a province on the southern frontier. Systematic raiding over the next hundred years finally resulted in the conquest of Crete in 827-28, and the founding of the present-day capital at Herakleion.

164 sanders 1982, 45.

© Ibid. 166 Miles 1964; Tsougarakis 1988. 60

CHAPTER 5: POTTERY

5.1

particularly over the century encompassing the Hellenistic/Roman transition, was desirable in order to characterize these phases in the settlement patterns of the survey area. The need for greater familiarity with local coarse ware sequences has been emphasized;4 yet, for reasons which are not totally clear from project to project, the Late Hellenistic and Early Roman periods have proved difficult to isolate in Mediterranean survey.> It was of some interest, therefore, to see if the Khania material was amenable to the creation of dating indices for these periods.

Introduction

This chapter presents the results of pottery study carried out in 1992 and 1993 on sample material from an excavation in the city of Khania, currently housed at the Archaeological Museum of Khania as the ‘Garage’ collection. The primary aim was to develop a classification of Hellenistic and Roman wares that would aid in identifying a wide range of coarse and fine pottery from the surface survey of the Akrotiri peninsula. A classification based on pottery fabric was considered to be most useful for this purpose, because of its potential application to many sherds recovered in survey, even where diagnostic shapes are few. The classification based on the excavated material was subsequently applied to the 1993 study of Dr. Moody’s Akrotiri surface collection, also housed in the Khania Museum. The methods of analysis were the same for both collections and are described in Section 5.2. Section 5.3 focuses on the Garage sample, with a description of the excavation and a small catalog illustrating wares that provided the basis for the fabric classification.! Pottery from the Akrotiri surface collection is catalogued under the individual sites in the Site Gazetteer, with fabric designations (as these apply) following those described in Section 5.3.

The results were positive for identifying several Early Roman domestic wares, of distinctive fabric, which were produced from soon after the conquest (mid-first century B.C.) into the first century A.D. Late Hellenistic domestic wares proved more difficult to isolate on the basis of fabric, and illustrate important limitations to the use of fabric alone as a chronological marker. For example, one of the more common wares in use throughout Hellenistic and Early Roman times (Standard Ware, Variant 1) was produced from clay which possesses few time-sensitive processing attributes, such as added temper, that are visible to the eye. Although still very useful for characterizing settlement extent for these periods in survey, better dating resolution depended on preserved shapes or the

presence of other fabrics on a site.

A fabric classification was undertaken for two reasons. First, the need for a dating tool other than the normal range of identifiable fine wares was apparent from preliminary fieldwork in Akrotiri, where surface assemblages of some sites only yielded undecorated or coarse sherds of presumably local manufacture. Even where sites do yield fine wares, these are usually in small proportion to coarse ware sherds and are therefore less likely to represent the full chronological range of occupation on a given site.2 Imported black-gloss wares, furthermore, often provide little chronological control over pre-Roman periods in the absence of diagnostic shapes.° Closer control,

study of prehistoric coarse wares in East Crete.

Dating difficulties

extended to coarse ware shapes as well. Functional requirements of utilitarian vessels such as basins and bowls tend to result in conservative forms which may span hundreds of years, and questions inevitably arose concerning the date of certain specimens from the excavated collection where any amount of stratigraphic mixing was evident. On the other hand, local products are often not made to exact specifications and frequently exhibit idiosyncracies of shape which may have nothing to do with typological change over time, and for which comparanda are not available.’ A second factor in developing a fabric classification was to isolate products of local manufacture in both the Hellenistic and Roman periods, and so provide a basis for studying the movement of these goods, along with

lA full presentation of the classification process, even of a

small sample, is felt to be desirable because fabric studies of early historical wares in the Khania region are not yet available as they are for Knossos (Hayes 1983; Sackett 1992). Indeed, apart from finds in burial contexts, Hellenistic and Roman vessel forms are not published in abundance; the only non-salvage project in Khania, at Kastelli, has yielded a very limited range of wares for these periods (Hallager and Hallager 1997). A point made by Haggis and Mook (1993, 268) in their

STUDY

encountered in Akrotiri.

4 Alcock 1993, 49-51.

The Keos surveyors make note of this phenomenon (1991, 330) as does Woolf (1995, 419) in his review of Alcock’s 1993 survey synthesis.

The problem of conservatism in coarse ware shapes is

|

discussed in Peacock 1982, 162). This variability in local products is explored in the model coarse ware study by Loughlin (1977, especially p. 90).

A problem acknowledged in the Keos survey project (Cherry, Davis, and Mantzourani 1991, 329) and certainly

61

5.2 Methods of Analysis

imports, within the greater territory of Kydonia. Mediterranean ships carried not only amphorae and fine wares but also coarse cooking and table wares, making it equally important to factor out the latter as imports in coarse ware studies.2 Similarly, slipped wares were produced locally in Crete and can often be distinguished from imports on the basis of fabric. The production of black-gloss ware with grey fabric appears to have a long tradition in Khania and may indicate a regional specialization since the type is not very common in Hellenistic levels at Knossos.” Although the kilns used to fire the Hellenistic and Roman utilitarian pottery at the Garage site were not excavated, circumstances make it nearly certain that many of the wares examined were produced in the The opportunity vicinity (see Section 5.3 below). therefore existed to explore urban-rural traffic in material goods as discussed in Chapter 2; specifically,

the

extent

to

which

rural

sites

benefited

The methods used in recording pottery fabrics from the Garage and Akrotiri collections are, for the most part, replicable in the field. Some procedures, such as the measure of inclusion density and sorting, are not as feasible out of a workshop setting. Ultimately, however, the fabric descriptions focus on those attributes which are easily measurable or visible without the aid of laboratory equipment. This is important for consistency in comparing housed collections with specimens recorded in the field.!! The approach recognizes that petrographic analysis is optimum and necessary for precise mineral identification, but not feasible for the great majority of material recovered in excavation or survey, and that simpler procedures bring much more material within study scope. !2 The standardized form that was used to record specimens from the Garage collection is illustrated in figure 7 13° Material from a given locus was initially sorted by fabric appearance and then according to vessel class (fine wares, amphorae, and domestic or table wares). Although weight would not prove to be statistically significant for the small sample of the collection analyzed, all the material was weighed to avoid the necessity of replication should the collection be studied in its entirety at some future time. The measure proved to be useful later in the final characterization of some of the wares. Maximum

from

commodities known to originate in the polis center, and

whether differences in this traffic are discernible for

the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

Even supposing the most integrated of economies, there is little liklihood that the range of wares examined from a small sample of one excavation will be comparable to the range of wares encountered over tens of square kilometers in a surface survey. All of the Garage wares were identified in the Akrotiri survey, but the success of the classification scheme proved to be variable from one ware to the next. Thus, Standard Ware variants were found on many Hellenistic and Roman sites, while some other wares (Burnished Brown Ware and Burnished Orange Ware) were minimally represented. Numerous sherds from the survey could not be assigned to an established type, and at least two fabrics outside of the classification were found to be recurrent enough in the survey material to warrant special mention.!9 The pottery from survey is discussed in greater detail in Chapter 8.2. It can be noted here that there is little indication that Akrotiri was self-sufficient in its basic domestic ware needs in either the Hellenistic or Roman periods, or that the bulk of these goods was obtained from elsewhere than the city of Kydonia. As a point of interest, the local black-gloss ware with grey fabric was less common in the survey collection than fine black-gloss products (imports, or at least indistinguishable from imports) which were collected from many Hellenistic sites of all sizes.

preserved dimensions and thicknesses of sherds were

recorded as the specimens were drawn. Hardness was measured by scatching sherd surfaces with a fingernail or steel pen knife (a simplified version of Moh’s scale); the hardest wares typically ‘clink’ against metal, and this was often found to indicate vitrification of the clay. Wherever possible, small fresh breaks were obtained with a pliers. The texture of surfaces and breaks was recorded and found to be one of the more useful attributes for identification in the field. Standard Ware, for example, nearly always bears a powdery surface and flaky fracture. Munsell color readings were taken of both surface and freshly-exposed cores. Impressionistic color descriptions were also recorded for each reading, and in the end were found to be more useful for

1 Especially true for the present project which lacked a collection permit yet sought to increase pottery samples from

sites by recording in the field.

For coarse ware studies with similar aims: Moody 1985; Haggis and Mook 1993; G.D.R. Sanders 1993. Thanks are due to Dr. Moody who shared her expertise in fabric description when the project began; the recording form

8 Fulford 1987, 59-61; Riley 1981; thin-walled and cooking wares with a wide currency in the Mediterranean are treated in Hayes 1997, 67-71 and 76-80. One specimen is catalogued in Callaghan (1991, 121) and several in Coldstream (1973, specimens D-11, D-21, E-31). These are Standard Ware variants, undoubtedly local but of unproven provenance.

organization owes a great deal to models she provided from her own projects. The form used to record the Akrotiri survey collection is identical except for the provenance headings which refer to sites instead of excavation loci.

62

Markoulaki, generously permitted the study and recording of sample material from excavated units to

comparative purposes. The Munsell colors alone are felt to be almost too specific, because a range of color values is often represented by a particular fabric, or even a single vessel, depending on the firing. Both impressionistic and formal readings are therefore included in the fabric summaries. Following a description of any surface treatment (e.g., slip, burnish, paint, etc.), inclusions visible on the surface were first noted without the use of a handlens. A 30 X handlens was then used to examine and, where possible, identify inclusions in the breaks, and the dominant inclusion was recorded. During the field investigation it was quickly found that the surface readings were unreliable for identifying wares of low temper-to-matrix ratios, and breaks were routinely made.!4 Temper:matrix density and inclusion size were measured with a megascopic gridded lens in the workshop.

provide a basis for the local fabric classification; a detailed study of the entire collection was not intended or undertaken. !®

The excavation exposed a total surface area of 440 square meters (fig. 8). Section 1 is the largest (twenty 4’ x 3’ trench units) and runs north-south across the

center of the plot.

Portions of a building complex

uncovered at the north end include the southeast corner of a bath, and immediately east of this two corridors, divided by a portico, which the excavator identifies as stoas.!7 A stairway connects one stoa to a lower area to the south, a plateia, or open court. A much-disturbed wing south of the stoa complex, with floors a meter higher, was excavated to the west of the court. The Section 1 complex is dated to the second and third centuries A.D., and is believed to be a part of the Roman agora of Kydonia.

One person’s ‘fine’ is another person’s ‘coarse’ in the field of Mediterranean pottery. A specialist will classify African Red Slip Ware as coarse on the basis of impurities, as it certainly is compared with the clean fabrics of earlier sigillatas; granted, the distinction may have meant little to the ancient consumers.!> The ‘finest’ black and red-gloss table wares examined from Khania are technically coarse, and therefore raise the temper:matrix scale used in this study: 30-40% is considered high density, 10-20% moderate, and 0-5% rare to low (with the understanding that 0% visible impurities applied only to certain imported specimens). A Wentworth Scale was used to define inclusion shape and the degree of sorting. All sherd breaks were tested for reaction with HCl to ensure identification of calcareous grits, so-named to describe the soft and chalky white mineral common in the local wares. It should be noted that the word ‘lime’ is used elsewhere in reference to the same mineral in Central Crete (e.g., Hayes 1983).

The stoas were built over a drain running from the southeast, which connects to an earlier Roman bath complex in Section 4 (nine trench units). An east-west range of rooms with hypocausts was exposed, !8 and an apsidal wing which runs perpendicular at the west end. The exterior and some partition walls are exceptionally thick (up to 2 meters). The building is free standing, and the size suggests to the excavator that this was a public bath. There were few associated finds, and the first century A.D. date advanced for the building is based primarily on the position of the drain; the bath appears to have been abandoned and destroyed when the stoa complex was built. Section 3 (three trench units) lies to the north of the bath building. Parallel walls running east-west are probably an extension of the second-century stoa complex in Section 1; a well with hydraulic cement was exposed to the south of these walls. No earlier building phases are recorded, but pottery of Hellenistic through Early Roman date from an earlier level is represented in the collection.

5.3 The Garage Excavation and Stratigraphy The Garage collection consists of Late Classical through Early Roman artifacts recovered during salvage excavation in the center of modern Khania between 1990 and 1991. The plot in question (2500 sq m) was slated for development as a parking ramp, and is located immediately north of the fire station, between Peridou Street (to the east) and Karaskaki Street (to the west). The excavator, Stavroula

Section 2 extends seven units, end to end, across the southwest side of the plot. Successive levels produced Turkish burials, early Christian burials, Roman walls,

and a destruction level with a ceramics workshop of

Late Classical/Early Hellenistic date at the west end of the section, with a thin pre-destruction layer under this down to bedrock. The Roman walls were traced at

14 Standard Ware sherds with surface wear, for example, can

be confused with a Late Roman fabric on the basis of superficial inspection, whereas a fresh break exposes clear

16 For a preliminary publication of the excavation, see Markoulaki 1990b. These stoas measure 2.20 x 14 m and 3.5 x 9.10 m. These rooms measure 2.50 x 3.80 m, 3.50 x 3.70 m, and 3.0 x 3.40 m.

differences. I am grateful to Dr. J. Theodore Pefia for discussions and correspondence on the topic of pottery classification early in this project; his many insights are not done justice here.

63

fabric, and a flat, heavily-ridged amphorae handle of mid-to-late Roman date.

either end of the section in the two westernmost and the

two

easternmost units; the latter walls

appear to be

extensions of the Section 1 building complex.

The

Section 2, Units I and IIT Locus B. (Crate 23, all; Crate 40, Bag 6; Crate 6, Bag 4). Roman level 2. Amphorae forms provide a first-century A.D. date (37, 38); Eastern Sigillata A between the late first century B.C. and the first century A.D. (90); early Candarli ware and Eastern Sigillata B to the first century A.D. (91, 92). Domestic vessels also fit parallels dating to the B.C./A.D. period, but include some conservative shapes that range into the second century A.D. elsewhere. There is a small amount of intrusive Early Hellenistic material. Locus C. (Crate 40, Bag 3; Crate 23, Bag 4; Crate 23, Bag 2). Early Hellenistic destruction level 3 (workshop). The presence of Italian Sigillata (89), a first-century A.D. amphora (35), and a thin-walled juglet (106) indicate the mixing of later material in this level, and the Hellenistic krater 12 could belong late in the period. Diagnostics for the earlier phase are few, but include the skyphos 73 of Late Classical/Early Hellenistic date. Locus D. (Crate 34, Bag 1; Crate 34, Bag 2; Crate 1, all). Precatastrophic level 4. Late Hellenistic and Early Roman material also contaminated this deposit but unlike Locus C, a number of vessels date unambiguously to the Late Classical/Early Hellenistic period. (e.g., 1-8).

workshop was exposed in Units I and 1.17 Features include a small kiln, a built reservoir with hydraulic

cement, and a deep stone-cut well.

This workshop

specialized in the production of small clay idols of enthroned women, and masks. Fallen tiles indicate that part of the workshop was roofed. Bedrock in the vicinity was noted to be much veined by clay, and it is believed likely that that the workshop represents but one component of a more extensive potters quarter.29 Two of the female idols were examined during the pottery study and found to be of the same fabric as

domestic

vessels

of Smooth

Salmon

Ware

in the

classification below. In the absence of the actual kilns, this is a good indication that some of the wares described were produced in the city of Kydonia.

The Garage ceramic material fills 113 crates, each of which was cursorily examined for the context and impressions on the range of wares present. Quantity and time restricted closer examination to about 25% of the total collection and, ultimately, the detailed study

of specimens

for classification

was

undertaken

on

about 8% of the total. The mixing of later material in the Early Hellenistic level of Section 2 meant that greater reliance was placed on vessel shapes for dating than was initially anticipated; specimens were therefore drawn as preservation permitted, and the more representative shapes are catalogued in Section 5.5. Given the project emphasis on the Hellenistic/Roman transition, the selection of crates for fabric study was biased in favor of units and levels with Hellenistic and the earliest Roman material. The contexts of the catalogued specimens are presented below; the locus letter (A-G) is included with each entry in the catalog of Garage material.

Section 3, Unit G Locus E. (Crate 5, Bags 1 and 2). From level 3, below the Roman structure in this unit. Black-gloss ware with grey fabric is present, including Early and Late Hellenistic forms (83-86). Several intrusive vessels date to the Early Roman period and one of these (103) belongs to the third century. Section 4, Unit A (with Balk A/B), and the Drain Locus F. (Crate 4, Bags 1, 2, and 3). Unit A and Balk A/B: from the floor (level 2) of the apsidal room of the bath building. The material dates to the first century A.D., but a basket-handled jar (19) spans the first through third centuries in other contexts. Locus G. (Crate 5, Bag 3). From the bath building drain. A hodge-podge of material was discarded here, included for some interesting and datable shapes. These include domestic wares of Early Hellenistic (39-41) and Early Roman (27, 28) date.

Section 1, Unit 4 Locus A. (Crate 6, Bag 1). Level 3, from above the floor of stoa 2. This building post-dates the Roman bath but the little material examined represents fragmented dates, with a Hellenistic kantharos (13), and a jar of Augustan to first-century A.D. date (105). The only later material observed was a small fragment from an Aegean pot with the distinctive pink/grey

To summarize, the small amount of material examined from the Section 4 bath building is consistent with the first century A.D. date advanced by the excavator. The Roman deposits at the west end of Section 2 suggest activity contemporaneous with the bath building, but some of the material could belong to the second

19 The only drafted profile available for the Garage site was of Unit I, showing the Roman layer from 0.15 to 0.65 m below surface, the Early Hellenistic destruction layer from 0.65 to 1.25 m, and the predestruction layer down to 1.40 m where it hits bedrock.

This

is

supported

by

debris

found

in

the

Late

Classical/Early Hellenistic layer at the east end of Section 2, which included numerous amphorae and other vessels mended with lead joinings.

64

any clear local classification, or can be identified as

century A.D.2! None of the material below this need date later than the Early Hellenistic period, and thus

accords with the preliminary report.

imports

on the basis of distinctive fabric.

presented in a miscellaneous category, Non-Local and Imported Coarse Products. A few local tile specimens are described in the last category, Terracotta (table: 1).

The catalog entries are numbered sequentially from 1, with numbers in bold-face type. ‘D’ stands for diameter, and ‘MPD’ stands for maximum preserved dimension, with all measurements in centimeters. The context of each find is indicated by the locus letter (A-H) at the end of each entry; the loci are described in Section 5.3 above. Drawings of the Garage finds are located in figures 9 through 18 of the illustrations; these are also presented sequentially. All of the catalogued finds are drawn unless otherwise indicated in the entry. Works cited in the entries are abbreviated as follows (with full citations in the bibliography):

5.4 Catalog Organization and Conventions The organization of catalogued specimens is primarily by fabric, with the main fabric groups identified as wares (i.e., Standard Ware, Burnished Brown Ware, etc.). Where use of a ware spans more than one period, a further subdivision by date is provided (i.e., Late Classical/Early Hellenistic, Early Roman, etc.). An attempt is made to specify whether or not a ware is local to the study area; two groups, Coarse Brown Wares and Coarse Red Wares, are less coherent than the others in this respect and possibly include both local and non-local specimens. Because a number of specimens under Black-Gloss Wares and Red-Gloss Wares belong to classifications that have already been established elsewhere, these wares are subdivided according to status as imports or local products. Inevitably, a number of amphorae and coarse specimens are unique in the sense that they fall outside

Callaghan = Callaghan (1992) “Archaic to Hellenistic Pottery” (Knossos). Coldstream = Coldstream (1973) Knossos: The Sanctuary of Demeter. Empereur = Empereur, Kritzas, and Marangou (1991) “Recherches sur les Amphores Crétoises II.” Grace = Grace (1961) Amphoras and the Ancient Wine Trade.

Table 1. Wares defined or identified in the fabric study of the Garage collection. local/ all? local local? local? local local/ non-local

imported/

Black-Gloss Wares

local imported/ local

Red-Gloss Wares

Non-Local and Imported Coarse Products

Terracotta

21 | was unable to secure a precise context of relation to the Roman walls at the west end of it is difficult to say whether these walls are with those at the east end which the excavator an extension of Section 1.

of

interest for the information they provide on trade are

elaborate on the proposed second and third-century date of the stoa complex (and its extension in Section 3) on the basis of the sample examined. Hellenistic deposits in Section 3 indicate that at least part of the complex was built over an earlier site.

Standard Ware (Variants 1-4) Smooth Salmon Ware Burnished Brown Ware Coarse Brown Wares Burnished Orange Ware Coarse Red Wares

Some

those that were useful for dating deposits or are of

It is difficult to

these wares in the section, so contemporary believes to be

Early Hellenistic-Early Roman Early Early Early Early Early

Hellenistic, Early Roman Roman Roman Roman Roman

Early and Late Hellenistic Early Roman

7.5YR 6/6) with a consistently orange or reddish core (SYR 6/6, SYR 5/8, 5YR 6/8, or 2.5YR 5/6). Surfaces are medium-hard to hard and texture ranges from very powdery to (less often) sandy. The fabric contains quartz, calcareous grits, and small amounts of mica (henceforth QCM in this discussion) with inclusion densities falling into two classes: a sparse (0-5%) and a heavily gritted (20-30%). This distinction appears to have little temporal significance. Quartz is the dominant inclusion and rarely exceeds 0.5 mm in size; calcareous grits are occasionally large (1.0 mm). Standard Ware with only QCM is designated as Standard Ware Variant 1.

Hallager Hallager and Hallager (1997) GreekSwedish Excavations at Kastelli (Khania). Hayes:HB Hayes (1997) Handbook of Mediterranean Pottery. Hayes:KN Hayes (1983) “The Villa Dionysos Excavations, Knossos.” Keos = Cherry, Davis, and Mantzourani (1991) The Archaeological Landscape of Northern Keos. Markoulaki = Markoulaki, Empereur, and Marangou (1989) “Recherches sur les Centres de Fabrication d’Amphores de Créte Occidentale.” Markoulaki-Kindeli = Markoulaki and Niniou-Kindeli

(1982) “EAAnuvuotikés Aakeutés Tddos Xaviwv.”

Peacock-Williams Peacock and Williams (1986) Amphorae and the Roman Economy. Robinson = Robinson (1959) Pottery of the Roman Period. Sabratha = Kenrick (1986) Excavations at Sabratha. Sackett = Sackett (1992) Knossos: The Unexplored Mansion IT. Sparta = Bailey (1993) “Excavations at Sparta: The Roman Stoa.” The Stobi Anderson-Stojanovic (1992) Stobi: Hellenistic and Roman Pottery. Vari = Jones, Graham, and Sackett (1973) “An Attic Country House at Vari.”

Three other variants were recorded. These may point to regional differences in clay source or production of Standard Ware. Standard Ware Variant 2 contains QCM and small (0.25 mm) subangular black inclusions that bear a surface sheen. This fabric is similar to that described for Cretan amphora Type AC2 specimens from a second-century production site at Kastelli (ancient Kissamos) on the coast to the west of Khania, but this can only be ascertained through further comparative study.22 Standard Ware Variant 3 contains QCM and a red-to-black inclusion with a metallic-like sheen, 0.25 mm but sometimes larger, which often has a platy appearance (otherwise difficult to distinguish from grog). Standard Ware Variant 4 contains QCM and a distinctive black-to-reddish mineral with a rounded, nodular shape and molten appearance. These nodules are hard and are usually under 0.5 mm in size but can be larger. A very similar mineral is recorded in medieval wares at Sparta,23 but as it is found in tiles from the Garage site (109) a nearby source seems likely.

5.5 Catalog of the Garage Sample 5.5.1

STANDARD

WARE

This ware is the Kydonian equivalent of the Local Buff-Cream Ware developed by Hayes (1983) for second and third-century Knossos, although none of the material here need date beyond the first century. The ware was long lived, and as common in the Early Hellenistic as the Early Roman period for the production of domestic vessels and amphorae. Unfortunately for the surveyor, the fabric exhibits few time-sensitive attributes over the five hundred-year period represented here, so that closer dating of surface specimens relies largely on diagnostic shapes. Also, it was found that the lighter-colored surfaces characteristic of the excavated material tend to be worn away on surface sherds, revealing an orange body which is less easily distinguished from wares of other periods. This ceases to be a difficulty when cores are routinely examined.

Apart from these impurities, traces of phyllite occur rarely (possibly endemic to the clay) and a few specimens contain sub-rounded, dull dark-grey grits, henceforth ‘gravel.’ While phyllite is added generously as temper in tiles, brick, and large storage vessels, it is uncommon in other forms of the Hellenistic and Early Roman periods at Khania; by contrast, it is very often present in Late Roman and Byzantine domestic wares recovered in survey. In its constituents, Standard Ware Variant 1 differs from wares local to Central Crete in that small amounts of mica are consistently present in the clay, along with quartz; amphorae sourced to Keratokambos lack mica, but contain calcareous grits and chert.24 Kiln wasters

Of the Knossos ware Hayes notes (p. 108) that the standard cream, buff, or light brown clay is frequently poorly fired to a bright yellowish-orange; it is hard to say if the Khania ware was subject to the same variations in production since so little of the material examined within this class can be described as truly ‘cream’ or ‘buff colored. The standard Khania ware has an orange-beige, or ochre, surface (7.5YR 7/7 to

22 For a general description of the fabric, see Markoulaki,

Empereur, and Marangou 1989, 555-56. Cretan amphora Type AC2 is the same as Riley’s Early Roman 1 (1979, 145-46) and Peacock and Williams Class 39 (1986, 173).

23 G_D.R. Sanders 1993, 255. 24 Riley 1979, 180-81.

66

8. Lekane, narrow everted rim, D. 24. (fig. 9). Variant 1. Locus D.

from Knossos contain calcareous grits, quartz, chert, and foraminifera.2> One of two fabrics from Kastelli Kissamos was mentioned above; another, sourced to a first-century kiln, is characterized as micaceous.2©

9.

Bowl,

in-curving rim, D.

Basin depth suggests an

Early Hellenistic date; cf. Coldstream no. E19 or Callaghan’s Late Classical no. H10-5.

5.5.1.1

14.

Cf. Vari examples

Late Classical/Early Hellenistic (fig. 9)

Variant 1. Locus B.

10. Table amphora, collared rim, D. 12. Cf. Keos no. 16-4 (Archaic to Classical?) but also Sabratha no. 180 which is much later (Ist century B.C.). Variant 1. Locus D.

The utility wares catalogued below include chytrai, lekanai, and pitchers in shapes that are consistent with mainland counterparts at the site of Vari. Parallels with Hellenistic vessels at Knossos are apparent in certain instances, but the range of coarse wares published at that site for this period is somewhat limited compared to fine wares. Although the chytra is a conservative form, the Early Hellenistic vessels at Vari and Stobi display a gradual slope between neck and belly which is also characteristic of the shapes here. Late Hellenistic examples at Knossos have more constricted necks and globular bodies (i.e., Callaghan 1992, nos. H12-50 and H32-18). The lekanai and hydria exhibit high, slightly splayed ring foots which also appear to be more common in the earlier period. The single catalogued amphora toe is a common shape in the Akrotiri survey material, and has close parallels with vessels from Vari and from the Keos survey. The Early Hellenistic amphorae toes published from Knossos (Callaghan, plate 86) were not identified in the Khania material or in the Akrotiri survey.

11. Amphora toe with concave underside, D. 7. Shape as Keos no. 30-6, but the authors cite Vari no. 128 which seems to be a marginal parallel. Variant 1. Locus D.

5.5.1.2 Late Hellenistic and Augustan (figs. 9, 10) It seemed best not to make too fine a distinction by separating these periods, because several specimens could easily fall either side of the mid-first century B.C. transition. Exact parallels were not identified for the finely tapered olpai rims (15); Knossos examples from Augustan deposits are very close, but the rim tops are more flattened than the Khania specimens. 12. Krater or basin, everted rim, H16-25 (200-175 B.C.) although pronounced. Variant 4. Locus C.

D. 22. Cf. Callaghan the carination is less

13.

Outsized specimen with

Kantharos, rim to belly, D. 15.

sharply carinated shoulder.

Cf. Callaghan H28-16 (225-200

1. Chytra, rim to shoulder, D. 12. Single score at shoulder, handle attachment at lip. Cf. Vari no. 109 and Stobi no. 7.

B.C.) although the carination is less pronounced. with trace phyllite. Locus A.

2. Chytra, rim to shoulder, D. 12. As above. Variant 2. Locus D.

14. Jar, everted rim, D. 18. The rim is flanged, and the lip bears a single groove. Cf. Stobi no. 78 (Late Hellenistic). Variant 1 with trace phyllite. Locus B.

Variant 2. Locus D.

3. Hydria, high ring foot, D. 10. Locus D.

Single score at shoulder.

Cf. Vari no. 56.

15.

Variant 1.

Variant 1. Locus D.

Water pitcher, rim to neck, D. 9.

6.

Water pitcher or table amphora, everted rim, D. 4.

Vari no. 50.

Variant 1. Locus D.

7,

Lekane

or bowl,

moulding below rim. Locus D.

Flared lip and slight

Cf. Vari nos. 67 and 68.

high

ring foot, D.

12.

16.

18.

robust,

and Jones

1985, 3-4.

Hayes

Juglet?

Hellenistic?

and Late Classical kitchen wares at Knossos (Callaghan H10-4 and H10-7). An identical base to this one has a score mark around the lower belly. Variant 1. Locus D.

Callaghan

Tulip-shaped rim to a

17. Jar or bowl collared rim, D. 16. Cf. Callaghan no. H32-17 (100-50 B.C.), but an example at Sabratha (no. 180) may run slightly later. Variant 1. Locus D.

Cf.

splayed foot is found in Vari domestic wares (figs. 6 and 9)

25

Olpe or jar, rim to neck, D. 10.

long-necked vessel. Late Hellenistic? Variant 1. Locus D.

Variant 1.

The

Cf. Callaghan nos.

H35-10 and H37-11 (Augustan). Variant 1 with trace black paint or slip on the exterior. Locus D. Two other plain specimens of D. 10 were found in loci D (Variant 4) and B (Variant 1).

4. Jug, rounded ring foot, D. 8. Cf. Callaghan no. H10-12. 5.

Olpe, thin tapering rim, D. 7.

Variant 1

flat

base

Variant 1.

with

high

floor,

D.

4.5.

Late

Locus D.

5.5.1.3 Early Roman (figs. 10-12) The majority of these shapes are represented in the first-century A.D. deposits of the Unexplored Mansion at Knossos (Sackett 1992), but comparisons with slightly later forms from the Villa Dionysos (Hayes

only notes the

presence of calcareous grits (lime) in the Local Buff-Cream Ware from Knossos. 26 Markoulaki, Empereur, and Marangou 1989, 556.

67

under the rim. Cf. Sackett no. Al-25 (late 1st century B.C. to early 1st century A.D.). Variant 1 with occasional gravel. Locus B.

1983) are inevitable. Either site could accommodate the square-rimmed basins catalogued below which are, however, more truly square; the Khania specimens only lack the pair of rim-top grooves characteristic of the Knossian vessels. The frying pans have counterparts in both second-century types developed by Hayes, although his Type 2 shape with concave rim top and rounded sides appears earlier in the Aegean.2/ Cretan amphorae variants ACla and AC1b (Hayes’ Type 2) are common in the Khania material.2® The few entries below do not reflect the large quantities of handles belonging to this type, distinctively gracile and high-arching with pinched attachment areas. Type ACI] is found all over the island, with production sites identified at Kastelli, Knossos, Keratokambos, Dermatos, and Tsoutsouras; the type made its way to Greece, Italy and North Africa.2? Five of the specimens catalogued (27, 33, 39, 40, 41), including amphorae and domestic vessels, have surfaces treated

26. Platter base with ledged foot, D. 13. century B.C. to early lst century occasional gravel. Locus B.

28.

30.

32. Cooking dish or basin, thick everted rim with internal flange, D. 34. Horizontal handle-grip under rim. Cf. . Variant 3. Locus D.

Variant 2.

33. Frying pan, everted rim, D. 30. Lower body burnt. Cf. Hayes:KN 2nd-century Type 2 (no. 103), but shape runs

A line of moulding

earlier (Sparta no.

Cf. Empereur fig. 13 for similar basins from

Variant

1.

35. Amphorae rim, rounded lip, D. 9. Cretan Type ACIb (Markoulaki fig. 16-d), Ist century A.D. Variant 1. Locus C.

Several lines of moulding

36. Amphora, rim to neck with handle attachment, D. 8. Cretan Type AC1b (Markoulaki fig. 16-f), Ist century A.D. Variant 1 with trace phyllite. Locus F.

Cf. Sackett A2-91 (late Ist century B.C. to

early 1st century A.D.), but the general shape runs later as

well. Variant 1 with occasional gravel. Locus B.

37. Amphora rim, high and convex, D. 12.5. Cretan Type AC1b (Markoulaki 16-e), Ist century A.D. Variant 1 with traces of white slip on the exterior. Locus B. Another specimen of ACIb in this locus is D. 12 with cream slip.

25. Basin, everted square rim, D. 40. Rim angle indicates vertical walls; horizontal handle with round section attached

38. Amphora, rim to neck with handle attachment, D. 5. Bottleneck shape. Cretan Type ACla (Markoulaki fig. 15-a and Hayes:KN no. 14), Ist to 2nd century A.D. Variant 3. Locus B. Three other AC1la rims are from Locus D (these in Variant 2).

27 For example, the Sparta bowl no. 109 of the first century AC1;

Ist century A.D.).

34. Frying pan, base to rim, D. 16. Cf. Hayes:KN 2nd-century Type 1 (no. 101). Variant 1. Locus B.

23. Basin, flat base to lower body, D. 24. Roughly-finished surface with clay tags. Cf. Hayes:KN basin no, 180 and others (2nd century but the type runs earlier). Variant 1. Locus B.

are early variants of Type

109,

Locus B.

Herakleion (1st to 2nd century A.D.). Variant 1. Locus B. Another basin from this locus, D. 24, is the same but lacks the moulding.

These

This

Empereur fig. 13 (1st to 2nd century A.D., from Herakleion).

Basin, everted square rim, D. 26.

A.D. (Bailey 1993).

Straight-sided vessel.

occasional grog and grey shale; cream slip on interior and exterior. Locus C.

Locus D. An identical jar of Variant 1 found in Locus B.

Basin, everted rim, D. 38.

Jar or bowl rim, D. 12.

31. Bowl rim, D. 18. Thick and gently flaring to square lip. Cf. Sparta no. 111 (1st century A.D.). Variant 1 with

Variant 3. Locus D.

below the rim.

Possibly an ‘urnetta a collarino’

general shape found in 2nd-century contexts at Sparta (nos. 46-48). Variant 1 with trace phyllite. Locus B.

Straight-sided, cylindrical

21. Jar, everted square rim, D. 12. Early Roman?

24.

Cup flat base, D. 5.

this specimen is larger. Variant 1. Locus C.

vessel with notch on rim top. Cf. Sparta no. 46 (2nd century

below the rim.

1 with

29. Bowl, large with flared rim, D. 42. Cf. Sparta no. 30 bowl or cooking pot (late Ist to mid-2nd century A.D.), only

19. Water jar with basket handle, rim to mid-belly, D. 11.5.

22.

Variant

type mug (cf. Hayes:KN no. 151); an early unribbed version? Variant 1 with occasional gravel. Locus G.

Several examples of this form are in Robinson (nos. M44, J44, J45), spanning the late Ist century B.C. through the early 3rd century A.D. Variant 1. Locus F.

A.D.).

A.D.).

27. Stamnos, flared rim, D. 12. Cf. Sackett no. N1-36 (1st century A.D.). Variant 1 with occasional gravel. Locus G.

with cream-to-white slip (1OYR 8/3 to LOYR 8/4).

20. Jar, rim to upper body, D. 12.

Possible adaptation

of Eastern Sigillata A dish form (Sackett no. A2-8, late Ist

a later variant,

probably of the third century, was produced at Chersonisos

cEmpereur, Kritzas, and Marangou 1991, 499). 9 Production sites and distributions of Type AC1 are discussed in Markoulaki, Empereur, and Marangou 1989, 554-569 and Empereur, Kritzas, and Marangou 1991,

520-21.

68

5.5.2 SMOOTH SALMON WARE

5.5.3

BURNISHED BROWN

This is a coarse ware of the Early Roman period, characteristically thin with burnished outer surfaces and clay full of fine mica. The vessels were used over fire to judge from burning patterns on nearly all examples, although some forms would seem to be. more typical of utility or table wares. Surface are mottled yellow to grey-brown (10YR 5/4 to 10YR 4/4, but Munsell readings are varied) and cores are brown to (mostly) dark grey (2.5YR 4/0). Surface pores and striations from turning are common where calcareous grits have erupted. The fabric is hard with a rough to powdery surface texture. A micaceous clay source seems likely because of the fineness of these inclusions, and may be an indication that this ware was produced outside of Khania.° The platy red mineral found in Standard Ware Variant 3 is, however, also present in most specimens. Quartz and calcareous grits are also present in the clay, and these can be large (0.5 to 1.0 mm). Inclusion densities range from moderate (10-20%) to heavily gritted (30-40%).

This ware is distinctive for a smooth, almost lustrous, appearance and hard to very hard fabric. Surfaces are commonly light salmon to buff or beige (SYR 7/6, 7.5YR 7/6) with deeper red or pink cores (SYR 6/6 to SYR 6/8). As with Standard Ware, products include domestic vessels and amphorae. Most forms examined appear to be either Late Classical/Early Hellenistc or Early Roman in date, although several bifid amphorae handles were recorded, not included in the catalog, which could be Late Hellenistic. The fabric has a soapy surface texture in the earlier period, ranging to powdery in Roman times; break textures are smooth, or flaky-to-vitrified. Inclusions normally consist of the quartz-calcareous-mica complex associated with Standard Ware Variant 1. Some of the Roman specimens also contain the subangular black inclusions of Standard Ware Variant 2, or the red inclusions of Variant 3. Inclusion densities are low for the early material (0-5%), but the clay is frequently well-gritted in the Roman (20-30%) under the smoothed surfaces. Inclusion size rarely exceeds 0.5 mm in both periods.

48.

Chytra?

rim, thin-walled,

found. Locus E.

5.5.2.1

Late Classical/Early Hellenistic (figs. 12, 13)

51. Jar rim, everted and flat, D. 14. Locus C.

fig.

33), late 4th to early 3rd century B.C. Locus G.

52.

B.C.).

D. 16. Cf. Vari no. 124; Keos nos. 46-3 and 34-2 (4th to 2nd century B.C.). Locus G.

44, Lagynos, twisted handle, MPD. 8.5. Cf. Sackett A1l-10 (late Ist century B.C.) for precise shape, but the type spans

everted

with

small

flange,

D.

20.

Locus E.

54. Oinochoe?, Al-3 and Al-4 B.C.). Locus D.

Fabric as Standard Ware Variant

45. Mortarium or bowl rim, D. 32. Globular, out-turned rim with internal flange; scalloped molding on rim exterior. The profile is close to Hayes:HB fig. 34-1 (Ist century A.D. Italian form) only that lacks molding. Locus E.

splayed ring foot, D. 8. (in Hellenistic tradition,

5.5.4 COARSE BROWN

Cf. Sackett nos. late Ist century

WARES (fig. 14)

This Early Roman group differs from Burnished Brown Ware in its ruddy texture and coarser fabric. All of the specimens catalogued contain mica, but some are more micaceous than others, and this may signify different

46. Basin rim, D. 32. Cf. Sackett D4-45 (early to mid-2nd century A.D.). Locus B. D.

rim,

53. Globular cooking pot, rim to neck with horizontal handle, D. 20. Cf. Sackett no. A2-79 (late Ist century B.C. to early Ist century A.D.) for similar genre. Locus D. A second pot with this profile, D. 22, from the same context.

5.5.2.2 Early Roman (fig. 13)

attachment,

Casserole

Straight-sided vessel. Cf. Sackett no. Al-16 (late Ist century

43. Amphora rim, heavily turned out with triangular section,

rim to neck and handle

Low-slung floor; Cf. Sackett nos.

C1-60 and C1-61 juglets for similar genre (1st century A.D.).

of a type found in Khania burials (Markoulaki-Kindeli

Amphora,

Close parallels not

Locus D.

42. Olpe flat base, D. 3. Possibly a miniature funerary olpe

47.

14.

50. Juglet or bowl ring foot, D. 5. prominent wheel marks on the interior.

Locus G.

41. Lekane ring foot, D. 11. Cf. Vari no. 87. Locus G.

the Late Hellenistic period. 3. Locus D.

D.

49. Shallow dish, rim gently tapering to flat base, D. 26. Parallels not found. Locus E.

39. Chytra rim, est. D. 18. Cf. Vari no. 104. Locus D. 40. Hydria, high ring foot, D. 16. Cf. Vari no. 56.

WARE (figs. 13, 14)

8.

Cretan Type AC1b (Markoulaki fig. 16-c), Ist century A.D.

39 Micaceous clay was used in the production of amphorae at Kastelli Kissamos to the west of Khania (see Standard Ware discussion in 5.2.1).

Fabric as Standard Ware Variant 2. Locus B.

69

sources for these vessels.

These wares were used for

62.

Juglet, tapered ring foot, D. 5.

63.

Juglet ring foot, D. 5.

cooking: all those catalogued show burning on the bottom and exterior; otherwise, surfaces are a mottled brown to grey-brown (SYR 5/4 to 10YR 5/3) and cores are brown to blackened. The fabric is hard, with a rough and bumpy surface texture and crumbly break. Quartz and mica are the most common inclusions in a heavily-tempered clay (30-40%, occasionally to 60%), and the quartz grains can be large (1.0 to 2.0 mm). It should be noted that some Sabratha comparanda could belong to a pre-Augustan phase, although Kenrick (1986, 199) favors an Augustan date for most of the material published. 55.

These Early Roman cooking and utility wares do not form a coherent fabric group, but all share certain attributes: a ruddy, heavily-gritted fabric (40-50%) with reddish-brown to orange-red surfaces (SYR 6/6 to SYR 6/8) and orange or red cores (SYR 5/6, 2.5YR 5/8); large quartz grains (1.0 to 2.0 mm) resulting in a rough or grainy surface texture, along with calcareous grits; and a usually hard fabric, with flaky or vitrified breaks. Beyond these characteristics, the fabrics differ in containing one of three added tempers: chaff, large-grained black or silver mica, or a dark-grey glassy, prismatic mineral. Two examples of each fabric are catalogued below.

deposit).

Cf. Sabratha no. 113 (1st century B.C.).

Locus C.

Jug ring foot, D. 7.

Cf. Sackett nos. century A.D.).

T2-3

Locus D.

Straight profile rising to small

R2-10

(residual

in 2nd-century

Locus B.

5.5.6 COARSE RED WARES (fig. 15)

Micaceous.

Wavy floor rising to small button.

Micaceous, with

Cooking dish, rounded rim with internal flange, D. 28.

Cf. Sabratha ‘orlo bifido’ dish no. 144 (1st century B.C. to Ist century A.D.). Locus C.

59. Cooking pot, flat everted rim, D. 20. N1-38 (50-75 A.D.). Micaceous. Locus B.

Locus B.

no.

65. Juglet or cup flat base, D. 3. Locus B.

57. Frying pan, base fragment with concave sloping wall, D. 20. Cf. Sackett no. N2-24 (50-75 A.D.), but the form also

58.

Sackett

early 2nd century A.D.).

and D4-63a (late Ist to mid-2nd

occurs later (Hayes:KN Type | frying pan). silver and black mica. Locus D.

Cf.

64. Juglet flat base, D. 4. Cf. Sackett no. T1-15 (late Ist to

Bowl, carinated fragment below rim (missing), est. D.

15-20.

56.

ledge.

Locus B.

Cf. Sackett no. C1-60

(mid-1st century A.D.).

66. Mortarium with everted rim, D. 20. Inner surface embedded with large quartz grains. Close parallels not located, but similar rims are found in Sackett (nos. D4-40 and D4-53, 2nd-century bowls). Dark-grey glassy, prismatic inclusions. Locus D.

Cf. Sackett no.

5.5.5 BURNISHED ORANGE WARE (fig. 14)

67. Casserole rim, D. 16. Cylindrical form with pronounced flange for lid. Cf. Sackett no. D4-38 (2nd century A.D.). Fabric as above. Locus C.

This is an Early Roman thin-walled ware in shapes for table use, distinctive for a thin slip, always mottled, on the exterior and a light burnish. The slip and clay surface (where this is exposed) are pink-orange (SYR 6/6), with a slightly deeper core (SYR 6/8). The fabric is very hard with a soapy surface texture and flaky break. Quartz, mica, and calcareous grits are present, along with occasional subangular, dark-grey inclusions (these are flinty, like shale, but a slight surface sheen was noted). Maximum inclusion size is 0.5 mm, and density is moderate (10-20%). Pronounced internal wheel marks are characteristic of these vessels. The flinty grey inclusions were noted in roof tiles from the survey area, so this ware is probably a local product.

68. Wide-mouthed jar rim, everted, D. 18. Cf. Sackett no. C1-57 (mid-1st century A.D.) but also a 3rd-century version

in Empereur fig. 37-d. Chaff added. Locus B. 69. Jar rim, D. 12. above. Locus B. 70.

Brazier,

Gently flared with beveled lip.

rim to base, rim D.

30.

Fabric as

Bowl-shaped

with

in-curving rim and flange for lid. Cf. Sabratha examples pl. 89 (late 1st century B.C.) and Sackett nos. A2-80 and B2-79 (late 1st century B.C. to early Ist century A.D.). silver mica. Locus D.

Black and

71. Cooking dish, base to sloping wall, D. 28. Cf. Sackett no. N1-25 (1st century A.D.). Fabric as above. Locus D.

60. Bowl or cup, tiny ring foot, D. 3. Cf. Sackett no. A2-46 (local slip ware), late 1st century B.C. to early Ist century A.D. Locus B.

5.5.7 BLACK-GLOSS WARES

61. Juglet? ring foot with ledge, D. 7. Two scored rings inside just above floor. Foot shape as Sackett no. A2-47 (late 1st century B.C. to early Ist century A.D.). Locus B.

The catalogued specimens belong to orange-bodied and grey-bodied wares of Classical through Late Hellenistic date. Only a few light-bodied (or

70

pink-buff) fragments were present in the crates recorded. The orange-bodied vessels are identified as imports: all possess pure, hard clay (SYR 7/8 to SYR 6/8) with only traces of fine mica visible with a lens, and a high-luster gloss. Most of the black-gloss pottery is grey-bodied and probably local, certainly Cretan. The clay of all specimens contains calcareous grits (up to 0.1 mm, but occasionally to 0.25 mm) and small amounts of mica and quartz. Inclusion density is 2-4%. Two grey-bodied groups can be singled out on the basis of color, hardness, and vessel wall thickness. The first group (76-82) has a medium-grey fabric (1JOYR 5/1) of medium hardness, and vessels can be thickwalled. These products date to the third and second centuries B.C. The second group (83-86) has a hard, light olive-grey fabric (SY 6/1) and the vessels are thinner-walled than the first group. It is difficult to suggest a date range for this group because the in-curving rim form is not a good chronological marker 3! The slip used for both groups does not achieve a high gloss, and is best described as semi-matte; all specimens are fully slipped.

80. Fish plate, rim to near base, D. 24. above. Locus D.

81. Kalathos lid, D. 28. A clay disk with annular groove. Examples at Vari are larger (D. 40), and some are color washed. Sackett’s lst-century specimen no. A2-96 is the same diameter as ours. Locus D. 82. Baby feeder nozzle, two cylindrical fragments, MPD. 2 and 4. Cf. Stobi no. 87 (4th to 2nd century B.C.). Locus D. 83. Bowl, rim to near base, D. 10. An angular, in-curving rim; exterior wheel marks. For the general shape, cf. Coldstream no. D5 (325 B.C.) but ours is more angular. Locus E. 84.

Bowl,

rim to near base, D.

10.

As above,

irregular, more rounded, profile. Locus E.

but with

85. Baggy kantharos, rim to upper body, D. 6. Single score on neck.

Cf. Callaghan H18-4 (175-150 B.C.).

Locus E.

86. Carinated bowl, flaring rim, D. 14. Cf. Coldstream no. K22 (2nd century B.C.) and Callaghan no. H16-11 of similar date. Locus E.

5.5.7.1 Imports (fig. 15).

5.5.8 RED-GLOSS WARES

72.

Callaghan no. H18-4 (175-150 B.C.) earlier (Stobi jar no. 7). Locus E.

Baggy kantharos, rim to belly, D. 8. Thin-walled. but the

73.

Skyphos base, D. 6.

Cf. Coldstream nos.

Attic type.

H31 and H38 (Classical and Early Hellenistic). 74. Bolsal cup base, D. 12. foot. Coldstream’s H28

May belong to foot

shape

Cf.

This group includes a small selection of imported fine-ware products, fine-ware imitations of unknown provenance, and local red-slipped examples. The fabric of the local products is as Standard Ware Variant 1, but the vessels are for table use and are thin-walled and fired hard, with clay of buff, light pink, or light orange color. The slip is thin, unevenly applied or mottled, and ranges from red-brown (2.5YR 5/6) to orange (SYR 6/6). Comparable local wares at Knossos are referred to as Local Color-coated Ware (Sackett 1992, 195).

runs

Locus C.

Two annular grooves under the (430 B.C.) is close to this

highly-splayed foot, although similar shapes occur in later bowls (Callaghan no. H18-9, 2nd century B.C.). 75. Echinus bowl, rim to base, D. 7. H12-22 (300-275 B.C.). Locus G.

Locus C.

Cf. Callaghan

no.

5.5.8.1 Imports (fig. 16) 5.5.7.2 Local Products (figs. 15, 16)

87.

77. Bowl ring foot, large, D. 10. Two shape (D. 10 and 12). Date? Locus D.

79. Fish plate ring foot, D. 8. century B.C.). Locus D.

fig. 14 (Conspectus Form

est. D. 24.

Cf.

18) and Sackett no.

A2-27 (10 B.C. to 30 A.D.). Pure pink-beige fabric (SYR 8/4) with red-brown gloss (2.5YR 5/6). Locus D.

other bases of this

88.

Italian Sigillata cup, rim only with rouletting on lip, D.

10. Form and fabric as above.

78. Cup? ring foot, D. 3. Rounded profile. For similar foot cf. Callaghan no. H12-7 (300-275 B.C.).

Italian Sigillata plate, base missing,

Hayes:HB

76. Bowl ring foot with sloping floor, D. 8. Cf. Callaghan no. 16-9 cup for shape (200-175 B.C.). Locus D.

89. Italian Sigillata dish, rim only, D. 18. Cf. Hayes:HB fig.

Locus D.

16 (Conspectus Form 2) with applied ‘spectacle spiral,’ mid-Ist century A.D. Pure, pink-yellow fabric (SYR 7/6) with red-brown gloss (2.5 YR 5/6). Locus C.

Cf. Stobi nos. 27-29 (2nd

90.

31 For a discussion of this problem Anderson-Stojanovic 1992, 16-17.

elsewhere,

Eastern Sigillata A bowl, D. 5.

High flaring foot with

planta pedis stamp underneath that reads ?-M-P. Cf. Hayes:HB fig. 20-4, Ist century A.D. Pure, light pink fabric (SYR 7/4) with red-brown gloss (2.5YR 5/6). Locus B.

see

71

Class 10 (Koan type, Ist century B.C. to 1st century A.D.).

91. Candarli bowl rim, D. 12. Cf. Sackett no. T1-7 (early series, 1st to 2nd century A.D.). Light red fabric (2.5YR 6/6)

Cream surface (1OYR 8/3) with light pink core (SYR 8/4).

and red-brown gloss (2.5YR 5/6). Trace mica and calcareous

Micaceous fabric with calcareous Cretan product? Locus E.

grits. Locus B.

92. Eastern Sigillata B pedestal foot, D. 5. High splayed; the vessel floor drops deep into the pedestal.

101.

and No

shoulder,

Locus B.

which

quartz.

Squarish rim and

transition to the

bears a dipinto (a combination

H and N,

to 2nd century A.D.). The type has been sourced to Central Crete, but this micaceous specimen suggests production elsewhere as well. Light orange-beige surface (7.5YR 7/6) with beige core (7.5YR 6/4), hard and powdery. Micaceous

fabric with calcareous grits. Locus F.

93. ‘Italian Sigillata’ dish, rim to floor, D. 14. Cf. Hayes:HB fig. 16-6 (Conspectus Form 2) for shape but ours is less articulated. Pink fabric (2.5YR 6/4) with red-brown

102. Amphora spike, solid and spindly, MPD. 9. Rhodian form, cf. Peacock-Williams Class 9 (late 1st century B.C. to early 2nd century A.D.). Beige surface (1OYR 7/4) with pink core (2.5YR 6/6), hard, powdery and clean-breaking. Fabric contains large calcareous grits (sometimes yellow), quartz,

gloss (2.5YR 5/6); trace mica and calcareous grits. Locus C.

94. ‘Candarli’ bowl, everted square rim, D. 18. Cf. Sackett no. N3-9 (50 to 75 A.D.) for the form. Orange fabric (SYR

grog, a hard white mineral (this has a blocky structure and is translucent), and a dark-grey platy mineral which easily scratches away. Locus B.

6/6) with a light orange gloss (SYR 7/8); soft, containing mica, quartz, and calcareous grits. Locus D.

Probably a local copy.

103. Amphora rim with small collar, D. 10. The shape is Cretan Type AC3 (cf. Empereur fig. 17-a from Chersonisos),

5.5.8.3 Local Products (fig. 17)

a late version

Hard,

cream

surface

Micaceous fabric

104. Pithoid jar, square rim, D. 44. The shape is similar to a series of large jars found at Knossos (Sackett Deposit C2, pl. 155, mid-lst century A.D.). Thick-walled and coarse with medium-hard beige fabric (1OYR 7/4) containing quartz,

Locus B.

calcareous grits, phyllite, and a thin platy yellow or red mineral (these occur as blotches and easily scratch away). Locus F.

97. Plate, ring foot with high instep, D. 12. A form common to Eastern and Italian Sigillatas. Locus D.

105. Wide-mouthed jar, rim to shoulder, D. 20. Forked rim with short, constricted neck. For the genre, cf. Sackett no.

Fine, widely-spaced grooves on

lower body; partially slipped on the exterior.

date.

with calcareous grits. Locus E.

96. Jug ring foot, D. 6. Splayed foot and thin-walled floor. Cf. Sackett nos. C1-60 and C1-61 (mid-1st century A.D.).

C1-55 jar (mid-lst century A.D.);

Cf. Sackett no.

C1-52 for upper body of partially-slipped bowl century A.D.). Locus C.

of 3rd-century

(10YR 8/4) with pink core (SYR 7/6).

95. Bowl, ring foot (D. 4) and rim (D. 12) fragments. Thin-walled. Cf. Sackett no. A2-49 for shape (Ist century A.D.). Locus D.

Bowl flat base, D. 16.

12.

trace

followed by I). The shape is Cretan Type AC3, but illustrated examples lack the ridge (Markoulaki fig. 23-b, Ist

5.5.8.2 Imitations (fig. 16)

98.

rim to shoulder, D.

and

long neck, with a small ridge marking

parallels located for this shape. Fine orange fabric (SYR 5/6), full of fine mica, with gloss of slightly deeper color only on the interior.

Amphora,

grits

(mid-1st

Sabratha also has this

shape in a bowl (no. 117, 1st century B.C.).

Hard, brittle and

(SYR 7/6); sandy texture and crumbly break.

Fabric contains

porous with yellow-pink surface (SYR 7/6) and redder core calcareous grits, grog, quartz and gold mica. Locus A.

5.5.9 NON-LOCAL AND IMPORTED COARSE PRODUCTS (figs. 17, 18)

106.

Thin-walled juglet or mug,

rim-to-belly

and

base

fragments of one vessel, rim D. 7, base D. 10. The base is flat with close-set ribbing on the exterior. Italian and Aegean variants of the type were widely distributed in the Empire

This group includes amphorae and some miscellaneous wares judged to be of non-local origin. The first entry is Hellenistic; the remainder date to the Roman period.

between the Ist and 3rd centuries A.D.

A2-38 for our rim (1st century A.D.).

Cf. Sackett no.

Medium-hard orange

fabric (SYR 6/8) with occasional large quartz grains and

99. Amphora, rim to neck with upper handle attached, D. 16. Heavy, vertical collared rim; handle slopes down. The shape, and possibly fabric, is Dressel 6. Cf.

trace mica; no reaction to HCl.

A deeply-grooved flat handle

rising vertically from a belly fragment probably belongs. Locus C.

Peacock-Williams Class 8 and Grace fig. 38 (2nd to mid-1st

century B.C.). Light beige surface (LOYR 8/4) with pinker core (7.5YR 7/4), very hard with rough finish. Fabric contains large, dull red inclusions (up to 7.0 mm), calcareous grits, and mica. Locus D.

107.

Rough-cast

ware

(not

drawn),

two

fragments

of

different fabric, MPD. 3 and 3.5. This ware was produced in

Italy between 100 B.C. and 100 A.D., but was later imitated in the Aegean (Hayes:HB pp. 67-71). It is distinctive for its thin walls (1.50 mm) and the fine grits applied to the surface. One specimen has grey fabric with a metallic-bronze slip,

100. Amphora, rim to neck with upper handle attached, D. 9. Handle is bifid; neck is tall. Shape as Peacock-Williams

72

and is applied with black mica and a bar-shaped, glassy black inclusion. The other has brown fabric and is applied with

black mica and an obsidian. Locus D.

irregular,

glassy

inclusion,

possibly

5.5.10 TERRACOTTA (fig. 18) These few tile entries illustrate fabrics commonly found in the material examined from this class. 108. Lakonian tile fragment, MPD. 17. Thickened and tapered end; black wash on the exterior. Light grey-brown

fabric (1OYR 7/2) contains calcareous grits (up to 2 mm), chaff, quartz, and mica. Wall thickness is 10-16 mm. Locus D. Some other specimens have bands of red and black wash; tiles with similar decoration are recorded elsewhere in Khania (Hallager no. 84-TC 079) but are not datable beyond ‘Classical-Hellenistic.’ 109. Lakonian tile rim fragment (not drawn), MPD. 8. Black wash on the exterior, the interior is wet-smoothed.

Light brown-grey fabric (1OYR 6/2), well-gritted with the

shiny black nodules of Standard Ware Variant 4 (some up to

4 mm) and calcareous grits.

Wall thickness is 12-13 mm.

Locus C.

110.

MPD.

Antefix fragment, wing-shaped tile with swirl motive, 15.

Fabric is beige on the surface (1OYR 7/3) with a

pinkish core (SYR 6/6), and is heavily gritted with phyllite

chips (normally over 2 mm, but some to 15 mm); chaff, calcareous grits, and mica are also present. Wall thickness is

3-4

cm.

Locus

G.

This

non-decorative tiles as well.

fabric

was

used

to produce

73

CHAPTER 6: THE AKROTIRI STUDY AREA

6.1 6.1.1

dry. Elevations increase again as the isthmus is approached, and a small highland area (212 meters) forms the gateway to the Khania plain below. The plateau drops steeply to the south coast of Soudha Bay, but the descent is interrupted by a broad shelf in the districts of Pitharion and Aroni that affords opportunity

The Environment! INTRODUCTION

Akrotiri is the easternmost of the three peninsulas of This bulb-shaped landmass northwest Crete (fig. 19).2 is connected to the island by a three-kilometer wide isthmus, at the base of which, on the northwest side, lies the city of Khania. The peninsula covers an area of about 100 square kilometers. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Khania; to the north and east by the Cretan Sea; and to the south by Soudha Bay, the largest protected harbor of Crete and today a main shipping port. In general, the region falls within the semi-arid Mediterranean climate zone as defined by Oliver Rackham, bearing a regime similar to that of southeast Average rainfall is higher in West mainland Greece.” Crete than in other parts of the island (except for areas of very high elevation such as Lasithi), but the Mean annual coastlines are drier than the interior. rainfall in Khania is calculated at 671 millimeters

for settlement.

These

slopes

are bisected

by the

massive Vathirevma and Panagia ravine beds. The only coastal plain in Akrotiri is at Marathi on the southeast tip, surrounded by a crescent of cliffs. The southwest coast of the peninsula between Khania and Kalathas Bay forms a more gradual, terraced descent.

6.1.2

GEOLOGY

As argued in Chapter 4, Akrotiri was most likely part of the extended territory of Kydonia throughout early historical times. The peninsula is far from barren in productive capacity, but it was not the city-state’s most important agricultural asset. Geological formation processes favored the Khania plain to the south and west of the center, one of the largest areas of alluvium in Crete. The plain extends west to the Rhodopou peninsula, covering an area of just over 100 square kilometers. The deepest soils occupy an area of about 40 sq km to the south of Khania (fig. 22). The formation of these soils is partly the result of alluvial fans created by the emergence of streams from gorges in the foothill scarp that borders the plain on the south. The eastern massif of the White Mountains rises beyond, attaining a height of 2,452 m at Mount Pakhnes towards the south of the island. Its composition is largely hard, microcrystalline limestone (Mesozoic) overlain by Neogene marls and conglomerates.

between 1970 and 1982.4

of three main consists Akrotiri peninsula The topographic zones: mountains, plateau, and coastal scarps and slopes (fig. 20). The Akrotiri mountains extend across the northeast third of the peninsula. The eastern Sklokas range achieves a peak elevation of 528 meters, the central Karavos range 369 meters, and the western Vardies range 340 meters. The north margin of these ranges falls abruptly to the sea. An extensive lower the dominates plateau, or plain, high southwestern portion of the peninsula. Plateau elevations approach 200 m in the east, but incline gently towards the northwest until sea level is nearly reached in the vicinity of Tersana and Stavros (fig. 21). The two main water catchments of Akrotiri follow this slope: the Nerokampos is fed by the Sklokas and Karavos ranges and flows northwest along the base of the mountains, emptying at Stavros; the Kalathorema originates at Kathiana in central Akrotiri and flows northwest to Kalathas Bay. Both riverbeds today are

Crete lies in an overthrust zone formed by the convergence of the African and Eurasian land plates. The Hellenic subduction trench, to the south of the island, is a continuous source of crust instability. Land emergence after the Neogene deposition was followed by tectonism in the late Pliocene/early Pleistocene epochs. This activity produced block movement throughout the South Aegean, and it was during this phase that the deep graben of Soudha Bay was formed

! Site codes used in this chapter refer to entries in the Site Gazetteer, Chapter 7. The peninsula is in the modern eparchy of Kydonia within the Khania Nomos. 3 Rackham 1990, 88-89. This regime is characterized by mild wet winters and hot dry summers; frost is uncommon. 4 Rackham and Moody 1996, 34. By comparison, 1,429 mm is calculated at Palaia Roumata in the interior.

5 Neogene formations are the result of sediments accumulated during the submergence of much of Crete late in the Tertiary period (25-4,000,000 years ago). Basement rock of crystalline schists outcrops occasionally in the eastern massif, and form the bulk of the western massif.

74

Neogene marls. A basal unit of metamorphosed limestone outcrops in the northwest mountain range and may also be the source of crystalline schists that appear along the marl/limestone contact zone on the

between Akrotiri and the main landmass.° A period of renewed faulting in the Bronze Age culminated in the Late Roman uplift of West Crete, an event that is generally accepted to have occurred about 400 AD.! During KASP, Moody observed 2 to 6 m of undifferentiated sediment in exposed profiles of the Khania plain overlying cultural material of Minoan through Roman date; Byzantine and later structures, by contrast, were preserved on the surface. A massive Late Roman depositional event was indicated.

plateau below. 0 The mountains lack the soft Neogene

deposits—and the forces of mass and height behind them—that contribute to the formation of extensive and deep alluvium and colluvium on the Khania Plain. The limestone of Akrotiri (and much of Crete) is strongly karstified; the collapse of dissolved pockets results in the sinkholes and hollows that today dot the peninsula. ! ! These hollows are filled with red, sandy to clayey terra-rosa soils prized at all times for cultivation, to judge by past settlement distributions and present land use.*~ The youngest rock in Akrotiri is aeolianite, cemented deposits of wind-blown sand and shell. These formed during episodes of low sea level associated with glacial advance, and are found on the east coast of the peninsula.

In her thesis, Moody explores poor land management and climatic change as potential contributors to this event, but concludes that a main factor in slope destabilization may have been the tectonic uplift of West Crete.? Further investigations of the plain in 1994 have revealed a complex sequence of geologic events, but confirm that soil erosion was not the source of the sediments sandwiched between the Roman and medieval cultural layers. Torrential deposits of coarse gravel, in places over a meter thick and incorporating

The localized effects of tectonic activity in Akrotiri was the subject of intensive study during KASP, and involved the compilation of sea-level data from the peninsula coastlines as well as those of the adjacent landmass. Of particular significance was Moody’s discovery of solution notches superimposed on quarried rock faces of the north and west coasts. Quarried surfaces at sites KK 3, KL 3, and SV 7 extend above and below modern sea level, with solution notches between 1 and 1.5 meters above sea level. This is good evidence for substantive changes in sea level between the Bronze age and the present. Two other lines of evidence provide rough chronological guides for these changes. One is a pollen core taken by KASP showing an increase in marine microfossils, beginning about 2000 B.C., in the Lower Tersana Basin. Another is a fishtank (probably Roman) at KK 3 that today sits about a meter too high to be functioning. Combined, these data suggest a persistent rise in sea level on the west and north coasts at least into the Roman period, followed by a drop of at least a

large marl cobbles, were flushed from the gorges and laid down by streams in at least two catastrophic

flooding events. These events were accompanied by the accumulation of colluvial soil material in the upper (southern) portions of the plain at the base of the foothill scarp. A combination of destabilization induced by tectonic activity and climatic factors are believed to be responsible for these formations. The geological composition of Akrotiri is similar to that of the adjacent landmass, but the soils form less deeply (fig. 23). The microcrystalline limestone bedrock of the peninsula is exposed in the mountainous northeast half, and the southwest half is overlain by

6 Angelier 1978; Zamani and Maroukian 1981.

7 Evidence for a catastrophic tectonic event at this time is

presented

in

studies

by

a

French

team

of geologists

(Thommeret et al. 1981; Pirazzoli et al. 1982). In particular, a series of solution notches in several areas of the west coast have been radiocarbon dated and calibrated with the following results: the lowest notch is dated to about 2800 B.C. and the highest notch to about 400 A.D. The coast at Phalasarna is reconstructed as subsiding incrementally throughout this time and then re-emerging in a single rapid event, with an enormous displacement of 6 meters. This

10 Angular chunks of phyllite and rock crystals (quartzitic) can be seen in the vicinity of site KA 1 in the contact zone, which extends from Tersana in the northwest to Perivolitsa in the southeast.

1 This

phenomenon is also discussed in Rackham and Moody 1996, 15.

process

is described

in Moody

1987,

13

and

Rackham and Moody 1996, 15-17. 2 The origin of these soils is probably in-place chemical weathering of unmetamorphosed limestone (A.T. Grove, personal communication; see also Hayden, Moody and Rackham 1992, 310).

8 Moody 1987, 26-31.

Grove and Rackham, in press. Stratigraphic profiles examined in this project were freshly cut during construction

of a new motorway traversing the plain. Late Roman episodes of slope instability have been noted elsewhere in Crete, including the Ayiofarango gorge (Doe and Holmes 1977), Knossos (Roberts 1979), and more recently in the Western Mesara where land-use strategies are believed to be the main contributing factor (Watrous et al. 1993, 202-03).

3 Moody 1987, 13, 19; Dermitzakis 1987.

This is a the northwest the core, so trend (Moody

75

marshy coast. we can 1987,

depression connected to a sea inlet on Historical periods are not represented in only note the beginnings of a marine 23, 65-94).

is more, Moody found prehistoric sherds and obsidian spread over the alluvial fan with no apparent source upslope. The last major phase of deposition in Akrotiri would therefore appear to have taken place

meter. Inverse conditions are found on the southeast coast. The near-drowned position of an excavated Early Roman seaside villa at Marathi was observed, and Moody reconstructs the slope of the deposits as

prior to human settlement of the area.

requiring a sea level about 2 meters lower than at present.

6.1.3

A tectonic explanation for these findings is advanced, entailing movement of the peninsula as a unit, with an uplift of the northwest coast and a corresponding submergence of the southeast coast, at some point after the Early Roman period. !6 Crete continues to be tectonically active, but geological surveys of the island find little indication of coastline upheavals on this scale after the fifth century A.D., and an association with the Late Roman event documented elsewhere remains most likely.17 Studies of the adjacent landmass further define this event. Solution notches of Early Roman date on the island of Ag. Theodori (8 km west of Khania) and at Giorgioupolis (30 km southeast of Khania) require sea levels between 1.5 and 3 meters higher than at present (fig. 22),18 Strata exposed in a coastal scarp on the south coast of Soudha Bay between these areas, however, were observed during KASP to be subject to wave erosion much like the site at Marathi. 1? Moody concludes that Akrotiri and the south coast of Soudha Bay should be reconstructed as a single plate block_that moved independently of the adjacent landmass.”

WATER AND PLANTS

Unlike Khania, which is supplied by an abundant spring of superb water from foothills to the southwest, Akrotiri today requires water to be piped in from a reservoir. The only natural spring on the peninsula is at Ag. Ioannis on the east coast at the marl/limestone contact zone, and none of the streambeds holds even seasonal running water. Settlement distributions in prehistory and antiquity nevertheless suggest surface water availability in some catchments that are now dry.23 Historically, Akrotiri is a region of cisterns and wells. Water tables are high in the deeper karstic depressions where pumps are usually found. Numerous wells were sunk in medieval and later periods, sometimes on higher ground. One Venetian village compound in the south-central plateau, now abandoned, contains seven capped wells; the settlement is located in the marl/limestone contact zone and may have tapped a confined aquifer.24 The wild plant communities of Akrotiri are typically a mosaic of maquis, garigue, and steppe. This combination is representative of the average climate regime in Crete: the maquis is not continuous as it is in wetter regions of the interior, but it is persistent unlike the arid portions of south and east Crete where steppe and garigue predominate.~~ Following Rackham and Moody, maquis is defined as potential tree growth reduced to shrub form by intervention such as grazing and burning. Akrotiri maquis is mainly lentisk (Pistacia lentiscus) and carob (Ceratonia siliqua), but includes holly oak (Quercus coccifera) and wild olive (Olea europea); many carobs may be survivals of former cultivation. Garigue consists of permanent undershrubs, and in Akrotiri includes aromatic plants such as thyme (7hymus capitatus), heather (Erica manipuliflora), spiny broom (Calicotome villosa), savory (Satureja thymbra), and also thorny burnet

This reconstruction remains the strongest explanatory model for the available data. It can be added that stability of the Akrotiri mountain slopes appears not to have been greatly affected by tectonic movement. Site NK 1, situated on a steep lower mountain terrace at the west edge of the Ag. Giorgios alluvial fan, was at no point deeply buried and has evidence of occupation before and after the date advanced for the uplift. What

i) Moody 1987, 24; Moody Fieldnotes 7-17-81 .

While the drowned southeast coast could be explained by

eustatic sea-level rise alone over the past 2000 years (Niemi

1990, 343-45), this cannot account for displacement of the

northwest coast.

7 Thommeret et al., 1981, 148.

18 Calibrated radiocarbon dates provided by the French team are 1850+70 years B.P. and 2030+70 years B.P., respectively

22 This is site NK 3 in Moody’s Site Appendix.

ibid.).

23 See Chapter 8 and Moody 1987, 212-13 for discussion.

These strata belong to Kisamos, the ancient port of Aptera. The process whereby plates may fracture and produce local variations in vertical displacement is fully presented in

4 This site is briefly described in the introduction to the Kathiana District in the Site Gazetteer. Because of their impermeability, marls provide ideal barriers in aquifer formation.

Moody 1987, 25-31.

25 Rackham 1982, 188.

The only conflicting evidence appears to be the near-dry position of a fishtank at site MR 6, half a kilometer to the west of the seaside villa (see the Site Gazetteer for discussion).

26 Ibid., 187-89; Hayden, Moody and Rackham 1992, 311. The carob may be an ancient import from the Levant (Rackham 1990, 91).

76

(Sarcopoterium spinosum) and rock rose (Cistus villosus). The Akrotiri steppe consists of grasses, clover, and lilies such as asphodel (Asphodelus aestivus) and sea squill (Urginea maritima).

olives.29 The impression is of heightened—but not sustainable—effort, and in this case may be attributed to the wheat cartels of the Venetian administration.>!

Thin soils over much of the Akrotiri plateau support only clumps of maquis interspersed by garigue and steppe, whereas the taller plants thrive at the bases of cliffs, on coastal slopes, and at the uncultivated margins of karstic depressions. Garigue, steppe and bare rock predominate in the mountains with the occasional lentisk and carob up to elevations of at least 300 meters. The hearty garigue cover suggests a recent history of mountain grazing. 8 Bees are today kept on a large scale in these mountain garigue communities.

6.2 Archaeological Field Study 6.2.1

STUDY FRAMEWORK

Apart from a few earlier discoveries, archaeological sites investigated for this thesis were either identified by Dr. Moody in her multi-period survey project (KASP) or became manifest during the study of the collected material. This section provides a brief

overview

of

the

KASP

aims

and

methods

that

established the original database and provided a context for the present research. Sections 6.2.2 and

The Akrotiri peninsula lacks large tracts of arable land and extensive farming strategies have probably never proved fruitful for the individual landowner. Yet it possesses isolated pockets of good land on the plateau, and deeper soils that form on coastal slopes have been rendered productive by terracing. The region is therefore of limited, but not necessarily marginal, agricultural potential. Olive trees are today the most common cultivar in all topographic zones, including the terraced slopes of mountain valleys up to about 250 meters. Vineyards have a more restricted distribution, but are a specialty of the largest-not the deepest—terra rosa deposits of the peninsula. Almond trees appear to have been important historically, as relict groves are found in at least eight locations.2” Citrus trees are

6.2.3 discuss the broad categories of archaeological activity employed in both projects.

The goal of KASP was to reconstruct the environment and settlement system of the Khania region in prehistory from the evidence of surface survey and geological and botanical prospection. With the location of the Minoan center established at Kastelli in Khania, Moody targeted a survey area by applying a catchment model to the center. The area thus defined included the Akrotiri peninsula and a portion of the Khania plain. Because deposits on the plain deeply bury pre-medieval settlement, the walking survey was largely restricted to Akrotiri. The field methods employed by KASP aimed at intensive and systematic coverage of the peninsula, including trekable portions of the Akrotiri Mountains. Areas not accessible to KASP because of military, urban, or airport development total about 12 square kilometers (see the map reproduced in fig. 24). Fieldwalking was conducted over a four-year period, for the most part single-handedly, along directional transects at intervals of 7-15 meters within land units of about 2 square kilometers.

uncommon, but are grown in the wet basins of deep karstic depressions such as the Vothanos sinkhole. Vegetable fields of potatoes, tomatoes, onions, melons, and artichokes are found in sandier soils where irrigation sources are near to hand.

Grain growing provides one instance of cultivation that can be associated with past pressures on the land in Akrotiri. Today wheat, barley and oats are very sparingly grown in combination with other cultivars, but the presence of threshing floors, or alonia, indicates this was not always the case. In most instances these features can be associated with late historical settlement. They are occasionally found singly, but often in clusters, as at the abandoned Venetian village compound mentioned above where fourteen were counted in the vicinity of the wells. Per land unit, economic returns on cereals are claimed to be low compared to cash crops such as vines and

Surface material encountered along these transects was initially classified in one of two ways: areas yielding four or more sherds per sampling unit (defined as a circle with a radius of 70 centimeters) were designated

30 Osborne

1987, 45 (figures based on biennial fallow);

Halstead 1987, 86.

3] Rackham and Moody 1996, 76-77.

The aims and methods summarized here are presented in Chapter 6 of Dr. Moody’s thesis. 3 The model was based on a study of walking time expended in non-industrial societies to get to the nearest marketing center. 4 Transects in KASP were employed as directional aids, not sampling units.

28 Oliver Rackham observes that garigue reverts naturally to steppe in the absence of grazing (1982, 188-89). 9 The fruit of these trees is sweet, not bitter, so 1 presume they belong to cultivated trees.

77

The initial task of relocating activity areas demonstrated the high degree of replicability that is possible in surface survey. The most important discrepancies in recovery, after twelve years, were where sites were disturbed or destroyed because of the rapid development of Akrotiri as a suburb of Khania, and tourism along the coasts. In very few cases were sherd densities taken or described by Moody vastly different from findings of the present study. These observations suggest that in much of the survey region the regeneration of sherds on the surface occurs at a fairly constant rate, even in uncultivated areas. The KASP rationale for defining off-site sherd densities as discrete units, or scatters, became increasingly clear as the field study progressed. The continuous carpet of off-site pottery described by Bintliff and Snodgrass does not occur in Akrotiri. This material may extend over several hectares or more, but in every instance where these areas were re-examined discontinuity could be identified (that is, against a background of no artifacts). This low-density pattern has been reported in other Mediterranean surveys as well.

as ‘sites’, and areas with lower sherd densities were designated as ‘scatters’. The circumference of both sites and scatters was paced out and the size recorded. Two or more sherd density readings were taken where sites were identified (more when an area included different forms of land use, such as plowed and uncultivated).°° Artifacts were not collected from sample units, rather, “sites and scatters were surveyed for chronologically and functionally diagnostic artifacts and one example of each was collected.” The data produced by the KASP survey is therefore locusbased in the sense that all manner of surface activity, including off-site material, is discretely positioned in space, relative to a background of no observed activity. Field work for the present thesis began following study of the collected material (see Chapter 5.2 for methods of analysis) and the field reports generated by KASP. While Moody’s primary interest was in the prehistory of the region, the reports include any historical activity recognized during the survey, with or without prehistoric components. My intent was to relocate as many early historical sites and scatters as possible, in order to 1) confirm the chronological range of surface material as indicated in the study of collected pottery, 2) determine the intensity of early _ historical occupation, especially on multi-component sites and scatters where the material collected might or might not reflect the relative weightiness of one period over another, and 3) record any site attributes (additional artifacts, features, disposition, preservation factors) that might aid in a functional classification. The research design also included the selection of ten sites for an intensive sherd-sampling procedure, described further below, in order to supplement the early historical data recovered by KASP. All recording was done in the field: the permit issued by the Ephorate to do the work was for field study only, not for further collection.

Apart from sixteen designations of isolated finds, ninety-three early historical activity loci have now been identified in Akrotiri. All of these are included in the Site Gazetteer in Chapter 7. Excluding caves, tombs, rock-cut features, and material from wash or fill (sites that are not amenable to the study of surface artifact patterns), forty-one loci are identified as sites, and twenty-eight as scatters.

6.2.2

For the purposes of this project, a working definition of scatter is an area with sherds that lacks a definable nucleus and that is not accompanied by human-made features that could be the same date as the sherds. Most of those examined are located in fields and groves cultivated today or at some time in the past, and they rarely exhibit densities greater than one sherd per sampling unit.” Scatter size ranges from 0.11 to 9.6

3° The term ‘scatter’ employed by KASP follows usage in Hope-Simpson 1983. Although the density scale for distinguishing sites and scatters was retained as a recording

device, the usefulness of more flexible criteria for defining

3? The. first month of fieldwork included a week of spotvisiting sites where only prehistoric, or only Byzantine/Venetian, artifacts and features had been identified, to increase familiarity with pottery fabrics likely to be found on multi-period sites. Akrotiri possesses several abandoned walled villages of medieval and later date that were ideal for this purpose.

sites was early on recognized, and adjustments were made once preservation, related features, or other factors were taken into account. Density readings were taken from areas designated as sites, and some scatters; many scatters were described as light, medium, or dense.

This

approach

differs

from

that

of the

‘continuous

landscape’ approach adopted by Cherry, Davis Mantzourani (1991), Watrous et al. (1993) and others.

SCATTERS

40 p intliff and Snodgrass 1988, 506.

and

1 This phenomenon Davis 1994, 139-141.

Historical categories employed in KASP were usually Classical/Hellenistic, Hellenistic/Roman, and Byzantine/ Venetian.

is discussed

in Alcock,

Cherry,

and

;

42 l/unit is equivalent to 65/100 m . Mean density readings of 1.5/unit were computed for three scatters, but 75 percent

78

hectares,

with

a mean

size

of 2.60

hectares.

characterized as field activity, but are unlikely to be the products of manuring. Combined, these factors suggest that unicausal explanations for off-site distributions are unrealistic, but whether the scatters are located within or at the edge of cultivable areas, some relation to ancient agricultural activity can reasonably be argued.

The

meaning of these featureless surface patterns has been

explored elsewhere, with particular focus on the ‘manuring hypothesis’ originally developed by T.J. Wilkinson.*? There are problems with the manuring hypothesis as applied to the Akrotiri scatters. One is that many scatters include prehistoric pottery, so that if manuring accounts for the pattern we must either assume that fertilizing methods changed little over the course of a millennium, or that prehistoric debris was incorporated into the manure compost applied in later times.4* There is also the evidence from large fertile depressions located adjacent to early historical sites identified as large farms or estates. These depressions constitute the best farming land on the peninsula, and were decisive factors in the location of ancient settlement. In two cases where slope wash can be eliminated as a certain factor in sherd accumulation (basins next to TS 10 and LT 3), artifact densities are low to non-existent. If manuring accounts for the creation of sherd scatters elsewhere, it is difficult to

Bintliff and Snodgrass advance two other explanations

for off-site distributions.4®

explain why this was not practiced on land closest to settlement.*°

probable, though it cannot yet be proved, that much of

The question is further complicated by the disposition

the off-site activity in Akrotiri represents the gradual incorporation of sites into the agricultural landscape. In this regard it is relevant that many archaeological sites in Akrotiri sit on or close to the surface. Once displaced, small sites in these conditions may quickly lose a capacity for regenerating sherds, and thus for producing patterns, particularly those located in plow zones. Although many others are potential candidates, in only two instances (KM 2, SK 2) have scatters been upgraded to site status because they are located in good land and are at least 2 kilometers distant from the nearest contemporary site.

of scatters where only prehistoric sherds were recovered. Eliminating those which may derive from wash, at least ten such scatters are recorded by KASP, of which seven are located on stony, thin soils that border cultivable zones. These are often

percent had densities of 0.50/unit (32.5/100 m*)

One is that the material

represents primary activity of a less intensive nature than that at permanent habitations (such as one might envision for agricultural field stations); another is that it represents dispersal, through plowing or erosion, of artifacts from sites. The lack of patterning in the Akrotiri scatters suggests that, whatever the intensity of the original activity, these areas have been subjected to repeated plow-smearing or some _ other postdepositional disturbance. The authors prefer to find variability in surface patterns (sherd concentrations) even where plowing is a factor because of natural and artificial impediments in the terrain, but they are working under the assumption of a continuous sherd-scape, not a point by point pattern with definable limits such as we are dealing with here. It seems

or less.

Only those areas designated as scatters for all periods by both projects are included in these figures, which reduces the sample size to 22. The procedure for testing surface densities (apart from the ten sites sampled along measured transects) was to pace out 10-meter intervals along two bisecting lines across an area. The KASP sample unit was

used throughout the project for consistency. For efficiency, particularly over large scatters, target figures of (more or less

than) 0.50 and 0.25/unit were employed where densities were

less than 1/unit. 43 1982 and 1988. The hypothesis is that settlement refuse, including potsherds, was mixed with a manure compost and transported to outlying fields as fertilizer.

Discussions

of

distributions primarily with early historical periods (1994, 141).

this and other causes of off-site artifact distributions are

found in Cherry, Davis and Mantzourani 1991, and Alcock, Cherry and Davis 1994. 4 Or, that deposits from older settlements were used to refresh the soils.

48 1988, 507-8.

Potential effects of plowing on artifact movement

are

5, KL 4, KM 1, MS 1, NK 3, NL 1, PT 1, and TS 16, all in

discussed by Yorston, Gaffney and Reynolds 1990. Other post-depositional mechanisms also warrant mention: in Akrotiri, the same principles that guide soil accumulation in karstic hollows should, at least to some extent, apply to sherds. Even though most scatters are designated as such when no obvious source can be identified, run-off during heavy rains can carry material great distances, particularly across the thin-soiled and gently sloping areas of the high

findings of Alcock, Cherry and Davis who associate off-site

expected.

Both depressions are planted in vines, and visibility for

artifact prospection is very good. This does not mean that manuring was not practiced, only that it may not have been a prime mechanism for sherd dispersal. 47 Scatters of only prehistoric date include AL 3, AL 7, KA the KASP Site Appendix.

plateau.

The Akrotiri data goes against the

79

Some

confluence

of surface

material

is to be

more likely in densely-settled areas, whereas multi-period concentrations in isolated areas were deemed less likely to be fortuitous.

6.2.3 SITES Once relocated, sites and their hinterlands were searched for information that might be added to the

KASP findings. Diagnostic artifacts were recorded and

Early historical site sizes were occasionally adjusted from original estimates of multi-period sites. Re-examination of site KY 1, for instance, found early historical sherds to be contained within about half the area of that described by the prehistoric material, and several small concentrations of prehistoric activity at TS 4 were collapsed into a single site for early historical periods. Hilltops, ridges, and their slopes were often favored for settlement, and can add considerable bias to site size estimates. As a rule, material on slopes of over 45 degrees (unless accompanied by features) was not included in an

drawn where these might enhance an understanding of a site, and some of these have been catalogued in the Site Gazetteer along with collected material. Long-range photographs of sites in their landscape setting were especially useful later in assessing preservation factors. Plans were drawn or photographs taken of tombs and standing remains. Entire districts were walked where ancient settlement is dense in order to clarify early historical activity patterns and site boundaries.-9 Until recently, an important industry in

Akrotiri

was

enormous field kilns limestone convenient

lime

production,

which

has

had

an

estimate

impact on site preservation. Hundreds of were built for heating softer varieties of and archaeological sites provided the most source of loose stone.

Including the districts of Tersana,

Kokkinos

still leaves

plenty

of room

for

An intensive sherd-sampling procedure was conducted on ten sites (AR 6, AR 17, KA 1, KP 5, LT 3, MR 2, MR 4, NL 1, PR 3, and TS 10). The aim was to generate a core of detailed and comparable data, and to test the application of the fabric study in the field. The selection of sites was guided by several factors, the foremost being the presence of as little chronological background noise as possible beyond the early historical periods. Because small sites with comparatively low sherd densities were more easily exhausted of diagnostic material through informal prospection, the emphasis was on larger sites with greater densities that could only reasonably be represented by systematic sampling. Results of the initial reconnaissance introduced another reason to

target larger sites: several of these seemed likely to be large rural estates.

information

about

It was desirable to obtain as much

them

as

possible

category of site is infrequently surveys in Crete.

because

represented

this

in other

The procedure was simple: two perpendicular lines were laid across the notional center of a site, and samples were taken from units at ten meter intervals, always working outwards in four directions from the center. The edge of a site was defined as the point after which sherd densities ceased to be greater than one per unit. Sherds in each unit were counted and a tally kept of recognizable wares. Unfamiliar fabrics (and those employed for tiles) were briefly described for later reference, and it was in this manner that two

Pyrgos,

Loutraki, Marathi, Paleokhora, and the small districts clustered in central Akrotiri. | Perversely, the presence of even small, isolated sites can

be predicted once lime kilns are spotted.

this

LM 1.

With few exceptions, early historical site designations made by KASP were upheld in this study, but special circumstances warrant comment. One is that artifact density alone was not always a sufficient criterion for distinguishing scatters from sites in the early historical record. Several loci identified as sites by the presence of architecture, or sherds and walls fortuitously exposed in road scarps, were accompanied by very low surface sherd densities in the immediate vicinity (for example, sites LM 1, LT 1, AN 9). The ability to identify a nucleus of activity takes precedence over the number of artifacts on the ground in such cases. Ina number of instances it was necessary to decide how to classify one or two early historical finds when they occur in dense concentrations of other periods. Should these be attributed to vagaries of preservation for the periods in question, or to off-site activity in areas previously or later occupied as sites? Interpretations of this kind cannot be defended with rigor. The approach adopted here was conservative, with the result that a number of areas designated as sites for prehistoric or late historical periods were defined as isolated finds or scatters for early historical phases.> 2 The decision was often guided by the intensity of surrounding occupation: off-site deposition was considered to be

50

but

distortion, as is very likely the case at KY 1, KY 6, and

In her fieldnotes

(3-13-79) Moody observes that late historical structures may often have been spared because sturdier cement mortar binds the stones. 52 Including AN 4, AR 8, AR 9, AR 18, AR 20, KL 3, KL 5, KN 2, KN 3, KN 5, KT 1, PH 2, PH 5, and PT 4.

53 It became apparent early on that attempting to target a more specific chronological bracket was futile, since single-period sites do not exist in Akrotiri.

See Chapter 3.4 for discussion of this phenomenon.

80

6.3.2 ESTATES

The new Standard Ware variants were identified.-> plan a and paper, graph on sampling lines were plotted made of foundations, standing walls, or other features In this way artifact patterns preserved on a site. could later be juxtaposed with standing remains. Most a possess sampled sites large the of Roman Late a and Roman Classical/Hellenistic, Early Because one of the most common wares phase. produced in was Ware, Standard encountered, the fabric times, Roman Hellenistic through Early these shing distingui in successful sampling was most sampling Intensive ons. distributi from Late Roman results for specific sites are presented in site descriptions of the Chapter 7 Site Gazetteer, and

included in the Chapter 8 discussion.

large rural is here used to describe ‘Estates’ s of elite indication establishments where there are cases these most In residency and large-scale farming. sites are characterized by the presence of ashlar masonry (only small amounts are ever preserved), abundant tile, and a full functional range of pottery, including fine wares and those for domestic use. They may include evidence for substantial investment in They are burial or facilities such as cisterns. sites by bitant multi-inha distinguished from villages or artifacts or re architectu a compact configuration of These showing a well-defined nucleus of activity. ridges as such landforms estates often occupy discrete or hills, and are invariably situated next to the best parcels of land in Akrotiri, usually fertile depressions today planted in vines. These sites fall into two distinct size categories: those in the larger group-KA 1, LT 3 (fig. 27), and TS 10 (figs. 28, 29)-cover areas between 2.5 and 5.5 hectares; those of the smaller group—-KP 5, NL 1, and PR 3-are approximately 1.5 hectares in size. All of these sites were intensively sampled, and peak sherd densities range from 10 to 38 sherds per The distinguishing features of these sampling unit.-? sites are consistent with those used elsewhere in the Aegean to define elite rural establishments, or villas,

Some sherds of

diagnostic shape encountered during sampling, or from quadrants between the sampling lines, were drawn and have been included in catalogued artifacts of the Site Gazetteer. 6.3 Functional Categories of Sites>/

6.3.1 NUCLEATED SETTLEMENTS The single largest early historical settlement in Akrotiri is Minoa (MR 2) on a southeast coastal plain. Minoa is mentioned in passing as a city by ancient authors, but Apart from an its political status remains uncertain.” the site lacks 25) (fig. villa excavated Roman seaside area of 8.75 an cover standing remains, but sherds fill suggests ion construct and hectares. Pottery in road existed at also e importanc some that a harbor town of coast, but northwest the on the modern town of Stavros 4) and (SV area small a to contextual finds are limited TS Sites d. determine be not the extent of the site could part be also may Tersana 1b and TS 15 to the south at of a small harbor settlement for the ancient community here, but only conjecture is possible in this developed area. Standing remains of a compound with four or five Late Roman dwellings at AR 17 can certainly be identified as a hamlet, covering an area of 4.6 hectares

although amenities such mosaics or baths were not

recovered.

6.3.3

These few sites, AR 6 (fig. 30), LT 1 (fig. 31), and perhaps AT 6, are comparable in size to the estates (2.5 to 3.5 hectares), but not a single fine ware sherd was or in the present located on them by KASP investigation. The densities of sherds at AR 6 and AT 6 suggest that the discrepancy is genuine, and not the

result of preservation factors; few sherds of any class

Standing remains at LT1 were observed at LT 1.61 and AR 6 nevertheless indicate investment beyond the Both sites norm of the smaller farms in Akrotiri. possess field enclosures with a revetted terrace as a Construction is of nucleus, and LT 1 has a tower. dry-built walls of fieldstone, although AR 6 has been extensively re-worked and some cut blocks are strewn across the site. A working hypothesis is that these sites

(fig. 26).

55 Attribute codes for color, texture, and visible inclusions

were used to speed recording; the process rapidly once a system was developed. 3°

moved

LARGE FARMING CENTERS

59 This is the equivalent of 650 to 2470/100 m2.

quite

For examples of sites identified as villas in Greece, see

Alcock 1993, 68. 1 Observations concerning AT 6 are based on Moody’s reports; the site was destroyed before I could see it. A peak sherd density of 22/unit was recorded on the site; site AR 6 has a peak density of 13/unit.

The plans are as accurate as could be achieved with a

pocket transit and a compass.

37 Full descriptions of sites mentioned in this section are found in the Site Gazetteer (Ch. 7). 38 See Chapter 4 (4.1 and 4.4) for the historical background.

81

Early historical offerings include fine wares, lamps, pottery idols and ostraka. Animal bone (especially caprid horns) is sometimes present, and the lack of human skeletal remains helps to confirm the religious function of these caves, as opposed to burial. The caves are situated at elevations of between 70 and 200 meters, and often contain features of intrinsic interest, such as stalagmites and stalactites or natural pools.

were agricultural centers, possibly belonging to large estates. Parallels for this type of arrangement can be sought in the pars rustica, or working part, of villas as distinct from the elite residence.

6.3.4 SMALL FARMS Twenty-two sites are included in this category. Most of these are accompanied by structural remains of some sort (after being quarried for lime kilns these were often only remnants of dry-built walls and strewn rubble fill). In only one instance, site AR 14, were walls at all intact, and even here they had been re-worked (fig. 32). These sites typically include small

The best preserved sanctuary in Akrotiri is site MR 4, located above the ancient city of Minoa on the southeast coast (fig. 33). It also is associated with a large cave, but includes a built structure, or platform, of isodomic masonry near the cave entrance, possibly an altar. Evidence for temples is circumstantial: a series of finely finished limestone blocks at PT 1, reused at a church, certainly belong to a public building and the isolated location suggests a temple; massive foundations on the heights of site LT 3 (fig. 27), designated an agricultural estate for later periods, appear more monumental than residential and may belong to a Classical/Hellenistic religious edifice. Finally, sites LT 3 and PR 3 have altar-tombs, probably of Late Roman date, that continue to be maintained.

amounts of tile and domestic pottery such as jugs,

lekanai, bowls, jars, tubs, cooking vessels (frying pans, braziers, cooking pots) and sometimes amphorae. Pottery beehives (kalathoi) are found on most sites, and small amounts of fine ware are often present as well. It is best to omit some sites from a consideration of size and sherd densities where these are exceptionally distorted by sloping terrain or other disturbance: KM

2, KN 1, KP 1, KY 1, KY 6, PL 3, PL 4, SK 2, and TS 17.

Those remaining are AI 1, AN

1, AN 9, AR

14, AT 2, KB 1b, KO 2, MS 3, MS 6, NK 1, NK 4,

PT 1, and TS 4. Average sherd densities on these last sites are usually between 1 and 2 per sampling unit. Site size ranges from 0.19 to 0.75 hectares, with a

mean size of 0.42 hectares.

6.3.6 BURIALS Four early historical burial types are found in Akrotiri:

This is larger than the

those in shallow rock-shelters, sarcophagi, rock-cut chamber tombs, and cist graves; all are inhumations. Small, rounded rock-shelter tombs cut into soft marl are found at AI 1 and PL 5: those at the former were excavated and dated to the Classical and Hellenistic periods; the latter could be of similar date based on finds in the vicinity. Little can be said of the sarcophagi, represented by stone fragments outside of tomb contexts at PL 5 and TS10, except that they appear to lack decorative carving.

mean size of Late Classical/Early Hellenistic sites in the Southern Argolid (0.20), and also larger than the typical Hellenistic site in the Western Mesara (0.25).64 These figures should, however, be compared with caution because the Akrotiri sites are often occupied over longer periods (Classical/Hellenistic to Late Roman) and greater displacement can be expected.

6.3.5

SANCTUARIES

The larger chamber tombs, all probably of Earl Roman date, exhibit considerable variation in plan. Tomb LT 3 (fig. 34) is the only one with true arcosolia (rooms with small connecting passages) branching off of the main chamber. The tomb contains platforms for

Most of the sites in this category are caves located in

the Akrotiri mountains: AG

1, AG

2, AP

10, GV

1,

GV 5, and SV 5. All of these were identified prior to

KASP, and several have been excavated. Most contain evidence of veneration spanning prehistoric through late historical times; the last phase is sometimes represented by a chapel with masonry embellishments.

65

These

altar-tombs

were

built

to

commemorate

early

Christian martyrs; a parallel for the Akrotiri examples (though more elaborate) is illustrated in Lanciani 1893, 322. 6 Possibly sanitation concerns never reached a level

62 The arrangement in Italy sometimes consisted of a large

demanding cremation as they did in Rome. Inhumation was also practiced in Roman Sicily (Wilson 1990, 325). These are also chiseled from marl and usually entered directly from the face of a cliff; only one chamber tomb, LT 3, is truly subterranean. Chamber tombs ceased to be made in Crete by the Late Roman period (Sanders 1982, 40).

farm owned by an absentee landlord, with a bailiff and tenants in charge of running the establishment (for discussion, see Potter 1987, chapter 5). 63 This is the equivalent of 65 to 130/100 m*. Jameson, Runnels, and van Andel 1994, 383; Watrous et al. 1993, 231.

82

reclining the deceased,

and has

small niches

in the

walls for placing offerings. § Tombs LM 4 (fig. 34) and LM 2 have side chambers opening directly off of

the main chamber, and the former has a lengthy narrow end chamber. The seven tombs at KE 5 consist of two chambers set perpendicular (or obliquely) to each other and therefore lack a central axis. Several of these possess chambers with semicircular end walls, and others are square in plan (fig. 35, for an example of each). The latter include elements for which I have not located parallels elsewhere: these are semi-attached, floor-to-ceiling pillars left in relief when the tombs were chiseled. These elements are also found in one of the connecting chamber tombs at ST 2. The simplest chamber tomb design is that at AI 4, consisting of two connecting square chambers with small niches cut in the walls. A number of these tombs were, and continue to be, reused as Christian chapels.

Cist graves are represented by a disturbed open-air

cemetery at LT 3 (fig. 36) and a small group at site LT 1 (fig. 31). Those at the cemetery all appear to have had stone cover slabs, but Korinthian tile was sometimes used to line the interiors of the graves. Cist graves were used in Khania throughout the Greek and Roman periods, but the context and few associated finds argue for a Late Roman date at LT 3 and possibly LT 1 as well. Apart from these burial types is the occasional cave with limited evidence of tooling, such as niches cut into the walls (KK 2 and AR 6); in such cases it is difficult to determine if these functioned as tombs, sanctuaries, or just shelters.

fortifications but a date is difficult to establish (fig. 37). Amphorae and tiles were recently dumped from the top of the small steep hill at TS 3; the topography is unsuitable for habitation and these may be from a harbor watch facility. Finally, there can be little doubt that the sanctuary at MR 4 functioned also as the acropolis and lookout point over the city of Minoa and the entrance of Soudha Bay beyond.

6.3.8 ROCK-CUT FEATURES These mostly belong to quarries and _fishtanks. Limestone quarries are identified at sites LT 1 and LT 3 (fig. 38); bedrock at the former fractures neatly along bedding planes and was probably the source for the grave cover slabs at both of these sites. Aeolianite was used in early historical site construction, but is only preserved in small amounts at any one site. / Extraction areas are identified at KK 3, KL 3, KP 6, MR 6, and SV 471 Single fishtanks have been located at KK 2 and MR 6; a rectangular cutting at Loutraki harbor (LT 3) seems shallow for this purpose.

6.3.7 WATCH FACILITIES

This category includes sites, or parts of sites, whose purpose may be difficult to explain in any other way. Only site LM 1 is unambiguous, designating the base of a masonry tower on the steep south-central coast overlooking Soudha Bay. A function of watchtower or lighthouse has been suggested (see the Site Gazetteer); it is less convincing as part of a fortification, unless it was intended to impede passage up the great Panagia ravine bed to the high plateau. Site AI 1, designated a farm, includes remains of walls and pottery on a wind-swept ridge above the site, totally exposed to the elements; the vantage of the entire isthmus is superb, as German fortifications on the site attest. Thick-walled foundations encircling the prominent ridgetop at PL 2, near standing remains of a Turkish fort, may belong to 70 68

This

tomb

design,

common

in Crete,

is discussed

Carington-Smith 1982 and Sanders 1982, 40-41.

in

69 This type has been excavated in Khania (see Chapter 4.2 for discussion).

Possibly blocks of aeolianite were

reused

elsewhere;

Rackham and Moody note that Venetians favored this stone for fortifications (1996, 17). A systematic study of extraction methods was not pursued.

CHAPTER 7: ARCHAEOLOGICAL

7.1

SITES IN THE AKROTIRI PENINSULA

DENSITY: the density of surface artifacts in an area is

About the Site Gazetteer

presented

as

a

reading

per

sample

unit.

For

consistency, all density readings employ the same unit used in KASP: a circle with a radius of 0.70 meters. The entry represents the mean density as determined from multiple units, whether recorded by Moody or the writer. The range of density readings is included with the mean where unit differences are significant (zero is included wherever the reading was not taken from the edge of a site). For comparative purposes, the sample unit defines an area of 1.5 square meters. Density entries as expressed per 100 square meters are:

Sites presented in the Gazetteer are organized by district in accordance with geographical subregions determined by Dr. Moody in the Khania Archaeological Survey Project (fig. 39). Districts are represented by a two-letter code (AG, AI, AN, AP, etc.), and are listed alphabetically. Sites within each region are numbered consecutively (AP 2, AP 4, AP 7) using the original KASP designations. Gaps in the site sequence occur when a KASP designation lacks evidence for early historical activity. Local toponyms are added in parentheses where these are known; otherwise a descriptive name _ substitutes. An

0.5/unit = 33/100 m2 0.25/unit = 16/100 m2 LAmnit = 65/100 m2 2hunit = 130/100 m2 3/unit = 195/100 m2 4hunit = 260/100 m2 S/umit = 325/100 m2 6/unit = 390/100 m2 Thunit = 455/100 m2

introduction to each district describes local conditions that may bear upon the disposition of ancient settlement. These introductions are for ease of reference, and are not meant to prescribe geographical boundaries on a settlement system which predates them. Site headings include the following information:

INTENSIVELY SAMPLED: to enhance the data resolution of the survey area, surface artifacts on ten

PERIODS: all periods represented in surface material are listed, but the resolution varies. Minoan artifacts are grouped together as prehistoric (PH) regardless of phase, because these are treated in detail in Moody’s thesis. Resolution is also coarse for late historical artifacts because the writer lacks the expertise to distinguish Byzantine, Venetian and Turkish glazed pottery with consistency. Sherd counts are included per period: these do not represent the total collected or

sites were systematically recorded from units laid out

along transects bisecting these sites (see Chapter 6.2 for discussion of this procedure). Sampling results are summarized at the end of site descriptions where this was carried out. BM MAP (British Military Map): the location of each site is indicated by coordinates taken from the British

War Office 1: 50,000 AEGEAN series maps published in 1944. The Akrotiri peninsula is located on Crete

observed, but only those specimens identified or recorded in any detail. A plus (+) sign after a count

Sheet 3.

indicates that the amount of material observed in the field is significantly greater than the amount presented. ! Period abbreviations and chronologies are as follows:

SIZE: given in hectares, this measures the spread of artifacts on the surface as determined either by walking the circumference (KASP) or measuring perpendicular transects across an area (Raab; criteria for defining site boundaries are discussed in Chapter 6.2). Estimates of size in the present study do not include artifacts spread from elevated sites down slope gradients of over 45 degrees unless these are terraced or possess other features.

G

Geometric (9th to 8th century B.C.)

O

Orientalizing (7th century B.C.)

| A CL

ELEVATION: the height of a site relative to sea level is determined from Greek Army topographic maps (scale 1:5,000).

Archaic (late 7th to early 5th century B.C.) Classical (early 5th to late 4th century B.C.)

lit may be used, for example, to indicate the overwhelming

presence of Byzantine or Venetian pottery compared to material of earlier periods. Or, it may indicate that fabrics (where shapes are not preserved) belonging to a particular phase were identified during intensive sampling.

84

LCL/

Late Classical century B.C.)

EHL

Early Hellenistic (late 4th to 3rd century B.C.)

HL

Hellenistic (late 4th to mid-1st century B.C.)

LHL

Late Hellenistic (2nd to mid-1st century B.C.)

ER

Early Roman century A.D.)

R

Roman

A.D.)

to

Early

(mid-Ist

(mid-lst

century

Hellenistic

century

B.C.

(late

B.C.

to

have distinctive treatments and fabrics.? Many, but not all, catalogued artifacts are drawn; where they are, entries refer to a figure number (figs. 40-59). Drawings are not presented sequentially, but organized by period and artifact class.

4th

Abbreviations for most works cited in the same as those used in Chapter 5.4 collection. Additional works are reflecting the broader temporal range material.

4th

Armstrong = Armstrong (1993) “Byzantine Thebes: Excavations on the Kadmeia, 1980.” Arthur = Arthur (1993) “Early Medieval Amphorae, the Duchy of Naples.” Bettelli = Bettelli (1994) “La chronologia della prima eta del ferro laziale attraverso i dati delle sepolture.” Enkomi = Papanikola-Bakirtzis (1989) “Medieval Pottery from Enkomi, Famagusta.” Hayes:ROM = Hayes (1976) Roman Pottery in the Royal Ontario Museum. Hayes:Sara = Hayes (1992) Excavations in Sarachane in Istanbul. Hofmann = Hofmann (1986) La Céramique Sigillée. Johnston = Johnston (1962) “The Byzantine Basilica Church at Knossos.” G.D.R. Sanders = Sanders, G.D.R. (1993) Excavations at Sparta: Medieval Pottery.”

to 9th century

LR

Late Roman (4th to 9th century A.D.)

Arab

Arab (late 9th to mid-10th century A.D.)

Byz

Byzantine (mid-10th to 12th century A.D.)

V

Venetian (13th to mid-17th century A.D.)

T

Turkish (mid-17th to 19th century A.D.)

:

VISIBILITY: ground visibility is rated in accordance with KASP as ‘good’, ‘medium’, or ‘poor’. The ratings usually indicate optimum conditions as the year-long field study made it possible to revisit many sites in different seasons. Most often, a rating of ‘good’ applies when an area is not under cultivation or when it has been recently plowed; ‘poor’ indicates perennial obstacles such as dense evergreen shrubs or concealment of the ground by collapsed walls or mounded debris; ‘medium’ means that shrub cover is present but not a serious hindrance to investigation. The above headings are followed the physical remains. An attempt when employing the words ‘site’ interpretation of the activity. The

the entries are for the Garage listed below, of the survey

Certain

and

information

post-Roman

is omitted

from

entries

artifacts

that

are

for Late

frequently

encountered:

Late Roman fine ware identifications (African Red Slip Ware, Candarli, Late Roman C, Cypriot Red Slip Ware) are from Hayes’ Late Roman Pottery. The amphorae Classes 43, 44, and 46 established by Peacock and Williams all fall within the fifth to seventh-century A.D. date range; identification of these vessels often relied on the detailed descriptions provided in Hayes’ work at Sarachane (Types 9, 5, and 8, respectively). Identification of White Ware fabric variants and ‘mica-dusted’ wares are also based on descriptions in the Saraghane volume. The incised and glazed wares known as ‘sgraffito’ are treated at length by Margrete Hahn (1997b), as are wares produced in

by a description of is made at precision and ‘scatter’ in an distinction is based

on that used in KASP, and is discussed in Chapter 6.2.

Catalogued artifacts are numbered sequentially from 1 in bold-face and include specimens collected in KASP as well as some recorded and drawn, but not collected, by the author.2 To save space, artifacts commonly found on sites are not given individual entries but are summarily described. These include most combed amphorae sherds, Byzantine through Turkish glazed sherds, body sherds of recognizable fabrics, and most tiles. Some late historical specimens are presented in detail where these are particularly well preserved or

3 Mention should here be made of a medieval tripod stilt in the survey collection from site AI 4. I failed to recognize what this was at the time of study, and made no fabric record. The shape is the same as a stilt from Enkomi of the 13th to 14th century (Papanikola-Bakirtzis 1989, fig. 2-1). Stilts were used in firing vessels, and are important in establishing the location of workshops.

2 Where mentioned in subsequent text, catalogued artifacts are referred to by site code, followed by the artifact number (i.e., AR 9-43, NL 1-242, etc.).

85

4) may relate to this activity. The hills are rocky and retain little soil; surrounding areas—especially the valley in between-are cultivable and today support olive terraces. PH and Byz-V sherds are located on the valley floor.

the ‘drip-painted’ technique. I have not located a firm date range for the late black-glazed ware(s) found in the survey, but examples in Hahn’s study point to a Venetian to Turkish date. Taffy Ware, Measles Ware, and the ‘matt-painted’ technique are all treated in G.D.R. Sanders’ work at Sparta. The use of crushed shell as a Late Roman temper is noted by Johnston in his work at Knossos (p. 223).

AI 1 (Ag. Ioannis Benchmark Hill)

BM Map: 55.5N

listed per site area below)

Last, any mention of prehistoric features or artifacts in a site description refers to information available under the corresponding site number in Moody’s thesis

appendix.

Visibility: Good

This site is on the westernmost of two prominent hills S of the modern town Lenderiana. The hill supported PH activity including a probable peak sanctuary. CL-HL tombs

Information deriving from KASP fieldnotes

is specified as such, with the date.

containing skeletal remains and round (bronze?) mirrors were investigated on the S side of the peak by Platon (1952,

480).

7.2 Site Gazetteer

district is at the W

Several of these tombs are today visible as shallow

shelters or niches cut into the slope marl.

the base of the hill (no coherent plan preserved), and the pottery suggests a HL-ER habitation existed here as well. Pottery of the same period is found on a western extension of this hill: walls here have been rebuilt as part of German WWII installations, but an 18m-long foundation tumulus can be made out and there is roof tile among the remains. One HL find is from the N side of the hill.

end of the Akrotiri

range, where elevations reach 350 meters.

A ravine bisects

are located on the slopes of this ravine.

There are relict

Collapsed building

stone and rubble are strewn about the S-facing slopes near

AGHIOS GIORGIOS DISTRICT (AG) This mountainous

13.5E

Size: 0.43 ha Elev: 115m Density: 2/unit Periods: PH, CL-HL, LHL, ER, Byz-V (diagnostic counts

these mountains, draining from the NE to the SW and emerging at the plain of Nerokampos. The sites, both caves,

terraces on these slopes which probably represent activity from a small V settlement (AG1); the district is otherwise

From the S slopes of the hill and the ravine below (PH 16, CL-ER 5):

most suitable for pastoral use.

AG 1 (Agios Giorgios Cave) BM Map: 65N 20E Size: Unknown Elev: 175 m Periods: PH, Early Historical ?, V Visibility: Collapsed

POTTERY Classical to Early Roman 1.

Jug handle fragment, round section, in Standard Ware 2.

HL-ER.

Standing remains of a small V settlement are located 1.3 km up the ravine bed from the Nerokampos plain, on the W

2. Amphora body fragment in Campanian fabric with ‘black sand’ (Peacock-Williams Class 3, 2nd to Ist century B.C.).

slope. Faure was informed that ‘ancient vases’ were found in the cave here, where a chapel was later built (1960, 212), but no further details are available. The cave is today partially collapsed. Moody observed PH sherds in the vicinity; nothing necessarily earlier than V was noted.

3.

Amphora handle (fig. 49), peaked 90-degree angle near

upper attachment, MPD. 5. Cf. Sackett no. Al-31 century B.C.). Standard Ware 1.

AG 2 (Khavyiaris Cave) BM Map: 65N 20E Size: 0.030 ha Elev: 200 m Periods: PH, HL-R Visibility: Not revisited

(late Ist

TERRACOTTA Two tile fragments: one in sparsely-gritted beige fabric with black wash on the exterior, containing trace grog and calcareous grits (CL-HL); one in beige fabric containing quartz and calcareous grits.

Faure (1960, 213) and Hood (1965, 110) report HL and R sherds here. There are 2 chambers with stalagmites and stalactites; the antechamber has smoke-blackened niches. Sanctuary?

From west extension of hill (PH 8, HL-ER 4):

POTTERY

AGHIOS IOANNIS DISTRICT (AI)

Hellenistic to Early Roman

This highland district is at the gateway of the Akrotiri isthmus, overlooking Khania to the NW and Soudha Bay to the SE. Archaeological sites are located on and around two adjacent hills directly S of Lendariana, now a suburb of Khania. A small HL-ER settlement existed on the benchmark hill (AI 1) and material from the adjacent hill (Al

4. Amphora toe (fig. 44), D. 3.7. Shape is Koan (cf. Grace fig. 56, 3rd to Ist century B.C.). Orange-beige fabric containing quartz, grog, and trace phyllite.

86

ANEMOMILO

5. Amphora collar rim (fig. 44), est. D. 14. Shape is Dressel 1A (2nd to Ist century B.C.) but fabric seems local.

DISTRICT (AN)

This is an inland district in central Akrotiri dotted with small

Standard Ware 1 with fine grog grits.

hills and knolls that attracted PH and historical settlements. The terrain is otherwise level but rocky with much land today

6. Amphora handle (fig. 49), peaked 90-degree angle, emphasized by slight sagging near attachment, squarish

section, MPD. 7.5. Close to Hayes:KN Type 3 (no. A20, Ist

uncultivated except for pockets of olives and vines. The now dry Kalathorema ravine cuts across the SE edge of the district. The closest parallels for some of the material at AN

TERRACOTTA

which makes it difficult occupation at this site.

century A.D.), but section more squared.

Standard Ware 1.

1 were found among Ist-century B.C. specimens at Sabratha,

7. Tile rim fragment, MPD. 5. Lakonian type in orange fabric containing phyllite chips and calcareous grits. Two

other tile fabrics were noted when revisiting the site: containing

phyllite

chips

and

isolate

calcareous

and

Augustan

Visibility: Medium

This site is on the SW slopes of a prominent hill 0.5 km NE of the benchmark hill Neoanemomilo and lkm N of the Kounoupidiana-Airport road, with an excellent vantage of the central plateau. The area is rocky, with olives and vines

From the N base of hill (PH 8, CL-HL 1, Byz-V 2): POTTERY Classical to Hellenistic

grown

8. 7.

in terra-rosa

pockets.

Early

most of the material was collected.

historical

material

is

especially visible along a road scar on the SW slopes where

Table amphora collared rim (fig. 45), gently tapered, D. Cf. Garage no. 10 for shape. The shape occurs early

Revisitation also yielded

pink-buff tile fragments in the cut and more sherds on the N and W slopes. The hilltop is overgrown, but heaps of stone

(Keos no. 16-4 hydria, A-CL) but also much later (Sabratha

no. 180, Ist century B.C.).

LH

AN 1 (Paleoanemomilo) BM Map: 60.5N 20E Size: 0.38 ha Elev: 120m Density: 2/unit, plus road scarp Periods: PH 17, LHL-ER 8, ER 9, LR 1

pink-orange containing red grog and long, angular grey flinty grits; pink-beige grits.

to

tumble are visible near a lime kiln on the W side, and along the SW slopes. Remains of a collapsed late historical structure lie at the SE base of the hill, possibly V or later.

Fine pink-buff fabric, high black

gloss.

Post-Roman

POTTERY

Two Byz glazed sherds: one green & yellow sgraffito; one gold-brown with a bubbly, green interior.

Late Hellenistic to Augustan

AI 4 (Timios Stavros Hill) BM Map: 55.5N_ 13.5E Size: 0.20 ha Elev: 111 m Density: Sherds from wash Periods: PH 8, ER 2, Byz-V 2 Visibility: Medium

11. Cylindrical jug ? rim (fig. 43), D. 22. Small and everted with flattened top. This form is found in LHL deposits at Knossos (Callaghan nos. H28-22 and H29-5, 2nd century B.C.). Standard Ware 1.

This is the easternmost of two prominent hills S of the The hill has three peaks with modern town Lendariana. saddles in between, and has been disturbed by WWII military installations. The NW-facing slope of the N peak preserves a

B.C.).

12.

Cf. Sabratha no. 186 (Ist century

Smooth Salmon Ware.

13a-b. Brazier rims (fig. 43), shape as above but unnotched, D. 22 and 30. Cf. Sabratha nos. 185 and 186, Ist century

B.C. Smooth Salmon Ware; b has trace buff slip.

double-chambered tomb of probable R date chiseled in the

marl: this has a ceiling height of 1.21 m, depth of 2.43 m, and width (side chambers combined) of 2.9 m; the W The only artifacts in the chamber has two wall niches. immediate vicinity are Byz-V sherds on the N and NW A small amount of early historical material was slopes. recovered along the W base of the hill in a wash.

14. Bowl rim (fig. 42), D. uncertain but large. Out-turned and square with slight notch on lip; interior groove. For general shape, cf. Sabratha nos. 117-18, Ist century B.C. Standard Ware 1. 15. Jar rim (fig. 43), D. 30. neck join. A LHL/Augustan Smooth Salmon Ware.

POTTERY 9. Button base fragment (cup?), MPD. 2.5. 1 with occasional grog. ER.

Brazier rim (fig. 43), in-curving and notched for lid,

burnt exterior, D. 30.

Standard Ware

Out-turned with tiny ledge at shape (cf. Sabratha no. 146).

16. Large vessel body fragment with relief band bearing double row of fingertip impressions, MPD. 5.0. Similar

treatment on Sabratha Standard Ware I.

10. Casserole/pan handle, rounded end fragment to single attachment, MPD. 3. ER? Standard Ware 2 with grog.

87

bowl

no.

124

(lst

century

B.C.).

Also: one amphora handle fragment in Standard Ware 2. HL-ER.

17. Beehive kalathos plain rim or extension ring (fig. 46), D. 22. Horizontal scoring inside at variable intervals. 14 mm thick. Standard Ware 1. HL-ER.

TERRACOTTA

Early and Late Roman 18.

24. Korinthian pan tile (fig. 57), MPD. 9.6. Bright buff fabric with large red grog and calcareous grits, smooth yellow surface slip. |

Thinly-ribbed body sherd from Aegean Pot (2nd to 3rd

century A.D.). Hard pink fabric with grey outer surface, micaceous (gold) with calcareous grits.

AGHIOS PAVLOS DISTRICT (AP)

19. Dish base (fig. 53), small ring foot, D. 9.5. Shape approximates LRC Form 2C and later forms (ARSW 104C); 4th to 6th century A.D.? Hard, light grey fabric containing

This district is in the north-central plateau, at the base of the Akrotiri mountains. It includes a large valley plain, bisected by the Nerokampos ravine, that surrounds the small monastery of Ag. Pavlos (AP 4). The area merges with the Nerokampos district that has sites on slopes to the N (NK 4 lies 250 m to the NE), but with the exception of wash early

numerous calcareous grits, trace mica and quartz.

Also: six amphorae body fragments’ corrogations in Standard Ware 2. ER. AN

with

shallow

historical activity is minimal on the stretch of plain that

surrounds the monastery to the NW, W and S. Land to the NW of the monastery is today planted in sand-loving potatoes and vines, while southern portions of the plain have rockier and thinner soils. A threshing floor at the monastery indicates grain cultivation in the Byz-V period. The district includes two other ecclesiastical precincts in the lower mountain terrace to the E of Ag. Pavlos, one of which has evidence for LR activity (AP 7). Two small scatters to the W of the monastery are here only briefly mentioned: AP 6 (63N, 19E) and AP 5 (same coordinates); the material is contemporary with the monastery and no earlier sherds were observed.

4: one LR sherd was recovered from this site, a rocky

knoll 300 m NW of AN 1; otherwise material belongs to PH and Byz-V periods.

POTTERY 20. Dish rim (fig. 53), D. 30. LRC Form 3 shape (5th century A.D.). Orange micaceous fabric with quartz; slip not preserved. AN 9 (Neoanemomilo) BM Map: 60N_ 19.5E Size: 0.56 ha Elev: 124m

AP 2 (Aghios Pavlos/Aghios Giorgios) BM Map: 63.5N 19.5E Size: 5+ ha Elev: 50 m Density: < 0.25/unit

Density: 1/unit, plus road scarp Periods: PH 20, CL-HL 1, HL-R 4, Byz-V Visibility: Medium

The site is on a prominent benchmark hill with a radio tower on top, accessed by its own dirt road that branches from the main Kounoupidiana-Airport road 0.6 km to the S. Early historical material is concentrated on the lower E slope and on the SE side of the hill from around a road cut. Revisitation found a mix of PH and Byz-V also on the upper slopes, the latter (glazed and coarse wares, not collected) associated with plastered ruins of a small house. There are remnants of terracing that may belong to an early phase, as a field wall associated with the house was built perpendicular across one terrace level. Possibly the early historical material also derives from higher slopes.

Periods: PH 1, ER 2, LR 5, V 2

POTTERY

Roman and Post-Roman

Greek Periods to Early Roman buff fabric with black-gloss interior and exterior, CL-HL.

25. Flask ? rim (fig. 46), hanging triangular with inner indentation, est. D. 9. Form and fabric match Hayes:KN ‘perfume pot’ no. 168 (import, 2nd century A.D.). Fine, silty buff fabric.

22. Beehive kalathos body fragment, MPD. 6. Irregular horizontal grooves on the interior; outer surface has vertical

26. Dish rim (fig. 53), worn, D. ? LRC Form 3 (5th to 6th century A.D.). Porous orange fabric.

21.

Small, worn ring-foot fragment, MPD.

2.

burnish striations. 8 mm thick. Soft, porous pink-buff fabric with trace mica. HL?

Visibility: Good

This is a large, thin scatter of plow-worn sherds in fields near

the foot of the Ag. Giorgios terrace; to the N of Ag. Pavlos

monastery and approximately 100 m NW of the CL-HL NK 4. The origin of the ER material here is unclear; no artifacts were recovered from around the monastery and nearest concentration of this period is 0.5 km to the N on Ag. Giorgios terrace (NK 1).

site ER the the

POTTERY

Soft, clean

but fine

27. Basin rim (fig. 52), square and sloping, D. uncertain but large. Cf. Johnston no. 12 (LR-Byz). Coarse micaceous

beige fabric with quartz.

23. Beehive kalathos body fragment, MPD. 7. Deep horizontal grooves on the interior and blackening out (from bee smoking?). 10 mm thick. Standard Ware 1. HL-ER.

Also: three amphorae handle fragments, one double-rolled but less articulated than a true bifid (ER), all in Standard

88

Ware

1; one

combed

amphora

fragment

in grey

features of note. One is a 70-cm long column drum section of composition rubble and mortar bound by a thick coat of

fabric

(possibly Hayes:Sara Type 7, 5th to 7th century A.D.); two fragments of Taffy Ware (13th to 14th century A.D.).

plaster (D. 39 cm); it is incorporated into a re-built section of wall. Another is the foundation cornerstone of the E wall, of

sandstone

AP 4 (Aghios Pavlos Monastery) BM Map: 63N_ 19.5E Size: 6+ ha Elev: 53 m Density: 2-4/unit for late historical

structure.

is freshly

plastered,

but

a

Another small chapel, Estavromenos, is similarly situated on a lower terrace 350 m SE of AP 7 (BM Map: 63N 20E); the few sherds recovered from the vicinity are medieval or later in date.

collected by Moody from three parts of this site included few of PH or definite early historical date. A medieval chapel

and small monastery, partially ruined, lies on a low ridge in

the plain at the base of the Ag. Giorgios mountain terrace. The chapel has a bell tower, but this and connecting monastic wings are largely gutted. Pottery in the vicinity (much sgraffito and gold-brown glazed) may indicate a date as early as the 12th to 13th century A.D. for the edifice. a well

indicating reuse of an earlier

chapel

the hall building.

This is a low-density scatter for pre-medieval periods: finds

include

small

buttressed in mortared stone and may be contemporary with

Visibility: Medium

features

The

semi-circular cistern projecting from the N end is thickly

Periods: PH 6, CL-HL 1, LR 1, Byz-V 21+

Associated

ashlar masonry,

mashing grapes, and a threshing floor.

house,

a patitiri

POTTERY Hellenistic

28. Amphora toe, worn, solid with flared flat base (fig. 44), D. 6. Possibly Peacock-Williams orange-beige fabric.

for

Land in the vicinity

Class

1 (LHL).

Sandy

of the monastery is today only thinly cultivated in olives and

vines; it belongs to the large and still functioning monastery

Late Roman

POTTERY

29. Jar ? rim fragment (fig. 51), too small to measure diameter. Plain square lip and multi-toothed, overlapping bands in ‘eye’ motive. Ruddy brown fabric with phyllite,

of Ag. Triadha to the E.

Early Historical

milky quartz, hard red and black inclusions;

One black-gloss fragment in fine, pink-buff fabric (CL-HL);

(7th to 8th century A.D.) but may be later.

self-slipped.

one amphora handle with low-sprung and sloping profile, in ruddy orange-brown fabric containing quartz, calcareous and shell grits (LR).

Also: one combed amphora fragment (Peacock-Williams Class 43); one body sherd in hard, beige fabric containing shell grits (a LR temper).

Post-Roman

16

Byz-V

inner surface

The motive is found in Hayes:Sara fig. 23-13

Post-Roman (all?) glazed

sherds

were

collected:

yellow-green

sgraffito and other glazes in pale green, gold-brown, and cream. Coarse ware shapes include a small double-lipped rim, a water jug of V date (as Armstrong no. 196), and several sherds bearing multiple-incised wavy lines.

30. Two body fragments with vertical burnish or paring marks, cf. Hayes:Sara ‘Coarse Red-Burnished Ware’ (10th century A.D.). Pink to pink-brown fabric with grey outer

AP 7 (Aghios Pandeleimon) BM Map: 63N 20E Size: 2 ha Elev: 60 m Density: 4/unit Periods: PH 15, LHL 1, LR 3, Arab-Byz 2, Byz-V 12+

31. Bowl ? rim (fig. 56), D. 26. Plain and flat-topped with exterior notch just below rim; incised register with 4-toothed wavy line. Beige fabric with occasional large quartz and phyllite. Date?

surface and core.

Also: five Byz-V glazed sherds (yellow sgraffito) and four unglazed sherds in related fabrics.

Visibility: Good

This site is in the grounds of the small chapel of Ag. Pandeleimon, which stands on a rocky SW-facing lower terrace of the Akrotiri mountains, 0.5 km directly E of Ag.

AP 10 (Phones Cave) BM Map: 63.5N 20E Size: 0.09 ha Elev: 72 m Periods: PH, HL Visibility: Not revisited

Pavlos monastery. The mountain range extends to the SE, so this terrace forms the E edge of the Ag. Pavlos plain. Ruins of an older hall-shaped building lie barely 3 m to the east of the chapel; it measures 10 x 3.5 m (inside measurement) and is oriented NE-SW. Walls today stand to 1.5 m and retain

A cave on the SE-facing slopes of a ridge in the lower mountain terrace; the E side of the same ridge where site NK 4 is located, and 300 m directly N of AP 7. PH and one HL vase sherd were found in the cave by Faure (1962, 45-6). This cave is a short distance from the CL-HL site NK 4.

traces of plaster inside. A subdividing wall forms a 3 m-deep

vestibule at the entrance end. The walls (60 cm thick) are of mortared rubble construction, and a single niche (beam support?) is preserved in the innermost short wall 86 cm above the floor. The size and layout is similar to that of LR houses found in Akrotiri (KP 5, AR 17). There are two

89

penning goats.

ARONI DISTRICT (AR)

Enclosures of this configuration have been

Akrotiri,

mapped in the Frangokastello Plain in Sphakia, and are believed to be LR in date (Rackham and Moody 1996, 144).

below the high plateau and above a rugged and steep coastal

stone built upon foundations of massive boulders and roughly-hewn blocks. Ashlar masonry of limestone, not well finished, has occasionally been reused in the upper walls and

This

district

is on

the

south-central

coast

of

The AR 6 walls stand to 1.50 m in height and are of field

extending from just W of the modern town of Aroni to the large Vathirevma ravine bed at the E end of the district. Archaeological sites are located on a gently-sloping terrace -

shelf. There is no good harborage. Karstic limestone bedrock results in a variegated terrain, including the collapsed cavern which now forms the Kamili sinkhole. Land use is characterized by terracing on gentle slopes and the occasional stretch of arable; olive and almond trees are

is strewn

segment

(D.

westernmost

about

0.25

the

cm)

enclosure,

site.

lies

and

A

on

two

limestone

top

blocks

column drum

of a wall

of the

of aeolianite

are

embedded in the enclosure field (the largest measures 0.85 x 0.55 x ? m). Two parallel, stone-lined irrigation ditches

traverse the soil-barren central and eastern enclosures; these

today the most common cultivars.

run under the dividing field wall and may be of some antiquity. The easternmost enclosure contains the

AR Ic (Melissa) BM Map: 56.5N_ 19.5E Size: 0.75 ha Elev: 135 m Density: < l/unit Periods: PH 1, LR 1, Byz 1+ Visibility: Medium

foundations of a small rectangular dwelling (4.70 x 6.80 m) and a 20 m-long embankment wall on the same orientation to the S; PH pottery is concentrated in the vicinity. Dr. Moody re-examined these features and identified the construction as Minoan (flat-laid blocks as opposed to the upright, orthostate construction of historical periods). Rubble and tile from a small collapsed house or hut of Byz-V date lies at the elevated site center, directly in front of a smoke-blackened cave in the cliff face. There are two smaller caves at the W end of the site, with entrances partially walled in field stone and ashlar masonry; a niche is carved in the wall of one of them.

A scatter of sherds is located on terraced slopes 0.25 km to the SW of the modern town of Aroni. la) was identified 150 m to the N.

some

A PH habitation (AR

POTTERY Late and Post-Roman

18 sherds were examined during intensive sampling.

Surface

in either investigation.

1 were

single stamped heart motive, MPD. 3.5 cm. The motive occurs on late ARSW, Style D (5th century A.D.) but fabric is local coarse. Sandy orange-beige fabric containing quartz, mica, phyllite, and calcareous grits.

material is largely contained to the area defined by the enclosure walls, except to the SW where sherds continued into an open field planted with vegetables. The material in the enclosures is worn and trampled; few diagnostic shapes were noted, and no black or red-gloss sherds were recovered

33. Shape unknown (fig. 52), flat pedestal base tapering to stem, D. 4.2. Parallels not found but fabric seems LR or

identified, but LR fabrics are predominant. The glazed wares on this site are largely contained

32.

Jug handle (fig. 52), curved with oval section, bearing

Sherds of Standard Ware

collapsed structure in front of the cave.

later. Coarse red fabric containing large phyllite, quartz, and silver and black mica.

Byz-V to the

POTTERY

Also: one Byz -V glazed sherd in green.

Hellenistic to Early Roman

METAL

At least ten sherds of Standard Ware 1, two

belonging to

amphorae (neck and shoulder fragments); one sherd of Smooth Salmon Ware (Garage); one sherd of Coarse Brown Ware (Garage).

34. Iron Boss (fig. 58), oval with raised center, MPD. 7 cm. Date? AR 6 (Khalepa) Intensively sampled BM Map: 56.5N 20.5E Size: 3.6 haElev: 154 m Density: 4.5/unit (range 0-13) Periods: PH 24, HL-ER 10+, ER 1, LR 18+, Byz-V 9+ Visibility: Good to poor

Late and Post-Roman

35.

Bowl rim, incurving (fig. 55), D. 16.

Shape and fabric

36.

Cooking pot (?) rim, very worn, MPD. 3.

suggest this is Cypriot RSW Form 9 (late 6-7c AD) but no slip observed. Hard, clean orange-brown fabric.

large bead on lip for lid.

Knossos (LR, but possibly later). with calcareous grits.

This site (fig. 30) is located 0.75 km E of the modern town of

Aroni, on a low rise directly below cliffs of the high plateau; it is accessed by a steep path descending from the Khania-Sternes road. The site is defined by three roughly-triangular field enclosures that radiate from a terraced site center against the base of the cliff. Triangular enclosures are well-suited for corralling animals: one of them here has a small gate at the apex, and is today used for

Bulbous with

Shape as Johnston no. 45 from

Coarse red-orange fabric

Also: two wavy-combed amphorae fragments (PeacockWilliams Class 43); at least fourteen sherds in LR fabrics (shell-gritted, silty-textured pale or pink with large calcareous grits or grog, pink or beige mica-dusted, and orange and red-orange with plentiful phyllite, grog, or

90

calcareous grits); nine Byz-V

Also:

glazed fragments, including

mottled red & yellow Measles Ware (12th century), sgrafitto in yellow-green, yellow-brown, and cream.

Fifteen tile fragments, of curved (14-17 mm thick) and flat (22-25 mm thick) shape, in three fabrics: buff and pink-buff with calcareous grits, grog, and sometimes milky quartz; beige with calcareous grits and grog; orange with calcareous grits, grog, chaff and sometimes phyllite.

may

sherds,

including

a

activity

from

(?) ring

foot

site AR

14

in the Kamill

POTTERY Greek Periods

AR 8 (Khalepa) BM Map: 56.5N 20E Size: 2.0 haElev: 149 m Density: 1/unit Periods: PH 3, R 2, Byz 7+ Visibility: Poor

42.

Skyphos

pendant underside, D. 3.5.

(fig.

CL?

40),

conical

shape

with

Orange fabric containing

phyllite, black and red platy mineral (as in Standard Ware 3), quartz, and mica.

43. Plate fragment (fig. 45), flat base to simple rim; very shallow, D. 20. HL. Local grey fabric (Garage), fully slipped in semi-matte black gloss on interior and exterior. HL.

This is a Byz (possibly earlier?) farming establishment located 0.6 km ESE of the town of Aroni, and 150 m SW of site AR 6. The earlier material may represent scatter associated with AR 6 or AR 14. The site is a maze of field

walls and has four rock-cut threshing floors (the oldest I observed on Akrotiri, the stone worn and lichen-encrusted), one of which is adjacent to a small storage/drying hut. There

Late Roman 44. Bowl rim (fig. 53), rolled, D. 30. Possibly late ARSW Form 103 (6c AD). Fine orange fabric with trace quartz and mica; no slip preserved.

is an underground, rock-cut cistern (bottle-shaped) on the N

radiating

channels

cut

into

the

surrounding bedrock. The associated dwelling was visible at the E end of the site during a preliminary visit in 1991; this was destroyed for development by 1994.

AR 14 (Kamil) BM Map: 56.5N 20E Size: 0.21 ha Elev: 126m Density: 1.5/unit Periods: PH 2, CL-HL 7, ER 2, LR 1, Byz 1 Visibility: Medium to poor

POTTERY Roman and post-Roman

This is a small, contained early historical site (fig. 32) on the E slope of the Kamili sinkhole, 1km SE of the town of Aroni and 300 m SSW of site AR 6. The site overlooks a basin with nearly lha of fertile growing surface, today cultivated in vines. Structural remains of the site extend 70 m N-S and

38. Amphora toe (fig. 49), conical with flat, out-turned tip (D. 2.7). Late 2c-early 3c AD shape, as Sackett no. U-139.

Hard, sandy orange-beige fabric.

39.

represent

sinkhole which lies 350 m to the NW.

place this specimen in the pre-medieval classification devised by Runnels (1990) with a stone source in the south Aegean islands; a LR date is possible.

with

red-brown

on a knoll 1.3 km SE of the town of Aroni and 0.8 km SSE of site AR 6. The finds here are part of a very diffuse pattern of CL-HL material that extends to the SE towards the Vathirevma ravine (AR 17, AR 18, AR 20); alternatively, it

37. Rotary quern rim fragment (fig. 59), 20 cm across, 9 cm thick. Curved surface with corrugations; no rynd cutting apparent so this is probably a lower stone. Porous ‘sponge’ textured andesite, dark grey color. The curvature and color

site,

dark

This PH habitation site is a scatter for later periods, located

STONE

of the

coarse,

AR 9 (Khalepa) BM Map: 56.5N = 20.5E Size: 0.38 ha Elev: 142 m Density: 5/unit Periods: PH 22, CL-HL 2, LR 1 Visibility: Medium

TERRACOTTA

side

several

wide double-ridged jug handle of 10th to 12th century shape; two Byz-V glazed sherds in yellow and green with sgraffito.

and

Bowl rim (fig. 50), D. 12.5.

Plain and nearly square

E-W over three terrace levels. What was the dwelling during

with three grooves below. Possibly ARSW Form 9 (late 2nd century). Medium-hard, flaky, pale-red fabric with same color slip; occasional calcareous grit and minor mica.

the site’s last phase lies in the center of the broad lower terrace: this is a rectangular structure with an interior space

of 11 x 6 m and walls standing to a height of 1-2 m; it is partially dismantled. Enclosed yards lie to the N and S of the

40. Jar/amphora shoulder fragment with band of fine 6-tooth

structure. The second terrace up forms the path by which the site is entered from the sinkhole rim, and the third terrace accesses a cave with a built-up entrance and _ interior measuring ca. 12 x 11m. An underground cistern is cut into the terrace bedrock; it is plastered and exceeds 1.5 m in depth. Site construction is entirely of field stone; roof tile is

combing. The decoration occurs on 12th-century amphorae (Armstrong no. 286). Brown, crumbly fabric with surface pits, phyllite, and a light blue-grey inclusion (siltstone?). 41. Beehive kalathos rim, plain squared shape, D. unknown. Deeply scored inside at irregular intervals, 11 mm thick. Distinctive porous, yellow fabric found at medieval sites elsewhere on the Akrotiri.

present.

91

POTTERY

Post-Roman

Greek Periods

One Byz-V glazed sherd in green & gold with sgraffito; one

45. Cup flat base, D. 3.5. Local grey fabric (Garage), light color with a pink-grey core. HL.

AR 17 (Ksidha)

everted square rim in Taffy Ware (13th to 14th century).

Intensively sampled

BM Map: 56N_

46. Amphora toe (fig. 44), D. 4.9 (widest point). 2nd to Ist century B.C. shape (Grace fig. 38; Sackett no. A1-33);

Brindisi variant? Orange-beige fabric with calcareous grits. 47.

Cup rim (fig. 46), rounded, D. 7.

fabric, HL-ER?

Periods: PH 4, EHL 1, HL-ER 5, ER 4, LR 15+, LR-Byz 7+, Byz-V 13 Visibility: Good

Clean pink-orange

This is an important LR site, located 1.5 km SE of the town of Aroni, and barely 100 m to the N of the head of the Vathirevma ravine (fig. 26). The terrain here slopes gently

Also: four black-gloss fragments (one cup body with handle stump) in fine pink-buff fabric.

towards

Early Roman

48.

20.5E

Size: 4.6 haElev: 128 m Density: 5.5/unit (range 0-24)

the

S

and

is

occupied

by

a

partially-walled

compound, extending 120 m E-W and open to the N where

Bowl ring-base with rounded foot (fig. 47), D. 12.

the land is terraced. The primary structural remains are at the

Cf.

Sackett local color coated no. A2-54 (early 1st century A.D.). Pink-

SE corner of the compound. This is a cluster of attached dwellings, with walls still standing in places to a height of

49. Dish rim (fig. 50), D. 16. Italian Sigillata imitation, unarticulated form as Sackett no. N2-15 (mid-lst century A.D.). Orange fabric with trace calcareous grits; no slip observed.

courtyard. Two of the houses measure 3.5 x 12 m and are subdivided into two and three rooms; the other two are

1.5 meters. Four separate dwelling units can be identified, each with a rectangular hall-type house and its own enclosed

beige fabric with fine calcareous grits; trace red slip.

shorter in length.

Walls are between 0.50 and 0.90 m thick.

Construction is everywhere of fieldstone with clay mortar. A heap of debris and stone to the NW, more towards the center

of the compound, belongs to another structure.

Late and Post-Roman

The W side

of the compound consists of gently-terraced fields, and at the NW corner lies the foundations of another house of the same hall type (3.5 x 14 m), with the stone door lintel preserved

50. Dish base (fig. 54), D. 10. LRC Form 3F (6th century A.D.). Red fabric and same-color slip.

where it fell at the entrance. The N wall of this house shows signs of rebuilding. The houses at this site are similar to buildings at sites KP 5 and AP 7. Two rock-cut cisterns

also: one Byz green-glazed ring foot.

TERRACOTTA

were located outside the cluster of dwellings, but the main water source for the hamlet was the ravine: one of the head

Six tile fragments were observed on the site, in orange and

branches immediately S of the site is directly accessed by a

beige fabrics heavily gritted with phyllite.

descending road—more like a ramp—with the deepening sides

AR 16 (Kamili) BM Map: 56N 20.5E

shored up in stone. Moody found what she believed to be a spring house of early historical date in the ravine bed, but this was not relocated despite several attempts.

Density: 1/unit Periods: PH 24, ER 1, Byz-V 2 Visibility: Medium

183 sherds were examined during intensive sampling. The greatest densities of material are within the compound, but

Size: 0.50 ha

Elev: 120m

scatter extends across olive fields to the SW and S towards the ravine. LR shapes and fabrics are everywhere predominant; 46 coarse sherds of this period were counted (tempered with phyllite, shell, or medium to large grog and calcareous grits). Later material (Taffy Ware and glazed sherds with sgraffito) was largely contained to the premises

This PH site is located 1.2 km SE of the town of Aroni and 300 m SE of site AR 14. Sherds are located in an abandoned walled compound, probably no earlier than V in date. This is a low-density scatter for all historical periods.

of the house at the NW corner of the compound, and suggests the reuse of that structure in the medieval period. Earlier occupation phases could easily be obscured by the

POTTERY Hellenistic to Roman

abundant later material.

51. Amphora button toe (fig. 49), D. 3. Cf. Sackett’s late Ist-century B.C. to Istcentury A.D. forms (A2-105, N1-51). Standard Ware 1. Also: one beehive kalathos body fragment with horizontal scoring inside, in Standard Ware 1 (HL-ER).

POTTERY Hellenistic

deep

52. Bowl ring foot (fig. 45), D. 4.4. Cf Vari no. 25 and Stobi no. 13 (EHL). Local grey fabric, fully slipped in black gloss.

92

TERRACOTTA

Early Roman 53.

Cooking-pot rim (fig. 48), D. 17.

Sixteen tile fragments (mostly of flat specimens) were examined, in three fabrics: pink-beige with large grog grits, bright orange with large grog grits, and pink-orange with

Everted with inward

slope forming flat inner ledge; handle scar under rim. Cf. Sackett D4-32a (2nd century A.D.). Coarse orange-beige fabric, well-gritted with quartz. 54.

Candarli fragment, MPD.

3.

2nd to 3rd century.

pink-brown fabric with orange-red slip; gold mica visible. 55. Dish rim fragment, thin, D.2

to 4th century A.D.).

large phyllite chips and calcareous grits; a third fabric, beige

with calcareous grits and grog, was identified from tiles used

as terrace-wall fill.

Fine

GLASS

ARSW Form 50 (early, 3rd

Two fragments of thin blue glass with patina, one body and

Fine red fabric with matt slip of the

one rounded and hollow base fragment, est. D. 15. Date?

same color.

56.

Dish base (fig. 50), D.

10.

Interior and

Ware

1, and

AR 18: A single CL-HL cup handle (fine pink-buff fabric with black gloss) was found at this PH site which lies at the southern outskirts of site AR 17, at the edge of the ravine.

exterior

wheel-marks. LRC Form 2C (mid to late-4th century A.D.). Fine pink-orange fabric with red-orange slip; trace calcareous grits. Also: four sherds of Standard Standard Ware 2 (HL-ER).

one

sherd

|

AR 20: A single find, probably EHL, was found in a concentration of PH sherds 200 m SW of site AR 17, on the

of

opposite side of the ravine branch from AR 18. POTTERY

Late Roman

63. Bowl ring foot (fig. 45), D. 24. A robust form with two

57, Dish rim (fig. 52), est. D. 27. ARSW Form 61A (4th to 5th century A.D.). Orange fabric and orange slip; calcareous grits. 58.

Dish rim (fig. 53), D. 24.

59.

Dish rim (fig. 53), D. 17.

LRC

Form 3 (Sth century

ARSW

Form 99C (small rim

concentric grooves on the floor.

Local grey fabric

(Garage) with trace black gloss on the interior and exterior.

ASIRMATOS DISTRICT (AS)

A.D.). Fine pink-orange fabric with trace calcareous grits; no slip preserved. version, 6th to early-7th century A.D.).

For shape, cf. Vari nos. 25

and 27 (but these examples are smaller).

This is a small upland district at the center of the Akrotiri isthmus. Ancient activity is concentrated at the SE edge of the high

Orange-pink fabric

plateau,

before

it begins

Soudha Bay and E to Khania.

with slip of the same color; trace red grits (grog?).

a rugged

descent

S to

The area is today partially

cultivated in olives, some terraced.

Early historical material

is tantalizing but scrappy and difficult to interpret without

60. Dish rim (fig. 53), worn, D. 25+. ARSW Form 105 (6th to 7th century A.D.). Fine orange fabric with trace calcareous grits; no slip preserved.

evidence for a settlement nucleus; there is enough to suggest

traffic such as one would expect in the peninsula gateway. AS 5 (Asirmatos) BM Map: 56.5N 15E Size: 0.25 ha Elev: 202 m Density: < 0.25/unit Periods: PH 5, HL 2 Visibility: Medium

61. Bowl rim, worn, with diagonal rows of pointelle on lip surface, D. 30+. Shape as ARSW Form 105 above, but

fabric seems local: buff-orange with quartz and phyllite.

62. Cooking pot ? hanging rim (fig. 51), est. D. 27. Robust, duck-bill shape with a raised band on lip. Cf. Hayes:Sara nos. 138 and 139 (6th to 7th century A.D.). Orange fabric

containing quartz, phyllite, gold mica and calcareous grits.

This is a sherd scatter in an olive grove at the head of a

Also: four combed

Asirmatos hill (both benchmarks); the source of the historical sherds is unknown. A large cistern is cut into bedrock immediately to the S of the finds: this is trapezoidal, 4.60 x 6.50 m, with a depth of over 2 m to the top of rubble debris,

drainage

amphora fragments (Peacock-Williams

Class 43); three mica-dusted fragments.

Late to Post-Roman

between

Asirmatos

hill

(AS

8)

and

Korakies

perhaps from a collapsed roof; traces of plaster remain on the

walls. There is a small square cutting next to this (38 x 31 x 14 cm).

These include: seven sherds of LR-Byz silty white and pink-buff sherds (mostly jug handles) several of which contain small red particles typical of 6-7c White Ware; ten sherds of Taffy Ware, mostly ribbed body sherds in pearly

POTTERY

pink, orange, and buff (12th to 13th century); three Byz-V glazed sherds with sgraffito, two in yellow-green, one in

One body HL-ER?

yellow, white, brown & green.

93

fragment

in

fine,

hard

orange-pink

fabric.

TERRACOTTA

POTTERY

64. Tile antefix fragment (fig. 57) with impressed palmette,

67. Body fragment, (Garage). ER.

MPD. 5 cm; local grey fabric (Garage) with black wash on exterior. AS 6b (Asirmatos)

BM Map: 56.5N_

68.

quartz

and

surface; not ribbed. R?

15.5E

3.5.

Burnished

Orange

Amphora body fragment, MPD. 5. Orange-buff

containing

Size: < 0.031 Elev: 204m Density: Unknown

grog,

with

fine

gold

mica

Ware

fabric

on

|

the

AGHIA TRIADHA DISTRICT (AT)

Periods: PH 22, LR 2 Visibility: Reported as medium; not revisited

This district is located in north-central Akrotiri, at the base of the mountain range. It is well known for its beautiful monastery, Ag. Triadha of Tzankarolwn, built late in the V

Moody identified a PH habitation (AS 6a) at the S edge of a ridge that bears the Asirmatos peak benchmark; the scrappy historic material was collected at the base of the ridge.

period

(1612),

but with

earlier (13th

century)

monastic

foundations recorded (Pashley 1837, Vol. 1, 22). The metochi today controls a large parcel of land in north-central

Akrotiri, including Ag. Pavlos to the W. A great sandy deposit stretching along the terrace base from Stavros to Ag.

POTTERY

Triadha,

Late Roman

65.

MPD.

Dish rim (fig. 53), est. D 20.

to 6th century A.D.).

Shape is LRC Form 3 (5th

east

to

Kalorouma,

is

extensively

These deposits

1a),

but would seem suitable for vineyards in all periods. No ER

(of green hue), minor quartz and mica; no slip preserved.

activity was identified in the area, but a LHL site (AT 6) is

located at the S edge of Nerokambos ravine wash. LR material is persistent in the district, though not in great

66. Jar or mug flat base, D. 6. This appears to be a specimen of ‘Grey Gritty Ware’, cf. Hayes: Sara p. 55 (later forms, 7th

concentrations.

to 8th century A.D.). Dark blue-grey surface with browner core; well-gritted with calcareous grits, quartz and some

AT 1b (Megeino) BM Map: 61.5N 22.5E Size: 4.5 haElev: 92 m Density: < 1/unit Periods: PH 33, LHL 1, LR 3, Byz-T 9 Visibility: Inaccessible in 1995

mica.

AS 7 (Korakies Asirmatos) BM Map: 56N_ 14.5E Size: Unknown Elev: 193 m Density: From land fill Periods: PH 7, CL-HL 5, ER 2

A large sherd scatter is located at the base of the Akrotiri

Visibility: Medium

mountain terrace; 0.6 km SE of Ag. Triadha monastery, on

the N side of the Nerokampos ravine. The land belongs to the monastery. Much of the area was disturbed by

Fragmented sherds were found in land fill on the S slope of Korakies Asirmatos hill; the fill origin is unknown. Moody noted the presence of bone and thought the material might derive from a disturbed tomb.

bull-dozing in 1979; by 1995 it was entirely enclosed by a

high barbed-wire fence and thoroughly dredged for fill. Moody reported possible remains of walls (Fieldnotes,

March 1979), and the collected material indicates extensive PH activity. LR-Byz activity is also represented, but it is now impossible to characterize its position or extent.

POTTERY Three sherds of local grey fabric with black gloss (HL); two sherds of fine orange fabric with black gloss (CL-HL); one fragment

further

were favored in Late Minoan times for burial (site AT

Soft orange fabric with calcareous grits

Italian Sigillata neck amphora button-base.

and

cultivated in vines around the monastery.

from

a jug

(ER);

one

POTTERY

ER

Hellenistic

AS 8 (Asirmatos) BM Map: 56.5N_ 14.5E Size: 0.25 ha Elev: 210m Density: < 0.25/unit Periods: PH 1, ER 1 Visibility: Poor

A single black-gloss fragment in fine, bright pink fabric. LHL.

Several sherds were collected from around the foundation wall of an abandoned wireless station on the Asirmatos

Red-brown fabric with phyllite and quartz.

the building platform and corners.

trace black slip suggests early color-coated variant (6th to 7th century A.D.).

(benchmark) hill.

Late and Post-Roman

69. Bowl rim (fig. 51), est. D. 20. Small everted and square, cf.

70.

Some cut limestone blocks are reused in From fill?

94

Johnston

nos.

54

and

55

(LR

or

possibly

later).

Jug handle fragment, round section, of White Ware;

AT 5 (Monastery) BM Map: 61.5/62N 21.5E Size: 8 ha Elev: 76 m Density: 0.25/unit Periods: PH 7, CL-HL 1, LR 3, Byz-V 8 Visibility: Good to poor

71. Jug handle, square section, of White Ware; micaceous pink-white fabric suggests a late variant (12th to 13th century A.D.). Also: one fragment LR combed amphora, burnt; five Byz-V glazed sherds in yellow; one fragment with jade and cream

glaze (date?); two black-glazed fragments (V-T).

This is a thin scatter of sherds within large walled fields to the N and S of the monastery approach road. Fields to the N are extensively planted in vines; those to the S sustain high

AT 2 (Monastery)

BM Map: 62N 21.5E Size: 0.19 ha Elev: 88m

grasses with poor visibility. The Nerokampos ravine bed runs along the W edge of the sandy fields.

Density: 2.5/unit Periods: PH 6, LR 8, Byz-V 17

Visibility: Medium

POTTERY

This is a small, well contained concentration of LR and Byz-V material at the base of the Akrotiri mountain terrace

Greek Periods

on SW facing slopes; 200 m E of the monastery.

There are

76. Small flat base, worn, D. 3.5. Fine pink-buff fabric with black gloss on the interior. CL-HL.

traces of collapsed terrace walls on the slope; this site is probably a small farm.

Late and Post-Roman

POTTERY

77.

LRC

Form

3D,

late 5th

triple-ridged

and

flat (fig. 51),

Byz-V

AT 6 (Vangelliana)

BM Map: 61N 20.5E

74. Dish rim, worn, D.? Two grooves on lip; ARSW Form 83 (5th century A.D.). Pink-orange fabric containing red grits; trace red slip on the interior.

(7th

to

9th

century

A.D.).

Burnt,

This site is located on a prominent hill 300 m SW of the

muddy-brown fabric well-gritted with quartz and phyllite. A body fragment belongs. a tiny

dish

rim

fragment

of ARSW;

two

Aghia Triadha-Khorafakia road intersection and 1.2 km SW of the monastery. The hill is conspicuous for a walled grove

of tall pine, cypress and eucalyptus trees on its SW slopes,

combed

and even more so today for a large factory newly-built on the

amphorae fragments, one wavy (Peacock-Williams Class 43); one fragment White Ware, pinkish early variant (6th to 7th

top, N and E

Post-Roman

Eight fragments of Byz-V glazed (green & white with sgraffito, yellow, and gold-brown) and nine sherds belonging to coarse fabrics. The glazed sherds have orange fabric with quartz.

Coarse

sherds

are pink-brown

sides of the hill.

The hill was undeveloped

when Moody investigated in 1981 and it was the top and E slopes where high densities of historical material were recorded. LHL sherds were identified in the collected material, with a component of LR-Byz; Moody noted the absence of early historical fine wares on the site. She also

century A.D.).

red grits and

©

Size: 2.2 haElev: 95 m Density: 11/unit (range 5-22) Periods: PH 4, LHL 4+, LR-Byz 6 Visibility: Most of site destroyed

75. Cooking pot rim, D. >20. Everted and down-curving, cf. 19-5

glazed (green & white, yellow with sgraffito); two

fragments of Taffy Ware (13th to 14th century A.D.).

73. Dish rim, worn, est. D. 25. Two grooves on lip; ARSW Form 82 (5th century A.D.). Orange fabric and slip.

fig.

White

Also: two LR combed amphorae fragments, one wavy with gold mica (Peacock-Williams Class 43); six fragments of

red fabric with no visible inclusions; no slip preserved.

Also:

fragment,

Circular impression on the outer surface.

Ware with small red grits (6th to 7th-century variant).

72. Dish rim (fig. 54), D. 25. century A.D. Porous, orange-

Hayes:Sara

Jug handle

width 3.6.

Late Roman

thought it likely that the inhabitants leveled the hill of earlier material, as PH densities are greater on the lower slopes. Apart from one beehive fragment (and numerous bits of

with

semi-coarse beige fabrics) revisitation yielded almost nothing

fewer red grits and much phyllite, mica and quartz. The sample includes a flat double-ridged cookpot handle typical

of diagnostic quality even on the peripheries of the factory

due to heavy trampling. The W and SW slopes of the hill with the tree grove remain intact, and the foundations of a small Byz-V house are built into the NW corner of the grove wall: this dry-built structure measures 7 x 3.6 m and has a small cellar set in the ground. Interior walls retain pink-brown plaster; a small capped cistern lies to the E.

of Hayes:Sara Middle Byz series (10th to 12th century A.D.).

AT 4: a PH sherd concentration on the SW slopes of a small

hill located 600 m E of AT 6 also yielded one tile rim fragment of Lakonian type, in clean pink-buff fabric (early historical) and two amphorae body fragments in Standard Ware | (HL-ER).

95

FR 5 (Frangou) BM Map: 62.5N = 18E

POTTERY

Size: 0.75 ha

Hellenistic

78.

Lekane rim (fig. 43), D. 20.

large handle

(200-175 BC).

scar under

rim.

Standard Ware 1.

Cf.

Periods: CL-HL 3, HL-ER 1, LR?, Byz-V 23, V-T 1

Everted and square with Callaghan

no.

Elev: 30m

Density: Unknown but > 0.5/unit

Visibility: Poor (disturbed and partially fenced)

H16-19

Moody located a concentration of sherds on a low rise 200 m

79. Beehive kalathos rim (fig. 44), D. 23. Out-turned with several deep grooves preserved inside. Precise parallels not found, but similar rims are found on LHL lekane (cf. Callaghan nos. H32-10 and H36-2). Fine pink-orange fabric with occasional quartz.

E of the Kounoupidhiana-Stavros road, before it angles NW; 600 m NE of site TS 10. The area was under development in

80.

perhaps related to activity at TS 10; lowlands between the sites are cultivated in vines and olives.

Beehive

kalathos ? rim (fig. 44), D. > 20.

1995 and a long heap of stone tumble appeared to be all that was left of possible walls reported by Moody in 1979. No

additional pottery was discovered, but what was collected suggests this was a late historical site, with earlier material

Everted

pipe-elbow shape with square, cropped lip and two grooves preserved inside. Fabric as above; both rim angles indicate fairly straight-walled vessels.

POTTERY Early historical material consists of three small black-gloss fragments in fine buff fabric, and one worn flat base to a small cup in fine pink-orange fabric.

81. Tapering rim, uncertain shape (fig. 43), D. 22. This may belong to a LHL cylindrical jug or krater. Standard Ware 1. 82. Beehive kalathos wall fragment, D. 34. Irregular scoring on the interior.

Later material includes: sixteen Byz-V glazed sherds (green & white with sgraffito, white, and yellow); seven coarse sherds including a double-ridged handle and a wavy-incised piece which could, but need not, date earlier than Byz-V; one

Standard Ware 1. HL-ER.

Late and Post-Roman

black-glazed fragment (V-T).

Three combed amphorae fragments (worn, plain beige fabrics not identified, possibly Ware (very fine variant, one dark brown body (medieval?); one Byz-V

Byz in date); one fragment of White possibly 9th to 10th century A.D.); sherd with small impressed circles glazed sherd in yellow.

GOUVERNETO DISTRICT (GV) This is a mountain district in northern Akrotiri, to the E of

Aghios Giorgios (AG), with elevations up to 403 meters.

AT 9: a PH site located 200 m SE of AT 6 yielded a single LHL find from the E side of a small sinkhole.

founded late in the V period spectacular early V monastic further to the N after a steep ravine at the N-facing base

POTTERY 83. Frying pan rim to base (fig. 43), proflile nearly complete. Flat base with sloping, slightly flared wall and notching on rim for lid; base D. 37. The flaring wall and notched rim would seem to indicate a HL date (cf. Callaghan no. H16-24, 200-175 BC), although this specimen is larger. Hard orange-buff fabric, as Standard Ware 1 but with small

that

its

occupants

afterwards

founded

Gouverneto.

Katholiko was dedicated to Saint John the Hermit, and was

built next to a large cave (depth of 135 m) which contains a

chapel and cistern visible today. Although pre-medieval material is not reported from this cave, Faure (1960, 211) notes that the feast day of St. John fell on the same day as the birth of Apollo (October 7th) and suggests an earlier

FRANGOU DISTRICT (FR)

tradition of worship in the sanctuary. Two other caves in the district do contain ancient remains. The district is most suitable for summer grazing, and beekeeping on a large scale

This is an inland district in NW Akrotiri, between Tersana to

the W and Ag. Pavlos/ Nerokampos to the E. Terrain here is of low relief and land is today partially cultivated in vines

is practiced by the occupants of Gouverneto Monastery.

The Nerokampos ravine stretches across the NE

edge of the district, draining the mountain

and is still functioning. A more complex, Katholiko, is reached descent; it is situated in a deep of the mountains. The precise

date of its founding is unknown, but records at Gouverneto indicate it was pillaged by pirates in the late 16th century and

phyllite chips; outer surface burnt.

and olives.

It

is best known for its isolated monasteries and caves. The Gouverneto Monastery, in the heart of the mountains, was

foothills and

GV1 (Arkoudiotissa Cave)

emptying to the NW at Stavros; it appears not to have attracted early historical settlement but PH and Byz-T activity is present on its S bank (FR 2, not included below). The only locus of early historical material is at the W edge of

BM Map: 64.5N =. 22.5E Size: 0.050 ha

Elev: 100 m

Periods: PH, G, CL, HL, R, V Visibility: Poor

Frangou, neighboring Tersana and the large site at TS 10.

This cave is located 0.5 km NE of Gouverneto Monastery,

just E off the path on the way to Katholiko. Known as the cave of the She-Bear, it is linked to ancient legend by Faure (see Chapter 4.4 for discussion). A 16th-century chapel is today visible inside the cave. Faure (1960, 211-12) reports

96

highest sherd densities tend to fall off within 30 m of the

the existence of PH, G, CL, HL and R pottery, along with CL

and HL clay heads of Artemis and CL clay plaques of Apollo and Artemis. Excavations by Davaras (1967) confirm these dates. The presence of animal bones, but no human burials,

churchyard. On the E side, surface material extends 150 m to the edge of the ravine bed (which is today planted in vines) but begins to mix with PH sherds before this point. The ravine curves around to the NW, forming a natural boundary on the N side, but significant sherd densities quit

suggests this cave functioned as a sanctuary.

well before this. The only standing feature on the site is a barrel-vaulted rectangular cistern located 100 m NE of the church grounds. It measures 6 x 3.2 m, with a depth of 3 m and a vault height of 1.5 m above ground. Construction is stone and rubble in pink mortar with a skewback course supporting the segmental arch. Two-thirds of the vault

GV 5 (Akyrospilio)

BM Map: 65.5N

22E

Size: Unknown Elev: 80 m

Periods: PH?, HL, R

Visibility: Reported as poor; not revisited This cave is located 1 km to Monastery. Pottery described as much animal bone, were excavated (Jantzen 1951, 5; Faure 1960, 212) an ancient sanctuary.

remains, as does a stone-carved feeder channel at the NW

the NW of Katholiko HL and R in date, and from the floor of the cave which is presumed to be

end. The cistern holds water today, and is used to irrigate vegetable crops planted in surrounding plots. The interior

has been replastered numerous times. A R date is certain for this structure, and is supported by ER and LR pottery in the immediate vicinity, including numerous amphorae sherds. It

is surprising to find so little evidence of later activity here since numerous Byz-V glazed sherds are found in fields to

KATHIANA DISTRICT (KA)

the W of the church (less than 200 m away). The cistern is smaller than those reported by Sanders on the Mesara Plain which appear to belong to large farming estates of absentee landlords (1982, 23), but still represents a substantial investment. Residency is certainly indicated at this site. A

This district in south-central Akrotiri incorporates a large portion of the central plateau where soils are thin; much of it has remained uninhabited up to the present (no doubt partly because

of airport

traffic

from

the

E).

The

village

of

Kathiana is in the northern part of the district, and archaeological sites are concentrated to the NW of here, on the N side of the main Kounoupidiana-Airport road. These include several PH habitations and a single large early historical site (KA 1).

second small underground cistern is located 100 m NE of the vaulted one at the edge of the ravine bed: this is a bottle-neck type, plastered, and about 3 m deep; there is little pottery in its vicinity.

The area is fed by two large branches

of the now-dry Kalathorema river bed and is extensively cultivated in vines. Of interest for Byz and V periods is an abandoned village located at the SE edge of the district, near

Much

out of Paxinos that dead ends at a military gate; before this

densities were from the E field where tile fragments are

the airport (58N, 21.5E).

of the

site was

freshly

plowed

sampling; 336 sherds were examined. sherds were recovered from the N field.

It is accessed by a road leading NE

before

intensive

Most pre-Roman The greatest sherd

point the road intersects two other roads, and the village lies in fields SE of this intersection. There are standing walls, 14 threshing floors, 7 capped wells, numerous rectangular basins and troughs (including 2 presses) and cisterns. Byz and later glazed sherds are abundant. One feature at this site, believed to be medieval at the time of reconnaissance, may actually be earlier: a series of interconnected shallow vats cut

abundant, but the material here is plow-worn and few diagnostic shapes were recovered. Both E and N fields yielded sherds of Standard Ware: Variant 1 (24); Variant 3

deep) that form part of a press installation.

the N and E edge of the site (beyond the cistern). Many more amphorae handles were observed than are recorded below.

(1); Variant 4 (1); and 6 sherds of Standard Ware

everywhere mixed with earlier material, but extend further to

into bedrock (the largest measuring 2.5 x 2 m and 0.5 m

The presence of a

later, built press in the village may point to the greater antiquity of this feature, and surveyors in Jerusalem identify

similar features as wine presses, believed to date no later than the Byz period, and possibly earlier (Gibson and

POTTERY

Edelstein 1985, 145-47).

Greek Periods

KA 1 (O Christos)

Intensively sampled BM Map: 59.5N_ 19.5E

84.

Skyphos

handle,

Attic type,

5th to 4th century

85.

Beehive kalathos base and lower wall (fig. 41), D. 16.

Hard, fine pink-buff fabric; no gloss preserved.

Size: 3.0 haElev: 126 m Density: 8.5/unit (range 1-21) Periods: PH 6, CL-HL 10+, ER 10+, LR 10+, Byz 3 Visibility: Good

B.C.

High ring foot; irregular scoring on interior, and pierced on bottom.

A LCL-EHL type (cf. Keos no. 5-18; Vari no. 150).

Pink-buff fabric with quartz and calcareous grits.

An early historical site is located in the grounds of the church O Christos. The church is on the N side of the main

86. Fishplate base fragment (fig. 45), est. D. 7. Inner groove intact, but foot tip missing. Cf. Stobi no. 28 (related to

Kounoupidiana-Airport road, 1.4 km E of Kabani village and 1.5 km NW of Kathiana village, between two branches Kalathorema ravine bed. Sherds are concentrated on and E sides of the walled churchyard. Construction church appears to have impacted the edge of the site,

1 with

added grog (a new variant discovered during survey, also found at MR 2, TS 10, and LT 3). 29 sherds of probable LR date were counted, with shell temper common; these are

Campanian, 2nd to Ist century B.C.). Hard, fine pink fabric with same color lustrous slip or finish; thin strip of black

of the the N of the as the

paint preserved on interior.

97

87. Pithos rim, hefty triangular with flat top (fig. 44), D. 24.

century A.D.). and mica.

A common HL shape. Pink-beige fabric, heavily tempered with quartz and calcareous grits.

Also: one Class 43).

Also: four black-gloss fragments including a cup flat base, all in fine, pink-buff fabric (CL-HL); two thin body fragments of fine, micacous pink clay (related to LHL Campanian?); one kalathos

lid fragment

amphora

fragment

(Peacock-Williams

Three Byz-V glazed sherds: green and yellow with sgraffito.

There is a great deal of medieval and later glazed pottery in the fields W of the church.

with

concentric grooves on interior (D. 19), all in Standard Ware

1 (HL-ER).

TERRACOTTA

Early Roman

53 tile fragments were recorded, all rims of Lakonian type. A beige fabric containing grog, calcareous and sheeny black grits is common on the N side of the church. On the E side there is an abundance of bright pink and orange tiles which are distinctive for an attractive swirl pattern, apparently the result of folding a lime slurry into the clay. This fabric always contains grog and one specimen bears a white surface slip (ER?).

88. Casserole handle, MPD. 5. Short horizontal attachment, crimped upwards. A common type in Ist century B.C. to Ist

century A.D. deposits at Knossos (i.e., Sackett nos. Al-16 and A2-79).

combed

Post-Roman

five fragments of Smooth Salmon Ware (Garage, HL-ER); two beehive kalathos wall fragments with horizontal scoring

on interior (D. 24) and

Hard orange fabric with phyllite, quartz, grog

Standard Ware 1.

89. Dolium rim (fig. 47), rounded and turned inward, D. 22.

Cf. Sackett C1-107 for form (1st century A.D.). porous pink-beige fabric with quartz and trace mica.

Hard,

GLASS

90. Lamp handle, circular and reeded. Cretan type (cf. Coldstream pp. 48-49 for discussion), Ist to 2nd century A.D. Standard Ware 1.

One small curved glass fragment with surface patina and air

91. Cooking-pot rim (fig. 48), near 90 degree turnout, D. 18.

KABANI DISTRICT (KB)

bubbles; thickness ranges from 3 to 20 mm.

Form dates to the 2nd century A.D. at Knossos (Sackett p. 170). Coarse Brown Ware (Garage) with gold mica and quartz.

92.

Tub rim (fig. 48), everted, D. 26.

173-76 (late 2nd century A.D.).

This district is located in west-central Akrotiri, an area once

watered by the Kalathorema river, now a dry ravine bed. Sites are concentrated in the E half of the district, bordered

to the S by the main Kounoupidiana-Airport road and to the N by a fork of two large branches of the Kalathorema ravine. This area is important for numerous small, closely-grouped

Cf. Hayes:KN nos.

Standard Ware 1.

PH habitations. One early historical site (KB 1b) is located on the edge of the W ravine branch: a small, somewhat

93. Frying-pan handle, tubular, MPD. 3.3. A common 2nd century A.D. type (as Hayes:KN Type 1). Orange-brown

isolated concentration that probably represents a farm, falling within the settlement configuration of the Kathiana sites to

fabric with quartz; lustrous surface finish with fingermarks visible on shaft.

Also:

one

frying-pan

fragment

in

ruddy

brown

the E. Rocky outcrops olives, and some vines pockets.

and

micaceous fabric with red slip on interior (Pompeiian type, Ist to 2nd century A.D.); one fragment of an amphora bottle-neck with handle scar, in Standard Ware 1 (ER); two

are abundant in the region with and grains, cultivated in fertile

KB 1b (Aghios Eustathios)

fragments of Coarse Red Ware (Garage).

BM Map: 59.5N

Late Roman

Density: 2/unit, plus from road scarp Periods: PH 3, LHL 3, ER 1

Size: 0.25 ha

94. Dish ring foot (fig. 53), triangular, D. 14. Shape as LRC

Visibility: Medium

slip preserved.

Form

1A (5th century A.D.).

Hard, pink-brown fabric; no

18E

Elev: 102 m

(6th

This site is associated with a hill 200 m to the SE of the chapel Aghios Eustathios (in turn located 200 m E of Kabani village, N of the main road and in a ravine bed). The hill is

Reddish-pink porous fabric with thick, dark

bounded to the W and S by the Kalathorema ravine bed. The top of the hill has been leveled in modern times. PH material

96. Bowl rim (fig. 51), round knob, D. 18. The shape is ARSW Form 104C (6th to 7th century A.D.) only smaller

concentration of early historical sherds is located on the SE slopes. A lime kiln lies on the E side of the hill, and the

95.

Dish

rim (fig. 54), est. D.

century A.D.). red slip.

and of different fabric.

30.

LRC

Form

3F

is abundant

Ruddy

on the N

slopes

of the

hill, and

a small

scarp of a road leading up to it exposes a wall of field stone along with PH and historical sherds. The hill itself is rocky,

orange fabric containing

numerous sheeny black inclusions, quartz and mica.

but pockets olives.

97, Jar rim (fig. 51), D. 14. Everted with reeded top and small ledge below rim. A LR form (cf. Johnston no. 74, 6th

98

of surrounding

land

are

today

cultivated

in

POTTERY

TERRACOTTA

Late Hellenistic

103. Korinthian tile fragment, pink-buff fabric with quartz and black sheeny grits. HL-ER.

98. Olpe rim to neck (fig. 42), D. 15.5. Thin and everted, tapering to a point; short bulbous neck constricted at

KE 2 (Tannery): one early historical find was located 250 m N of KE 1b, and just N of a tannery, in a scatter of PH

shoulder. Pronounced groove inside just below rim and single score on exterior. Cf. Sackett no. U-58 (LHL

obsidian and a few Byz-V sherds.

residual); Callaghan no. H15-9, 2nd century B.C.). Sandy blue-grey fabric, micaceous with quartz and calcareous grits. Non-local?

TERRACOTTA 104. Pyramidal loomweight (fig. 58) with square base, top is missing above piercing, MPD. 4.0. CL-ER.

99. Lekane or basin everted square rim (fig. 43), D. 30. Rim-dipped in dull black wash. LHL treatment (cf.

KE 5 (Ag. Kiriaki/Tannery) BM Map: 57.5-58N 13.5E Size: Coastal tombsElev: 15 m Periods: ER Visibility: Many destroyed

Callaghan Deposits H24 and H30). Sandy pink-grey fabric.

100.

Juglet rim (fig. 42), D. 8-9.

rim-dipped

in black.

LHL

Small over-hanging and

(cf.

Callaghan

no.

H13-17).

Orange-buff surface and grey core with fine grog grits.

The only substantive early historical remains of the district are a series of tombs chiseled into the sandstone cliffs of an

Early Roman

101. Amphora body sherd with wide shallow ribbing, MPD.

alluvial

at Knossos (Sackett Deposit U). calcareous grits.

fan

on

the

coast.

Moody

(Fieldnotes,

5-21-82)

counted 30 open tombs in the 250 m stretch between the Aghia Kiriaki church and the tannery, some of which were only 5 m above present sea level, and most having an L-shaped plan. Development in the area has since destroyed

7. Treatment and fabric as 2nd to 3rd century A.D. varieties

Powdery pink fabric with

KHALEPA DISTRICT (KE)

a number of these tombs, of which only seven were relocated, thoroughly robbed, but of ER type. These have a short (Im) entrance dromos and two chambers of varying

This district lies on the NW-facing coast of the Akrotiri

isthmus, adjacent to Khania, and approximately 2 km WNW of the Khania harbor. Khalepa has a little harbor of its own, into which drain several deep ravines that form a series of alluvial fans; it is along the sandstone cliffs here that a number of ER tombs were chiseled (KE 5). Historical

plan, some with niches. The chambers of some tombs are set

that may account for the Byz-V material in the vicinity.

explanation. The disposition of tombs along coastal cliffs is also found at Matala on the south coast of Crete (Sanders 1982, 161). The numbers here, just outside of Khania and

perpendicular to each other, resulting in the L-shaped plan noted by Moody, and ceiling height is generally just under 2 m. Two plan types were mapped (fig. 35): one has chambers, sometimes elongate, with semicircular end walls; the other has square chambers, some of which contain niches, but others with semi-attached ‘pillars’ projecting from the carved walls (for a similar tomb design, see ST 2); it

artifacts in the area are scrappy and a locus for settlement was not identified, possibly due to leveling and development in recent years along this coast. The church of Ag. Kiriaki was rebuilt next to an earlier foundation with a tripartite aspe

is not clear if these features require a structural or stylistic

KE 1b (Aghia Kiriaki) BM Map: 57.5N_ 13.5E

with no other known settlement of any size very near, suggest that this was a burial ground for urban inhabitants.

Size: 1.5 haElev: 40 m Density: Unknown

KHORAFAKIA DISTRICT (KF)

Periods: PH 1, HL 1, HL-R 1, Byz 1 Visibility: Poor (bulldozed)

Finds are from a coastal ridge 125 m S

This district covers a large area of NW Akrotiri, extending

from Ag. Triadha in the central plateau nearly to the W coast.

of the chapel Ag.

The modern town of Khorafakia lies at the W edge of the

Kiriaki that overlooks the little harbor at Khalepa. A PH site last recorded in 1980 on the ridgetop was already leveled when Moody investigated the area. Material of all periods is scrappy, but roof tile is present.

district, as does the one sherd scatter included below. Only two other sites were located in the NW corner of Khorafakia,

to the E of Tersana: these are PH with no definite historical

material. Virtually no activity, PH or later, was located in the large and relatively flat expanse of plateau that comprises

POTTERY

the E portion of the district where top soil is thin and large areas are today left uncultivated.

102. Cup (?) base, D. 3. Solid disk-shaped pedestal, broken

at stem. HL. Local grey fabric (Garage) with black gloss on the exterior, but not underneath.

KF 1 (Khorafakia)

Also: one Byz-V glazed: green & cream with white undercoat.

Density: 1/unit

BM Map: 61.5N — 17.5E Size: 0.50 ha Elev: 45 m Periods: PH 9, A-HL 1, HL 1, LR-Byz 1 Visibility: Medium

99

A small PH site is located at the SW edge of the modern town Khorafakia, on a NW-facing coastal slope 350 m

harbor shores: 1) a boat ramp cut into the coastal bedrock of the harbor headland where the church stands. This ascends

scatter for historical periods.

berthed, now dry. A parallel for this feature may be found at Patella in Kissamos (Sanders, 1982, 172); 2) a fish tank on the S landward end of the harbor, with three sides cut into bedrock and the fourth towards the sea rock-built. There is a small inlet in the built wall for channeling sea water, an

This is a light

from the sea and forms an L at the top where a vessel may be

105. Amphora handle fragment, thumb- impressed at lower attachment. Handles impressed in this way are found in in

arrangement like R tanks at Chersonisos and Mochlos (Hood

inland.

The area is today cultivated in olives.

POTTERY

Callaghan

no.

X32

and

Keos

no.

pink-beige fabric with calcareous grits.

10-5

(A-HL).

and Leatham 1955, 275). The tank today sits just above sea level; 3) a small cave on the same side of the harbor as the fishtank has two wall niches and a rock-built entrance enclosure; this may be a tomb. |

Hard,

106. Jug rim, worn, est. D. 7. Small and triangular with slight overhang. Cf. Callaghan no. H13-17 (225-250 B.C.). Fine pink-buff fabric.

KK 4 (Aghios Giorgios) BM Map: 59N_ 14E Size: 0.15 ha Elev: 13 m

Also: one LR-Byz wavy-incised fragment, orange-beige fabric with phyllite, quartz and calcareous grits.

Density: < 1/unit

Periods: PH 1,01, A 1, ER 1, LR 1, Arab-Byz 1 Visibility: Medium

KORAKAS DISTRICT (KK)

A few sherds were collected from a square- shaped coastal promontory to the N of Ag. Giorgios church and a small

Four PH sites are located in this district on the SW coastal slopes of Akrotiri. The early historical periods are represented by rock-cut features and a small amount of

harbor. There are no features in immediate vicinity (but see KK 2). The land ascends W to the plateau, but no sites were located on the heights above to account for wash, and the area appears to escape the action of ravines draining to the coast. There are numerous lime kilns in the district.

pottery around the small district harbor that has the church of

Ag. Giorgios at its headland. There is no evidence for pre-medieval settlement of any size in the immediate vicinity and the activity may be associated with sites KP1 or KP5 to the NE in the Kokkinos Pyrgos district. Moody estimates the

POTTERY

harbor depth at 9 m, providing ample displacement for sea

traffic. The coastline 100 m S of the harbor entrance shows extensive quarrying activity for aeolianite (site KK 3, discussed fully by Moody 1987, 22-26). The quarried face extends from 1 m below to 6 m above present sea level and bears a wave-cut notch at 1-1.5 m above it. Other features

Early Greek Periods

107. Urn shoulder fragment (fig. 40), MPD. 3.5. Diagonal rows of pointelle below shoulder groove. Italian funerary urn of the Orientalizing Period (8th to 7th century B.C.): cf. Bettelli fig. 1-7. Pink fabric with cream slip, trace gold mica;

along the west coast, such as the dry fish tank and boatslip to the N at site KK 2 and evidence at Tersana further up the coast, indicate that sea levels were 1.5 m higher than present

soapy, almost polished texture.

in HL-ER times, so the upper portions of the quarry could have been worked during these periods. Submerged faces can be explained in two ways: either they were worked earlier than the HL-ER periods, requiring a sea level 2 m lower; or they were worked in LR or post-R periods, requiring a formidable drop in sea level (or tectonic uplift) followed by another rise to present levels. Not included in

Early Roman

farmhouse located above.

shoulder, MPD. 4.

the entries below

is site KK

7, a partially-preserved

108.

V

109.

1.5 km SE of the harbor on the plateau

Jar body

fragment

Slightly

with

small

handle

attachment

at

A small ‘Severan jar’ type common in

2nd to 3rd century A.D. contexts at Knossos.

1.

KK 2 (Aghios Giorgios)

BM Map: 59N_ 14E Size: Harbor features

Cup base with tiny ledge foot (fig. 40), D. 6.

concave underneath. Archaic (cf. Callaghan Pl. 74). Fine buff fabric with slight greying under base; traces of black and orange-brown mottled gloss.

Standard Ware

Late and Post-Roman

Elev: 1-5 m

Periods: ER

110.

Visibility: Not revisited

MPD.

Amphora body fragment with 6-toothed wavy band, 4.

Decoration and fabric as Hayes:Sara wide-necked

The church of Ag. Giorgios stands on the NE-facing headland of a small, well-protected harbor. The original

amphora Type 31, no. 182 (6th to 7th century Orange-beige fabric with pinkish core; trace quartz.

apse, and a bell tower.

111. Jug neck fragment, est. D. 4.5. This and one other body fragment probably belong to Hayes:Sara ‘Coarse Red-Burnished Ware’ (10th century A.D.). Lumpy pink to

church (there is a modern one next to it) is of interest for Byz and later periods, with two aisles that each end in a tripartite were

being

excavated

Four tombs with multiple interments in

the

aisle

floors

when

Moody

orange-brown fabric with greyed core; occasional quartz and

investigated in 1978 and Byz-V coarse ware and glazed sherds with sgraffito were collected from the area. Moody reports three features immediately NW

A.D.).

large red exterior.

of the church on the

100

(hematite?)

grits;

vertical

burnish

marks

on the

KALATHAS DISTRICT (KL) This district lies at the head of Kalathas Bay on the W coast

of Akrotiri.

The large bay is the submerged delta of the

Kalathorema river, now dry, that originates to the SE in the

central plateau region and is the major drainage for Akrotiri.

Its outlet at Kalathas creates a bisected terrain of ridges and hills and fertile valley slopes today cultivated in olives. Coastal ridges give way to a long beach, increasingly developed for tourist industry. The area is important for PH activity with 9 sites identified by Moody, most of which are concentrated near the delta zone. As seems to be the case for other areas along the southern stretch of the W coast, evidence for early historical periods exists but settlements are

difficult to pinpoint. A small amount of material at KF 1 to the N (in Khorafakia) may be included as part of this general activity in the drainage outlet, which is otherwise discontinuous with regions to the S, E, and N. Late historical periods are much better represented: Byz-T farmsteads occupy two ridgetops at the head of the bay; one

is mentioned below (KL 6) and a similar site with house foundations lies on a ridge directly N of this. KL 3 (Tsilonera)

BM Map: 61N_ 17E Size: 0.5 haElev: 11 m Density: 1.5/unit (for PH) Periods: PH 43, ER 1, LR 1, LR-Byz 5 Visibility: Good This is a PH site, with a few historical sherds, on an eroded rise between two coastal promontories on the S side of Kalathas Bay. Sherds are very worn. A coastal aeolianite deposit 200 m to the NE shows evidence of quarrying. POTTERY Early Roman

112. Bowl rim, everted (fig. 46), est. D. 14. Shape found in

There is a small component of historical material.

A scatter

of sherds continues from the ridge tip to ascending slopes of a second and higher terrace on the same ridge. The plateau of the ridge is higher still, but there is little to indicate material has washed from here: a fieldwall encircles the top, and a late (T?) farmstead lies on the opposite (E) edge of the plateau with a house and threshing floor (KL 6). POTTERY Greek periods

114,

Small body fragment (MPD. 3) in fine grey-buff fabric

with trace black paint on interior.

G?

115. Lekane or casserole horizontal handle and attachment, MPD. 3. Pink-buff fabric with trace black gloss on interior; calcareous grits visible. A-HL shape.

Also: one CL-HL fabric.

black-gloss fragment

in fine pink-buff

Roman

116. Body fragment (MPD. 3.5) of Burnished Orange Ware

(Garage).

ER.

KL 7 (Kalathas)

BM Map: 60.5N = _17.5E Size: 0.5 haElev: 36 m

Density: Sherds from wash Periods: PH 28, G-A 1, CL-HL 1, Byz-V 1, T 1 Visibility: Medium Directly S and across the Kalathorema drainage from the KL 6 ridge plateau (see KL 5 above) is a hill; KL 7 lies immediately SE of this hill, on NW-facing slopes of the

ravine terrace. PH material is predominant, and Moody Suspects it is wash from a PH site on a ridge to the SE (KL 10). Early historical material is scrappy and the source-if

3 and 111). Fabric as Burnished Orange Ware (Garage), but without the burnish.

lst century B.C. to Ist century A.D. deposits at Sparta (nos.

wash—difficult to place; Byz-T pottery is also found on the SE slopes of the hill to the NE, and is abundant in an olive grove to the SW.

Late and Post-Roman

POTTERY

113. Ring foot fragment, est. D. 6. An early White Ware variant, fired partly grey and containing red grits (6th to 8th

Greek Periods

century A.D.).

Also: Two

coarse fragments in pink-red fabric containing

grog and calcareous grits may be LR; three coarse fragments in beige fabric containing phyllite and mica may be LR or Byz. KL 5 (Kalathas) BM Map: 61N_ 17.5E Size: 2.8 haElev: 24 m Density: 1-2/unit (for PH) Periods: PH 44, G-A 1, A-H 2, ER 1 Visibility: Good This PH site is on the tip of a coastal ridge that lies at the mouth of the Kalathorema, the major drainage of Akrotiri.

117. Cup handle fabric. G-A.

fragment,

flattened,

in sandy

grey-buff

118. Cup handle fragment, flattened, in fine pink-buff fabric

with trace black gloss or paint.

CL-HL.

Post-Roman

One Byz-V yellow-glazed

yellow (T).

KOUMARES

sherd, and one drip-painted in DISTRICT (KM)

Located in north-central Akrotiri to the SE of Ag. Pavlos, this district includes a lower terrace of the Akrotiri mountains, the modern village of Koumares at its base, and a

plain to the S of the village.

notable for an impressive sinkhole called Vothanos, which extends 1.25 km E-W and 1.50 km N-S at the rim. There is a 100 m elevation difference from the rim to the basin which lies near sea level. The basin, which covers an area of 18 ha, is filled with red clayey soil and standing water was observed during the investigation. Citrus trees are the main cultivar, but olive trees and vines are also grown on the peripheries

Early historical material (KM 2)

is present in a scatter to the SW of the village but no locus is identified. Byz-T sites with standing remains are located at

KM 2b (an abandoned hamlet 0.5 km SW of Koumares) and at KM 3 (an abandoned village called Kseroi Elies on S-facing terrace slopes 0.5 km NW of Koumares). KM 3 yielded two LR combed amphorae sherds, but later periods are overwhelmingly represented.

and some grain as well on the lower terraces. Early historical activity is identified at the basin edge (KN 1, KN 2, and KN 5), but these concentrations have been disturbed by a

KM 2 (Koumares) BM Map: 62N_ 20.5/21E Size: 5.9 haElev: 71 m Density: < 1 to 4/unit Periods: PH 5, ER 4, LR 2+, Byz-T 15

Visibility: Medium

Kerama (KN 3 and KN 8), a broad natural shelf at the E rim of Vothanos, below the high plateau. The plain here is

A plowed scatter of mixed periods extends to the SW from Koumares village. The scatter intersects an abandoned Byz-T hamlet (KM 2b) on a

later

settlement, of which standing remains can be seen on the lower W slopes, between KN 1 and KN 5. These belong to a small V monastery. Plastered walls stand in places to height of 3 m, and features include a well house and a stone press. Archaeological activity in the district is also concentrated at

low rise at its SW end.

cultivated in olives and grain, and quickly reverts to grasses.

There

may have been an early historical site in the vicinity, but no locus was identified.

Early Roman

KN 1 (Vothanos) BM Map: 58.5N —17.5E Size: 0.92 ha Elev: 28 m Density: 3/unit | Periods: PH 22, CL-HL 2, HL 1, LR 1, Byz-T 5+ Visibility: Medium

119. Clean found D5-4

Jug handle fragment, heart-shaped section, MPD. 4. buff fabric with silver-pink slip. Surface treatment in 2nd century A.D. deposits at Knossos (Sackett nos. and D6-10).

Located on the lower NW slope of the Vothanos sinkhole, this area is an extension of the monastery further to the S. The finds are from terraced fields above and below the entrance road to the sinkhole. Most of the material here is

120.

Jug handle fragment with four standing ridges; cf.

POTTERY

PH and post-R. Revisitation found the area littered with tile (fabrics not recorded) from the monastery. It is likely that

the later material obscures a small CL-HL site.

Sackett U-114 (late 2nd to early 3rd century A.D.) although

similar shapes occur in earlier deposits. Standard Ware 1.

POTTERY

Late Roman

123.

Kantharos ? rim (fig. 45), est. D. 10.

fabric with black gloss on the exterior. CL-HL.

121. Amphora rim (fig. 52), D. 8. Small and triangular, offset outwards from neck as Arthur no. 7 (7th century A.D.).

124.

Beige fabric with phyllite, quartz and calcareous grits.

Pithos square hanging rim, ‘hawksbeak’

shell (LR); one beehive kalathos fragment with deep diagonal scoring on the interior, in pink-beige fabric containing phyllite and calcareous grits (LR-Byz).

Cf. Keos no. 66-7 (CL?), but the shape is found on

125.

Cup flat base (fig. 45), D. 4.

To a wide-bellied vessel,

cf. Callaghan no. H19-2 (250-225 B.C.).

Post-Roman

paste with washy black gloss on interior.

Fifteen Byz-T glazed sherds: one is a stamnos rim with red and white paint (possibly Matt Painted, 12th to 13th

Late Roman

TERRACOTTA

Post-Roman

122a and b.

&

white

shape, D. >

50.

utilitarian vessels throughout the HL period. Orange-beige fabric heavily gritted with phyllite chips and grog.

Also: one small square rim (cf. Johnston no. 55) gritted with

century); others include yellow and green seraffito, and one black-glazed sherd (V-T).

Fine pink-buff

Fine pink-orange

126. Dish rim (fig. 54), D. 22. LRC Form 3E (6th century A.D.). Fine pink-orange fabric; no slip preserved.

with

127a and b. Two flat bases to large thick bowls (fig. 55), D.

Two buttons/beads (fig. 58), flat disk shape

with central holes, D. 3.2 and 3.7. Cf. Sackett nos. K29-31 (ER). Both in porous pink-buff fabric; one coarser with quartz and calcareous grits.

16 and 18. Distinctive porous yellow fabric with large quartz grains, ruddy surfaces. Probably medieval, but a LR date is possible (this fabric also noted at KN 6 and AR 8).

KOUNOUPIDIANA DISTRICT (KN)

Also: two Byz-V glazed sherds in yellow & green with white underslip; one black-glazed sherd (V-T).

This is an inland district of the high plateau in SE Akrotiri. Sites of all periods are concentrated in the E of the district,

102

KN 2 (Vothanos)

Post-Roman

BM Map: 58.5N —18E Size: 0.19 Elev: 16m

Four Byz-V glazed sherds: white with underslip.

Density: 1/unit Periods: PH 8, HL-ER 3, Byz-V 3+ Visibility: Poor

KN 5 (Vothanos) BM Map: 58N__17.5E Size: 0.40 ha Elev: 50m Density: 2.5/unit Periods: PH 3, HL-ER 2, LR 1, Byz-V 1+ Visibility: Medium

were noted during revisitation.

POTTERY Hellenistic to Early Roman

Material is from a sherd scatter on the lower SW slope of the

Vothanos sinkhole, immediately to the S of the standing

128. Two cup flat bases, worn fragments, D. 3 and 3.5. Standard Ware 1. HL-ER. Cup?

remains

of the monastery,

There is a small chapel of up the terraced slope there a natural terrace cliff. The 11 m, has a large niche cut

Standard Ware 1.

and

an

extension

of that site.

Ag. Antonios here, and behind it are six caves and rock shelters in southernmost cave, measuring 6 x midway up the back wall, about 1

cubic meter in size, and without evidence of burning.

TERRACOTTA

The

niche is visible from the road below and may have held an

icon (medieval?). A circular well or cistern (no trace of plaster) is cut in the bedrock outside the cave. There is a rock shelf above the caves with remains of an animal enclosure and a few sherds which may be late; some material below the cave may have washed from here.

One tile fragment observed: Lakonian type in hard beige fabric with occasional fine grog grits. BM Map: 58.9/59N_

&

with calcareous grits and red-orange with phyllite and quartz.

gradient, and a few coarse sherds of medieval or later date

KN 3 (Kerama)

one green

Several tile fragments were observed in the area during revisitation; no particular concentration. Fabrics are orange

Moody identified a small PH site on the lower NE slope of

Small button base, MPD. 3.

in yellow,

TERRACOTTA

the sinkhole, with a small component of historical material. The latter could be wash from KN 3 at the sinkhole rim above, but neither area has a well-defined concentration. There are relict terrace walls at KN 2, which has a steep

129. ER.

three

18/18.5E

Size: 4ha Elev: 108 m Density: Average of 1-2/unit, but see below

POTTERY

Periods: PH 33, HL-ER 4, Byz-V 4+ Visibility: Medium

Hellenistic to Roman

This widely-spread PH site is located at the N end of the

One jug/amphora body fragment with shallow corrogations on the exterior, in Standard

broad Kerama terrace which overlooks the Vothanos sinkhole to the W. Landmarks include a hill with a mounted

1; one beehive kalathos

fabric as Standard Ware 1, but micaceous.

pipeline at the NE edge of the terrace and a ravine (emptying

into Vothanos) which defines the S end of the surface concentration. PH sherd densities can be high (up to 10/unit recorded by Moody) but boundaries could not be defined because of extensive plowing. The early historical material

HL-ER.

Late to Post-Roman

132.

Wide-mouth jar rim (fig. 55), D. 16.

cylindrical

is too diffuse to characterize as a site.

vessel.

No

parallels

found:

133.

Wide-mouth jar rim (fig. 56), D. 18.

Rounded, to

LR-Byz?

yellow-beige fabric with no visible inclusions.

POTTERY

Hard,

Slightly everted,

flat-topped rim to cylindrical vessel. Soapy-textured pink-orange fabric, clean except for occasional calcareous grits. Shape as Johnston no. 89 (6th century A.D.) but fabric seems earlier.

Early Historical 130. Pithos rim (fig. 44), D. ? Hefty triangular shape with fabric as Standard Ware | but sandier. Probably HL. 131.

Ware

fragment with horizontal and diagonal scoring on interior,

Also: one Class 43).

Cup handle fragment, oval section, in Standard Ware 1.

HL-ER.

combed

amphora

fragment

(Peacock-Williams

TERRACOTTA

Also: three beehive kalathos fragments with deep horizontal scoring on interior, all in Standard Ware 1 (HL-ER); one amphora body sherd with shallow corrogations on exterior,

Tile fragments are found below the cave; the most common fabric is orange with large pink and silver phyllite chips.

in Standard Ware 1 (HL-ER).

103

Byz-T date was recovered at KO 4, so the source of the LR sherds at KO 1 remains unclear.

From the shelf above the Cave:

134. Wide-mouth jar ? (fig. 55), D. 18. Square rim to cylindrical vessel, single groove inside rim. Yellow fabric as no. 3 above. LR-Byz?

POTTERY Late and Post-Roman

KN 8 (Kerama) BM Map: 58.5N = 18.5E Size: 9.6 haElev: 90 m Density: < 0.25/unit Periods: PH 6, HL 1, HL-ER 1, LR 2, Byz-V 3 Visibility: Medium

137. Dish hanging rim (fig. 55), est D. 25. LRC Form 3H

(5th century A.D.).

slip preserved. 138.

fabric; no

Jug handle fragment, flat with pronounced and slanted

quadruple ridging; fingermarks on interior. Buff fabric with ashy white-to-pink core containing small red grits. Early

This is a large, thin spread of sherds across the southern half of the broad Kerama terrace which overlooks the Vothanos sinkhole to the W. At the SE edge of the terrace, below the cliffs of the high plateau above, is a late historical compound (35 x 20 m) which consists of standing field walls and a subterranean plastered cistern, with no obvious habitation.

Fine, porous orange-brown

White Ware variant (7th to 8th century A.D.).

139. Mortarium wall fragment in red-brown fabric containing phyllite; inner-gritted with large quartz grains.

A

Byz-V.

few Byz-V glazed sherds were observed in the compound. The small chapel of Timios Stavros is built against the cliff face above.

Also: two glazed fragments, one drip-painted in yellow on a rust ground (T); one in solid cream (Byz-T).

POTTERY Hellenistic to Roman

KO 2 (Khouridhospilio) BM Map: 60.5N 21.5E Size: 0.35 ha Elev: 102 m

135. Beehive kalathos rim (fig. 44), D. 30. everted with horizontal scoring on interior. HL shape. Standard Ware 1.

Periods: PH 6, ER 2+, LR 1, Byz-T 2 Visibility: Poor

Density: 1/unit

Also: one amphora body fragment with shallow corrogations on the exterior, in Standard Ware 1 (HL-ER).

The site is located on a small rocky knoll 1.2 km W of Kalorouma, on the N side of the Sternes-Khordaki road and

Late and Post-Roman

the

136.

E of the turnoff to Ag. Triadha.

cast;

sheeny

black

grits

are visible

Variant of Peacock- Williams Class 43?

in the

clearly

Sherd densities are low, but

associated

with

foundations

(dry-built

fieldstone

walls

and

rubble

fill, no

plan). A ravine bed defines the W side of the site.

core.

of

discernable

POTTERY

Also: three Byz-V glazed sherds (one green with white underslip, one brown & yellow & cream, one yellow & green

Roman and Post-Roman

with sgraffito).

KALOROUMA

is

collapsed structures on top of the knoll and on its NW slope

Two combed amphora fragments: buff surfaces have a

greenish

material

140. Jug handle with medial ridge (fig. 47), Standard Ware 1 with greying in the core. ER.

DISTRICT (KO)

MPD.

7.3.

141. Water jug base fragment (fig. 55), D. 10. Flat with concave wall above base. Cf. Armstrong no. 196 (16th to 17th century A.D.) although shape runs earlier. Red-brown fabric with calcareous grits and mica.

This district is in east-central Akrotiri, at the W base of the

Khordaki mountain terrace and N of the airport. Soils are generally thin and stony, but olives are cultivated in some areas (extensively around site KO 1) where clayey soils fill shallow karstic depressions. Sites of all periods are few compared with the dense settlement pattern in neighboring districts to the W and NW where deeper soils are available.

Also:

two

amphorae

body

fragments

with

shallow

corrogations on the exterior, in Standard Ware

1 (ER); one

slip on exterior (LRC?); dark green (Byz-T).

in jade and

small dish fragment with fine pink-brown fabric and trace red one glazed

fragment

KO 1 (Apostoli Kephali) BM Map: 60N 22E Size: 0.5 haElev: 112 m Density: < 0.5/unit

TERRACOTTA

Visibility: Poor

One tile fragment, fairly clean beige fabric with light grey

Periods: PH 6, LR 2, Byz-T 3+

core.

Sherds were collected from fields located 700 m WSW of the modern town of Kalorouma, immediately S of the Sternes-Khordaki road. The activity may be related to site KO 4 on the N side of the road. Only material of PH and

104

Korakas to the S. Moody identified an exposed PH structure

KO 3 (Kalorouma) BM Map: 60.5N = 22.5E Size: Unknown Elev: 175 m Density: Unknown (wash?) Periods: PH 2, ER 1+ Visibility: not relocated

and associated pottery in an area leveled for olive cultivation;

a peak density reading of 29 is recorded. fenced grove.

Moody reports a light scatter of sherds to the E of the town

of Kalorouma, between the high and low roads that approach the town from the Sternes-Khordaki road. The source is unknown, but wash is possible since this location is on the W edge of the Khordaki mountain terrace.

POTTERY 142.

Amphora

handle, upper fragment, MPD.

The later material

appears to have been scraped off and deposited below the

5.

Oval

section. Pink-orange fabric, smooth on the exterior but well-gritted with phyllite, quartz, mica and calcareous grits. Date?

TERRACOTTA

POTTERY Greek Periods 143. Bowl ? rim (fig. 40), est. D. 15-20. Collared and thick with broad zig-zag incised out. Surface treatment and decoration suggest a CL date (cf. Callaghan Deposit H-7 for Knossian wares). Very hard and fine pink-buff paste with

smooth self-slip out.

144. Small bowl base (fig. 45), D. 6. Slightly raised from floor. Base treatment spans A-HL, and fabric suggests a HL

date. Local grey fabric (Garage) with trace black paint or gloss on exterior.

Two tile fragments: one in pink-orange fabric containing fine

145. Amphora spike fragment, MPD. 9. The toe is missing, but this specimen has a pronounced bulge low in the spike

in orange fabric with large phyllite chips.

and calcareous grits. LHL-ER.

calcareous grits, with cream wash on the exterior (ER?); one

and is possibly Knidian.

KOKKINOS PYRGOS DISTRICT (KP)

Also:

This district includes a triangular-shaped peninsula on the W coast of Akrotiri and slopes of the high plateau inland to the

(HL).

SE. There is heavy recent development on the peninsula, based out of the modern town Ag. Onouphrios on its inland side. One site (KP 5) is disturbed and further threatened.

This site and that of KP 1 to the SW of the town supported settlements in the early historical periods, and it is possible

that the small-scale activity recorded in the Korakas area to

the S is associated with these. The peninsula is today partially cultivated in vines, and olives are grown in terra rosa depressions. The 1-km long Kokkinos Pyrgos harbor separates the peninsula from that of Nisi to the N and has a small gravel beach at its head. This is not a deep harbor, but is ample for small boat traffic and evidence elsewhere along this coast indicates higher sea levels in early historical periods. Sites are of interest for late historical periods include a Turkish vigla, or tower, (KP 8) at the tip of the

peninsula that has collapsed in but retains a small ramp leading to the blocked entrance. Several small shepherd’s huts dot the peninsula inland of this, probably of the same period. Another site (KP 3) is a Byz-T farmstead located on the inland heights, at the head of the northernmost branch of the Gaidhourorema ravine (59N, 15.5E), with walls of several buildings, cisterns, troughs and much glazed pottery.

fragment

in fine pink-buff fabric

of local

grey

fabric;

no

slip

Late and Post-Roman

146. shape fabric color

Dish rim, worn, D.? Overhanging, almost double lip; as LRC Form 3F (6th century A.D.). Orange-red containing trace phyllite and mica; trace slip of same on interior and some discoloration (burning?).

147. Two rim fragments with short, everted double lips (shape as Johnston no. 94, 6th century A.D. or later). Hard

pink-beige fabric containing phyllite. Also:

five

pink-beige

wavy-incised

body

sherds

in

orange

fabrics with phyllite and mica (LR-Byz);

and

three

double-ridged handles in hard, pink-beige fabric containing

phyllite (LR-Byz); nineteen Byz-V glazed sherds in yellow & green with sgraffito, solid yellow, green and cream; two black-glazed (V-T). TERRACOTTA

Two tile fragments in pink-beige fabric containing calcareous grits; very pitted. Intensively sampled

Size: 3.14ha Elev: 52 m Density: Variable; see below

Periods: PH 40+, CL 1, HL 3, HL-ER | LR 1, LR-Byz 10, Byz-V 19, V-T 2 Visibility: Good, but very disturbed

site is located on the NW-facing

black-gloss

one thin fragment

KP 5 (Aghios Onouphrios)

KP 1 (Ayios Onouphrios) BM Map: 59.5N 14.5E

This disturbed

one

(CL-HL);

Brick-red fabric with large quartz

BM Map: 60.5N = _14.5E Size: 1.5 haElev: 33 m Density: 7/unit (range 0-29) Periods: CL-HL 3, LHL 1, HL-ER 5, ER 6, LR 6+ Visibility: Good

plateau

slopes and on the N side of the large Gaidhourorema ravine that forms the boundary between Kokkinos Pyrgos and

This site lies on a low hill that is the highest point on the

Kokkinos Pyrgos peninsula, 300 m E of the coast and the same distance S of the harbor. The hill affords good views in

every direction and overlooks a deep clay depression to the SE that is cultivated in olives, with the modern town of Ag.

150. may

are visible on the hilltop: the house, of roughly-worked stone, is collapsed and buried in rubble, but appears to be of a hall-type plan of ca. 17 x 4m. The corners are oriented

Type

Pitcher rim, rounded S-shape (fig. 47), est. D. 10. This be a 2nd-century shape (cf. Sackett no. D4-65).

Standard Ware 1.

Onouphrios just beyond. Sandier soils on the peninsula to the W and NE of KP 5 are today cultivated in vines. Foundations of a LR house and associated enclosure walls

151.

Cooking-pot rim (fig. 47) est. D. 22. 2,

no.

64

(Ist

semi-circular handle

to

2nd

in same

century

ware

belongs

similar vessel (cf. Hayes:KN no. 65).

Cf. Hayes:KN

A.D.).

A_

small

with this or

Standard Ware 1, only

precisely NE-SW, and the position of a fallen door lintel indicates the house faced SE towards the fertile depression.

surface is bumpier than the norm and chaff impressions are present.

of a stone trough are the only surviving features on the site

152. Dish rim, squared with deep grooves out, D.? Form 9B (second half of 2nd century A.D.).

The lintel block measures 1.30 x 0.50 x 0.15 m; this and part

cut from aeolianite, sources for which are identified at nearby KP 6 and further south at KK 3. A rock-cut cistern, 1 m in diameter, is located NW of the house. Two walls can be

pink-orange fabric with trace quartz.

traced to the SE running perpendicular from the ends of the house, forming a yard much like the arrangement at Ksidha (AR 17).

153.

Stones in these walls retain traces of conglomerate

different andesite sources may also point to site reuse. Two perpendicular walls of an enclosure (?) lie 70 m to the S

Late Roman

154.

155. Dish rim fragment (fig. 54), D. 20-25. LRC Form 3F, 6th century A.D. Orange fabric with trace calcareous grits and mica; no slip preserved. Also: three combed amphorae fragments, one wavy, with gold mica visible (Peacock-Williams Class 43); one amphora

house of a farming estate, possibly of ER date.

body fragment in buff-orange with stepped ribbing (Peacock-Williams Class 44); seven jug/amphorae body fragments, also with stepped ribbing, but in pearly-pink fabric ressembling Taffy Ware (date?).

107 sherds were examined during intensive sampling, 20 of

which belong to tiles that are especially concentrated around the LR hilltop house. 14 coarse orange and beige fabrics contain medium to large grog and calcareous grits that are

Uncertain Date

Several ribbed sherds of Taffy Ware, or but no Byz-V

glazed sherds

(HL-ER) were recorded in addition to the examples below.

156.

1

vase

? flat base

(fig.

56),

D.

2.

Small

locate are funerary olpai or unguentaria as found in Khania tombs (cf. Markoulaki-Kindeli figs. 33 and 36), which date

to the LCL-EHL period.

Greek Periods

148.

Miniature

pedestal base to conical vessel. This specimen seems small for an amphora toe which it otherwise ressembles. The same shape is found at KP 6 and NS 1. The closest parallels I can

POTTERY

Skyphos ? ring foot (fig. 40), D. 6.

70-P 1066 (CL?).

Pronounced turning

inside; core orange with calcareous grits.

of the structure is buried in the hill, and warrants excavation;

Five sherds of Standard Ware

Dish ring foot (fig. 54), D. 16.

marks out. Shape as LRC Form 3B or C (5th century A.D.). Pink-brown surface with smooth, same-color slip preserved

the structure can probably be identified as a well-accoutered

were found on the site.

groove on

Also: one sherd of Coarse Brown Ware (Garage).

(downslope) of the house, forming half a rectangle of 14 x 10 m with a possible entrance facing SSE. A dirt road runs along the SE base of the hill above the depression: its construction scraped off part of an earlier structure, dislodging fragments of ashlar masonry in light-colored limestone that are strewn along the verge below. I located a chunk of fine plaster-coated cement with traces of blue and red color in the NW road cut 0.50 m below the surface; this was found next to the embedded tumulus of a wall running NW-SE across the road. Two other parallel walls can be made out at 2 and 3 m intervals from the first. The main part

a ware like it, were recorded,

Low foot with

exterior. LRC Form 2C (mid to late 4th century A.D.). Hard, clean-beaking orange fabric with fine calcareous grits; same color slip in and out.

cement mortar with embedded tile fragments, indicating reuse of an earlier structure. Two rotary quern fragments of

typical of LR wares.

Dish base (fig. 50), D. 12.

ARSW Hard,

Hard, pink-brown fabric with trace

quartz and calcareous grits; core blackened.

Cf. Hallager no.

TERRACOTTA

Burnt on all surfaces; core is red-brown

with quartz and calcareous grits visible.

20 tile fragments of both Korinthian and Lakonian types,

Also: one fragment in high black gloss on fine buff fabric (CL-HL); one fragment in matt black gloss on hard, bright pink fabric containing quartz (LHL, Campanian?).

with thicknesses favoring neither shape (curved tiles range from 14-19 mm; flat from 13-18 mm). Two fabrics are prevalent: orange-beige with large grog, calcareous grits, and often chaff; and pink-buff with grog and calcareous grits (three specimens have a swirl pattern in the matrix as tiles at

Early Roman

site KA 1).

149. Amphora handle, MPD. 6.5. Upper fragment with oval section; gracile with pinched upper attachment as Cretan Type ACI (Markoulaki fig. 15-e, Ist century A.D.).

Standard Ware I.

106

re-walking of the area

STONE

failed to recover additional evidence

for earlier activity.

157a and b. Two rotary quern fragments, neither preserving the rynd. One (MPD. 12) is flat with a beveled edge, 7 cm thick, with est. D. of 40 cm. The stone is very heavy, grey-brown, and full of white and black crystals; it may derive from the Saronic Gulf andesite source identified by Runnels (1990, 151). The other is too small to reconstruct,

KT 1 (io Elies): Two finds from the knoll with the collapsed house (BM Map 60/60.5N, 21E). If their dates are correct, they seems odd as isolated finds.

POTTERY

but is of a different dark grey and vesicular andesite, conforming more to Runnel’s south Aegean source. R.

159. Frying pan, base to near-rim, est. D. 25-30. Flat base with sloping, slightly flared wall; attachment to wide, flat

handle preserved in the lower wall.

KP 6 (Aghios Onouphrios)

BM Map: 60.5N

shape and fabric.

14E

Size:0.19ha Elev: 12m Density: Sherds from wash

~

Periods: PH 2, LCL-EHL 1? Visibility: Good

LHL.

Cf. AT 9-83 above for

160. Frying pan, base to rim fragment, D. >25. As above but shallower and the wall is continuous with the base.

Notching at rim as AT 9-83. Fabric as above.

KYPARISSIA DISTRICT (KY)

A few sherds were located 250 m W of KP 5, in a small coastal ravine. Quarry marks are visible in aeolianite on the

N side of the ravine outlet, and is probably the source of features at KP 5. The pottery seems likely to be from wash.

This small district lies on the S slopes of the high plateau overlooking Soudha Bay to the S. Like the neighboring

POTTERY

by deep ravines that drain the plateau. Archaeological sites are located on a large hill and adjacent ridge 0.80 km N of a

158.

Miniature vase ? flat base, D. 2.5.

no. 156 at KP 5 above. LCL-EHL? fabric with quartz; core blackened.

district of Limni to the E, the terrain is rugged and bisected

The same shape as

coastline that offers no anchorage. The modern town of Sternes on the plateau above (just over 0.50 km NE) is easily accessed, and only a ravine separates KY sites from those of Aroni to the E, forming a continuous—if bisected—south coast settlement pattern. The character of ancient sites is difficult

Ruddy, hard red-brown

TERRACOTTA

to determine because of Byz and later activity, but the earlier material appears to represent at least two discrete farming sites of CL/HL-LR occupation.

One tile fragment, MPD. 9. Flat specimen in pink-beige fabric containing grog and calcareous grits, 14 mm thick.

KORAKIES DISTRICT (KR)

KY 1 (Amigdhalokephalo)

BM Map: 55.5/56N

21E

S of Kounoupidhiana and forming the NW border of Pitharion. Like Argoulidhes to the E, the terrain is a rugged

Size: 5.5 ha Elev: 127 m Density: 1/unit Periods: PH, CL-HL, HL-ER, ER, LR, Byz-V (diagnostic

olives and almonds.

Visibility: Medium

This is a small inland district on the Akrotiri isthmus, to the

sherd counts listed per site area below)

mix of hills and karstic depressions, with some cultivation in

Upland areas command good views of

Soudha Bay and there is a concentration of German WW

II

Sherds from at least one site are found on the top, SW, and

military installations in the SE corner of the district where most PH sites are located.

SE slopes of the hill named Amigdhalokephalo overlooking Soudha Bay. The hill is bordered to the E and W by deep ravines and has terraces on all sides, possibly of no great

One of these PH sites (KR 1, also

associated with a quarry) produced

a single LR

combed

amphora sherd.

antiquity, planted today in olives and vines. The hilltop yielded little but much may have washed down the slopes. A few standing field walls are preserved on top which probably belong to a Byz-V phase as pottery of that period is also found on the top and in the valley N of the hill. Sherd concentrations may indicate a predominance of HL-ER material on the SW slopes and ER-LR on the SE slopes, so the areas are treated separately.

KOKKIANITSA DISTRICT (KT) This is a small district in central Akrotiri, W

of Nerolakos

and S of Ag. Triadha. It is defined by a series of knolls that lie to the W of the Ag. Triadha road where it branches N from the main Kounoupidiana-Airport road. The area is important for PH sites, and also of interest for late historical periods. The knolltop at KT 1 (50 m off the Ag. Triadha road, with a renovated V chapel at its approach) supports collapsed remains of a house (3 rooms?) with a plastered cistern

entrenched

on the

S side,

reminiscent

of the

POTTERY Hilltop (PH 24, ER 1, Byz-V 3):

late

structure at AT 6 to the N. Sgraffito and other glazed sherds suggest a Byz or later date. A lovely, ashlar-built V farmhouse lies abandoned 150 m SW of KT 1. Included

Early Roman 161. Small bowl with collared rim (fig. 47), D. 8. As ritual pedestal bowls, Sackett nos. C1-68 to 73 (mid-Ist century A.D.). Standard Ware 1.

among the PH and Byz-V sherds that Moody collected at KT 1 were two HL frying-pan fragments of the type found at AT 9 to the N. These are treated as isolated finds because

107

Post-Roman

Late Roman

Two Byz-V glazed sherds, one ring foot in metallic red,

170. Jar, body fragment (fig. 51) with pairs of straight and A mid-to-late Roman wavy incised lines, MPD. 3 cm. design (cf. Sackett no. U-102, 3rd century A.D.) in late fabric. Coarse orange-red fabric containing phyllite, quartz, mica, and red, black and yellow platy grits with surface sheen.

another

in yellow-cream;

one

hard

double-ridged

glittery with phyllite chips, mica, and quartz. SW slopes (PH 27, LCL-EHL

handle,

1, HL-ER 2, ER 2, Byz-V 1):

Greek Periods

162.

Amphora toe (fig. 41), D. 7.

underneath.

LCL-EHL).

Cf.

Hard,

no.

Keos

pink-buff

50-3

171. Dish rim (fig. 54), D. 26. Shape as Hayes LRC Form 3F (6th century A.D). Hard pink paste with calcareous and

Splayed with a cavity no.

(Vari

fabric

phyllite, calcareous grits, mica, and grog.

128

containing

red grits, trace quartz and mica; pink-red slip on all surfaces.

cited,

quartz,

Also: one Class 43).

Hellenistic to Early Roman

163. Amphora toe, solid round tip, D. 4. Standard Ware 1.

Standard Ware 3, but

Jug base with dropped floor (fig. 47), D. 10. no.

D4-63a

Standard Ware 3.

(early

to

mid-2nd

century

(Peacock-Williams

Another site of poor definition is found on the slopes and top

of the ridge called Kserozambelia directly W of the KY 1 hill. The ridge is bounded by deep ravines to the W and E; the latter forms a substantial valley under cultivation and has much Byz and later material but nothing definitely earlier. The hill slopes are terraced and the top is divided into

165. Bowl flat base with raised center (fig. 47), D. 10. Local slipped ware: standard Ist century A.D. shape as Hayes:KN no. 222. Standard Ware 3 with red-brown slip on the interior and exterior. 166.

fragment

Periods: PH 23, CL-HL 4, ER 1, LR 6+, Byz-V 5+, T 2+ Visibility: Medium

Early Roman

Sackett

amphora

KY 6 (Kserozambelia) BM Map: 55.5/56N 22E Size: 4 ha Elev: 127 m Density: 1-5/unit (for late historical)

LHL or ER shape.

164. Kantharos ? rim (fig. 46), D. 12. Rounded with slight Shape and size suggest a ridge moulding below lip.

kantharos or table amphora: HL-ER? sandier than the norm.

combed

rectangular enclosures; the area is today planted in olives and vines. Habitation features include foundations of a Byz-V

house (with associated glazed wares) on the S side of the ridge and a wine press installation of probable T date (the type is illustrated in Keos 1991, 423) on the N side that bears

Cf.

A.D.).

out the name

of this vicinity.

Revisitation

found

in the entries below. Earlier material is present, though not in great quantities. Building tile was used as fieldwall fill, and some may be ancient. Moody designated an area at the

Post-Roman

One Byz-V glazed sherd in green & cream with sgraffito.

NW base of the hill as a separate site (KY 9) for PH periods;

SE slopes (PH 34, HL 1, ER 2, LR 3):

this is considered part of KY 6 for historical periods.

Greek Periods

POTTERY

167.

Bowl

? flat base

coarse

wares of these periods predominant on the hill, not reflected

fragment,

too

small

Greek Periods

to measure.

Coarse buff fabric with 2.0 mm red grits (grog?), minor quartz and mica; black gloss or wash on interior. HL or earlier.

172.

Bowl/cup

underneath.

HL

base

(fig. 45),

or earlier.

black gloss or paint on exterior.

Early Roman

D.

4.5

Slightly

raised

Fine, pink-white fabric; trace

173. Hydria ? upper handle and neck fragment, est. neck D.

8. Flattened handle attached under rim (missing).

Everted, with Cooking-pot rim (fig. 47), D. 18. 168. pooling red slip under rim and on interior. Pompeiian-type derivative (?); Ist to 2nd century A.D. Coarse Brown Ware (Garage), heavily gritted with quartz and large flakes of gold

2nd century B.C. shape.

HL: 4th to

Soft, pink-buff fabric with trace

black gloss on interior and exterior.

mica.

Also:

two

black-gloss

Dish ? body fragment, thin, in early ARSW fabric 169. Bright coral (mid-3rd century to early 4th century A.D.). paste with trace mica and quartz, browner core.

Early Roman

body

fragments,

one

fabric, another in fine pink-buff fabric (CL-HL).

174.

in fine

Jar base, flat with string mark (fig. 47), D. 6.

beige

Local

slipped ware; Severan jar shape as Sackett no. U-45 (late 2nd to early 3rd century A.D.). Standard Ware 1 with grog; trace red slip out.

108

Worn sherds are found on the S and SE slopes of the Limni

Late Roman

ridge, but the area is very disturbed from road construction.

Captain Spratt reported foundations of a circular tower here,

175. Dish rim, knobbed (fig. 51), D. 31. Shape (but not fabric) as LRC Form 10A (late 6th to early 7th century A.D.). Beige fabric, very micaceous. Also:

three

combed

amphorae

sherds

with a connecting (1865, 130-31). believing it to be a of isodomic masonry

(Peacock-Williams

wall descending to the harbor below Theophanides later saw this feature, lighthouse or a watchtower, constructed with a D. of 6 m (1950-51, 12). Only a

2-m stretch of the tower is today preserved-the lowest course—at the SE base of the ridge. Any connecting walls are now gone and the coastal shelf below, including the harbor, cannot be accessed because of a NATO installation. The

Class 43); two amphorae body sherds with stepped ribbing (Peacock- Williams Class 44); three sherds gritted with shell.

Post-Roman

ridge

slopes

are

thoroughly

terraced,

probably

in

recent

history. The ridgetop is overgrown and few sherds were observed.

176. Turkish pipe stem and socket, incised; hexagonal section (fig. 58), MPD. 3.3. Cf. Armstrong no. 336 (17th century A.D.).

POTTERY

Also: two Byz-V glazed fragments, one yellow, one green &

cream with sgraffito; three fragments of Taffy Ware; one ring

Early Historical

TERRACOTTA

Four black-gloss fragments in fine, pink-buff fabric (CL-HL); one brown-gloss fragment in fine yellow-buff fabric (Korinthian, CL-HL); three sherds of Coarse Brown

foot in green drip-painted (T).

Ware with gold mica (Garage, ER).

Tiles found impacted at the base of a collapsed field wall: orange and buff fabrics with grog grits; beige fabrics with

Post-Roman

calcareous grits and phyllite. Others on the site include a ‘gingerbread’ brown fabric, glittery with gold mica, phyllite and quartz.

Three Byz-V

LIMNI DISTRICT (LM)

LM 2 (Limni)

BM Map: 55.5N = 22.5E Size: Tomb/chapel Elev: 60 m

This small district on the S coast of Akrotiri centers on a lengthy E-W ridge that slopes to the S before falling steeply to the small natural harbor of Ag. Giorgios/Limni. The ridge

Periods: R, later use Visibility: Not relocated

is bordered to the N and E by the deep Panagia Ravine, the

main

catchment

for the

Sternes

District to the N,

which

This is a chamber tomb cut into soft marl and converted into

empties to the E of the harbor. The ravine forms many branches in the region, creating a rugged and bisected terrain suitable for terraced cultivation and today planted in olives. Ancient activity appears to be concentrated in a large area incorporating the ridge and its slopes, especially to the SE. Sherds are thinly spread and poorly preserved,

a Christian chapel, located by Moody on the N slope of Limni ridge. I was not able to relocate the entrance, but a

sketch drawn by Moody indicates a narrow entrance opening

into a central rectangular chamber. This chamber measures 3.3 m across with smaller square chambers on either side (no connecting passages) and a semi-circular recess at the rear with a platform; ceiling height is 1.5 m. Traces of plaster were noted near the entrance. This is an ER tomb type as described by Sanders (1982, 40). No pottery is associated.

and recent

bulldozing along the S slope makes it difficult to arrive at site boundaries. Moody identified two possible loci of activity at either end of the ridge (LM 1 and LM 3) for PH periods; as I could find no obvious continuity/discontinuity of historical material these sites are here grouped as one (LM 1). There are at least two chamber tombs in the vicinity (LM 2 and LM 4) and two others discovered 300 m further N near

LM 4 (New Designation) BM Map: 55N 23E

Size: Tomb/chapel Elev: 60 m

the head of the ravine (ST 2 in the Sternes District). Possibly all of these sites were tied to a settlement pattern that included the area occupied by the modern town of Sternes, located at the edge of the high plateau 1.2 km N of Limni ridge; the ravine forms a natural connection to the harbor below.

glazed sherds: two with sgraffito in green &

cream and green, yellow & blue; one in emerald green.

Periods: R, modern use

Visibility: Good

A second chamber tomb is cut into soft marl on the W-facing side of the Panagia ravine across from site LM 1, two

Moody’s fieldnotes (8-19-81) mention several finds

terraces down and approached by a narrow path (fig. 34).

at the ravine head, including a HL/ER amphora base and red-gloss sherds.

As

with LM 2, it is reused as a chapel: a dedication to Ag. Irini was noted in 1994, but a new placard to ‘Timios Stavros, est.

1941’

LM 1 (Limni) BM Map: 55/55.5N_ 22.5/23E Size: 6 ha Elev: 60-80 m Density: < 1/unit Periods: PH 5, CL-HL 5, R 1+, Byz-V 3 Visibility: Poor

was

found

when

the site was

revisited

in

1995.

Several ashlar blocks in white limestone and a stone trough were found piled on the terrace above the entrance, source unknown. The entrance leads directly to a long rectangular chamber, 8.5 x 3.5 m, with two narrow chambers branching off either side midway, and a third narrow chamber-4.5 m long, more like a dromos—at the end. The chambers have

109

arching elevations, but the walls are lined with insulation so

the presence of niches could not be determined.

the quarried area to the NW (where a strip of quarried stone extends 80 m N-S). The blocks are not hand hewn: the

The low

bedrock

ceiling height (1.70 m) confirms an original function as tomb. I have not found parallels elsewhere on Crete for the lengthy end chamber, but otherwise the arrangement is

extraction.

here

fractures

neatly

along

are located at the S end of the quarried strip, but no sherds

POTTERY

LOUTRAKI DISTRICT (LT) This is a small coastal district in SE Akrotiri bordering the natural harbor of Loutraki, which is separated by a tiny

Early Roman

3) forms the head of the harbor and behind this is a fertile depression today planted in vines. The shelf of the high plateau ascends steeply beyond. Site LT 1 lies 500 m SW (inland) of LT 3. The Loutraki sites can be viewed as part of the settlement system which includes Marathi (MR) to the E and Paleokhora (PL) to the S.

111 and 114 (1st and 2nd centuries A.D.).

177.

A hill (LT

Density: < 1/unit Periods: PH 4, ER 3, LR 2, Byz-V 7 Visibility: Medium

180. Jug handle, MPD. 6. Curved and double-ridged. Orange-beige fabric with much fine mica on the outer surface. Mica-dusted ware? Also: one Class 44).

radiate from the site center to the N, E and S, and stone-quarrying activity lies 40 m to the NW of the settlement wall encloses a 40 x 60 m core area at of the knoll. This wall is 1 m thick and shores up

soil

that

may

have

belonged

to

known

with phyllite inclusions; fairly clean grey-beige. LT 2 (Loutraki)

BM Map: 55N Size: 0.28 ha

1983,

R times (Sanders

Byz-V 3, T 1 Visibility: Medium

Finds, mostly PH, are located on a SE-facing slope directly

above a walled T cemetery and road which continues E to Loutraki beach. The slope forms the S edge of the large hill supporting site LT 3, and the historical material and terrace remnants are probably continuous with that site. A pile of stone at the slope base and the barest trace of a wall built perpendicular to the slope suggest an independent structure (date unknown).

40). Apart from the tile patch, very little pottery is visible on

the site. The post-R wares are concentrated at the N edge of the site in the vicinity of two cisterns: one Is large (6.5 x 2.5

m) and, as Dr. Moody pointed out, probably failed before completion since the bedrock is fractured and no plaster was applied; notable square) used as

2 m N of this is a smaller plastered version. LT for very large blocks and slabs (many over of limestone incorporated into enclosure walls steps between terrace levels; these clearly come

25E

Elev: 16m

Density: 1.5/unit (for PH) Periods: PH 13, CL-HL 1, ER, 1, LR 1,

are possibly of LR date, as the burials at LT 3, but the type is on Crete from HL through

(Peacock-Williams

Tile fragments on the site are flat, in two fabrics: pink-orange

An uncultivated field outside the S platform wall preserves the remains of at least five cist graves, plundered and largely These

fragment

TERRACOTTA

a

filled in, with fragments of cover slabs strewn about.

amphora

Seven sherds of Byz glazed ware: two green, one cream, four yellow (three with sgraffito).

creating a diamond-tooth upper surface to serve as an orthostate for the outer tower wall. The tower walls, of roughly-worked stone, are preserved to a height of 1 meter. The construction is pre-Byz. A lower terrace outside the E platform wall has an 8 m long patch of rubble and tile free-standing structure associated with the site.

combed

Post-Roman

an inner terrace or platform, but stands free to a height of 1.30 m from within. The northern half of this platform is filled with rock tumble bound with vegetation, but cleared sections exposed an outcrop platform for whatever stood here. The only visible feature is the base of a square tower, 4.0 x 4.5 m in plan, built on top of the N wall of the enclosure which incorporates an outcrop in this stretch. The builders took advantage of oblique fractures in the rock,

the

internal

Late Roman

There are standing remains of an early historical settlement and field walls on a knoll immediately E of the unpaved Loutraki road where it branches SE from the Sternes asphault road (fig. 31). A palm tree stands on top of the site. Field

in

Cf. Sparta nos.

Standard Ware 1.

179. Jug ? body sherd, MPD. 5. Pronounced wheel-ridging. Burnished Orange Ware (Garage).

BM Map: 55N 24E Size: 2.38 ha Elev: 38m

impacted

Bowl rim (fig. 46), out-turned, D. 13.

178. Domed lid (fig. 48), D. 40. Carinated, with incised wavy _ lines. This piece also has_ letters—seemingly Greek—crudely inscribed across the flat rim bottom. Cf. Sackett U-96 (late 2nd to early 3rd century A.D.) only twice the diameter. Standard Ware 1.

LT 1 (Loutraki)

enclosures an area of knoll. A the crown

facilitating

were seen in the vicinity.

consistent with known R tombs.

peninsula from the harbor of Marathi to the NE.

planes,

Foundations and rubble of two small structures

POTTERY

1 is 1 m and from

Greek Periods

One black-gloss fragment in fine pink-buff fabric (CL-HL).

110

squared in places. These lie on prepared bedrock, with upper courses in roughly-trimmed stone. Most of the area on top of

Early Roman

181. Beehive kalathos rim (fig. 48), D. 24.5. Square everted shape with deep and uneven scoring on the interior. A

the platform is filled with rubble and debris including half a

Standard Ware 3.

counterpart to this piece lies in the field enclosure to the N:

Late and Post-Roman

dowel socket at one end).

broken trough, Korinthian pan tiles, and a cylindrical dowel fragment (D. 6 cm) in a non-local fine white limestone (a

near-perfect match to Sackett no. A2-96 (1st century A.D.).

an ashlar block in the same material, 66 x 44 x 16 cm, with a on the platform 8 x 8 m, with platform wall shrine: a small

One combed amphora fragment (Peacock- Williams Class 46); three Byz-V glazed sherds, two in green, one in green & yellow with sgraffito; one drip-painted in yellow (T).

foundation stones, enclosed on three sides and recently roofed. A low plastered bench is preserved across the back;

LT 3 (Panagia i Khosti) Intensively sampled BM Map: 55/55.5N 24/24.5E Size: 5.5 haElev: 40 m Density: 4.5/unit (range 0-22) Periods: A 1, CL-HL 10, ER 22+, LR 21+, Byz-V 4 Visibility: Good to poor

to judge by other remains on the site (see below) this is an early Christian martyr’s cubiculum or altar-tomb. Several walled features surround the platform.

subdivisions indicated by door thresholds, one with socket preserved. This may define an entrance vestibule to the

platform complex as the corridor ascends to that level. On the opposite SE-facing side are two small chambers partially enclosed by broad ells. One of these ells forms its own 4 x 6 m platform of large cut blocks filled with rubble; this was probably a tower since this side of the complex faces the sea. The SW side of the platform faces onto a small enclosure that today functions as a precinct to the chapel of Panaghia 1 Khosti/Eisodion tou Theotokou. The chapel is in a

which occupy the central prominence and all but the steep

slopes of a hill that forms the headland of Loutraki

harbor (fig. 27). Site MR 7 to the NE and LT 2 to may be continuations of this site. Settlement walls the highest point of the hill. The terrain immediately this forms a wide, semi-circular shelf around all but

the SE occupy below the W

and NW sides. This shelf is divided into three walled enclosures: a cemetery occupies the northernmost enclosure

subterranean

garden plots since marl comes close to the surface here and is unsuitable for growing trees (Rackham and Moody 1992, 125). A narrow, walled corridor (3-4 m wide) occupies the terrace just below the shelf, and its surface appears

Dr. A.T. Grove

of Geography

complex

cut

into

soft

marl;

it is dated

by

Adrianaki (1982) to the early Christian period, but originally functioned as an ER tomb. The entrance, defined by a standing stone structure, faces NE and descends as a stairway dromos to a depth of 3 m. This opens onto a 3 x 5 m rectangular chamber (ceiling height 2 m) directly beyond which lies a semicircular arcosolium (now an apse, housing

(ca. 90 x 50 m); the others, if farmed, may have been used as

channeled.

These include

foundations of a corridor along the NW side, with two room

This is a large early historical site with standing remains NW

The only preserved built features

are 1) a room or subdivision of apsidal plan, the straight end incorporated into the SW and 2) what holds significance today as a square structure ca. 4 x 4 m with square-cut

at Cambridge

visited the site and felt this was a water conduit. Dr. Moody also revisited the site and suggested it is a kalderimi, or path, for traversing the terraces.

the altar) which has a vaulted ceiling and is pierced by a skylight. A second arcosolium opens off one side of the main chamber, with a raised bench on three sides. The

Terraces descend below this to the rocky coastline near the harbor, but fan out into broader walled enclosures where the

surmounted

today planted in a few young olives, but the collapsed state of many walls indicates long-term neglect. Since little late historical pottery is present, it is possible that the terrace

surface behind the entrance structure. Parallels for this type of chamber tomb are known elsewhere on Crete, including Ayiofarango (Blackman and Branigan 1975, 26), Matala and Gortyna (Sanders 1982, 158, 161), dating to the Ist and 2nd centuries A.D. Although the early Christian reuse of pagan

slope becomes gentler to the S and W.

walls date to LR times or earlier.

opposite side of the chamber is spanned by a second bench by a niche.

An additional niche is cut in the

chamber wall immediately left of the apse. glass

The terraces are

The terraces are high

(commonly 2 m) and interfinger like braided terraces except

is today

set

into

a large

concrete

on

the

that those on the upper slopes taper to a close, and some of them are subdivided by standing walls. Rackham and Moody observe that braided terraces facilitate plowing of

edifices is well-documented,

valuable

easily achieved with less than a meter of marl to work through above chamber height. Conversions are impossible

arable,

while

crops

enclosed

(vines,

terraces

garden

are

indicative

produce)

protection from ruminants (1992, 125).

requiring

of

an ER

The skylight

platform

date for the structure

does not preclude its construction for an early adherent. The use of skylights in crypts is certainly an early Christian

practice (Lanciani 1898, 328); its addition, in this case, was

more

greater

Possibly the terraces

close to the settlement nucleus were used for garden-variety crops.

to chart at present through walls.

the irregular, thickly-plastered

The nucleus of the settlement is a walled platform, forming a

The

were

owners

of the

tomb

of some

standing

and

permanence in the area. Its later use as a chapel, and the altar-tomb on top of the settlement platform, perhaps motivated the development of an open-air cemetery on the grounds. The cemetery enclosure lies to the NW of the platform and contains 54 recognizable cist graves; 5 more were located just NW of this enclosure, and an additional

near square of 36 x 36 m, that provides a level foundation over sloping bedrock at the hill crest. The platform wall is 2 m high on the SW-facing side, decreasing to | m approaching the NE-facing side, with walls averaging | m in thickness. Lower courses of this wall are in large stone masonry (some blocks exceed a meter in length), finely

11]

183. Amphora peg toe (fig. 42), D. 7. Slightly splayed with a cavity underneath. Cf. Vari no. 130 (LCL-EHL). Standard

2—of larger dimension and with larger cover slabs—in a separate enclosure built into the NE side of the main

Ware | with fine grog added.

cemetery. The burials are identified by surface pits, partially filled, with broken cover slabs lying adjacent or replaced over the pit.

184.

All have been robbed this century to judge by

mechanized plow furrows that scar the enclosure. The furrows expose large amounts of rubble and tile. One pit

(fig. 42), splayed ring foot with convex

certainly CL or HL.

interior retained remnants of tile facing and several others were faced in rough stone; all were covered with stone slabs. Fragments of bone were found in one pit. Most graves are separated by at least 2-3 m except at the S end where closely

clustered groups can be distinguished.

Amphora

button underneath,

D. 7.

No

precise parallels found,

but

Standard Ware 1 with fine grog added.

185. Amphora peg toe (fig. 41), splayed and concave underneath, D. 7. Cf. Vari no. 128 (LCL-EHL). Standard Ware 3, but fired to a lighter cream color than most examples of this ware.

Slab-covered cist

graves were used from the HL-LR periods in Crete (Sanders 1982, 40). Fragmented pottery in the enclosure includes LR specimens (combed amphorae, several sherds of ARSW) but no earlier fine wares. Korinthian pan tiles were recovered: Sackett finds this style to be produced no later than the 2c AD at Knossos, and suggests reuse where they are found in later contexts (1992, 408); this is probably the case here

186.

Tray, rim to near base (fig. 44), D. 25-30.

rim with internal flange. (LCL-EHL) but fabric is

Out-curving

Shape as Coldstream no. H76 HL. Local olive-grey fabric

(Garage) with black gloss on the exterior.

187.

Lekane (fig. 45), everted square rim with slight ridge

where earlier building tiles are abundant. The larger separated cist graves represent special status, but little can be said beyond that.

moulding

Other features of this site include two quarries to the NE (fig. 38) and SE where terraces merge with the rocky coastal

Also: five small black-gloss fragments, two in fine pink-buff

shelf, and two

underneath,

D.

20.

Possibly

a LHL

form

(cf.

Callaghan no. H16-19). Very hard, clean pink-buff fabric, with black gloss on interior.

fabric, three in fine orange fabric (CL-HL); one fragment of Smooth Salmon Ware (Garage).

rectangular cuttings on the N shore of the

harbor that seem shallow for fishtanks (the largest is 3 x 1.5 x 0.50 m) but may have a related use (Leatham and Hood

Early Roman

substantial

188. Dish rim (fig. 50), D. 16. Italian Sigillata, cf. Sackett no. Cl-7 (mid-1st century A.D.). Medium-hard, fine salmon

1955, 27).

The combined evidence from the site suggests a edifice

from

CL-HL

times,

and

the

massive

masonry of the platform probably belongs to this phase. The LHL period is patchily represented in pottery. A R farming

fabric with red-brown gloss.

estate is more clearly indicated by the extent of material recovered beyond the site nucleus, and private ownership is

suggested

by the tomb.

The

site takes

189.

on a religious

character by LR times and probably ceased to function as a

private habitation.

This is the only case I am aware of in

Crete, but documented in other R provinces, which shows an association between an ER estate or villa and a LR cemetery. is also documented

in Sicily (Wilson

1990, 206 and

166 sherds were examined during intensive sampling.

Round section with Standard

190. Dish, rim to near base (fig. 52), D. 30. ARSW Form 50, Type A (early version), mid-3rd to early 4th century A.D. Fine pink-orange fabric with same color slip.

This phenomenon is explored in Percival 1981, 181-199 and 256).

Cup handle fragment, MPD. 2.

single groove; ER type (Ist to 2nd century A.D.). Ware |}.

1981,

191.

Dish rim (fig. 50), D. 38.

Shape as ARSW

Form 45

(mid-3rd to 4th century A.D.); feather rouletting on interior and a score mark on the exterior. Hard orange fabric containing quartz and calcareous grits; red-brown gloss.

In

addition to those catalogued below, 25 are Standard Ware 1;

22 are attributed to LR (tempered with medium to large grog

and calcareous grits, phyllite, or shell); 4 are in Standard Ware 1 with fine grog grits added, a variant not noted in the

192. Amphora handle, near upper attachment (fig. 49), MPD. 10. Robust with single groove out, kidney-bean section. Form similar to Spanish Dressel 1 (1st century B.C. to Ist century A.D.), but fabric is Standard Ware 3.

Garage collection; and 24 belong to tiles. The greatest sherd

densities were from transects which crossed the terraces and level enclosures below the settlement. Scarps exposed from terrace-wall collapse were too slumped for reliable reading, but it can be noted that few sherds securely datable to the Greek periods were recorded beyond the grounds of the ridgetop structure.

193. Amphora bifid handle (fig. 49), MPD 8. High-arching

Cretan Type AC2 Standard Ware 1.

(Markoulaki

fig.

19,

Ist century A.D.).

Greek Periods

194. Amphora toe (fig. 49) MPD. 6.5. Solid and tubular. Cf. Sackett U-132 and U-143 (late 2nd century to early 3rd century A.D.). Light beige surface, pocked, with browner core; inclusions as Standard Ware | with fine grog added.

182. Cup ring foot (fig. 40), D. 7. Foot is splayed and low with a notch underneath. Cf. Callaghan pl. 74 for similar

Also: two small fragments Italian Sigillata; three fragments Eastern Sigillata A; two fragments Eastern Sigillata B; two

POTTERY

bases (A). Fine orange fabric with black gloss on exterior and interior.

fragments ARSW in early, brilliant orange-pink paste and slip; one red-slipped fragment in pink-buff fabric containing

112

calcareous

(Garage).

grits;

five

fragments

of

Coarse

Red

The only excavated remains of Minoa are those of an ER villa situated a few meters from the beach of Marathi harbor. The city extended over the coastal plain behind the villa where olives are today grown, but there are no standing remains. Large stones and broken cut blocks were cleared

Ware

Late Roman

195. Bowl rim, knobbed, D.? (worn). Shape is LRC Form 10 (late 6th to early 7th century A.D.). Soft, red-brown fabric with quartz and calcareous grits; slightly pinker slip.

and deposited at the N end of the plain where it meets the base of the high plateau. The impressive cave of

196.

for higher sea levels along the SE coast of Akrotiri in post-R

Dish flat base (fig. 53), D. 6.2.

Marathospilio (MR 4) commands a view of the plain, harbor, and Soudha Bay from the cliff face above.

Shape is ARSW Form

times. The villa stands less than a meter above southern portions of the site have eroded away, little has been exposed through excavation is today to wave action. This position supports reconstructed tilt of the Akrotiri landmass to the times, with a displacement estimated at 2-2.5

91 (6th to 7th century A.D.) but this specimen lacks a groove under the base. Orange fabric with trace calcareous grits; deeper orange-red gloss.

Also: eight fragments ARSW, three others probable; two mica-dusted fragments; two combed amphorae fragments (Peacock-Williams Class 46); one ribbed amphora fragment

24-25).

(Peacock-Williams Class 44); six wavy and straight-combed

Size: 2.5 haElev: 3 m Density: 1.5/unit (for PH)

Post-Roman

Flask ? body fragment (fig. 56), MPD.

Periods: PH 27, ER 1, LR 4, Byz-V 7 Visibility: Medium

4. Intensive

combing: alternating wavy and straight bands. Armstrong no. 205, 12th to 17th century A.D. (Syrian?).

Cf.

A sherd scatter is located along a narrow coastal strip to the

E of the ER villa and the plain of Marathi. 200+ obsidian fragments were collected here and the area is designated as a PH site. The only standing feature is a large circular cistern, built into the ridge which forms the E border of the coastal

Also: three Byz-V glazed sherds in yellow & green and green & cream.

TERRACOTTA

strip. This reservoir is 4 m deep and 5 m in diameter; one side is hewn from bedrock, the other is rock-built.

The site is littered with tiles of Lakonian and Korinthian types in an array of fabrics, but no slipped examples were recovered. Orange fabrics are most common, always containing calcareous grits and frequently phyllite and quartz. Pink and beige tiles with grog and calcareous grits are also present, and a few deep orange-red specimens gritted

POTTERY Fragmentary finds include: one gracile, pinched amphora handle of ER Cretan Type AC1 (Standard Ware 1); three LR combed amphora fragments (Peacock-Williams Class 43);

with phyllite and quartz. Korinthian tiles are common in the cemetery enclosure; bevel-rimmed Lakonian tiles are found throughout the site.

one LR ribbed amphora fragment (Peacock-Williams 44); seven sherds of Byz-V glazed ware, all in green.

district

is

on

the

SE

coast

of

Akrotiri,

with

a

commanding view of the entrance to Soudha Bay. The landscape is distinguished by a gently sloping coastal plain with a beach and harbor, surrounded by a crescent of rugged

Periods: PH 7, LCL-EHL 2, CL-HL 5+,

ER 19+, LR 12+, V-T 1 Visibility: Medium to poor

highlands with elevations attaining 190 m to the N. The topography is better suited for large, planned settlement than

the entire coastline to the W. The geology is primarily Neogene marly limestone with red soil deposits in low lying areas. The harbor overlooks the small island of Palaia Soudha, 400 m out, which supports a large V fort (for a

This designation includes an ER villa on the shore and sherd debris of ancient Minoa on the plain behind it. The villa was partially excavated by Theophanides (1939, with plan) who uncovered a bath suite and a well of D. 4.5 m at the E end of

history of the fort, Pashley 1837, Vol. I, 29). Site areas as defined by Moody are followed here, although most can be viewed as part of the single large settlement on the plain known in ancient times as the city of Minoa (see Chapter 4.4 for historical discussion). The location of the city was correctly identified by Theophanides (1950-51) following a

period of mistaken identity.

Class

MR 2 (Minoa) Intensively sampled BM Map: 55.5/56N 25E Size: 8.75 ha Elev:3 m Density: 5.5/unit (range 0-24)

MARATHI DISTRICT (MR) This

sea level; and what subjected Moody’s SE in LR m (1987,

MR 1 (Kremasti) BM Map: 55.5N = _25.5E

amphorae fragments (Peacock-Williams Class 43).

197.

There is evidence

the structure (fig. 25). The suite is fronted by a colonnaded veranda with a concrete foundation, which was traced 85 m

to the W.

He interpreted the building as part of a harbor

installation, but Sanders is correct in identifying it as a seaside villa (1982, 169). What little has been mapped suggests a corridor plan. Coins and the use of opus signinum provide a tentative 2nd century A.D. date, although an earlier edifice is indicated by a Doric capital.

Sanders’ discussion of Minoa

(1982, 169) is misleading because he merges the findings of Theophanides with those of Spratt (1865, 130-31) who was actually describing remains at Limni to the W.

113

Pottery specimens

listed below

plain behind the villa.

were recovered

Also: one mica and fragments A.D. (fine calcareous

from the

Little of architectural substance

is

preserved on the plain apart from fragments of roofing tile

and brick. The only extant feature is a circular underground cistern located 100 m NW of the villa. It is cut into bedrock to a depth of at least 4 m (there is fill in the bottom) and 3 m in diameter; a large fig tree grows out of it today. Sherds in the plain are poorly preserved because of repeated plowing and few diagnostic shapes were collected or observed during revisitation.

fragment Candarli (fine orange fabric with gold trace calcareous grits, Ist century A.D.); three sigillata, possibly imitation Italian of Ist century pink fabric with dark red gloss, all with trace grits); seven fragments of Coarse Brown Ware,

heavily-gritted with quartz and mica (Garage); two fragments of Coarse Red

Ware

Brown Ware (Garage).

(Garage);

one fragment of Burnished

|

Late Roman

Intensive sampling found little difference in sherd densities from the center and perceived peripheries of the site, but this is certainly because of plowing. 175 sherds were examined:

205. Dish rim, knobbed, est. D. 24. Shape is LRC Form 10A, late 6th to early 7th century A.D. Light orange fabric

Ware 1 with fine grog added (a variant also noted at sites TS

206a and b. Basin ? rims (fig. 52), est. D. 25-30. Cf. Johnston no. 64; Keos no. 64-7 (Sth to 6th century A.D.).

with calcareous grits.

19 were identified as HL-ER Standard Ware 1; 7 as Standard

10 and LT 3); and 2 were identified as Standard Ware 2. LR fabrics include 10 sherds gritted with phyllite and probably 6

Both

others in an orange-red fabric containing hard red inclusions (these may be hematite, a common inclusion in LR wares treated in Hayes:Sara pp. 50-51). Combed

in

snaggy,

orange-brown

occasional large calcareous grits.

plain body

fabric;

micaceous

with

sherds are rare, and activity must have concentrated on the

Also: four combed amphorae fragments, both wavy and straight combing (Peacock-Williams Class 43); two ribbed amphora fragments (Peacock-Williams Class 44); three

island fort.

mica-dusted fragments in pink fabric.

POTTERY

Post-Roman

Greek Periods

One black-glazed sherd in brown fabric (V-T).

198.

Uncertain Date

sherds can be seen everywhere on the plain.

Late historical

Beehive kalathos rim (fig. 41), D. 30. Outcurved and

rounded on top; three horizontal grooves on the interior just below rim. The rim shape is found on LCL-EHL vessels (cf. Vari no. 75, but that is a lekane). Hard, bright orange fabric, full of fine mica. 199.

Lekane rim (fig. 40), D. 24.

Outcurved with beading

on lip; a single scoremark on upper inside wall. Cf. Vari no. 80 (LCL-EHL).

Early Roman

Amphora spike (fig. 49), MPD. 6.

Peacock-Williams

century A.D.).

ware bear no slip.

- TERRACOTTA

Standard Ware 1.

Also: three black-gloss fragments in fine, pink-buff fabric; one fragment of Smooth Salmon Ware (Garage, HL-ER).

200.

207. Pithos body sherd (fig. 56) with fingertip impressions on two raised bands, MPD. 7.5. Orange fabric with thick pink slip and shell temper. Two additional sherds of this

Class

9 (late

Buff-orange

Two tile fragments preserve traces of mottled black and red wash; fabric is pink-beige, heavily tempered with grog and calcareous

Ist century

B.C.

to 2nd

Amphora handle, MPD. 4.5.

204.

12.

LRC

were

grits;

orange-brown

Periods: CL-EHL 6, HL 1, ER 1, LR 2, V-T 2 Visibility: Good outside cave This site (fig. 33) is on a small cliff terrace fronting a large,

partially-collapsed cave measuring 19 m across at the entrance, 10.5 m high within the main chamber, and reportedly achieving a depth of 43 m. The cave was investigated by Theophanides (1950-51, 2-4) and Faure

Shallow tray, flat base to rim (fig. 48), MPD. 2.5 (little

Dish base, est. D.

tile fragments

Density: 4/unit (range 0-15)

202. Tub handle (fig. 48), side-to-side attachment, MPD. 6. Standard Cf. Hayes:KN no. 173, Ist to 2nd century A.D. Ware 1.

curvature preserved). Similar to Sackett no. C2-77 century A.D.). Standard Ware 1.

other

BM Map: 56.5N _24.5E Size: 0.19 ha Elev: 60m

Arching, pinched upper

attachment, oval section. Cretan Type AC1 (Markoulaki fig. 15-e), 1st to 2nd century A.D. Standard Ware 1.

203.

35

MR 4 (Marathospilio) Intensively sampled

calcareous

grits.

201.

(CL-HL).

phyllite, quartz and calcareous containing grog and calcareous grits.

Solid and spindly:

fabric containing

grits

- examined and fall into three fabric groups: pink-beige as the color-washed examples; orange, heavily tempered with

(Ist

(1969, 203). At present it is nearly inaccessible due to a clutter of chicken coops in the main chamber which also

functions as the workshop of a shepherd who makes bells. Upper remnants of masonry walls can be made out at the rear of the main chamber and an underground cistern edged in cut

Form 2C, 350-400 AD.

Hard, pink-brown fabric with calcareous grits.

114

stone lies near the entrance.

Theophanides

Also: one brown-gloss fragment in fine pink-buff fabric (CL-EHL?); one fragment of Smooth Salmon Ware (Garage,

identifies these

features as part of a Byz chapel, reusing what both he and

HL-ER).

Faure believe to be an ancient cave sanctuary (Faure reports

finding R sherds within the cave). A worn foundation course of large beach-rock blocks (some 1 m in length) is just outside the entrance: this appears to have supported an

Roman

entrance corridor, 3.5 m wide and 9 m long, running the length of the cave mouth. This feature is probably pre-Byz. In the face of the cliff to the W of the cave are two rockshelters with outer walls of fieldstone: one of these enclosing walls contains two wall niches with built-in

shelves, not of great antiquity.

Fragmentary finds include: three amphorae body sherds in Standard Ware 1 (one rounded, broadly-ribbed base sherd of ER Cretan shape); one combed amphora fragment with grey surface and red core (possibly Hayes:Sara Type 7A, 5th century A.D.); one pink-buff sherd, glittery with fine gold mica on the exterior (LR mica-dusted?).

The outstanding feature of the site is a rectangular platform

Post-Roman

SW of the cave entrance. This structure utilizes a naturally square rock outcrop, 2 m high, as its core. Two full courses

214. Bowl flat base, thick floor tapering to plain rim (fig. 55), base D. 8. Smooth-textured buff-orange fabric, full of

that achieves the same height resting on higher bedrock. A natural cleft bisects the top of the outcrop and contains rubble fill. In plan, the platform measures 5 x 7 meters.

215. Amphora handle (fig. 57), MPD. 9. Hefty, triple-ridged. Ruddy orange fabric with large quartz grains visible, along with calcareous grits and a red inclusion

1.5 m deep, which he believed to be a repository for offerings. His suggested date for the edifice (1000-800 B.C.)

Also two glazed sherds: one in black (V-T), another in pearly red (T?).

in isodomic masonry that stands at the center of the terrace,

fine mica.

and remnants of a third are preserved on the E side to the height of the rock; the N row of masonry is a single course

(grog?).

Theophanides interpreted this platform as a sanctuary, noting a small sunken chamber carved at the S base of the platform,

is too early, and not borne out by the construction or the pottery on the site. A large heap of rough stone mixed with tiles lies to the W of the structure, but may belong to a

Probably T (see PL 3-261).

Late historical, but date?

TERRACOTTA

separate edifice. If the platform was a sanctuary, it probably doubled as a lookout point, affording a superb view of the entrance to Soudha Bay.

The site is littered with roof tile fragments, some of Lakonian

type.

These are mostly pink or buff and heavily gritted with

phyllite chips and milky quartz.

white (ER?).

28 sherds were recorded during intensive sampling, but most material was concentrated in the area in front of the cave.

MR 6 (NAMFI) BM Map: 55.5N

The entire terrace is heavily trampled by goats.

One specimen is washed in

24.5E

Size: 0.6 ha (est.) Elev: 24m Density: 1/unit (for PH) Periods: PH 23, ER 3, LR 1, Byz-V 3

POTTERY Classical to Hellenistic

Visibility: Medium

208.

This site is on the E and S slopes of the first coastal hill to the W of Marathi beach. Eleven rock-hewn chambers on the hilltop are identified by Moody as Minoan tombs. PH and

Skyphos base (fig. 45), D. 4. Cf. Coldstream nos. H31,

H38 (LCL). Fine pink-buff fabric with black gloss.

later material is spread below these and down to the rocky coastline where aeolianite deposits can be seen with quarry

209. Kantharos handle fragment with thumb grip, MPD. 4.7. Cf. Vari no. 16 (LCL-EHL). Hard, fine pink-buff fabric with

marks. There are also several rock-cut features that include a fishtank (6 x 3 m; depth 1 m) set 3 m E of a small sea channel. A circular hole (0.5 x 0.5 m) is cut next to the tank,

traces of red and black gloss on interior and exterior; rare calcareous grit. 210.

Kantharos

base

(fig.

45),

Coldstream nos. H88-89 (EHL).

pedestaled,

D.

4.

and there are several other circular cuttings on the other side of the channel. The arrangement appears to be similar to that reported at Siteia in East Crete where it is conjectured that holes supported a roof structure to prevent rapid evaporation

Cf.

Fine pink-buff fabric with

washy brick-red gloss.

Cf. Vari no. 76

from tanks, believed to be ER in date (Sanders 1982, 136). The MR 6 tank today lies at sea level, as do the cuttings noted at the LT 3 harbor to the W. If sea levels were 2-2.5 m lower in SE Akrotiri in ER times and these features date to that period, it means that they were on higher ground. It is

213. Amphora toe (fig. 42), D. 7. Splayed with a cavity underneath. Cf. Vari no. 130; Callaghan no. H12-67 (LCL-EHL). Standard Ware | with trace phyllite.

with the main tanks now submerged. Fishtanks were constructed in multiple units of various sizes, and secondary tanks may have been useful for isolating and directly marketing the fish (for various tank uses, Hood and Leatham 1958-59). A later date for the tanks cannot be ruled out.

211. Shallow bowl flat base, est. D. 6. Local grey fabric (Garage) with thinly applied black gloss on the interior and exterior. 212.

HL.

Lekane

(LCL-EHL).

calcareous grit.

ring base (fig. 40), D.

Pink-buff

fabric

12.

with

occasional

possible that the tanks were used for secondary fish-holding,

large

115

POTTERY

222. Bowl rim (fig. 54), D. 26. Shape is LRC Form 3C, late

Early Roman

calcareous grits, much fine mica, and minor quartz; no slip preserved.

216. Cup base, ‘urnetta a collarino’ shape (fig. 46), D. 4. Cf. Hayes:KN no. 118 (2nd century A.D.). Orange fabric

TERRACOTTA

5th

containing quartz, mica, and subangular, dull grey grits.

Also: two broadly-ribbed body sherds in Standard Ware probably belong to an ER jug or amphora.

217.

This

MS 2 (Airport)

BM Map: 59N

A scatter of sherds was located by Moody directly S of the Mousouras town cemetery, next to the airport fence. POTTERY Classical to Roman

ruled out.

223. Deep bowl or lekane rim (fig. 40), est. D. 25. This rim-dipped specimen has a small square lip and two score marks below the rim. Cf. Callaghan no. H8-13 for a similar rim (LCL) and pls. 77-79 for domestic rim-dipped wares of this period. Pink-beige fabric containing quartz and phyllite; rim-dipped in black gloss with irregular drizzling on the

POTTERY Greek Periods

Krater ? hanging rim (fig. 42), D. >25.

A single score

Precise

Standard Ware 1.

parallel

not

interior.

Also: one body fragment of Standard Ware 1 (HL-ER).

Also: one black-gloss fragment in fine, pink-buff fabric.

Post-Roman

Early Roman

One

Amphora handle (fig. 49), sharply angled profile and

220.

button at the center (ER).

Standard Ware 1.

glazed

sherd

in green,

and

one

T yellow

TERRACOTTA

core) containing calcareous grits,

Cup base, small and worn, D. 3.

Byz-V

drip-painted.

square section, MPD. 6. ER type, cf. Sackett nos. Al-31 and A2-101 (late Ist century B.C. to Ist century A.D.). Hard,

orange fabric (browner mica, and fine grog.

23.5E

Visibility: Not relocated

site LT 3 further to the W, but an independent site cannot be

219.

Khordaki

Periods: LCL 1, HL-ER 1, Byz-T 2

slope and hilltop; wall remnants are believed to belong to a PH settlement with associated cemetery at MR 6. The later material on the SW slope may be a continuation of the large

found, but shape is HL.

of the

Size: Unknown Elev: 135 m Density: Unknown

Loutraki inlet and Marathi harbor; about 200 m W of MR 6.

lip.

base

cultivation without intensive irrigation measures.

The original site designation is based on PH finds from the S

the

the

deeper at the terrace base where olives are today grown, but in present conditions it is difficult to envision successful

Finds are from the SW slope of a coastal hill overlooking

interior below

across

extends

normally thin and rocky soils in the E plateau are somewhat

glazed sherds in yellow & green (with

MR 7 (Skhinoplokas) BM Map: 55.5N = 24.5E Size: 0.75 ha (est.) Elev: 30 m Density: 1/unit Periods: PH 4, CL-HL 2, ER 2, LR 2 Visibility: Poor

on the

district

modern town of Mousouras is located at the NW end of the district, and early historical sites are found along the lower terrace slopes stretching from the town to the SE. The

seraffito), green & cream, and plain green.

mark

containing

mountain terrace which overlooks the E half of the high The plateau; the airport occupies the territory to the S.

‘floppy’

large grains of milky and grey quartz, calcareous grits and mica.

218.

fabric

MOUSOURAS DISTRICT (MS)

Coarse and crumbly brown fabric containing

Also: three Byz-V

Pink-red

and fine mica.

Cf. Johnston:KN no. 109 (early 6th

lip (fig. 51), D. 30.

century A.D.).

A.D.

One tile fragment in buff fabric, lightly gritted with quartz

1

Late and Post-Roman

Cooking-pot rim, everted with down-turned

century

to 6th

One Korinthian tile fragment in pink-orange containing large calcareous grits and grog.

Indented with a

MS 3 (Ellenikes Apothekes)

BM Map: 59N 24.5E Size: 0.70 ha Elev: 150 m

Late Roman

Density: 1.5/unit Periods: PH 10, LR 9+, Byz-V 8, V-T 1 Visibility: Poor

221. Bowl rim (fig. 54), est. D. 20. LRC Form 3F, late 5th to 6th century A.D. Fine orange fabric; no slip preserved.

116

fabric

Sackett’s small pedestal bowls nos. C1-68 to 70, 1st century

This site is located on SE-facing slopes near the base of the Khordaki

Mousouras.

mountain

terrace,

1.2

km

SE

of the

town

A.D.

of

There are remnants of collapsed walls in the

area, but no discernable plan.

worn.

Sherds are fragmented

Also: four sherds of Standard Ware 1 (including an amphora body with slight corrogations and a jug handle fragment); one sherd of Standard Ware 2.

and

POTTERY

MS 8 (toponym unknown): one LR sherd was collected by Moody from a PH site on a rocky knoll located on the S side of the Mousouras-Perivolitsa road, 2 km SE of the town of Mousouras.

Late Roman

224. Dish rim, D. ? (worm). LRC Form 3 (Sth century A.D.). Fine orange fabric; no gloss preserved. 225.

Eleven cooking-pot fragments,

POTTERY

no diagnostic shapes.

Muddy brown fabric with large flakes of gold mica. burnt on the exterior. These lack the large characteristic of ER Coarse Brown Wares, variant of the ‘micaceous brown ware’ Hayes:Sara pp. 55-57 (8th century A.D.). vessel?

As Standard Ware 1, but grittier.

229. Dish rim, D. century A.D.).

All are

quartz grains and may be a described in Possibly one

? (very worn).

NEROKAMPOS

ARSW

Form

3 (5th

DISTRICT (NK)

red grits (hematite?) and calcareous grits (LR).

This is an inland district in NE Akrotiri, including the lower SW-facing terrace of the Akrotiri mountains and a strip of level plain below. The Ag. Giorgios mountain gorge empties on the plain, creating a sediment fan. Sites are concentrated to the E of the gorge, immediately N of Ag. Pavlos. The plain is one of the few areas on Akrotiri suitable

Post-Roman

today planted in potatoes and vines and Byz-V cultivation in

Two Byz-V glazed fragments, one in white, one in green; six

The Nerokampos sites are located on the lower mountain slopes, taking advantage of both the plain and the upland resources.

Also: two combed amphorae fragments (Peacock-Williams Class 46); one combed amphora fragment (Peacock- Williams Class 43); four small fragments in orange fabric containing

for extensive arable cultivation (approx. 50 ha).

grain is indicated by a threshing floor at Ag. Pavlos (AP 4).

fragments of Taffy Ware; one black-glazed fragment (V-T). MS 6 (toponym unknown) BM Map: 59N 24E Size: 0.25 ha Elev: 147m Density: 1/unit Periods: ER 8+

NK 1 (Aghios Giorgios)

BM Map: 64/64.5N 19E Size: 0.5 haElev: 60 m

Density: 2.5/unit (range 0-20)

Periods: PH 5, LCL-EHL 1 CL-HL 5+, ER 4+, LR 4, Byz-V 15 Visibility: Good

Visibility: Medium

This site is located 0.30 km SE of the town of Mousouras, on SW-facing slopes of the Khordaki mountain terrace. There

This site is on the lowest shelf of the Ag. Giorgios terrace at the foot of the Akrotiri mountains. SW-facing slopes here form a crescent around a level plain plain today planted in rectangular vegetable plots. Material includes that on the shelf and wash on the slopes below down to the edge of cultivation. Traces of walls and stone tumble on the shelf noted by Moody were still visible near a lime kiln in 1995, but these may represent late historical re-working of the site.

are remnants of field walls and much rock debris, but no plan is discernible. Sherd densities are low but the material is concentrated

and

seems

unlikely

to be the result of field

activity. A small patch (1 x 0.5 m) of worn paving, constructed of small flat stones embedded vertically, is preserved on a slope at the S end of the site, what remains Is displaced from slumping of the slope. An analogy for this feature

may

bee-enclosures

be

the

unknown.

paved

platforms

observed

within

in Sphakia in South Crete (Rackham

Moody 1996, 152).

on

platforms,

and

Black-washed tiles indicate a small CL-HL farm existed here,

continuing into the R and later periods. The terrace affords an outstanding view of the plain and the high plateau to the

It is believed that the hives were placed

but

the

date

of these

.

enclosures

is

S. The settlement had access to terraced and arable land on the slopes and plain below, and pasturage at the mountain foot.

POTTERY 226.

Amphora handle fragment, MPD. 6.

Oval section, in

POTTERY

Standard Ware 1 (HL-ER).

227.

Fields are

Amphora

toe, small tapered

shape

Greek Periods

as Sackett no.

230.

A2-102 (1st century A.D.). Pink-orange fabric full of fine mica. A square rim (D. 12) of this fabric may belong.

Lekane ? rim (fig. 40), out-curved with single deep

score inside, est. D. 30. Angle? The single score here seems decorative, but not enough wall is preserved to eliminate the possibility that this is a beehive kalathos. Cf. Vari lekanai

228. Small bowl ? rim and upper body (fig. 47), est. D. 7. Thin-walled conical shape with small everted rim. Cf.

examples, fig. 9 (LCL-EHL).

117

Standard Ware 1.

fieldwalls are associated with Byz-T glazed pottery but The material suggests another nothing apparently earlier.

Also: one black-gloss fragment in fine, pink-buff fabric. Early Roman

small LCL-EHL farm.

231. Basin ? rim (fig. 48) with rounded, slightly sagging lip, D. uncertain but large. Two exterior scoremarks under the

POTTERY

rim and one on the interior.

Shape as Ist-2nd century A.D.

vessels at Knossos (Sackett no. T3-4). fabric with occasional calcareous grits.

Greek Periods

Fairly clean, buff

237. Table amphora rim (fig. 40), est. D. 14. Out-turned with sharp lower edge. Cf. Vari no. 53 (late 4th century

232. Amphora base fragment, MPD. 9. Rounded with shallow corrogations, Cretan Type AC1 or AC2 (Markoulaki

B.C.). 238.

Standard Ware 1.

fig. 3, 1st to 2nd century A.D.).

Standard Ware 1.

Beehive kalathos ? rim (fig. 41), est. D. 27.

Angle?

Outcurved hanging lip; three deep horizontal scoremarks on

the interior. This is similar to the ‘lekane’ NK 1-230 above, but preserves more scoring on the interior. In both cases scoremarks seem more regular than many kalathoi observed.

Bifid amphora handle (fig. 49), lower attachment, 233. MPD. 7. Cretan Type AC2 (Markoulaki fig. 19, Ist century A.D.). Standard Ware 1.

Also: one beehive kalathos fragment with deep horizontal

For the shape, cf. Vari lekanai examples, fig. 9 (LCL-EHL). Beige fabric, no inclusions visible.

sherds of Standard Ware 1, including a jug handle fragment.

239.

scoring on the interior, in buff fabric as the basin above; two

Late Roman

234. Dish rim, square (fig. 55 ), est. D. 25. Shape is LRC Form 10B or C (6th to 7th century A.D.) but note fabric.

Bright pink-orange

fabric with

mica,

trace phyllite,

Five worn coarse sherds in orange fabric containing quartz, red and calcareous grits (LR-Byz); six Byz-V glazed sherds (five green & cream, one yellow); one blackglazed sherd (V-T).

ARSW

Dish rim, small hooked (fig. 53), est. D. 25-30.

Form 103 (6th century A.D.).

Fine but porous orange fabric

with trace mica and calcareous grits; no slip preserved. Also:

two

wavy-combed

amphorae

fragments,

one

NEROLAKOS DISTRICT (NL)

is

This small district in central Akrotiri is focused around the

Peacock-Williams Class 43, the other is in a pink-beige fabric containing phyllite, quartz and mica (Cretan variant’).

Nerolakos karstic hollow, a sinkhole that covers an area of

approximately 9 ha. PH sites dot the rim of the sinkhole, and a single early historical site (NL

Post-Roman

& green; five sherds in related fabrics.

TERRACOTTA Lakonian tile fragment (fig. 57), MPD.

7.

1) is situated on its NW

edge. The sinkhole basin is today partly planted in young citrus and olive, with the terraced peripheries more intensively cultivated in older olives and vines; open fields to the E of the sinkhole are planted in artichokes.

Ten Byz-V glazed sherds in gold-brown, yellow, and yellow

236.

This

Late to Post-Roman

and

calcareous grits; no slip preserved. 235.

Basin square rim (fig. 41), D. uncertain but large.

belongs to a vessel with thick sloping walls that angle out near the top. Cf. Keos no. 30-10 and Callaghan no. H8-14 (LCL-EHL). Beige fabric, no inclusions visible.

NL 1 (Nerolakos) Intensively sampled

Pink-buff

BM Map: 60.5N

fabric containing grog and calcareous grits; black wash on exterior surface (CL-HL).

20.5E

Size: 1.5 haElev: 105 m Density: 4/unit (range 0-10)

Also: three other tile fragments in the same fabric as above, one with black wash.

Periods: PH 8, HL 5, HL-ER 4, ER 7, LR 3, Byz-V 1 Visibility: Good

NK 4 (Aghios Giorgios)

This site is located at the NNW rim of the Nerolakos sinkhole; on the top, S and SW-facing slopes of a low ridge. Sherds are concentrated in the vicinity of a lime kiln on the

BM Map: 63.5N = 19.5E

Size: 0.38 ha Elev: 48 m Density: Unknown, but > 1/unit

Periods: PH 3, LCL-EHL 3, Byz-V 11, V-T 1 Visibility: Site destroyed

top edge of the ridge, but many have washed below at the point where a draw enters the sinkhole from the NW. The draw is managed by low terrace walls of some antiquity that

Finds are from a low rise at the S foot of the Phones

today. The ridge above is rocky and uncultivated with traces

are partially buried; young citrus and olives are planted in it

mountain ridge that forms the E side of a crescent plain; 1 km SE of site NK 1. Development in the area had virtually destroyed the site by 1995, but Moody reported traces of It is not clear if the walls where pottery was collected. the ridgetop where from dumped or situ material was in

of collapsed proceeds NW a long (150 boundary of far from the

118

walls apparent (no plan discernible) as one from the lime kiln; at 100 m NW, remnants of m) E-W wall are visible that may form the N the settlement, but very few sherds extend this locus. The only find of architectural distinction

is an ashlar block of white limestone (37 x 24 x 15 cm) at the SE base of the ridge below the lime kiln.

249.

Dish ring-foot (fig. 50), D. 18.

60 sherds were recorded during intensive sampling; results

pink-red slip preserved under the foot.

Thick and chamfered

on the outside. Shape as Candarli Form 4 (3rd century A.D.). Fine pink-beige fabric containing trace mica; thin

indicate a well-contained area of primary activity. This was a farm that managed the fertile Nerolakos slopes and basin, and kept bees. 11 sherds of Standard Ware 1 were recorded apart from the specimens catalogued below. Additional beehive kalathoi fragments were noted between units sampled.

250. Dish rim (fig. 50), D. 24. In-curving with rounded lip, possibly belonging to the base above (Candarli Form 4). Fabric as above with slip traces on interior and exterior.

Also: one fragment of Coarse Brown Ware (Garage).

POTTERY

Late Roman

Greek Periods

251. LRC

Dish rim (fig. 54), D. 30. Heavy collar with rouletting. Form 3B (Sth century A.D.). Hard orange-pink paste

252.

Dish rim, worn, est. D. 25.

with trace mica; no slip preserved.

240. Pithos rim (fig. 44), D. 38. Heavy triangular shape, probably HL. Pink-buff fabric containing calcareous grits and grog; Traces of black slip on the exterior and rim top. 241.

fabric with trace mica.

Lekythos ? or closed jar hanging rim (fig. 45), D. 6.

Short inward-tapered neck widening abruptly at shoulder. No close parallels found. LHL? Soft, fine pink-orange fabric with trace black gloss preserved under rim.

253. Cooking-pot ? rim (fig. 51), D. 30. Everted squarish rim to globular body. Cf. Johnston nos. 52 and 57 (6th century A.D.). Soft orange fabric containing fine quartz and mica.

242. Lekythos flat base (fig. 42), D. 8. Cf. Stobi no. 48 (LHL). Local grey fabric (Garage), but this specimen is

Post-Roman

blue-grey. 243.

Oinochoe rim (fig. 47), D. 12.

with central groove.

244.

One Byz-V glazed sherd in green & yellow.

Small hanging collar

Cf. Sackett no. Al-3 (late Ist century

B.C., but the shape runs earlier). fabric.

TERRACOTTA

Hard, clean pink-buff

Six tile fragments (two are Lakonian): fabrics are mostly beige, containing calcareous grits and grog; one is orange with quartz and calcareous grits.

Strainer/feeder jug neck fragment (fig. 46), est. D. 3.5.

Partial ledge and strainer hole preserved inside. For the vessel type, cf. Sackett no. A2-17 (late Ist century B.C. to early 1st century A.D.), but the fabric could be LHL.

pink-orange fabric with greying in core.

Thickened rim with notch

on the lip: LRC Form 4 (5th century A.D.). Clean orange

Three fragments of clay mortar: globular beige containing limestone pebbles, large quartz and grog.

Fine,

chunks

Also: four beehive kalathoi body fragments could be HL or

NL 6: a single historical sherd was collected from this PH

fine, pink-orange fabric with D. 30). One specimen has criss-crossing grooves on the interior, and the others have

POTTERY

ER (three in Standard Ware 1, one of which is D. 24; one in

site located 300 m E of NL 1.

horizontal grooves.

254.

Early Roman

pink-beige fabric with occasional quartz grains.

245.

Cup or lamp handle fragment, reeded Cretan form

(ER).

Standard Ware 1.

246.

Jug handle, MPD.

Spouted jug rim (fig. 47), D. 7.5. no.

T1-22

(late

Ist to

early

2nd

(Sackett nos.

For the form, cf.

Cooking-pot ? rim (fig. 48), D. 18.

flat rim as Sackett no. D4-32

Byz-T material on its NE and SE slopes. POTTERY

Everted, sloping

(2nd century A.D.).

coast of Akrotiri

NS 1: one early historical sherd was collected from this site (BM Map: 60.5N, 15.5E) which otherwise has PH and

A.D.).

Orange fabric, outer surfaces fired light grey; no inclusions visible. 248.

long peninsula on the W

side of the Kalathas Bay. Moody investigated two PH sites, one on the low sandy isthmus (NS 2) and another 150 m N of this on a wind-eroded knoll on the landward side of the peninsula (NS 1).

Standard

century

Hard, dense,

which forms the N side of the Kokkinos Pyrgos harbor and S

Section is oval with a central

C2-80 and T2-14 (mid-1st to 2nd century A.D.). Ware 1.

Sackett

Peg shape with collar.

NISI DISTRICT (NS) This is a 1-km

6.5.

ridge, and is found on stamnai at Knossos

247.

Amphora toe (fig. 44), D. 4.0.

Knidian (cf. Grace fig. 64, 2nd century B.C.).

Orange

fabric with a few quartz grains visible; the surface is burnt.

255.

Miniature

vase

? flat base

pedestal base to conical vessel.

119

(fig.

56),

D.

2.

Small

Also found at KP 5 and KP

6 (see no. 156 at KP

of

sites in Marathi, Loutraki and Paleokhora can be viewed as part of the same local settlement pattern concentrated at the SE tip of Akrotiri and nearly circumscribed by the rugged plateau scarp. Assuming lowland routes, less than 2 km separate the settlement at Minoa from the furthest site (PL 4) in Paleokhora, and each site in these districts is within

Several of these (PH 1, 2, 5)

km to the W in Limni (LM). Paleokhora ridge is today cultivated in olives and almonds, mostly on the terraced

5 above for discussion).

LCL-EHL?

Hard orange fabric, well-gritted in quartz and mica. PHADIDES DISTRICT (PH) This

is a small

district

in central

Akrotiri,

to the

S

Nerolakos and N of the main Kounoupidiana-Airport road. Moody identified a cluster of five small PH habitations

200-300 m of another.

each yielded a single historical sherd. Little else was found during rewalking so the finds are treated as incidentals,

ridge slopes. The ridgetop forms a flat plateau at the E end with topsoil for planting only available in pockets. There are

within a 200 m radius (PH1-5).

The nearest occupation beyond is 1

possibly representing activity from NL 1 (0.8 km to the N) or KA 1 (0.8 km to the E). All are located within the BM Map coordinates 59.5N, 20E.

structural remains here (PL 2), but pottery densities are low. Foundations of two small Byz-V structures, with associated

PH 1: on the N side of the Kounoupidiana- Airport road, 450 mE of the turnoff to Anemomilo.

of the ridge (PL 3, PL 4, PL 5) where topsoil is more suited to cultivation and retention of sherds.

POTTERY

PL 2 (Akron Kalogiros) BM Map: 55N_ 24/24.5E Size: 1.2 haElev: 44 m Density: < 0.5/unit Periods: PH 5, HL-ER 1, ER 1, Byz-V 4, T 3 Visibility: Good

glazed wares, are preserved on the N-facing slopes of the ridge.

256. Imitation sigillata ? body sherd, MPD. 5. Pink-buff fabric full of fine mica, with occasional quartz, calcareous and dull-grey grits; trace red-brown

ER.

gloss on the exterior.

This site is located at the E end of the Paleokhora ridgetop, an elongated plateau with unimpeded views of Loutraki

PH 2: one small tile fragment in clean, pink-grey fabric was collected 250 m directly S of the Nerolakos sinkhole.

Early historical material is concentrated at the W end

HL?

harbor and Soudha Bay (fig. 37).

It is approached by a broad

path of impacted rubble and is identified by a palm tree and a small chapel. The plateau is encircled by foundations of a massive 2 m-thick wall forming a lentoid in plan almost 90 m

PH 5: 400 m SW of the Nerolakos sinkhole. POTTERY

in

length.

End

walls

mark

the

enclosure

entrance

and

another accessway on the SE side. Mounds of embedded stone tumble lie within and a collapsed dividing wall can be made out towards the NE end. The tumble includes some roughly squared blocks. A long curved pathway runs along the NW enclosure wall exterior, its outer border defined by a 1 m-thick wall foundation. It is difficult to date this enclosure from the scrappy finds. The probable T material is to be expected given the proximity of the fort. A triangle of gently sloping land to the SW of the enclosure contains

257. Basin ? body fragment with distinctive squared arises, MPD. 5. The surface treatment is found on 2nd to 3rd-century basins at Knossos (Sackett no. U-38). Standard Ware 1.

PROPHITIS ILIAS DISTRICT (PI) This small district on the NW-facing coast of the Akrotiri isthmus includes the Profitis Ilias ridge and a small coastal

terrace

plain below. The landscape is today an urban one, as this suburb is rapidly becoming an extension of Khania and is now the site of a university. Moody located 5 concentrations

walls

and

more

mounded

tumble;

an

ancient

loomweight was found here, but it is the kind of object to be picked up and tossed at random. The site configuration suggests an animal enclosure with associated farm buildings,

of PH material in earlier days of development, and very little

but a 2 m-thick wall may be excessive for this purpose and the location is suitable for a watch/defensive facility.

from historical periods; the only pre-medieval remains were recovered from the foundation (?) fill of a WWII bomb

shelter at what was then the N edge of Profitis Ilias town (no site designation: BM Map 58N, 14.5E). The origins of the

POTTERY

fill are unknown, but it contained a mix of modern and early

Early Roman

historical sherds including five A-HL black gloss fragments in coarse fabrics, one from a rilled amphoriskos neck.

258. 46),

PALEOKHORA DISTRICT (PL)

Cup rim and upper body with handle attachment (fig.

D.

8.

Three

rows

of

rouletting

below

handle.

Thornware, cf. Sackett pl. 165 (1st to 2nd century A.D.). Hard, light orange surface and grey core; inclusions as Standard Ware 1.

This district is a large coastal ridge that forms the southernmost headland off Soudha Bay in SE Akrotiri. The coastline is rocky and falls abruptly to the sea; the nearest access by water is Loutraki harbor to the NE. The ridge promontory offers a superb view of the bay entrance and the opposite coastline of Aptera; a T fort was built on the highest point at its southern edge (PL 6). The sites recorded here lie immediately S of those in Loutraki, only divided by the E-W ravine bed (now a road) that empties at Loutraki harbor. The

Post-Roman 259.

Jar wall fragment (fig. 56), MPD.

with parallel grooves and punctures. (13th to 14th century A.D.).

120

Hard,

3.7.

Surface treated

Cf. Enkomi

sandy-textured

no. 16

orange

fabric containing calcareous grits. 260.

16.

quartz,

mica,

and

numerous

red

Also: three black-gloss fragments

and

Jar rim, everted with sloping inner shelf (fig. 56), D.

Cf. G.D.R. Sanders no. 337 (early 13th century A.D.).

Hard, crumbly orange-beige fabric with protruding grains; greenish-yellow glaze preserved on inner lip.

Early Roman

quartz

266. Casserole rim, out-turned with flange for lid (fig. 48), est. D. 20. Cf. Sackett no. F2-31 (1st century A.D.). Coarse Brown Ware (Garage), with charred exterior.

261a-c. Shallow dish flat bases (fig. 55), D. 12-14, two with rims intact. Crude but wheelmade, with stringmarks underneath.

Probably T.

Also: one small fragment of Burnished Orange Ware (Garage); three ER amphorae body fragments with shallow

Creamy-textured beige fabrics with

occasional large calcareous grits; cores show greying. One specimen full of fine mica; one with green-black glaze on the

corrogations in Standard Ware 1.

interior.

Late Roman

Also: two Byz-V glazed sherds, one solid green, cream & brown.

yellow, one in

267. Bowl hanging rim (fig. 55), est. D. 22. LRC Form 10A (late 6th to early 7th century A.D.). Hard orange surface

TERRACOTTA

with pinker core, containing trace mica and calcareous grits; no slip preserved.

262. Pyramidal loomweight, nearly intact (fig. 58). Height is 4.6 cm, rectangular base is 2 x 2.5 cm. Pierced near the top. For shape, cf. Sackett’s Type D (nos. W52, W78), LHL to Ist century A.D. Sandy-textured orange-beige containing large milky quartz grains and mica.

Also: five wavy-combed amphora_ fragments as Peacock-Williams Class 43, but the fabric contains more mica (silver) than seems usual for this class; a variant? (5-7c

fabric

AD).

METAL

Post-Roman

Three Byz-V glazed sherds, two in cream (with sgraffito) and one in green.

Slag was noted on the site, one chunk with a crucible imprint

(this specimen

is porous

and rust colored, with a vitrified

black patina on the inner surface).

PL 4 (Paleokhora ‘Skala’) BM Map: 54.5N 23.5E Size: 2.2 haElev: 30 m Density: < 0.25/unit Periods: PH 5, CL-HL 2, ER 2, LR 2, Byz-V 2, T 2 Visibility: Poor

PL 3 (Paleokhora)

BM Map: 55N

23.5E

Size: 4.5 haElev: 33 m Density: < 0.25 to 1.5/unit

Periods: PH 13, LCL-EHL 3, CL-HL 3+, ER 5+, LR 6, Byz-V 3 Visibility: Poor; area disturbed

Sherds are located at the W end of Paleokhora ridge, at the S edge where a small valley is terraced down to the coast. I am

unsure whether to classify this as a site disturbed by plowing, or as activity related to PL 3 to the NW for historical periods.

Sherds were collected over a large boulder-strewn area with

olive terraces on the far W

end of Paleokhora ridge which

slopes to the SW. The terraces are recently rebuilt and the terrain here is worked over. Revisitation found higher concentrations of sherds near the ridge scarp, and this should probably be classified as a site for early historical periods.

POTTERY Greek Periods

The material at PL 4 to the SE may be associated.

Two black-gloss fragments in fine buff fabric (CL-HL).

POTTERY

Early Roman

Greek Periods

268.

local products at Knossos

(Sackett nos. C1l-47 and C1-60,

mid-lst century A.D.). Orange fabric full of fine mica, with trace quartz and calcareous grits. Eastern Sigillata B imitation?

264. Amphora toe, very worn (fig. 42), D. 6. Splayed with a cavity underneath. Cf. Keos no. 2-6 and Vari no. 130

269. Amphora toe (fig. 49), conical with small flared tip, MPD. 5.5; tip D. 2.0. Cf. Sackett no. U-138 (late 2nd to early 3rd century A.D.). Standard Ware 1.

Standard Ware 3.

265. Amphora toe (fig. 42), D. 6.5. underneath. Cf. Keos no. 7-27 (LCL-EHL). Standard Ware 3.

Juglet ? ring foot with low-slung floor (fig. 47), D. 4.

Precise parallel not located, but similar shapes are found in

263. Bowl ring foot (fig. 45), D. 4.5. Slightly convex underneath. Cf. Vari nos. 29 and 37 (LCL-EHL). Fine pink-buff fabric with black gloss on the interior and exterior.

(LCL-EHL).

in fine, pink-buff fabric

(CL-HL); one beehive kalathos fragment in Standard Ware 1 (HL-R).

Splayed with a cavity and Vari no. 128

12]

Late Roman

Late Roman

275.

270. Dish rim (fig. 53), D. 21. LRC Form 3 (5th century A.D.). | Pink-orange fabric containing trace mica and

Bowl, flattened rolled rim (fig. 53), D. 22.

calcareous grits of greenish hue; no slip preserved.

Also: one Class 43).

Also: one combed amphora fragment, surface treatment as Peacock-Williams Class 43, only the fabric is orange with a

combed

amphora

fragment

(Peacock-Williams

with

trace

276. Amphora/jug shoulder fragment (fig. 56) with band of 3-toothed combing, MPD. 3.6. Byz? Pink-brown fabric with large milky quartz grains and calcareous grits.

Pipe stem, fluted with incised socket ring (fig. 58),

MPD. 2. T (cf. Armstrong figs. 19-20). Smooth pink-buff fabric containing grog and calcareous grits.

277. Amphora shoulder fragment (fig. 56) with three bands of fine 6-toothed combing, MPD. 6. Byz? Hard, orange fabric with buff outer surface, containing trace fine mica and calcareous grits.

PL 5 (Paleokhora)

24E

Size: 1.5 haElev: 44 m

PL 6 (Paleokhora) BM Map: 55.5N 24E Size: 1.7 haElev: 52 m Density: < .25/unit Periods: PH 3, LCL-EHL Visibility: Poor

Density: < 1/unit Periods: PH 22, A-EHL 1, CL-HL 2, ER 1, LR 2, Byz 2 Visibility: Poor

Sherds are scattered over NE-facing slopes at the W end of

Paleokhora ridge, to the E of PL 3 and 200 m W of PL 2; these slopes face LT 1 and LT 2. Moody located a sarcophagus lid here (a dressed slab, 120 x 70 x 15 cm) and

ridge, just E of PL 4. Massive walls (1.5 m thick) of the circular structure are partially standing at the highest point of the ridge. Moody was told that the fort was built during an attempted takeover of the V Soudha stronghold by the Turks.

but pottery is exposed in the terrace embankments below the rockshelters and some dressed blocks are reused in the

Earlier material is scrappy.

terrace walls. This may be burial grounds for settlements at PL 3 or LT 3 in the Greek periods. The area is much trampled due to construction of a house on the heights above.

Greek Periods

278.

Amphora

toe

(fig.

42),

splayed

with

a

cavity

underneath, D. 7. Cf. Vari no. 128 (LCL-EHL). Fabric as Standard Ware 3, but this specimen also contains phyllite.

POTTERY

Post-Roman

Greek Periods

272.

Figurine head, female (fig. 58), MPD. 3.5.

Tanagra

273.

Baggy kantharos (?) rim (fig. 45), est. D. 6.5.

Gently

Fine orange fabric with grey core.

One Byz-V glazed sherd in green & cream with sgraffito; one T (?) dark-green glazed sherd. TERRACOTTA 279.

tapered with handle attachment underneath (round section).

Fine

1, Byz-V 1, T2

Remains of a T fort are located on the S edge of Paleokhora

believed this to be part of an ancient cemetery, supported by discovery of several shallow rockshelters in the soft marl of the slope and a figurine find. The lid is no longer present,

CL-HL.

with

Post-Roman

TERRACOTTA

type, A-EHL.

fabric

imitation of this class, 7th century A.D.).

Two Byz-V glazed sherds, one in cream, one white undercoat; one T drip-painted in yellow.

BM Map: 55N

orange

brown core and micaceous (possibly Hayes:Sara Type 10, an

Post-Roman

271.

Hard

ARSW

Form 99 (6th century A.D.). calcareous and trace red grits.

pink-buff fabric with

interior and exterior.

black gloss on the

Pipe stem, hexagonal

with fluted socket (fig. 58),

MPD. 2.5. Impressed with circular flowerettes. Cf. Armstrong no. 336 (17th century A.D.). Fine, micaceous red fabric with dark wash.

Also: one black-gloss fragment in fine pink-buff fabric.

PERIVOLITSA DISTRICT (PR)

Early Roman

This district is at the W end of the high plateau, which falls

274. Cooking-pot rim, triangular with inner ledge for lid (fig. 48), D. 21. An ER type (cf. Sackett nos. B1-26 and

nearly sheer to the sea until one approaches Marathi to the S.

The only outlet is the canyon formed by the Ag. Nikolaos

C2-72, Ist century A.D.), but the ledge here is more pronounced. Coarse Red Ware (Garage): this specimen is gritted with large-grained quartz and bears traces of red wash on the exterior.

ravine, requiring a formidable descent. The upland topography is low in relief with the exception of several prominent hills, one of which (PR 3) attracted LR settlement. Perivolitsa possesses the only natural spring in Akrotiri, at the small monastery of Ag. Ioannis which sits on a

122

promontory N of the ravine. The nearest evidence for early historical activity is at PR 3, which lies 0.6 km to the W of the spring; PH activity is also minimal in its vicinity. It seems likely that settlement at all times compromised distance to the spring in order to cultivate the fertile Kalamari valley, which lies only 0.35 km to the SW of PR 3

283. Large open vessel rim (fig. 52), D. ? Triangular, hanging shape. LR? Dense, orange-brown fabric containing phyllite and calcareous grits.

284.

Beehive

kalathos

scoring on the interior.

in the neighboring district of Sternes-Kalamari.

body

fragment

9 mm thick.

Also: one Class 46).

BM Map: 58N 25.5E Size: 1.36ha Elev: 149m

combed

amphora

fragment

285. Shape unknown, straight pan-style handle with perforation (fig. 51), MPD. 7. Circular section; end missing.

This appears to be an early White Ware variant (6th to 7th century A.D.): soft, chalky buff-white fabric with pinkish

The site is located on the lower S and SE-facing slopes of Lepidhe hill, below a small chapel. Whatever stood here has been dismantled and heaped into piles of stone and rubble at

core; occasional red grits.

the SE base of the hill, probably to accommodate a new road

286. Jug handle, with deep medial MPD. 5. Fabric as above (LR?).

constructed of fieldstone with rubble is collapsed, forming a crater-like keeping animals, but no sherds were of the Ag. Nikolaos ravine lies 200 Following the ravine 500 m to the

TERRACOTTA

to the chapel. A wall foundation can be traced on the S side of road, stretching E-W at least 24 m; it is 1 m_ thick,

fill. The top of Lepidhe enclosure suitable for found there. The head m to the S of the hill. E, a small structure is

PITHARION DISTRICT (PT) This district in SW Akrotiri extends from the isthmus to the district of Aroni, and overlooks the head of Soudha Bay. Ancient settlement (mostly PH) is concentrated on a broad

low rectangular niche is cut in the base of the back wall, leading into a low-ceiling chamber (not accessible). The only sherds in the vicinity were Byz to modern in date, but

shelf below the high plateau, which narrows towards the E. Land falls steeply to the sea below the shelf, and there is no viable harborage.

the feature may be LR.

during

intensive

out (fig. 51),

containing grog and calcareous grits; one in orange fabric containing quartz, calcareous grits, and a hard red mineral.

sea (E). This appears to be a tomb, at some point converted to an altar or cubiculum. The back wall is carved from marl bedrock, and two projecting walls are built (these are plastered, probably recently), forming a square alcove. A

recorded

groove

Three small tile fragments: two in porous pink-brown fabric

visible on a cliff promontory facing the ravine entrance to the

were

(Peacock-Williams

Date unknown

Density: 3/unit (range 0-11) Periods: PH 6, LR 6+ Visibility: Good to poor

sherds

criss-cross

fabric with milky quartz, red and white grits (LR fabric).

PR 3 (Lepidhe) Intensively sampled

61

with

Soft, ruddy pink-orange

sampling.

PT 1 (Aghios Antonios)

BM Map: 56.5N

Predominant coarse fabrics (LR or later) are hard, pink-brown and orange containing numerous calcareous grits along with either grog or phyllite. Milky quartz grains are

17E

Size: 0.28 Elev: 136m Density: < 0.5/unit

also visible in many specimens. Standard Ware was not observed. Three beehive kalathos fragments were noted in

Visibility: Medium

POTTERY

Sherds probably belong to a site located in the vicinity of terraced olive groves at the E end of the district, at the base of a S-facing terrace cliff. The chapel of Ag. Antonios is

addition to the specimen catalogued below. was noted.

Periods: PH 1, ER 3, LR 2

Very little tile

built against the cliff, next to a cave that has been chiseled to

form an apsidal plan.

Late Roman

incorporating

280. Dish base with tiny foot (fig. 53), D. 12. ARSW Form 99B or C (6th to 7th century A.D.). Hard, fine orange paste

The

roughly-hewn

cave has a walled ashlar

blocks

of

entrance yellow

limestone, and may be of significance as a late historical

with lustrous, same-color slip traces on the interior.

sanctuary; foundations of the chapel utilize similar blocks, which are plastered over. The renovated church of the town

281. Bowl rim (fig. 51), D. 12. Shape as small version of LRC Form 10A (6th century A.D.), but fabric is coarse. Ruddy orange-beige fabric with occasional calcareous and red grits.

chapel. The S side of the church platform is buttressed by a high retaining wall which incorporates over 40 ashlar blocks. These are different from those used at the chapel: they are carved from a fine grey limestone and beautifully faced on all

282.

(examples:

Dish rim (fig. 55), D. 28.

of Pitharion stands on a blufftop 50 m to the NE of the

but

LRC Form 10A (6th to 7th

one

side.

The

0.70 x 0.21

blocks

are

distinctively

elongate

x 0.24 m; 0.89 x 0.28 x 0.24 m).

Slabs of pavement or facing (3.5 cm thick) are also present, and some of these bear traces of pink-white plaster. The workmanship suggests these blocks belong to a fine public building, very likely atemple. A well-built V-T house to the

century A.D.). Hard, pink-orange fabric containing yellow calcareous grits; red-orange slip, blackened outer rim surface.

123

of these elongate blocks, suggesting that their source was

Candarli form? Pink-orange fabric containing mica quartz; wheelmarks and trace red-brown slip underneath.

source: the spot is prominent and offers a superb vista of

293.

W (on the bluff above the small chapel) also reused several local.

The site of the renovated

church may

itself be the

Soudha Bay. The new church platform is of poured cement, and no artifacts are to be seen it the vicinity; the terrain

below

the church

falls steeply towards

the coast.

ridge (fig. 52), MPD.

Irregular rouletting on the exterior.

decoration

The

appears

to be

LR.

4.

No parallels found, but

Hard,

pink-beige

containing phyllite, quartz, mica, and calcareous grits.

relation between these remains at the church and the sherds in the grove to the SW is unclear.

|

fabric

SOUDHA DISTRICT (SD)

POTTERY

A portion of this district, which extends along the southern

rim of Soudha Bay, is included in the isthmus area and forms the head of the bay. A steep, rocky terrace descends to the coast, giving way to an extensive marshland that must be

Early Roman

287. Dish rim, square everted (fig. 50), D. 22. Early Candarli ware (cf. Sackett no. N3-9, Ist century A.D.). Fine orange fabric with trace gold mica; no slip preserved.

crossed when approaching Akrotiri from the east. Archaeological sites have not been recovered in the district.

STERNES-KALAMARI DISTRICT (SK)

288. Bowl rim, everted and tapering (fig. 50), D. 14. Three lines of scoring on the interior. Eastern Sigillata B imitation?

Jug handle with double

and

For

shape,

cf. Sackett

no. F2-19

This district is is bordered by to the SE. Its depression of

(1st century

A.D.). Orange fabric with pinkish core; fine appearance but contains mica with occasional grog and rounded dark-grey grits with surface sheen.

ravine;

at the SE edge of the Akrotiri high plateau; it the airport to the NW and overlooks Marathi greatest asset is the Kalamari valley, a fertile about 18 ha to the W of the Ag. Nikolaos

it is today

cultivated

in grains,

olives

and

vines.

Settlement here is 1 km W of the Ag. Ioannis spring in

289. Amphora rim, small and square (fig. 49), D. 14. Shape and fabric as Hayes:KN sub-Koan Type 22, no. A60 (2nd

Perivolitsa.

containing green-grey flinty grits.

date were discovered in this district or in Perivolitsa, it is reasonable to assume that a farm existed here. This part of Akrotiri is remote and lacks easy access to a coast, which may in part explain the absence of a more extensive settlement. Artifacts in the valley are dispersed due to

century A.D.).

Hard, yellowy-buff fabric with pinker core,

Late Roman?

290.

Beehive

kalathos ring with irregular scoring in (fig.

52), D. 24. This specimen has a small double lip and slightly flared base fitting. Shape as Johnston no. 94 (LR or later). Hard, clean orange-brown fabric.

plowing; a locus of activity could not be discerned.

SK 1 (Kalamari): one early historical sherd was recovered from a large, thin scatter of Byz-V material on rocky land between the Kalamari valley and the edge of the plateau

TERRACOTTA Three tile fragments: one in clean beige fabric occasional red and calcareous grits; one orange

overlooking Marathi.

with with

POTTERY

numerous phyllite chips and milky quartz; one orange with

calcareous and shell grits (LR?).

294.

Shape unknown, slightly curved body fragment with 2

scoremarks preserved on the exterior, MPD. 4. The closest parallel located for this fabric is a mainland ware identified with the Stratolaos workshop of the 4th century A.D. (cf.

PT 4 (Troulos): This is a PH site located at the E end of the district, 0.6 km WSW of the town of Aroni and 250 m SE of

the benchmark hill called Troulos (BM Map 56.5N, 18.5E).

Sparta

A single early historical sherd was collected.

no.

202).

Dark

brown

fabric

with

foliate

core

containing black and silver mica, pink and yellow quartz (or other sparkling), phyllite, and a dull black mineral; fully

POTTERY

slipped in a matt purple-brown gloss.

291. Dish rim, very worn, D.? century A.D.).

Most sherds in the valley are PH, and the small

amount of early historical material does not suggest a settlement of great size. Because no outlying sites of CL-ER

ARSW Form 91 (6th to 7th

SK 2 (Kalamari) BM Map: 57.5N 25E

Fine orange fabric; no slip preserved.

Size: 3 ha

Elev: 159m

PT 5 (Troulos): two early historical sherds were collected from an area of wash 250 m SW of the benchmark hill called Troulos; the source is unknown.

Density: 1.5/unit

POTTERY

This is a large concentration of PH sherds in the center of the Kalamari valley. CL-ER material is scrappy and worn, but may represent a small habitation somewhere on the

292.

Dish ? floor fragment (fig. 50), MPD.

Periods: PH 22, CL-ER 4, Byz-V 8 Visibility: Medium

9, thickness

12-13 mm. Impressed rows of stylized plant (willow?) on floor surface. No parallels found for motive: ARSW or

periphery of this fertile depression.

The valley was probably

farmed from site PR 3 (in Perivolitsa) in LR times.

124

A cave at Ag. Spyridon on the lower SE mountain slope (SO

POTTERY

4) likewise yielded PH and medieval or later sherds, nothing belonging to early historical periods.

Early Historical

Finds include: three worn CL-HL black-gloss fragments in fine, pink-buff fabric (two belong to small flat bases); one HL-ER amphora handle stump with oval section in Standard

STERNES DISTRICT (ST) This district centers on the modern town of Sternes at the SE

Ware 1.

end

SK 5 (Kalamari) BM Map: 57.5N 25.5E Size: 0.19 ha Elev: 150m Density: 1.5/unit

in

plateau;

it extends

N

to the

airport

historical periods, but a Byz-V hamlet is located just S of the airport. This site is reached by following a dirt road NNE out of the town of Sternes for 0.5 km. It is a walled settlement with standing plastered dwellings, a possible tower, and two threshing floors.

1, Byz-V 6, V-T 2

Finds are from a scatter of material at the E end of the Kalamari valley and are probably related to activity at SK 2.

ST 2 (Timios Stavros)

POTTERY

BM Map: 55.5N = 22.5E

Size: Tombs Elev: 100 m Periods: R (tombs), PH 3, HL-ER 1, LR 1 (sherds outside tombs)

Greek Periods

295. Oinochoe ? handle (fig. 40), circular shape with three grooves on the exterior, half-oval section, MPD. 4. Shape as Hayes:ROM no. 38 (A), but fabric suggests a LG-EO date.

Visibility: Reported as poor Moody

Coral fabric with glossy, polished surface; orange-red core with large quartz grains (up to 2 mm) and trace mica.

are found at Vari (fig. 13).

the modern town of Sternes.

slopes of the

These were not revisited, but a

sketch plan and notes are available in Moody’s fieldnotes

(5-20-81). The tombs are rectangular and connected by a 4.20 m passageway: the N tomb measures 3.6 x 3.2 m and has a semi-circular niche in the back (E) wall; the S tomb measures 4.7 x 3.8 m and has a partial dividing wall built up near the S end as if to form an arcosolium. The latter tomb

Fine, pink-buff fabric with light

grey core; trace black slip on the interior.

located two chamber tombs on the E

Panayia ravine, 300 m N of the LM 2 tomb and 0.70 km S of

296. Beehive kalathos ? rim, to straight-sided vessel (fig. 41), est. D. 34. No scoring on the interior, but similar shapes CL-HL.

contains three floor-to-ceiling ‘pillars’ projecting from the

Post-Roman

walls on the N and E

Six Byz-V glazed sherds (3 with sgraffito in yellow, one &

high

town and plateau to the N of it yielded nothing of early

Periods: PH 6, G-A 1, CL-HL Visibility: Medium

green

of the

jurisdiction, and S to include the rugged and steep plateau descent as far as Limni. Sites located by Moody are concentrated to the S along the Panayia ravine that drains just below the town and down, past Limni, to the sea. All ST sites, with the exception of ST 2, appear to be PH with occasional finds of Byz-V glazed, one T findspot and a minor component of HL/R noted, but not collected, at the ravine head (see LM 1 for discussion). Apart from this, the

Post-Roman

Eight Byz-V glazed sherds (all with sgraffito): four yellow-green, three in yellow, and one in green & cream.

but

white,

black-glazed sherd.

one

yellow,

and

one

cream;

one

was cut.

V-T

sides that were reserved when the tomb

This same buttressing was found in a tomb at site

KE 5 on the E coast of Akrotiri; whether these features relate

to structural stability of the soft marl, or to stylistic elements

Unknown date

is not clear. Some cut blocks were noted outside the tombs, along with a few sherds.

297.

POTTERY

Beehive kalathos ? body fragment (fig. 57), with deep

regular horizontal scoring on the interior, curvature suggests D. 26. Fabric seems PH: yellow-beige with greenish core, containing protruding grits of phyllite, glassy quartz, and

Roman

299. Dish rim, est. D. 30.

hard white (shell?). METAL 298.

Shape is a simplified

LRC Form

10 (6th to 7th century A.D.), but this specimen is a local coarse version. Hard, orange-brown fabric, densely-gritted

with phyllite, quartz, mica and shell grits.

Cannon ball half-section (fig. 298), iron, D. 5.7. SKLOKOS

Also: Moody’s notes mention orange-pink fabric.

DISTRICT (SO)

This district is in the E range of the Akrotiri mountains, and includes the highest point, Mt. Skoklos, at an elevation of 528 m. PH finds are reported from the peak, which may have functioned as a Minoan sanctuary (site SO 1); no clear evidence was located for historical material from the vicinity.

STAVROS

a H/R

amphora

base

in

DISTRICT (SV)

This NW coastal district includes the W (Vardies) peak of the Akrotiri mountains, the Trakhili promontory with the town of Stavros immediately below, and a strip of coast

125

further SW of this. A small harbor with a protected entrance separates the steep mountain coastline from the Trakhili promontory which appears to have been the focus of activity in the area from PH times. Urban development of Stavros

Late and Post-Roman

303.

battles with encroaching sands and dunes, both a hindrance

16 black and

mentions

road

black-washed

tiles;

red-gloss

| Moody

fill at the

SE

fragments

(Fieldnotes

edge

as well

1-31-79)

of Stavros

Nerokampos ravine that was also rich in finds.

Also: two Byz-V glazed handle in red & cream).

one a ribbon

exterior.

The coastline

SV 5 (Lera Cave) BM Map: 65N_ 18.5E Size: Cave Elev: 100 m Periods: PH, G-Byz

Visibility: Excavated

further along.

The cave is on the upper W-facing

mountain

SV 4 (Timios Stavros) BM Map: 65N_ 18E Size: 0.28 ha Elev: 13 m Density: 1/unit

peak overlooking

Stavros

slopes of the Vardies

and the W

coast of

Akrotiri. It was first investigated by Faure (1960, 213-14) and later excavated by Davaras (1967, 495-97). The cave consists of three chambers, one of which contained offerings

of nearly every period from Neolithic to Byz times.

Periods: PH 8, CL 1, CL-HL 2, ER 2, LR 1, Byz-V 2 Visibility: Built over in 1994

Faure

uncovered ‘numerous’ finds of CL-HL date 40 cm below the surface, including Attic vases of the 5th century B.C., lamps,

plaques with floral relief, and clay heads of a female deity.

Sherds were collected from a small beachrock ridge in the

Davaras’ excavation produced similar objects (also dated to

center of the small town of Stavros, 300 m from the shore

and S of Timios Stavros church. The ridge was disturbed by construction in 1979 and more fully developed by 1994. The

CL and HL) along with ostraka, two of which read [Tavi kai Noépdat (‘Pan and the Nymphs’). Locals claim that many figurines were removed from the cave during the making of a

area is today partially covered by sand dunes.

film in the 1960’s at Stavros.

POTTERY

SV 7 (Tigani) BM Map: 65.5N 17.5E Size: 6 ha (quarry) Elev: 0 m Periods: Unknown

Greek Periods

300. Amphora ring foot (fig. 41), D. 4. Shape as Attic jar in Grace fig. 2 (Sth century B.C.). Orange fabric, clean except for occasional large calcareous grits and fine mica.

Visibility: Good, but partially submerged This is an extensively quarried stretch of aeolianite on the coastal promontory N of the town of Stavros; shallows may also have been exploited for salt. Wave-notches indicate sea

Also: one black-gloss fragment in fine, pink-buff fabric. Early Roman

level was

Moody

Juglet shoulder fragment (fig. 50), mould-made with

at some

1987, 23).

point

1-1.5 m higher than present (see

Beachrock along this coast preserves

large numbers of cemented sherds, but these are too abraded for study.

leaf scrolling in relief above carination, shoulder D. 8. The closest parallel located is Arretine relief ware (cf. Hofmann Dechellette Form 60/61, Ist century A.D.), but the gloss on

TERSANA DISTRICT (TS)

this specimen is untypical and a much later date (T?) is not ruled out. Fine, pink-brown fabric with thin but glossy same-color slip merging with clay. Basin rim (fig. 48), D. > 25.

(one green,

One tile fragment in clean buff fabric with black wash on the

also

near the

harbor, contains two wells with stone-built walls of unknown date; one is 275 m inland from the outlet, the other 65 m

302.

sherds

TERRACOTTA

as

in this area has a light scatter of late historical sherds including V-T glazed and wavy-incised examples that are probably Byz-V in date. The ravine, which empties into the

301.

Cf. Arthur no. 7 for a

similar vessel (7th to 8th century A.D.). Hard beige fabric, micaceous (gold and silver), with occasional 2 mm quartz grains.

to surface investigation. Most material encountered in the area has been disturbed (SV 4) or worn by wave action (SV 7). A cave sanctuary dedicated to Pan and the Nymphs on the heights above (SV 5) was used in all periods. Abundant early historical artifacts were noted in land and road fills and warrant only brief mention because the source is unclear: fill at SV 2 near the Mavrokephalo promontory W of Stavros

included

Amphora neck, upper handle (broad, oval section) and

short, simple rim (fig. 52), D. 8.

This district is on the NW coast of Akrotiri, 2 km S of Stavros and 1 km N of Kalathas Bay. Tersana lies at the contact of the Mesozoic and Neogene limestone bedrock

Cf. Hayes:KN Type 1A

zones that run SE across peninsula. The area is heavily karstified, and its distinguishing landforms are large

flat-based basin with grooved rim (lst to 2nd century A.D.).

Rim grooves and fabric appear to be Knossian: orange-buff

sinkholes produced by collapsed caverns. The coastline consists of rocky promontories, relieved by a sea inlet with the modern village of Tersana, and an artificially-sanded beach, at its head. The 200-m long inlet cuts obliquely to the NE, providing sheltered anchorage for small boats. At its landward end the inlet connects to the Lower Tersana Basin,

surface with redder core; only calcareous grits present.

126

a large marshy sinkhole (250 x 400 m) containing red sandy

POTTERY

cultivated in plants tolerant of brackish water.

Greek Periods

soil.

The basin is barely higher than sea level and partially

A ridge to the

N separates this basin from the Upper Tersana Basin, covering 12 ha, and probably important for cultivation in all

304. Bowl rim, square with small everted lip (fig. 40), est. D. 15. Cf. Callaghan no. H10-6 (LCL). Yellow-orange fabric containing quartz.

periods. NW of this, and nearer the coast, is the small lake or pond called Limnes that holds brackish water in a marsh environment.

305. Bowl or jug, small flat base (fig. 45), D. 5. Soft, buff fabric with light grey core containing calcareous grits and quartz; black gloss on the exterior. CL-HL.

Archaeological sites are, for the most part, situated on ridges

and hills that surround these landforms, including the inlet;

the distance between contiguous sites rarely exceeds 200 m. Most sites are located near or on the verge of sandy red lowland deposits today. cultivated in vines. The

Also: five fragments of black-gloss ware, 3 in fine buff, 2 in powdery orange with poor-quality gloss (CL-HL).

reconstructed tilt of the Akrotiri landmass to the SE in LR times means that the Lower Basin would have provided a shallow protected harbor prior to this when sea levels may

Post-Roman

have been up to 1.5 m higher (see Chapter 6.1 for discussion). Sea level fluctuations affecting the Lower Basin are indicated by the presence of aeolianite deposits (a

Two Byz-V sherds: one glazed in triple-ridged coarse handle with phyllite.

yellow-green; one A beehive kalathos

favored source for quarried stone in antiquity) interbedded

fragment gritted with quartz and siltstone may be of this period.

the KASP

TERRACOTTA

with red sediments.

A pollen core taken from the basin by

project indicates a greater marine environment in

later PH periods than at present (Moody 1987, ch. 2C).

A

displacement of 1.2 m for ancient warships is suggested by

One tile fragment calcareous grits.

large vessels.

TS 1b (Tersana Village)

Archaeological evidence in the district indicates CL-EHL

Size: 0.37 Elev: 10m Density: 0.5/unit Periods: PH 6, CL 1, LHL 1

the excavator of Phalasarna (Hadjidaki 1988, 92), so it is unlikely that the Lower Basin could have supported traffic of

BM Map: 63N_

activity at most sites situated near the landforms discussed

above.

Few LHL finds were identified, but the ER period is

in beige fabric containing quartz and

17E

represented on many of the earlier sites. LR finds occur only at two sites near the Upper Basin and the pond; the lack of activity in the inlet/harbor area suggests a change in status

Visibility: Good

in areas previously unoccupied; otherwise the through all periods is the re-use of existing sites.

306. Skyphos base fragment (fig. 45), D. 6. Fine, pink-buff fabric; fully slipped in black gloss but fired red underneath. CL.

A few sherds were collected from a light scatter to the NE of

for the port, and agrees with the evidence for lower sea levels in the LR period. Two or three small medieval sites appear

the modern village.

tendency

TS 1a (Aghios Nikolaos)

BM Map: 62.5N

17E

Size: 1.76ha Elev: 32 m Density: Unknown

307. Frying-pan rim, flanged for lid (fig. 43), est. D. 25. See no. AT 9-83 above for similar shape and fabric (LHL?). Coarse, pink-buff fabric containing quartz and phyllite chips.

Visibility: Poor (area developed)

TS 2 (Great Karst Animal Fold)

Sherds were collected from the top of a coastal hill forming

Size: 0.25 ha Elev: 30m Density: < 1/unit Periods: PH 3, LHL-ER 1, Arab-Byz 7, Byz-V 3+ Visibility: Good

Periods: LCL 1, CL-HL 6, Byz-V 2

BM Map: 63.5N

the SW border of the Lower Tersana Basin; the Tersana inlet

and the modern village lie directly N. Moody located cultural fill with only PH sherds in the scarp of a road on the E slope, and suggests that the hilltop may have been leveled at some later point in blocks on the hilltop visit. As with most hill has since been

antiquity. She also noted cut that were found to be removed of the coastline encircling the developed with villas, but

supported a small port settlement. includes PH material on the slopes.

The

size

This designation

aeolianite at a later inlet, the probably

17E

is for a significant feature of the local

landscape, situated on the NW

end of the same ridge as site

TS 10. Collapse of the ridge peak forms a large natural corral that has been enhanced with field stone for use as an

provided

animal fold.

Foundations of a small Byz-V structure stand a

few meters to the SW: a single cut block bears a cross, marking this as a chapel. An entrance to a large partially-collapsed cave is on the S side of the ridge, clogged by goat scats.

127

308.

Jar rim and body fragment (fig. 46), D. 30.

Everted

313.

and thickened rim with beading under lip; constricted neck.

The body sherd is incised with a naturalistic willow motive, MPD. 7.5. For shape, cf. Sabratha no. 146, Ist century B.C. Standard Ware 1. Also:

seven

White

10th-century

fabrics;

Ware

sherds,

including

2

observed on the site.

Byz-V

glazed

314.

nestled

fragment

(fig. 45), MPD.

diamonds

in relief (3rd

to

2.

Ist

Amphora handle, long shaft with oval section and

median groove on the exterior (fig. 49), MPD.

handle

sherds

relief bowl

with

century B.C.). Fine, reddish fabric with maroon gloss. 11.

Possibly

one of Peacock-Williams Class 16 variants (1st century B.C.

fragments, in the smooth white clay characteristic of 9th or several

Molded

Thin-walled,

to Ist century A.D.). Silty, smooth pink-buff fabric containing numerous calcareous grits and occasional quartz.

were

Also: one black-gloss fragment in fine, pink-buff fabric.

TS 3 (Peaked Hill) BM Map: 63N_ 17E Size: approx. 0.50 ha

Roman

Elev: 16m

Density: Dumped material

Periods: A-HL 1, CL-HL 5+, LHL-ER 1, ER 2+

315. Amphora handle, upper attachment (fig. 49), MPD. 7. Round section. Hard, pale orange fabric containing calcareous grits and a hard, lipstick-red mineral. ER?

Finds are from a small steep hill at the NE edge of the Lower Basin and to the W of TS 17. Moody found that the hilltop

316.

Visibility: Access restricted in 1995

Two basin wall fragments, MPD. 9.

When fitted these

show thickening towards the base and rim as Candarli Form

had been disturbed by bulldozing, but located a bedrock cutting there, reinforced with concrete (modern?), around

1 basins, but the fabric is Standard Ware 1.

which large quantities of sherds had been heaped, including

TERRACOTTA

densely-packed with sherds was found at the W base, no doubt removed there from the hilltop. A separate feature lies

Lakonian types in beige fabric with black wash.

slightly curved and running E-W. Piles of stone and rubble fill lay at each end of the wall, including chunks of aeolianite

BM Map: 63.5N__17.5E

tile and amphorae. installation on the

By 1995 there top of the hill,

was and

a new utility a rubble pile

The dumped

10 m W of this: a 25-m long wall foundation (0.80 m thick),

ER 3, LR 2, Byz-V 2

Visibility: Poor (under development) This site is defined by Moody as four separate PH scatters around Limnes pond, each including a component of

and variety of

historical

amphorae are hardly reflected in the few specimens included below.

1994.

Callaghan no. X32 and Keos no. 10-5 (A-HL).

Flaky orange

Amphora toe (fig. 42), D. 6.

continuous

Finds were collected from the NE, E, and SE edges of

Cf. Vari no. Standard Ware 1.

130

POTTERY

Splayed with a cavity

and

Keos

no.

50-3

Classical to Hellenistic 317. Amphora toe, est. D. 7 (very worn). Splayed with a cavity underneath. As Vari no. 128 (LCL-EHL). Hard, light

311. Amphora rim (fig. 41), D. 16. Triangular mushroom shape as Callaghan no. H8-17 (350 B.C.). Bright orange,

containing

quartz, grog, and phyllite.

312.

represents

tile fragments. This site, probably a small farm, lies 500 m WNW of the main early historical site at TS 10. A peak sherd density reading of 9/unit was taken by Moody from the SE rim of the pond.

fabric containing calcareous grits, grog and milky quartz.

fabric

probably

reed beds in standing water. A natural terrace midway down the S slope of the pond still preserves stone tumble and a few

309. Amphora lower handle attachment, thumb-impressed (fig. 57), MPD. 6.8. For similarly impressed handles, cf.

pitted

This

Limnes, a small karstic depression 200 m across, supporting

Greek Periods

underneath. (LCL-EHL).

material.

spread in the later periods, but the nature and extent of it could not be determined due to bull-dozing over the site in

POTTERY

310.

tiles, including

Periods: PH 36, LCL-EHL 2, CL-HL 2,

location for domestic habitation; a watch facility or a harbor

The numbers

numerous

Size: 0.65 ha Elev: 12-27 m Density: Unknown, but see below

vicinity complicated attempts to date the wall, but no post-R material was noted in the area. Although roof tiles were found, topography of the hilltop makes it an inhospitable likely.

included

TS 4 (Limnes)

and one cut limestone block (52 x 31 x 17 cm). The wall runs partially across a now dry ravine delta where it enters the Lower Basin. Dispersal of the dumped sherds in the

station seems more

material

calcareous

grits

and

orange fabric with buff-grey core; trace quartz and mica.

occasional

318. Amphora toe (fig. 41), D. 5. Splayed with a cavity underneath. Cf. Vari no. 128 (LCL-EHL). Standard Ware 2.

Lekane ring foot, slightly splayed with flat floor (fig.

40), est. D. 12. Cf. Vari no. 89 (LCL-EHL). grading to orange on the surface.

Also: one worn flat base fragment in fine, pink-buff fabric

Fine buff fabric

with high black gloss (CL-HL).

128

Early Roman

Post-Roman

319. Amphora rim and convex neck with handle stump (fig.

Three Byz-V glazed sherds, two in green and one in cream;

49), D. 7. Cretan Type AC2 (cf. Markoulaki fig. 19-e), Ist century A.D. Fabric appears to be Standard Ware 1, but only calcareous grits visible.

two black-glazed sherds (V-T); glaze with a yellow rim (V7).

320.

Intensively sampled

Cooking vessel body fragment, MPD.

2.5.

one

sherd

in rust-colored

TS 10 (Main site)

Coarse

exterior and interior.

BM Map: 63.5N 17E Size: 2.55 ha Elev: 23.5 m Density: 11.5/unit (range 0-38) Periods: PH 7, A-HL 1, CL 2, LCL-EHL 2, CL-HL 7+, HL 3, ER 21+, LR 6+ Visibility: Good

Late and Post-Roman

This is a large early historical site at the S end of a limestone

Brown Ware (Garage), mica; surface burnt.

well-gritted

with

quartz

and

gold

321. Cup or bowl flat base, D. 4. Local slipped ware. Standard Ware 2 with traces of washy red gloss on the

ridge that defines the E and N border of the Upper Tersana Basin (fig. 28). Walls have been dismantled or reworked,

322. Bowl rim (fig. 54), D. 26. LRC Form 3 (5th century A.D.). Pink-brown fabric with trace calcareous grits;

but the site is littered with sherds in good state of preservation. The ridge affords a commanding view of the central Akrotiri plateau and is surrounded by terra- rosa

remnants of thin pink-brown gloss on interior and exterior.

lowlands today planted in vines.

Also: one combed amphora body sherd (Peacock-Williams Class 43); two Byz-V glazed sherds in green and yellow &

The

S side of the ridge

forms a scarp carved by a large ravine (now dry) that drains from the NE, emptying into the Lower Tersana Basin 400 m to the SW. Existing walls on the ridgetop spill onto the W slope, forming an irregular pattern of 7-8 triangular and rectangular field enclosures. Walls incorporate ancient pottery as fill, and also include fragments of limestone paving slabs. A great deal of stone has been cleared into towering heaps. A two-tiered, 2-m high wall shores up the W side of the ridge (fig. 29); patches of impacted rubble may indicate that the original embankment was faced. A press

cream.

TERRACOTTA Tile fragments from the site include: one black-washed specimen of Lakonian type in red-orange fabric containing mica and quartz; one flat specimen in sparsely-gritted buff fabric.

weight (catalogued below) is wedged near the top of this wall. An ashlar block (0.87 x 0.55 x 0.38 m) lies near the wall base, and three others of similar dimension are found on the site.

TS 8 (north of TS 10)

BM Map: 63.5N 17E Size: 0.65 ha Elev: 24m Density: 0.5/unit Periods: PH 5, ER 3, Byz-V 4, V-T 2 Visibility: Medium (partly disturbed by a new house)

A main occupation level lies close to the surface: old plow

Finds are from the elbow of the limestone ridge occupied by

marks in one enclosure expose high concentrations of pottery at a depth of 50 cm. It is difficult to date the reconfiguration

activity from TS 10. Byz and later material is probably associated with TS 2.

sherds of certain post-R date were not identified, and the triangular enclosures are similar to those elsewhere thought

POTTERY

a fragment of the box to a R stone sarcophagus on the S side of the site near the ravine; a fragment of the lid slab was relocated in 1995.

of the site, clearly more

TS 10 to the S and TS 2 to the W; these certainly represent

to be LR (see site AR 6).

Early Roman 323.

Bowl flat base (fig. 47), D. 7.

but

In 1978 Moody located the lid and

ridge slopes; as today, the Upper Basin was reserved for cultivation. Sherd counts dwindled to 1 per unit approaching

Standard Ware 2); the interior is slipped in red. Standard Ware 2.

habitation,

with sherd densities falling off sharply both E and W of the

mica, and numerous sheeny black grits (same mineral as in

(late Ist century B.C.).

than

32 units were sampled (301 sherds). The site was found to be concentrated in the area described by the existing walls,

This appears to be an

imitation of the Pompeiian Red Ware type (lst to 2nd century A.D.). Coarse red-brown fabric containing quartz,

324. Juglet flat base (fig. 47), D. 3.5. Cf.

for farming

the N end of the ridge (but see TS 8). CL-HL and ER sherds were found to be mixed over most of the site, but only a small amount of LHL was identified and the status of the site

Sackett no. Al-7

may have altered between the 2nd century B.C. and Augustan times. In addition to those catalogued below, 70 sherds of Standard Ware 1 were recorded, and 16 sherds of

325. Casserole horizontal handle stump, MPD. 2.5. Coarse Brown Ware (Garage), heavily-gritted with quartz and gold mica.

Standard Ware 1 with fine added grog grits (a variant not

identified in the Garage collection, but found on several sites (see also LT 3 and MR 2). Three sherds of Standard Ware 2 also contained fine added grog. 45 sherds were identified as LR fabrics (including shell and phyllite-gritted fabrics). A

129

small number of beehive kalathoi recorded, and 60 tile fragments.

fragments

(4)

(Conspectus Form 2, mid-Ist century A.D.). Hard, pink-buff fabric containing trace calcareous grits and mica; fully

were

slipped in red-brown gloss.

POTTERY

337.

Greek Periods

338. Shallow tray, flat base to rim (fig. 48), D. ? but circular and large. Profile as Sackett no. C2-77, mid-lst century

A.D. Standard Ware 1; fully slipped in white.

327. Storage jar, robust triangular rim with decorated relief band below (fig. 41), D. 13.5. Applied relief decoration is common on 6th to Sth century B.C. pithoi (cf. Keos fig. 5.8), but triangular rims are common up through the HL period. Hard, sandy orange fabric with grey lens in core; contains quartz and calcareous grits.

339. Beehive kalathos extension ring (fig. 48), D. 26. Diagonal scoring inside. This specimen is identical to Sackett’s ring no. A2-96 (Ist century A.D.). Standard Ware 1 with fine grog added. 340. Deep dish rim (fig. 47), D. 22. For the genre, cf. Hayes:KN no. 125 (2nd century A.D.). Standard Ware 1.

Skyphos handle fragment, horizontal with oval section,

MPD. 2.3. CL. Fine, pink-buff fabric with black gloss.

329. Dish ring foot (fig. 45), D. 8. A single line rouletting on the interior, and an abandoned attempt

piercing.

‘Umetta a

(late Ist to 2nd century A.D.). Coarse but thin light-brown fabric; inclusions as Standard Ware 2, but more heavily gritted with quartz.

326. Amphora, thumb-impressed lower handle attachment (fig. 57), MPD. 8. For impressed handles in micaceous fabric, cf. Callaghan no. X32 (A) and Keos no. 10-5 (A-HL). Dense, micaceous orange fabric, also containing calcareous grits.

328.

Cup with raised flat base (fig. 46), D. 3.

collarino’ shape in local fabric, as Hayes:KN Type 2, no. 73

Cf. Vari nos. 27 and 37 (325-310

341. Jug handle fragment of ER sliced variety, MPD. Standard Ware 2.

of at

B.C.) and

3.5.

342. Bowl rim, thin and plain (fig. 50), D. uncertain but large. ARSW Form 50B (4th century A.D.) Hard,

Coldstream no. H-52 (mid-4th century B.C.). Fine, pink fabric fully slipped with black gloss; trace calcareous grits.

pink-orange fabric containing fine mica (only visible with a lens) and trace quartz; deep coral matt gloss.

A fingermark is visible under the base.

330. Amphora, upper handle attachment (fig. 41), MPD. 8.5. A robust form with oval section. Cf. Vari no. 123 (LCL-EHL). Pink-buff fabric containing calcareous grits, quartz and grog.

Also: ten sherds of Coarse Red Ware (Garage); one sherd of Coarse Brown Ware (Garage).

331.

Jug ring-foot with low-slung floor (fig. 42), D. 8. Cf.

343. Dish base with a low foot marked by a chamfered step on the exterior (fig. 53), D. 14. LRC Form 1B (5th century A.D.). Hard, pink-beige fabric containing trace mica and

332.

Amphora toe (fig. 42), D. 4.2.

Callaghan no. H12-43 (300-275 B.C.). fabric with inclusions as Standard Ware 2.

Light

pink-grey

Cf. Keos no. 5-8 (late 4th to 3rd

66,

is grouped

no.

82-P

calcareous grits; fully slipped in orange-red matt gloss.

A small rounded form

with a cavity underneath.

century B.C.).

Late Roman

344.

0222)

but

under

Standard Ware 2 with greying in the core.

R

amphorae.

345. Bowl rim, D. 17. Fabric as no. 20 above.

333. Bowl rim with narrow collar (fig. 42), est. D. 10. Cf. Callaghan plain bowl no. H32-17, 175-50 B.C.). Fine orange fabric.

Early Roman

347.

334. Olpe rim, everted and tapered (fig. 47), D. 9. Cf. Callaghan no. H37-11 for similar Augustan form that is also found in Garage deposits (no. 15). Standard Ware 2.

Cf.

Hayes:HB

fig.

A line of small incised

The shape is reminiscent

Hard, orange fabric containing numerous

348. Cooking-pot rim (fig. 52), D. 16. “Duck-bill’ shape with rectangular handle attachment at mouth level; single shoulder score. The (cf. Johnston nos. blackened all over phyllite and crushed

Dish foot (fig. 50), D. 8. Italian Sigillata imitation with

floor.

3 (5th century A.D.).

calcareous grits and trace mica.

trace mica; fully slipped in red-brown gloss.

on

Bowl rim (fig. 51 ), D. 18.

of LRC Form 10.

fabric of medium hardness, containing calcareous grits and

rouletting

Form

circles on the exterior below rim.

335. Dish rim (fig. 50), D. 18. Italian Sigillata imitation, form as Sackett no. C1-9 (mid-1st century A.D.). Pink-beige

feather

LRC

346. Bowl rim and upper wall (fig. 54), D. 22. LRC Form 3C (Sth century A.D.) with a single line of rouletting on collared rim; pierced for mending on upper wall. Very hard, pink-brown fabric containing trace mica; fully slipped in red-orange gloss. Clay darkens towards the base.

Also: two sherds of Smooth Salmon Ware (Garage, HL-ER).

336.

Dish base with chamfered stepped foot as above, only

higher (fig. 53), D. 23. LRC Form 1B (Sth century A.D.). Fabric and slip as no. 19 above.

The same shape is illustrated in Hallager (pl.

16-5

0

rim is a common 6th century A.D. form 38 and 56). Coarse orange fabric, and through core; gritted with quartz, shell.

Date Uncertain

POTTERY

349. Amphora rim, (fig. 57), D. 12. Hooked rims are found on Ist-century B.C. amphorae (Sabratha, fig. 86), and a similar specimen in Hallager (no. 73-P 1020) is thought to be Cretan type AC7 (LHL). A fabric similar to ours, however, is discussed in Hayes:KN (p. 151) and may be R. Porous,

Archaic

deep pink fabric containing quartz and numerous shiny black

355. Cup base with low splayed foot (fig. 40), D. 6. Cf. Callaghan no. H2-3 (A). Hard, pink-brown fabric with thin black gloss on the exterior; inclusion range as Standard Ware

1 but this specimen contains numerous calcareous grits.

grits.

Post-Roman

TERRACOTTA 350.

Tile rim fragment (fig. 57), MPD.

8.

Lakonian type:

slight curvature, 12 mm thick. Porous orange fabric, heavily

tempered with calcareous grits, phyllite, grog, quartz, and the

sheeny black grits found in Standard Ware 2; red wash on

the exterior.

351.

Tile

fragment,

MPD.

8.

Lakonian

type:

slight

One Byz-V sherd in yellow glaze.

TERRACOTTA One tile fragment in beige fabric, sparsely-gritted with quartz

and mica CL-HL.

(as some

black-washed

examples

curvature, 14 mm thick. Pink-buff fabric, heavily tempered with calcaeous grits and grog; black wash with red mottling on the exterior.

TS 15 (Lepidhe) BM Map: 62.5/63N 16.5E Size: Unknown Elev: 15-20 m

352.

Periods: PH 15+, CL-HL 2, HL 2, ER 3 Visibility: Good

Tile fragment, MPD.

12.

Possible Korinthian type:

flat, 18 mm thick. Pink-orange fabric, heavily tempered with calcareous grits, grog, and the sheeny black grits of Standard

Ware 2; black wash with red mottling on the exterior.

353. Tile fragment, MPD. 6. Possible Korinthian type: flat, 20-22 mm thick. Heavily tempered in grog (up to 7 mm), quartz, and calcareous grits; red wash on the exterior.

Weight

stone

for

a beam

press

(fig.

59).

at

the

short

ends.

Similar

weights

Density: Unknown

This site is on a large karstified coastal hill N of the Tersana

inlet (W of the Upper Basin), which supported an important PH habitation. Moody collected early historical sherds from deposits displaced for road contruction on the S slopes; the extent of the site is unknown, and the area was built over by

A

POTTERY

Late

Hellenistic

trapezoidal-cut limestone block (1.54 x 0.62 x 0.62 m) with

slots

10).

1994. This site, along with TS la, may have been part of a small coastal settlement encircling the harbor.

STONE 354.

at TS

of

Classical/Early Hellenistic date were recovered in the Southern Argolid, and were used to crush olives (Jameson, Runnels, and van Andel 1994, figs. 5.6 and 5.7 and p. 384).

The TS 10 specimen differs in that the capstan posts fitted horizontally, not vertically, into the block. Weight stones resembling this type have also been studied in Cyprus, where one example from Kouklia is believed to be of Hellenistic date (Hadjisavvas 1992, 95).

Also: several other black-washed tile fragments on the site are in a grey-to-beige fabric, sparsely-gritted with quartz. Of the numerous plain tiles, the most common fabric is bright orange or pink-orange, containing calcareous grits, grog, and

356. Tray, rim to base fragment (fig. 41), D. > 25. The base

has a pronounced ledge profile; the wall angles sharply to an everted rim. Cf. Coldstream no. H-72 (EHL). Red-orange fabric containing calcareous grits, quartz, and mica; brick-red slip on the exterior.

357.

Horizontal

handle and wall fragment

vessel (fig. 45), MPD.

of unknown

7.5.

A flat, solid lug-type handle of

located, but the ware is HL. black gloss on the exterior.

Local grey fabric (Garage) with

rectangular shape, pierced with two holes.

Parallels not

quartz; several specimens also contain chaff and phyllite.

Also: a black-gloss fragment in fine, pink-buff fabric.

type also found at site KA 1.

Early Roman

TS 11 (Makhairidha)

358.

Amphora rim to shoulder fragment with handle stump

359.

Amphora button toe, MPD.

Three tiles are distinguished by a lime-slurry swirl pattern, a

BM Map: 63.5N —_16.5E Size: Unknown Elev: 32 m Density: Unknown Periods: PH 1, A 1, CL-HL 1, Byz-V 1

Visibility: Not revisited

Several sherds were collected from the slopes of a coastal hill

to the NW of Limnes pond (TS 4). No structural remains were reported, and the origin of the material is unclear.

(fig. 49), D. 7. Cretan Type AC1b (cf. Markoulaki fig. 16-f), Ist century A.D. Standard Ware 1.

Cretan type, such as AC1b above.

version).

6.

This belongs to an ER

Standard Ware 1 (a sandy

Also: an early ARSW bowl fragment (bright pink-orange fabric with matching slip).

TERRACOTTA 360.

XILIARIS MOUNTAIN DISTRICT (XD)

Tile ? fragment, moulded with elephant in relief (fig.

This

57), MPD. 8.5; 10 mm thick. Beige fabric with numerous large calcareous grits; brick-red slip on the exterior. Date?

Also: one black-washed beige fabric (CL-HL).

tile

fragment

in

TS 17 (across ravine from TS 10) BM Map: 63N_ 17E Size: < 2 haElev: 22 m Density: Unknown, but see below

Periods: PH 1, LCL-EHL 4, CL-HL 1, V 1 Visibility: Site developed This site was located on a hill on the S side of the ravine from site TS 10. The hill is at the E end of a string of

prominences that form a ridge dividing the Upper and Lower

Tersana Basins. Moody found the top of the hill bulldozed, but collected sherds from the W slope and recorded a peak density reading of 10/unit. Sherds were observed to continue

across a dirt road to near a peaked hill (site TS 3).

TS

17

POTTERY Greek Periods

361. Mortarium rim, hefty hanging shape (fig. 41), D. 25-30. Cf. Keos no. 14-5 (CL) and other similar mortars in Vari fig. 10 (LCL-EHL). Dense fabric of a vivid burnt-orange color, containing quartz.

362. Lekane ? ring foot, low and splayed (fig. 40), est. D. 13. Crudely crafted. Cf. Vari lekane no. 90 for shape (LCL-EHL), but the fabric is the same as the mortar above, and may belong.

363.

Amphora toe (fig. 42), D. 7.

Splayed with a cavity

underneath. The floor drops deep into the toe. Cf. Vari no. 130 and Callaghan no. H12-65 (LCL-EHL). Standard Ware 1 with occasional small phyllite chips.

364. Amphora toe (fig. 42), D. 8. Splayed with a cavity underneath. The cavity on this specimen rises to a button. Exact parallels not found, but cf. Keos no. 6-14 for similar profile (LCL-EHL). Hard, beige fabric containing quartz. Post-Roman

365. Jar shoulder fragment with a band of fine wavy combing surmounted by register of interrupted combing (fig.

56), MPD. 8. For the decorative style, cf. Enkomi no. 16 (13th to 14th century A.D.). Brick-pink fabric with glossy cream slip on the exterior, applied in uneven strokes.

TERRACOTTA One

tile

fragment

in

sparsely-gritted

beige

black-washed examples elsewhere in the district).

fabric

CL-HL.

is in the

Akrotiri

mountain

range,

NW

No evidence of activity, PH or later, has been recovered.

sparsely-gritted

was built over with new properties in 1994.

district

of

Sklokos and SE of Gouverneto; the highest point is at 392 m.

(as

132

CHAPTER 8: AKROTIRI SETTLEMENT PATTERNS

8.1

Sites (figs. 60-66)

where its formidable rim levels out to meet the plateau shelf that descends to Kalathas Bay and the Kokkinos Pyrgos peninsula.

This section presents a summary of site distributions and patterns in Akrotiri, with sites described individually and in greater detail in the Site Gazetteer. The primary aim is to flesh out the dots on the maps,

8.1.1.1

and provide some level of accountability for decisions

made in interpreting the settlement landscape. Discussion is organized geographically, with the Central Corridor, South Coast, West Coast, and Isthmus treated separately. This arrangement is partly because of geophysical differences, partly because the settlement distribution also conforms broadly to these areas, and partly because this structure aids final synthesis. For each area an attempt is made to assess the periods under concern distinctly, under the headings Classical and Hellenistic, Late Hellenistic, Early Roman, and Late Roman Sites. Generally speaking, the Classical and Hellenistic category can be more specifically defined as a Late Classical/Early Hellenistic phase for which evidence is abundant on Akrotiri, but inevitably there is material that defies strict bracketing, making it necessary to adopt a more general heading. Period abbreviations in the text follow those set out in the Chapter 7.1 introduction to the Site Gazetteer. A certain amount of analysis is interwoven in the discussion, to help highlight those issues that will be brought to the fore in the concluding chapter.

8.1.1

Classical and Hellenistic Sites

The dense occupation of the interior in prehistoric times underlines the reinvention of territorial boundaries and expansion in historical eras, as no evidence of Geometric or Archaic settlement has been recovered.” The earliest evidence comes from site KA 1, located between two branches of the Kalathorema ravine, that yielded two Late Classical/Early Hellenistic sherds among more generally classified CL-HL material (fig. 61). It is difficult to qualify this earliest phase as the site was densely occupied in the ER period, achieving a size of 3 ha by LR times, and the only standing feature is a Roman barrel-vaulted cistern near the edge of the site locus. Results of intensive sampling nevertheless suggest something more than an isolated farm by the HL period and the choice of slightly elevated, yet open, terrain is unusual for small farms of this date on Akrotiri. For density and spread of material the nearest comparable site is at Tersana, 5 km to the northwest (TS 10). KA 1 appears to have held primacy in the Central Corridor throughout the early historical periods, but the character of the site is not entirely clear. The spread of CL-HL material on the site is estimated at about half the ultimate LR size. The presence of imported fine wares, bee-hive kalathoi and tiles could as easily indicate a large farming estate as a village or kome, although evidence discussed in 8.1.1.2 below favors the former interpretation.

THE CENTRAL CORRIDOR

Interior settlement in all periods occurs in a swathe that extends north from the Vothanos Basin, through the head region of the Kalathorema riverbed, and to the inner reaches of the Nerokampos catchment at the base of the mountain terrace. Both streams are today dry, but the distribution of sites from Early Minoan times argues for surface water availability into late historical periods. Moody has already observed the high water table in Vothanos, ! and investigation in January 1995 found drainage in the basin floor to be poor and requiring modern management. In terms of economic geography the Central Corridor links rationally to the west coast of Akrotiri where the catchments empty at Kalathas Bay to the west and Stavros to the northwest. Likewise, Vothanos is approached from the northwest

That site KA 1 may not have existed in isolation in its earliest days is indicated in figure 62, showing the distribution of sites and off-site/scatter areas that

2 A small amount of probable Geometric material was, however, found near the Kalathorema outlet at coastal sites KL 5 and KL 7; of all periods, the potential for overlooking these early sherds seems greatest, especially in multi-period

contexts.

Usage here follows Hans Lohmann’s distinction between a

deme center with identifiable public edifices and the less

autonomous kome that may consist of little more than a concentration of several farmsteads (1992, 35-36), although in our case the argument is ex silentio, based on the lack of architectural remains.

| Moody 1987, 213. 3

than late in this time a KA 1, all ridges—that

contain only generally datable CL-HL material.4 The small coastal grouping where the Kalathorema empties into the bay is relevant to the disposition and activity at KA 1, yet amounts to limited evidence. Both KL 5 and KF 1 consist of a few historical sherds in the midst of PH concentrations, and are designated as scatters; mechanisms for secondary deposition were not, however, discovered, and it is easier to envision the success Of KA 1 with some facility available at its nearest coastal port. Site AN 9 lies 0.5 km northeast of KA 1, on the east and southeast slopes of a prominent hill, and was probably a small farm. Another farm

likely existed at KN

from the north and westerly winds.

1 on the lower slopes of the

soils in the small Nerolakos sinkhole located between

of site continuity and its implications for of land tenure, the most _ interesting

phenomenon of the early historical periods in Akrotiri

is the expanded occupation of the Central Corridor in LHL times, accompanied by a reduction of evidence for this period along the coastlines (fig. 63). The distribution map for this period presents a considerably altered pattern, even though the tendency was to

overcompensate the search for this period once the

Sites include roof tiles among the surface finds, with the exceptions of KB 1b, which otherwise yielded food processing and serving vessels, and AT 6, which was destroyed before it could be closely re-examined for historical periods. The latter site, situated on a prominent flat-topped hill, is problematic: I have scaled | down the size from that determined by Moody for prehistoric periods because re-investigation found low densities of early historical material peripheral to a newly-built factory; the size of that edifice was therefore used as a rough measure of the site. Moody’s fieldnotes (5-9-81) mention high sherd densities (22 in one unit, comparable to densities at KA 1) on the end

disparity on coastal sites was noted. The larger coastal sites with mixed occupation present scope for obfuscation. So, for example, it seems unlikely that the site of ancient Minoa (MR 2) was completely abandoned, even though sherds of specifically LHL date were not identified; the site yielded sherds that could not be more closely dated than HL-ER, however, so it is included in the general map (fig. 64) for these phases. With its modern development the site at Stavros (SV 4) is another case in point, where sherds were only fortuitously recoverable from what was probably a substantial settlement. In some cases, therefore, discrepancies should be viewed with caution. Considered in its entirety, however, the pattern of change and development in the Central Corridor is persistent and requires explication.

of the hill where

terms,

discussion

‘off-site’

because

and

the former

‘scatter’, on

are retained

occasion

the factory

now

stands,

and

in

addition stress that no fine wares were observed on the site. Sherds collected belong to coarse wares, and include beehive kalathoi. It is probable that this represents something larger than the single farm indicated on other new sites, perhaps a cluster of farmsteads or the center of a large working estate. Sites AN 1 and KB 1b also lack fine wares, favoring

The earliest finds on these new sites date to the first and second centuries B.C., and the expansion of settlement in the Corridor is postulated to be no earlier

4 Both

Apart from KA 1,

the two main drainages, accounting for the closer proximity of sites in that area. The hypothetical addition of site AN 9 further compacts the distribution yet has little necessary impact on the availability of land for exploitation since lateral boundaries are not understood. Although a resource catchment of 0.25-0.5 km radius is indicated between the farms, their roughly linear distribution in all cases prohibits a confident estimation of landholding size. These sites are between 0.25 and 0.56 ha in size, except for NL 1 at 1.50 and AT 6 at 2.2 hectares.>

Late Hellenistic Sites

In terms patterns

century B.C. About or soon after farms were built in the vicinity of favoring landforms—either hills or a vantage of sorts and protection

which appears to maintain its status into this period and beyond, sites of this period are KB 1b, NL 1, AT 6 and AN 1, although the last yielded material mostly of first-century B.C. date. An additional site, AN 9, is indicated in the general HL-ER distribution pattern and may tentatively be considered here as well. The sites all lie within 1 km of each other, in some cases less. In this variegated terrain, site location does not conform to a spatially uniform distribution based on site hierarchy, but avails of the catchment head regions where the river terraces are broader, shallower, and easier to farm. Site NL 1 takes advantage of deeper

Vothanos sinkhole, but medieval occupation prevents a clear understanding of early historical settlement. Finds at KN 3 and KN §8, on the fertile Kerama terrace overlooking Vothanos, are too diffuse to characterize as sites but could also represent farms.

&.1.1.2

the third series of of them provide

> Some of the problems encountered here with the application of abstract locational models are discussed in Tiffany and Abbott 1982, and Crumley 1976.

in this

better describes

the occurrence of isolated finds.

134

lekanai, jugs, bowls and in one case braziers.

presence of such wares at a fieldhouse or agricultural

Only AN

station. KB 1b produced remains of two rim-dipped vessels, but the wares are coarse and probably locally made. Neither should an occasional piece of fine ware, chipped and demoted to casual use, be deemed out of place. The disposition of sites may be more telling than the tiles and coarse wares on them. Material at KB 1b and AN 9 was concentrated on southeast-facing slopes, an orientation noted of farmhouses elsewhere in the Greek world.® Finds at AN 1 were concentrated on the SW slope, but sherds were also discovered on other sides of the hill, and erosion of part of the site from the top seems likely; the utility of a fieldhouse elevated 10 m above the land it serviced might be questioned. The size of these sites would also seem to favor interpretation as farms, since the smallest conforms to the average size of this site category elsewhere (see Chapter 6.3.4 for discussion).

9 yielded a black-gloss sherd of undetermined date.

The material on these sites contrasts with finds from NL 1 that include a range of fine wares (including an oinochoe, lekythoi, and a strainer). The nucleus of material covers approximately 0.50 ha, but if we include the area indicated by a probable estate boundary wall, the size of the site is increased to 1.5 hectares. This is the only site in the Corridor that preserves an ashlar block in fine limestone. We have seen that KA 1 is more difficult to characterize in isolation because of its large size and scarcity of standing remains, but the broader context of settlement now offers some clues. The first observation is the apparent social or economic disparity indicated by the surface finds on the Corridor sites; but can all these sites, with the possible exception of AT 6, be identified as single-family farms or estates?

The validity of using fine wares as indicators of social or economic status has not gone unquestioned, the main objection being that there is little ancient testimony available on the subject against which modem value judgments can be juxtaposed. Apparently for this reason Alcock opts to use other criteria for developing discussion of elite residence, yet in fairness a significant component of sites included in her survey synthesis had already been designated ‘elite’ at least partly on the basis of fine ware presence. ~ In the case of the Central Corridor, had none of the sites yielded fine wares it would have been difficult to broach the subject of status because local conditions and mechanisms for distribution must always be taken into account.!! The evident disparity between sites in close proximity suggests a meaningful pattern extraneous of these factors, and it is proposed that this

Prevailing criteria for identifying habitations in Greek survey are summarized by Alcock as “a recurrent combination of fine wares, coarse wares and tile, sometimes augmented by discoveries such as pressbeds or querns.”° These criteria provide scope for the growing awareness that agricultural field stations may be difficult to distinguish from small farms in the archaeological record. The crux of the matter is the inclusion of fine wares for without these, standing remains, or associated graves, the remaining criteria (tiles and coarse wares) could just as easily represent non-residency structures.’ If we assume that the persistent presence of fine wares indicates residency, NL 1 certainly qualifies, and in any case a site of this size is unlikely to represent a fieldhouse. The size and reported sherd densities of AT 6 (if these are sufficient indicators) leave little doubt that it too served as a habitation, yet no fine wares of any period were found.

8

Residency status is more difficult to determine in the case of the smaller sites at AN 1, KB 1b, and AN 9. In a small distribution pattern such as we are dealing with here the distinction between small farms and fieldhouse extensions of other properties assumes special significance, yet identity is difficult to prove in the absence of generally acceptable criteria. Food

preparation and serving vessels were found on both AN 1 and

KB

1b,

yet

a case

could

be

made

A

discussion

of

orientation,

including — the

recommendations of ancient authors and archaeological evidence, is found in Jones, Graham, and Sackett 1973, 419-20. It is difficult to generalize from evidence on Crete because building disposition is infrequently mentioned in survey reports; it is worth noting, however, that prehistoric habitations of all periods on Akrotiri favored a southern orientation (Moody 1987, 210). 9 Peacock 1977, 23-24.

0 Alcock 1989b, 18-19.

for the

The difficulty is not so much

Alcock’s approach as it is the nature of survey results that rely heavily on the presence of fine wares to identify sites in the first place. For a different perspective, see Arafat and

© Alcock 1989b, 18.

Morgan (1994), who argue explicitly for the role of certain fine ware products in affirming elite social aspirations. Jan Hodder’s application of marketing models is still exemplary in demonstrating proximity to markets as a primary determinant in regional coarse- and fine-ware

7 The farm vs. fieldhouse interpretive problem has been Wells addressed elsewhere; see participant discussion in 1992, 59 and Alcock 1993, 60-91. The importance of fine wares in identifying residency is assumed by Patterson 1987, 142.

distributions (1974, 340-359).

135

continue to yield scanty remains of utilitarian vessels. Of the better endowed sites, a vaulted cistern was built at KA 1 at some point in the Roman period, the only standing remains on the site. It is situated at the edge of the site as defined by sherds, on soils that are today stony and thin but planted in vegetables. There can be little analogy here with the large cisterns in the Mesara strung out across prime agricultural land for crop irrigation, “~ and ours seems more likely to have been used for settlement consumption or watering gardens. An expansion of the site is indicated from pre-Roman times, and the focus of activity may have shifted to the

reflects a condition of social and economic differences

among the inhabitants of the area. Considered as a kome, the character of site KA 1 does not then fit the reasonable prediction that an integrated regional economy of farm freeholders and villages will result in a fairly equitable distribution of consumed goods in the archaeological record. The settlement context suggests two possible interpretations of the pattern: either that site KA 1 (and NL 1 on a smaller scale) held ground as a private estate of greater means than the surrounding freeholdings; or, that the modest sites represent, not freeholdings, but properties

occupied

by

a form

of dependent

labor.

east.

It is

undesirable, however, for over-confidence at this level to set the stage for future assumptions about the data base. The specific nature, use, disposition and even size of fieldhouses and outbuildings is little understood, and an entirely new dimension may be added if excavations in Crete reveal evidence for animal management that would support Hamish Forbes’ pastoralist model.*~ If it could be shown, for example, that large and dense concentrations of sherds can be a by-product of intensive animal husbandry, a site like AT 6 might be a prime candidate, with interpretation leaning towards: the possibility that humbler manifestations in the Central Corridor might actually represent extensions of the wealthier estates. 3

Site NL 1 seems to have fared no better or worse than in the previous period, though fewer diagnostic ER sherds were recovered; the fine limestone block is a reminder that a building of quality probably stood here at some point, but I was not able to date it. The only sigillata found in the region is an imitation at PH 1, given an off-site designation along with PH 5; both may represent activity from KA 1 or NL 1. There are some changes in the north Corridor area. The material from AT 6 provides no evidence of continuity in this period, making this a relatively short-lived site, but a new site is founded at KM 2 1 km to the north, and there is also activity at KO 2 (1.2 km west of NL 1). KM 2 is ambiguous, the result of plow smearing south of Koumares village, and with no associated land features. A farm is indicated somewhere in the vicinity and suggests a break from dependency on landforms favored earlier. Neither is KO 2, on a small rocky knoll, in a prominent spot although it lies on the edge of a ravine bed; the size assigned to it for prehistoric periods (0.78 ha) is scaled down by half for this period. These sites appear to bear witness to a frequently noted tendency for Roman settlements to move away from the security of the hills in favor of proximity to their fields, !® a significant change even if residency status cannot be established.

8.1.1.3 Early Roman Sites Having laid the groundwork for characterizing Hellenistic sites, the Early Roman pattern of settlement can proceed more directly because continuity can be established for most of the sites (fig. 65), and the nature of the pre-existing sites and their relative differences persist into this period. This is a significant, if undramatic, state of affairs when set against trends theorized elsewhere in the Greek world under Roman imperialism. !4 The function of the smallest sites such as AN 1 and KB 1b (with only one find of this period) is no clearer; they remain small, and

12 Forbes 1995, 325-338.

It is equally important not to read extremes into the data;

A broadening of the Central Corridor in this period is also indicated by concentrations further to the east at KO 3 and MS 6; it is probable that the latter site links economically to the southeast coast, but in any case the general spread of activity suggests a loosening of the

the potential of a landed peasant class to support a broad

spectrum of economic variability is explored by Rathbone

(1981, 21), and studies the smallest of farming investment in storage 1991, 336; Alcock 1993,

A restructuring

elsewhere suggest that behind even enterprises is a considerable hidden and processing equipment (Cahill 61).

of land

tenure

patterns

More coarse than fine wares were identified of

this period, including remains of cooking and storage vessels, amphorae, a lamp, and bee-hive kalathoi. Intensive sampling yielded little red-gloss ware, but since other evidence points to site expansion at this time, a change in external markets seems more likely than a fall in the fortune of this particular site.

that favored

accumulation of property in fewer hands is proposed for Achaia (Alcock 1989b, 106-07); see Chapter 2.2 above for a fuller discussion.

15 Sanders 1976, 135-36. 6 Sanders 1982, 30-31. 136

this LR trend with the ultimate founding of the metochi based at the Aghia Triadha monastery. Soils here are well-suited for vine cultivation, and alluviation in the area means that the dearth of earlier sites should be interpreted with caution. AT 2 is a small (0.19 ha), contained site on the lowest mountain terrace that produced fine-ware imports, amphorae, and cooking ware. AT 1b remains ill-defined because of bull-dozing, but Moody’s investigations indicate this was a significant concentration, not just field scatter; diagnostic sherds are few, but include an early White Ware variant. AT 5 and KO 1 both represent light scatters. MS 6 to the east shows no evidence of continuity into LR times, but a more definitive community develops in the easternmost portion of the high plain (treated in the South Coast discussion). The

Hellenistic territorial structure. Possibly justice has not been done to KO 3 by negating it’s site status; here again finds are from a general scatter east of Kalorouma village, but are too scrappy to characterize. MS 6 is located on the lowest terrace of the mountain range, a disposition that affords a vantage of land under cultivation and that may also indicate a blending of pastoral interests. ! 7 Along with coarse ware sherds this site produced a segment of flooring laid with pebbles that may be a beehive platform (see the Site Gazetteer for discussion). Bees thrive on mountain garigue, so beekeeping may also be a factor selecting for site location.!® None of these new sites (KO 2, KM 2, MS 6) yielded fine wares. Standard Ware is present, with jugs and amphorae the most common shapes recovered. If we use the larger sites as a barometer of what was potentially available to rural dwellers of the interior it may be that accessibility, and not the economic status of individual landholders, is responsible for this phenomenon. For reasons mentioned above (namely, that an already sizable KA 1 further expands in this period) it seems unlikely that a general economic leveling of all the region’s inhabitants is indicated.

apparent tendency for early historical sites to avoid the east-central

plain

must

be

observed

with

caution,

because approximately 3 km? of this region lies in the airport jurisdiction that could not be investigated.

8.1.2 THE SOUTH COAST

This period is marked by a reduction of site numbers in

The aesthetic appeal of landscapes is rarely invoked in settlement studies, but the south coast of Akrotiri deserves brief acknowledgment in this respect. Settlement of all periods favored the interesting and dramatic relief of the plateau slopes, which vary at

given the earlier occupation,

ravines. Prosaic factors aside, the deep coastal plain of Marathi, surrounded by rocky heights, is a gorgeous setting. Soils develop deeply, if unevenly, in pockets below the plateau, and if the extensive remains of terraces are any indication, agriculture here may have been more productive than available land management strategy could make the drier and thinner soils above, except in depressions or areas benefited by alluviation. This coastal strip also fronts Soudha Bay, of strategic

8.1.1.4

Late Roman Sites

every turn, bisected by lush parcels of land and twisting

the former cluster around KA 1 and NL 1, and an increase in activity at the base of the mountain terrace to the north (fig. 66). Late Roman finds at NL 1 include imported fine wares but intensive sampling provided no indication of a change in site perimeter at this time. The sherd concentration at KA 1, on the other hand, expands to its largest size and includes fine wares, coarse wares and amphorae. The single find at AN 1 is given off-site status even though it is tempting,

to make

more

of it.

importance in Venetian, Turkish, and WW II territorial

Activity remains in the Vothanos basin (including a fine ware import at KN 1), but the dots on the distribution map represent a small number of sherds; again, the Byzantine and later occupation is a detriment to understanding earlier phases, and the physical geography strongly favors site(s) in this setting. Of the northerly sites, the plow-smeared KM little more Late than Early Roman material, sherds. Concentrated activity appears for the to the east of here, and it is difficult not to

battles over the island.2! The importance of Soudha Bay in ancient times can only be assumed since little is said about it by ancient authors (but see the discussion

in Chapter 4.4). The inner reaches of the bay are only

separated by the isthmus from the The present-day harbor of Khania is relatively shallow, and the northern Akrotiri’s Cape Mavromouri is dangerous by nineteenth and_

2 yielded all coarse first time associate

city of Kydonia. small, unsafe and approach around claimed to be twentieth-century

19 Fieldnotes, March 1979.

This area includes several small karstic depressions with terra rosa deposits (see map in fig. 23).

\7 See Chapter 3.6 for a discussion of these locational factors. 8 White 1970, Appendix on Beekeeping; Hayden, Moody, and Rackham 1992, 313-14.

21 Allbaugh 1953, 41; Pashley 1837, Vol. I, 29; Admiralty 1945, 282.

137

standards of navigation.22 It is easy, therefore, to envision Soudha Bay as a source of contention between Kydonia and the city-state of Aptera on the heights above the south coast of the bay, especially during times when relations between the two cities were poor. Of the north and south coastlines, Marathi offers the best position for a port near the Soudha entrance.

8.1.2.1

fertile coastal slopes that stretch beyond. What of these viable hinterlands? The combined evidence from the plateau at this time (SK 5, an isolated find, and SK 2 that could not be dated more closely than CL-HL) may represent a single farm of the fertile Kalamari

valley; a nucleus at SK 2 is barely definable but the

amount of material, including black-gloss fragments, is not great. Of clearer significance is site LT 3, less than a kilometer west of the perceived center of Minoa (plan in fig. 27). The site is sprawled across a large saddled hill that overlooks the small inlet of Loutraki to the

Classical And Hellenistic Sites

east. The hilltop nucleus is a 36 x 36 m raised platform

Evidence for pre-Classical activity is sparse and tends to favor locations no great distance from, yet not on, the coastline. The Geometric period is represented by a single off-site find at SK 5 (fig. 60). Comparing this with scrappy material on the west coast we may at least observe an early predilection for one or the other coasts, broadly defined, that sets the trend for settlement until LHL times. Proximity to deep coastal ravines may have been a selective factor, but the data are too coarse to take this further.

with lower courses of large cut masonry that probably belongs to this period. All but the west and northwest hillslopes are terraced, with standing field walls fanning out into triangular swathes at the base. Intensive sampling suggests the height of activity was in the ER and LR periods, but a Late Classical/Early Hellenistic phase is definite, especially on the hilltop proper where amphorae and black-gloss sherds were recovered. The earliest character of this site remains uncertain. | reconstruct this as an individual estate of some means in Roman times, re-using the earlier edifice, and commanding the 34-ha fertile depression—today cultivated in vines~sandwiched between its northwest base and the plateau shelf. The only evidence of ostentation for all periods is a fine white limestone block with a dowel, but the situation is reminiscent of a suburban estate enjoying both agricultural prosperity and amenities of the nearby town, not the least of which was trade, to judge by numerous amphorae present in all periods. The earliest CL-HL phase, however, may be subject to a slightly different interpretation. Foundation blocks of the hilltop structure represent a scale of investment equally—if not more—consistent with a public edifice, and it is possible that Minoa’s main temple existed here on the nearest, lofty prominence; the fertile depression could as easily

Activity on the southeast plateau edge persists into the Classical and Hellenistic periods (fig. 61), but the southeast coast proper becomes most important for settlement. The 15-ha coastal plain at Marathi (MR 2) is identified as the site of ancient Minoa, a town fleetingly recognized by ancient authors (see Chapter 4.4), and is the only terrain on the south coast suitable for large-scale settlement. A view from the heights above shows clearly the mounded arc of settlement deposition on the plain, which is now under cultivation. Sherds cover an area of 8.75 hectares. Apart from glazed tiles, intensive sampling yielded little pre-Roman material of diagnostic shape, but sherds on the plain were small and broken from repeated plowing. Site MR 4, perched on a cliff shelf 60 m above the plain of Marathi, is only an extension of Minoa but more useful because features and artifacts, including pottery of Late Classical/Early Hellenistic date, are better preserved. The important components

be part of a wealthy temple estate.2?

of the site are a large cave and a square foundation

The role of the

Loutraki inlet is difficult to assess; there is a small beach but a combination of great swells and sheer cliff faces make only offshore anchorage possible today.

platform of isodomic masonry on the rocky shelf that fronts it, part of an ancient sanctuary complex (plan in fig. 33).

LT 3 finds of this period (amphorae, black-gloss sherds) are mirrored on a much smaller scale at site PL 3, which lies only 0.5 km to the southwest. This site is ill defined: Moody found a multi-period scatter extending over 4 ha of descending terraced fields at the southwest end of Paleokhora ridge; many terraces have

The amenities of a coastal existence took priority over access to productive land in the settling of Minoa. The plain is nearly circumscribed by cliffs and good agricultural parcels had to be sought either via steep ascent to the ravine-fed plateau in the northeast, or in a large fertile depression to the east and the narrow but

23 The re-use of earlier sanctuary sites by Roman also reported in Sicily (Wilson 1990, 196-98).

22 admiralty 1945, 268-69; Pashley 1837, Vol. I, 14. 138

estates is

Gazetteer for discussion). Some of the surface finds may derive from the top of the ridge but this could not be verified because of dense undergrowth. This activity lies at a bend of the great Panayia Ravine, the main catchment of the south coast that originates just below the modern town of Sternes at the plateau edge. The natural valley shelves offered the best means of transport to the upland area for all coastal points to the east, including Marathi, so traffic here was probably substantial. A small protected harbor directly below LM 1 could further enhance distribution via this route. The destination of the traffic is easily accounted for since any movement of goods overland to the west must achieve the plateau for any efficiency. There are also indications that Sternes itself may be built over an ancient site (see Limni District in the Site Gazetteer).

been recently dislodged and the area is today a morass of boulders. Sherd densities seem consistent with a small establishment and the origin of the material may be the lee of the southwest-facing ridge slope at the upper end of the fields. Immediately to the south, the general CL-HL map (fig. 62) indicates another area of sherds at PL 4 as a scatter, although several periods are represented in what seems to be a_ discrete concentration. Undulating terrain can create false confluence of material in many areas of Akrotiri and I was not able to rule out that possibility here; this may simply be an extension, or sub-locus, of PL 3. 4 Also near this group is PL 5, a small burial ground in the marl of the opposite northeast-facing ridge slope.

There

are

several

disturbed

rockshelters

here

and

Moody found a sarcophagus lid, since removed. Greek-period remains are scrappy but include a figurine of Tanagra type. These tombs may have belonged either to the inhabitants of Loutraki or Paleokhora.

At the western edge of the coastal pattern a compact

little farm (0.21 ha) with standing walls is partially

preserved at AR 14, on the west-facing slopes of the small but fertile Kamili sinkhole (plan in fig. 32). There was not enough pottery on the surface to warrant intensive sampling and most of the pre-Roman material can only be generally dated to CL-HL periods. Architecturally, site AR 6 north of this may originate in this period, but surface pottery only bears out later occupation (discussed under Early Roman Sites). Both the Aroni and Kyparissia sites lie on upper terraces of the slope with easy access to the plateau; in this position they are geographically independent of the

The character of CL-HL activity becomes increasingly ambiguous as we move west along the coastal slopes. Classical/Early Hellenistic material occurs as no more than two finds per spot in Aroni (AR 9, AR 17, AR 20) and at KY 1 in Kyparissia; these areas are 2-3 km west of LT 3. The Aroni group includes black-gloss sherds in grey fabric and there is every reason to suspect a site or sites has evaded discovery in the vicinity. Neither investigation yielded a significant concentration of this period in the region so nothing

larger than a farmhouse can be posited.

more landlocked southeast coast. An architectural problem presents itself 3 km to the west at PT 1 near the isthmus (see ER distribution map, fig. 65). The site

The hillslopes

at KY 1 produced a single amphora base of this period and a black-gloss sherd of undetermined date. A site existed here in the ER period, and it is again likely that an injustice has been done for the earlier period, but the material is simply too diffuse to characterize. The coast fills out a bit if we include the general CL-HL material. Three CL-HL sherds were found amid a persistent scatter of Byzantine and Turkish sherds that nearly cover a ridge top and slopes at KY 6, yet again,

is located at the south edge of the modern town Pitharion, and only ER sherds were found in the vicinity. Fifty meters northeast of this concentration lies the renovated town church, on a prominent bluff that here falls steeply to the coast below. The high south retaining wall of the church grounds incorporates over 40 blocks of fine grey limestone, beautifully faced, and numerous others make up the walls surrounding the cemetery. These blocks vary in size but are distinctively elongate. Slabs of stone paving tile are also present, some with traces of plaster. These blocks were reused in makeshift fashion, mixed with other materials, and apparently obtained from a source close at hand since a few were also used as key architectural elements in a nearby Venetian house. They belong to the finest structure on Akrotiri for which there is evidence, possibly a temple situated on the commanding spot where the church now stands, with an unimpeded view of Soudha Bay.2> A date for

no nucleus could be located so assessment must be the

same as at KY 1; these twin promontories are nearly surrounded by deep-cutting ravines that will easily have carried away slope wash.

Site LM 1, midway between the Kyparissia and Paleokhora sites, yielded five CL-HL sherds from the south and southeast slopes of a lengthy east-west ridge. Isodomic masonry foundations of an _ ancient watchtower or lighthouse were visible here as late as 1950, but only a small portion remains (see the Site

2) The replacement of commonplace on Crete;

24 See Chapter 6.2.2 for a discussion of formation processes in the archaeological record.

139

pagan edifices by see, for example,

churches is the basilica

this building cannot be advanced; a new concrete foundation covers much of the bluff and no pottery was

been a break in settlement continuity throughout the south coast at this time.

As it is patchily understood, settlement along the south coast in CL-HL times suggests a well-developed system of town and estate (religious or secular), with farm lands further afield. Fine wares are almost everywhere evident, implying some measure of economic integration. The evidence of habitations, however underestimated in spots, does not in itself suggest pressures on the land at this time, but rather a comfortably dispersed pattern. Intensive terracing may present a different picture, especially along the numerous branches of the Panayia Ravine in

8.1.2.3 Early Roman Sites

found.

Whatever factors resulted in the previous settlement decline, a rebound is indicated, for by Early Roman times—beginning in the late first century B.C.-more of the south coast was occupied than at any point in its previous history (fig. 65). Fourteen sites and ten scatters or findspots are identified; of these, seven sites were reoccupied (amounting to most of those previously established) with eight newly established. Five off-site designations occur in areas with previous activity, and four are found in new areas. The main characteristics will be described.

Kyparissia and Limni, but only speaks of the potential

for development since the date of these features is unknown. Did the inhabitants of Minoa farm the countryside from their urban base? I think the diffuse pattern of habitation in the hinterlands makes it inevitable that many of them did. In any case there seems no need to postulate the town’s dependency on

In the Marathi-Loutraki-Paleokhora coastal zone, some sites previously occupied in CL-EHL times now show more activity. The sanctuary at MR 4 is one exception, with only a few amphorae sherds represented. Plow-dispersed material from the plain of Minoa (MR 2) includes more identifiable pottery than in the earlier periods, with amphorae, cooking and utility vessels, sigillata, early Candarli, local slipped ware, numerous tile fragments, and one chunk of Roman brick. The most impressive ancient residence known in Akrotiri was built in this period near the shore, a Roman seaside villa dated to the second century A.D (photographs in fig. 25).27 Partial excavation revealed walls of this structure extending across the main frontage of Marathi Bay. This position in a long-established town suggests an owner of some verve; or, the availability of such real estate may be a hint of fallen fortunes of the town in the preceding period.

water-borne traffic for its basic necessities. 8.1.2.2

Late Hellenistic Sites

As indicated earlier, this period is under-represented in surface finds along both coastlines. Late Hellenistic material is confined to the PL 5 burial grounds at Paleokhora (a single kantharos) and to a single amphora find at AR 14 (fig. 63). Four sites yielded material that falls within the general HL-ER category

(fig. 64); in most cases this amounts

to sherds of

Standard Ware, the most common utility pottery of these periods, with beehive kalathoi the most common shape. These sites are Minoa (MR 2, with a definitive ER phase), LT 2 (probably an off-site find of LT 3), PL 3 (that also has an ER phase) and AR 6 (a large site with a likely ER and definite LR phase). The small amount of Greek-period material at MR 2 was mentioned above, but here we may also note the absence of LHL sherds at the sanctuary MR 4, which is better preserved. One possible specimen of this period at LT 3 is not included on the distribution map, but the results are again notable, given the large numbers of sherds examined at this site. There appears to have

27

Otherwise

known

as

villae

maritimae,

these

elite

buildings are recognized as recreational retreats or residences

of wealthy citizens, as opposed to the majority of Italian and

provincial villas built in the countryside that at least partly

served as working agricultural estates. The type is best known in Italy, often associated with the senatorial class (for general discussion see Potter 1987, 94-97). Few villas of

any type have been published in detail in the Graeco-Roman

world, and for this reason synthetic and regional treatments of villas tend to concentrate on the western provinces; one authoritative work still contains much of relevance to a broader context (Percival 1981) and some evidence for luxury villas in the Greek East is summarized by Rossiter (1989, 101-110). Crete is fortunate to have the partially excavated urban ‘Villa Dionysos’ at Knossos with pottery published by John Hayes (1983); another villa at Makry Gialos on the SE coast of Crete is similar in dispostion to the one at Minoa, summarily reported in a small booklet (Papadakis 1986b).

summary in Sanders 1982, 129.

Terracing occurs on a wide range of slope conditions,

from steep ravine shelves to gentle hillslopes. As Rackham and Moody illustrate in their discussion of Greek terraces (1992, 125), there may be few conditions, barring altitude, so marginal that they cannot sustain terraces if there is motivation to build them.

140

encompass a very statuses; ultimately prefers will not important social Romanization, not

Moving west, we find clearer evidence for estate status now at LT 3: namely, the addition of a single impressive subterranean chamber tomb on_ the southwest side of the platform building, with the entrance set inside an enclosed extension of the main residence (plan in fig. 34). Whatever the earlier function of this site, a single-family property is indicated with a private burial ground designed to hold multiple interments. The terraced slopes and field enclosures below yield plentiful material from this and LR periods, suggesting heightened agricultural use, and

case.°

activity area. Surface finds include amphorae, household wares, and a range of ER fine wares (Italian Sigillata, Eastern Sigillata A, Eastern Sigillata B, and

known elsewhere on Crete where it is believed to be

ER in date, yet ours sits dry enough to suggest that in

early African Red Slip Ware) that on Akrotiri is only matched at the Tersana site TS 10 on the northwest

conditions of even lower sea level—indicated by the

villa position—it would be non-functioning (see Chapter 6.1.1 for discussion); for now the date of this feature must remain in question. MR 7 likewise is represented by a small amount of material of ER and LR date, including tile that could belong to either phase. The expansion of LT 3 in these periods brings the site parameters very close to MR 7 so it cannot be said for certain that the latter represents independent activity.

coast. As a property of some importance it is interesting to note the lack of evidence for materials such as stone or brick-faced concrete that typify elite or public Roman construction elsewhere in Crete. 8 This is all the more striking when such techniques were used at the nearby villa of Minoa, and the differences again point to the reuse of an earlier edifice. Materials aside, the result is a building that in size and foundation plan would not be out of place among the Italian platform villas of Cosa or Buccino, and excavations in the latter region indicate that where available, earlier masonry structures were profitably put to use for new establishments.2” Whether or not an establishment such as LT 3 should be called a ‘villa’ will largely depend on the broader context of rural Greek settlement as this class of site becomes a greater focus

The wisdom

A few ER sherds were found at both PL 3 and PL 4

that actually amounts to less evidence for occupation

than in CL-HL times.

of using the term at all in

wares.

LT 1 is another new site, on low ground 300 m southwest of the perceived edge of LT 3. Architecturally, this appears to be the nucleus of another estate, but of a different character (plan in fig. 31). A large walled enclosure (ca. 75 x 100 m) encloses a small rocky knoll, with an elevated terrace built into the southwest side that measures 40 x 60

28 These materials naturally form the basis for identifying

Roman structures in Ian Sanders’ survey (1982), and his gazetteer mentions the use of concrete in many, primarily urban, areas of Crete. Evidence for brick and concrete use is slim, however, on Akrotiri where the presence/absence of

meters. Remains of a building platform, now a mound of rubble bound together by choking brambles, extend across half of this terraced area and include the

these materials is clearly insufficient for recognizing sites of this period. Le., this practice should not be viewed as exceptional in

foundations of a small square tower incorporated in the north wall. Associated field walls extend from the site nucleus in lengthy, sometimes triangular, swathes and it is possible to identify an area of about 2.4 ha as

the Roman world. The Wesleyan survey of rural Cosa (Dyson 1978) was the first project to attempt a classification of villas based on surface remains, and illustrates the potential range of estate types encountered in the Mediterranean and how far research in Greece has yet to go

in documenting rural estates of this period.

Evidence (size,

platform

villas

A single cooking-ware sherd

near the burials at PL 5 is given an off-site designation, as are a fragment of thornware and a CL-R loomweight on the ridgetop at PL 2; these latter may be detritus of something more significant to judge by a large walled enclosure on the plateau (plan in fig. 37), but later material is present so an association remains uncertain. Except for Minoa (MR 2) and LT 3, none of the sites or concentrations discussed above yielded ER fine

Greece, given the present state of knowledge and inconsistent use of criteria, is questioned by Susan Alcock,?° yet this position overwrites a long-standing acknowledgment that villas, Italian and provincial,

plans, construction) from excavated Buccino is summarized in Dyson 1985.

:

A new coastal site at MR 6 and a scatter at MR 7 are shown on the distribution map between LT 3 and Minoa. MR 6 consists of a small concentration of pottery for ER and later periods and should probably be viewed as activity related to the settlement at Minoa. A fishtank here is problematic: the type is

the spread of pottery across the site defines a 5.5-ha

of study.

wide field of building types and the term ‘elite building’ that she further attempts to understand aspects-namely the degree of just wealth-manifested in each

31 On villa definitions and their importance as an index of Romanization see Percival 1976, 13-15; Todd 1978; and Salway 1982, 614.

of

30 Alcock 1989b,19-20.

14]

and an imitation sigillata dish,>7 but there is nothing to suggest a change in the character of the site. Two off-site areas, AR 8 and AR 16, consist of ER amphorae toes.

directly associated with the site. Very little pottery was recovered from the surface, even from around plowed groves that surround the central terraced area. Nothing close to the status of LT 3 is achieved here through this line of evidence: only tiles and a few sherds of utility ware are the sum total of both investigations. Also, there is no evidence for masonry in the mounded rubble; terrace walls and tower are of roughly-hewn stone. Five plundered slab burials are located outside the south terrace wall; these are difficult to date, but if the cemetery at LT 3 is any example (discussed below) these may be LR as well. A large farm center is posited for this site, perhaps an extension of LT 3 built on suitably lower ground.

Site AR 6 to the north has significant standing remains

and was almost certainly occupied at this time, but apart from a definite LR phase the material was difficult to classify beyond HL-ER based on the presence of Standard Ware. AR 6 is nestled against a _ south-facing cliff face just below a series of caves and the site nucleus is an elevated section, buttressed by terrace walls, in front of the largest cave (plan in fig. 30). Field enclosures radiate from this, encompassing an area of 3.6 ha that corresponds closely with the pottery distribution. The enclosure walls have been reworked with fieldstone, but many stand on foundations of large limestone masonry that could be pre-Roman, and cut limestone and aeolianite blocks are also present on the site. No sherds of definite

Moving across the coastline, the ER map suggests an increase of sites in the Limni area, but all three-LM 2, LM 4 (plan in fig. 34) and ST 2 to the north—represent

chamber tombs of this period carved into marl terraces

of the Panayia Ravine. Many areas of the ravine are today very overgrown, and there are likely others that have evaded discovery. These tombs would seem to indicate owners of some standing in the vicinity, yet the previously occupied ridge of LM 1 yielded only several possible ER sherds; unless a site was missed, it

pre-Roman date were recovered and neither are there

diagnostic ER shapes. A rotary quern fragment is either Early or Late Roman, and the latter period is better represented by surface sherds. As with LT 1 to the east, it is proposed that this site represents a large farming center.

is possible that the ravine terraces, forming what must

have been the main approach to and from the plateau, became a favored cemetery for inhabitants of Minoa. Settlement in Kyparissia is less ambiguous than in CL-HL periods with a more definitive concentration on the slopes of KY 1. No tile was recovered that could be distinguished from Byzantine and later material but there is domestic pottery, including local slipped ware of which another specimen was found on the next ridge at KY 6.

Evidence for a possible pre-Roman monumental building at site PT 1 was discussed above. The nearest ancient activity is a small concentration (0.28 ha) of ER sherds recovered from an olive grove south of Pitharion, immediately below a small chapel built against a cliff of the upper plateau slope. A single early Candarli import is included among the finds. The nearest features of any interest are a cave next to the chapel that is partially hewn to form an apsidal plan and a rockcut cistern below the chapel that has been replastered numerous times.

Further west in Aroni, there is now more evidence for

an established community

of farmsteads.

The

LR

hamlet at AR 17 makes earlier evidence hard to interpret, yet there is enough material to suggest a small ER establishment here. Diagnostic sherds, including fine wares, indicate activity late in the periodization used here, namely second to fourth centuries A.D., showing clear continuity with the later enlarged settlement. This site illustrates a trend found on most small sites of ER date: imported fine wares of imperial times are rarely found on sites occupied in the first two centuries A.D., but early variants of eastern and African slipped wares are conspicuous on the later sites. A small amount of material at AR 14 indicates ER activity at this partially-preserved farmstead on the east slope of Kamili sinkhole, with a local slipped bowl

To summarize, the south coast fills out more completely in the ER period, with a greater number of sites (and sites of more substance) recognizable in the surface finds. The CL-HL settlement hierarchy of town, probable estate, and smaller farms has increased in complexity to include town, luxury residence,

32 Wares

identified as imitations are not assumed

to be

produced locally, or even in Crete. Use of the term is applied to specimens that exhibit coarser pastes and less articulation than ‘true’ sigillatas produced by major centers

of known foreign source. The nearby off-site area AR 8 possesses several rock-cut threshing floors that could be associated with AR 6. In other areas of Akrotiri these installations are of orthostate construction and can be tied to medieval or later settlement.

142

enlarged estate (LT 3), elite burials, rural establishments of considerable size and investment (LT 1, AR 6), and small farms. Most sites are within a kilometer of each other, sometimes less, but disposition often has more to do with prominent landforms and the fertile slopes that accompany them than with any definable interval. Nearly all sites,>4 both old and new, were built on south-facing slopes of hills, ridges or knolls although in the case of two new sites (LT 1 and AR 17) this amounts to gently sloping land in relatively unobstructed surrounds. Unlike the CL-HL period, fine wares are rare (though not completely absent) on rural sites of all sizes with the exception of the suburban estate LT 3. The status of sites like LT 1

perceived as an obstacle to the development monopoly of large estates in the region.

architecturally these represent single establishments of some investment. In the former case, proximity to LT 3 and a low-lying position next to the large fertile basin, make it possible to propose that this is a working extension of the larger estate. Otherwise, the low incidence of fine wares is consistent with the situation in the Central Corridor.

lands that they owned, leased, or worked.> This phenomenon would seem to owe much to the resiliency of the former landholding structure. There is no reason, however, to view this proposition as incompatible with economic development, accumulation of wealth, or opportunism. The evidence suggests the contrary: some sites were better endowed than their neighbors; the point is that they did not grow at the expense of them. With these conditions prevailing, it seems unlikely that here the ER period ushered in extreme types of economic pressures that have the greatest impact on non-elite members of rural society: over-intensification or marginal land use to meet surplus demands, ultimate indebtedness or failure, and the resulting depopulation of the countryside. This

and

AR

6

is perplexing

in this

regard

Were there other internal factors at work? Evidence of site continuity offers some scope for speculation. As noted above, there is an increase in the number of definable sites for the ER period, often in the same localities that experienced earlier (CL-HL) activity more difficult to characterize. In several cases (AR 14, LT 3, PL 3, PL 4 and possibly AR 6) definable sites of the earlier periods are also occupied in ER times. This pattern is more striking given the evidence for a LHL hiatus on both Akrotiri coasts. The implication is that landholding patterns remained stable even through

a period when people apparently did not inhabit the

because

Most important is the existence of a hierarchical settlement pattern that includes small rural sites. There is nothing to suggest the decline of small landholdings, even while some sites are developing into larger entities; again, the land consolidation trend noted elsewhere in the Greek world during this period

appears not to be a factor here.

and

Should we expect it to

state of affairs also lends credence to a non-organic

be? Assuming for the moment selective and optimum processes at work in agricultural development, the answer will depend at least partly on what strategies the land will bear to best advantage. Although terrace farming potential is great and has ultimately been realized throughout the course of the region’s history, the physically bisected nature of the terrain may be thought to work against efficient large-scale farming from single estate centers. The development of the estate LT 3 next to the only sizable fertile area on the coast serves to underline this point. On the other hand, epigraphic and ethnographic studies suggest that fragmented landholding was the norm in ancient Greece, among wealthy and modest farmers alike; it is argued that this practice ensured optimum returns by minimizing dependency on localized conditions that may be detrimental in any given season (Such as drought, blight, or nutrient depletion).-~ According to the latter model, then, the landscape need not be

explanation for the LHL hiatus; for whatever the impetus, it seems not to have entailed any radical shift of pre-existing land tenure systems. In this case, ‘depopulation’ did not set the stage for an elite restructuring of the landscape.>/

8.1.2.4

Late Roman Sites

Site continuity persists into the Late Roman period (fig.

66), although

some

attrition of small rural sites is

observed along with a marked change in the character

of several sites.

Minoa (MR 2) continues to be settled

at this time, and amphorae sherds were found on the coastal strip to the west (MR 1), showing the continued importance of the port. As with the previous period, little was found at the sanctuary MR 4, so its significance seems to remain a_ pre-Roman

34 Except for LT 3 sprawled across the saddle of a hill, but

36 The direct connection

tenure

which may have originated as a temple and AR 14 on east slopes of a sinkhole, where a natural terrace afforded a suitable spot for habitation.

patterns

admittedly

between

site continuity and

involves

a leap

of faith;

land

for

discussion see Alcock 1989b, 14-15. Ibid., 30-32 on marginalization of the rural peasantry and population decline in Roman Achaia.

> Osborne 1987, 37-40.

143

modest lifestyle indicated by the hamlet houses at AR 17), remains unclear. Growth in the size of a few sites combined with attrition of others points to a nucleation trend, yet the transformation is not radical one. For all periods discussed it seems possible to conclude a certain threshold of activity beyond which returns from the land on the south coast may not have paid off. We can note, however, a greater confidence taking root on the plateau north of Minoa. Here the earlier activity areas have given way to two new sites: both MS 3 (at the base of the mountain terrace) and PR 3 (on and below a prominent hill) yielded a range of wares including fine, cooking, and amphorae. Only at the latter were there significant architectural remains, including foundations of a lengthy, well-built wall; this, and the size of the debris spread suggest something more than the small Late Roman farmsteads observed elsewhere, and this may be a small estate. An altar shrine is perched on a precipice of the nearby ravine gorge. This encroachment onto the plain is still minor

phenomenon. Investigations of the seaside villa give no indication of continued activity at this time. LT 3 now exhibits features of a public religious nature: it is in this period that the chamber tomb was converted to an early Christian chapel, a cubiculum was erected on top of the building platform, and that a cemetery of slab graves (plan in fig. 36) was established within an enclosure immediately northwest of the platform. Late Roman sherds on the terraced slopes and field enclosures below suggest a continued interest in

cultivation.

Finds at LT

1 are few and no more

elucidating than in the previous period; the disposition of slab burials in an enclosure next to the walled platform is similar to the situation at LT 3, although there was no pottery in the vicinity to date these features. There are sufficient finds on the Paleokhora sites to report continued activity in LR times yet no clear change in status is indicated.

No LR material was found at Limni. Activity at Kyparissia persists much as earlier periods: sherd densities

at KY

1 are

still consistent

with

compared to expansion in Byzantine and later times

that herald new strategies of land growing pressures on the land.

a small

establishment; the same can be said of KY 6 although

there is more room for error here since later periods are abundantly represented. More _ significant developments are to the west at AR 17 where a Late Roman hamlet developed, the first nucleated community west of Minoa for which there is evidence

The southernmost stretch of this coast rises steeply just beyond the suburb of Khania, but moving north the plateau shelf descends in broader terraces, thereby resulting in a less rugged coastal topography.

five house units are preserved and one or two others, dismantled, are indicated; most are clustered in a group with shared walls, each with a main house and yard. The total area of activity determined by sampling amounts to 4.6 hectares. Proceeding west, the nearest concentrated activity is at AR 6 0.7 km to the northwest: the results of intensive sampling suggest this was the main occupation phase for the site. Off-site designations in Aroni and Pitharion are based on

sherds

found

Elevation of the northeast interior is about 100 m less

than elsewhere on Akrotiri, and the plateau becomes a physical extension of the coast in the northwest. Numerous small peninsulas and inlets indent the coast, but none of the latter, including the sizable Kalathas Bay, is today suitable for deep anchorage; the situation may have been different in antiquity prior to an uplift of the western peninsula landmass (see Chapter 6.1.1). Much of this coastline affords a good view of Khania and the coastal plain that extends to its west; a Turkish watchtower on the promontory of Kokkinos Pyrgos indicates the potential for monitoring sea traffic into Khania. Lower relief had no apparent impact on the

in

multi-period scatters; in two cases of previous occupation (AR 14, PT 1) these may be under-rated.

A striking difference of these sites from the ER period is the common occurrence of fine wares: Late Roman C and African Red Slip Ware are found on nearly every site identified, and in scatters as well. Whether this indicates factors of cost and distribution or a general leveling of economic status at this time (a possibility given the changed status of the estate at LT 3 and the

38 This relevant villages Roman between

and

8.1.3 THE WEST COAST

(plan in fig. 26).° 8 Fieldstone foundations of four or

isolated finds or at the most two

management

frequency of settlement as compared to the south coast.

With few exceptions the disposition of sites suggests that basins and riverine deposits were still favored for the deeper soils.

one example hardly constitutes a trend, but is to Timothy Gregory’s observation that nucleated become the norm in rural landscapes of the Late Aegean, replacing the traditional relationship urban center and farms (1994, 141).

39 See Chapter 6.1.2.

144

8.1.3.1

elevated, basin of Tersana to the east that was certainly important in all periods for agriculture. Vistas from the ridge are exceptional and the disposition, size, distance to port, and pottery are reminiscent of LT 3 on the southeast coast. There is no evidence here of a

Classical and Hellenistic Sites

Evidence for pre-Classical settlement, as in most areas of Akrotiri, amounts to an _ occasional sherd identification: an Orientalizing urn and Archaic cup at Korakas (KK 4); single finds of Geometric to Archaic date at KL 5 and KL 7; several vessels of general A-CL date at TS 10; and a single Archaic cup at TS 11 (fig. 60). As noted earlier, locations near ravines are favored, with the exception of a coastal hill at TS 11.

masonry platform on the scale of that site, but several

large ashlar blocks and a massive press weight escaped robbing, and the original site nucleus can be found at the center of radiating field enclosures (plan in fig. 28). The west side of the ridge is buttressed by a 2-m high embankment wall to support an elevated terrace (photograph in fig. 29). Otherwise, only large heaps of Stone survive, cleared for planting in the various enclosures. As with other large sites on Akrotiri it is

Apart from these, the only definable sites are Lera

Cave (SV 5) and Arkoudiotissa Cave (GV 1) that probably served as a sanctuaries in Geometric, Archaic and certainly later times.

difficult to discern the earliest character because of

heavy ER activity on the site; the lack of identifiably Roman construction materials may again, as at LT 3, suggest re-use of an earlier edifice. The surface spread of material is commensurate for both Roman and Greek periods (2.55 ha). Classical and Early Hellenistic sherds include fine and domestic wares, amphorae, and black-washed tiles. The tight configuration of the site is more consistent with a single establishment or estate than a village, but this cannot be proven on the basis of the surface remains.

Sites specifically datable to the Late Classical/Early Hellenistic period are especially concentrated in the Tersana area, with several others to the north at Stavros and Nerokampos (fig. 61). The probable existence in ancient times of a sheltered harbor in what is now a marshy basin at the head of the Tersana harbor is explored elsewhere. 0 Sites clustered around this

landform and an abundance of amphorae make a strong

case for sea-borne traffic. Two sites on promontories on either side of the present-day inlet, TS la and TS 15, remain little understood because of modern resort development. Aeolianite masonry remnants were found on the hilltop of TS 1a when investigated by Moody; fine and domestic wares, along with tile, are identified at both, and it seems reasonable to suggest a small port settlement existed on either side of the harbor entrance. Site TS 3 was perched on a small but steep hill at the inland side of the harbor basin: a great

The only land-locked body of water in Akrotiri is the small pond called Limnes, today a brackish marsh with reed beds, located barely 0.5 km northwest of TS 10. A small farm was built here in the Late Classical/Early Hellenistic period, thus completing a literal circle of settlement that made up the community at Tersana. A concentration of mostly amphorae and tiles (including black-washed) was found at the southeast edge of the pond, with further activity noted on the east and north sides. The dynamics of the Tersana micro-region offer an interesting point of departure from those on the southeast coast at this time. Geographically the territory is uncircumscribed yet a preference for nucleation near the port is clear with distance between contiguous sites never more than 0.5 kilometers. With the fertile upper basin, the ravine, and rich deposits in low-lying areas that surround ridges, this is the best area on the west coast for agriculture and is today

heap of ceramics was recently cleared off the top and

re-deposited at the base. This amounted to amphorae and tile fragments that, when Moody investigated, were dispersed around a bedrock cutting on the hill peak. It is easier to imagine a watch facility here than a habitation, but there are indications that activity may have been continuous with that at TS 17 on a larger ridge to the east. This ridge was already bulldozed for development when Moody investigated, but sherds were reported on the west slope and continuing to the base of TS 3. The military map shows the ridge slopes

were

once

terraced,

and

finds

of amphorae

domestic wares suggest a farm was located here.

planted

and

in vines.

Yet

the disposition

of sites

is

selective and, as elsewhere on Akrotiri, there is no indication of settlement pressures on the land. The pattern of (probable) estate and smaller establishments is mirrored in the other regions explored above except here, as in the Central Corridor, the community thrived without a sizable town. Whatever was produced here-the amphorae make wine a strong possibility—-was traded directly by these agriculturalists via their small

One of the more impressive sites in Akrotiri, TS 10, lies across a deep ravine bed to the north of TS 17. Building remains, largely dismantled, are sprawled across a ridge that overlooks the second major, but

port.

40 See the Tersana District introduction in the Site Gazetteer. 41 The hilltop now supports an electrical station and was

secured from access during the present investigation.

145

were recovered here. Little is known about Aghios Giorgios (AG 1) further east, except that it contained “ancient vases” of unspecified date. The caves of Akhyrospilio (GV 5) and Arkoudiotissa (GV 1) are more difficult to access; both contain cult offerings of

The site at Stavros, SV 4, lies 2 km to the northeast of Tersana at the base of the Vardies mountain peak and next to the small protected harbor of Trakhili. There are indications of substantial activity here in ancient times, but urban development along this coast, compounded by steadily encroaching sand dunes, makes surface assessment difficult. A beachrock rise in the center of the modern town yielded a small amount of CL-HL material, yet numerous black and red-gloss sherds were noted in land and road fills on the promontory. Sherds cemented in shoreline beachrock offer better provenance, but were worn to the core. Shallows along this shoreline are so extensively quarried for aeolianite that industry must be considered a possibility, but the source at Stavros was apparently exploited in Venetian times,*~ so this line of evidence is only as good as the sporadic remains of aeolianite blocks on ancient sites along the west coast. The longevity of the settlement at Stavros may be reflected in finds excavated from Lera Cave (SV 5)

CL-R date.

FR 5 is located at the edge of the Tersana district, on a low rise 600 m northeast of TS 10. Several black-gloss sherds were recovered along with later material by Moody, who reported walls here; only a heap of stone tumble remained in 1995. This may have been another small farm, but off-site activity is not out of the question. Moving south, the evidence for activity

becomes patchy and much like the state of affairs along

the south coast at this time. The ravine-bisected coastline around Kalathas Bay yielded small amounts of material (one or two sherds per locale) at KF 1, KL 5, and KL 7. As noted earlier, this catchment offers the best route inland to the Central Corridor and the probable estate at KA 1, and it would be surprising not to find some activity manifest here. The Kokkinos Pyrgos peninsula has a concentration of possible significance at KP 1 that includes black-gloss fragments, a bowl, and tiles that were apparently scraped from an area leveled for cultivation. KP 5 to the north produced only two CL-HL sherds but this became an important site in later periods so obfuscation is possible. KE 1b is a short distance outside Khania, on a coastal ridge overlooking Khalepa harbor: a Korinthian tile and black-gloss sherd were collected here and these could belong to either a habitation or tomb; a series of Roman chamber tombs were identified in nearby cliffs and earlier burials in the area would not seem unlikely. It is tempting to view the low-definition activity along the southern half of this coast as the product of commuting farmers from Khania. Assuming, for the sake of argument, that small farms have been misrepresented as off-site areas, the potential for terrace farming along this stretch is equivalent to that of the south coast, and the settlement distribution would still not account for the agricultural returns possible. However the scarcity of sites is interpreted, one can hardly develop a case for pressures on the land or for marginal land use.

that overlooks the coast from the mountain heights above. The cave was used as a sanctuary from prehistoric to Roman times and yielded CL-HL lamps,

figurines, and a sherd inscribed IJavi (“Pan and the Nymphs”).

cai

It seems likely that most of these caves

functioned as sanctuaries, along with SV 4; but whether sanctuaries or shelters, they hint at the traffic that pastoral pursuits may have brought to the Akrotiri mountains.

Nipdat

Two farms were identified to the east of Stavros at the base of the mountains. NK 1 is located on a shelf of the lowest Aghios Giorgios terrace and commands an excellent view of the plain. Surface material spills a considerable distance down slope, but the site nucleus was less than 0.5 hectare. Stone tumble is all that is left of structures on the shelf; finds include a LCL/EHL lekane, a fine ware fragment, and black-washed tile. NK 4 lies 1 km to the southeast where a concentration of sherds and possible wall remnants were found at the terrace base. The site was destroyed by 1995, but material collected includes several LCL/EHL utility vessels (lekane, basin, table amphora). Both sites are at the edge of a large cultivable plain with sandy but deep soils. Adding sites and finds only generally identified as CL-HL we find more activity in caves of the northwest mountain range, each of which was investigated prior to Moody’s project (fig. 62). Phones Cave (AP 10) is only 25 m upslope of the farm at NK 4, and a Hellenistic sherd was recovered here. Khavyiaris Cave (AG 2) is about a kilometer upslope of NK 1, on the opposite side of the Ag. Giorgios gorge. It reportedly has two chambers with stalagmites and stalactites, and niches cut into the ‘antechamber’; HL and R sherds

8.1.3.2

Late Hellenistic Sites

The evidence is much as it was for the south coast, meager (fig. 63). Only TS 10 produced enough 42 In written records described to Moody (1987, 23).

146

material to indicate amphora toe, and two ER). A single molded in the debris pile at northeast at AP 7, fragment to the south

no evidence for the appearance of new sites, fine wares are rare beyond the large estate, and few sherds date beyond the early bracket (first to second century A.D.) of the ER period.

concentrated activity (a bowl, bifid handles that could also be relief bowl fragment was found TS 3, an amphora toe to the and a Campanian black-gloss at KP 5. Material of general

The scanty remains at the coastal site of Stavros (SV 4) include an Arretine (?) juglet and a basin, yet land and road fills contained abundant red-gloss sherds. The mountain terrace farm at NK 1 was also occupied at this time, with utility ware and amphorae identified both on and off the site in the plain below (AP 2); the earlier dynamic between coastal settlement and inland

HL-ER date (fig. 64) does little to fill out the picture,

with an isolated coarse jar of first-century B.C. date recovered at TS 2 (near TS 10) and an amphora spike at Kokkinos Pyrgos (KP 1). The scarcity of finds datable to this period indicates that coastlines generally on Akrotiri succumbed to the same fate. It may now be

farm appears to be re-established, minus site NK 4 that

possible to speak of a shift in settlement to the Central

shows no post-HL activity until Byzantine times. With the exception of AP 10 and perhaps AG 1, all caves discussed earlier also contained Roman material.

Corridor, but not in a complete sense because development there is hardly commensurate with the loss of all coastal sites. It appears that some of the population ceased to reside on the peninsula altogether.

8.1.3.3 Early Roman Sites

Only along the southern stretch of the coast is there evidence for newly established sites. Activity around the Kalathas Bay is still minor, with coarse ware finds

The pattern now shows a rebound, with site numbers approaching those before the hiatus (fig. 65). Beginning with the Tersana district, two sites (TS 17, TS 1a) may actually have lost ground since no post-HL

Kokkinos Pyrgos now _ indicates a_ well-built establishment. At present LR building remains are visible on top of a low hill that is the highest point on the peninsula, overlooking a deep fertile depression to

material was recovered from either. Site TS 15 on north side of the harbor yielded a few sherds of period (an early African Red Slip Ware fragment two jars).4° Activity resumes on the site of LCL-EHL farm at TS 4 by the pond, and sherds of

in scatters at KL 3 and KL 5.

Material at KP 5 on

the southeast that provides 10 ha of growing surface. The ER occupation was focused on this southeast slope of the hill; pottery includes utility wares and early

the this and the this

concentration to the north at TS 8 consists of coarse

versions of African Red Slip Ware and Late Roman C, together suggesting a date bracket of the second to fourth centuries A.D. There are several lines of evidence for the habitation here: earlier tile embedded in mortar of the LR building; a roadcut along the rim of the depression that churned up ashlar block fragments in fine white limestone, and that also exposed a series of parallel wall foundations; and traces of plaster-coated cement with bright color found in the cut section. An estimated size of 0.60 ha for this period of the site is on the conservative side, and an identification of wealthy farm or estate seems warranted. The disposition at the edge of a sizable

TS 10. It is difficult to put the observed ER conditions

elsewhere in Akrotiri, almost predictable.

period are included in the debris pile at TS 3. TS 10 prospered, however; site boundaries remains constant, but as much ER pottery was identified as the earlier periods put together. Surface finds include Italian Sigillata imitations and a range of domestic wares, although fewer amphorae of this period were identified compared with earlier periods. A single stone sarcophagus was discovered at the south edge of the site near the ravine, and the combined evidence makes an estate identification fairly certain. A small

fertile depression

wares and is most readily construed as off-site areas of of the area in perspective. The question one would like to ask-should the decreased activity on some sites be attributed to a gradual reoccupation after the LHL period, or should the relative robustness of TS 10 at this time be read as an increasing centrality of wealth?—is perhaps too demanding of the database in Tersana with several sites either greatly disturbed or destroyed. Three things can be said for certain: there is

is, from

the evidence

of estates

There is little evidence for resumed activity at KP 1 0.6 km to the south, but some coastal installations at KK 2 further south bordering the Korakas inlet (a fishtank, boat slip, and a possible tomb) are probably of this period and a Severan jar was found nearby at KK 4. The southernmost site of the west coast is KE 5, located just over 2 km from the town center of Khania, that consists of a series of chamber tombs. Moody counted thirty along a 250-m stretch of sandstone cliffs, of which only seven of ER type remained intact by 1995 (plans of two in fig. 35).

43 But Moody’s fieldnotes (11-5-78) report abundant ancient

debris from road clearance on the hill; this was no longer visible in 1995.

147

mortar and rubble column in one period is limited to coarse shell-tempered) and an amphora. AP 4 include amphorae and a Roman C form; AP 4 is the

Minoan tombs are also known in the area that seems to have been a long-favored suburban cemetery for urban Kydonia. Overall, the west coast pattern is one of conservative development, or redevelopment, with two larger farms or estates identified. Pre-Roman activity long the south stretch was never great, so it seems appropriate to speak of KP 5 as filling a niche of opportunity rather than usurping other smaller

thirteenth-century monastery

establishments at this time. The owner’s decision to set

Late Roman Sites

This is a time of attrition in the Tersana area with only two sites, TS 10 and TS 4, showing activity (fig. 66).

it would

not be

To the south of Tersana, the scatter at KL 3 on Kalathas Bay yielded several possible LR sherds including a White Ware fragment of sixth to seventh-century A.D. date. Site KP 5 on Kokkinos Pyrgos changes configuration at this time: the hillslope habitation is abandoned and a small, lesser-endowed farmhouse with an enclosure is built on the hilltop. The house proper is completely collapsed but the lintel is preserved where it fell and the tumulus indicates a size and proportions consistent with other LR houses. Two rotary quern fragments, of different source material, were found nearby and may represent the two main phases (ER, LR) of the site. Apart from tiles, associated finds include amphorae and Late Roman C dishes; surface finds of this period extend over a

The LR material at TS 4, as with the ER phase, is minimal (Late Roman C ware, an amphora sherd) yet the concentration for all periods seems localized enough to warrant a low-level site rather than scatter designation. TS 10 sustains activity, but it proves difficult to relate this to earlier levels. Intensive sampling of 301 sherds yielded about 15% as

identifiable LR fabrics, compared to 30% identified as specimens of Standard Ware; yet the latter ware spans

the HL-ER periods, so the figure needs to be weighted. Sherds include five Late Roman C specimens and a cooking pot. FR 5 to the northeast is included as off-site: Byzantine and later activity here is heavy, but some of the coarse wares could be Late Roman. Activity at this time is drawn away from the harbor, and the low incidence of LR amphorae (compared to the southeast coast) suggests the port function of Tersana became less important.

0.72-ha area. Activity is apparent at KP 1 that also produced CL-HL material, but it is difficult to determine at what level; there is one Late Roman C sherd and others of possible LR fabric, but Byzantine glazed wares are abundant and shapes (especially double rims) and fabrics can overlap for these periods. A single amphora sherd was found at KK 4 along with a tenth to eleventh-century A.D. jug.

Amphorae finds are more common in the small community at the base of the mountain to the north. The small farm at NK 1 continues to show activity, with amphorae and unslipped examples of Late Roman C and African Red Slip Ware forms suggesting a fifth to seventh-century A.D. date. A new site appears at AP 7 where a small chapel now stands that was important in Byzantine times to judge by abundant pottery of this period. Next to the chapel are partially-standing walls of a building that in size and construction is similar to examples of LR houses found elsewhere in Akrotiri, 4 and that includes a composite

44 Sites AR 17 in Aroni, and KP 5 in Kokkinos Pyrgos.

and

surprising if this activity obscures something more significant of LR date. Reports on the caves discussed for earlier periods are not clear as regards LR material but the medieval religious edifices in Ag. Pavlos and Ag. Triadha to the southeast may indicate an earlier shift of early Christian sanctuaries to the base of the mountain terrace. A connection between the NK 1/AP 7 community and that at Stavros on the coast is supposed but can hardly be explored since only one certain LR amphora sherd was recovered from the vicinity of SV 4.

up rural residence in an area that, according to the scrappy evidence, must previously have been farmed from the city indicates a willingness to invest more directly in agricultural enterprise.

8.1.3.4

wall. Pottery of this wares (including Scatters at AP 2 and single sherd of Late site of a twelfth to

In summary, the west coast appears to have witnessed neither growth in the total number of sites, nor any appreciable increase in the size of individual sites. The small number of new foundations is easily offset by the loss of older ones, but continuity in areas of previous activity remains high. Like the south coast, fine wares occur on all manner of sites, and if settlement densities are any indication of land-use intensity, the conclusion must again be that there is no clear evidence for pressures on the land.

It

may be noted that all of these small, hall-style buildings are similar in plan to Late Roman houses in Sicily (Wilson 1990,

230, fig. 185).

148

8.1.4 THE ISTHMUS

black-washed tile, providing a rough third to first-century B.C. date bracket. Combined, the remains cover an area of about 0.43 hectares. This is one of the few sites outside the Central Corridor to produce evidence for late Hellenistic habitation. If security was a factor this site is well-disposed: inland yet close to Khania, and the hill itself is an excellent defensive position, commanding views in all directions including Soudha Bay. The structure on the western saddle seems exposed for a habitation and may have functioned as a lookout.

The isthmus of Akrotiri is three kilometers wide; its low southern end is geographically (and in elevation) contiguous with Khania to the west and the port of Soudha to the east. Extensive marshlands are relatively rare on Crete today, but the lower isthmus supports a

salt marsh that ranks among the few.

It is now a

remnant of its former glory, but Pashley traversed it in 1834, noting, “...the ground becomes a marsh, and would be impassable but for the aid afforded us by portions of an old paved road, doubtless the work of the Venetians. The marsh is about three miles in circumference, and is said to abound in snipes.”46 The earlier extent is not known. It seems likely that this area was not favored for habitation, but marshlands did provide important resources for the rural dweller in ancient times.4’ Elevations increase dramatically to the north where a rugged highland zone, 100-200 m above sea level, introduces the high plain beyond.

These

highlands

form

two

peak

plateaus,

8.1.4.1

Classical and Hellenistic Sites

8.1.4.2 Early and Late Roman Sites Site AI 1 also produced a smaller component of ER material including two amphorae of Augustan to first-century A.D. date, and some of the unslipped tile fragments could belong to this phase (fig. 65). The twin hill at AI 4 has a Roman chamber tomb chiseled in its northwest slope but the only sherds of this period, belonging to a coarse ware cup and a casserole, were recovered at the west base of the hill and could be off-site material from AI 1. Two sherds, one certain and one probable ER, were located on a ridge at AS 8 in Asirmatos near the foundations of a wireless building where some cut limestone blocks are reused.

Aghios

Ioannis and Asirmatos, that attracted ancient activity.

The earliest evidence is from the hillslope at AI 1 in Ag. Ioannis, where CL-HL tombs were investigated in 1952 (fig. 62); vestiges of several niches are today visible in the marl, that reportedly contained round mirrors and skeletal remains. The scrappy nature of the finds at AS 5 to the northeast could only support an off-site designation, yet one of two finds is a Hellenistic antefix of palmette style, in grey fabric with black wash, so a site may evade discovery.*° A large rock-hewn cistern, perhaps once roofed, lies to the south of this, but little else was recovered from the area that is being built up with housing.

A small amount of LR material (fig. 66), including a Late Roman C dish form and a ‘Gritty Grey Ware’ jar base, was located at AS 6b (at the base of the AS 8 ridge), but a source could not be established. Finally, KR 1, equidistant between Asirmatos and Pitharion, produced an amphora sherd of this period.

8.2 Pottery (figs. 67-73)

8.2.1 FINE WARES

There is evidence for settlement at AI 1 in the LHL period, though one or two sherds may be earlier (fig. 63). Rubble belonging to collapsed walls is visible near the base of the hill below the tombs; up above on the saddle of a western extension of the same hill lies an 18-m long foundation wall tumulus and walls reworked for German surveillance in WWII. Both areas produced an interesting array of Campanian, Dressel and Koan-type amphorae along’ with

Of the twenty-three activity areas with Late Classical/Early Hellenistic material, only two sites and three off-site designations lack black-gloss sherds.

These wares had a wide distribution, and were acquired

by those inhabiting both small and large sites. The difficulty with this class of material is that many specimens are not chronologically diagnostic when considered on their own. The rarity of diagnostic Late Hellenistic pottery on the coastlines may suggest that, where found, black-gloss sherds of unknown shape belong to the earlier phase, but this cannot be

4) The loss of fens throughout Greece in the past century is explored in Rackham 1990, 87,102.

46 Pashley 1837, Vol. I, 28-29.

47 Purcell 1995, 157-58.

49 Problems encountered in identifying plain black-gloss sherds of Archaic through Hellenistic date are fully explored in Cherry, Davis, and Mantzourani 1991, 328-331.

8 Unless this belongs to the proposed temple at site PT 1, 2

km to the east.

149

proved. The distribution map in figure 67 illustrates all

sigillata specimens. Such thin distributions make it unclear if we should interpret this line of evidence as an indication of economic differences between sites, or a more general marketing pattern affecting the peninsula as a whole.

activity areas with black-gloss sherds, although contemporaniety is not always established and it is known that in a few cases (notably the larger sites in the Central Corridor) fine wares belong to the Late Hellenistic period. The likelihood that Hellenistic potters in Khania specialized in the production of black-gloss ware with grey fabric was noted in Chapter 5.1. Of the forty sites and off-site areas where black-gloss wares were found, ten yielded this local version,» while thirty-six areas had specimens identified as imports, mostly of Attic manufacture. Some specialized urban products, therefore, reached this hinterland from its polis center; of the others it is unknown if they were acquired via the center, or more directly by trade through Akrotiri’s own ports.

The twenty-nine activity areas with Late Roman fine wares are illustrated in figure 69 (also, see table 3). The date range represented by these wares is less than for the previous fine wares (about 250 years; few date beyond the early seventh century). The distribution has widened from Early Roman times and, except for the northwest coastal area, more closely approximates that

of the black-gloss wares.

The more restricted distribution of Late Hellenistic fine wares in the Central Corridor, the only area fully

settled at this time, was

discussed

in the previous

section, and a case made for economic disparities between sites in the community. The fifteen sites and off-site areas with red-gloss wares (including some slipped varieties) of Early Roman date are shown in figure 68 (also, see table 2). | The incidence of these wares is low compared to the black-gloss wares, and represents a composite of periods spanning a similar length of time (about 350 years). The distribution is more striking if compared to the site distribution map for the Early Roman period (fig. 65). The scarcity of Early Roman fine wares in the Central Corridor has been noted, with a single sigillata sherd occurring off-site and two third-century Candarli specimens at the estate NL 1. Because the largest estate at KA 1

8.2.2 AMPHORAE Activity areas with amphorae of Classical (mostly late) to Early Hellenistic date are shown in figure 70. The distribution is more restricted than that of black-gloss wares, with a distinct bias for the port districts of Marathi and Loutraki on the southeast coast, and that of Tersana in the northwest. The pattern does not seem out of the ordinary, but neither 1s it predictable.>It does suggest that Akrotiri was mainly a producer, not an importer, of foodstuffs typically associated with transport vessels (oil and wine), for otherwise we

would expect distributed on

otherwise shows growth at this time, the pattern is

Similarly, fine wares are rare among surface finds at Tersana beyond the estate at TS 10, but even here the

by only two

the

carriers more widely Twenty amphorae were

52 Hayes 1997, 59. There is no indication that these wares were imitated in the study region, although their shapes were replicated by coarse-ware potters. >3 The Southern Argolid and Keos surveys, for example, report amphorae at both inland and coastal sites of this

west, but is not a large figure for a site of LT 3’s size. is represented

to find sites.-+

recorded from a total of eleven sites. Eleven of the vessels are identified as Standard Ware fabrics (including Variants 1, 2, and 3), which means they were probably obtained from Khania for the purpose of containing the local products for shipment.> The

believed to be the result of distribution factors affecting the interior of Akrotiri as a whole. In fact, the coastlines may have been similarly affected, only to a lesser degree because of proximity to ports. At the estate of LT 3 near Marathi, for example, only eight fine-ware specimens represent the first two centuries of the Roman period. This is more than the total number of fine wares in this date bracket from all sites to the

early bracket

These African and eastern

imports also reached habitation sites of every size. Late Roman fine wares were cheaper to produce than the sigillatas, and designed for mass shipment; factors that must be taken into account when comparing their incidence with wares of the preceding period.

imitation

period (Jameson, Runnels, and van Andel 1994, 383-84; Cherry, Davis, and Mantzourani 1991, 334); the situation in

the inland region of the Western Mesara is not strictly comparable since the Classical and Hellenistic periods are treated separately, but amphorae are reported on sites of the

59 There is no apparent geographical bias: AR 9-43, AR

14-15, AR 17-52, AR 20-63, KE 1b-102, KP 1-144, LT 3-186, MR 4-211, NL 1-242, and TS 15-356. | Finds from caves are not included in the pottery distribution maps; the presence of fine wares can be inferred, but these were rarely described in detail in the early investigations.

latter period (Watrous et al. 1993, 230-31).

>4 Fulford 1987, 69.

25 These are LT 3-183, 184, and 185, MR 4-213, PL 3-264 and 265, PL 6-278, TS 3-310, TS 4-318, TS 10-332, and TS 17-362.

150

Table 2. Early Roman red-gloss and slipped wares recovered in Akrotiri.

Ware

Date Ist century B.C. to Ist century A.D.

African Red Slip Ware

(early fabric, no forms) ARSW Form 9B

ARSW Form 45

ARSW Form 50

Late Roman C (Form 2C) Local Slipped Wares

Ist to 2nd centuries A.D. Ist to 3rd centuries A.D.

3rd to 4th centuries A.D.

2nd 3rd 3rd 4th Ist

—

Imitations Candarli (early)

Ist century B.C. to Ist century A.D.

W—

Eastern Sigillata B

MN

Imitations Eastern Sigillata A

cee

Italian Sigillata

century A.D. to 4th centuries A.D. to 4th centuries A.D. century A.D. to 2nd centuries A.D.

Late Roman C, Form 1 LRC Form 3 LRC Form 4 LRC Form 10 ARSW Form 3 ARSW Form 61 ARSW Form 82 ARSW Form 83 ARSW Form 91 ARSW Form 99 ARSW Form 103 ARSW Form 105

e ‘m =)

Date 5th Sth Sth 6th Sth Ath Sth 5th 6th 6th

oo

Ware

ot

Table 3. Late Roman red-slip and related wares recovered in Akrotiri. l

century A.D. to 6th century century A.D. to 7th century century A.D. to 5th century century A.D. century A.D. to 7th century to 7th century

6th century A.D.

A.D. A.D. A.D.

A.D. A.D.

6th to 7th century A.D. 6th to 7th century A.D.

Cypriot Red Slip Ware (Form 9)

| ‘Related’ is added because some specimens do not preserve slip, but appear to be consistent with wares identified elsewhere that do.

151

1 5

30

6

10

Table 5. Standard Ware Variants recovered from sites intensively sampled in Akrotiri.

Other sites Total

3

IN

Site AR 6 (118) AR 17 (183) KA 1 (336) KP 5 (107) LT 3 (166) MR 2 (175) MR4 (28) NL 1 (60) TS 10 (301) Subtotal

10

|=

Standard Ware Variants 1+grog

31

6

25 22

4

2+ grog

7

16 71 190

17 34

3 3

72 262

5 39

1 4

152

=]

i

Non-local

I 10 19

vt

Local

WIZ

LHL HL-ER ER

WN

Date

ten]

Table 4. Hellenistic and Early Roman amphorae recovered in Akrotiri.

Table 6. Late Roman coarse compared with other wares recovered from sites intensively

sampled in Akrotiri.

Sites

AR 6 (118) AR 17 (183) KA 1 (336) KP 5 (107) LT3 (166) PR3 (61) TS 10 (301)

Standard Ware (all variants) 10 5 39 7 31 0 94

Late Roman Coarse 15 46 29 14 22 25 45

Tiles 15 16 53 20 24 3 60

Other 13 22 46 10 17 3 26

Table 7. Wares in the fabric typology, other than Standard Ware, recovered from sites intensively sampled in Akrotiri.

Site

AR 6 KA 1 KP 5 LT 3 MR 2 MR 4 NL 1 TS 10 Subtotal

Other sites Total

Smooth Imon

Burnished rown

Burnished Orange

Coarse Red

I

l

] l 1

l

5 2

7

11

2

0

10 19

l l 11

3 14

0 2

5 5

1 20

17

2

153

Coarse Brown

l l

discussed elsewhere that the harbor facility here was no longer suitable for traffic. Sixty-five specimens were recorded from a total of thirty sites. The majority (forty-three specimens) were identified as Peacock and Williams Class 43 of probable east Aegean source. Eight specimens belong to Class 44 of Cilician origin, and six specimens belong to Class 46 which is sourced to Palestine. The fifth to seventh-century date for these wares overlaps well with the dated fine wares, and together the distributions suggest an economy fully integrated with the eastern Mediterranean and North African spheres of trade.°* Even in secondary contexts, these amphorae may have been common enough on the market to compete with local products.

remaining nine amphorae are of non-local fabrics but, with the exception of a fifth-century Attic jar, most of these are of fabrics that could be Cretan. Some amphorae sherds could not be dated more closely than Hellenistic/Early Roman because production in Standard Ware, the most common fabric of this vessel class, spans these periods. Of forty-six amphorae recorded (from thirty-four sites), six are datable to the Late Hellenistic period and twenty-five to the Early Roman period, with thirteen of unspecified date (figure 7 1).>7 Table 4 presents the counts in these categories according to place of origin, as far as this could be determined. Those of local origin are mostly of Standard Ware Variant 1, with Variants 2 and 3 minimally represented. Ten of these are identified by shape as Cretan Types AC1 and Ac2.>8

8.2.3

Vessels in fabric not typical of the study area, but which could (according to color and mineralogy) be of Cretan manufacture, are included in the non-local group; parallels for most of the shapes are found at Knossos. The non-Cretan group includes Koan, Campanian, Rhodian and Knidian specimens, and two possible Brindisi variants. The distribution of amphorae is slightly broader than that of fine wares in the Early Roman period; appreciably more so if the general Hellenistic/Early Roman material is included. The pattern appears more integrated from this perspective, although the percentage of non-local to local products is no greater than in the Late Classical/Early Hellenistic period (the figures are, however, small). More extra-island imports are identified, but care must be used in adducing from this that foodstuffs were imported directly to Akrotiri.o} The distribution of Late Roman that of fine wares for this period, in the size of sites where they There is a high incidence of

southeast northeast

COARSE WARES

The most common utility ware in use throughout Hellenistic and Early Roman times was Standard Ware, probably manufactured in the polis center of Kydonia

(Chapter 5.5.1). The ware does not lend itself to close

dating resolution in the absence of shapes, and permits only the most general conclusions concerning its

distribution, illustrated in figure 73. intensively

comparable

surveyed

(Chapter

Sites that were

6.2.3)

provide

fields for presenting frequencies of this

and other coarse wares developed in the typology. Sherd counts for the Standard Ware variants are

presented in table 5, with the total number of sherds

examined on a site in parentheses; cumulative counts from all other activity areas are listed last. © Standard Ware Variant 1 is clearly predominant in Akrotiri. The last two variants, Standard Wares 1 and 2 with added fine grog, were identified in the field after the fabric typology had been developed, and their provenance is

amphorae resembles with no apparent bias are found (fig. 72). these wares in the

62 See Chapter 6.1.2 and the Tersana District introduction in

port region. The lack of them in the area of Tersana supports the argument

the Site Gazetteer. Updated source information for these amphorae is derived from Hayes 1992.

This agrees with Gregory’s observations of Aegean regions at this time, although part of his equation (a

>© These are KF 1-105, KY 1-162, SV 4-300, TS 3-309 and 311, TS 4-317, TS 10-326 and 330(?), and TS 17-363. 7 These are minimum figures: amphorae represented by several body sherds on a site are only counted once.

florescence in the number of sites and increased dependence on marginal land) seems not to apply in Akrotiri (1994,

143-48).

It is otherwise difficult to explain the finds from the mountain-base districts of Ag. Triadha and Ag. Pavlos, areas of sandy alluvium today prized for vineyards. It seems more likely that these represent recycled containers rather than a need for imported wine or oil. For consistency, material recovered earlier by Moody is excluded from counts for the sampled sites, and has been added to the ‘other sites’ total. The Late Roman site at PR 3 is excluded because it has no Standard Ware.

8 See Chapter 5.5.1 for discussion.

39 Non-local specimens include: AR 8-38, KB 1b-101, KO 3-142, MR 7-219, MS 6-227, and TS 3-315. 0 Non-Cretan specimens include: AI 1-2 and 4, AP 7-28, AR 14-46, AS 8-68, KP 1-145, MR 2-200, NL 6-254, PT 1-289, and TS 3-314. Such a small number of vessels could reflect redistribution or re-use of amphorae that originally entered the polis center (Peacock 1982, 163; Fulford 1987, 70-71).

154

probably be attributed to the unusually fresh and unabraded condition of sherds on this site. The cumulative percentage of unidentified material is 56% of the total 1447 sherds recorded during sampling. The results are not dissimilar to other survey projects employing coarse wares as dating tools,”° but there is clearly a large margin of error in determining the intensity of occupation for a given phase.

uncertain. The frequencies and distribution suggest that there were few barriers to the marketing of Standard Ware throughout Akrotiri, and that the entire peninsula was within the market catchment area of the polis center. All of the intensively-sampled sites have multiple phases, and all but MR 4 and NL 1 have a significant component of Late Roman coarse wares.’ Counts of Late Roman coarse wares are included in table 6, with total sherd counts from sites again in parentheses; the ‘other’ category represents sherds of other classes or periods that could be identified. Ideally, this procedure would provide a basis for isolating the intensity of occupation for one phase relative to another; in this case the Standard Ware figures are problematic because it is unknown how the figures should be weighted over the Hellenistic to Early Roman periods. Using an arbitrary method, we can propose that the Late Roman coarse wares span a period of time similar

Other wares in the fabric typology include Smooth Salmon Ware (which spans the same periods as Standard Ware), Burnished Brown Ware, Coarse Brown Wares, Burnished Orange Ware, and Coarse Red Wares, all of Early Roman date (table 7). Recovery levels for these wares are low. Preservation factors may to some extent contribute to this circumstance, since diagnostic attributes of Smooth Salmon and Bumished Orange and Brown Wares include surface treatments that are susceptible to wear.°? One concern that arose during field work was that the range of variation exhibited by the Coarse Red

to that of the fine wares, about 250 years (a large assumption), and break down the Standard Ware

and Brown Wares in the Khania sample might be too

lower frequencies of Standard Ware throughout the

narrow. Sherds that could represent variants of these wares were observed during sampling, but were not assigned as such wherever Hellenistic or Late Roman mixing was a factor, which it usually was. Since the wares were used for cooking, an activity that produces plentiful debris, there is a distinct possibility that they have been under-represented.

There is a large percentage of sherds from each site

Having stated these cautions, it is nevertheless true that some coarse products (or their variants) found in Khania were transported in only small numbers to

counts by this increment, which would be a factor of three. For every site, even TS 10 with the largest quantity of Standard Ware, such an exercise results in Hellenistic and Early Roman periods compared to Late Roman coarse wares. We may at least conclude that activity on the largest sites in Akrotiri was sustained at equal or greater levels in the Late Roman period.

that could not, based on the fabric typology or fabrics

Akrotiri.

learned in the field, be classified with assurance. Even though the majority of tiles on these sites could not be closely dated, tile counts are included in table 6 because they are less representative of repetitive activity. The percentage of unidentified sherds from these sites is: AR 6 (56%), AR 17 (52%), KA 1 (51%), 10 (26%).

67 | wish to emphasize that a study of Late Roman

17 and KP

associated

with

the Keos

report that, “of over

can be dated no more closely than to a range of two

ceramic periods (e.g., Archaic to Classical, representing a real time length of several hundred years); about 35% can be

dated to a single period; and fewer than 10% can be dated as closely as a century.” (Cherry, Davis, and Mantzourani 1991,

spatially distinct

architecture.

surveyors

75%

examining specimens of diagnostic shape, with particular focus on site PR 3 that lacks earlier and later material, and assemblages

68 For example,

difficult to

1300 on-site sherds of Archaic through Roman date, nearly

coarse

wares from excavated deposits was not undertaken as with Fabrics were learned in the field by the earlier wares. also sites AR

It is otherwise

10 can

The lower figure for TS

5 that have

from the polis center.

explain the discrepancy between these and Standard Ware in terms of marketing, because distribution channels for the latter were clearly established.

KP 5 (53%), LT 3 (44%), MR 2 (43%), PR 3 (50%), and TS

It may be that inhabitants of the peninsula

produced some of their own coarse utility wares; or, that products other than those analyzed were obtained

329).

Attributes

orange, red, and pink-brown are common, and the colors are often muddy), temper (phyllite and shell, lacking in all but

69 The fabrics of these wares are, however, distinctive, and the routine examination of fresh breaks during sampling makes it unlikely that many examples were overlooked.

periods; numerous medium to large-grained milky quartz, grog or other red, and calcareous grits), and weight (the wares are often dense and heavier than earlier wares).

Smooth Salmon Wares, Hellenistic coarse ware types were not isolated during the fabric study, and some variants noted in the survey probably belong to this phase.

distinguishing these from earlier wares include color (deep large utility vessels and

tiles of Hellenistic

and

9 It should be emphasized that apart from Standard and

Roman

155

There is settlement recovery on the coastlines and some expansion of the Central Corridor in the Early Roman period. Most sites previously established (whether in the Late Classical/Early Hellenistic or Late Hellenistic periods) are again occupied. In most cases,

8.3 Summary Few finds were recovered of Geometric through Classical date, but by the Late Classical/Early Hellenistic period the population of Akrotiri expanded to its greatest level since prehistoric times. A three-tiered settlement hierarchy of town, possible estate, and farms is evident on the South Coast; estates and farms of the other subregions are less clearly tied to a sizable center.’! Sites are comfortably dispersed beyond the settlement clusters at harbor areas, and much land along the coastal strips may have been farmed from the nearest administrative center. The distribution of black-gloss wares suggests that marketing channels were open to most communities. The more restricted amphorae pattern probably indicates that some farmers transported their produce to the nearest port enterprise for processing and containing prior to shipment. A single large press weight of this period, probably for crushing olives, was found at the TS 10 coastal estate. Possibly some trade was conducted with the Greek mainland independently

little change in status detectable.

favoring locations of consumer’ wealth, or de-emphasize the overall importance of fine ware as a secondary commodity. Agricultural processing

of the polis center, but local spheres of urban-rural exchange are also indicated by amphorae and coarse

wares.

T2

facilities also favor the larger sites, with rotary quern fragments at KP 5 and AR 6; the latter could be Late Roman.

The attrition of settlement in Late Hellenistic times presents an unexpected challenge for the study of the Hellenistic/Roman transition, with only the Central

Intensity of settlement in Late Roman times is not markedly different from the previous period, but shifts in locational emphasis are detected along with a change in character of some sites. There is attrition of a few small sites on the South Coast, compensated by the development of a hamlet in Aroni. The largest sites in the Central Corridor and West Coast continue to be occupied, but smaller sites are now more concentrated along the alluvial mountain base to the north. Possibly the early Christian activity presages the later monastic foundations of Ag. Pavlos and Ag. Triadha. Of

Corridor showing evidence of a multi-site community

in this period. Small farms and two wealthier establishments existed here, and fine wares have a restricted distribution. It is not necessarily the case that coastal sites ceased to be occupied altogether, especially since the production of Standard Ware spans

this period and some Late Hellenistic material may not have been isolated.

A pattern of reduced occupation

nevertheless seems clear.

Not many amphorae of the

period are identified; imports figure among them, possibly a symptom of reduced agricultural production in the region which one might expect to accompany a reduction in residency.

significance in the social structure is the changed status

of two former private estates: the site at LT 3 has developed a public religious function, and KP 5 is now a farm of modest proportions. All classes of pottery

have a wide distribution.

spatial association between this site and the community at Tersana. 72 Apart from legitimate commerce, piracy may have been a significant purveyor of goods throughout the Hellenistic period. Pirate enclaves are suspected in West Crete (see

4.5

and

Hadjidaki

1988

for discussion)

and

Optimal land use can be

proposed, but evidence of unusual pressures on the land is found to be lacking, as with all early historical periods.

71 The importance of the port settlement at Stavros is probably underestimated, but even so, there is no clear

Chapter

The South Coast

shows positive growth, and more site categories: to town, estate, and small farms can be added elite burials and large farming centers. Site numbers on the northwest coast are no greater than before, but a second estate (in addition to the one at Tersana) develops further to the south. One site is lost in the Central Corridor, but two or three are gained to the north and east of the former grouping. Site distribution conforms well with that of terra-rosa deposits, and there is no clear indication of marginal land use./4 Amphorae and other coarse wares believed to have been made in the city of Kydonia were widely marketed. By contrast, fine wares-nowhere abundant— tend to be found on sites exhibiting amenities beyond the norm: we may either emphasize a distribution

a

74 On the contrary, the northwest mountain base

community such as Tersana, with its protected harbor, might be a prime candidate. 3 Imported amphorae of this period were also identified in the Garage collection, but the sample is too small to support firm conclusions.

large area of alluvium at the may have been under-utilized,

although site preservation may be a factor here.

Moreover,

activity at some sites is primarily earlier (TS 10) and others later (AR 17, KP 5) in the Early Roman period.

79 Gill 1994, 105; Riley 1981, 70.

156

at

CHAPTER 9: CONCLUSIONS

9.1

increase in rural site numbers results in a pattern | observed in other regions of Crete at this time. The landscape fills out laterally in some areas previously lacking sites, but development is conservative; site numbers in the Central Corridor, for instance, are no greater than in Late Hellenistic times. Settlement realignment that in other regions may be a response to changing administrative or economic parameters is not in clear evidence. Greater development of the South Coast may, however, indicate that the maritime potential of Soudha Bay was more fully exploited at this time.

Site Distributions

In Akrotiri, as elsewhere in Crete, it is shown that dispersed residency was a developing feature of the Classical landscape. It was noted of other regions surveyed that the pattern intensifies throughout the Hellenistic period, an apparent reverse of the land consolidation and desertion trends believed to be set in motion in mainland Greece at this time.! The attrition of Late Hellenistic coastal sites in Akrotiri counters the available Cretan evidence (bearing in mind that only in the Ayiofarango Valley survey is this period yet isolated), but neither can the phenomenon be easily tied to structural changes in rural organization. Reduced occupancy is indicated for sites of all sizes, and the settlement pattern in Early Roman times shows dispersed residency to again be the norm. I suggest, therefore, that the settlement reduction be attributed to factors not inherent in the agrarian system, but to

9.2

From a consideration of site functions, dates of occupation, and the level of continuity from one period to the next, a profile has emerged of a Hellenistic and Roman rural structure in Akrotiri that is untypical of other regions in Crete intensively surveyed. A significant difference is the identification of elite-based agricultural estates, rarely reported in other surveys, throughout these periods. Until the Late Hellenistic period this class of site existed within a settlement matrix of small farms, a town, and the polis center. This hierarchy is also identified in the Early Roman period, with an additional category of site that can best be described as large farming centers, lacking in evidence for elite residency yet too compact to qualify as multi-habitation settlement. The complexity of settlement in this region of average agricultural potential is comparable to that of the most fertile regions surveyed. The role of the intermediate class of site identified as hamlets in the Western Mesara and the Lasithi Plain appears, however, to be supplanted by private estates in Akrotiri.

circumstances, if not an event. What this might be remains conjecture. Expansion in the Central Corridor

and occupation of a high, defensible site on the isthmus almost beg an explanation related to war. There is no shortage of documented events to accommodate such a proposition: the siege of Kydonia in the Lyttian War; an alliance of Gortyna and Knossos against Kydonia in 189 B.C.; the near capitulation of Kydonia in an attack by Gortyna in 171 B.C., after which the polis was occupied by Eumenes II; and the increased threat of

piracy and raiding in the Mediterranean from the third century on.

If they have been properly interpreted, these local conditionsthough of great import to the inhabitants and history of the territory of Kydonia—carry the onus of being less relevant to the larger questions concerning rural settlement and economy of Crete in the Hellenistic/Roman transition. It has been necessary to emphasize the broader chronological context, trends earlier and later, in arriving at general conclusions. Looking forward, the recovery of Early Roman

settlement

in all areas

Land Tenure

Contrary to the bulk of survey evidence presented in Chapter 3, we must conclude that the Kydonian elite did locate themselves in the countryside, if not in great numbers. The largest estates occupy prime land in each of the peninsula subregions, and the possibility arises that these establishments performed key functions in the agricultural organization of the region. The co-existence of small farms and estates on both sides of the Hellenistic/Roman transition has been noted, marked by a high degree of continuity, both in the locations and functions of specific sites. To the extent that laborers had to produce a certain amount of surplus for the landowner’s household and communal meals of the syssitia, elite decisions at this time would also extend to how the land should be farmed. In the case of Akrotiri, and probably other coastal areas as well, it can be argued that Hanson’s construct attributes too benign a role to the productive investments of a landowning minority. Rural organization in such areas

privately-owned land is advanced as the practical and

ethical backbone of the democratic process in core areas of mainland Greece. The system is contrasted with nonagrarian areas of the Greek world—Thessaly, Sparta, and Crete are cited—where forms of dependent labor persisted. In such areas, “problems of food supply and land use at the end of the Dark Ages were not, aS in the case of the normative Greek polis, resolved through a movement of sizable numbers of the

population

incorporation subsequently

to

intensive

agriculture

of marginal lands colonies abroad.”

at

and _

the

home and Whereas

experimentation with marginal land formed the basis

4 Quotes are from pages 391 and 85; italics are Hanson’s. Eschatia is defined as marginal, rugged, or distant land (p. 496).

for farming innovations in normative areas, “It was one of the great ironies of Greek history that the rich

5 Preliminary results of investigations in mainland Pylos are

of comparative interest since the area was annexed by Sparta during the Classical period. The region lacks dispersed settlement at this time, and thus appears to conform more closely with Hanson’s prediction for systems of dependent labor; the precise status of the conquered inhabitants remains, however, to be clarified (Davis et al. 1997, 456).

3 This may, incidentally, reinforce the proposition made earlier that the estates owned much additional land of the peninsula, but does not change the fact that investment was focused on these prime properties.

159

cultivators may have changed. I hesitate to place too much emphasis on the disparity, because equipment made from limestone faced the same risks of ancient buildings that fueled the ubiquitous lime kilns (Chapter 6.2.3). 0 A deficit of processing equipment appears, however, to be a phenomenon of some other regions as

may have contributed directly to entrepreneurial interests. This need not imply significant advances in farming techniques (and certainly not agrarianism), but neither does it fit a portrait of agricultural stagnation. It is also difficult to identify stagnation in regions such as the Western Mesara, Sphakia, Ayiofarango or Vrokastro, where small rural sites predominate. To a certain extent, these patterns may be the expected outcome of non-contiguous property ownership combined with a tradition of serf residency in the countryside. How heavily the demands of tribute weighed on cultivators, and may have influenced the direction of land-use, is not yet understood. Hanson’s assertion that private land ownership encouraged productivity and innovation makes sense in every way;' but care must be taken in assuming that non-ownership removed all incentive for development, if farmers could improve their standard of living. There are indications that those of serf status could and did trade in the market place (Chapter 2.3.1). The linear distribution of sites in Akrotiri makes it difficult to estimate landholding size in the region, but here and elsewhere site intervals appear rarely to fall under 0.25 kilometers. A preliminary impression from all the surveys is that the minimal landholding size exceeds

that thought to be the average (Chapter 3.6) and surplus production.

could

well (Chapter 3.6).!!

Stone quarries comprise the bulk of the evidence for non-agricultural industry in the region. In several cases these are located on, or near to, the larger sites. The rarity of cut stone on the small sites points to disparities in the ability of rural inhabitants to afford the costs of excavation. The largest worked surface on the northwest coast at Stavros is at least partly the result of late historical activity, and nowhere can the scale of exploitation be proven to be greater than was required for local consumption in ancient times. The peninsula was foremost a producer of food. Pottery manufacture was the domain of Kydonia’s polis center, and provides the only tangible evidence for urban-rura] exchange. The Akrotiri study adds little to the discussion of pastoralism in the Hellenistic and Early Roman periods; even secondary product use is only minimally represented by loomweights. In most

periods a few sites can be found at _ the mountain-plateau interfaces, but factors other than

in Classical Greece

therefore

animal husbandry could account for these locations (Chapter 3.6). Shepherds would have had most frequent access to the isolated cave sanctuaries of the mountains, and an association between pastoral activities and rural shrines can only be advanced as a possibility.

accommodate

Apart from pottery beehives, which are found on many sites of all categories, direct evidence for agricultural production in Akrotiri during the early historical periods is limited to a few of the larger sites (Chapter 8.3). The absence of equipment for processing wine, olives, or grain on small Hellenistic and Early Roman sites seems noteworthy. On-site food processing provides our best archaeological evidence of farmers’ autonomy and control over the marketing of

agricultural

resources.”

Taken

at face

value,

|

9.4 Spheres of Interaction Pottery analysis suggests that the polis center was the primary supplier of wares for everyday use in Akrotiri from Early Hellenistic through Early Roman times (Chapter 5). Patterns of fine wares and amphorae show divergent trends, both before and after the conquest, that were not initially predicted. Amphorae of Late

the

Akrotiri data indicate that produce left these farms in bulk, and was processed elsewhere under central management. Such a system might be predicted in Hellenistic conditions of dependent labor. Its persistence in Early Roman times suggests continuity of organized production, however the legal status of

10 In addition, certain cultivars, such as fruit and nut trees, would not require further processing. G.W.M. Harrison

(1991,

118-19)

has

proposed

that

specialized

orchard

cultivation contributed to the economy of Kydonia (citing the

quince tree as eponymous of the city-state), but it is difficult

© The demographics of the cultivators themselves must also be considered. Over generations, landowners might well be obliged to homestead serf descendants on their other properties, and benefit from it. This could, in part, account

to advance or refute this hypothesis on present evidence.

The Western Mesara, where pressing equipment was found on both Hellenistic and Early Roman farming sites, is a notable exception: these cultivators clearly had greater control over production. This situation points to variable conditions within a presumed system of dependent labor and the importance of independent assessment in the archaeological record.

for patterns of dispersal.

7 1995, 399.

8 The Western Mesara may be an exception, but the distribution map represents several periods of occupation.

9 Hanson 1995, 85-86.

160

9.5 Late Antiquity

Classical/Early Hellenistic date appear to be of local (Khania) or Cretan manufacture. Some level of exchange between Cretan polities is therefore indicated, confirming observations made elsewhere of Hellenistic amphorae distributions (Chapter 2.3.1). The low incidence of these containers beyond large sites at this time reinforces the impression from processing facilities that production was centrally organized. In contrast, fine wares—though rarely found in quantity—have a wide distribution, showing that most inhabitants were integrated, if in a small way, within the broader economy. As in some other regions (the Western Mesara, Ayiofarango Valley, and Lasithi Plain), this is one indication that we should not seek to locate a dependent labor force in unusual material conditions. Imported black-gloss wares are more numerous than Kydonia’s versions, which may signify

A small decrease in the number of sites is observed in Late Roman Akrotiri. The loss of small sites is most apparent, but continuity of pre-existing sites remains high. Larger sites appear to thrive, and several achieve their greatest size at this time. Attrition is most apparent in the Tersana district, and corresponds with the proposed Late Roman uplift of the coastline which left the enclosed harbor here dry. The density of settlement on the peninsula between the fifth and seventh centuries supports an earlier date (ca. 400 A.D.) for the tectonic event (Chapter 6.1.2). The settlement pattern is still dispersed, although larger portions of the peninsula are now represented by scatters or off-site finds, and the ffirst new multi-habitation site in nearly a millenium is

the mainland.

nucleation is indicated, and may mark the beginning of

Patterns in both the Late Hellenistic and Early Roman periods are nearly the inverse. Amphorae (including extra-island imports) are now more common on small sites, but fine wares, imported or otherwise, show a more limited distribution and a bias for the larger sites. This is unlike the situation in the Western Mesara, Ayiofarango Valley, and Anopolis where an expanding market in both classes of pottery accompanies the

periods when agricultural communities are concentrated in villages. The pattern of fewer and larger sites is observed in several other regions surveyed (the Western Mesara, Ayiofarango Valley and Anopolis), and Sanders finds that most “proper villas” identified in Crete also belong to the fifth and sixth centuries.}4 The extent to which villages or estates supplanted the role of urban centers in Crete

failed to produce large numbers of red-gloss wares, I proposed that distribution factors affecting the entire peninsula may be implicated (Chapter 8.2.1). Whether

the explanation resides in interaction between Akrotiri

the city of Kydonia does not suggest a thriving metropolis (Chapter 4.2), and tends to support the picture of decline indicated at Gortyna and Knossos (Chapter 3.5).

a phenomenon of the second to fourth centuries A.D. (Chapter 4.2). It may be that the fine-ware

Besides nucleation, there are other reasons to suspect land tenure arrangements may have changed in Akrotiri at this time. The new religious function of the former private estate at LT 3 is striking. The site commands the largest fertile basin on the peninsula, near to the town and harbor of Minoa, which speaks for the importance of ecclesiastic organization at this time. We can add to this evidence new groupings of small

established on the South Coast.

that the peninsula’s entrepreneurs traded directly with

measure

of

a trend that becomes more pronounced in late historical

remains uncertain. What little has been recovered from

Roman transition. Because even the estates of Akrotiri

and the city of Kydonia, or Kydonia and the wider world, remains unclear. There are signs that the aftermath of the Roman conquest was not marked by rapid investment in either town or country of the region. The one luxury residence in Akrotiri, the seaside villa at Minoa, is a second-century edifice, and the wealthy residential district of the polis center is also

distributions are but one reflection of an gradually developing in new directions.

Some

sites

economy

at the

mountain

base

north

of the

Central

Corridor, in districts of medieval monastic foundations. The dry Nerokampos riverbed traverses northwest across the area, but earlier settlement is sparse. Alluviation cannot be discounted as a preservation factor; indeed it could have accelerated for a time following tectonic activity and concealed sites, even though there is little indication of general slope instability (Chapter 6.1.2). It is also possible that water flow was too intermittent for earlier permanent

12 Kydonia’s mainland associations are discussed in Chapter 4.5, and a comment by Hesychius suggests Akrotiri was

friendly with Lakonia (Chapter 4.4).

3 Early Roman fine wares were recorded in the Garage collection, but the small sample prohibits generalization; an

14 1982, 30. Proper, in this context, means evidence for amenities such as mosaics, hypocausts and architectural features such as columns or concrete walls.

inventory of museum collections, with this question in mind,

would be of great use.

161

producers

habitation, and that new water management strategies were required for irrigating the sandy soils. The role of ecclesiastical communities in developing agricultural land has been brought to the fore in recent investigations of the Ambracian Gulf region of Nikopolis in mainland Greece.

clarified.

Within this dual context, regional responses under a new Roman administration show considerable uniformity. Several shared characteristics are identified: |

There is nothing to suggest that the Akrotiri estates developed into Sanders’ proper villas. No traces of ashlar masonry, concrete or luxury amenities were found at the new estate-sized site of PR 3, and the fieldstone dwelling at KP 5 also lacks architectural

pretension.

1. There is lateral expansion of sites into new areas (as distinct from an increase in site densities). In some regions this is accompanied by the first detectable settlement shift in half a millenium, surely an indication of changes in market emphasis or

This may also be the case at TS 10 where

administrative boundaries.

the latest occupation phase appears to belong to this period. The dwelling is not preserved at the site nucleus, but the configuration of the surrounding field enclosures bears a resemblance to those of the large farming establishments AR 6 and LT 1 on the South Coast that were also occupied in Late Roman times. All of these sites incorporate distinctive, tapering enclosures that strike me as best-suited for corralling animals (see figs. 28, 30, 31, and site AR 6 in the Site Gazetteer for discussion). This is the only evidence for animal husbandry recovered in Akrotiri, and is an indication that mixed agricultural-pastoral economies

were practiced on the region’s farms at this time.

intersected with landowners remains to be

2. Rural development in old areas is conservative, and has every appearance of responding to previouslyestablished thresholds of settlement density. 3. Obvious changes in land Ratios of small sites to appreciable change, whether (as in Akrotiri) or nucleated Mesara and elsewhere).

tenure are not apparent. larger sites show little the large sites are estates settlements (the Western

4. Intensive strategies of land use prevail as in the previous period, but marginal land use is not pervasive.

The

frequency and wide distribution of all classes of pottery suggests this was the most integrated economy of all the early historical periods in Akrotiri and in other regions where Late Roman settlement survives (Chapter 3.7).

5. Elite investment in the countryside persists at a low level; in some rural sectors, however, pottery

distributions

show

exchange networks.

increased

participation

in wider

It is generally assumed that the traditional economic and social structure could not long survive under Roman intervention any more than as a lingering relic. While admitting of important island-wide changes (discussed at some length in Chapter 2.3.2), the responses outlined above point instead to continuity in fundamental aspects of rural organization and production. They appear to validate Finley’s assertion that maintenance of traditional systems of dependent labor served the interests of the Roman administration. But conservatism cannot solely be attributed to imperial fiat. It was equally the outcome of a society precariously balanced on the status of its food producers, which was the product of many generations of negotiating the rights of the cultivators to remain on the land and the need for a reliable food supply. The limits of archaeological interpretation must also be acknowledged: significant change in legal aspects of land tenure could be masked by apparent continuity in settlement patterns. Conversion to a system of tenancy has been advanced as one possible response to imperial government. The considerable challenge remains of

9.6 Concluding Statement Two economic systems are identified in Hellenistic and Early Roman Crete, represented on the one hand by the primary agricultural producers and on the other by entrepreneurial activities that focused on coastal areas and cities. This construct is merely a heuristic device to explain variability in the archaeological record. It recognizes the fundamental social and economic separation that existed between urban and rural spheres, and that inequality in the agricultural heartlands fostered conditions consistent with a consumer-city interpretation. Unlike the exploitative models of Finley and others, it concedes a greater role to elite participation in coastal commerce and calls into question the traditional association between societies based on dependent labor and agricultural stagnation. The merging of these systems is apparent in the Akrotiri region; elsewhere, small nucleated settlements may have served an organizational role, but how

I> Wiseman 2001, in press.

162

identifying the beginning and the end of the dissolution of the serf institution in ancient Crete.

Adoption of a broad chronological approach in addressing period-specific questions has, it is hoped, been vindicated. The Hellenistic/Roman transition in Akrotiri might have looked quite different without the benefit of earlier, and later, settlement data. Only within this larger context has it been possible to recognize, not only many small trends of interpretive significance, but restraints and potentials peculiar to a specific region that ultimately affect landscapes of all periods. Susan Alcock’s “cumulative trends,” which only survey can recover, prove to be not only useful but indispensable.

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Fabric Type

GARAGE Pottery Fabric Description

Level

Unit

Section

/

Crate/Bag

Date

Recorder

Distinctive Attributes

Comparanda Weight

Sherd Count in Group

(oa)

C

Sherd Condition: fresh /worn/very worn Vessel Parts:

Diameter

|

|]

Manufacture: wheel /hand/ moulded / neck

/ body

/ handle

/ ring base

/ flat base

rim

‘Sherd Thickness

Sherd Size (MPD)

/

Shoulder___other Form:

Part Section:

Shape:

/ open

closed

in / out in/out in / out in / out in / out in / out

Slip Burnish Painted Stamped/Impressed Relief Incised

Hardness

soft / medium /hard/ vy. hard/clinks

|

Surface Texture

soapy / smooth / powdery / bumpy / rough

Surface Condition & Use

Break Texture

preserved/ worn away / mended/ burned

smooth / flaky / foliate / crumbly / rough / vitrified

Surface Color Surface Munsell

Inclusions:

Core Color Core Munsell

calcareous grits / quartz / silver mica / black mica / gold mica / phyllite / grog / chaff /

Inclusion Density:

0

Inclusion Size and Sort:

well sort/med-well sort/poor sort

|

|

siltstone /shell / shale / gravel / other:

5% 0.1

20%

30% O05

0.25

40% 0.75

50% ILO

Inclusion Shape:

rounded / sub-rounded / sub-angular / angular / flat

Dominant Inclusion

|

|

60% 15

Photo

Figure 7. Standardized form for recording pottery fabrics.

170

20

Drawn.

>2.0 mm

t

92

314 200

369

I

38

Figure 49. Akrotiri pottery.

|

194

Early Roman amphorae.

212

«51

Scale 1:3.

t-719

CO

pao

oo

i

J

335

|

301

S

i

288

c

~

? 287 EA

\

w”

19]

342

153

292

Figure 50. Akrotiri pottery. Early Roman red-gloss and other decorated wares. Scale 1:3, except 301, 292, 342, and 191 at 1:2.

213

--

285

©

286

—

Guy

96

175

—

p .

NES

P

(

347

253

Figure 51. Akrotiri pottery.

Late Roman domestic wares.

214

Scale 1:3.

(0

?

348

27

¥

>

283

Lf’

33

206a and b

290 32

J/\

303

57

|

190

Figure 52. Akrotiri pottery. Top, Late Roman domestic wares and amphorae; bottom, Late Roman rea-slip and related wares. Scale 1:3, except 32, 293, and 290 at 1:2.

215

275 |

x

/ 60

94

Figure 53. Akrotiri pottery.

Late Roman red-slip and related wares.

216

»

A>

343

Scale 1:3.

J~

322

EAT

SOE

nd,

= =

Anat etat et et etal ed el ght ahaa bal etd bed ed ol dete dy beh a bebe h Mele Pade h gta tah gt hal gt yl,

RAHA CHEEP Eee et eee

werent ‘

a ARCO ODDO *

‘

! ceed

}

DCD

OOD

very

ieee enue

é

§

251

~~

154

222

AAA DRVIE @

LAOH

‘

346

AN

>

-

72

50

126

95

155

A

ND

~

C

221

Figure 54. Akrotiri pottery. Late Roman red-slip and related wares. Scale 1:3.

217

171

4

A

137.

=

,

234

$

127a and b

214

35

|

df _

—

\ F

.

fa

bea8

He, Getto

?1.

‘:

2

FNS

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eee sl’ es. Podued

et

om a

.

8,

e

Tuvs ate

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6

ty

Ws

aot

o

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ath

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NET

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i

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.

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ba

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e

ty

a

v

;

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i

ate he NTS

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“

Sy Sion

rome oe . e,* ate oe

ow

er

ae?

oe

Icm

2

37

154 cm

.

\ 1

tue ee

Figure 59. Akrotiri finds. Top, stone quern fragment from site AR 6 bottom, stone press weight from site TS 10 (orientation as found embedded in wall). ,

222

GEO-ARCHAIC Site

@

OS/Scatter

&

)

~

9

se

SL

~.

3

—

Figure 60. Locations of Geometric to Archaic activity in Akrotiri.

223

lkm

CL-EHL Site @ OS/Scatter

&

Figure 61. Locations of Classical to Early Hellenistic activity in Akrotiri.

224

CL-HL (General) Site

@

OS/Scatter

~ ¢

mw

Sw

~ we

~ ~

eee

&

my . en)

KY

6

Figure 62. Locations of activity generally classified as Classical through Hellenistic in Akrotiri.

225

LHL Site @ OS/Scatter

vs

tA

~~

‘

&

°o

;

c_———

Figure 63. Locations of Late Hellenistic activity in Akrotiri.

226

I km

HL-ER (General) Site @

OS/Scatter

&

Nett tt eae nom! MS 2

mee ele) . ww

wy

.

~

Oo

—

~ ~~ me we we d/

—

f

Figure 64. Locations of activity generally classified as Late Hellenistic through Early Roman in Akrotiri.

227

I kim

ER Site

@

OS/Scatter

&

PLS

PLS

9

4

Figure 65. Locations of Early Roman activity in Akrotiri.

228

—

lkm

LR Site

@

OS/Scatter

PT 4

welt Ag

we

Tees

Say A

PTS _—

6

-o~.

.

on

(CT

+ AR 9

.

aR Qe

arte