House X at Kommos: A Minoan Mansion near the Sea. Part 1: Architecture, Stratigraphy, and Selected Finds (Prehistory Monographs) [Illustrated] 9781931534642, 1931534640

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HOUSE X AT KOMMOS A Minoan Mansion near the Sea Part 1. Architecture, Stratigraphy, and Selected Finds An Excavation on the South Coast of Crete by the University of Toronto

HOUSE X AT KOMMOS A Minoan Mansion near the Sea Part 1. Architecture, Stratigraphy, and Selected Finds An Excavation on the South Coast of Crete by the University of Toronto

Restoration of the Lily Fresco from House X, Space 1. Digital rendering by Anne Chapin, with earlier restoration work by Élise Alloin, Giuliana Bianco, and Maria C. Shaw.

PREHISTORY MONOGRAPHS 35

HOUSE X AT KOMMOS A Minoan Mansion near the Sea Part 1. Architecture, Stratigraphy, and Selected Finds

edited by Maria C. Shaw and Joseph W. Shaw with contributions by Maria C. Shaw, Joseph W. Shaw, Deborah Ruscillo, Anne P. Chapin, and John G. Younger

Published by INSTAP Academic Press Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 2012

Design and Production INSTAP Academic Press Printing and Binding Thomson-Shore, Inc., Dexter, MI

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Kommos: an excavation on the south coast of Crete / Joseph W. Shaw, Maria C. Shaw, editors. p. cm. — (Prehistory monographs ; 35) Includes bibliographical references and indexes. Contents: v. 1. The Kommos region and houses of the Minoan town. pt. 1. The Kommos region, ecology, and Minoan industries. pt. 2. The Minoan hilltop and hillside houses — v. 2. The final Neolithic through middle Minoan III pottery / Philip P. Betancourt — v. 3. The late Bronze Age pottery / Livingston Vance Watrous — v. 4, pts. 1 and 2. The Greek sanctuary — v. 5. The monumental Minoan buildings at Kommos — additional v. House X at Kommos : a Minoan mansion near the sea. pt. 1. Architecture, stratigraphy, and selected finds / Maria C. Shaw, Joseph W. Shaw, editors. ISBN 978-1-931534-64-2 1. Kommos Site (Greece) 2. Minoans. I. Shaw, Joseph W. II. Shaw, Maria C. III. Betancourt, Philip P., 1936– IV. Watrous, Livingston Vance, 1943– .V. University of Toronto. VI. Royal Ontario Museum. VII. American School of Classical Studies at Athens. DF221.C8 K66 1990 939'.18 20 89010817

Copyright © 2012 INSTAP Academic Press Philadelphia, Pennsylvania All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America

Dedicated to our son, Alexander, our daughter, Robin, and our grandchildren, William and Joseph Shaw and Elias and Zoë McKeon-Shaw

Table of Contents

List of Tables. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix List of Figures. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii List of Plates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii List of Color Plates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxiii List of Abbreviations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxv Chapter 1. The Architecture, Stratigraphy, and Diachronic Use of House X, by Maria C. Shaw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 1.2. A Survey by Space: Architecture, Stratigraphy, Diachronic Use.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Chapter 2. The Frescoes, by Maria C. Shaw and Anne P. Chapin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 2.1. Introduction, by Maria C. Shaw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 2.2. A Survey of the Plasters, by Maria C. Shaw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54 2.3. Interpretation, by Maria C. Shaw and Anne P. Chapin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 2.4. General remarks, by Maria C. Shaw.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Chapter 3. The Miscellaneous Finds, by Joseph W. Shaw, Maria. C. Shaw, and John G. Younger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 3.1. Introduction, by Joseph W. Shaw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 3.2. Selected Objects of Metal (Copper, Bronze, and Lead), by Joseph W. Shaw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 3.3. Loomweights and Spindle Whorls, by Joseph W. Shaw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78 3.4. Implements and Other Objects of Stone, by Joseph W. Shaw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

viii

HOUSE X AT KOMMOS

3.5. Miscellaneous Objects of Clay, by Joseph W. Shaw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84 3.6. Jewelry, Seals, and a Stone Mold, by Joseph W. Shaw and John G. Younger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85 3.7. Terracotta Sculpture, by Maria C. Shaw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 3.8. Other Finds, by Joseph W. Shaw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Chapter 4. The Faunal Remains, by Deborah Ruscillo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 4.1. Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 4.2. The Sample. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 4.3. Spatial Analysis of Faunal Remains. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 4.4. Chronological Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 4.5. Glycymeris at Kommos and beyond during the Bronze Age. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 4.6. Catalog of Bone and Shell Objects. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 4.7. Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116 Chapter 5. Summary and General Perspective, by Maria C. Shaw. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 5.1. Setting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117 5.2. Architecture and Plan of the House. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119 5.3. Change and Remodeling over Time. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124 5.4. Finds as Evidence for Function. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126 Concordance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131 References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Tables Figures Plates Color Plates

List of Tables

Table 1.1

Pottery groups by room in Kommos House X.

Table 2.1.

Distribution and description of the principal fresco fragments from House X.

Table 3.1.

Approximate findspots of utilitarian objects within, above, and outside House X.

Table 4.1.

Species identified in various strata of House X.

Table 4.2.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X1:1.

Table 4.3.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X1:2.

Table 4.4.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X1:4.

Table 4.5.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X1:5.

Table 4.6.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X1:6.

Table 4.7.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X1:7.

Table 4.8.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X1:8.

Table 4.9.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X1:9.

Table 4.10.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X1:10 from the study by D. Reese.

Table 4.11.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X4:1W.

Table 4.12.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X4:1E.

Table 4.13.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X4:2.

Table 4.14.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X4:3.

Table 4.15.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X7:1.

x

HOUSE X AT KOMMOS

Table 4.16.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X7:2.

Table 4.17.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X7:3.

Table 4.18.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X7:4.

Table 4.19.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X7:5.

Table 4.20.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X13:1.

Table 4.21.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X14a:1.

Table 4.22.

Summary of faunal remains from X14a not assigned to a pottery group.

Table 4.23.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X14a:2.

Table 4.24.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X14a:Misc/lower fill.

Table 4.25.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X14a:Misc/upper fill.

Table 4.26.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X14b:1.

Table 4.27.

Summary of faunal remains from X14b beneath the north wall, not assigned to a pottery group.

Table 4.28.

Summary of faunal remains from X14b by north and west walls, not assigned to a pottery group.

Table 4.29.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X2:1.

Table 4.30.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X2:2.

Table 4.31.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X2:3.

Table 4.32.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X2:4.

Table 4.33.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X2:5.

Table 4.34.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X2:6.

Table 4.35.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X2:7.

Table 4.36.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X2:8.

Table 4.37.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X2:9.

Table 4.38.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X2:10 from the study by D. Reese.

Table 4.39.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X5:1 from the study by D. Reese.

Table 4.40.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X5:2 from the study by D. Reese.

Table 4.41.

Summary of faunal remains not assigned to a pottery group from the LM IB lower blocking of the doorway between X5 and X8, studied by D. Reese.

Table 4.42.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X5:3 from the study by D. Reese.

Table 4.43.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X5:4 from the study by D. Reese.

Table 4.44.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X5:5 from the study by D. Reese.

Table 4.45.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X5:6 from the study by D. Reese.

Table 4.46.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X8:1.

Table 4.47.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X8:3.

Table 4.48.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X8:4 from the study by D. Reese.

Table 4.49.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X9:1.

Table 4.50.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X9:2.

Table 4.51.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X9:3.

Table 4.52.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X9:4.

Table 4.53.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X3:1.

Table 4.54.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X3:2.

Table 4.55.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X3:3.

Table 4.56.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X3:4.

Table 4.57.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X3:5.

LIST OF TABLES

Table 4.58.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X3:6.

Table 4.59.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X3:7.

Table 4.60.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X6:1.

Table 4.61.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X6:2.

Table 4.62.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X6:4.

Table 4.63.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X6:5.

Table 4.64.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X6:6.

Table 4.65.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X10:1.

Table 4.66.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X11/X12:1.

xi

Table 4.67.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X11/X12:2.

Table 4.68.

Summary of faunal remains not assigned to a pottery group from LM II floor deposit above slab pavement in Space X16.

Table 4.69.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X16:1.

Table 4.70.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X16:2.

Table 4.71.

Summary of faunal remains not assigned to a pottery group from the LM IIIB fill in Space X16.

Table 4.72.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X15:1.

Table 4.73.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X15:2.

Table 4.74.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X2N:1.

Table 4.73.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X15:2.

Table 4.74.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X2N:1.

Table 4.75.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X2N:2.

Table 4.76.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X3N:1.

Table 4.77.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X3N:3.

Table 4.78.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X3N:4.

Table 4.79.

Summary of faunal remains associated with Pottery Group X10N:1.

Table 5.1.

Ceramic phases preserved in each room or space of House X.

Table 5.2.

Evidence for weaving activity: loomweights, spindle whorls, and needles.

Table 5.3.

Spatial distribution and chronology of implements and tools.

Table 5.4.

Cooking vessels listed by pottery group and date.

List of Figures

Figure 1.1.

Simplified plan of Kommos with excavated areas on the Hilltop, Central Hillside, and Southern Area (M. Nelson, G. Bianco). North at top.

Figure 1.2.

Simplified plan of original phase of House X, including adjacent northeast corner of Building T (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco).

Figure 1.3.

Trench plan 1 showing earlier excavation of House X and the immediately surrounding area (G. Bianco).

Figure 1.4.

Trench plan 2 showing later excavation of House X and the immediately surrounding area (G. Bianco).

Figure 1.5.

Simplified plan of remodeled House X, with archaeological and architectural sections indicated (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco).

Figure 1.6.

State plan of northern portion of House X (G. Bianco, M.C. Shaw).

Figure 1.7.

State plan of southern portion of House X, overlapping with Fig. 1.6 (G. Bianco, M.C. Shaw).

Figure 1.8.

State plan showing masses of stone and minor structures that were removed (G. Bianco, M.C. Shaw).

Figure 1.9.

Section K–K' running east–west through X1, view from the south (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco).

Figure 1.10.

Key for types of soils depicted in the archaeological sections (G. Bianco).

Figure 1.11.

Plan of MM walls and floor under X1 and X4, with gray walls belonging to House X (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco)

Figure 1.12.

State plan (A) and phase plans B–D of X13 and X7 (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco).

Figure 1.13.

Reconstruction of X5, with window looking into X4 on rear right and door leading to X8 on left, view from northeast (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco).

Figure 1.14.

Plan of final floor deposit in X4 (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco).

Figure 1.15.

Section L–L' (north–south) through X4, X7, and X14a, looking east (G. Bianco).

xiv

HOUSE X AT KOMMOS

Figure 1.16.

Restored section of original staircase X13 and surrounding structures, looking north (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco).

Figure 1.17.

Architectural phases in X13s, X14 a, and X14b (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco,).

Figure 1.18.

Section B–B' (west–east) in X14a and X14b, looking north (G. Bianco).

Figure 1.19.

Lower and upper layers of main floor deposit in X7 (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco).

Figure 1.20.

Section C–C' (south–north) through Road 17, X8, X5, X2, and Y2, looking west (G. Bianco).

Figure 1.21.

Section G–G' (south–north), looking west through Road 17, X8, X5, X2, and Y2 (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco).

Figure 1.22.

Elevation of doorway from X5 to X6, looking east (G. Bianco).

Figure 1.23.

Plan (left) and elevations (right) of remodeled doorways between X5, X6, and X3 (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco).

Figure 1.24.

Stone pedestal (S 2295) found in X5 (G. Bianco).

Figure 1.25.

Later phase of Staircase X15, with entrance from X16 to X15w blocked and new doorway cut through the south end of wall separating X15 from X9 (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco).

Figure 1.26.

Section H–H' (west–east) through X9 and part of X16, looking north (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco).

Figure 1.27.

Plan of X6 after excavation, with sounding at its north end (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco).

Figure 1.28.

Section A–A' (east–west) looking south through Building F and X12, X6, X5, and X4 (G. Bianco, M.C. Shaw).

Figure 1.29.

Section D–D' (west–east) through X11, looking north (G. Bianco, M.C. Shaw).

Figure 1.30.

Plan of original Staircase X15 with wooden steps suggested for upper flight X15w (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco).

Figure 1.31.

Section J–J' (south–north) through X15s, X15w, X16, X12, X11, and X10, looking west (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco).

Figure 1.32.

Plan and section A–A' of lower flight X15e with some steps still in situ (G. Bianco).

Figure 1.33.

Restored elevation of original Staircase X15, looking east (G. Bianco, M.C. Shaw).

Figure 1.34.

Restoration of Staircase X15, stages 1 and 2, looking east (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco).

Figure 1.35.

Drawings of blocks, some possible steps of Staircase X15 found loose in X15s amid stone debris (G. Bianco).

Figure 1.36.

Section E–E' (south–north) through X15s, X15w, X16, X12, X11, and X10, looking west (G. Bianco).

Figure 1.37.

Section F–F' (south–north) through Y4, looking east (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco).

Figure 1.38.

Section M–M' (north–south) through Y4, looking east (G. Bianco).

Figure 2.1.

Plan of distribution of plasters (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco).

Figure 2.2.

Incised lines (a graffito?) on part of the Stems Fresco (Fr 3).

Figure 2.3.

Preliminary orange/red lines on plaster fragment from the House of the Frescoes, Knossos (from Cameron 1968c, fig. 7, no. 41).

Figure 2.4.

Linear designs in sepia from the House of the Frescoes, Knossos (after Cameron 1968b, fig. 1, no. 1).

Figure 3.1.

Various bronze/copper objects: knife blade (Me 16); “pendant” (Me 18); “trowel” (Me 19); needles (Me 21, Me 22); fishhooks (Me 27); lead weight (Me 30); bronze-sheathed lead object (Me 31).

Figure 3.2.

Stone and glass objects: axe (St 35); stone squat alabastron (St 40); fragmentary stone lamp (St 42); stone lids (St 44, St 46); stone ribbed chalice/pyxis (St 47).

Figure 3.3.

Clay objects: potter’s wheel (Cl 1); terracotta drain fragments (Cl 2–Cl 4).

Figure 3.4.

Glass vessel, jewelry, seals, and a mold: glass vessel (Ot 1); steatite shell pendant (J 10); pendant seal (J 14); cornelian amygdaloid seal (J 15); disk seal (J 17); cushion seal (J 18); jeweler’s mold for earrings (J 19).

LIST OF FIGURES

xv

Figure 3.5.

Four terracotta figurines: F 1, F 2, F 4, F 5. Drawings by J. Clarke.

Figure 4.1.

Summary of mollusks recovered from House X.

Figure 4.2.

Summary of animals represented in Minoan levels of House X.

Figure 4.3.

Age range of sheep and goat remains from House X.

Figure 4.4.

Age range of pig remains from House X.

Figure 4.5.

The spatial distribution of LM IIIA:1 Glycymeris worn valves.

Figure 5.1.

Schematic plan of Kommos showing chief Neopalatial buildings excavated and roads connecting them (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco).

Figure 5.2.

House X, restored plan of second floor indicating roofed areas (shaded) and open terraces (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco).

Figure 5.3.

Isometric restoration of House X, view from the southwest (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco).

Figure 5.4.

Schematic plans of House X showing distribution of loomweights and related tools and of other stone and metal implements (M.C. Shaw, G. Bianco).

List of Plates

All site photographs are by Joseph W. Shaw unless noted otherwise. Plate 1.1A.

View of west part of House X from north (M.C. Shaw).

Plate 1.1B.

Detail of northwest corner of X1 (M.C. Shaw).

Plate 1.1C.

Eastern wall of X1 (M.C. Shaw).

Plate 1.1D.

North part of X4 with blocked doorway and partial view of X1 from south.

Plate 1.2A.

General view of House X from west.

Plate 1.2B.

General view of House X from southwest.

Plate 1.3A.

Level with slabs in X1 from east.

Plate 1.3B.

Western part of south wall of X4 and blocked original doorway from north.

Plate 1.3C.

Threshold and cut doorjamb bases between X4 and X7 from north (M.C. Shaw).

Plate 1.3D.

East part of south wall of X4 (with restored jamb) and entrance to X7 and X13, view from north (M.C. Shaw).

Plate 1.4A.

General view of House X from southeast.

Plate 1.4B.

Staircase X13 and Space X4 with floor deposit from east.

Plate 1.5A.

West part of X5 with ashlar wall separating it from X4, view from west (M.C. Shaw).

Plate 1.5B.

Views of X4, X13 (foreground), X7, and X5 from west.

Plate 1.5C.

MM III slab floor with hearth and plaster benches under LM floor of X4, view from southeast.

Plate 1.6A.

X14b and X14a with slab floor in latter, view from south.

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HOUSE X AT KOMMOS

Plate 1.6B.

Southwest area of X8 with views of its floor, west wall, and blocked doorway from west (M.C. Shaw).

Plate 1.6C.

Pottery found on the floor in the northeast corner of Shrine X7.

Plate 1.7A.

Pottery and shells found scattered on stone table in Shrine X7.

Plate 1.7B.

Pottery, Triton shell, and pebbles from main floor deposit in X7, roughly positioned as found (see also Fig. 1.19).

Plate 1.7C.

Pottery from the latest use of Shrine X7 (T. Dabney).

Plate 1.8A.

North area of X2 with Cross Wall visible in foreground, view from south.

Plate 1.8B.

View of south area of X2 from north, with triangular slab at center placed over original threshold to raise its level.

Plate 1.8C.

East side of west walls of X2.

Plate 1.8D.

Exterior northwest corner and part of interior of X2 from west (M.C. Shaw).

Plate 1.9A.

Pithoi and slab structure in south part of X2 after removal of pebble floor, view from northeast.

Plate 1.9B.

Detail of southwest corner of X2 and finds in fill above pebble floor, view from northeast.

Plate 1.9C.

South part of X5, with drain and sump (arrow) and doorway (right) leading south to X8.

Plate 1.9D.

Rectangular stone stand (S 2295) built into low wall along the west side of the sump, view from south.

Plate 1.9E.

Column base next to stacked slabs surrounding the sump in X5, view from south.

Plate 1.9F.

Two successive thresholds in doorway between X5 and X6 from west (M.C. Shaw).

Plate 1.10A.

General view of east part of House X from south.

Plate 1.10B.

Trenchmaster S. Shubert and workmen with the large pithos (C 7990) in X5, view from south.

Plate 1.11A.

View of Road 17 and north facade of Building T looking south from X8.

Plate 1.11B.

Stone bench along north wall of X8 (M.C. Shaw).

Plate 1.11C.

View from south of X6 (middle), parts of X9 (bottom), and X3 (top) after removal of blocked doorways (M.C. Shaw).

Plate 1.12A.

Slab floor reached in sounding in area X15s of the staircase, directly east of entrance from X9, view from east.

Plate 1.12B.

Steps of lower flight in X15e found in situ, with parts of spaces under upper flight X15w and in X15s, view from east (M.C. Shaw).

Plate 1.12C.

North wall of X6 with blocking of door leading into X3, view from south.

Plate 1.12D.

Room X6 with washing slab and drain in its southwest corner, view from northeast.

Plate 1.13A.

General view of House X from northeast.

Plate 1.13B.

Central area of House X from northeast.

Plate 1.14A.

Staircase X15 with parts of nearby rooms visible north and west and Building F’s southwest corner at center right, view from south.

Plate 1.14B.

Steps of lower flight of X15e in situ, along with view of part of interior face of the east facade wall exposed next to lower step, view from west (M.C. Shaw).

Plate 1.14C.

Partially excavated X10 and X11 (at left and bottom right, respectively), with corner of Greek Building F on right, view from southwest.

Plate 1.14D.

Fallen stones, including parts of stone mortar (St 32), leaning against northeast pillar of X10, view from south.

Plate 1.15A.

View of X11/X12 with later north–south wall at center foreground, view from south.

Plate 1.15B.

Lobby X16 with view from west of scarp of unexcavated fill under Greek Building F.

Plate 1.15C.

Detail of west face of later wall seen in Pl. 1.15A.

Plate 1.15D.

Fallen blocks in the west part of X15s with threshold of new doorway on left leading to X9, view from southeast.

LIST OF PLATES

xix

Plate 1.16A.

View of space under upper flight X15w from south (M.C. Shaw).

Plate 1.16B.

Superficial retaining wall, starting at the junction of the north facades of X2 and X3 and extending north, view from north.

Plate 1.16C.

North facade of X3 with retaining wall extending north, view from north (M.C. Shaw).

Plate 1.16D.

North facade wall of X3 rising above earlier wall in sounding in Y4, view from north.

Plate 2.1A.

Detail of Stems Fresco (Fr 3) from Space X1.

Plate 2.1B.

Detail of painted plaster in situ at the base of the west wall of X4.

Plate 2.1C.

Northwest areas of X1 and X4.

Plate 3.1.

Bronze/copper rods, strips, and wires: rods (Me 1–Me 4); strips and wires (Me 5–Me 7, Me 9, Me 10, Me 13).

Plate 3.2.

Various bronze/copper and lead objects: knife blades (Me 14, Me 16); sickle blade (Me 17); “pendant” (Me 18); “trowel” (Me 19); blade/anvil (Me 20); needles (Me 21, Me 22); tweezers (Me 23, Me 24); fishhooks (Me 27, Me 28); lead weights (Me 29, Me 30).

Plate 3.3.

Clay loomweights: discoid weights (Lw 42, Lw 45, Lw 48); discoid weight with tabular top (Lw 23); half discoid weight (Lw 50); cylindrical weight (Lw 53); trapezoidal weight (Lw 54). Stone and clay spindle whorls (Sp 1–Sp 3).

Plate 3.4.

Stone tools: cobbles (St 1–St 5); whetstones (St 6–St 8); cobble and hollowed slab (St 5 and St 27).

Plate 3.5.

Stone tools: cobbles (S 2191 and S 2205); abrader (St 9); pestle (St 10); handstone (St 11); pebble pendant(?) (St 13/J 9); weights (St 14, St 15); drill wedge (St 16).

Plate 3.6.

Stone tools: drill wedge (St 17); weight (St 18); cylindrical cobble (St 19); weathered stone (St 23); saddle quern (St 24); fragmentary basins (St 25, St 28).

Plate 3.7.

Stone tools: mortars (St 29–St 32); fragmentary stamnostates (St 33, St 34). Scales as indicated.

Plate 3.8.

Stone objects: axe (St 35); obsidian wedge (St 36); obsidian blades (St 37, St 39); obsidian core (St 38); stone squat alabastron (St 40); fragmentary stone lamp (St 42); stone lid (St 44); serpentine lid (St 45).

Plate 3.9.

Clay and glass objects: clay potter’s wheel (Cl 1); terracotta slab (Cl 6); glass vessel (Ot 1).

Plate 3.10.

Jewelry: shell bead (J 4); stone bead (J 5); shell pendant (J 8); two shell necklaces (J 7); steatite shell pendant (J 10); stone pendant (J 11); pebble pendants (J 12, J 13).

Plate 3.11.

Seals, mold, and figurine: conical stamp seal (J 14); cornelian amygdaloid seal (J15 with fish); lentoid seal with bird-woman (J16); disk seal (J 17); cushion seal (J 18); jeweler’s mold for earrings (J 19); terracotta figurine (F 1).

Plate 4.1A.

Worked bone: flat bar (Bo 56); bone point with fragments (Bo 57); awl (Bo 59).

Plate 4.1B.

Glycymeris shell assemblage (Sh 10) from table in Shrine in X7.

Plate 4.1C.

Triton shell (Sh 11) from Shrine in X7.

Plate 4.1D.

Glycymeris valve with possible symbol (Sh 19). Views of underside, top with background erased to clarify markings, top side unmodified.

List of Color Plates

Color Plate 1A.

Reconstruction of Shrine X7. Digital rendering by Chris Dietrich.

Color Plate 1B.

The Lily Fresco (Fr 1, Fr 2). Extended reconstruction by Anne Chapin.

Color Plate 2A.

The Stems Fresco (Fr 3) from X1.

Color Plate 2B.

Strip of painted plaster (Fr 5) with abstract patterns from base of west wall in X4.

Color Plate 2C.

Two strips of painted plaster (Fr 6) with abstract patterns from the north wall of X4.

Color Plate 3A.

Fragment with Spiral Fresco (Fr 7) from X14a.

Color Plate 3B.

Reconstruction of the Spiral Fresco (Fr 7).

Color Plate 3C.

Fragment of plaster (Fr 8) with design in red from X8.

Color Plate 3D.

Fragment of a painted plaster molding (Fr 9) from X6.

Color Plate 4A.

Fragment of painted bands (Fr 10) from X11/X12.

Color Plate 4B.

Detail (left) of Kommos lily from House X, compared with (right) lilies from ancient Ialysos (modern Trianda), Rhodes (A.P. Chapin.).

Color Plate 4C.

Detail of riverine scene from Miniature Frieze in the West House, Akrotiri (from Doumas 1992, pl. 32).

Preface

This study of House X, a work that has been some years in the making, fulfills to a large extent our obligation to publish a record and interpretation of the archaeological remains at Kommos. Its completion was delayed by the considerable job of preparing the Kommos volumes published earlier in the Princeton University Press series (Shaw and Shaw, eds., 1995, 1996, 2000, 2006). An extensive preliminary report on the 1991–1992 seasons appeared previously in Hesperia (Shaw and Shaw 1993). Although the publication task is nearly finished, efforts to safeguard the site, which will require future vigilance, still continue. Owing to the size and complexity of House X, its publication has been split into two parts, the present volume, Part 1, and another on the pottery, Part 2, being written by Jeremy B. Rutter. Fortunately we have been able to draw upon Rutter’s extensive preparatory study, complete with deposit numbers and stratigraphic and chronological information, for our own tasks herein. Other studies on pottery from Kommos have been carried out by Philip Betancourt (1990), Betancourt with Eleni Banou (unpublished), and L. Vance Watrous (1992). Maria and I are particularly grateful to three experts who contributed to this publication, Anne Chapin (frescoes), John Younger (seals), and Deborah Ruscillo, the last for writing the entire section on fauna here and for contributing substantially to the faunal section in our Volume V about the Kommos site. Ruscillo was also among those who came to us first as students (Eric Csapo, Mary Dabney, Debi Harlan, John McEnroe, Lucia Nixon, Katherine Schwab, Aleydis Van de Moortel, Helene Whittaker, James Wright, and others) and who, later, departed as seasoned colleagues, having contributed substantially to both our excavation and publication efforts. Many hands other than those of the main authors have contributed to the production of this report. From the beginning of the excavations at Kommos, the architectural drawings were executed by our talented excavation architect, Giuliana Bianco, whose unsurpassable plans, sections, and reconstructions convey more than words can say. While most of the photographs of

xxiv

HOUSE X AT KOMMOS

the architecture and some of the finds were taken by Joseph W. Shaw, Taylor Dabney, Alexander Shaw, and Chronis Papanikolopoulos are responsible for many of the object photographs (for a more specific list, see Shaw and Shaw, eds., 2006, 3). Niki Holmes Kantzios wrote many of the original catalog entries, and Joseph Clarke made many of the object drawings. Cy Strom has been our general editor in Toronto, aided by Josée Sabourin, Mary Markou, Jennifer Lockie, and Peggy Haist. Martin Ahermaa has made the index. We would like to thank Barbara Hamann, Katharine Hall, and Élise Alloin, members of the Kommos Excavation team, for their contributions to the conservation of the plasters. Giuliana Bianco made sketches and drawings of a number of the plaster fragments both in the field and, following restorative work, in watercolor copies and reconstructions prepared in consultation with Maria Shaw and published in this volume. Some of the many photographs and slides taken over the years by our excavation photographers are reproduced here, while others served as pictorial documents that aided the process of writing. Anne Chapin graciously contributed her study of the Lily Fresco and prepared the digital color picture of the Frontispiece, using the two main segments of plasters Fr 1 and Fr 2 partially restored by the conservators and Maria Shaw, along with another and fuller restoration of the same composition discussed in her section of the text below. In the field two foremen, the late George Beladakis and Sifis Fasoulakis were in charge of groups of workmen from Pitsidia and other nearby villages. Lucia Nixon first “discovered” the mansion in a deep exploratory trench below meters of sand in 1977, and then, as excavation expanded, Steven Shubert, Robert Henrickson, Josée Sabourin, and Maria C. Shaw served as trenchmasters. During the period of preparation we were substantially aided by grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (recently Grants 410-2003–0653 and 410-2006–2399) and the Institute for Aegean Prehistory. We are indebted to the staff at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens for obtaining our excavation permit from the Greek Archaeological Service and also to the University of Toronto for providing a base for our research. Maria C. Shaw Joseph W. Shaw

List of Abbreviations

B Bo C ca. Cl cm d. dim. DP EH EM esp. est. Excav. ext. F Fr frag(s). g GS h. Imm. Imm.+ int.

bronze registration number bone catalog number clay registration number circa clay catalog number centimeter diameter dimension Deciduous premolar Early Helladic Early Minoan especially estimated excavation exterior figurine catalog number fresco catalog number fragment(s) gram ground stone tool registration number height immature animal immature or older animal interior

J Juv. kg L L. LC LH LM Lw m M max. min. Me Misc mm MM MNI NISP P PM pres. S Sh

jewelry catalog number juvenile animal kilogram lead registration number length Late Cycladic Late Helladic Late Minoan loomweight catalog number meter molar (faunal tables) maximum minimum metal catalog number miscellaneous millimeter Middle Minoan minimum number of individuals number of individual specimens present plaster registration number premolar preserved stone registration number shell catalog number

xxvi

St Sp sp. th.

HOUSE X AT KOMMOS

stone catalog number spindle whorl catalog number species thickness

w. wt. ww

width weight waterworn shell

1

Architecture, Stratigraphy, and Diachronic Use of House X Maria C. Shaw

1.1. Introduction House X is by far the largest and best appointed of the Minoan houses excavated at Kommos, a Minoan harbor1 and settlement that later became the site of a Greek sanctuary (Shaw and Shaw, eds., 1995, 1996, 2000, 2006). Situated on the seacoast of the western Mesara, Kommos faces west toward the Libyan Sea. House X stands on the southern edge of what we call the Minoan town, separated by a large slab-paved road (Road 17) from the monumental civic buildings built and used between the Protopalatial and Postpalatial periods (J.W. Shaw 1996a; M.C. Shaw 1996e; Shaw et al. 2006).2 A plan of the entire site (Fig. 1.1) shows the three main areas where excavation took place over a period of approximately 15 years, in the locations labeled the Hilltop, the Central Hillside, and the Southern Area—the last the location of House X, the Greek Sanctuary, and associated buildings (Shaw and Shaw, eds., 2000). Plans of House X and of the associated excavation trenches are shown in Figures 1.2–1.8. The position of House X at the crossing of two major roads and directly across from the east end of monumental Building T marks its status as elite. The two buildings were separated by east–west Road 17 but connected by

north–south Road 32/34, which led from the main door of House X to an entrance located in the northeast facade of House T, where the line of the facade turns to the east (Fig. 1.2; J.W. Shaw 2006a, 18–20, 48–49). The north–south road, here slab-paved (like all of Road 17) came to a dead end at the door of House T and may not have continued further south, as no pavement or proper road surface was found where we excavated in that direction along the east facade of House T. We assume that the north extension of Road 32/34 must have run alongside House X directly north of Road 17, but we cannot answer the questions of how far it extended or whether it was paved because of the later construction along this line of large Archaic Building F (Fig. 1.8), which also concealed most of House X’s east facade (J.W. Shaw 2000, 36–37). Archaic Building V also partially overlapped House X at its northwest corner, but that building’s much ruined state prevented it from being a serious impediment to excavation. We do not know whether there were other houses in this prime location on the hill, along the north side of Road 17 to the west of House X, as the Greek Sanctuary was later built on this strip. The excavation of House X began in 1977, when a small part of its northeast area was revealed in an

2

MARIA C. SHAW

exploratory trench (Trench 11A). At the time, excavation was still concentrating on the Hilltop and the Central Hillside. The trench that revealed House X was deliberately set some distance away from those two areas, in what was then the southeastern corner of the area designated for excavation, in order to determine how far the town extended in that direction. The 1977 excavation revealed portions of Spaces X10 and X11/X12 , along with the west facade of Archaic Building F, which covered their eastern edge. An important and massive Late Minoan (LM) II dump was discovered in X10. Its richly decorated pots prompted our interest in further exploration, as did the discovery of one of X10’s two pillars, which suggested the presence of interesting architectural features. Systematic excavation was not resumed until 1984, however, and from that time on it continued sporadically until the 1990s. Altogether, some 20 trenches were dug. Their locations 3 are shown in two trench plans (Figs. 1.3, 1.4). House X seems to have been built in the earlier part of LM IA, its use coinciding initially with that of the monumental court-centered Building T, which was constructed somewhat earlier, in Middle Minoan (MM) III. House X was occupied far longer than House T, parts of which (including the northeast area with the entrance presumably used by the residents of House X) went out of use already in early LM IA. Parts of House X continued in use into LM IIIA:2, with extensive and ongoing remodeling, as indicated in a simplified plan (Fig. 1.5). To some extent, House X represents a microcosm of the history of the Minoan site during the Neopalatial period. Although its plan is not atypical of many a Minoan house, some of its functions may eventually have transcended those of a simple dwelling. In its original state (Fig. 1.2), the house occupied a roughly rectangular area (ca. 205 m2), with its east–west sides somewhat longer than the north–south ones. The east and most of the south facades are not visible today, but their lines can be inferred on the basis of the east and south roads that ran alongside it, Road 32/34 and Road 17, respectively. It is likely that the two facades were straight, their lines predetermined by these roads. Road 17 was laid out before House X was built, possibly even before the construction of Building T. The estimated dimensions of the house, therefore, are ca. 16.45 m east–west on the south side and 16.00 m north–south on the east. Of the visible facade walls, the west wall runs relatively straight in its north part for slightly more than half its length, to a point just beyond X13, south of which it turns somewhat outward toward the west. Perhaps it follows the course of a preexisting north–south lane. That there

was an open space immediately west of the house is clear, for there were no signs of walls abutting against its west wall, at least at the level of the top course we exposed in excavation. The north facade is even less straight than the west, but it was less jagged when originally constructed, its later irregular outline being the result of more walls that were built on top of it subsequently (Fig. 1.5). The builders may have taken liberties with the plan on this side, as the area beyond apparently had no lanes or immediately adjacent buildings except for some later north–south walls (Figs. 1.6, 1.7). This area was tested in places by excavating for a distance of some 3.50 to 5.00 m north of the house. With roads and lanes on three remaining sides, the house seems to have been freestanding, perhaps another sign of its elite status. The situation contrasts with that of houses on the Hilltop, which appears to have been more thickly populated in Neopalatial times (Fig. 1.1). The character of the masonry of House X is generally mediocre, not unlike that of the Neopalatial houses excavated in the other areas of the Minoan town, but it displays occasional refinement. With few exceptions, the choice of building blocks was eclectic and likely derived from a number of houses destroyed during an earthquake that we believe struck Kommos in MM III (Rutter and Van de Moortel 2006, 380, 385, 389, 411; J.W. Shaw 2006d, 872). Variations in the construction of the exterior and interior faces of the facade walls and in the construction of the interior walls of the house are discussed below in the context of specific architectural spaces. The interior arrangement of the original plan of House X can be determined with some assurance (Fig. 1.2). It is divided into what we choose to refer to as “spaces,” a generic term used for rooms, courts, or corridors, whose functions changed over time due to the drastic and prolonged remodeling the house underwent. For example, X7 was initially a passageway leading south from X4 to X14, but it was later enclosed by newly built walls (actually the blocking walls of two earlier entrances) and used as a shrine (Fig. 1.5). Architectural features and the perceived functions of individual spaces suggest that the original plan is best discussed in terms of three sectors: west, central, and 4 east. “Formal” or “official” may be suitable epithets for the west sector. It is dominated by Space X4, whose walls were likely graced by the Lily Fresco (Frontispiece), fragments of which were dumped later in the small, closet-like Space X1 nearby. From X4 one could gain access to southern Spaces X14a and X14b through X7, which also led to Staircase X13, its bottom flight starting at the northwest corner of X7. This was the smaller of the two

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

staircases in the house. It seems to have led upstairs only, not outdoors. Staircase X15 was located in the southeast corner of the house, its lower flight likely leading up from the main entrance to the house, which opened onto Road 32/34. The use of two staircases—one leading outdoors, the other smaller or “auxiliary”—is common in larger Bronze Age houses in the Aegean.5 While size, frescoes, and architectural refinements in X4 made it ideal for small gatherings or ceremonies, there are indications that Spaces X2, X3, X5, and X6— all in the central sector of the house—had predominantly utilitarian functions. Most obvious is the case of X6, where a stone slab was set on the floor in the room’s southwest corner, next to a drain in the west wall. The drain directed water or other liquids used in activities performed on or over the slab into Space X5, adjacent to the west. Space X3 in the same sector may have been used for cooking. Activities in the large Spaces X8 and X9 are more difficult to infer, as there are few distinct floor features and because evidence of earlier use was blurred by later activity. Spaces X8 and X9 were each large enough to accommodate numerous people, but whether they were used for social activities, household functions, or both is a question to be considered later. The east sector of the house was evidently used for communication with the outdoors, including the important Road 32/34 running alongside the house’s east facade. This sector also helped provide access to the upper story or stories by means of the large Staircase X15. People entering the house from the road found themselves in the east–west corridor or lobby X16, from which they could proceed in multiple directions: north to X11/X12 and from there to X10, west to Space X9, and south to the stairs to the second story. From X16 one could also gain access to a sottoscala space under the west and higher of the two flights of the staircase (X15w; Fig. 1.2). This north entrance to the sottoscala was later blocked and replaced by another cut through the east wall of X9 (Fig. 1.5), which now gave access to the south part of the sottoscala (at X15s). A comparison of the two period plans just cited shows the incremental but also drastic changes that affected the shape and, therefore, the use of the house. Remains of buildings predating House X were revealed in soundings in a number of locations, both under House X and directly outdoors. In location Y2, north of X2 (Fig. 1.6), a room with a slab floor was found packed with MM III pottery. Elsewhere, as under the floors of X1 and X4, soundings revealed walls

3

mostly of MM III date—one apparently built in MM II. The many MM III remains around and under House X prompt the suggestion that buildings here may have been destroyed by the same earthquake that apparently affected other areas of Kommos, including the nearby Central Hillside (J.W. Shaw 1996a, 392–393). Dating the use of a space is not always easy. The absence of evidence for one or more ceramic phases when there is good reason to believe a space was used without interruption is a problem often encountered. One explanation for such lacunae is undoubtedly the selective clearing of use debris by the residents—a process so thorough at times that it hardly left any evidence of earlier use. This seeming zeal for “good housekeeping” may not necessarily have been motivated by our modern concern for tidiness. Reasons may have varied. Sometimes we can infer why the inhabitants deemed it important to maintain the level of the original floor. In Space X4, for example, no pottery earlier than LM III was found, even though the room was part of the initial plan of the house. It is tempting to deduce that the residents removed use debris because they wanted to to maintain the visibility of unique floor features or of the frescoes, which seem in this case to have covered the walls all the way down to their base. There could also have been other and more practical reasons, to be discussed later. In contrast to X4, the accumulation of debris was allowed in nearby Space X7—a lucky circumstance for the archaeologist, for it prevented thorough elimination of evidence of earlier use. The problems of interpreting depositional processes in domestic contexts have recently been stated clearly by LaMotta and Schiffer (1999). In the remainder of this chapter I survey the architecture, stratigraphy, and diachronic use of the spaces within House X, proceeding from the west to the central and then the east sectors. My interpretation of the building makes use of research undertaken both by the editors of this volume and by a number of specialists. Stratigraphic studies for each space were conducted independently by the present author and by Jeremy B. Rutter (see Rutter, forthcoming, for the presentation of the House X pottery). His views and dating of the pottery (Table 1.1) are integral to the interpretations given here, although, as is to be expected, we have occasional differences of opinion. The analysis of the activities that took place in House X are based on the studies of finds that appear in Chapter 3, written by Joseph W. Shaw and others, and on Deborah Ruscillo’s analysis of the faunal remains in Chapter 4.

4

MARIA C. SHAW

1.2. A Survey by Space: Architecture, Stratigraphy, and Diachronic Use West Sector of the House Space X1 ARCHITECTURE Space X1 (Fig. 1.2) seems to have served as a closet used in conjunction with X4, from which it was separated by a slim partition wall (Shaw and Shaw 1993, 154–156). This partition stopped 1.70 m from the west wall, creating an opening that was perhaps too wide to have been closed by a door. The western part of X1 would thus have been constantly visible from within X4, acting as the latter’s extension. At the eastern end of X1, the north exterior wall of the house projects somewhat to the north and continues in a northeast direction, so that Spaces X2 and X3 have progressively greater north–south dimensions. Why the north wall of X1 was not made parallel to the house’s south line is a matter of speculation, but its orientation may have been affected by structures that lay to the north of it and had to be cut down. As we shall discuss later, and as is visible in Figure 1.6, in area Y4 the north wall of X3 overlaps the north facade wall of an earlier building. Other earlier walls may have existed farther west, as in the area under the later remains visible today north of X1. That the north wall of X1 also angles slightly to the northeast must have to do with the need for a wider area toward its eastern end, north of the partition wall separating it from X4. The closet proper, the area north of the partition wall, measured ca. 3.25 m east–west, its north–south dimension ranging from 0.80 to 1.30 m from west to east. The size and the more secluded character of the east part of X1 would have made this area ideal for storage, with the west part serving as an entrance. The walls forming the facades of House X were built differently on their exterior and interior faces, as is evident in the case of X1 where one can see both sides of the north wall. The exterior face, exposed for six to seven courses, was built of narrow rectangular blocks of rather uniform size, averaging ca. 0.18 m in height and ranging from 0.35 to 0.50 m in length (Pl. 1.1A). The interior face, like that of the west wall (of which the outer face was not exposed in excavation), is different. As is clearly visible in a photograph of the northwest corner of X1 (Pl. 1.1B), the building blocks varied widely in size and often in shape, resulting in irregular courses. In addition, there was no proper bonding between the two walls in the interior; the walls were bonded only at the exterior

corner, where cut rectangular blocks were used (Fig. 1.6). The north and west exterior walls, each ca. 0.70 m thick, were wider than the interior walls. The two interior walls, one on the south, the other on the east, are clearly slimmer, each being 0.50–0.55 m thick (Pl. 1.1C). Interior walls also differed in the construction of their two faces in some parts of House X. This variation seems to have been determined by which side faced onto a more important room and had to be better built. Both faces of the partition wall between X1 and X4 were visible, but the southern side facing onto X4 was clearly favored in the quality of the masonry, as can seen in photographs of the two sides (Pls. 1.1A, 1.1D). An effort was made here to use fairly regularly shaped, narrow rectangular blocks, resulting in relatively regular courses. Only the top courses are notably irregular, either due to some later remodeling in Minoan times or to the disturbance of the top of this wall by the construction of the northeast wall of Greek Building V (Fig. 1.8). The construction of the end of the partition wall, which served as a kind of a jamb for the entranceway between X1 and X4 (Pls. 1.2A, bottom left; 1.2B, top left), was similar to that of antae elsewhere in the building. The mason used squared slabs to span the width of the anta, in alternation with courses built of small stones. The gaps in some of the courses in the anta could either mark the original presence of small stones that fell out or pieces of timber that were used to reinforce the corners and perhaps helped to secure a wooden framework for the doorway, whether or not there were doors there. Antae are always the most vulnerable part of a wall and are the first to collapse with or without wood reinforcement. One example of such a collapse occurred in the west jamb of the doorway leading from X4 to X7, which we ultimately restored. In X1, the blockage of the entrance prevented the anta of the partition wall from collapsing (Fig. 1.5; Pl. 1.1D). Another detail of construction worth noting is a square gap with a capping slab at its top visible in the north wall’s interior face (Pl. 1.1B). This was clearly a socket used to secure part of a wooden scaffolding. Several parallels exist in the walls of Building T, where they were sometimes set at intervals in a row, as in one of the long spaces in the east wing, just discernible here in a photograph showing the portion of that wall south of Space X8 6 and along Road 17 (Pl. 1.1A, far upper left). Also visible in Plate 1.1A is an odd pattern of preservation that requires a comment. The north wall of X1 is preserved unevenly, appearing lowest at the northeast corner, where the east wall was also destroyed (Fig. 1.6). It is conceivable that this was no accident and that these parts of the two walls were leveled intentionally to create a makeshift entrance into X1, once its one doorway leading south to X4 was blocked. The fact that X1 continued

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

to be used even after the door leading south was blocked lends support to this possibility. STRATIGRAPHY, FINDS, AND USE The excavation of X1 and the strata encountered in it can be understood by consulting the archaeological section K–K' (Fig. 1.9; see Fig. 1.5 for location) that crosses X1 east to west. The legends for the fills in this and other archaeological sections are provided in Figure 1.10. The chronology of the stratigraphy is defined by Rutter’s pottery groups (Table 1.1; Rutter, forthcoming). The labels used with each of these (as in Pottery Group X1:1, X1:2) refer sequentially to the name (here X1) of the space; the number following the colon denotes the specific stratigraphic context in terms of the units (pails) with which a given stratum or feature was removed. Successive pottery groups also serve as headings for lists of related finds discussed in Chapter 3, as well as the faunal remains dealt with in Chapter 4 and remains of plasters discussed in Chapter 2. The presence of both MM III and MM II walls under the floor of X1, also continuing south under X4 (Fig. 1.11), testifies to the long use of this location at Kommos, which can be explained by its strategic position next to the main roads.7 Other houses may have extended in a row west of House X, north of Road 17, as we infer from stepped passages cut through the retaining wall that sustained the fill where the hillside was originally cut to create the road. The surface of Road 17 matches the primary floor of monumental Building T built to its south, but it is approximately 1 m lower than the level on which houses were built on the slope of the hill rising to the north. Space X1 was excavated in four trenches (Figs. 1.3, 1.4).8 These revealed the initial floor of X1 and (in a sounding) MM II and MM III remains. The pottery was divided by Rutter into 12 pottery groups, starting with the earliest floor belonging to this space as part of House X. The earliest preserved use dates to LM IA Final (Pottery Group X1:1). This floor was made of compacted soil, consolidated on the west and particularly at the entrance leading to X4, with pebbles spread over its surface. Its level at the entrance was +5.03 m. Fill under this floor contained mainly MM III pottery mingled with sherds of 9 Protopalatial date. The west and east areas were for the most part excavated separately, and the accumulation of well-preserved and even complete pots found in the eastern part of X1 makes it clear that this area served as a closet. The predominant shapes in this first phase included a variety of cups and spouted pouring vessels. Pottery Group X1:1. Fill over first floor, from +5.00/5.03 m to 5. 15/5.22 m. Trench 86B/8 (whole space), 9, and 10 (east and west). LM IA Final.

Lw 1–Lw4 F1 J4 J 15

Loomweights Female figurine Shell bead Carnelian seal

5

Ch. 3.3 Ch. 3.7 Ch. 3.6 Ch. 3.6

Pottery of LM IA Final date continues into the next context. Pottery Group X1:2. Fill above X1:1, east of the entrance, from +5.15/5.22 m to +5.38/5.42 m. Trench 73A/118, 120, 122. LM IA Final. Loomweights Ch. 3.3 Lead weight Ch. 3.2 Coarse plaster Ch. 2 Pottery Group X1:3. Fill above X1:2, mostly east of entrance, from ca. +5.38/5.42 m to +5.44 m (west)/+5.56 m (east). Trench 73A/114, 115. LM IA Final/LM IB Late. Besides pottery, there were no other notable finds. The more complete vessels in Pottery Group X1:3 came primarily from east of the entrance, where they had been stored earlier, and these date to LM IA Final. The scatter of sherds found in the west part of X1 was 10 largely part of a dump deposited later, in LM IB Late. The reason why very little pottery earlier than LM IB was found north of the entrance must be a simple one: the entrance to the closet was kept clean of clutter, while stored items piled up in the closet proper. As in Pottery Group X1:2, the pottery includes cups and pouring vessels, but there are also shapes not encountered earlier, such as a pair of cooking pots (C 9083, C 9328), a pair of bridge-spouted jars (C 9080, C 9087), and two trefoil-mouthed jugs (C 9319, C 9329). The occurrence of pairing is a characteristic that Rutter describes as peculiar to this period. The cooking pots occupy mostly the upper part of the pile in the closet and could have been part of the dump, as Rutter has suggested. They were well preserved, however, and may alternatively have been stored there. If so, a change in function for Space X1, from the storage of the utensils used for drinking and entertainment to the provisioning of more routine household activities, may be suggested. This idea finds some support when we turn to the survey of adjacent space X4, where cooking took place in later stages of its use. In the case of X1, the presence of sherds of a Canaanite jar (C 12041) in a context dated by Rutter to LM IB, joining other fragments from fills above (where the pottery was mostly LM II but also later), suggests that a disturbance caused earlier materials, including some plaster fragments, to appear in higher strata. Pottery Group X1:4. Fill above the floor dated by X1:1, north of the entrance, from ca. +5.15 m to +5.36/5.42 m. Trench 73A/117, 119, 121; Trench 81A/17–21. LM IB Late/LM II. Lw 6, Lw 8 Me 30

Lw 7 Fr 1–Fr 3

Loomweight Painted plaster

Ch. 3.3 Ch. 2

6

MARIA C. SHAW

Pottery Group X1:4 dates to LM IB Late–LM II. The presence in the fill of bits of yellow plaster of the same color as that of the background of the Lily Fresco (Frontispiece) and the Stems Fresco is of interest. Some were found as low as ca. +5.15 m, just above an accumulation of fill over the original floor directly north of the entrance. More and larger fragments were found directly above in the stratum dated by Pottery Group X1:7. Vase shapes in the deep fill of Pottery Group X1:4 are not dissimilar to those of Pottery Groups X1:1 and X1:2, namely cups, here preserved in early sherds, but they differ from the shapes of Pottery Group X1:3, which also contained cooking pots. The one loomweight found in the stratum of Pottery Group X1:4 may be a stray, or perhaps it was kicked up from a lower level through some disturbance—possibly the subsequent construction of the walls blocking the doorway—and was once part of the group of other loomweights found in X1. Pottery Group X1:5. Removal of the western blocking wall. Trench 80A/20. LM II. Lw 5 Fr 1–Fr 3

Loomweight Plasters painted yellow

Ch. 3.3 Ch. 2

Pottery Group X1:6. Trench 80A/19. Removal of the eastern blocking wall. LM II. Fr 1–Fr 3

Plasters painted yellow

Ch. 2

The entrance to X1 was surely blocked by LM II (Pottery Groups X1:5 and X1:6), but the dumping of the plasters and other debris may have started earlier, as suggested by the dates of some of the plaster contexts (X1:3 and X1:4). Bits of plasters were found both within and under the two blocking walls (Fig. 1.8; Pl. 1.1D). The latter must have been built in quick succession, since they were built at the same level and neither had a proper north face, suggesting the presence already of dumps within X1, against which the two walls were built in the manner of retaining walls. The blocking walls’ preserved tops ranged from +6.12 m to 6.22 m from west to east, and their bases on the north side were at ca. +5.16 m. The western and somewhat better-constructed wall must have been built first, allowing for more dumping to be carried out using the remaining narrow opening, which was blocked next. It must have been through this opening that the larger fragments of plasters were dumped, to judge by their location in X1, somewhat farther east of the smaller fragments found at the westernmost part of X1. Pottery Group X1:7. Fill marked by dumped painted plasters, sloping up from east to west, from +5.44 m to +5.56 m. Trenches 73A/82 and 81A/16. Mixed Neopalatial with a small amount of LM II. Me 16

Knife blade Fragments of frescoes

Ch. 3.2 Ch. 2

The topmost part of the fresco dump (Pottery Group X1:7) contains the largest and most numerous pieces of painted plaster, found just north and northeast of the entrance, all within X1. The dumping within X1 and the blocking of its only doorway mark its disuse, as all communication with the rest of House X thus came to an end. Yet, as suggested earlier in the architectural discussion, X1 could still have been used later on by people approaching it from outdoors, and it is possible that a makeshift entrance was created by tearing down part of the east end of its north wall for that purpose. The presence of more animal bones, which Ruscillo associates with knife blade Me 16 (Ch. 4), may testify to such use. Since X1 was no longer part of House X, the subsequent levels above that containing Pottery Group X1:7 and the painted plasters will be treated in a more summary fashion. The comments that follow are best understood by consulting section K–K' (Fig. 1.9). One sign of later use in X1 is a floor (at ca. +5.50 m to +5.55 m) laid out in LM II and marked by two rows of rough stone slabs at its east end along the north and south walls. Rutter suggests these may have acted as pot stands, but they were perhaps too rough and too irregularly laid out to have served such a purpose. Moreover, the pottery associated with this level is scanty and gives no indication of any vessel types that would have required such a setting.11 Pottery Group X1:8. LM II “floor” at +5.50/5.55 m and fill above to 5.60/5.74 m. Trenches 73A/79, 81A/15. Mixed Neopalatial through LM II. Me 25

Fishhook

Ch. 3.2

On the basis of faunal remains and shells, Ruscillo sees an association with the fill of the previous pottery group. During LM IIIA:1, a rough pavement of slabs was laid out at the very west end of X1, its elevation of +6.12 m requiring one to step up to it from the level of ca. +5.75 m on the east (Pl. 1.3A). Pottery under the slabs points to construction of this pavement likely at the end of LM II (Pottery Group X1:8), while pottery above them points to the time it was used in LM III (the pottery in Trench 73A/74 in X1:9) until the area was taken over by the Iron Age settlers who built Archaic Greek Building V. The next two pottery groups represent use from LM II to LM IIIA:1 (Group X1:9) and later LM III (Group X1:10). Pottery Group X1:9. Fill over LM II floor up to slabs of new floor above it at the west part of the space, from ca. +5.75 m to as high as +6.11/6.12 m on the west. Trench 81A/12, 13, 14; Trench 73A/69, 72, 74, 75, 77. LM IIIA:1.

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

Lw 41 St 42

Loomweight Stone lamp fragment

Ch. 3.3 Ch. 3.4

Ruscillo sees this fill as a dump; parts of it (for example, some shell beads) may have worked their way down to the levels of the two preceding groups. Because more beads were found in the present fill, she suggests they may come from a necklace. Pottery Group X1:10. Fill over some slabs at the east part of X1, from +5.72 m to +6.09 m. Trench 66A/19, 22. LM IIIA:1. Me 17 S 1908, S 1910, S 1968

Sickle blade

Ch. 3.2

Three cobbles

The next strata were marked by mixed pottery ranging from Minoan to Archaic. Of interest was the discovery of a hearth or little oven, which was built against the north face of the south wall of X1 at a level of +6.43 m (located in part in Trench 73A/18, 22, in part in 66A/3). It was much destroyed but had clearly been set up using two flat stone slabs, one of which was still standing, the other lying flat. Its interest lies in its resemblance to a type of pi-shaped hearth known from several well-preserved examples found in other Minoan houses at Kommos, again in later contexts (M.C. Shaw 1990; 1996a, 122; 1996b, 42; 1996e, 357, 371, 372; McEnroe 1996, 225, 231; J.W. Shaw 1996a, 384, 388). Like some of these, the one above X1 preserved evidence of ashes and burning, but there was not enough evidence to date it. Ruscillo (in her discussion of Pottery Group X1:9) sees more evidence for butchering of bones and does not exclude the possibility of cooking and eating taking place north of X1; cooking pots and storage vessels were found in X1 (Pottery Group X1:10). Another stone installation was found immediately outside X1, in the angle between its north wall and the northwest outer corner of X2. It consisted of a stone slab with a shallow round depression at the top (S 2136). We have named this a stamnostatis, the Greek word for “potstand” (Shaw and Shaw 1993, pl. 23:a). Glycymeris shells were scattered on it and in the immediate vicinity, creating the impression that both the slab and the shells were not just dumped here, but rather were part of an assemblage that had been used in the Minoan period and spared from later displacement 12 because of its secluded location. Pottery Group X1:11. Fill over surface at ca. +6.10 m and up to +6.20 m, throughout X1. From east to west: Trench 66A/16, Trench 73A/32, Trench 81/11. Mixed LM IIIA:1, LM IIIA:2(?). S 1865, S 1867 S 2129 St 46

Two cobbles Quern Stone lid

Ch. 3.4

7

Pottery Group X1:12. From east to west: Trench 66A/14; Trench 73A/29, 31; Trench 81A/10. Fill over surface at +6.20 m and up to +6.40/6.45 m throughout X1. Context mixed Minoan (through LM IIIA:2) and Archaic and Classical Greek. No noteworthy finds reported. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS For such a small space, X1 had a long and intriguing history. While in use as part of the house proper, with indoor access, it was a closet. Its earlier pottery (LM IA–LM IB Late/LM II) consisted of drinking and pouring vessels, stored there to make them readily available for social occasions possibly held in the large Space X4. Other finds from these levels were relatively few. They consisted of a few loomweights, a couple of beads, a clay figurine, and a carnelian seal with a beautiful carving of a pair of fish (J 15). In Chapter 3 Younger suggests this may have been owned by an individual with sphragistic duties who was active within the central administration at Kommos. The available evidence suggests that the residents had more of a penchant for niceties in the earlier period of use in Space X1, as observed in other spaces of the house. This impression is reinforced by the discovery of the discarded fragments of beautiful floral frescoes that seem to have been dumped in X1 just before its entrance was blocked, making X1 inaccessible from within the house. We can speculate that if stored here, the beads and seals would have been kept in some kind of a perishable container, a leather pouch, for instance, or a wooden box, the disintegration of which led to the scattering of these objects. The reason for storing nine loomweights strains the imagination, unless individuals possessed their own sets of weaving tools and stored them separately, retrieving them when they participated in a weaving project. As elsewhere in the house, imports of foreign pottery appeared just as House X went into decline and a number of rooms began to go out of use, some perhaps as early as LM IB Late or LM II. Most foreign pottery found in X1 dates to LM II and later, although, according to Rutter, sherds of a Canaanite jar appeared in X1 in LM IB. In the higher levels of X1 there were also some western Anatolian imports, dating to LM III. The earliest Knossian sherds in this particular space belong to LM IIIA:1–2. Whether X1 was later used as a storage area by individuals who entered it from the north or whether the foreign pottery recovered was part of a dump are questions best answered from the ceramicist’s point of view. It is clear, however, that X1 was used as a dumping place in LM IB Late, just before its entrance from the south was blocked, as the fresco fragments recovered are unlikely to have decorated the walls of X1.

8

MARIA C. SHAW

Space X4 ARCHITECTURE This spacious, rectangular room is one of the best appointed in House X (Shaw and Shaw 1993, 153–154). It was set in the western section, among the more private quarters and with no nearby access to the outdoors, yet it played a pivotal role in terms of circulation in that area. X4 had three doorways: one that led north to closet X1, another that led east to X5 (a room with a lightwell), and a third that led south to Staircase X13, from which one could either go upstairs or proceed south to X14a and X14b by way of Corridor X7. Privacy could also be attained in X4, since it was possible to close the east and south doorways, as is evident from the provision in each of a L-shaped doorjamb base, a type usually accommodating a pivot in its inner angle on which to swing a door.13 The other base in each of these doors was a thin rectangular block. From this arrangement it is clear that each of the doorways was closed by a single-leaf door. This makes sense as the entrances were no wider than 0.66–0.70 m. From the positioning of the L-shaped bases we know that the door of the eastern doorway swung open to the south, that of the southern doorway to the west. The western jamb base of the south entrance was eventually covered over by a wall that blocked the original doorway, when the doorway was relocated farther west, but we believe we have identified that base’s north end where it projects slightly under the blocking wall (Figs. 1.6, 1.7; Pl. 1.3B).14 Given the heavy traffic in this area, one would expect to find thresholds at the doorways. A threshold was lacking in the eastern doorway, however, perhaps having been removed and placed elsewhere in the remodeling of the area, the phases of which are illustrated in a series of drawings (Fig. 1.12:B–D). The original threshold of the southern doorway, a slab 0.68 m long, is seen today in the new doorway that replaced the original one after it was blocked (Pl. 1.3B). In its original place within the earlier doorway the slab was flanked on either side by a cut doorjamb base, as discussed above. The L-shaped base remained visible and became part of the new doorway, but with the L maintaining its initial orientation, which meant it could no longer contain a pivot on which to swing a door, since the entrance was now located at the wrong side of the base (Pl. 1.3C). The threshold slab, however, was modified before being reused; its top surface was cut back slightly, but for a strip along its west side, which was allowed to project and to serve as a base for the wooden frame of the new doorway. We cannot be certain this doorway was provided with a door, given how narrow the entrance was (0.55–0.58 m) and the fact that the L-shaped base must also have carried the wooden framework.

One more adjustment was necessary: part of the south wall of X4 was cut back and rebuilt to serve as the new doorway’s west jamb. The rebuilding was evidently poorly done, and the west jamb separated from the rest of the wall and came to rest on debris that in the meantime had accumulated over the threshold, which held it and prevented further collapse. This enabled us to lift the detached wall end and restore it to its original position (Pl. 1.3D). The north and west walls of X4 were described in the survey of X1, where attention was drawn to the rather careful building of the south side of the partition wall separating X4 from X1. Of the remaining walls, the eastern one is interesting both because it incorporated a large window (Pls. 1.2A, at center; 1.4A, top, center; 1.4B; 1.5A), and because it is the only one in the house to have been partly built of ashlar blocks. Two such blocks formed the top course, resting on lower courses typically built of rubble and small rectangular blocks. The wall is ca. 1.53 m long and 0.52 m wide, and it rises to ca. 0.62 m above the floor. Evident on the upper surface of the ashlar blocks, particularly the north one, which was better preserved, were two cuttings along the long sides, showing traces of chisel marks (Pl. 1.4B, right foreground).15 Horizontal wooden boards that were part of a window sill would have been set in these cuttings. The wooden framework would have continued around the window and joined with the frame of the doorway positioned directly south of it, as shown in a restoration (Fig. 1.13). This arrangement of door and window finds parallels in several Bronze Age buildings, as well as in traditional Greek architecture of modern times. Several are preserved in the Bronze Age settlement at Akrotiri on Thera (Palyvou 2005, 95, 137, figs. 131, 198), as well as on Crete, in the Hall of the Double Axes in the Palace at Knossos (Evans 1930, fig. 225). In the case of X4, the combination of door and window was clearly intended to maximize the use of light coming in from the light-well in X5. Space X4 seems to have been windowless except perhaps for a small one high up in the south wall. There is also a good possibility that another window opened from the west wall of Staircase X13, the wall that faced the outdoors. As is discussed later, the presence of a window above the landing in X13 may be attested by the discovery there of a small slab with a pivot hole. Assuming Minoan windows had shutters, the hypothetical window in X4 could have been quite small and set high on the wall, in the manner of fengites (a modern Greek word), small windows used in present-day vernacular Greek architecture with parallels at the Late Bronze Age site of Akrotiri on Thera (Palyvou 2005, 147). Like other floors in the house, the floor of X4 sloped down from north to south and from west to east (Figs.

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

1.6, 1.7). The highest level was at the northwest end (at +5.02/5.03 m), where pebbles were found continuing north into the western part of X1. The lowest level of the floor was in the central and southeast area, where one can see some four slabs laid out diagonally, their levels at ca. +4.91/4.92 m. It was made mostly of hardpacked soil, with its slope further indicated by the position of sporadic pebbles and slabs used for its paving. The doorjamb bases, concentrated in the southeast corner, projected slightly above the adjacent floor, their tops at +4.91–4.92 m. Of interest in terms of the construction is that the north jamb base of the eastern doorway did not consist of a separate block. It was created from the projecting part of one of the blocks of the bottom course of the ashlar wall to the south, its top at +4.89 m. (Figs. 1.6, 1.14; Pls. 1.2A, 1.5B). The areas the most free of traffic in X4 would have been the most suitable for household activities. These were the southwest and northeast corners, the rest of the space having been used for circulation by people crossing X4 northward to go to X1 and southward to X7. After the door to X1 was blocked, a number of slabs were placed over the original floor in the northwest part of the room, which then became another area for household activities (Fig. 1.6; Pl.1.5B). STRATIGRAPHY, FINDS, AND USE The upper strata in the northeast part of the room were excavated in Trench 66A, which was stopped when the two ashlar blocks of the east wall appeared. Thereafter, X4 was excavated mainly in two trenches. Trench 73A was used to excavate the entire room down to the original floor, while final cleaning and a sounding were finally carried out in Trench 86B, exposing MM III strata below the floor. Among the MM remains below X4 was a slab-paved floor with built plastered benches (excavated in Trench 86B). The bench in the northwest area ran north–south and turned east at its north end, its farther extension hidden now under unexcavated fill there (Fig. 1.11; Pl. 16 1.5C). Closer to the north part of the space and centrally located there was a simple hearth (Pl. 1.5C), an area of the floor characterized by successive burned layers of soil in the midst of the floor’s paving slabs.17 The initial floor of X4 was laid just above the MM plastered benches and the associated leveled walls. Excavation of fill immediately above the MM floor was carried out separately in the west and east halves, and its use was dated, respectively, by Pottery Groups X4:1W and X4:1E (for latter group see Fig. 1.15, section L–L'). Excavation in the west half involved the removal of the rough slab pavement, mentioned above, that had been added along X4’s north wall over the

9

original floor. The east half revealed the earliest preserved deposit in that area belonging to the use of House X, but, in both cases, the pottery was no earlier than LM IIIA:2 Early, confirming the impression that earlier debris was not allowed to build up but was systematically removed, probably in order to preserve the original absolute level of that floor. Part of the later pavement in X4 included an enigmatic small structure of unknown use. The structure consisted of a slab (0.28 m x 0.39 m; 0.08 m thick) set flat against the north wall, directly east of the entrance into X1, and another (0.53 m wide, 0.19 m high, 0.13 m thick) set upright along one of the flat slab’s sides. The upright slab bore traces of unpainted plaster and was thus once part of a wall. Perhaps, if the structure was used as a small cupboard, there was another vertical slab originally. None of the slabs bore any signs of fire or burning, excluding the possibility of the structure having served as a hearth or a place in which to cook. Painted plaster was found in situ at the very bottom of the walls and occasional loose fragments were found nearby in the fill. The frescoes need not be dated by the LM III sherds, which represent the extended use of the room. They may belong to a colored wall revetment probably dating to when the house was first built, before the plasters were dumped in Space X1, likely in LM IB Late. Pottery Group X4:1W. Fill over west part of original floor of X4 at +4.90/4.95 m and up to abandonment surface at +5.07 m. Trench 73A/62, 68; Trench 86B/11, 12: LM IIIA:2 Early. Latest date: LM IIIA:2. Ot 1 Fr 4 Fr 5 Fr 6 S 2157

Egyptian glass paste bottle Plaster in situ, south wall Plaster in situ, west wall Plaster in situ, north wall Pecked hand tool 17 Glycymeris valves Bones (sheep/goat, pig, hare) Loose pieces of plaster

Ch. 3.8 Ch. 2 Ch. 2 Ch. 2 Ch. 4 Ch. 4 Ch. 2

Ruscillo reports that there is not enough evidence from the bones to indicate the consumption of meat or dining, but there are some ornamental shells that may have been used, along with a shell-shaped bead (J 10), found in the eastern part of the Group X4:1 deposit. That we are in an era of international exchange is indicated by the Egyptian glass paste bottle (Ot 1), of which only two small, much worn fragments were preserved. Pottery Group X4:1E. Earliest floor in east part of X4. Trench 73A/63, 63A; Trench 86B/25: MM III, from +4.84/4.86 m to +4.88/+4.91m. Trench 86B/26: MM III to LM IIIA:1, from +4.78 m to +4.84 m. Latest date: LM IIIA:2.

10

MARIA C. SHAW

Lw 58 J 10 Me 10 P 190 St 8

Loomweight Shell-shaped bead Bronze strip Plaster in situ on east wall Whetstone 127 Glycymeris shells

Ch. 3.3 Ch. 3.6 Ch. 3.2 Ch. 2 Ch. 4

Ruscillo notes the increasing number of Glycymeris in this area, with fewer in the west part of the room. Her views on the use of the Glycymeris shells, which appear subsequently in greater numbers, are discussed in Chapter 4. The deposit in the east part of the room is 18 also marked by the presence of stone tools, as well as a shell-shaped stone bead (J 10), both types of finds that occur in the continued use of this floor at the high level dated by Pottery Group X4:2. As for the pottery itself, it consisted mainly of cups, jugs, and jars, including fragments of transport stirrup jars from Chania and of a jug from western Anatolia. Of the two remaining higher strata (Fig. 1.15), the lower one represents the last use in X4 during LM IIIA:2 (Pottery Group X4:2, Trench 73A/55, 59, 60, 60A); the one over it (Pottery Group X4:3, Trench 73A/53, 54, 55 in part) contains materials from a collapsed upper story of similar date, but contaminated by some LM IIIB and Archaic sherds. A collapse is suggested by the masses of rubble within X4, as well as the extensive preservation of the finds under this debris. Pottery Group X4:2. Fill throughout the room, from ca. +5.07 m to +5.38 m (central part of room) and +5.47 m (in northwest and northeast parts). Trench 73A/55 (in part), 59, 60, 60A. LM IIIA:2. Lw 57 J 5, J 12, J 13A Me 22 St 9 St 25, St 26 St 48

Loomweight Stone beads Bronze needle Small fine abrader Mortars Stone vase lid

Ch. 3.3 Ch. 3.6 Ch. 3.2 Ch. 3.4 Ch. 3.4 Ch. 3.4

Faunal remains of non-meatbearing bones and the absence of ornamental shells are noted in Chapter 4. Pottery Group X4:3. Collapsed upper story floor materials, at ca. +5.40 m and fill above to +5.78 m (north central)/5.85 m (northeast). Trench 73A/53, 54, 55 (in part). LM IIIA:2, with some LM IIIB and Archaic sherds. St 20 St 28

Slab with depressions Rough bowl/mortar

Ch. 3.4 Ch. 3.4

Some faunal remains here (see Ruscillo, Ch. 4) are more likely to belong with cooking activities on the last use of the floor in X4, before the collapse of the upper floor.

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS The character of the initial space—its size, strategic location, architectural refinements, and frescoed walls—mark it as special. In particular, the frescoes (likely some of those found in X1) with flowers in landscapes must have created a pleasant ambience, enhancing the impression of spaciousness and making the space ideal for the occasional social gatherings that may have taken place here. The immediacy of X4 to Staircase X13 was an added convenience, especially if the steps led to rooms used as private quarters. Finds are preserved only from LM IIIA:2 Early, and their character and distribution, as known mainly from the abandonment deposit (Pottery Group X4:2), allow us to infer how the space was used at the end. Those found in situ, or directly over the floor, are shown in a drawing that gives an idea of how parts of the room were used (Fig. 1.14).19 At least by LM III, the function of X4 was largely utilitarian. Indeed, X4 may have absorbed functions earlier carried out elsewhere in the house. Storage, for instance, would have been transferred to X4 after closet X1 was blocked. The later slab pavement in the northwest part of the room may have provided a surface on which to rest large vessels, but none were found directly on it; perhaps some scattering occurred at the time the space went out of use. A variety of pots were associated with this phase. Of the three conical cups, two (C 9006, C 9007) were found leaning against the north wall next to the blocked doorway, the third (C 9008) farther south and east. Cups C 9141 and C 9151, not shown in the plan, may have been associated with the collapsed upper floor, as they were found atop fill with tiny sherds that possibly represent floor material. A jug (C 9009) was recovered a short distance away, also to the east. Larger vessels like the coarse jar (C 9004) were found in the room’s southwest corner, with a tripod cooking pot (C 9005) just to their north with only its base preserved. The jar was decorated with the imprints of chubby human hands that had been previously dipped in dark paint. Perhaps the printing was intended as decoration, perhaps as a magic spell. That some cooking took place in X4 at this stage is suggested by traces of burning on the ground just south of the slab pavement in the northwest part of the room, not far from where the cooking pot (C9005) was found. That cooking and perhaps eating took place in the same room is also supported by Ruscillo’s identification among the faunal remains of primary butchery material from sheep/goat and pig.

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

The greatest concentration of finds, including large vessels, was west of the window facing X5, in the northeast corner along the room’s east wall. The largest vessel was an imported pithos from Cyprus (C 9013), and just south of it lay the remains of a Canaanite jar (C 9167) and a patterned amphora (C 9172). North of the Cypriot pithos were two champagne cups. One of these (C 9010) was found close to the north wall. The other (C 9011) was found largely within a pyxis (C 9012), for which it may have served as a lid, its handle perhaps intentionally broken to allow it to stay in place (Shaw and Shaw 1993, pl. 26:a, b; M. Shaw 2011). The holes in the rim of the pyxis originally served to attach a lid, so the clay vessel appears to have been a makeshift solution after the original lid disappeared. That this area was used differently from that to the west is also suggested by the lack of animal bones and by where the presence of a hearth may be evidence for cooking. Hand tools, however, were found scattered in both areas, though more of them were found in the eastern area. Other finds that reinforce the impression of differential spatial organization are some beads and a good number of Glycymeris shells that were found in the levels related to both areas, the majority associated with Pottery Group X4:2 and fewer with X4:1E. One of the beads was found within the pyxis itself, the others outside; one was retrieved in the process of sieving fill from around and under the pyxis. Collectively, the beads suggest the possibility of small-scale jewelry production, perhaps using some of the shells as well. The uses for Glycymeris shells are discussed in Chapter 4. The pyxis was perhaps used at some point as the container for the beads. A string may have been threaded through the holes in its rim to allow it to be suspended from a hook, perhaps from the lintel of the window. It was painted beautifully with crocuses and rocks (Shaw and Shaw 1993, 153). It may have been one of a pair with the pyxis (C 8001) that was found in a similarly dated context in adjacent Space X5. Pyxis C 8001 was decorated with religious symbols with possible military overtones; a double axe and a figure-of-eight shield were painted on one side, and a large rosette was depicted on the opposite, presumably secondary side. The broad sill of the window was both wide enough and low enough for a person to sit upon as a bench. This would have been an ideal spot to sit and work, whether a person was threading beads or performing more mundane household activities that required light.

Staircase X13 ARCHITECTURE Unlike the large staircase X15, U-shaped Staircase X13 seems to have been used for internal communication

11

only (Shaw and Shaw 1993, 149). It had two flights. The steps of the lower flight (X13n) were made of stone, while those of the upper flight (X13s) must have been built with wood. Staircase X13 went through two main building phases, the initial one likely including a supporting structure for the upper flight (Fig. 1.2), which may now lie hidden under the south wall built during the second phase and the area directly north of it (Fig. 1.5). The plans in Figure 1.12:B–D show the development of the staircase along with the adjoining Space X7, and its final appearance before the abandonment of the house is provided in a detail from the state plan of the area (Figs. 1.7, 1.12:A). The plan for the first phase (Fig. 1.12:B) restores the staircase as it may have looked before Doorway A was relocated farther west and indicates an hypothesized upright wooden structure that would have supported the staircase’s upper flight. The plan indicates a wall (Wall 2) that is partly hidden under the north wall (Wall 4) of X7 and continues somewhat farther west. Excavation did not continue down far enough to determine whether this wall belonged to an earlier building, but the large slab at level +4.80 m in the northwest corner of X7 could well have been positioned directly east of the lowest step of X13n, as shown in the restoration. The rest of the floor in X7 at this stage was a soil surface that sloped somewhat toward the south. The bottom steps of the original staircase were likely removed later and reused to build a broader and higher step at the entrance from X4 to X7, when the entrance from X4 was moved farther west and the floor was raised in X7 (Fig. 1.12:C). X4 retained its initial levels till the end, first at +4.91, then at +5.06 m. The platform or step was thus 0.23–0.25 m higher than the top of the threshold directly north of it, the threshold’s level at ca. +4.91 m being roughly that of the floor in the south part of X4. The construction was completed by setting a long rectangular slab on edge against the platform’s north side to retain the soil upon which the old steps now rested (Pl. 1.3C). Since this retaining slab was not as wide as the platform or step it was set against, small slabs would have been placed upright at the west and east ends; of these only the west one is preserved. As can be seen today, the lower steps of the staircase consisted of roughly rectangular blocks, some of which were not long enough to span the full width of the flight and had to be supplemented by smaller ones, set mostly on the south side (Fig. 1.12:A–D). Only the risers (the vertical visible side of each step) were cut straight, and these varied in height from 0.15 m to 0.22 m, the latter measurement being the height assumed here for the two 20 bottom steps (Steps 1 and 2 in the plans). The lack of further slabs beyond the eighth step suggests that the

12

MARIA C. SHAW

landing, next to the house’s west wall, was made of wood, likely boards that rested on horizontal beams set within sockets in Walls 9 and 10, with another beam extending east to support the upper flight. All of these beams would also have been supported from below by a column or a post, as restored in a plan (Fig. 1.12:B) and in a restoration of its elevation (Fig. 1.16). As seen in the elevation drawing, the space under the staircase’s upper flight would have been readily accessible from X14b, and indeed it served as X14b’s northern extension. Later on, the wooden supporting post seems to have been replaced by a south wall with a narrow door (Fig. 1.12:C, D). This wall was built directly over soil, and it may be assumed that it did not replace an earlier built wall (for which there is no evidence). During its original phase, the upper flight may have had five steps (Fig. 1.16), with the floor of the upper story at an elevation of ca. +7.32 m. Assuming the thickness of the ceiling to have been ca. 0.30 m, we arrive at a head clearance of just under 2.00 m for a person standing on the ground floor.21 The presence of some eight steps in the original lower flight of X13 may be postulated with greater confidence. The restoration of this part of the staircase is based on the assumption that there were two more steps at the bottom, in the area later occupied by the platform or step. The calculation of the number of steps is simple. The distance between the base of Step 3 (at +5.13 m), which we assume remained in situ, and the level of the initial floor in X7 (the large slab in its northwest corner at +4.80 m) was ca. 0.33 m. Dividing that number in two (the two bottom steps) allows for an average height for each riser of ca. 0.16 m, a height not unlike that of the steps that remained in place. From these calculations, the top of the restored bottom step would have been at ca. +4.97 m, as shown in the restored plan of the initial phase (Fig.1.12:B). The original staircase had a small sottoscala at its west part (Fig. 1.12:B), which could be accessed from the south, from X14b, and was 0.70 m wide and as deep as the north–south span of the landing (Pl. 1.2B, bottom left).22 Used as a closet, it could have accommodated a tall vessel like a pithos or small vessels on shelves, but nothing except rubble was found in it.23 The entrance to this closet was not blocked when the upper south flight of X13 was rebuilt, supported by a wall, and a larger sottoscala space was created (Fig. 1.12:C). Despite its size (2.12 m x 0.95 m), nothing was found in this later closet. Its narrow entrance (ca. 0.55 m) in the southwest corner was eventually blocked (Figs. 1.12:C, D). As mentioned in the discussion of X4, a small stone block with a possible pivot hole (S 2135) was found in the midst of wall debris over the landing of the staircase, suggesting a window in the west wall, probably facing onto a street or a lane.24

The sides of the north and south walls facing X13n are largely hidden by the steps. More visible are the south face of Wall 9 and the west face of Wall 8, as seen from within X13s. Of these, the former was ca. 0.55 m wide, and preserves some nine courses ca. 1.00 m high, built mostly with neat rectangular slabs (Pl. 1.2B). This wall divides the two flights of the staircase and bonds with Wall 8, which had about seven courses preserved. Wall 8 extends south, ending with an anta that acted as a jamb for two doorways: one on the south offering communication between X14b and X14a, and one on the east leading north–south. Eventually, Wall 11, preserved for some five to six courses, was built against this anta. It was constructed of mixed materials, including cut blocks as well as rough stones of varying sizes. Like the later southwest doorway in X13s, the doorway east of Wall 8 was also blocked (Wall 7; Figs. 1.12:D, 1.17, 1.18; Pl. 1.6A). STRATIGRAPHY, FINDS, AND USE The two flights were excavated in consecutive years, the north flight (Trench 73A) in 1991 and the south (Trench 80A) in 1992. The fill over the stone steps showed that the collapse of the related walls must have started already in LM IIIA:2. It may have continued during the Early Iron Age, when these and other Minoan walls were likely quarried.25 Excavation in X13s stopped, more or less, at the base of the flight’s south wall. As in X13n, a stratum of soil at the top covered the wall debris.26 This debris continued down nearly to where excavation stopped, i.e., the base of that wall’s north face at ca. +5.08 m, although the wall debris on the south side continued somewhat farther down. The fill in X13s, the sottoscala of the remodeled south flight, is dated by Pottery Group X13:1 primarily to LM II, but there was an admixture of sherds ranging from Protopalatial (particularly in 80A/22) to LM III. It is conceivable that the earlier sherds derived from the construction materials of collapsed walls and that the LM III material was a later intrusion. There is a chance that this sottoscala went out of use, along with X14a and X14b, by LM II. Pottery Group X13:1. Fill of soil and stones from +5.07/5.10 m to +5.73 m. Trench 80A/16, 22, 23, and 39. LM I–LM II. Sp 1

Spindle whorl Plaster Shells and bones

Ch. 3.3 Ch. 2 Ch. 4

Noteworthy is the find of a single alabaster spindle whorl. As usual, the fill contained occasional bones and shells, as well as small pieces of unpainted plaster.

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

Space X7 ARCHITECTURE As already mentioned, a wall ran under the north wall of X7, and its south side projected from it (Fig.1.12:B); but we did not excavate deeply enough to date its construction. It could belong to an earlier building. Like the nearby spaces in the house, X7 had a complex history of remodeling after its original construction, the most drastic event being its conversion from a north–south passageway into a shrine (Shaw and Shaw 1993, 149–152). Because its remodeling affected adjacent X4 and X13, the discussion of X7 offered here complements discussions of those other spaces and refers to the same set of phase plans (Fig. 1.12:A–D). As noted in connection with the discussion of Staircase X13, the earliest floor associated with X7 (Floor 1), at +4.80/4.82 m, is indicated by the large paving slab directly south of the original north doorway leading to X4 (Pl. 1.3C, showing it as recut and reused; also Fig. 1.12:A). The northern doorway (Doorway A), seen in the same plan leading into X4, originally lined up with the doorway leading south to X14a (Doorway B). This arrangement turned the western part of the room into a passage. The eastern part, bracketed by three walls, may have been used for some other function such as storage. We can assume that a threshold existed at that time in Doorway B, where it could also have served as a step up from the lower-lying floor of X14a. Access between the spaces is discussed further below in the survey of X14a. Little comment can be made regarding the masonry of this early period, given its poor preservation and the effects of the later remodeling, which included the blocking of the original northern doorway (Pl. 1.3B). A vertical break visible in the east side of the east wall of X7 (Pl. 1.4A) but not in its west one (Pl. 1.2A) remains unexplained. The break may well be the result of the manner of building, with teams of masons starting at opposite points and occasionally meeting at the midpoint in the wall. The segments of the wall north and south of the crack in this particular wall (labeled 5a and 5b in Fig. 1.12:B–D) have the same width (0.55–0.60 m) and are similarly built. Odd and unexplainable breaks are not uncommon in other rooms, as in the north wall of X2, discussed later. The phase described above, or Floor 1, dated to LM IB Late (Pottery Group X7:1), was followed by one in which certain distinctive vessels (Pottery Group X7: 2) were used. Rutter thus suggests that X7 was already a shrine in LM II, during the use of Floor 2 at +4.90–4.92 m. This earthen floor was marked by some slabs at its southern end (Fig. 1.12:A, C; Pl. 1.2A). For X7 to have acted as a shrine, it had to be converted from a passage into a room, which likely happened during the floor’s

13

buildup through use (to +5.03/5.09 m), when the north and south doorways were blocked,27 and the initial north doorway was moved to the west. The top layer of the buildup served as Floor 3, and there is a chance that raising the floor level brought about the construction of the platform south of the southern entrance of X4, so that people could step up from X4 to the higher floor in X7 (Fig. 1.12:C). Sherds and whole pots found above Floor 3 date to LM III A1. An interesting deposit (Pottery Group X7:3; Pl. 1.6C) was found in the space’s northeast corner, near some stone slabs and partially covered by a slab of unpainted plaster at +5.09/5.24 m. Almost completely preserved are two handleless jugs (C 9313 and 9314), a bowl or conical cup (C 9309), and a brazier (C 9310) . In these phases and the one that followed, the shrine was a small room, nearly square, measuring ca. 1.90 m east to west and 1.80–1.85 m north to south. The first evidence of a table having been used for offerings (Fig. 1.12:D) comes from Floor 4. The new floor, again made of compacted soil, was laid over fill some 0.16 m thick, rising to an average +5.22 m. The small stone table was set in the room’s southwest corner and consisted merely of two slabs, one that was set flat and supported on its southern side by the other, set upright. On its northern side it was supported by a stone projecting slightly from within the north wall. Because the shrine was abandoned after this phase, the last objects used were left in situ, some atop the table, others under it and on the floor throughout the space (Pls. 1.7A–1.7C), although some shifting must have occurred when the ceiling finally collapsed. A reconstruction of the table and associated offerings may be seen in Color Plate 1A. STRATIGRAPHY, FINDS, AND USE Space X7 was excavated in 1991 in a single trench (73A). Upon removal of the topmost strata, we chose not to remove the small stone table, but instead to excavate selectively in the rest of the room to investigate the lower levels. Later, as it became obvious that the history of the shrine went back to earlier times, we decided to expose more of the pertinent levels by removing the table and digging the underlying strata. Subsequently we mended its top, which had been broken into three pieces in antiquity, and we reset it in its original spot when fill was brought back into the room. Pottery Group X7:1 (Floor 1). Fill over floor with slabs at +4.80/4.82 m and up to +4.92 m. Trench 73A/67A, 94B, 95A, 95B. Mixed Neopalatial to LM IB Late. No notable finds. There were few finds from Floor 1, since X7 was a little more than a passageway when that floor was in use. The latest pottery, mainly sherds that came from cups, was LM IB. This period was not represented in

14

MARIA C. SHAW

nearby X4, although that space’s earliest floor must have been used along with that of X7; apparently, use debris was not thoroughly removed from X7. Pottery Group X7:2 (Floor 2). Fill over soil and slabs (+4.90–4.92 m) and above to +5.06–5.09 m (southwest) and +5.03–5.04 m (northeast). Trench 73A/66, 67, 80, 81, 89, 94A. LM II. Rutter discerns the first signs of ritual function in the pottery of Floor 2 (Fig. 1.12:C), which included a “sprinkler” (C 9657), a fancy decorated jug (C 9257), a fine spouted jug (C 8088, this with joins in Space X6), and a basket-handled, twin-spouted jug (C 12021). There were no other notable finds, though Ruscillo suggests that some ornamental shells may have been connected with the early use of X7 as a shrine. Pottery Group X7:3 (Floor 3). Floor of soil at +5.06/5.09 m (southwest), +5.03/5.04 m (northeast), and fill above to +5.22/5.25 m. Trench 73A/64A, 65, 70, 78, 84. Mixed Neopalatial to LM IIIA:1. P 297, P 299 P 298

Plaster bits Ch. 2 Plaster in northeast corner Ch. 2 Shells Ch. 4 The ritual use of X7 was clearly attested on Floor 3 (Fig. 1.12:C). Found on it were parts of an Egyptian coarse amphora (C 12023) and pieces of plaster. The large plaster piece (P 298) covered nearly intact pottery found in the northeast corner of the room. The plaster and other debris may have fallen from a collapsed upper floor. The vessels formed a group: a brazier (C 9309) and two handleless trefoil-mouthed juglets (C 9313 and C9314; Pl. 1.6C). Pottery Group X7:4 (Floor 4). Fill on floor at ca. +5.25 m and up to +5.50 m, including finds over the stone table. Trench 73A/51, 57, 61, 76. LM IIIA:2. J 16 Sh 11

Steatite seal with bird Triton shell Coarse plaster 14 Glycymeris shells on table

Ch. 3.6 Ch. 4 Ch. 2 Ch. 4

Floor 4 (Fig. 1.12:D) held the stone table, and its floor deposit included the masses of pottery that were found more or less in situ both on the table (Pl. 1.7A) and on the floor (Fig. 1.19). In the photograph in Plate 1.7B, we arranged the pieces so as to roughly simulate their relative spatial distribution as found during the excavation. The two lamps at the top right were found tucked under the stone table in the southeast corner of the Shrine. They were still full of ash from the last time they were used, a poignant reminder that the inhabitants never returned to use them again. A fragment of a Canaanite jar (C 9014) shows that foreign imports continued to be brought to Kommos and House X, and its join with other pieces from Space X5 points out, according to Rutter, “the contemporaneity of the deposits of the LM IIIA:2 Early

destruction deposits in X7 and X4.” He adds that this jar must have fallen from a collapsed upper story. Finds other than pottery included Glycymeris shells, some inside the conical cup that was placed on the table, some scattered around that cup, perhaps having spilled out of it onto the table when the ceiling collapsed. The Triton shell (Sh 11), still in situ, had been set over a small flat slab lying flat on the floor. Pebbles were found next to it. Possibly a worshipper had accidentally dropped a seal with the representation of a bird-woman (J 16) that was found over the floor. Though not an uncommon motif in seals, Younger argues for its cultic status in this context. Ruscillo calls attention to the potentially religious character of the Glycymeris shells and to the notable absence of any animal bones, which may point to a separation of the sacred from the profane. Pottery Group X7:5. Collapsed second story(?) from +5.50/5.75 m to +5.75 m. Trench 73A/47, 51, 51A. LM 28 IIIA:2 (mixed with sherds of the seventh century B.C.). Plaster Shells

Ch. 2 Ch. 4

The uppermost material within X7, which contained thin slabs possibly from an upstairs pavement, suggests the occurrence of a collapse. The pottery in the fill (Pl. 1.7C) repeats types encountered in the shrine below. If indeed it fell from upstairs, it may have come either from an additional shrine there or from a room where religious paraphernalia was stored for the shrine below. The shapes consist of a brazier (C 9137), three lamps (C 9139, C 9146, C 9149), a flask/sprinkler (C 9145), and a fragment from the base of a snake tube (C 9659). Again, the shells found were Glycymeris, and no animal bones were recovered.

Spaces X14a and X14b ARCHITECTURE Spaces X14a and X14b were closely interconnected for most of their history.29 Through their doorways, they also had direct access to X7 and the large Space X8 (Figs. 1.2, 1.7). The anta with which the short west wall of X7 ended on the south is still well preserved, and it has allowed us to restore a doorway between X14a and X14b directly south of it, even though the north end of the dividing wall between the two spaces is now destroyed (Fig. 1.12:B; Pl. 1.6A). Particularly revealing of the situation is section B–B' (Fig. 1.18), which shows, from left to right, the northern limit of X14b and X14a, the south wall of the remodeled higher flight of Staircase X13 (north of X14b), and the blocked doorway that once led to X7. Visible at the extreme right is the blockage of the doorway that once provided communication with X8.

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

As recorded in the state plan (Fig. 1.7), excavation in X14a stopped at a somewhat lower level than in X14b. In X14b we stopped at what appeared to be the base of the west wall, a rough surface at +4.73–4.83 m (north–south). It now seems possible that the original floor was lower, as in X14a, where the floor related to the unseen lowest courses of an original wall over which untidier courses are preserved today. The bend in the west facade of the house may have resulted from less careful building later on. The southern facade wall has been restored on the basis of evidence from adjacent spaces X8 and X9 (Fig. 1.2; see further discussion in Ch. 5). Based on details given later in the surveys of X8 and X9, we estimate that the north–south dimension of X14b and X14a measured ca. 2.50 m, with the addition, in the case of X14b, of the area under the second flight of Staircase X13, which was accessible from the south (Fig. 1.12:B). The line of walls that formed the northern limit to X14a (Fig. 1.7; Pl. 1.6A) poses a greater challenge to interpretation, as the walls involved—the south end of the east wall of X13s and the south wall of X7—were built at a somewhat higher level than the floor of X14a. It is possible that the slab floor in X14a was reused from an earlier building. The alternative option, that the construction of the west wall of Staircase X13 was later than the initial construction of the house, is problematic, for the house must have had a small staircase from the beginning, as is typical in many Minoan houses (see further discussion and comparanda in Ch. 5). That the staircase existed from the beginning is also supported by the stratigraphy on either side of the walls in question. The dates of the pottery groups associated with section L–L' (Fig. 1.15) show that the earliest use of that line of walls goes back to LM I on either side. The pottery groups to be compared are X14:1 (LM IB) and X14:2 (LM II) rel30 ative to X7:1 and X7:2, which have comparable dates. In the subsequent use of the slab floor, but before X7 was converted into a shrine with its south door blocked, it appears that a step leading to the north was installed on the floor slabs (Fig. 1.17B; Pl. 1.6A). Short, upright slabs set parallel to the north and west walls of X14a created enclosures that may once have served as bins, each of which would have been ca. 0.30–0.35 m wide. The slab floor did not extend below these or within them, but the enclosure along the west wall preserved a plastered floor surface, which may once have been present in the northern enclosure as well, although no plaster was visible there. Possibly it disappeared later on during the extensive construction next to it, including the blocking of the doorway leading to X7.31 The northern enclosure was ca. 1.20 m long; the western one may have been similar in size, but its length remains

15

unknown as its south end is missing. A single upright slab was set at the west end of the northern enclosure against the makeshift step that led to the higher floor in X7. How the enclosures were used is difficult to guess. They may have served for storing materials or even dry foods. If covered with wooden planks, their tops could have functioned as temporary shelves. The northern enclosure was located to the east of the blocked doorway, which suggests it was installed before the door leading to X7 was blocked. Given the presence of such features, Spaces X14a and X14b may have been used for household activities. Some storage was also provided by the small sottoscala closet under the lower flight of X13, which could be accessed directly from the north extension of X14b. The masonry of the walls is not particularly unusual. The anta in the doorway between X14a and X14b was the best built part (Pl. 1.6A). Like other antae, this one was constructed of large squared blocks alternating with courses of small stones, possibly with occasional wood reinforcement in the corners, where gaps occasionally occur. This particular anta escaped final collapse because it was held up by the later southern wall of the staircase and the blocking of the entrance leading to X7. STRATIGRAPHY, FINDS, AND USE Spaces X14a and X14b were excavated in a single trench (80A). As can be seen in section L–L' (Fig. 1.15), which crosses X14a north to south, excavation started at a level of sand and soil, and we soon came upon Iron Age levels that reached down to some depth. The uppermost levels included sherds of Hellenistic date (Trench 80A/1–7). Below these were fills of the seventh century B.C. (Trench 80A/8–18) that mingled in their lower levels with Minoan pottery of LM III date and were found in rubble from the collapsed or demolished higher courses of the Minoan walls (Trench 80A/27, 30). Vivid examples of the Iron Age presence in this area were a circular hearth, built over accumulated fill in the northwest corner of X14b (located in 80A/25, at +5.60 m; Shaw and Shaw 1993, 156 and pl. 29:c), and a small intact bronze bull found near the south edge of X14a, one of the dedications later dumped here from the Geometric–Archaic sanctuary.32 Slag and iron ore pieces attest to metalworking activity, too.

Space X14a The surface of the earliest floor in X14a, which consisted of slabs and plaster, yielded a scant quantity of pottery datable to LM IB, although earlier sherds were also present. A threshold may once have existed at the south end (an anta) of the west wall of X7. The threshold’s

16

MARIA C. SHAW

north end may have been secured by insertion under that wall, which would explain the latter’s somewhat higher level than the slab floor in X14a (Pl. 1.6A). Conceivably the slab floor belonged to an earlier building and was incorporated into House X, where it was used for a time. The fill to which the pottery on this floor belonged rose from the floor at an elevation of +4.42/4.45 m and up to ca. +4.50 m in Trench 80A/94, 95. Pottery Group X14A:1. Upper soil surface at +4.50 m and overlying fill below pebble floor at +4.71 m. Trench 80A/38, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93. LM IB with much Protopalatial. Bones of sheep/goat 110 Patella shells

Ch. 4 Ch. 4

A larger amount of pottery came from the deposit above +4.50 m and below the pebble floor (Pottery Group X14A:1). The scanty remains of two cooking pots (C 9402 and C 9407), which Rutter assigns to an earlier Neopalatial date,33 may imply that this area was used for cooking, and there is the additional evidence of a burned surface at +4.50 m.34 Bones from butchered animals (sheep and/or goat) were found at about this level, though not in any significant numbers. Ruscillo (Ch. 4) points to the presence of enough limpets in the fill to represent the consumption or preparation of a meal here, however. There are no floor features at the level of X14A:1, though the tops of the upright slabs of the presumed bins in earlier use were still visible and projecting from the floor. They could have retained some utility as low benches or platforms on which to place objects. The next phase, still belonging to LM IB Late, is represented by shallow fill (excavated with Trench 80A/36) overlying the pebble surface noted above. The fill started at +4.70–4.73 m, rising up to what Rutter named the “abandonment surface” at +4.76/4.77 m. Finds included a bit of bronze, some bone, pieces of plaster, and shell beads. Ruscillo points to four pierced shells that might have been used as jewelry, given the evidence of a necklace higher up in X14A:2. The blockage of the east doorway of X14a, marking the end of communication of the latter room with the rest of the house, must have occurred between LM IB Late and LM II.The base of the blocking wall reached down to a level that places its construction sometime between LM IB and LM II, the latter the date of the pottery lying over the abandonment surface, as dated by the vessels of Pottery Group X14A:2. That the shrine existed by LM II is indicated by the presence in the latter group of lamps/censers of the type found in LM IIIA:1 levels within the shrine itself (Pl. 1.7C). Thus, by LM II, X14a had become a dumping ground, used by the shrine and possibly by other rooms.

Pottery Group X14A:2. Fill over the “abandonment surface” from +4.76/4.77 m to +4.86/4.90 m. Trench 80A/31, 34. LM II. J 7/Sh 12 Fr 7

Necklace of perforated shells Spiral Fresco Bones Shells

Ch. 4 Ch. 2 Ch. 4 Ch. 4

There were two finds of particular interest atop the abandonment surface. One was a necklace made of a variety of shells (Sh 12), first interpreted as two-stranded but now regarded as two separate necklaces. The shells, which apparently had once been threaded, lay on the ground in a way that helped us restore them, and they were picked up by the excavator so as to maintain the same order. The two strands or necklaces looked as if they had become accidentally twisted.35 The other interesting find was a piece of plaster (P 182, Fr 7), found face down and next to a flat slab. It proved to be part of a painted frieze of spirals that had once graced the walls of one of the rooms in the house (see Ch. 2). The use of X14a ended with the collapse of a massive stratum of rubble and soil, probably from surrounding walls. The rubble (concentrated in Pails 80A/27b and part of 30, Pottery Group X14A:Misc.) rose from ca. +4.90/4.95 to +5.50/5.66 m, sloping upward from north to south. It had an equivalent stratum in X14b (Trench 80A/27a and part of 80A/35). While the date of the pottery in the dumps spans the history of the shrine, from LM II to LM IIIA:1 (perhaps LM IIIA:2 Early) as dated by Rutter in his preliminary reports, the rubble stratum also includes Early Iron Age sherds.

Space X14b Little can be ascertained about the history of X14b except for the collapse of its walls, which seems to have occurred at about the same time as the collapse of those of X14a. The chronology of the west wall’s construction (or, rather, reconstruction) and the construction of a south wall for the southern flight of Staircase X13 (the north wall of X14b) is uncertain. As noted above, the excavation of X14b did not reach as far down as in X14a. It stopped at what seemed to be the base of the west wall (at +4.85 m to +4.73 m north–south), since it rested on a layer of rubble, which was taken down to level +4.60 m. This fill (relating to Pottery Group X14b:1) dates to LM II, but it also contained sherds of earlier Neopalatial date. Its level and the great fragmentation of the pottery have been commented upon by Rutter. The situation resembles that of the surface with pebbles over X14a, but in that case there were no sherds later than LM IB Late. Taking this

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

into account, we might venture that this part of the west wall was built sometime between LM IB Late and LM II. The LM II pottery in X14b is more likely to derive from a dump rather than from use. The portion of the west wall uncovered in the excavation may represent a rebuilding of the original west facade of the house, courses of which, as suggested earlier, may exist beneath it. The dividing wall between X14b and X14a must have been leveled earlier, possibly in LM IB. Pottery Group X14b:1. Fill of brown soil and rubble, from surface underlying the west wall (+4.85 m in the north to +4.73 m in the south, to ca. +4.60 m). Trench 80A/37. LM I–II. St 41

Kernos/mold fragment Shells

Ch. 3.4 Ch. 4

Up to the level on which the south wall of Staircase X13 was built, the ceramics in the rubble date to LM IIIA, although earlier Neopalatial sherds were present. There appeared to be a fugitive surface sloping down from north to south (+5.22 m to +4.86 m), over the north part of which the south wall of X13s was built. This brackets the construction date of X13s to LM II–III, but LM II is the more likely since pottery found within X13s is no later than that date. This was the period of the final use of the sottoscala, for the little entrance at its west end had been blocked by then. LM II was also the date of sherds within the blocking materials excavated in Trench 80A/39 as dated by Pottery Group X13:1. Rubble rose higher against the west and north walls of X14b and is of the same date as above, although sherds dating to the 36 seventh century were also present.

Central Sector of the House Space X2 ARCHITECTURE Like other locations in House X, Space X2 underwent extensive remodeling. The changes are particularly difficult to interpret in this case as earlier architectural remains were crowded into such a small area (Shaw and Shaw 1993, 144–148). A distinctive landmark in the history of X2 is a pebble floor with three pithoi embedded in it (Fig. 1.6). Examples of embedded vessels, some pithoi, occur in other areas of the Kommos town, the closest in date to X2, belonging to LM I–II (Shaw and Shaw, eds., 1996, pl. 3:123). Excavation in X2 reached down to bedrock in places, revealing walls that predate the pebble floor. One, to be nicknamed the “Cross Wall,” runs east–west in the northern part of the space (Figs. 1.2, 1.6; Pl. 1.8A, foreground). Another, very poorly preserved, is dubbed here

17

the “Earlier East Wall” (Pl. 1.8B, bottom left). It can be followed north where it seems to stop at the Cross Wall. Its orientation is more northeasterly than the other north–south walls in X2, and it appears to continue south, in the direction of Space X5, but we did not undertake to pursue it there in soundings. Space X2 had only one door, located near its southeast corner and provided with a threshold that also served as a step leading down to the somewhat lower floor of X5. The threshold’s top, at +4.93 m, is the same as that of the threshold of the nearby doorway in X6’s northwest corner, indicating careful and likely contemporary planning. Cross Wall As preserved today, the Cross Wall is 2.35/2.40 long, 0.45–0.55 m wide, and 0.65–0.75 m high. Its maximum height is at +4.86 m, while its base rests nearly on bedrock, at ca. +4.11/4.19 m (Pl 1.8A, forefront). Its four to five courses are built of stones of varying sizes, with only a few squared, at least as visible in the case of its south face. The north face is hidden by stone debris that we did not undertake to excavate in the narrow space separating it from the north wall of X2. The Cross Wall likely predates the construction of House X, but, as argued below, it may have been put to new, even if temporary, use in the earlier days of X2. As can be seen in Plate 1.8A, the wall continued west, where it was incorporated within the newly constructed west wall of X2, which was built south and north of that end. The north, shorter part turned east to act as the north wall of X2, part of the north facade of the house. Of this north wall only the south face is visible, its north face hidden by a new north wall that projected further in that direction (Fig. 1.6). Pottery within X2 dates the reuse of the Cross Wall and the construction and earlier use of the west wall of X2 to LM IA Advanced (Rutter Pottery Group X2:1), with an occasional LM IB sherd. As this space has the lowest floor surface (ca. 4.20/4.24 m) found in the house, we may be dealing with a sunken area that had a special 37 use. It is possible that the southern part of X2, south of the Cross Wall, may have served as what McEnroe has nick-named a “doorless space” exemplified in a number of Minoan houses. (McEnroe 1982, 10–12 and chart, p. 18). This is a basement-like area with a floor lower than the floors of adjacent rooms. We can imagine one in X2, covered by wooden boards the top of which would also have served as part of X2’s proper floor. The wooden floor need not have extended all the way to the room’s north wall; north of the cross wall it was simply soil. A trap door in the wooden floor, opening toward the north as one stood in X2’s door, could have allowed access to its contents. Eventually, this basement went out of use. It

18

MARIA C. SHAW

was filled in and covered entirely, probably by the pebble floor we found there, dated by the associated pottery (X2:3) to LM IB Late. Given the above abrupt fall in level within X2 compared with its surroundings, its west wall also may have served as a retaining wall for the the east wall of adjacent Space X1, the walls of which were built at a higher level (Fig. 1.6). Eventually, as the floor rose in X2 through use, its west wall was leveled and went out of use, the only wall separating X2 from X1, henceforth, being the latter’s east wall, which is preserved today to a much greater height (Pl. 1.8C). A photograph taken of that area uses a scale set vertically to indicate where the north wall turned right to continue east and to form the house’s north facade wall (Pl. 1.8D). The north facade itself lies hidden under a later wall that was built over the wall being discussed but jutting north of it.38 Plate 1.8C shows part of X2’s west wall proper, the portion directly south of the Cross Wall. The left end of the photographic stick there rests on a pillar of unexcavated fill in the southwest corner of X2. The masonry of the west wall splits into three horizontal layers, of which the middle one likely represents the destroyed upper part of the lowest wall. The bottom layer consists of some four courses, built of relatively small thick blocks, also used in the next two to three higher courses constituting the wall’s middle layer. Above and for most of the remaining eight to nine courses, rectangular blocks varying in length but fairly uniform in height were used. A possible explanation for the difference in masonry in the upper layer is that this portion may have extended above the level of the basement and was thus better built. North Wall The base of the north wall slopes down somewhat from west to east (+5.03–4.91 m), and it turns south at its two ends to form the west and east walls, which were also built on a slope rising from south to north (Fig. 1.6). Indeed, the level of the east wall, which is not hidden by later construction, drops dramatically south of the Cross Wall, in the area suggested above to have acted as an underground doorless space. The rise of the two walls toward the north relates to the construction of the north wall, which was built higher due to the presence in Y2 of the remains of a MM storeroom with a slab floor that was only some 0.10 m lower than the facade wall of House X. The north wall of X2 was remodeled at least twice. Of the original wall, only the south face is now fully visible (Pl. 1.8A), rising five to six courses high as leveled (to ca.+6.00/6.16 m). It was replaced by two later walls, the earlier of which overlapped it partially, leaving part of it to project as a ledge within X2, a strip some 0.35–0.38 m deep (Fig. 1.6). Of the third wall, only its

east part remains, rising to +6.95/7.06 m. While the two first walls had the same width, the last one was narrower (ca. 0.55–0.60 m), its south face set somewhat back, while its outer north face continued up along that of the preceeding wall. The north facades of the two later walls were built of rather regularly sized rectangular blocks (Pl. 1.1A), an explanation for such a nicety being that they were quarried each time from the original wall. The reason for extending X2 north, perhaps, was to compensate for the space lost when the makeshift staircase of three steps was installed within the entrance of X2 or even somewhat north of it (Fig. 1.8). East Wall The east wall’s north end was built over stone debris above the MM storeroom, as can be seen within X2 (Pl. 1.8A). The wall is 0.65 m wide and is preserved for some nine to ten courses, set on a level that sloped down toward the south (from +4.91 to +4.59 m), as noted earlier. Its south end was built over the leveled remains of what we called the “Earlier East Wall,” which may have served at this later point as a bench upon which to place objects. South Wall The north face of the south wall within X2 (Pl. 1.8B) was the only one at least partially visible, and down to the wall’s base, but only in the area under the threshold, as its east end remained hidden behind a small platform of slabs built at the end of the room later on, at a higher level, which we decided not to remove. Interestingly, that north side of X2’s south wall had no proper face, clearly because it was built only to hold up the threshold and to allow for the pithoi to be set there, partially underground, without causing the threshold to collapse. The photograph shows the construction after the large triangular slab was extracted and moved just to the south to act as part of a higher makeshift threshold as necessitated by the rising floors. Smaller cut blocks were used for the building of the doorjambs. The doorway, ca. 0.90 m wide, that led to X5 was located off center, closer to the east side of X2. Its position may have been determined by the need for more room in the southwest corner to accommodate use (such as storage) that would not be interrupted by traffic. Another reason for its location could have been the convenience of access to and from X6. One only had to step from one threshold onto the other, as both thresholds were set at the same level (+4.92/4.93 m), and the two doors were adjacent (Fig. 1.2). The level of the original threshold was crudely achieved by breaking a sizeable piece of the threshold slab and setting it where the ground surface had risen through use (Pl. 1.8B). Eventually, because of the rapid

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

rise of use surfaces within X2, three rough steps were installed in it (Fig. 1.8). The lowest of these consisted of a single slab (top at +5.23 m) positioned above the already raised threshold. A second step projecting north, within X2, was made up of two slabs set side by side, their tops at +5.33 m. The third step also used two blocks, their tops at +5.48/5.49 m. The steps can be seen in architectural section C–C' (Fig. 1.20), rendered in gray. Doorless Space in X2 This space, already mentioned above, measured roughly 1.80 m east to west and 1.50 m north to south (Figs. 1.6, 1.20; Pls. 1.8B, 1.8C). It was accessed from the top, perhaps by lifting a wooden trap door. With that closed, one could still use the entire room, the door becoming part of the floor. The three pithoi found in X2 may have been used earlier and only later placed under the trap door. People entering X2 would step onto a wooden floor and not onto the middle pithos, which would have been covered. If the remaining pithoi, right and left of this one, were originally set as low as the middle one (at ca. +4.21 m), the level of the wooden cover or floor may have been ca. +4.90–4.94 m.39 A person could easily retrieve goods from the storage space merely by standing on the room’s stone threshold without having to step down to the sunken area. Stepping down to clean or organize the space remained an option, however. During the early phase under consideration, the pithoi would have been freestanding and not embedded in a dirt floor next to the south wall, as they were later. There would have been room to their north and around them for further storage, perhaps of the many cups found in sherds as well as perishable goods in containers that have since disintegrated. One can even speculate that there may have been a fourth pithos in the room’s southwest corner, later replaced by the raised slab structure built over the pebble floor (Pls. 1.9A, 1.9B).40 Eventually the basement or sunken area went out of use and was filled with additional soil. The top surface was covered by a thin layer of pebbles. This marks a period of change, for it must have put the middle of the three pithoi out of use. Perhaps this, the tallest of the three pithoi, was already broken, and so it was left there atop the basement floor while the two usable pithoi were elevated so that their contents could be accessible from the top. Their projection above the new floor would not have posed a problem, since neither was positioned where people stepped first when entering the room. The middle pithos was not raised, as people would have tripped over it on entering the room. Indeed, a little slab was laid over it. A built platform also was added to the room’s southwest corner. It seems to have been introduced at the

19

time of the pebble floor (Pl. 1.9A), but it likely involved two building stages. Its lower part consisted of four slabs (one of red schist), whose surfaces lay at ca. +4.90 m and covered an area nearly 0.65 m x 0.50 m. Above these were two rectangular blocks (with average sizes of 0.20 m x 0.30 m) set parallel to each other, their tops at ca. +5.13 m. STRATIGRAPHY, FINDS, AND USE Strata higher than the pebble surface in X2 were excavated in Trenches 66A and 74A–B, while Trench 80A carried on throughout the room in strata below the pebble surface, reaching bedrock in the area south of the Cross Wall (section G–G'; Fig. 1.21). Any finds over the proposed wooden floor would have disappeared once the doorless space was filled in and the pebble floor covered that level. The earliest of the extant strata is soil on bedrock (at +4.20/4.24 m). This served as a rough floor. Pottery in this stratum is dated by Rutter’s Pottery Group X2:1 to LM IA Advanced,41 but it includes some LM IB material, generally limited to the area between the pithoi and the south wall. None of this, of course, represents the earliest use in X2 if one accepts my proposal, here, of a space covered by a trap door and used for storage. Stored objects would have been used or cleared out to make room for new ones, especially if food supplies also were involved. If earlier remains were cleaned out, prior phases of use may have left little trace, with the LM IB finds representing contamination that occurred when the two lateral pithoi were dug up from fill that had accumulated around them and raised so that their rims and shoulders projected above the pebble floor. The MM sherds found in some number at the lowest level might represent the time the Cross Wall was first built. Two of the three pithoi used in X2 were, indeed, of MM III date. One is tempted to see them as having been recovered for reuse from the ruins of MM storeroom Y2, located directly north of X2. Three loomweights found in the lowest stratum in X2 remind us that weaving took place in House X. It is not clear from their stratigraphic context, however, as to whether they belonged to House X or to its predecessor. Floor 1 As noted above, the middle pithos rested on the earliest floor (at ca. +4.21 m), and the other two were likely set at the same level originally. Other pottery at this level consisted of numerous cups of various kinds, along with some pouring vessels and a kalathos. Rutter interprets this assemblage as suitable for drinking and feasting (“ceremonial”). The date (Pottery Group X2:2) is the same as that of the fill on the bedrock, LM IA Advanced, with some LM IB sherds located around the

20

MARIA C. SHAW

pithoi, presumably representing the time when the two lateral pithoi were raised and the pebble floor was made. The fill rises as high as +4.58/4.78/4.88 m, and it is thus higher than the bases of the west and south walls (the former at +4.35 m), although it is even with the base of the east wall, which is higher, since it was partially built over the ruined or leveled Earlier East Wall. Pottery Group X2:2. Floor at +4.20/4.24 m and fill above to +4.58 m (south), 4.78 m (center), and 4.88 m (north). Trench 80A/49, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 66A, 66C, 67, 67A, LM IA Advanced; Pail 61 with some LM IB contamination. S 2201, S 2214 Hand stones St 16, S 2209, Drill wedge, other tools S 2210, S 2309 S 2310 Polisher of metamorphic stone St 45 Stone vase lid Bones Shells Charcoal Pink plaster

Ch. 3.4 Ch. 3.4 Ch. 4 Ch. 4 Ch. 2

Ruscillo reports extensive faunal remains suggesting food consumption, with only a few shells. The association of faunal material with great numbers of what Rutter in his preliminary pottery report calls “ceremonial” vessels used for drinking and feasting may indicate that these finds were actually used elsewhere and dumped here in the end. In view of its size and architectural appointments, the nearby Space X4 may have been the location of eating and drinking in earlier days, i.e., in LM IA to LM IB. Fill beneath Floor 2 The pebbles used in Floor 2 were strewn over a layer consisting of crushed shells and soil. This fill may have been dumped there to raise the level in preparation for laying the pebble floor. The floor rose to some +4.90 m, if not higher, in the south area and sloped up toward the north, with fewer pebbles. Rutter dates the floor’s construction to LM IB I Late (Pottery Group X2:3). Most of the inventoried shapes are cups of LM IA Final and LM IB date. Rutter also believes that this was the date when the pithoi were brought into their present location to be embedded in the pebble floor. An alternative suggestion, made above, is that all three pithoi had been in use from the beginning but that two were lifted up in LM IB and repositioned at a higher level before the pebble surface was laid. Finds in this fill other than pottery include a seated female figurine and a few loomweights, which could represent earlier weaving activity in the house, depending upon where the fill beneath the floor originated.

Pottery Group X2:3. Makeup of pebble floor, from +4.58 (south)/4.67 (north) to +4.90 m at the south (north part not as well preserved). Trench 80A/48, 46, 45, 50, from +4.78 (south)/4.87 (north) to +4.90 m. LM IB Late. Lw 12–Lw 14 F2

Loomweights Ch. 3.3 Female figurine Ch. 3.7 Bones Ch. 4

Faunal remains are again reported by Ruscillo, but their numbers were fewer. Pebble Floor 2: Earlier Use The earlier use of Floor 2 is dated by Pottery Group X2:4 to LM IB Late. The pottery consists mainly of cups and a few other shapes: some pouring vessels, a miniature brazier, and the pithoi embedded in the floor. As noted earlier, there may have been a fourth pithos (fragments C 9652) set on the built platform in the room’s 42 southwest corner. A bronze utensil with a suspension loop (Me 18), similar to another found in the southeast corner of X9 (Me 19), is reported to have been found on or just behind the platform.43 From a related floor level were handheld stone tools found in a semicircle, starting east and northeast of the platform and ending northeast of the east pithos (Pl. 1.9A). These consisted of a square stone polisher (St 3), cobbles with evidence of wear from use (St 1, St 2, St 4, S 2191, S 2205), and a small and fully preserved oval quern (St 24). Finally, there were two seals with abstract decoration (J 17, J 18). The assemblage, with the pithoi that continued in use, suggests that this small room was still used for storage and also for some household activity. The pithoi were found empty, and thus they had held something perishable. The tools and the quern imply grinding, perhaps of grain. The seals were likely stored in X2. A piece of stone (St 16) with a semicircular piece missing from its side appears to have been used as a drill wedge (Evely 1993, fig. 70).44 Pottery Group X2:4. Earlier use of pebble floor from +4.89/4.90 m to ca. +4.99 m. Trench 74A/78 (east half of room), 74A/79 (sounding in northwest corner); Trench 80A/41, 41A, 42, 43, 44. LM IB Late. J 17 J 18 Me 18 S 2191 S 2205 St 1 St 2 St 3 St 4 St 24 P 295 a–d

Bead seal Pillow seal Bronze tool with loop Small cobble Oval cobble Pebble Cobble Rectangular polisher Cobble Quern Painted plaster

Ch. 3.6 Ch. 3.6 Ch. 3.2 Ch. 3.4 Ch. 3.4 Ch. 3.4 Ch. 3.4 Ch. 3.4 Ch. 3.4 Ch. 3.4 Ch. 2

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

Ruscillo reports the occurrence of some ornamental shells, but edible ones were few. The evidence for meat continues. Floor 2: Later Use The later use of Floor 2 is dated by Pottery Group X2:5, again LM IB Late. The pots repeat some of the earlier shapes, mostly cups and some pouring vessels. Rutter draws attention to a stirrup jar or bridge-spouted jug (C 9298) decorated with figure-of-eight shields. He sees this as a possible LM IB predecessor of a LM II vase (C 9251), also with complex pictorial decoration, that was used later in Shrine X7. Storage, rather than a religious function, may explain the presence of this vase as well as the beads and seals found in the previous level, however. Other finds are shells, bones, charcoal, and bits of plaster—all in quantities too small to represent function. Pottery Group X2:5. Continued use of Floor 2, from +4.98/5.02 m to ca. +5.07/5.08 m. Trench 74A/77 and 77A. LM IB Late. No notable finds except for the pottery and stirrup jar C 9298. Floor 3 Floor 3 is associated with the raising of the level of the threshold (to +5.05 m) in the southern entrance, with the addition of a triangular slab over the original one as described above in the architectural survey of the room. Its date is, once again, LM IB. The use of this floor resulted in a substantial buildup, reaching +5.35/5.40 m. Again, the finds—stone tools and implements and even some luxury items, such as a carnelian bead (J 6) and a squat stone alabastron (St 40)— show a continuity with previous levels. The tools included a small stone polisher, a quern, and a possible metal tool (Me 20). Some bronze strips (Me 8), and a piece of worked bone (Bo 20) were also found. New in the pottery repertoire is a small cooking pot (C 9367), which, if actually used for cooking, represents a new function for X2, not seen before, unless it was only temporarily brought there. Pottery Group X2:6. From floor at +5.04 (south)/ 5.09 (north) m to ca. +5.26/5.35 m. Trench 66A/25, 28 (part), 30; Trench 74A/75, 76. LM IB. J6 Me 8 Me 20 S 1922 S 1923 S 1924 St 40

Carnelian bead Bronze strips Bronze blade or anvil Stone polisher Quern Large cobble Alabastron vase Bits of charcoal Bits of plaster Bones and shells

Ch. 3.6 Ch. 3.2 Ch. 3.2

Ch. 3.4 Ch. 2 Ch. 4

21

Floor 4 Floor 4 is the first to reverse the southward slope seen in the preceding periods. It slanted down from ca. +5.40 m at the south to ca. +5.30 m at the north of X2. A makeshift staircase, a series of steps rising north, was installed either at this time or incrementally to lead up to the rising floors. Floor 4 was the latest one to have been used with the original north wall of X2 before the addition of two further walls on top of it (Figs. 1.6, 1.20, 1.21). It is difficult to explain the reversal of the slope. Perhaps there had been a partial collapse of the ceiling in the southern area. Pottery Group X2:7, belonging to this floor, still dates to LM IB, but Rutter comments on vases that may point toward an early stage of LM II, the two best preserved being a baggy alabastron (C9364) and a spouted teacup (C9366). He also suggests that the deep fill rising above this floor may have been a dump. It reached ca. +6.00 m to the north and sloped down to the south to nearly +5.40 m, as preserved. This dump is associated with the base of the later north wall, which was the penultimate wall there, built after the original wall (or just its southern half) was leveled (Figs. 1.20, 1.21). A contemporary building activity was the leveling of the west wall to +6.00 m (Fig. 1.6) and the continuation upward of the east wall of X1, which became the shared wall of both X1 and X2, with its built face on the east. Poor preservation deprives us of knowledge of any remodeling in the case of both the south wall and the southern part of the east wall. As X2, along with X5 and X4, was used later than other rooms of the house, we can assume that these walls stood at an appropriate height to hold the ceiling and conceivably a second story above that area. While the stratum under consideration is interesting from the point of view of its ceramics, other finds are not particularly impressive, and if their origin is fill brought from elsewhere, they are irrelevant to the type of activity that may have been conducted in X2, beyond its use as a dumping place. Pottery Group X2:7. From +5.30/5.40 m to ca. +5.70 m. Trench 66A/21; Trench 74A/74. LM IB Final and some Iron Age. S 1902 S 1906 S 1930 S 1952

Stone polisher Whetstone Cobble Small cobble Bones and shells Charcoal

Ch. 4

22

MARIA C. SHAW

For comparable reasons, the remaining upper levels (Pottery Groups X2:8–X2:10) are interesting mainly from the point of view of their ceramics and not for any new light they throw on the history of the house. The date for Group X2:8 is LM IIIA; X2:9 and X2:10 are LM IIIB. Ruscillo’s comments on the increased number of waterworn Glycymeris shells associated with Groups X2:9 and X2:10.

Space X5 ARCHITECTURE This nearly square room (3.00/3.10 m x 2.78/2.45 m) occupies a central location within the house (Shaw and Shaw 1993, 148–149). The presence of four doorways shows it played a key role in circulation (Fig. 1.6). Other architectural features and a rectangular stone stand found in the space offer further evidence of its importance. Space X5 consisted of two areas. The smaller of these was a light-well, located in the southeast corner. The larger was a L-shaped “portico,” its north and west sides bracketing the light-well. A wooden column was set on a small, disk-shaped column base (S 2269) of purplish, veined metamorphic limestone, found in situ in the angle of the portico, helping to support its ceiling. The light-well itself, naturally remained open to the sky, as seen in a reconstruction offered here (Fig. 1.13). Often, in elite Minoan houses, columns found in light-wells were instead set within stylobates, but this was not the case here (Shaw 1973, 111). Upon excavation, masses of stones were found throughout the room. Some were fallen from the surrounding walls, others, consisting mostly of slabs, were parts of two pavements surrounding the light-well area. The light-well was not paved as a regular floor. It was found full of slanted slabs and other stones that stopped at a small unpaved area, a soil surface that probably acted as a sump intended to receive rainwater, although we never found a pipe associated with it. Another use for the presumed sump was to receive water or other liquids disposed of during activities that took place over the large slanted stone slab set in the southwest corner of X6. The slanted stones were retained by what seem to have been two low parapet walls, one on the north, the other on the west side of the light-well area. The liquids were directed to X5 through a drain at the base of the wall next to the large slab in X6. Removal of extraneous slabs and stones from X5, including some that seem to have fallen from the upper parts of the parapets, helped us obtain a better idea of how the light-well once looked, at least in a later phase (Pl. 1.9C). Of the two parapets, the western one rose

higher (to +5.06/5.07m). Included among its building materials were a boulder and a narrow rectangular object in stone (to be discussed in more detail below), marked by a square cutting at one of its narrow ends. Both these stones rested in part over the eastern part of the room’s southern threshold (Pls. 1.9C, 1.9D), making it obvious that this parapet was a later addition, as was probably the case with the north one as well. More likely part of the original construction, but much ruined now, were three stone slabs. One was set flat next to the base of the drain, but sloping down slightly toward the west. The other two were set upright on either side of the drain opening in the wall (Pl. 1.9C, left). The whole arrangement was clearly intended to direct waste liquid toward X5, whether there was a sump there or not. This arrangement of a slab and a drain is known from other Minoan houses at Kommos. The best preserved is in Room 11 of the House with the Snake Tube, where the liquid was merely absorbed by the soil (Shaw and Shaw, eds., 1996, foldout G). The floor of the portico in X5 was paved with stone slabs. Typically for the Neopalatial period in the houses at Kommos, slab floors were not continuous. Slabs occurred here and there and in places where traffic would be heaviest (Fig. 1.6). The slab pavement of the west wing of the portico started a short distance away from the west wall, leaving the space’s northwest corner unpaved. It then continued somewhat diagonally toward the east, ending on the south with some slabs positioned directly north of the doorway leading to X8. In the case of the north side of the portico, most of the northeast area remained unpaved, except for a slab or two placed directly next to the entrances into Spaces X2 and X6. In areas lacking slabs, the floor surface was stabilized with pebbles. The original slab and pebble floor in X5 sloped down from north to south, from ca. +4.86 m (the level of the slab located south of the doorway leading to X2) to ca. +4.77 m (the level of the room’s southern threshold). The top of the column base was itself at +4.86 m, i.e., approximately at floor level, although the base had likely subsided somewhat over the years in the absence of any stones placed under it to serve as a foundation (Fig. 1.6; Pl. 1.9E). Some slabs were later added on the ground to match the rising floor in X5. The level of these slabs ranged from +4.92 m to +4.95 m. The large slab found at +4.95 m directly east of the entrance into X4 was probably the threshold of the latter’s southeast doorway, now robbed out to act as a step, for even though the floor in X4 rose toward the end of the house’s life, it seems to have been somewhat lower than that of the later floor of X5. Removal of the later paving slabs from X5 revealed more floor areas at a lower level covered with pebbles only.

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

The west wall of X5 incorporated two well-cut ashlar blocks, their surfaces acting as the sill of a window, described already in the survey of adjacent Space X4 (Pl. 1.5A). The importance of the light-well in X5 becomes evident when we consider that this window and the door next to it probably admitted the only light to illuminate Space X4. The best-preserved wall of X5 is the north one (Pls. 1.2B, center; 1.10A, top center), although its east end suffered some later damage, perhaps because it acted as a jamb for the doorway leading to X2, which was was never blocked and became structurally vulnerable. The remaining part of the north wall was preserved in as many as nine courses (ca. 1.20 m high). It was carefully constructed of rectangular blocks of similar size, resulting in regular courses.45 The rather fine construction resembles that of the partition wall between X1 and X4, and one wonders why this is so, as the wall in X4 was likely covered by a wall painting and that in X5 may have been covered by plain plaster. Less can be said about the east and south walls, of which fewer courses are preserved (the former for some three courses, the latter some four courses), and because parts of them are concealed by the slanted slabs surrounding the area of the light-well. The north and west doorways have already been discussed in surveys of X4 and X2. Of the remaining two, the eastern one led to X6 and the southern to X8. The first remodeling of the east doorway raised the level of the threshold from +4.87/4.93 m (north–south) to +5.08 m by adding some slabs over soil that had accumulated over the original threshold and then rebuilding and extending the east wall of X5 to the north. The north end continued to serve as the door’s south jamb (Figs. 1.2, 1.5, 1.22, 1.23; Pl. 1.9F). The result was the narrowing of that doorway, which, ultimately, was completely blocked. The south doorway was originally furnished with a large slab stone threshold (1.22 m x 0.62 m, its top at +4.77 m), nearly as large as that of the southern doorway of adjacent Space X6 directly east (Figs. 1.6, 1.8). In the first remodeling, probably a response to the raising of the slab floor in X5, the level was increased by placing a triangular slab over the original threshold, similar to the way in which the north entrance of X5 leading to X2 was raised (and at the same level, +4.91 m). Given that the added slab was placed against the west jamb rather than in the center, we might assume that the doorway had become narrower. Indeed, like the northeast door of X5, this door’s east jamb was rebuilt and extended westward. The extension of this jamb is best visible from within Space X8, as seen in a photograph looking north (Pl. 1.10A), showing the upper courses at the west end of X5’s south wall, over and somewhat beyond the south end of X5’s west wall (Fig. 1.6). At the south end of the west wall a long boulder and the pedestal-like rectangular stone

23

object noted earlier were incorporated into the parapet’s lowest course. Still later, the level of the threshold was raised again, or, more likely, a small platform (rather than a threshold) was built there (its top preserved at +5.04/ 5.16 m). Depending on its original height, this platform might have risen higher up and blocked the doorway (Figs. 1.6, 1.20, 1.21). STRATIGRAPHY, FINDS, AND USE Space X5 was excavated mainly with Trench 66A (1985), with the exception of a portion of the southeast corner (the light-well) where higher levels had been removed with Trench 59A (1984), stopping at the top of a massive LM IIIA:2 deposit (Pottery Group X5:6). Trench 66A continued down everywhere in X5, and the slabs of the later floor were removed during its excavation. Further cleaning and investigation were carried out in Trench 86C (1993), revealing more of the original floor, including areas covered by pebbles.46 Excavation dealt separately with the portico and the light-well once built features made it clear that the two were architecturally distinct. Some of the earliest pottery was found in the portico in a shallow sounding in the northwest corner (Trench 66A/45) that revealed fill of soft, brown soil (some 0.10 m thick, from +4.70–4.80 m). Pottery found here was a mixture of large Protopalatial sherds and numerous tiny sherds dating to LM IA, including LM IA Advanced and Final. As this was not a sealed deposit (since the floor was not entirely covered by slabs) and because of the tiny size of the sherds, the mixture obviously represents the early use of the floor, rather than its construction.47 Another investigation (Pottery Group X5:1) concentrating in the northeast corner produced similarly dated pottery (LM IA Final), except for large Protopalatial sherds. This exploration was supplemented with excavation throughout the room (Pottery Group X5:2), in the course of which the slabs of the upper floor were removed, and the slabs and pebbles of the lower one were revealed. The latest sherds were dated to LM IA Final. Dating the earlier phases of the light-well is more difficult, as we are not dealing with a flat area and clear strata. Excavation in the sump area produced a few sherds of LM II date (Pottery Group X5:3), but given the limited area investigated, it is difficult to take that date as the time the sump went out of use. The sump would have continued to function for as long as the room was used, into LM IIIA:1–2, and until it was finally covered by dumps. The light-well would still have been open to provide light, while allowing rainwater to enter the space.48 Fill rising directly over the later slab floor in the portico area has been dated by Pottery Group X5:4 (LM IB–LM IIIA:2 Early). With this group, for the first time, there were other types of finds besides pottery.

24

MARIA C. SHAW

Since the contexts just discussed seem to represent continued earlier use in the portico area, they are tabulated here with the finds related to them, before the discussion moves to the light-well area and the upper levels. Pottery Group X5:1. Fill below pebbles in northeast corner of room, from +4.73 m to +4.81 m, and exposure of lower slab paving. Trench 66A/44. LM IA Final. No notable finds. Pottery Group X5:2. Removal of slabs in the portico area at +4.91/4.92 m, revealing layer of pebbles in northeast corner and the underlying initial slab pavement. Trench 66A/38. LM IA Final. No notable finds. Pottery Group X5:3. Fill in the light-well area below a lifted slab, from +4.42 m to +4.83 m. Trench 66A/43. LM II. Bones and cowrie shell Plaster bits

Ch. 4 Ch. 2

Pottery Group X5:4. Fill over slab floor in the portico areas, from +4.90 m to +5.00 m. Trench 66A/33. LM IB–LM IIIA:2 Early. Lw 17

Loomweight Bones Charcoal Plaster

Ch. 3.3 Ch. 4 Ch. 2

Rutter notes that many of the earlier sherds exist in tiny pieces. This must be the result of their having been crushed and ground over the hard slab floor by people constantly using the porticoes to reach the spaces surrounding X5. The first signs of the porticoes’ use for activities other than circulation occur in the context of Pottery Group X5:4, indicated by the presence of shells and bones, and charcoal. This tendency becomes even clearer in Pottery Group X5:5, in which the pottery includes large shapes, contrasting with the earlier cups and bowls. This change probably came about as doorways leading to other spaces started to be blocked. Rutter interprets Pottery Group X5:5 as a single massive floor deposit throughout X5, with the latest sherds dating to LM IIIA:2. He originally subdivided it into subgroups 2a and 2b, both located in the light-well area, and 2c in the portico. We maintain this arrangement here. Characteristic of X5:5 are the large vessels just mentioned, including a nearly complete pithos (C 7990) 49 found in the northwest part of the space, as well as amphorae and a number of cooking vessels (Pl. 1.10B). Shells, bones, and evidence for burning occur particularly in the room’s northeast corner (Trench 66A/24, 25) and raise the question of whether cooking, a task that was likely carried out previously in Space X3, took place here at this stage. A notable quantity of imported pottery, mostly Canaanite jars and some Mycenaean smaller vessels, was also found.

Pottery Group X5:5 (2a). Lowest part of dump within light-well, above floor from +4.90 m to +5.02 m. Trench 66A/35. LM IIIA:2. Pumice Shells and bones Bronze bits

Ch. 4

Pottery Group X5:5 (2b). Part of deposit in light-well area of X5, from +5.02 m to ca. +5.25 m. Trench 66A/29. LM IIIA:2. S 1926, S 1929, S 1931, S 1934 Hand tools Bones and shells Charcoal Bits of bronze

Ch. 4

Pottery Group X5:5 (2c). Upper floor deposit in X5 (excluding the light-well area), at ca. +5.10–5.73 m. Trench 66A/24, 32. LM IIIA:2. S 1915 S 1939

Hand stone Pivot slab Shells and bones Charcoal Pumice

Ch. 4

Ruscillo comments on the presence of extensive faunal remains (as earlier identified by Reese), consisting of both bones and shells and including a great number of Glycymeris. These were often incorporated in subfloors, a use appropriate perhaps for a light-well, though no such floor existed to prove this function. A number of shells were defined as ornamental and thus were possibly used in jewelry. They might have been connected with ornamental shells found in nearby Space X4. Later contexts fall within Pottery Group X5:6. It was during the excavation of the upper deposit 3a, in Trench 66A, that the top surface of the ashlar wall separating X5 from X4 was revealed. Found on top of the southern part of the wall, where they may have originally been placed, were three cups (C 7991–C 7993). Earlier in this chapter, it was suggested that a fine pyxis (C 9012), found fallen on the floor of X4, may once have been suspended from the window’s lintel by means of a string threaded through the holes in its rim. More recently, Rutter raised the question of whether another, equally fine pyxis (C 8001), found in X5 in the LM IIIA:2 stratum under consideration, formed a pair with C 9012, with both vases having been placed on the window sill. Pottery Group X5:6 (3a). Upper part of floor deposit from +5.22/5.24/5.29 m (north), +5.09/5.12/5.14 m (south), and +5.15 m (center) to ca. +5.50 m. Trench 66A/20. LM IIIA:2. Me 15 S 1000, S1897–S1900 S 1900B

50

Bronze blade Cobbles

Ch. 3.2

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

S 1885 S 1888

Whetstone Hand stone Bones, shells Bits of plaster

Ch. 4 Ch. 2

Pottery Group X5:6 (3b). From +5.53 m to +5.96 m. Trench 66A/17. LM IIIA:2. Me 3 S 1875

Metal bar Cobble Bits of plaster

Ch. 3.2 Ch. 2

With Pottery Group X5:6, Ruscillo points (pp. 104, 112–115) to the continuation of significant amounts of Glycymeris shells, which extend into the upper levels of X4 and X2, always from contexts marked by sherds of LM IIIA:2. She believes that these shells having been used for a floor and to protect against rainwater, given the presence of a light-well in X5. The stratigraphy discussed above and the associated pottery throw some light on the remodeling of X5 over time, including, in some cases, the final blocking of the space’s doorways. The raising of the level of the thresholds in the north and south doorways appears to be contemporary, and thus it is no coincidence that they employ the same method: placing a triangular slab atop the original threshold. Raising these could have followed immediately upon the installation of the raised slab floor in X5 in LM IB,51 and it is not unlikely that the same event brought about the raising of the threshold in the northeast door leading to X6, where two stone slabs were placed over the original threshold (Figs. 1.22, 1.23; Pl. 1.9F). Such makeshift remodeling clearly points to a loss of interest in maintaining the earlier quality of the architecture, in this case represented by the previous use of single large stone slabs as thresholds. The remodeling in X5 may coincide also with the laying of the pebble floor in X2, the latter clearly dating to LM IB. The last remodeling of the southern doorway, as argued above, was either a blockage of the doorway that was not preserved at its initial height, or a deliberately low wall that one could climb over. Whichever was the case, its ceramic date should be bracketed between LM IB—the proposed date of the added triangular slab, which it clearly postdates—and the date of the relatively thin layer of soil that covered it, which dates to LM IIIA:1. Another wall was later built over this soil surface, conceivably one that belongs to the Iron Age.52 STONE STAND FROM SPACE X5 In the discussion of the architecture of X5, it was noted that a rectangular stone object with a square cutting at one of its narrow ends was found within the building materials of the parapet wall set at the southern entrance into the room (Pl. 1.9D). This limestone block

25

(S 2295) measured 0.535 m in length and 0.132–0.140 m x 0.124 m in width (Fig. 1.24). Of its two short ends, one is marked by a shallow, nearly square depression ca. 0.014 m deep and 0.095 m x 0.080 m wide; the other is flat. Although it was not found in its original position, I suggest that it was once used in this room. The stand’s original function is not known, but it appears to be similar to two objects found in the Minoan Villa at Pitsidia in the western Mesara, at the site known as Plakes, south of Hagia Triada and east of Kommos. The results of the excavation are, so far, known only from preliminary reports. Stand A from Plakes was found in situ in Room VIII, which was located on the east facade of the villa and next to the building’s only entrance (Vallianou 1997, 1058, fig. 1). The stand was secured within two sockets. One of these was long and shallow, and it was cut vertically into the room’s west wall. The other was just larger than the base of the stand and was cut within a low, slab-paved bench or platform, in a room that was interpreted by the excavator as a shrine (Vallianou 1996, 156, fig. 3). Stand B from Plakes was discovered in the earlier days of the excavation of the same villa, in this case south of Room VIII. It lay on its side in a pile of stone debris, some 0.40–0.50 m above the level of the floor of the house—information passed on to me orally by the excavator, who published a photograph of it after it was removed and cleaned (Vallianou 1988, pl. 331:d). The excavator dated the construction of the villa to LM IA and its destruction, most likely by an earthquake, to LM IB (Vallianou 1996). This stand is presently kept in a storeroom at Gortyn, where I had a chance to see it in the summer of 2007 in the company of Dr. Vallianou, whose comments were extremely useful. Some general observations can be made regarding the character and setting of the three similar objects. It appears that that these items were used only in the Mesara, as my research has failed to locate examples from elsewhere on Crete, though some may be still found in the future. With regard to their purpose, the practice of securing the stand in a socket (as observed in the case of Stand A) indicates that keeping it in place and preventing it from falling was deemed important. Making it a permanent fixture of the room suggests a particular function for the space in which it was set. The shape of the stone block and the cutting at its top are basically the same in all three examples, although there are variations in size. The greatest variation is in the block’s height; the Kommos stand is 0.535 m tall, ca. 0.240 m shorter than Plakes Stand A and ca. 0.16 m shorter than Stand B. In all three cases, the stands are less than one meter tall, with the top of each roughly waist high, making it easy to place something on it. The cuttings at the top are square rather than round in

26

MARIA C. SHAW

each of the three known examples, although they vary somewhat in their dimensions. The cutting on the Kommos stand is the smallest, measuring 0.095 m on its longest side, or ca. 0.10 m less than the horizontal dimensions of Stand A and 0.05 m less than those of Stand B. The depth of the cutting in the Kommos stand is 0.014 m, while that of the Plakes examples is 0.005 m. These cuttings may have been used to secure a single object. They are too shallow to have been used as containers, and none of them display any signs of burning. While the possibility that the stands were used for displaying some precious or decorative object cannot be excluded, this author prefers a more utilitarian solution. The object positioned on the stand was probably relatively squat, with its base squared rather than round. If the object was a lamp, that would explain the great care taken to secure Stand A within a wall in the Pitsidia Villa, as this measure would have prevented it from tipping and causing a general conflagration. Vasso Fotou suggested to me the possibility that stone vessels with squared and stepped bases may have been set in the squared depressions of such stands, and, indeed Gesell has illustrated and described as a libation table a stone vessel with a tenon projecting below it (Gesell 1985, 204, fig. 136). There is no real socket for a tenon in the stand here, however. Another illustration of a columnar pedestal with a squared libation table fitted on top of it (Gesell 1985, fig. 137) provides a good model of how a lamp could have been made to fit atop our three pedestals, had there been squat stone lamps with square bases. All examples of libation tables illustrated by Warren have squared stepped bases (1969, nos. P 326–340). Lamps of clay are known to have round bases, however, which is also the most common base in the case of stone vessels. Still, the possibility that some lamps had square bases cannot be excluded even if examples are lacking to date. Though at Plakes daylight may have been provided within Room VIII through a window on the incompletely excavated east side, a lamp placed on our Stand A would, nonetheless, have provided light at night near the entrance to the house and to the staircase leading to the second story. As the excavation of the Plakes site began as a salvage operation following disturbance by illegal digging, the original location of Stand B remains an open question. It might have stood in the corridor directly south of Room VIII, or it may have fallen from upstairs, given its discovery among stone debris above floor level. In the case of Kommos House X, it may not be a coincidence that the stand was found in Space X5, a central room with a light-well that provided light during the day to nearby rooms on the ground floor such as X2, X4, and X6. The stand and the assumed lamp would have been set in a part of Space X5 away from

the light-well, presumably to provide illumination to the surrounding rooms at night. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS The original use of X5 is self-evident, given the presence of a light-well and of the drain connecting it with activities in X6. X5 may also have served as the provider of light for adjacent spaces, particularly Space X4. I would suggest that a L-shaped balcony, presumably with a wooden floor, stood above the portico or slab-paved area below. The balcony would have left an area open to the sky for the light-well. Thus, spaces in the second story would have had much light coming in from the outside. It is reasonable to assume that House X consisted of only two stories. It is possible that X5 may have played a similar role at night in providing light, given its central position in the house. The small stone pillar discussed in the preceding section could have been used as a pedestal to hold a lamp, or (less likely) the square cutting at its top might have been filled with enough fuel for a flame to last the night.

Spaces X8 and X9 Adjacent spaces X8 and X9 are among the largest in the house, and they have a similar shape. They were exposed nearly completely in excavation, except for the south edge of X9 (Fig. 1.7). A sounding revealed part of Road 17 south of X8, but the space’s south wall was no longer there, having collapsed in antiquity (Pl. 1.11A). The south walls of the two spaces, like the south wall of X15 to their east, being part of the south facade of the house, must have followed the straight line of the road (Fig. 1.2). The north line of the road pavement was revealed south of X8, some 1.25 m lower than the floors of X8 and X9 (Figs. 1.7, 1.21).53 Knowing its position, it is possible to estimate the north–south dimension of X8, for its south wall would have stopped at or somewhat north of the retaining wall that continued down to 54 the surface of Road 17. This information, along with the presence of two blocks still in situ along the south edge of X8 (their tops at +4.62 m and +4.60 m, Fig. 1.7), suggests that the north–south dimension of both X8 and X9 was ca. 5.10 m. The two spaces also had the same width, ca. 3.25 m from east to west.

Space X8 THE ARCHITECTURE Space X8 communicated directly with two other spaces in addition to X9: X5 to the north and X14a to the west. The large central opening between X8 and X9

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

(Fig. 1.7) was flanked to the north and south by two short walls, the ends of which acted as the opening’s doorjambs. Midway between them was a large stone slab set flat on the floor, suggesting that the opening was divided in two parts. An upright wooden post would have been set on the slab to carry the long lintel of this double doorway. Found in association with the southern doorjamb was a L-shaped base, the direction of the L clarifying that the door there was closed by swinging it toward the east. There must have been another such jamb base at the northern side of the doorway, but none was found. Instead, two small overlapping slabs were found next to the north jamb, possibly a makeshift arrangement for a base that replaced the original one. The west wall of X8 consisted of two parts, divided by the door leading to X14a (Pls. 1.4A, 1.6B). The southern part is very poorly preserved except for its north end, which acted as the south jamb of the door. This end is preserved for some six to seven courses, and, as usual with jambs, its construction was better than that of the rest of the wall, incorporating large rectangular blocks in carefully laid courses. The same is true of the north jamb of this door, preserved with the associated wall that had nine or 10 rough courses. As usual, the masons made use of building blocks of varying sizes and shapes. A peculiar and irregular crack or break occurs at midpoint in the north part of the west wall, visible only on the wall’s east face, a fact already mentioned in the discussion of Space X7, which shares this wall with X8. In this writer’s view it is not the result of deliberate 55 remodeling. The wall turns west at its north end to form the north wall of X7, and it is that corner that acts as the west jamb of the northwest doorway of X8 leading to X5. Equally eclectic in construction is the north wall of X8 (Pls. 1.2B, 1.11B), preserved for some five to six courses. It was noted earlier in the discussion of X5 that this wall’s west end was later extended west to reduce the size of the door leading to X5—the latter’s original width having been approximately 1.20 m, the size of the threshold. The original east end of the opening must have lined up more or less with a large rectangular block we see at the base of the wall (Pl. 1.11B), the stone east of the block representing the extension of the jamb farther west. If this interpretation of the remodeling is correct, the rectangular blocks set at the north end of the floor in X8 to serve as a bench should also be viewed as a later addition, since they line up with the new doorjamb. The masonry on the east side of X8 requires little comment, except for the fact that the north and south walls on either side of the double door were similar in length and width. The north one was the better preserved,

27

standing ca.1.00 m high. The south one, found leaning to the north, is now restored to ca. seven courses and measures 0.80 m in height. The floor in X8 was made largely of compacted soil, though there were areas paved with stone slabs, near which pebbles were often found (Fig. 1.21). There was a single slab in the floor’s northeast corner (at +4.56 m) and a pair of slabs in the southeast corner (at +4.46/4.47 m), their respective levels secure signs that the floor sloped down from north to south. Corners with slabs, being protected areas, were often chosen for the placement of breakable household equipment such as large vessels. This must have been the purpose of the slabs here, even though no such vessels were found. Household activity was probably carried on in the central area of X8, which was paved with several large slabs, some of limestone, some of purple schist, placed on compacted soil or clay. The average level of these slabs was the same as that of the slab in the space’s northeast corner. There is evidence of burning on some of the central slabs, which implies the use of fire for cooking and perhaps also for warmth or light. A line of large and smaller slabs was laid just west of the central pavement and along the west wall of Space X8, with a few stones continuing south. Once again the levels reflect the incline of the floor, sloping down from north to south (+4.64 m to +4.55 m). This row of slabs might be a western extension of the slabs in the room’s center, but, rather typically, they were also placed along a path of traffic, leading from X5 to X8 or on to X14a. The slabs of the pavement in X8 may have been reused 56 from an earlier building that preceded House X. Years after excavation had been completed in this space, a length of an east–west wall was found in the north part of X8, exposed by the rains (Fig. 1.21). Only the lowest course was preserved, and this scantily, but it reveals, along with other evidence, that a rather drastic leveling operation had been undertaken before House X was built. The stone bench at the north end of X8 consisted of three beautifully cut oblong blocks, the south faces of which bore marks of fine chiseling (Pl. 1.11B). The blocks were clearly retrieved from the walls of some earlier building, conceivably Building T, parts of which went out of use in LM IA Early. As argued above, this bench may not have been installed from the very beginning; it appears to have been added after the narrowing of the entrance leading from X8 to X5. Concerning the question of light, it can be suggested that the south facades of X8 and X9 were provided with enough windows for daylight to come in.57 We can also speculate that a window might have existed in the north wall of X8, bringing in light from the light-well in X5.58

28

MARIA C. SHAW

STRATIGRAPHY, FINDS, AND USE Excavation in X8 was carried out in three trenches. A large portion of the east side was excavated in Trench 59A1 (1984), which also included a small area of X9. The west side was excavated in Trench 80A (1992). A small area south of the doorway leading to X5 was excavated in Trench 66A (1985) in the process of removing that door’s blocking materials. The earliest evidence of use in X8 is the clearest due to the contamination and destruction of the upper strata from erosion, which affected the southern parts of the house the most. The general excavation strategy was to separate the space into northern and southern parts—the latter being the one that suffered the most from the deposition of fill that washed downhill from the north. Pottery Groups X8:1–X8:3 represent three basic strata. Group X8:1 consists of pottery of LM I date, particularly LM IB; it also contains some LM II material. Lack of more substantial evidence for LM IA pottery is not surprising, for in rooms with floor features, such as the partial slab pavement in X8, the original level of the floor was maintained for as long as possible by systematically removing debris (as is well attested in Space X4, already discussed). Between LM IA and LM II, the fill rose some 0.30 m over the slab floor, i.e., to ca. +4.90 m, with most of the buildup occurring in LM II. According to Rutter, LM IB is best represented in the northern part of the space (especially 59A1/82), while the bulk of the inventoried LM II pottery comes from the south (especially 59A1/83). As was typical elsewhere, remains of the first phase of use suggest an era of refinements that faded with time; finds included the lid of a stone vase, a stone disk, and most importantly, the remains of painted and patterned plasters (Fr 8 and P 296). These may have come from the walls of this space, to judge by their find spots, mainly the west wall; a few more were found over the slabs located more centrally. Pottery Group X8:1. Surface at +4.45 m (south), +4.55 m (north), and fill over it to ca. +4.90 m. Trench 59A1/77, 78 (mixed with slope wash through LM IIIA:2, perhaps even LM IIIB), 80, 82, 83, 84 (shared with X9), 85; Trench 80A/28 (in part), 29, 29A. LM IB and LM II, and some later contamination. J 13 Fr 8, P 183 a–c, P 296 S 2211 St 8 St 44

Perforated pebble (pendant?) Plaster Fragment of a quern Ringed pounder Lid of a stone vase Shells Charcoal, pumice

Ch. 3.6 Ch. 2 Ch. 3.4 Ch. 3.4 Ch. 4

Charcoal found on the floor of X8 raises the possibility that cooking was practiced, perhaps in the later phases of the slab floor’s use.59 The next stratum (Pottery Group X8:2) dates to LM II with some later contamination. Rutter thinks the fill was used to cover the preceding level to create a new surface at +5.10 m. Given the thickness of this fill (some 0.20 m) and the presence of stone debris that seems to start as low as +4.85 m, the raising may have been preceded by the collapse of the walls, perhaps in LM II. Later use in LM II–IIIA:1 is represented by Pottery Group X8:3. The stones fell in a domino-like pattern, the tumble starting at the northernmost door of the double doorway and continuing in a southwestern line within X8 (Fig. 1.21). Some blocks also lay to the west of the south segment of X8’s east wall. These probably collapsed from that wall, including its north part, to judge from the blocks found in the northwest corner of X9. Pottery Group X8:2. Stratum of soil added over preceding use and after a major wall collapse in X8 to raise the ground level from +4.90 m to +5.10 m. Trench 59A1/71, 74. Mixed Neopalatial through LM II (–LM IIIA:1). No notable finds. Pottery Group X8:3. Fill over floor at +5.10 m (level at the center of the room) rising to ca. 5.20/5.22 m. Trench 59A1/67, 68, 72, 74 (the last one in part); 80A/21 (in part), 24, 28 (in part). LM IIIA:1. Lw 26 S 1711 St 21 (GS 600) St 22 (GS 601)

Loomweight Cobble Stone disk Stone disk Bones and shells Loose bits of plaster

Ch. 3.3 Ch. 3.4 Ch. 3.4 Ch. 4 Ch. 2

The stone disks were found in the southern half of Space X8 in 59A1/74. Rutter interprets X8 as having served in this phase as a drinking area—much like the terraces in contemporary Cretan bars or cafes. He bases this view on the presence of pouring vessels, decorated teacups, and pedestaled and handled cups used for drinking. Once again, it is interesting that in this era, when the once elite house has fallen into a rather debased state, there is evidence for an increase in foreign imports as indicated by the pottery, some Canaanite and some western Anatolian. Two stone disks (St 21, St 22) were also associated 60 with this phase. A third such object (S 1966, listed below under X8:4) was found in fill accumulated over the three-course wall blocking the doorway leading north to X5 and under a later blocking wall built above this low wall.61 Stone disks were found in other Minoan houses at Kommos, and their shape, size, and weight have led to their interpretation as possible lids for large vessels.62

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

Fill in the abandonment phase is also dated mainly to LM IIIA:1–2 Much of it surely washed down the slope from farther north at an early stage. Pottery Group X8:4. Fill in wash levels from ca. +5.20/5.22 m to +5.55 m. Trench 59A1/23, 25, 43, 45, 47, 62, 63, 65; 66A/23. LM IIIA:2 Early. Lw 25 S 1743 S 1966

Loomweight Whetstone Flat oval stone 118 Glycymeris shells

Ch. 3.3

Ch. 4

Ruscillo thinks the Glycymeris shells are related to those found in the light-well area of X5.

Space X9 ARCHITECTURE As X9 was used in conjunction with X8, much of what was noted about the architecture and history of the latter applies here as well. Besides the double doorway leading to X8, X9 had direct access to two more areas. One doorway, with a threshold nearly as large as that in the north doorway of X8 before it was shortened, led north to X6. Another, marked by some stone slabs at +4.63 m, led east to corridor or lobby X16, which, in turn, led to the main entrance of the house (Figs. 1.2, 1.7). Today that entrance lies hidden under Greek Building F (Fig. 1.8). The slabs on the rough eastern threshold seem to have acted as a step down to the slightly lower slab floor of X16. Whether there was originally a door blocking X9 from X16 is unknown. Given the presence of these doorways, the only parts of X9 that were excluded from traffic and thus likely used for household activities were the large southeast and southwest corners, as well as the small one in the northwest where a mortar was found embedded in the floor (Pl. 1.11C). It was only later that a new doorway was introduced in the southeast corner of X9 leading to the southern part of the sottoscala area of Staircase X15 (i.e., to X15s; Fig.1.5; Pls. 1.2A, top right; 1.4A, bottom right). This remodeling entailed making an opening at the southern end of X9’s east wall, rebuilding the remaining parts of the wall north and south of it to serve as jambs, and providing the entrance with a threshold (Fig. 1.5; Pl. 1.12A). The threshold (at +4.50 m) had a pivot hole at its south corner, indicating that the access to X15s; could be closed. The level of the threshold is just slightly higher than the original floor of X9. The distance between the threshold’s south end and the newly built north jamb is ca. 0.70 m, which gives us the width of the now incomplete doorway, as the south jamb is now missing.

29

The creation of this new doorway followed the blocking of access into the sottoscala from the north, i.e., from X16. The blocking wall was built against rubble debris piled up within the sottoscala under the upper flight of the staircase, X15s. The blocking wall between X16 and X15w then turned south, built in one layer of stone, applied on the preexisting west face of X15’s west wall. This strange activity may have been prompted by the need to strengthen that wall and to keep the blocking stones in place (Fig. 1.25). By contrast, the original east face of this wall remained visible till the end, as seen from within the staircase (Pl. 1.12B, top left). It was well built of regular rectangular stones, perhaps the best construction encountered in this house. Unlike the floor in X8, that in X9 was made entirely of compacted soil, with just a few slabs set apart from each other along the east wall. The incline of the floor surface is similar, however, sloping toward the south and somewhat less toward the east. As there were nearly no fixed floor structures, it is difficult to say what X9’s original intended use was, although some inferences can be drawn from the space’s location. With close access to the main entrance of House X via X16, it can be argued that X9 was less private than X8. Space X9 might have been ideal for receiving goods to be transferred to the rest of the house, including the utilitarian spaces west of it such as X8 and X14a. The large double door leading to X8 would have proved convenient, though is probable that the doors between X8 and X9 could have been closed and/or locked as necessary. In addition, X9 had direct communication with X6, the space where the slab installation was set. Again, the large doorway between the two spaces may not have been an accident. Several stone implements found in X9, including the stone mortar (St 29) embedded in the northwest corner and hand tools scattered around the room, may offer further evidence for the room’s utilitarian function. Later in the architectural history of X9 a rough blocking wall was built in the northeast corner, putting an end to communication with X16 as well as with X11/X12 and X10 to its north (Figs. 1.5, 1.26). This change, more importantly, ended access to the outdoors through the house’s main eastern entrance. By then, however, the spaces to the north, mentioned above, had already gone of use and entry into the still usable areas of the house could have been gained from another direction, perhaps from Staircase X13, which may now have opened onto a passage running along the west facade of the house. The blocking wall in X16 was preserved for three to four courses, rising +5.00/5.04m, that is, more than 0.30 m above the original slab-paved surface of X16. The lack of any central support in either X8 or X9, both of which were large spaces, raises the question of

30

MARIA C. SHAW

whether a proper upper story could have been placed over them. It is possible that they were covered by a roof that was used as a terrace, possibly with a parapet wall or balustrade on the side facing the road on the south, as further discussed and illustrated in Chapter 5.63 This interpretation gains some support from the presence of three fragments of drains found in the western area of X9. These could have been installed on the roof along the south edge of X5 and X6, with spaces that rose up to two stories high.64 STRATIGRAPHY, FINDS, AND USE As noted under X8, excavation in Trench 59A1 included the west portion of X9. The rest of it was excavated with Trench 81C (1992), which also included two shallow soundings, one in the northwest corner65 and the other alongside the north part of the east wall.66 Both contexts yielded LM IB Final and LM II sherds (Pottery Group X9:1), clearly attributable to earlier use of the house and not its construction.67 Pottery Group X9:1. Soundings at northwest (Trench 81C/58, 59) and at the center, along the wall (Trench 81C/60, 60A); also southwest area (Trench 59A1/87) below and floor at +4.45/4.50 m. LM IB Final. Lw 29 St 11 St 29

Loomweight Marble pounder Mortar in situ Bits of plaster Bones and shells

Ch. 3.3 Ch. 3.4 Ch. 3.4 Ch. 2 Ch. 4

A fine object made of marble (St 11)68 may have been a pounder used in connection with the quern (St 29) embedded in the northwest corner of X9,69 even though the cobble was found a short distance south and near the east wall. The use of the initial floor in X9 dates to LM II and is represented by Pottery Group X9:2, complementing that derived frim X9:1. This was probably the time when the opening for the new doorway in the southeast corner of X9 was made as well as when the west face of X9’s east wall was covered with a new layer of stones. The attribution of the new doorway to this phase is based on the level of the threshold, which at +4.52 m is somewhat higher than the level of the initial floor (ca. +4.45 m) in the southern area of X9. From the threshold, one stepped down to the floor within X15s. Pottery Group X9:2. Fill over floor at +4.45 m (south) and 4.50/4.63 m (north) up to +4.70/4.75 m. Trench 59A1/81, 84, 86; Trench 81C/55, 57, 57A. LM II. Cl 2 Me 19 Me 28 St 30

Terracotta drain Bronze blade Fishhooks Mortar

Ch. 3.5 Ch. 3.2 Ch. 3.2 Ch. 3.4

St 34

Stamnostatis Plain and painted plaster bits Bones

Ch. 3.4 Ch. 2 Ch. 4

The finds just listed suggest a continuation of the utilitarian use of X9. This impression is reinforced by the presence of a fragmentary tripod cooking pot (Group 9:2/14, C 11886) and some large storage vessels. Another significant find is a trowel-like blade (Me 19), found directly outside the entrance into sottoscala X15s.70 It is similar to Me 18 from X2. Each was equipped with a loop for suspension.71 Ruscillo also reports “some hearty meat-bearing bones” from Group X9:2. It was suggested above in the discussion of X8 that the collapse of walls there and in the northwest corner of X9 may have occurred in LM II, given the level at which the debris starts (+4.85/4.88 m). The stratigraphic situation in X9 is quite muddled, however, owing to the contamination from erosion and the transfer by rain of fills and material once located in areas further north, as in X8. The evidence obtained through the study of the pottery was dramatic, and shows the deposition of fill containing masses of pottery of LM IIIA:1 (Pottery Group X9:4) over levels of use dating to LM IIIA:2 Early (Pottery Group X9:3). The sequence to be followed in the discussion below will, as usual, start with the lower strata, notwithstanding the odd patterns of the dates of the associated pottery. The collapse of the walls may have occurred before the accumulation of the fill represented by Pottery Group X9:3—possibly late in LM II, with further collapse later on. Indeed, within the rubble there were pockets of almost pure LM II (and some LM IB) pottery (notably in Trench 81C/54). Other pottery came from within the collapsed walls. The later pottery (LM IIIA:2 Early) reminds us that the area was still visited by people. Perhaps there was dumping at this stage in X9. The construction of the blocking wall between X9 and X16 might belong to this phase. Pottery Group X9:3. Fill in rubble from collapsed walls, and wash from farther north, from +4.70/4.75m to +5.25/5.30 m. Trench 59A1/73, 75, 79; Trench 81C/47, 52A, 54. LM II–LM IIIA:2 (IIIB?). S2189 St 33

Cobble Stamnostatis

Ch. 3.4

The topmost stratum contains much LM IIIA:1 pottery and other finds that may not have anything to do with the use of the room. This material is more likely fill that washed down from elsewhere. Ceramic imports, already attested in Pottery Group X9:2, continued at this level, including a closed shape from western Anatolia, part of a Canaanite jar, and an Egyptian amphora. These finds hint at an evolution of international trade at a time

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

when House X was largely going out of use and the LM III monumental buildings in the Southern Area at Kommos were thriving. The potential historical implications of this development will be considered in the concluding chapter. Pottery Group X9:4. Deposition of soil with rich LM IIIA:1 ceramic contents over collapsed rubble of walls in east half of room, from ca. +5.25/5.30 m to +5.40/5.45 m. Trench 81C/42. LM IIIA:1. Bones Shells, including 34 Glycymeris valves

Ch. 4

Finds in higher levels (mixed Minoan and Iron Age) included bronze tweezers (Me 24) and more drain fragments (Cl 3, Cl 4). It is worth noting that Iron Age use was quite invasive in this area of House X, as evident from a hearth that was set in X9 as low as +5.37 m. The Minoan sherds at this level included some of LM IIIC as well as LM IIIB date.

Space X3 ARCHITECTURE Originally a square room measuring ca. 2.90 m x 2.95 m, Space X3 was narrowed to 2.30 m east–west when a new east wall was built against the original east wall separating it from Space X10. The original east wall continued south and remained in use as the east wall of X6 (Figs. 1.2, 1.5, 1.6). That X6 was the only room with which X3 communicated directly suggests interrelated activities in these two spaces. The one doorway of X3, located in the room’s southwest corner, was provided with a threshold at +4.99 m. From this doorway one stepped down onto the somewhat lower floor of X6. Of the original walls of X3 (Fig. 1.5), those on the north and east were the broadest (ca. 0.75 m wide). The former was part of the building’s north facade, continuing west to serve as the north wall of X2. The latter served as a facade wall, as it was the west wall of Space X10, a portico and thus a semihypaethral space. The north wall preserves approximately 12 courses, ca. 1.60 m high (Pl. 1.10A, top center). It is thus somewhat higher than most of the west wall, which is preserved to a height of ca. 1.00 m, and it shows no signs of remodeling (Pl. 1.13A, right). Its construction, as seen from inside X3, consists of the usual assortment of blocks. As shown in a sounding along the north facade of X3, the north wall continued down, resting upon an earlier, leveled east–west wall belonging to a building that preceded House X (Fig. 1.6). The new east wall built within X3 was bonded with the north wall, for it appears that at least the interior face of

31

the north wall’s east end had been intentionally dismantled with that purpose in mind (Fig. 1.6; Pl. 1.10A).72 The new east wall also lacked an east face. It appears that for its length the original east wall’s interior (or west face) had been dismantled and its blocks reused to build the new wall’s west face (Pl. 1.13A). Thus, the new east wall was built like a retaining wall. The only part of the old east wall that was not affected was the part that projected north of the house’s north facade, where it acted as a pier, as will be further discussed under the survey of Space X10. The base of the new east wall in X3 was built at +5.26/5.28 m on fill that had accumulated over the original floor. This floor sloped down somewhat, from +5.10/5.14 m to +5.00 m north to south, following the slope of the hillside, which, as in other rooms, was not leveled completely. In turn, the floor in adjacent Space X6 stepped down also. What led to the replacement of the east wall remains a question, but the same problem may have prompted the construction of the long and messily built north–south retaining wall, the south end of which abutted against the exterior side of the north wall of X3 (Fig. 1.6). Perhaps it was built to stabilize the house’s north wall, or it may also have served to separate the outdoor areas east and west of it, where the terrain rose at different levels, and to prevent erosion. The west face of the retaining wall continued deeper down than in the east, where only two or three very rough courses were preserved (Fig. 1.6; Pl. 1.13A). South Wall The entrance into X3 was marked by a threshold with slabs that rested over a rough east–west wall, which continued down below X2’s floor and stopped at an earth surface, marked by a north–south wall on the east that was preserved very poorly (Pl. 1.8B). In the same illustration, we also see a pavement of small slabs resting on earth, its level being that of the pebble floor of the room at that location. Plate 1.9A shows the stone table and the tops of the pithoi projecting above the floor, though the pebble surface must have risen initially somewhat higher than we see in the photo, thus covering the shoulders of the pithoi somewhat more. There are signs of later construction in X3, postdating the use of House X proper. One consists of the remaining small portion of a wall partially built over the north and west walls of X3 (Figs. 1.5, 1.8; Pl. 1.13B). The top level of the preserved portion of the room’s northwest corner (+6.91 m and +6.87 m) is similar to that of the nearby and also later wall built over the north wall of X2 (Fig. 1.6), suggesting that both sets of walls may have been contemporary. Definitely later are segments of two walls built over fill within X3’s northwest corner (Fig.

32

MARIA C. SHAW

1.8). The walls met at right angles, but because they start at slightly different levels and do not bond, they could have been built at different times.73 The tops of both the old and new east wall of X3, east of the fragmentary walls, are preserved at roughly the same level as that of the fill over which the later walls were built. The dates of these walls are unknown, but they possibly could be Iron Age; the erosion at this level makes it difficult to determine if that was the case (Figs. 1.6, 1.8). STRATIGRAPHY, FINDS, AND USE Space X3 was excavated in three trenches. The first, 59A (1984), was limited to the uppermost levels of the southwest part of the room.74 The second, 74B (1991), uncovered the entire room down to the primary floor, except for the northwest corner, for it was initially decided not to remove the remains of the two uppermost walls postdating the house. The walls were eventually removed with Trench 93E (1994), however, as they were being undermined by erosion, and excavation reached the basal levels within X3. Pottery Group X3:1. Fill over the original floor at ca. +4.97/5.06 m. Trenches 74B/76B, 93E/101A. LM IA Final. No notable finds. The use of the lowest and probably the original floor in X3 is dated by Pottery Group X3:1 to LM IA Final. The pottery, consisting mostly of conical cups and a couple of pouring vessels, is not revealing as to the function of the space beyond the possibility that the vessels actually were stored there. Pottery Group X3:2. Fill over surface at +5.08/5.14 m and up to +5.20 m. Trenches 74B/75A, 76A; 93E/101, 101A, and 110 (the last one representing accumulation over the threshold). Trench 93E/112 was used for clearing the location with the plaster debris. LM IB Late. Lw 52

Bo57

Loomweight Plaster debris Bones and shells Worked bone

Ch. 3.3 Ch. 2 Ch. 4 Ch. 4

The phase associated with Pottery Group X3:2 represents continued use over a surface dating to LM IB Late. This fill extends over the room’s threshold as well. Fragments of two cooking vessels, as well as signs of burning and of charcoal and faunal remains (some shells and meat-bearing animal bones) may constitute refuse from food consumed or prepared in the room. On the basis of the date of the pottery, Rutter suggests that this floor may have been contemporary with the earliest surface in the Shrine in X7 (at +5.30 m) and with the phase associated with Pottery Group X2:7 in Space X2. A small pile of debris (stones and pieces of disintegrated plaster) found in the room’s southwest corner

and on the floor at +5.10 m may suggest some localized wall collapse. This debris was left there and covered over by a new floor.75 Pottery Group X3:3. Fill over floor at +5.22/5.24 m. Trench 74B/74A, Trench 93E/100. LM II, with LM IIIA and some Iron Age contamination in Trench 74B/74A. Lw 16 Lw 55 St 5 St 17 St 27

Loomweight Loomweight Stone hand tool Drill wedge Slab with depression Extensive faunal remains

Ch. 3.3 Ch. 3.3 Ch. 3.4 Ch. 3.4 Ch. 3.4 Ch. 4

Pottery Group X3:3 was associated with the use of the new floor at +5.22/5.24 m, with accumulation over it (some 0.10–0.15 m thick) dating still to LM IB Late. Contamination continued, as before, in the east part of the space, Trench 74B. Ruscillo reports meat-producing bones in some numbers, which supports the idea offered here that Space X3 may have functioned as a kitchen at this point. Pottery Group X3:4. Fill with burning overlying the floor at +5.22/5.24 m. Trench 74B/73A; Trench 93E/98, 99. LM IB Late (and with possible LM IIIA:2 and Iron Age sherd contamination in the east area, excavated in Trench 74B/74A). There are organic remains and traces of burning on the floor, mostly in the northwest corner of the room, where we found the remains of a possible hearth made up of small upright slabs.76 These finds suggest that X3 continued to serve as a kitchen. Once again, conical cups were the most common shape. It is probably during this last phase that the only door leading into X3 was blocked, thus putting that room out of use (Pl. 1.12C). The base of the blocking wall at +5.23 m falls between Pottery Groups X3:4 and X3:5. Pottery Group X3:5. Fill on surface at ca. +5.30/5.35 m and up to +5.35/5.40 m, below a fill of soft brown soil. Trench 74B/72A, Trench 93E/96 (lower fill over floor). LM IB Late or Final. Lw 15 Lw 54

Loomweight Loomweight Faunal remains

Ch. 3.3 Ch. 3.3 Ch. 4

Typically for the LM III period, the pottery includes foreign imports, in this case a Cypriot White-painted Wheel-made I jug (C 10366). Some other shapes led Rutter to suggest that this phase in X3 may be contemporary with the earlier of the two use phases in X7 dating to LM IIIA:1–2. The soft brown soil topping the stratum may represent part of the collapsed ceiling and the packing of the upper floor. Household objects, most notably the loomweights, could have come from a welllit space upstairs.

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

Pottery Group X3:6. Upper fill from +5.35/5.40 m to +5.55/5.60 m, sealed at the top by a deep rubble fill. Trenches 59A/13, 74B/71A, 93E/95. LM IIIA. Lw 56

Loomweight Bones and shells

Ch. 3.3 Ch. 4

Fill within X3 reaches higher up, but no longer as a result of use. The fill dating to LM III (related to Pottery Groups X3:6 and X3:7) probably derives both from a gradual collapse of the upper story and from dumping. Pottery Group X3:7 is, in fact, a dump likely intended to level the area for the construction of the two walls built within X3, suggested above to have been built in the Early Iron Age. Pottery Group X3:7. Fill dumped as a foundation for an Archaic floor at ca. +5.95 m, related to the two uppermost walls in the northwest corner of X3. Trenches 59A/10; 74B/68A, 69A, 70A; 93E/89, 92, 93. LM IIIA:2–IIIB and Archaic. Cl 6 Me 26

Terracotta slab Fishhook Bones and shells

Ch. 3.5 Ch. 3.2 Ch. 4

Ruscillo notes the presence of bones and shells, including 52 Glycymeris. She makes the interesting suggestion that this dump may derive from either X2 or X7, given the presence of pottery suggested by Rutter to have religious associations. Of the two spaces, this author would prefer a derivation from X7, as X2 became in later times a dumping ground but may or may not have functioned as a shrine earlier on. Recovered from the level above, in 74B/62C, was a standing female figurine F 4 (discussed in Ch. 3.7). SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Space X3 was a much-used space, marked by rather extensive remodeling. It seems to have served as a kitchen nearly from the beginning, as shown by the presence of cooking pots, burned surfaces, the remains of animal species used for food, and, later on, a possible hearth. The predominance of conical cups might suggest that consumption of food took place in the same space or that X3 served as pantry as well as kitchen. Later remodeling involved the installation of the new east wall, the partial rebuilding of the south wall in order to narrow the width of the doorway, and finally, the blocking of the doorway. All these events appear to have happened during LM IB Late. After the blocking of the doorway, the room must have been used as a dumping place, with some materials deriving from the Shrine (X7), as Rutter’s preliminary ceramic reports indicate. The end of X3’s history is marked by the leveling of what remained of its upper walls and the dumping of soil in preparation for Iron Age construction.

33

Space X3 shares similarities with X2, namely a small size, a location along the north facade of the house, and the presence of a single door, which in X3 had direct access only to X6. The latter’s slab installation relating to the use and disposal of water may explain this direct connection, since cooking, assumed to have been the main activity in X3, is often associated with washing and other use of water.

Space X6 ARCHITECTURE Space X6 is a roughly square area, measuring ca. 3.26 m east–west, 3.05 m north–south on its west side, and 3.67 m north–south on its east side. The longer east wall may have been required to bring the southeast corner of X6 close enough to the north end of the west wall of X15 for a door to be installed there. Such a door, had there been one, would have controlled access to the main part of the house for outsiders entering from the corridor or lobby X16. On the other hand, locking such a door still would have allowed people coming into the house to be directed north, to areas X11–X12 and semihypaethral X10, where outsiders might have been allowed to either deliver materials or work for the day. Along with the immediately adjacent spaces X3, X2, and X5, X6 was part of the core of the house (Fig. 1.2). The most striking evidence for its utilitarian function is the large stone slab that was set on a low platform in the space’s southwest corner. The slab tilted down slightly toward the west, next to an opening in the wall that served as a drain and helped channel liquid used on or over the slab to a sump in the southeast corner of X5. In this central group of rooms, it may not be an accident that after X5, X6 had the most doorways; X5 had four, X6 three (Fig. 1.27). There are further symmetries in plan between X6 and X5. For instance, each had direct access through a north door to another space (respectively, X3 and X2) with only one door. X6 and X5 had direct communication with each other through a connecting door. This was located centrally between the two doors in X2 and X3 on the north. Finally, X6 and X5 each had south doors (leading, respectively, to X9 and X8) that were the largest in the house.77 The lack of cut doorjamb bases as well as of special cuttings on the thresholds raises the question of whether any entrances were equipped with doors; they may simply have had wooden frames, but for the entrance in X5, leading to X4, where doorjambs in stone suggest a door. Eventually, all of the doorways of X6 were blocked (Fig. 1.5), the northern two having been narrowed first, as discussed in the surveys of X5 and X3. Before the southern doorway in X5 was blocked, a number of slabs were

34

MARIA C. SHAW

added to its threshold, whereas in the case of X3, the blocking materials were set on fill that had accumulated over its threshold, as build-up over its original floor. The east wall of X6 was the thickest, measuring ca. 0.75 m (Figs. 1.6, 1.27; Pls. 1.10A, 1.11C, 1.12D). The reason for this is that it was also the southern extension of the west wall of X10, which, being part of a semihypaethral portico, required extra strength. The east wall was preserved at its highest for five to six courses that were 0.70–0.80 m high, which also was the preserved height of the east part of the south wall. The western part stands to about the same height, but much of its north face is partially concealed by the installation in the room’s corner of the slanted slab surrounded by stones, which also limits what we can see of the south part of the west wall of X6 (Fig. 1.27).78 When first excavated, each of the interior faces of the north and west walls of X6 was concealed by later walls built up against them (Figs. 1.5, 1.8). Both were built like retaining walls, i.e., they consisted of only one face, a second face added higher up when each acquired full width, with a second face added there. Of the two later walls, the north one (some five irregular courses preserved ca. 0.80 m high) started at ca. +5.71 m as measured at its center and at +5.53 m farther west. The west wall started at the room’s northwest corner, covering the east face of the blockage of the doorway that once led to X5 (Figs. 1.5, 1.6),79 but it was preserved for only 1.50 m, its southern 80 part having been robbed out, likely in Iron Age times. It consisted of four to five untidy courses, ca. 0.63 m high, and it measured 0.30–0.40 m in width, with its base sloping from +5.37 m to +5.32 m north to south. The single-faced later walls were removed by us, allowing us to reach the original floor under them in X6. This floor was mostly exposed in the north part of the room (Fig. 1.27) and was made of hard-packed soil with some slabs set mostly along the north wall and a few others scattered midway along the east wall. The slabs helped determine the level of the initial floor, which was ca. +4.88/4.90 m. From there one stepped up to go into X3 and X5 (the level in the latter sloping toward the south from +4.93 m to +4.87/4.85 m). The floor in X6 also sloped, as we know from the level of the threshold of the southern doorway, its top surface at +4.70 m in the center, where it had cracked and subsided, and +4.73 m at the two ends. There are good reasons to believe that the stone slab and the drain were already in place at the time of the original floor. That the drain, a nearly square opening (measuring 0.20 m in width and 0.40 m in height) in the room’s west wall, was an integral part of the original wall is indicated by the presence of a slab spanning the aperture at the top and the fact that the courses immediately above it show no sign of having been rebuilt. The large

floor slab (ca. 1.00 m2) was tilted, its upper surface sloping toward the west from +5.04 m to +4.93 m. It had been positioned in such a way that its axis lined up with the drain. Perhaps to maintain its position and slant or to provide a step up from the somewhat lower floor, there was a row of smaller slabs positioned along the slab’s east and south sides. Most were roughly rectangular, the exception being a large triangular one with its longer straight side along the big slab’s eastern side. This was clearly used as a step. As noted above, the original room and its doorways in particular were remodeled. The doorway leading to X5 has already been discussed in the survey of that space. As seen from X5, the two thick slabs serving as the new threshold sat on fill accumulated over the original threshold (Pl. 1.9F), but within X6 a row of small blocks supported them (Fig. 1.27). Evidence from X5 suggests that the laying of a new threshold and the narrowing of the door may have been carried out in quick succession. The doorway was narrowed from 0.92 m to ca. 0.55/0.60 m (Figs. 1.22, 1.23). Building a new doorjamb for the new doorway was not a simple operation. To allow the new segment of the wall to bond, the earlier jamb was dismantled first and then allowed to extend north. Interestingly, the seam between the old and new parts is still visible from within X6 (Fig. 1.8). The cleaning of that area and removal of part of the west wall revealed the previously concealed base of the original wall, which on this side juts out for a short distance just east of the new wall and jamb, where it was covered by a single upright slab (Fig. 1.27). As for the blocking of the doorway, its eastern side facing into X6 is rougher than that seen from X5, probably because X6 went out of use earlier than X5. The history of the southern entrance into X6 is simpler. It was simply blocked by a rather solid wall and does not seem to have been narrowed. STRATIGRAPHY, FINDS, AND USE Space X6 was excavated in four trenches. The excavation of Trench 59A (1984) and Trench 66A (1985) exposed the west side of the room, the former removing the upper levels and the latter continuing down to the floor. Trench 73B (1991) exposed the eastern part, while Trench 93A (1994) removed the remnants of the later north wall and also cleared fill along the original wall, revealing the paving slabs of the original floor. Excavation at the level of the slabs and the surface of the soil around them was limited to the north half of the room. Fill dated to LM IA Final (with some MM II sherds) represents the earliest preserved use. Few of the small finds were indicative of function, and the pottery was quite broken up, although sherds from other areas of Crete and from Cyprus are nevertheless of some interest.

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

Pottery Group X6:1. Fill from +4.75 m (a possible surface) to +4.80/4.85 m (base of the paving slabs; Trench 93E/107). Mixed MM II and LM IA Final. St 36

Obsidian wedge A few bones

Ch. 3.4 Ch. 4

Pottery Group X6:2. Fill from surface at +4.85 m to +4.90 m. Trenches 66A/40; 73B/112 and 116; part of 93E/103. LM IB Late. Lw 18 Me 13 S 2284 S 2285 St 6

Loomweight Metal strip Saddle quern Saddle quern Whetstone Bones and shells

Ch. 3.3 Ch. 3.2

Ch. 3.4 Ch. 4

The next higher level was excavated throughout the room and dates to LM IB Late. There were a few small finds and a Knossian ceramic import. The single loomweight (Lw 18) may have come down from a collapsed upper story, where weaving may have taken place. Of the two saddle querns found (S 2284 and S 2285), one was found directly east of the entrance to X3, while the other was found in the southeast area, near the east wall. They could have been used for food preparation, an activity also suggested by the presence of shells and meat-bearing bones (identified by Ruscillo, Ch. 4).81 It must have been some time after this phase that the southern doorway of X6 was blocked, although the LM IB Late sherds obtained from the blocking materials (Pottery Group X6:3) are not necessarily dependable for dating the blocking, which may have occurred later. Pottery Group X6:3. Fill from the removal of the blocking wall of the southern doorway in X6. Trench 93E/104. LM IB Late. No notable finds. Pottery Group X6:4. Fill or dump (as suggested by Rutter) on floor at ca. +4.90 m and up to ca. +5.05/5.14 m. Trenches 66A/37 (in part); 73B/110, 111, and 113 (in part); 93E/103 (in part); 81C/40. LM II. Lw 20 Sp 64 Bo 30 F3 Me 21 S 1947 P 293 a–c

Loomweight Spindle whorl Bone with worked point Horn of bull(?) figurine Needle Quern Bones and shells Plaster pieces, floral

Ch. 3.3 Ch. 3.3 Ch. 4 Ch. 3.7 Ch. 3.2 Ch. 4 Ch. 2

The last clear phase of use in X6 is represented by fill over a surface at +4.90 m and up to ca. +5.05/5.14 m, which is level with and just higher than the raised threshold of the northwest doorway. This fill dates to LM II, and the finds, including the washing slab, may offer some evidence for the interpretation of the use of the room, unless the fill is a dump or it is partially made up of materials

35

collapsed from a room upstairs. There were a few tools (a whetstone, a piece of bone with a worked point, and a quern) as well as remains of weaving activity (a spindle whorl, a loomweight, and a needle). The weaving tools are more likely to derive from a space upstairs. Weaving is also suspected to have taken place over X3, as further discussed in Chapter 5 below. The pottery shapes represented are mostly cups and jugs, as in the preceding phase, but an amphora and parts of one or more stirrup jars are also present. Rutter calls attention to the close resemblance of some of the pottery to that from the LM II dump in X10. Therefore, the dumping best represented by Pottery Group X6:5 may have started as early as LM II. This would naturally signify the end of use of X6 as a room proper and the beginning of its function as a dumping place. Ruscillo’s study shows that the faunal remains included meat-bearing and non-meat-bearing mammal bones, along with fish bones and more shells of the types found in the previous pottery group. She raises the question of whether these fell from an upper floor, given the suggestion made by the present author that this may be the derivation of other objects found at this level. She also suggests that the food materials may have been on the ground floor and that the objects related to weaving had fallen on top of them. I favor the idea that food preparation (or even consumption) is more likely to have taken place upstairs. Pottery Group X6:5. Fill overlying a surface at +5.05/5.14 m and up to ca. +5.75 m. Trenches 66A/26, 27, 31, 34, 36; 73B/71, 99, 101, 102, 106, 108, 110, 111, 113 (in part). LM IIIA:1. Lw 19, Lw 22– Lw 24, Lw 53 J 11 Me 7 Me 9 Fr 9 S 1936 St 7 St 10

Loomweights Stone pendant Wire or hook Metal strips Plaster molding Whetstone Whetstone Pestle

Ch. 3.3 Ch. 3.6 Ch. 3.2 Ch. 3.2 Ch. 2 Ch. 3.4 Ch. 3.4

The stratum associated with Pottery Group X6:5 is shown by the character of its pottery likely to be a dump dating to LM IIIA:1 Early. Because of the character of this fill, neither the small finds nor the pottery can be viewed as diagnostic of the room’s use. The dump can be informative, however, about the status of the house as a whole in this particular phase and about activities taking place. The most crucial evidence is the pottery, and not only because it informs us of widespread foreign imports (from Egypt, the Cyclades, and the Greek mainland), but also because joins with pottery from the basal levels in the Shrine (X7) suggest, according to Rutter, that many of the dumped vessels may derive from there.

36

MARIA C. SHAW

The small finds included stone tools and implements, and, more interestingly, a good number of loomweights. Although these, too, may have been part of a dump, they could also have derived from a collapsed upper story where weaving took place, given the concentration of loomweights in the upper levels of the ground floor rooms. Thus, the makeup of the fill may combine dumped and collapsed materials. Ruscillo offers a long list of faunal remains. As with the remains discussed under the preceding group, these may have derived from a big dump in X6. She also lists a good number of ornamental shells and some 160 water-worn Glycymeris valves. Because of their stratigraphic location, she argues that these must have been part of a subfloor that allowed the drainage of rainwater. Pottery Group X6:6. Fill over surface at ca. +5.70 m. Trenches 59A/20, 21, 22; 73B/98. LM IIIA:2 and seventh century B.C. Bones and shell

Ch. 4

The level associated with Pottery Group X6:6 may represent fill over a soil surface, perhaps the floor associated with the later walls described previously as having been built partly against and on top of the original (and now leveled) north and west walls. The date of this fill is LM IIIA:2 or LM IIIB, mixed with seventh-century sherds. Aside from the pottery there were no notable finds. The presence of Iron Age sherds suggests that this surface was reused as an outdoor area, and that a simple, nearly square hearth found on it was used for cooking and perhaps other activities that required fire. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS Space X6 was used for domestic and for possibly industrial purposes, given the installation of the slab. Otherwise few diagnostic finds remain to testify to the space’s initial use, which was largely eradicated. Over the LM II floor and in higher strata, the most frequent finds besides pottery and stone tools are loomweights, which may have fallen from an upper story. It is clear that the south doorway of X6 was blocked by LM II. If the door leading to X5 was not blocked at the same time, then it must have been soon after, given the discovery among the dumped fill in X6 of sherds joining with LM IIIA:1 pottery from basal levels in the Shrine in X7 (Pottery Group X6:5). The latest use of X6 is associated with walls built atop the ruined walls of the room, and these surely belong to another era of construction that may or may not have been undertaken by descendants of the original inhabitants of House X. As an addendum to the history of this area, it should be noted that a stone spindle whorl (Sp 62) and a jeweler’s stone mold (J 19) were found higher in mixed Archaic and Minoan levels.

Eastern Sector of the House Space X10 ARCHITECTURE AND TOPOGRAPHY Space X10 is located in the northeast corner of the house and, from the extent that it could be excavated, we know that it is defined by two walls, one on the west and the other on the south, the latter with a lateral door leading to X11/X12. X10 probably had no wall on the east; the two pillars set there in a north–south line suggest it was a portico, open to the outdoors both on the east, onto Road 32/34, and, likely, also on the north, onto the hillside (Fig. 1.2). In addition to the two pillars, support for the ceiling was provided by the west and south walls. The north extension of the former projected ca. 0.75 m beyond the facade of House X and was constructed like a pier (Pl. 1.13A). This projection lined up with the northern of the two pillars, standing some distance to its east. Further support for the idea that there was a portico here is provided by the thickness of the space’s west wall, which matches that of the house’s north facade. The west wall thus functioned as a back wall in a semihypaethral space. Based on the reconstruction of the line of the house’s east facade, it is proposed that the two pillars were not set along the north–south axis of X10 but were instead closer to the space’s east edge. Part of the west face of the east wall of the house was located farther south, in X15e (Fig. 1.2; Pls. 1.14A, 1.14B), and given that the east facade would have followed the line of the road, this wall should have continued north in a straight line.82 If it ran far enough north, this unseen east wall would have passed just east of the pillars, but it would not have risen above floor level, or not much. The idea of a portico is also suggested by the lack of a north wall, which could be verified, since we were able to extend the excavation over 2.00 m north of the pier and the north pillar without encountering such a wall. Had there been a wall farther north, it should have turned south directly north of the pier to act with it as one of the jambs of a doorway giving access to the interior, but no such return or jamb was found. It is reasonable to assume that the ceiling of X10 extended somewhat beyond the floor area, the overhang ensuring shade and keeping out the rain. On the basis of this reconstruction, the dimensions of X10 would be approximately 5.20 m north–south and a maximum of 4.40 m east–west. It was not uncommon for Minoan porticoes to face the outdoors and, occasionally, even a road.83 The level of X10’s floor was likely higher than Road 32 on its east, but by how much it is now impossible to calculate, as we do not know how steep this road was. If Road 32 was higher than Road 17 to the south of

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

House X, then at the intersection of these two roads there may have been steps leading up to Road 32 as it climbed the hill.84 Whatever the relative levels of the floor and the road, it is possible that a low parapet was built along the east edge of X10, if not to prevent someone from climbing into the room from the road, then at least to mark it as a private space. It is probable that the area north of the portico was unstructured and used as a yard for carrying out household chores. It could also have been used for planting food crops or a pleasure garden.85 Security may not have been a concern if no portable valuables were stored in X10. Moreover, access to the rest of the house would not have been available once the southern door of this space was locked. Among the refinements in the construction of the portico is the consistency in the distances between the successive upright supports (the pier and the pillars), as well as between the south pillar and the room’s south wall, all of which were approximately 2.00 m apart. The two pillars and the pier were also similar in size, their sides ranging from 0.70 m to 0.75 m. The wall construction is not as exceptional, at least on the face of the west wall visible from within X10. The north face of the south wall could not be exposed in excavation, concealed as it was by fill underlying a later wall built over it. The north end of the west wall with its pier (Fig. 1.6; Pl. 1.13A) preserved for some eight to nine courses (+6.53 m at the top level) is unusual in its construction. This structure was provided with a solid foundation not common in Minoan non-elite domestic architecture: a massive uncut stone projecting irregularly beyond all three sides of the pier.86 The builders’ concern was clearly to prevent subsidence, given the considerable weight put on this support from the overlying superstructure. Also impressive is the evidence for timber reinforcement inferred from a reasonably preserved course of the pier’s masonry, which shows the use of a single large stone block spanning the whole width of the pier (Pl. 1.13A). It is possible that the alternate courses above and below such large blocks incorporated segments of wooden beams set longitudinally and transversely at one or the other of the pier’s two corners, where they may have acted as braces.87 Smaller stones used as further support and to chink the gaps fell out as soon as the wood decayed. Longer pieces of wood set transversely along the longer sides of the pier tied the narrow end of the pier to the wall with which it continued south. The pillars consisted of superposed squared stone blocks that were kept in place merely through their weight, except for the highest block, which would probably have been secured by means of wooden tenons to a wooden framework attached to the ceiling.88 Of the bottom blocks, the northern pillar measures 0.78 m

37

north–south, 0.72 m east–west, and 0.70 m in height (level at top: +5.92 m, level at bottom: +5.22 m). The southern pillar measures 0.70 m north–south, 0.72 m east–west, and 0.58 m in height (level at top: +5.81 m, level at bottom: +5.25 m). Thus, the blocks were nearly equal in size, except for their height, the southern block being some 0.12 m shorter. While some Minoan pillars rested on a wide, low, stone platform set within the floor,89 this was not the case with the two pillars at Kommos. Small slabs were placed under them here and there, clearly helping to level the bottom block, but these may not have projected above floor level, except in the case of the southern pillar, where such support projected somewhat beyond the block (Fig. 1.6; Pl. 1.14C).90 In both of the pillars, the blocks were made of a type of sandy fossiliferous stone, which was occasionally used in stone implements, including the tall mortar found in X10 (Blitzer 1995, 419, 481). More interesting is that blocks of the same unusual material were found built into the foundation course of the three visible walls of Greek Building F. The obvious conclusion is that the Greek builders helped themselves to blocks once used in the Minoan pillars. In the case of the southern pillar, a block may still have been sitting atop the one we found in situ. All the Iron Age mason had to do was to lift it up and reposition it, in this case, two steps away, at the northwest corner of the foundation course of Building F (Pl. 1.14C). With regard to the superstructure above the pillar portico (further considered below in Ch. 5), there are three possibilities. (1) The pillars merely carried a roof. (2) There was a large room upstairs, as wide as X10, with windows on the north and east. This latter possibility is raised by the presence of loomweights in X10, where some of the weaving tools may have ended up when the upper floor collapsed.91 (3) There was a portico-like space above the ground floor portico, as noted earlier with reference to examples elsewhere on Crete. Weathering patterns on the two pillar blocks may be relevant to the later history of X10, as weathering suggests a long exposure. The north pillar seems to have suffered the most, as its surfaces were blackened through exposure and pieces of the stone flaked off, particularly around its southeast corner, which faced the road. On the southern pillar, contrastingly, the stone retains its yellowish hue from the sand content, and one can see white specks from shells or fossils in it. The replacement of the east wall of Space X3 (Figs. 1.5, 1.6; Pl. 1.13A), initially the thick west wall of the portico X10, must have been undertaken because it was damaged. The damage must have occurred sometime between LM IB and LM II and may have signaled the end of the use of X10, when the doorway leading south to X11/X12 and the remaining parts of House X was also blocked.

38

MARIA C. SHAW

Construction postdating House X in the area of X10 is represented by an east–west wall with a short southern return on the west, built over the south wall of X10, the door of which was already blocked. The northernmost of the two later walls could be followed in excavation as it continued ca. 2.20 m east, running under the floor of Greek Building F (Fig. 1.6). Its preservation there was somewhat lower (ca. +5.54 m versus +5.85/5.88 m on the west), probably as a result of leveling in the Greek period. It is built of good-sized rectangular blocks that may have been robbed from the underlying and leveled adjacent walls, and it measures ca. 0.55 m in width like its south return, of which only a small part was preserved. Two walls were also revealed at the east scarp, barely projecting from it (Fig. 1.6; Pl. 1.13A). These were set above the original floor of X10. The northern one (approximately 0.68 m wide, its elevations at ca. +5.41 m at the bottom and ca. +6.36 m at the top) was placed roughly across the north pillar, but not in line with it, and it seems to end on the west with a sloppily built anta made of rubble and cut stones clearly quarried from earlier walls. The southern wall (ca. 0.85 m wide), also roughly built, projects some 0.75 m west of the scarp, and it is preserved for three to four courses (its elevations at +6.36 m at the top and +5.66/5.70 m at the bottom). It was built just north of the southern pillar, and its destroyed west face suggests that it may have once continued west, just north of the pillar. Another feature of a later date is what the excavator described as a platform—a small area (ca.1.10m x 0.80 m) along the north side of the northeast pillar roughly covered by slabs of varying sizes and shapes, their top levels ranging from +5.99 m to +6.08 m, their bases from +5.87 m to 5.92 m (Figs. 1.6, 1.20). However, since the so-called platform is immediately adjacent to a pile of stones and slabs that seem to have come from a collapsed wall (its top at +5.80/6.00, its base at +5.35/5.45 m), it may simply be part of that pile. At least one large squared stone found next to the pier’s northeast corner and leaning against it had likely fallen from the pier (Fig 1.8, top right; Pl. 1.14D). STRATIGRAPHY, FINDS, AND USE The southern portion of X10, along with the northern part of X11/X12, was the first part of House X to be discovered in 1977, when an exploratory trench (11A) was set some distance away from the principal foci of excavation at the time, namely, the main part of the Minoan town to the north. Excavation of X10 was resumed in 1993, when Trench 87A revealed the northern portion of the space and a small area to its north. Finally, the excavation of Trench 93E (1994) removed fill left at a level higher than the floor north of the pier

and somewhat to the west, locating in the process the base of the pier and a later wall extending north from just west of the pier and north of X3 (Fig. 1.6; Pl. 1.13A). The levels reached in excavation varied somewhat. Trench 11A continued down to bedrock (at ca. +4.30/ 4.32 m) in a sounding set in the room’s southwest corner. Above it lay a sandy fill ca. 0.50 thick containing Protopalatial sherds (Betancourt 1990, 65–68). Over the sand lay a thin layer of soil containing MM III–LM IA sherds (Trench 11A/40) topped by the first recognizable floor (made of soil) at ca. +4.95 m (the top part of Trench 11A/40). In his ceramic report, Rutter treats this last level as the first surface associated with X10, interpreting the pottery over it (Pottery Group X10:1) as a dump of LM II date. Of similar date, and treated as part of the same pottery group, was pottery excavated in the north part of X10 and outdoors to the north. Lack of earlier pottery in X10 is likely due to the systematic clearing of debris from earlier use, perhaps to maintain the level of the floor, rather than being an indication that X10 was not part of the plan of the original House X. The surface of its floor rose toward the north, as also indicated by the west wall of X10. The base of that wall reached as high as +5.20/5.22 m, a level matched by the area farther east of it, where the north pillar was located. The LM II dump itself sloped down toward the north from its highest point, where it was dumped first against the south wall of X10. Pottery Group X10:1. Fill on surface at +4.96 m and up to +5.60/5.65 m in the southern three-quarters of the room: Trench 11A/19, 20, 21, 24, 26, 31, 35; fill on the same surface from ca. +5.11 m and up to 5.79/5.82/5.83 m in the northern part of the room: Trench 87A/46, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 60, 64, 66, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73. LM II. J3 Lw 30–Lw 35, Lw 50, Lw 59, Lw 60 GS 519

Glass bead

Ch. 3.6

Loomweights Cobble

GS 244

Whetstone

GS 002

Cobble

GS 649

Quern

Ch. 3.3 Blitzer 1995, pl. 8.42 Blitzer 1995, pl. 8.15 Blitzer 1995, pl. 8.3 Blitzer 1995, 480

S 144, S 342, S 139, S 334, S 2341, S 2324 S 2241 Me 2 St 31 St 32

Stone tools Fragment of quern Metal rod Quern Mortar

Ch. 3.2 Ch. 3.4 Ch. 3.4

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

As it was part of a dump, the fill and finds associated with Pottery Group X10:1 cannot be trusted to reveal the types of activities that took place within X10, and this is particularly true of the pottery. There is a considerable quantity of bones from this deposit, but few shells. Whether these remains derived from food processing or preparation in this area is unclear. There is a chance, however, that some of the objects found may have been deposited before the dumping took place, and these could throw some light on the use of this area. For example, the heavier stone implements could plausibly have been used in X10, a large and well-illuminated space with immediate access to the hillside to the north. A tall cylindrical mortar and a quern (St 32, St 31) were probably used for food processing. The mortar was made of the same granular sandy stone as the pillars in X10. Quite possibly the mortar was carved out of a piece of stone left over after the pillars were built. Both the main part of the mortar and the quern were found in the heap of stones lying directly west of the northeast pillar and extending west to the pier. A smaller piece of the rim of the mortar was exposed through erosion some years after formal excavation had ended, in fill that was left unexcavated against the south wall of X10 and under the somewhat projecting wall that had been built over it later on. The numerous loomweights may have fallen from a weaving room above X10. Pottery Group X10:2. Contents of floor (above the LM II dump), from +5.70 m to +5.80 m. Trench 11A/17. LM IIIA:2. C 5644 Me 6

Clay disk Metal strip

Ch. 3.2

Pottery Group X10:3. Fill over floor at +5.80 m and up to +5.88 m. Trench 11A/15. Late Minoan IIIA:2. No notable finds. The next floor was found at a considerably higher level, as high as +5.80/5.82 m, and this creates a problem for dating the two walls jutting out from the east scarp, the bases of which are higher than the original walls but lower than the top level of the dump. Possibly they were built at a point in between, and dumping took place incrementally. As very little is known about these walls, their use remains a mystery. Rather problematic also is the date of construction of the east–west wall over the south wall of X10. Rutter has called attention to the presence of tiny sherds in this stratum that he suggests represents the composition of the floor (Pottery Group X10:2). In view of the date, this may represent a surface laid out during the use of LM III monumental Building P, though little is known of its use, given the scarcity of finds. The Iron Age reoccupation of this area provides a sequel to the history of House X. Greek sherds appeared

39

as far down as the level of the top of the bottom block of the south pillar.92 Blocks must have been available above this level, whether still in situ or fallen and scattered, and their reuse in the foundations of Building F clearly dates to the time of the latter’s construction in the late sixth century B.C.93 It is interesting and probably not coincidental that the long west wall of the Greek building was positioned directly south of the pillars and in the same north–south axis, which made it easier for the Greek builders to lift the blocks off the south pillar.94

Space X11/X12 ARCHITECTURE This space appears originally to have been a single large room that was later divided into two corridor-like spaces when two walls meeting at right angles were installed in it (Figs. 1.2, 1.5, 1.6; Pl. 1.15A). The original north–south dimension of the space (2.85 m) is clear, but the east–west dimension (3.10 m) can only be inferred from our estimate of the line of the house’s east facade. The width of the space’s southern entrance, of which the west jamb is visible, but not the east one, is unknown. In Figure 1.2 we have restored the entrance in a nearly central position, with the east part of the south wall being somewhat shorter than the west one. This may have actually been the case, as we restored the east wall of X11/X12 along the line of what we can be certain represents the interior face of the east facade wall of the house. A small portion of the facade running north–south along some of the bottom steps was exposed during the excavation of X15e (Pl. 1.14B, middle rear). The fairly large size of X11/X12 made it suitable for household activities. It may therefore have been more than a simple passageway to and from the northern rooms, although the latter function must also have been a prominent one. The traffic may have included people coming daily from elsewhere to participate in activities taking place in the large and partly hypaethral Space X10 to the north. In view of the hypothesis that outsiders may have used the latter area, it would also make sense for X11/X12 to have had a proper door to prevent access to the rest of the house, including the large staircase (X15) positioned next to the entrance from outdoors. The idea of outsiders partaking of activities in X10 and in particular of coming to the house to receive manufactured or prepared goods to take to the palace finds further support in the proximity of X11/X12 to the main or only exterior door of the house. Exiting through Lobby X16, the carriers of whatever materials were involved could simply take the slab-paved south road leading directly to the entrance of the storage areas in the northeast quarters of Building T (Fig. 1.2). Although a phase of destruction in LM IA put some rooms in the northeast corner of

40

MARIA C. SHAW

Building T out of use, the building’s east wing may have continued in service until it was replaced by Building P. The construction of the original walls in X11/X12 was not unlike that in the rest of the house. The west wall is the southern continuation of the west wall of X10, with the same thickness of 0.70–0.75 m, typical of the width of the north facade of the house as well. It is preserved for four to five courses, ca. 0.95 m high (the maximum level at its top is +5.71–5.75 m). Only the north wall’s south face remains visible from within X11/X12, along with the blocking of the doorway (Figs. 1.3, 1.5; Pl. 1.14C). As seen in an architectural section, the blocking masonry was badly destroyed, while the wall itself was preserved for about five courses (central part of section D–D'; Fig. 1.29). As some of the stones were missing from the bottom course of the anta, while the blocking masonry started somewhat lower down, it is possible that there might once have been a threshold that was removed at the time the blocking was installed, perhaps for reuse elsewhere. The width of this doorway is ca. 0. 60 m. Only ca. 1.20 m of the wall is visible today, but it is clear that it continued east under Greek Building F, ending at the house’s east facade wall. The visible portion consists of five courses (ca. 0.80 m high). There is nothing noteworthy in its construction. The visible part of the south wall of X11/X12 is some 1.40 m long (Pl. 1.15A). It too was constructed of a variety of stones, except for its anta, which was built with somewhat larger cut blocks. The wall was ca. 0.60 m wide as measured at the anta, which is fully preserved, unlike the south face of the wall that was apparently dismantled and rebuilt, bringing its width to ca. 0.80 m. As visible from within X16 to the south (Pl. 1.15B, left rear) where its base was reached, the added southern face is preserved for some four courses. From this side, it is obvious that the new face started at a level somewhat below that of the paving slabs (at ca. +4.60 m) in X16, and there is a chance that slabs were removed when this face was built. The character of X11/X12 changed radically when the gamma-shaped structure was built within it (Figs. 1.5, 1.6; Pl. 1.15A). The north–south wall of this structure was built against the north side of the southern doorway’s west anta. At its north end it turned east. If this return continued to the house’s east wall, as it likely did, it would have blocked the doorway that led originally to corridor X16. A small area in the southeast part of X11/X12 would still have been accessible for use, possibly storage. It is a matter of speculation, but it is tempting to asssociate this remodeling with the drastic change in Staircase X15 made by blocking the entrance from X16 into its sottoscala.

The gamma-shaped structure was poorly built (Pl. 1.15B), and it was leveled when later construction took place farther north. Little remains of that activity, except for a large block found resting on soil above the earlier wall (Pl. 1.15C). Whether this was part of LM III or Iron Age construction is unknown. The level of the block at +5.71 m is indicated in the state plan (Fig. 1.6); that of the Minoan wall below is at ca. +5.53 m. Of the gamma-shaped structure’s two walls, only the west wall (Pl. 1.15C) has been completely exposed (its width 0.55–0.57 m), although its proximity to the east scarp does not allow us to see fully its east face there. Again, only the outer or north face of the north wall is visible, with the interior south face vaguely discernible only from the top (Pl. 1.15A). The two late walls were built very far down, the north one at ca. +4.78 m, the west one at +4.83 m. The practice of setting a later structure so deep is paralleled by the blocking of the doorway in X11/X12. Both the blocking process and the wall evidently preceded the construction of another wall with the south return built atop both the north wall of X11/X12 and the blocking of the doorway leading to X 10 (Fig. 1.6; Pl. 1.14C). STRATIGRAPHY, FINDS, AND USE The stratigraphic phases in X11/X12 are similar to those encountered in X10, but the insertion of the gamma-shaped structure is difficult to date, except in relative terms, given the depth at which its two walls were set and the fact that we could not dig deep enough within it. We thus have no knowledge of the initial floor. Excavation was carried out in two trenches, 11A (1977) in X11 and 73B (1991) in X12. A deep stratum of Protopalatial date was revealed in the north part of the space, where excavation with Trench 11A continued down to a greater depth (Trench 11A/36, 38, 41, 33). Partially exposed fill of similar date in the southern part (Trench 73A/109, in part) also contained MM III–LM IA sherds above what may have been the original floor at ca. +4.85 m. Because of its better-preserved and more representative pottery, the next Neopalatial floor (at +5.00/5.05m) was the first to be treated as a pottery group (X11/X12:1), dated to LM IB Late. The pottery, consisting of cups and pouring vessels, is not suggestive of any specific function, but the presence of ceramic imports from other areas of Crete is of interest. Pottery Group X11/X12:1. Floor at ca. 5.00/5.05 m and fill above it to ca. +5.10/5.20 m. Trenches 11A/30 and 73B/107. LM IB Late. J8

Shell pendant Bones and shells

Ch. 3.6 Ch. 4

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

Ruscillo notes the presence of many ornamental shells. She suggests that X11/X12 was a closet, used also to store jewelry, but the space might be too large for such a function, not to mention its being right in the path of individuals entering the house from outside and proceeding to X10 and outdoors to the north, rather than being closer to more private quarters, in the house’s western rooms. Pottery Group X11/X12: 2. Dump over the LM IB Late floor, rising from ca. +5.20 m to +5.50/5.60 m. Trenches 11A/25, 27 and most of Pails 18, 22, 23, 25, 27; 73B/parts of Pails 100 and 104. LM II. Bo 4F, Bo 5 Cl 5 J2 Me 1 Me 23 St 12 Fr 10, P 292

Worked bone Drain fragment Bead Metal shaft Tweezers Elongated cobble Plaster fragments Bones and shells Pumice and charcoal

Ch. 4 Ch. 3.5 Ch. 3.6 Ch. 3.2 Ch. 3.2 Ch. 3.4 Ch. 2 Ch. 4

Like X10, X11/X12 was ultimately used for a dump, in this case a LM II deposit ca. 0.25 m thick, rising nearly to the top of the walls as now preserved. Rutter notes the mixture of LM III sherds in the north part of this dump and even historic sherds at the same level further south. Finds other than pottery cannot be indicative of use, since the dump must have contained objects discarded from different locations. Painted plaster fragments (P 291, P 292), the former cataloged as Fr 10, were either dumped here or had fallen gradually from the space’s walls (if these were painted). They are included here, although the excavation unit to which they belong (Trench 81C/32, 33) was not of sufficient ceramic importance to be included in the pottery group. Other finds may not necessarily have been brought here from another location. For instance, pieces of a clay drain (Cl 5) could have fallen from the drain’s original position along the east facade of House X, where it would have carried rainwater onto the road (J.W. Shaw 2004, 173–188). The next level represents the use of an upper structure with two walls, one built over the north wall of X11/X12, the other that wall’s very partially preserved south return on the west. The lower part of the related stratum is characterized by a mixture of LM II and III sherds (Trench 11A/14, 16). The LM II sherds represent the upper part of the dump merging with use in LM III. The presence of Greek sherds suggests that the post-Minoan settlers 95 used what was once a Minoan surface. Iron Age activities are of the type witnessed elsewhere in the Southern Area of the Kommos site. Cooking and eating are attested by the evidence for burning and pieces of charcoal, along with quantities of bones and shells.96

41

Space X16 ARCHITECTURE Space X16, a corridor and lobby, played a crucial role in circulation within House X. The main entrance to the house was located on its east side. From X16 it was possible to access Staircase X15e, and, through an entrance under the staircase’s upper flight (X15w), one could enter a sottoscala area probably once used for storage (X15s). One could also proceed west from X16 to X6 and X9, each providing access to other rooms. Today the main entrance to the house is invisible, lying as it does below Greek Building F, but there is no reason to doubt that it was located where we have restored it (Fig. 1.2), directly northeast of the staircase’s lower flight (X15e), an arrangement quite typical in houses of the Bronze Age Aegean.97 Suitably, the entrance to the house was a short distance north of the intersection of Roads 32 and 17, the two roads skirting the house respectively on the east and south. The dimensions of X16 can be calculated as ca. 2.60 m east–west and ca. 1.50 m north–south. The corridor narrowed toward the west, however, with the distance of ca. 0.70 m between the northwest corner of the staircase and the southeast corner of X6, an opening that may have been closed by a door. The exposed part of X16 is paved with stone slabs, except for a narrow strip along its north wall where one might have expected the slabs to continue (Pl. 1.15B). It is possible that they were removed during a remodeling of the south wall of X11/X12, as suggested in a restored plan where the invisible or restored slabs are dashed (Fig 1.30). The paved floor of X16 ended with a low step on the west (top at +4.63 m) leading up to the somewhat higher level of the soil floor of X9 to the east. The pavement sloped down to the east, its lowest visible slab there being at +4.55 m. The purpose of the slope may have been to minimize the difference between the floor level of X16 and that of the road, thus requiring fewer steps at the entrance into the house if the street surface was considerably lower.98 Tentatively, we suggest two steps, one set on the road along the east facade of the house, the other acting as a threshold.99 The road system and the location of entrances into House X and Building T facilitated movement and communication within their vicinities (Fig. 1.2). Slab-paved Road 17 clearly led westward to the sea, but it probably also continued eastward (as Road 33). Although the exposure in excavation of north–south Road 32 and its southern continuation, Road 34, was limited, the slabpaved south part of Road 34 was revealed to lead directly to a probable entrance of Building T located in the north part of the east wall. The entrance from the road, which came to a stop just there, led into the northeastern

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MARIA C. SHAW

and largely utilitarian part of Building T. This arrangement attests to the close relationship between these complexes that the builders had in mind at the time when House X was being built and Building T likely was still in use. Alternatively, such a connection may have existed with a predecessor of House X, now lying under it, as revealed in a sounding in Space X4. As usual with spaces in House X, architectural modifications were made to X16. The addition of a new face built like a retaining wall against its north wall was noted under the survey of X11/X12 (Fig. 1.5; Pl. 1.15A, bottom center). X16 was also affected by the insertion of the gamma-shaped structure in X11/X12. Extending that structure’s north wall all the way to the east wall in X11/X12 (Fig. 1.5), as was likely done, would have created a new space, located directly north of the entrance and accessible only from X16. If this event took place, it must mark a time when the rest of X11/X12 and X10 to the north were no longer in use. Finally, a north–south wall was built on the west side of X16 on a surface (at +5.00–5.13 m) laid over fill that had accumulated on the space’s original slab floor. This poorly built wall was preserved for about three courses (rising up to +5.36 m) and set like a retaining wall against stone debris already accumulated in X9 (Figs. 1.8, 1.26, 1.31). This wall would have completely isolated X16 from the rest of the house, although the space on the east must still have opened onto the outdoors and whatever small spaces existed north and south of X16. Perhaps in the end it was used by squatters who had access from the road to X16 but not to the rest of the house.

S 2348

Half of a large quern Bones and shells Plaster bits

Ch. 4 Ch. 2

The presence of parts of three cooking vessels (C 11846, C 11848, C 11849), as well as some animal bones and shells, may attest to cooking, with a related activity represented by the presence of a quern.101 There was also a sizable accumulation of pumice (particularly in Pail 77), uncommon in House X, raising the question of the space’s function at this time. Pumice has been found in several places in the town of Kommos, the largest quantity being associated with a piece of iron oxide found under a pot-bellows in Space N6 of the North House. In that case, the pumice was likely used as an abrasive for finishing and polishing metal tools; metallurgical activity probably took place in that location (Blitzer 1995, 508, 530; M.C. Shaw 1996b, 44). Whether this was also the 102 case in X16 is unknown. Pottery Group X16:2. Fill atop rough floor at +5.04 m (south) to +5.13 m (north) and up to +5.38 m (south) to +5.53 m (north). Trench 81C/34, 35, 37. LM IIIA:2. S 2185

Quern of beach rock

The next phase in X16 sees the blocking of the passage to X9, with a rough north–south wall built against stone debris in X9. Pottery Group X16:2 is associated with the rough surface below the blocking wall. The surface continued north, beyond X16, and, at least in the area over X16, the pottery dates its use to LM IIIA2. This surface likely relates to walls (like those atop the north wall of X11/X12) that postdate House X.

STRATIGRAPHY, FINDS, AND USE

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

Space X16 was excavated in a single trench (81C, 1992). A thin layer of soil directly above the slab floor (and up to +4.61/4.65 m: Fig. 1.26) dates to LM II and represents the original floor’s latest use (Trench 81C/81). Any earlier remains were cleared out by the residents in order to keep the floor at its original level, as X16 was a passageway. Pottery was scanty, and this was also the case with the next fill, a thin layer (Trench 81C/80, up to +4.70/4.72m), which, oddly, was characterized by small Protopalatial sherds. This earlier material may suggest the occurrence of a collapse that was followed by a repair 100 involving the clearing away of floor debris. Alternatively, the debris may have come from the repair of a rebuilt wall, perhaps the northeast wall of X16. Such an event might explain the presence of pieces of plaster directly above this stratum (in Trench 81C/79). The sherds from the following stratum, dated to LM IIIA1, are the first to be treated as a pottery group (X16:1). Pottery Group X16: 1. Further fill over the original slab floor, from +4.70/4.72 m to 5.10/5.16 m. Trench 81C/74, 77, 78, 79. LM IIIA:1.

It is reasonable to assume that until LM II, X16 functioned as a passageway or waiting room. Communication with X9 continued through LM IIIA:1, but access to that space was finally blocked by the construction of the socalled retaining wall. The conversion of spaces of some grace (like X16 during the phase of Pottery Group X16:1) is attested in houses on the Hilltop and Hillside parts of the Kommos town, where hearths and little ovens were set within once well-appointed rooms, perhaps at a somewhat later date. This phenomenon occurred even earlier within Palatial Building T, when the status of the North Stoa was reduced; it was divided into small spaces, some used for cooking and other household activities represented by grinding implements and hearths set there and just south of the stoa.103

Staircase X15 ARCHITECTURE Staircase X15, which was larger than the western staircase X13, was set in the southeast corner of the

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

house next to the main entrance from Road 32 (Fig. 1.2). It was comprised of two flights (X15e and X15w) and a large space to their south (X15s), representing the lower landing, with a sottoscala, which extended north under the higher flight, X15w. The L-shaped sottoscala was originally entered from X16 through X15w, where there was greater head clearance under the higher flight. Because of later remains, not all of the staircase could be exposed. Unseen are the lowest steps, which were partly hidden by the southwest corner of overlying Greek Building F, and the east and south walls, although a small part of the stairway’s east wall was revealed (Figs. 1.2, 1.7, 1.8; Pl. 1.14B). Of the visible or partially visible stone steps of the staircase (Pls. 1.12B, 1.14A), only the lowest (Step 4 in Fig. 1.32) appears to have been in situ. The higher ones subsided somewhat, requiring us to reconstruct their original levels. As suggested in the restored plan and the elevation (Figs. 1.30, 1.33, 1.34), Step 1 would have started at ca. +4.40 m, the level estimated for the sloping floor of X16 beyond its last visible slab at +4.55 m (Fig. 1.7). The original levels of the remaining steps have been calculated on the basis of the height of the riser between Steps 4 and 5, the former being the lowest visible step (its top surface at +5.22–5.18 m west–east, some ca. 0.20 m lower than the top of Step 5), and the observation that risers tend to be consistent in height in other well-built Minoan staircases. The breadth of the treads was also fairly uniform. The steps were generally some 0.28 m high, each consisting of two rectangular blocks, their total width ca. 1.30 m. As was common elsewhere, the stone steps rested on a sloping mound of compact soil, shaped in section like a ramp. This kept the first six steps more or less in situ, but Step 7 was less so. Beyond this point, and continuing a short distance south were further slabs. The one marked “b” in Figure 1.32 was probably part of the landing. Under it and continuing south was a stack of stones that may have acted as a prop for this part of the landing, which, unlike the rest of the landing, may have been built of stone rather than having a floor of boards. The wooden floor, also acting as the ceiling of the sottoscala, would have rested on beams, as suggested in the restored elevation (Fig. 1.33). Stones in the supporting structure, along with the slabs collapsed around it to the south and west, were drawn by our excavation architect, as the excavators believed at the time that they may have been steps of an earlier staircase (Fig. 1.32). The assumed levels of the steps of Staircase X15 allow for a rough estimate of the level of the ceiling at ca. +6.77 m and of the floor above it (the upper landing) at +7.12 m (assuming the ceiling’s thickness was ca. 0.35 m). From these calculations it may be inferred that the distance between the ceiling and the level of the floor in 104 X16 where the sottoscala was entered was ca. 2.30 m.

43

Massive stone debris was found in X15s all the way to the trench’s south edge (Figs. 1.8, 1.31 top left). Some of it consisted of cut blocks that were clearly parts of collapsed steps of the higher part of the first flight (Fig. 1.35). Other stones had become dislodged from the interior faces of the surrounding walls (Pls. 1.14A, 1.15D), though most of the wall blocks must have fallen outdoors, east and southeast of the house. No floor was reached in X15w. If there had been one, it may have been farther down, hidden under fallen stone debris and earth. A floor, on the other hand, was reached south of X15w in the west part of X15s. It was made of packed earth and marked by a few paving slabs that helped determine its level, +4.16/4.10 m (Fig. 1.7; Pl. 1.2A). The removal of this debris led to the discovery of the threshold of the new doorway to X9, partly covered by the fallen blocks (Pls. 1.12A, 1.15D). What use was made of the north part—that is, of X15w, the space under the higher flight—is difficult to infer, given that the doorway leading to X16 was now blocked by a wall that had no face on the south (Fig. 1.36), which was now full of stone debris (Fig. 1.31, top left). There is no clear evidence of a floor here, directly south of the entrance into the earlier sottoscala from the north, but one must have existed (lower down?). To judge by the cross wall between the west and east walls of the western flight, a person entering from the north stepped down onto a floor at a lower level in the west part of X15s. This floor was made mainly of compacted soil, but it contained a few paving slabs that helped us determine its level, which was ca. +4.15 m. The dividing wall thus acted also as a retaining wall (Pl. 1.16A). One other feature that is difficult to interpret is the north–south wall dividing the two flights. The southernmost step of the east flight (Step 7 in Fig. 1.32) was set somewhat farther south than the south end of the dividing wall, raising the question of whether the dividing wall once continued further south. Judging from other Minoan staircases, it is possible that there was originally a stone block set against the south end of the partition wall, provided with cuttings that helped stabilize upright beams linked with the ceiling beams to keep the partition wall from collapsing. This solution is suggested in a reconstruction indicating the adjacent lowest step of the west flight on the other side of the assumed block, which is shown set on the lower floor directly to the south in X15s 105 (Fig.1.30). The blocking of the north entrance into the sottoscala and its replacement with a new one set in the southeast corner of X15 has been referred to previously, with the related remodeling of the west wall’s east face discussed in detail under Space X9 (Fig. 1.25). It is the east side of this wall that remains to be considered (Pl. 1.12B), which consists of uniformly sized, slim rectangular

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MARIA C. SHAW

blocks resulting in neat horizontal courses. Visible on this face (but not on the opposite one seen from X9) is a vertical break north of the north anta of the new doorway. This represents construction following the opening of the previously solid west wall to create the new doorway and the rebuilding of the north anta using the same stones (Pls. 1.12B, 1.15D). There are two last comments regarding the restoration of the staircase, which may have been slightly remodeled according to the excavation’s architectural draftsperson and architect Giuliana Bianco. In the last and best known stage, it looked as restored in Figure 1.33. Figure 1.34 shows it built somewhat lower. Evident is its rather large middle landing (X15s; Fig. 1.33), but there is a question of whether X15s might have had a door on its west side, leading west to Space X9. The well-preserved staircases at Akrotiri show that large landings were provided with a door (Palyvou 2005, fig. 190). In House X, however, the estimated height of the ceiling of Space X9, directly west of X15, had to be higher than the landing, given the level of its floor (at ca. +4.40/4.50 m), which makes it doubtful that there was a door. STRATIGRAPHY, FINDS, AND USE There were few finds within the sottoscala. The pottery on the slab-paved floor included material from LM II, but the latest and better-preserved sherds were LM IIIA:1 (Trench 97G/79), and this was also the date of the thick layer of wall debris (Trench 97G/77 and 78) in the northern part of that space. The ceramic evidence from the northern area belongs to Pottery Group X15:1, while that of the higher level belongs to Pottery Group X15:2, believed by Rutter to be part of a dump that originated north of the house and in Space X10, redeposited here through erosion. Pottery Group X15: 1. Fill in X15w from ca. +4.36/4.42 m to ca. +5.10/5.14 m. Trench 81C/48, 51, 54A. LM IIIA:1, Phase 1. Me 27 S 2196

Fishhooks Cobble Bones and shells

Ch. 3.2 Ch. 4

Pottery Group X15: 2. Fill (a dump?) above +5.10/5.14 m and up to +5.65 m. Trench 81C/32D, 36, 36A, 38. LM IIIA:1, Phase 2 (redeposited in LM IIIA:2 Early). Bones and shells

Ch. 4

Ruscillo notes the presence of some 74 Glycymeris shells and meat-bearing bones, and she suggests that the contents of the fill may have been washed down from uphill because of the wear in the associated sherd material.

Periphery of House X As noted in the introduction to this chapter, House X was bordered by roads on the south and east and probably by a lane on the west (Fig. 1.2). The south and east roads were discussed in detail in a previous publication (Shaw and Shaw, eds., 2006) concerned with the monumental buildings in the Southern Area, partially shown in the same illustration. The belief expressed there was that at least Road 17 was laid out in the Protopalatial period, before monumental Building T was built.106 One might assume this to have been the case also with Road 32/34, which crossed Road 17 just east of House X. This road was in use until the end of Minoan occupation of the site and was still visible when Temple A was built in the Early Protogeometric period over the ruins of the west end of the north wing of Building T. The west end of the road’s slab surface had by then been covered by a layer of windblown sand. Farther east, there was soil and rubble on its surface, some found directly south of House X, but the stones were too few and relatively too small to represent wall debris, which may have been cleared off the road previously. Early in the Iron Age, Road 17 became the favorite dumping ground for cultic offerings discarded from the Greek temples. This practice reshaped the topography of the area (M. Shaw, 2000, 149, 156–157), including raising the level of the Minoan road, which was originally constructed in a cutting in the side of the hill on which the town was built. In the area northeast of the house the upper Minoan levels were characterized by massive LM II dumps, which were mostly concentrated on the east but continued intermittently to the west as far as the area north of X1. The higher levels were a mixture of LM II and LM III, ending with mixed strata representing the Minoan period (with some LM IIIB sherds related to superficial, fragmentary walls) and the Archaic reoccupation. The earliest strata encountered, dating to the MM period, were found in soundings excavated north of X2 and X3 (Trenches 74A, 74B, 87A, 93E; Figs. 1.3, 1.4). The upper ancient walls, Minoan and Greek, partially determined where excavation could continue in depth. A number of these had a north–south orientation and, although their function could not always be understood, their irregular shape and poor construction—often heaped rubble—suggest that they functioned as retaining walls (Pl. 1.16B). The more fragmentary of these were removed (Fig. 1.8). Three walls extended north of X2 and X3; the one that lay north of X2 had a northeasterly orientation, and a LM II dump was heaped against it.

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

Excavation north of X2 continued in depth in Y2 in Trench 74A (Fig. 1.6). A room with a slab floor (at ca. +4.86/4.90 m) was found there, packed with masses of MM III pottery (Shaw and Shaw 1993, 136–137, pl. 20a). Parts of three walls (west, north, and east) were revealed, the eastern one with a gap at its south end suggesting an opening for a doorway. Because of the presence of the two superposed latest north walls of X2 and fill that could not be excavated underneath them, we do not know if the southeast doorway of Y2 was a central one. In the survey of Space X2 above, the present writer speculates that its east and west walls once may have continued south, abutting against or ending at the eastto-west Cross Wall (possibly MM in date) running east–west midway through X2 (Pl. 1.8A).107 Excavation revealed that the original north wall of X2 was built less than 0.10 m above the MM slab floor of Y2, a situation paralleled in X1 and X4, where MM walls were found just under the floors of House X. Within the deep MM III deposit that rose up ca. 1.20 m in Y2 was a handful of LM IA sherds, some found just above the slab surface in the north part of Y2 (Trench 74A/56, +4.88 m to +5.09 m, Fig. 1.6), the rest higher up, at the level of the preserved top of the northern of the three MM walls at +5.70 m to 5.93 m (Trench 74A/50 and 49; Fig. 1.21). From the base of the lower of the two latest north walls of Room X2 (at ca. +6.04 m) and higher up, MM III sherds ceased to be predominant and were replaced by a stratum with substantial quantities of LM II pottery, from 74A/41 to 35 (Pottery Group X2N:1). This pottery continued north and was associated with the use of the retaining wall with a northeasterly direction north of Y2. Rutter has concluded that the MM III deposit in Y2 was a dump rather than pottery abandoned in situ, leading to the conclusion that the few LM sherds found with it represent the time when the dump was made. By extension, this was also the time of construction of the original north wall of X2, the one built just above the slab floor of Y2. The LM II dump at the higher level was eventually covered over by still later (LM IIIA:1) material (Trench 74A/27, 27A, 27B, 28, 30, 30A, 30B, 32, 32A, 34, Pottery Group X2N:2). This in turn was overlaid by a stratum of mixed Minoan and Iron Age sherds, which led Rutter to conclude that the pure Minoan layer represents fill that was not contaminated by later occupation, brought from further north. This event could have been associated with a leveling operation, perhaps related to the construction of the new north wall of X2 and the retaining wall farther north.

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Our hopes of finding the rest of the MM house to which Y2 belonged were not met in the excavation of area Y3/Y4, north of X3. It is possible that Y2 extended west, south, and north; the early walls below X1 and X4 may belong to it. There were other early walls, but these likely belonged to even earlier periods, given the level at which they started and the predominantly MM II strata associated with them. An east–west wall ran under the north wall X3. It had a different orientation (Fig. 1.6) and started as low down as +4.25/4.27 m, that is, nearly 0.70 m below the slab floor in Y2. Two walls meeting at right angles that were partially exposed in the northernmost part of the trench were likely contemporary with it. Their base was found at a higher level (at ca. +4.54 m), but this may be explained by the natural slope of the hill on which these two walls were built.108 Of these, the wall with a north–south orientation stopped about 1.00 m north of the east–west wall 109 that underlay the facade of X3. The space was probably a passage between houses that was eventually walled in, probably in MM II.110 The early east–west wall underlying the facade wall of X3 (Fig. 1.6; Pl. 1.16C) is of greater concern with regard to the history of House X. It consisted of some six uneven courses, ca. 0.80 m high, its rather flat top (at +5.02/5.09 m) clearly having been leveled before the north wall of X3 was built on top of it. Like the MM walls farther north, it was built mostly of small uncut stones. The stratigraphy in the area north of X3 and between the early walls in Y4 (Figs. 1.6, 1.37)111 is important not only for providing information about the date of the construction of House X, but for throwing light on strategies used to prepare the ground on which House X was built. As was the case north of X2, excavation north of X3 revealed a few sherds of early LM IA date112 within the deep MM level. The area north of X3, however, was characterized by MM II sherds (not found north of X2) in the lower levels (Trench 93E/80–83, 85). It is tempting to suggest that the MM II sherds date not only the use but even the construction of the wall underlying the north wall of X3 (Pl. 1.16D), as well as the two walls in the north part of the trench. Immediately higher strata (rising to the top of the more solidly built lower courses of the north facade of X3) display a mixture of MM IIB and MM III sherds, the latter being predominant (Trench 93E/77–79). The north facade of X3 (Pl. 1.16C) shows changes in construction that would normally imply rebuilding, but it is possible that the facade may not have been visible in its entirety at the beginning. The facade (Fig. 1.38) begins at

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a level of ca. +5.56 m with two courses that consist of similarly sized rectangular blocks and then continues up to ca. +5.91 m with two more courses of smaller blocks and some small fieldstones on the west. Above this there are three courses of rectangular blocks that are narrower than those at the very bottom, rising to +6.23 m. Still higher, there is rough masonry of large fieldstones for two more courses. The topmost two courses were once again blocks, but these were definitely part of new construction, as their line deviates somewhat from all the lower courses. Fill outside and against this facade remained a mixture of MM II and MM III up to ca. +5.56 m or a little higher, at the level immediately above the lowest two to three courses. Above that point there was a tendency for the pottery to contain post-MM sherds near the wall and MM sherds farther north. It is possible that the north wall’s lower exterior courses were buried when the preexisting MM fill removed during the leveling operation was thrown back in, immediately preceding construction. The first definite surface outdoors was located at +5.91 m, and any courses above this would have been visible from the beginning, as in Trenches 93E/73, 70 characterized by a mixture of MM to LM (and even some LM IIIA:1 sherds) and 93E/69, 63 purely MM II–III. It appears that the area outdoors, north of the central part of the house, was not used much. This may even be true in the case of the relatively pure MM strata (with MM III stratified over MM II). The handful of LM IA sherds, which were, strangely, found as low as the MM II strata, give the real date of the construction of House X. As to how the LM IA sherds were found so deep, the suggestion that they got there during the preparation of the building ground makes the best sense. A detailed study by Fotou (1990) of such preparations in Minoan architecture is particularly illuminating. Fotou makes the point that the Minoans set their walls on rather than within the ground, excluding the option of a foundation trench (a solution adopted in Greek times) for the north wall of House X. When building on slopes—which was and continues to be a typical situation on Crete— construction, according to Fotou, required a flat area. This would have been created either by digging into the side of the hill, her expression for this being “nivellement par creusement” (Fotou 1990, 47), or by leveling, that is, by dumping fill brought in to create a platform, her “nivellement par remblayage” (Fotou 1990, 62). Sometimes a combination of the two techniques was used (Fotou 1990, 65). In the case of House X, the first method seems to have been used the most, complemented where necessary by the use of fill. Such a major undertaking would probably have occurred earlier than the construction of House X, given the low level at which the north wall of the house was built.

If House X extended beyond the underlying MM III house, as seems to have been the case, however, the process would have been repeated in preparation for the construction of House X. One of the leveling operations would have been the demolition of the MM III walls down to their lowest courses, as in the case of Y2. The process thus seems to explain how the LM I sherds ended up at such low levels and why there seem to be stratified MM II and MM III finds north of the north wall of House X. In this scenario, the MM III pottery found in Y2 was dumped after the segment of the north wall of House X was built a short distance above Y2’s floor. We can speculate that this pottery had been there before, that it was removed to allow room for the builders, and then was dumped again after the north wall was built just above the MM slab floor. The solid construction and width of the north wall of House X east of X1 also call our attention to the fact that, because of the thick layers of soil to its north, it had to do double service as a retaining wall. This explains why it is so solid and thick (0.75–0.80 m). It is true that its thickness is matched by that of the west wall of X10, but this, to an extent, played the role of a facade or exterior wall. In the north part of X10, pillars held up the ceiling without the help of an east wall; X10 was a portico, open on north and east, the arrangement allowing a view to the east of Minoan Road 32/34. One last note to be added to this account of the leveling process is that, rather than being horizontal throughout, the leveling followed to a degree the natural incline of the hill, with the result that the floors within House X became progressively lower to the south. Thresholds helped with transitions to lower floors. There does not seem to be much difference in the levels from room to room as one goes east to west. The somewhat higher than expected level of floors in the north part of X10 may have resulted from the degree to which the leveling process took down earlier walls. A diagonal line of a wall unconnected with the overall orientation of the house, for instance, lies directly under the northeast corner of the projecting part of the west wall of X10, and no effort was made to remove it entirely. The reason, perhaps, was that this area at the north end of X10 was esentially outdoors, beyond the edge of the house. Overall, however, the preparatory work done prior to building House X appears to have been extensive. In her study, Fotou gauges status by the degree of effort involved in the preparation of building grounds, and the most impressive cases are primarily the palatial buildings and villas constructed at Knossos. The preparation of the building ground supports our interpretation of House X as the most impressive of all Neopalatial houses exposed so far at Kommos. Another important status indicator was its decoration with pictorial murals, to be discussed in the following chapter.

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

Chapter 1 Endnotes 1. The Kommos harbor has been described in J.W. Shaw 1996b, 8–10; 2006e; Gifford 1995, 76–80. For the former’s comments on the Mesara area, see Pope 2004, 43. Regarding the general area’s coastal outline, see the work of Fytrolakis, Peterek, and Schröder (2005), who propose that the use of the Kommos shoreline for harborage came about toward the end of the Early Minoan (EM) period due to the blockage of an embayment that once allowed ships to access both Hagia Triada and Phaistos along the north side of the Phaistos ridge. Kommos geologist John Gifford (pers. comm.) comments, “the data . . . show a remarkable amount of alluvial infilling in the Mires Basin during the Holocene: there is every possibility that Phaistos . . . was in fact overlooking a marine embayment. . . . The rapid infilling of the Mires Basin would also have landlocked any port installation on the Phaistos Ridge.” Gerhard Plath (forthcoming) enlarges upon the theme of Fytrolakis, Peterek, and Schröder (2005) with further illustration. See also Blackman et al., forthcoming. 2. With respect to the conventional chronological scheme used in North-Central Crete, the equivalents for Kommos are MM III A = Kommos MM III and MM III B = Kommos LM IA Early. For the Kommos MM II–LM I A sequence, see Van de Moortel 2001, 2006, and 2007; also Rutter and Van de Moortel 2006; Girella 2007 (esp. 239, fig. 4). See also Betancourt, forthcoming. Correspondence from Jeremy Rutter (pers. comm. 18 May 2008) and Philip Betancourt (pers. comm. 24 February 2008) has also clarified rough equivalents. 3. Each daybook was given the same number as the trench it recorded. Capital letters refer to the successive trenches. The following list gives the names of the trenchmasters involved in the excavation of House X and the trench or trenches they were responsible for: Lucia Nixon (Trench 11A, 1977), Robert Henrickson (Trenches 59A and 59A1, 1984), Steven Shubert (Trenches 66A, 1985; 72C, 1990), and Josée Sabourin (Trenches 74A, 74B, 1991; 81A, 81C, 1992; 87A, 1993). The present author dealt with the remaining trenches and soundings (73A, 73B, 1991; 80A, 1992; 86B, 86C, 1993; 93E, 93G, 1994; 97G, 1995). The daybooks have been scanned, and the contents are now digitally available at the University of Toronto’s TSpace Research Repository (https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/handle/1807/3004). Needless to say, opinions expressed there have often been superseded by those based either on further discoveries or further analysis. 4. This approach was already adopted by this author in a preliminary excavation report on House X (Shaw and Shaw 1993, 131–161). While much of what was said there still pertains, further excavation and more detailed study of the remains have resulted in new interpretations. 5. The term “auxiliary” is used by Palyvou in her discussion of the architecture of the Late Cycladic (LC) IA town of Akrotiri at Thera, e.g., in the West House (2005, 49, and space 7 in the plan of the first floor; 47, fig. 46). 6. The sockets are more clearly visible in photographs published in Shaw and Shaw, eds., 2006, pl. 169. 7. The MM II levels were excavated in Trench 86B/18, 19, 29–31, while fills of mixed MM III and earlier sherds were excavated in Trench 86B/13–16, 1, 17, 19.

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8. Trench 66A (1985), as excavated within Space X1, was limited to the east part of X1 and stopped at LM III levels (at +5.70 m); 73A (1991) dealt with the remaining west part of X1, except for a small area at the extreme west that was subsequently excavated with Trench 81A (1992), and it then continued east to include the strata under Trench 66A. Excavation in Trenches 73A and 81A stopped a short distance above the original floor of X1 (at ca. +5.10/5.15 m). Levels under the two preceding trenches were excavated with Trench 86B (1993). 9. Trench 86B/13, 15. The two pails used correspond to west and east, respectively. 10. Of Pails 114 and 115 used at that level, the former was initially assigned to the entire space, but after a thin pass, a layer of rubble appeared on the west part of the space, and Pail 114 was terminated. The sherd material was thus found primarily in Pail 114 and the more complete pottery in Pail 115. 11. An alternative possibility is that the stones had fallen from the north and south walls, rather than having been intentionally set there, as they were too rough to serve as benches. This scenario would imply that X1 was roofless by then, but it could still have been used in some casual way by people living north of House X. 12. The assemblage (discussed in Shaw and Shaw 1993, 148) was found at ca. +6.70m in Trench 74A/20. It was immediately associated with LM III sherds, but fills directly north (Trench 74A/37, 39, 40) were mixed Minoan to Archaic. 13. Of these bases, the one at the entrance to X5 was the best preserved, its longer limb measuring 0.50 m long and 0.15 m wide. The other was narrower and quite short. Of the base at the south entrance, the two limbs measured, respectively, 0.41 m and 16.50 m. For doorjambs and pivots, see J.W. Shaw 2009, 102–103, 165, 179. 14. The suspected part of a jamb base is the small rectangular block seen in the photograph resting on the floor next to the wall that originally served as the door’s east side. That wooden beams of the door’s framework were still standing when the blocking occurred is suggested by the fact that the lower courses of the blocking do not extend all the way to the original wall’s anta. 15. There is no reason to assume that the window was limited to the north block only. The surface of the southern ashlar block was badly destroyed, and evidence for the window was likely eradicated. 16. There may have been a matching bench in the now unseen northeast area, as perhaps indicated by some blocks in a north–south line found in the southeast part of the MM slab floor. A doorway leading west was located directly south of the west bench, and there could have been another, central doorway between X4 and X1; the walls under the latter were clearly contemporary with the MM space under X4. 17. Next to the hearth and clearly still in situ, we found a small clay lamp, one likely used to help start a fire. 18. Besides the hand tools (S 2146, S 2147) listed below, mention should be made of a fragmentary saddle quern (0.26 m x 0.26 m and 0.08 m thick), which was found in the west area, upside down along this area’s south edge. Whether it was part of the use debris or of the slab pavement remains unclear.

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19. Most of this pottery was retrieved with Trench 73A/60, of which the basal level was at ca. +5.07/5.10 m. 73A/63 (this too preserving only LM IIIA:2 use) reached down to the initial floor. 20. The height of the risers sometimes includes small stones set under the steps. The risers, other than those of Steps 1 and 2, are: Step 3: 0.22 m; Step 4: 0.16 m; Step 5: 0.13 m; Step 6: 0.15 m; Step 7: 0.19 m. One more block, whether a step or part of the upper landing, was found lying on a slant at the very top. 21. Palyvou (2005, 128, table 1) provides information about ceiling heights as actually preserved at Akrotiri on Thera, and these vary from 1.90 m to 3.00 m. 22. The soil within this little closet was never excavated, as this would have caused the collapse of the soil above from the level of the landing, once made of wooden planks. 23. The height of the opening was traced for ca. 1.00 m, but excavation stopped too high (at ca. +5.08 m) to reach the entrance’s base and any related floor. The floor must have been some 0.50 m farther down if it was the same as that of the two rooms to the south, X14b and X14a, as known from a sounding in the latter. 24. The pivot block was found more or less at the bottom of the debris. It consisted of a small rectangular stone block, 0.06 m thick, with three straight sides and the fourth broken. The longer sides preserved were respectively 0.25 m and 0.22 m, while the short straight side was 18.5 m wide. The pivot cavity was round, with a diameter of 0.043 m. It was created in the angle formed between one of the long straight sides and a short side of the slab. 25. The rubble started at a level of about +6.16 m and was excavated with Trench 73A/48 and Trench 73A/52. Fill above the rubble consisted mainly of soil (Trench 73A/42). 26. Minoan and Greek sherds were found in the soil level (73A/43 and 56), while stone debris started mainly at +5.48/ 5.62 m (Trench 80A/16) and continued down (Trench 80A/22) nearly to ca. +5.07 m. 27. The low level at which the blocking of Doorway B starts (at +4.77 m) might give the impression that the blocking took place earlier, but one has to remember that the floor would typically have stepped down in a southerly direction. 28. The Iron Age sherds started to appear in 73B/51, but they became more prominent higher up. 29. For a preliminary report on these spaces by the present author, see Shaw and Shaw 1993, 156–158. 30. This statement represents J.W. Shaw’s opinion. 31. Plaster used on floors was often also used as a sealant on the lower portions of the adjacent walls, as seen in Building T at Kommos (M.C. Shaw 2006, 208–211), but preservation was not good enough to ascertain whether this was also the case here. 32. This figurine (inventoried as B 337 and found in Trench 80A/27a) may derive from Temple B. The bull (cataloged as AB80.1) is discussed and illustrated in M.C. Shaw 2000, 188, pls. 3.14, 3.24. Two more bull figurines, also votives but made of clay, were found in this general area in a fourth-centuryB.C. context (C 9539, C 9540), in 80A/3. 33. The pieces from the lowest level were found in Trench 80A in the following pails: 93 (in the central part of the room

at +4.40–4.50 m), and 91 (at the same location but higher up, from +4.50–4.58 m). 34. Most of the burning was located in the area excavated with 80A/91 in the northwest area of the room. 35. For a preliminary report on this discovery, see Shaw and Shaw 1993, 156 and pl. 25:a. The present author was the excavator. The restoration was carried out at the time of the excavation by Niki Holmes, then Chief Cataloger, who also searched for identification of the types of shells used. For a final discussion of these shells, see Ch. 4. 36. This stratum was excavated in Trench 80A/ 26, 35, and 27 (in part). 37. This area was probably created by excavating down through the floor (at +4.86/4.92 m) underlying MM Building Y to +4.20 m in order to create a new usable space. 38. In the photograph shown as Pl. 1.8D, the round stone to the left of the photography scale marks fill atop a later north wall was built. The rough construction further right is superficial and unconnected with House X. 39. The west pithos (C 9406) is 0.687 m high; the middle one (C 9404) is 0.739 m; the east one (C 9405) is 0.578 m. 40. The reader must be warned that the photo in Pl. 1.9A shows the space after much of the stratum of pebbles was removed in excavation. That stratum rose up nearly to the level of the stone slab that covers the middle pithos. 41. Found mainly in Trench 80A/70. 42. It may have been brought in to compensate for the loss of the middle pithos, which by now may have been broken and buried under the floor, rather than raised, as already suggested. The notion that there was a new pithos resting on the platform is based on the presence of two joining fragments, marked with relief decoration, from the base of a pithos. One of the fragments was found between the two rectangular slabs of the platform (Trench 80A/44), the other in fill adjacent to the platform, over the pebble floor (Trench 80A/41). 43. The workman who handed it over to us reported that he had noticed it the previous day between the platform and the west wall while removing excavation tools after our team had left. 44. The discovery of a jeweler’s stone mold (J 19), which, though found in mixed Minoan and Archaic strata above Space X6 (in 73B/93), most likely belonged to House X, serves as a further reminder that artisan activity may have been carried out in this house. 45. One odd detail is that some stones project slightly southward from the bottom course near the room’s northwest corner. The stones do not end with a finished face and thus give the impression that they may have been part of a north–south wall that once extended farther south, this part of it having been dismantled. If an earlier wall existed, it likely preceded the construction of House X’s northern part and may still lie hidden between and under the walls separating Spaces X1 and X2. It could perhaps have been the south return of the Cross Wall described in the survey of Space X2. 46. The cleaning involved removing some slabs of the upper pavement that had not been removed before. 47. Owing to the scanty quantity of LM sherds, this lot was not treated as a pottery group.

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

48. The sherds in the sump derive mostly from cups. These could represent vessels that were washed over the slab in X6. Fragments from larger vessels might not have gone through the wall drain as easily. 49. Although pithos C 7990 might perhaps have fallen from the wooden floor of an upstairs balcony surrounding the light-well (Section G–G'; Fig. 1.21), given its relatively good preservation, I assume it was positioned on the ground floor in the northwest corner of X5. 50. Mention should be made here of still another bronze knife (Me 14), of which the exact stratigraphic context could not be ascertained, but which may have been connected with the stratum under consideration or that above it. The knife was noted by Robert Henrickson, within the west scarp of Trench 59A1 that he excavated at the end of the excavation season. It seems to have been higher than the level of the pots he had come upon in the light-well area of X5, but he retrieved it nevertheless, numbering its context as Trench 59A1/89, its level at ca. +5.90 m. 51. In X5 this ceramic phase is not represented by any single stratum, but LM IB sherds were found mixed with LM IIIA:2 ones in fill of use over the floor of the portico area (Pottery Group X5:4). 52. During the two investigations carried out in Trench 66A, the fill over the lower wall in question was excavated in Pail 41 (dated by Rutter to LM IIIA:1), that under it, excavated with Pail 42, to LM IB. Two comments are necessary here concerning the contexts of the two pails. The trenchmaster of 66A notes that Pail 41 was started with the intention of exploring the date of the uppermost wall, but no sherds were found in it, and therefore the sherds collected under the label of Pail 41 come from under that wall and thus above the lower one. Pail 42, used for the removal of the lower level, for some reason continued to be used on the south side and down to the floor in Space X8, where higher levels were removed in earlier years in Trench 59A. 53. The road surface was revealed in Trench 59A1/60, 61. The pottery found was no earlier than LM III, the date of the road’s latest use during the Minoan period. 54. The retaining wall was intended to support fill to the north when a cutting was made in the hillside to create Road 17. At this particular spot the retaining wall seems to have been rebuilt or repaired by adding a layer of stones against the old face, covering the road drain (for the latter, see J.W. Shaw 2006a, 19–20). 55. The crack is likely to be the result merely of the building process. Two teams of masons may have started work at different locations and, upon reaching the same spot, were unable to lay the stones properly to avoid joins between stones aligning in consecutive courses, resulting in faulty bonding. This process may explain cracks in other walls in House X, e.g., the one in the north wall of X2 (Pl. 1.8A), already discussed. 56. Part of this earlier floor may have been preserved in the southeast corner of X8, where the trenchmaster of Trench 59 pointed to a slab lying under the south portion of X8’s east wall. This was associated with an underlying surface of gray clay (lepis), perhaps part of a floor preceding House X. 57. Here, I reject a possibility we entertained in the past (Shaw and Shaw 1993, 134, 158) that the south sides of X8 and X9 may have consisted of a low wall or parapet. Despite the

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elevation of the house above the road surface, intruders could still gain access into the house by climbing over a parapet. Nevertheless, a parapet could have existed above X8 and X9, as was suggested in a restoration of a Minoan house at Chania (Hallager 1990, 290–291, figs. 5, 6). This matter receives further consideration in Chapter 5. 58. I owe this insight to J.W. Shaw. 59. The ceramic evidence consists of rims and tripod legs: C 7723, C 7724, and C 7728 from the lower part of the fill in Trench 59A1/82 and 83, C 7617 (Pail 67), and C 7709 and C 7710 (Pail 77), but the lack of joins between them does not allow us to determine what was actually used in the room and what derived from other debris. 60. The disks (previously cataloged as GS 600 and GS 601) have been interpreted as lids by Harriet Blitzer (1995, 475). 61. The blocking wall may never have risen higher than it is preserved, so that some form of passage may have existed earlier between X5 and X8. 62. For further discussion, see Blitzer 1995, 148, 156, 158, 172, 176. 63. Cf. a comparable arrangement suggested by Hallager (1990, fig. 5) for a Minoan house at Chania. 64. Cf. J.W. Shaw 2004. One of the drain fragments was found in a LM II context (Cl 2 in 59A1/81). The other two (Cl 4, Cl 3) were much higher, in mixed Minoan and Iron Age levels, supporting the proposition that these fragments were part of House X’s roof. Further drains would have carried the water from the terrace or roof above X8/X9 out to the road. 65. Trench 81C/58, 59. 66. Trench 81C/60, 60A. 67. The failure of these shallow soundings to produce exclusively earlier sherds must indicate the eradication of earlier use. In addition, in the case of the sounding against the east wall of X9, there would have been contamination from the rebuilding of the west face of that wall. An additional problem with the dating of walls in most Minoan houses, especially partition walls, is that they were not built within foundation trenches. Indeed, those in House X generally started near the level of the associated initial floor. 68. This tool was found in fill between +4.45/4.55 m and +4.37/4.42 m, i.e., the levels between Pails 57A (visible in the section in Fig. 1.26) and 60, both part of Trench 81C. 69. The level of the top flat surface of the quern is at ca. +4.65 m, its base at ca. 4.52 m. 70. The blade was located and retrieved during the excavation of Trench 97G/80, which included the area of the entrance. 71. A scraping action may be inferred from one of its longer sides, which is rather straight, not curved like the other one. This observation, along with the suggestion that the tool was designed for a right-handed individual dragging the straight side on a surface, is further pursued in Ch. 3.2. 72. The dashes in the state plan (Fig. 1.6) point to such a possibility, though there are no signs of a vertical break on the exterior face of the north wall, which might mean that that face was not affected. 73. Of these, the west one was narrower, measuring 0.55 m in width and preserved to a height of 1.80 m. The north wall was 0.75 m wide and 1.70 m high (Fig. 1.6).

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MARIA C. SHAW

74. Trench 59A/10, 13. 75. This fill was excavated with Trench 74B/76A and Trench 93/111 and 112. 76. Located in Trench 93E/98. 77. The threshold of the southern doorway of X6 measures 1.24 m x 0.65 m and is ca. 0.13 m thick. 78. The blocking of the southern doorway, as shown in the photographs, stands to a surprisingly greater height. 79. Parallels for walls built over the leveled original walls also occur in the house’s eastern sector, for instance, those built over the wall separating X11/X12 from X10 (Fig. 1.8). 80. The relevant fill at the southern end was excavated with Trench 59A/23 (from +5.70 m to 5.48 m). It contained a mixture of Minoan and Iron Age sherds. The presence of limpets, bones, and pieces of iron, typical in Iron Age fills, further supports the suggested date of the robbing. 81. These included one the excavator identified as a jawbone. 82. For alternative uses of pillars (along with piers and columns) both as interior supports and as supports for spaces with open sides, i.e., porticoes, see Graham 1969, 156–161. 83. An example of a portico facing a road is found in the Minoan villa at Sklavokampos. This has a small lateral doorway in its longer wall leading inside the house (Marinatos 1939–1941, fig. 4; Graham 1987, fig. 32). For other arrangements, see Graham 1987, fig. 19 (Tylissos House A), and Bosanquet 1901–1902, pl. 20 (Palaikastro X1–17). A portico facing an open area is also known in the Myrtos Pyrgos villa (Cadogan 1978), with a second portico on the second story. For a restored view, see the illustration in Evely, ed., 1999, 173. 84. The use of steps to lead from Road 17 to the hillside is attested directly north of monumental Building N at the westernmost part of the Southern Area at Kommos, as preserved today (Shaw and Shaw, eds., 2006, pl. 1.12). That passage, however, was a very narrow one, and we cannot be certain this was the method used at the other end of the site, directly east of House X and north of Road 17. 85. For locations of possible gardens, see Graham 1987, 87, 89, 93, 95, 123, 241; Shaw 1993. 86. Parts of this stone were revealed during excavation in this area, but a further probe was undertaken by the author in a study season in 2005, revealing more details. The visible sides of the stone are 0.77/0.85 m long, the east side being the most irregular. 87. The two beams may once have been secured to each other by means of wooden pegs. For more sophisticated and systematic uses of timber reinforcement at walls ends and perhaps antae, see those encountered in the Building T’s North Stoa (J.W. Shaw 2006a, 91–96). These date to the original construction of Building T, that is, MM III. Comparable uses of wood from elsewhere have been discussed in J. Shaw 2009, ch. 2, and more recently in the doctoral dissertation of Eleftheria Tsakanika-Theocharis (2006). Later and more erratic examples, again at wall ends, occur in the buttressing walls of the “Bastione Ouest” at the Palace at Phaistos (Levi 1976–1981, I, 342, fig. 236). 88. For the construction of pillars, including the idea that the tops of the blocks were covered with clay that kept them from

sliding, see J.W. Shaw 2009, 20, 48, 114–120. Best preserved is a pillar from Tylissos, which consisted of four blocks, the top one with four tenon holes (one at each corner) used for inserting dowels to retain a wooden framework. This, in turn, was tied to the timber structure of the ceiling. The total height of the pillars (minus the wooden frame) was 1.66 m (J.W. Shaw 2009, 116, fig. 200), and it appears that the total height of the pillar is what mattered, rather than the height of the individual blocks, which could be unequal. A round depression found near one of the upper corners of the bottom block of the southern pillar is too irregular and shallow to qualify as a dowel hole. Unfortunately, the top of the other pillar was found covered by a larger block representing some reuse, and thus we did not have a chance to see its surface. 89. In the case of Tylissos, the platform underlying and projecting beyond the sides of the base blocks was approximately 0.10 m high, bringing the estimated height of the ceiling of the space to ca. 1.85 m (J.W. Shaw 2009, 116). 90. One of these slabs looks like a pivot block, but it is in reuse here. Its presence does not necessarily indicate the location of a door in Minoan times. 91. For the distribution of loomweights at Kommos, see Dabney 1996a, 249–262, table 4.1, and further treatment in Chapters 3 and 5 of the present volume. 92. Iron Age sherds began to occur in the area to the north at ca. +6.00 m (Trench 87A/37) and farther south at +5.94 m (Trench 11A/11). 93. For Building F, see Callaghan and Johnston 2000, 249–250; J.W. Shaw 2000, 36–37. 94. It appears that the Greek builders used nearly an entire Minoan pillar block at the corners and trimmed those in between, where some limestone blocks also occurred here and there. As measured, the fossiliferous block used in the northeast corner measures 0.65 m x 0.75 m x 0.47 m. 95. Its level is at +5.74 m to +5.88 m (Trench 11A/14). This may be a continuation of the LM III floor located in X10 at +5.70 m. 96. Greek activity penetrated even farther down in the west and south area of the room, where the Greek sherds appeared in the top layer of the LM II dump (Trench 73B/98 and 100, +5.53 m to 5.32 m). 97. Another example at Kommos is provided by the North House, with the door leading to the larger of two staircases in that house (Shaw and Shaw, eds., 1996, pl. 1.4). For examples at Akrotiri on Thera, see the plans of the West House and Xeste 3 (Doumas 1992, 44, pl. 13). 98. Though we have not exposed the road surface in that location, we know its level 7.00 m farther south, where it was revealed east of Building T’s northeast corner. The level there is at ca. 3.26/3.30 m, and, unless Road 32/34 suddenly rose steeply to the north, steps would have been necessary. 99. The House with the Snake Tube at Kommos offers a parallel for a doorway with steps set on the road. The road alongside is named the Rampa dal Mare (McEnroe 1996, 206–207). 100. If the material had come from a collapsed ceiling, there might have been extensive debris, as the floor upstairs was likely made of beaten soil over a packing of brush, resting on wooden beams that formed the lower space’s ceiling.

ARCHITECTURE, STRATIGRAPHY, AND DIACHRONIC USE OF HOUSE X

One beam may have rested on the north end of the west wall and the north wall of X16. Other beams would have spanned the area east to west. 101. This deposit may have derived from material that had fallen from upstairs, as suggested by Rutter in his preliminary study of the pottery, but the area above was part of the landing of the staircase, which would have been used as a passage to additional rooms rather than for cooking. 102. The fact that X16 and N6 are similar in plan, both narrow spaces enclosed by two parallel walls and associated with a staircase, is intriguing. The occurrence of pumice in two such similar spaces could be a coincidence, unless it was linked to an activity involving the use of fire (cooking, metalworking, or both) that required a location protected from the wind. 103. For an overview of the typology and use of such hearths and ovens at Kommos and elsewhere on Crete, see Shaw 1990. For a possible close example from the North House, where cooking may have taken place under what used to be a staircase landing (in N6/N8), see discussion in the preceding note. The difference between these possible parallels may be one of date, those in the North House being later. 104. This estimate falls within the range given by Palyvou in her discussion of Theran staircases, which are among the best preserved in the Aegean (Palyvou 2005, 128, table 1). 105. For the use of such blocks, see the discussion of beams in Palyvou 1999, 243–269. In the more elaborate buildings, such as Building T (Room 5a/b) at Kommos, the timber construction rises above a squared stone block, with mortises cut in its corners presumably to secure an upright (see Shaw 1999). 106. Road 17 is believed to have been laid out in connection with Building AA, which was constructed in MM IIB. The road

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continued to be used along with Building T, built in MM III. A summary of the chronology of construction and use of the Southern Area at Kommos is provided in Shaw and Shaw, eds., 2006, table 5.1. 107. Whether the two walls run farther south is unknown. 108. Along these walls was a row of slabs in a single course that may have served as a low bench or platform. It was established that the slabs were not part of a projecting earlier wall when those along the north–south wall were removed, revealing the face of the wall continuing behind them and then stopping at the same level as the stones in a row. 109. This, the better preserved of the two walls, is 1.20 m long, and extends to where it meets the east–west one. It is preserved for some 10 courses (ca. 1.18 m high) and built of a variety of stones, except for its south side, which was built of squared blocks, since this end acted as an anta. 110. The blocking, using rough uncut stones and large cobbles, was preserved for two courses 0.55 m high, with its base at +4.44 m and its top at +4.99 m. 111. This shows lower pertinent strata excavated in Trench 87A in 1993 and only the lower of those excavated with Trench 74B excavated in 1991, omitting higher fills with mixed Minoan/Archaic sherds. More of the latter, as well as more purely Greek levels were excavated in Trench 66A in 1985. 112. This date is provided by Rutter for the handful of LM sherds found in the two locations. The LM I sherds north of X3 were found in 93E/85. Possible, but not certain, LM sherds were noted for that location in 83A/83, 85, 90 in the preliminary ceramic report by Aleydis Van de Moortel, written immediately following excavation in 1994.

2

The Frescoes Maria C. Shaw and Anne P. Chapin

2.1. Introduction Maria C. Shaw Painted plasters have been found in nearly every room of House X (Fig. 2.1). Examples with floral or other decorative patterns were found in Spaces X1–X4, X6, X8, X9, X11/X12, X14, and X16. This evidence for an extensive painting program is one of several factors that marks House X as an elite dwelling, at least in local terms, for the plasters found in other houses at Kommos were either unpainted or simply painted in solid colors—mostly Venetian red (M.C. Shaw 1996f). In the palatial Building T, the only other building where paintings were found, the elite architecture was enhanced by representations of fancy variegated stones bordered by friezes of multicolored bands in painted dados and floors (M.C. Shaw 2006, 207–260). In House X, as in elite houses and villas at other Minoan sites on Crete, floral landscapes predominated instead. A scientific analysis of selected plasters from Kommos, including examples from the Civic Center and houses in the Minoan town, as well as from House X, shows that they were painted in the buon fresco technique (Dandrau and Dubernet 2006, 248; M.C. Shaw 2006,

230–231). In this type of fresco the plaster used is lime, and the pigments are applied while the plaster is still damp. Upon drying, the pigments became a permanent part of the surface. The analysis showed that tempera, or the a secco technique, was also used. As established in the review of stratigraphic contexts and related evidence below, it appears that the paintings were probably made in the earlier part of LM IA, the time to which we date the initial construction of the house (J.W. Shaw 2006d, 867, table 5.1). Such a date would be roughly contemporaneous with or somewhat later than MM IIIB at Knossos (see Ch. 1 n. 2). No plasters were found in situ except for some strips preserved at the bases of the walls of X4. Elsewhere, loose fragments were found mostly in fills dating to LM IB and LM II. Fragments found in LM III contexts were few and quite worn, suggesting secondary deposition, and the same interpretation applies to those found higher up in mixed Minoan and Greek levels, with sherds of the latter date deriving from the reoccupation of the area above House X during the Archaic period. All plasters of House X are presently stored in a newly constructed building that serves as the headquarters of the Kommos Excavations in the village of Pitsidia. The

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best-preserved pieces have been set into panels of polyethylene foam in an arrangement (like the one seen in Col. Pl. 2A) and kept in large wooden boxes with labels. Each such panel (one per box) is propped by supports at the four corners, and the space underneath it serves for additional storage of smaller or less well preserved fragments. We first adopted this system for plasters found in Building T (M.C. Shaw 2006, 230–231). Digital images of nearly all plasters from House X, including those not published in this volume, can be seen in “Storage and Organizations of the Painted Plasters from House X at Kommos” on the University of Toronto’s T-Space Research Repository Web site (M.C. Shaw 2009). I begin the discussion of the plasters from House X with a description of their themes, spatial and stratigraphic contexts, and technical characteristics. The fragments are presented space by space in the order used in Chapter 1, starting with the west sector of the house and proceeding east. This survey is followed by a fuller consideration of selected pieces and their reconstructions, with contributions by Anne P. Chapin as well as the present author. The archaeological contexts and brief descriptions of all of the House X fresco fragments that have been assigned catalog numbers are summarized in Table 2.1.

2.2. Survey of the Plasters: Themes, Spatial and Stratigraphic Contexts, and Technique Maria C. Shaw

Space X1 Description and Context of the Plasters The largest and iconographically richest fragments of fresco decoration from House X were found in Space X1. Yet, as argued in Chapter 1, X1 merely functioned as a closet for the large, adjacent Space X4, making it rather unlikely X1 itself was decorated with elaborate frescoes. It is most likely that the plasters were brought from elsewhere and dumped or piled up there. This action took place at the same time as or just prior to the blocking of the only entrance leading from X4 to X1. It may not be an accident that bits of plaster similar to those found within X1 were also found under and within the two blocking walls, which were built in quick succession. A few of these pieces were painted yellow, while others showed traces of white impasto. This combination is found in the fragments representing the Lily Fresco, which had petals that were painted in white

impasto against a yellow background. The yellow surface appears to have been polished. Space X1 was excavated in two trenches. Trench 73A (1991) started some 0.30 m to 0.40 m away from the west wall of X1 and continued all the way to the east wall. The remaining area to the west was cleared in 1992 with 1 Trench 81A (Figs. 1.3, 1.4). The larger pieces were found in the area of Trench 73A (at the level of Pails 82 and 117; Fig. 1.9) in the west area of X1, and no farther east than the doorway’s east jamb. The ceramic context (Pottery Group X1:4) is LM IB Late with some LM I. No related pieces were found in X4. The pieces found at the very west end of X1, excavated with Trench 81A/16, were smaller, and while they started at a level equivalent to that in Trench 73A, they continued somewhat farther down. Possibly they had been dumped there before the west of the two blocking walls (Pl. 1.1D) was built. A pile of stored utensils already occupied the east part of X1. Pictorial elements and technical characteristics of the plasters from X1 differ enough to suggest that they derive from two separate compositions. We dubbed one the “Lily Fresco.” This consists of two main segments, as seen in our Frontispiece. That at the top depicting rockery and lilies was cataloged as Fr 1a and Fr 1b (initially inventoried as P 181A), referring to its two non-joining parts. Fr 2 (P 181B) refers to the second segment, placed below them. We have labeled the other fresco composition the “Stems Fresco.” Its fragments, cataloged collectively as Fr 3 (P 181C), can be seen in Color Plate 2A. There are, in addition, loose and generally smaller fragments that could not be incorporated in the mounted parts of the two compositions. These are stored under the above panels, as explained earlier. There is not enough of a difference in apparent subject matter among the latter fragments to suggest a composition other than the two just mentioned. The Lily Fresco depicts the upper and flowering part of the lily plant. The area occupied by the relevant fragments as mounted on the panel is 0.345 m x 0.285 m. Almost all of the fragments displayed are from Trench 73A/82 and 73A/117, including the smaller pieces depicting rockery that appear at the top right part of the image. Seen in the upper part of the composition are also some five small fragments painted solid yellow, retrieved from several pails in Trench 81A in the western most part of X1. These clearly belong to the background in the upper part of the Lily Fresco. Because of their size and attendant storage requirements, the plasters of the lower part of the Lily Fresco (Fr 2) had to be mounted on a separate panel. This segment, mostly painted a deep red color, represents a rocky terrain that we dubbed the “Red Rock.” It occupies an area of 0.305 m x 0.280 m, a size not dissimilar to that of Fr 1. At the upper part of Fr 2 broad leaves painted a

THE FRESCOES

blue-green color are visible over the red background. Their shape and scale seem to justify our interpreting them as the basal leaves of the lily plant preserved or others like it (if the composition was more expansive than what is represented by the preserved fragments). Fragments from the Red Rock area were found in Trench 73A, pails 82 and 117. More pieces painted in the same hue of red and with a similarly treated surface were also found in Trench 81A, again in the westernmost area of X1. Visible against the red background of the Red Rock fragment (Frontispiece) is a series of slanted whitish dashes arranged in such a way as to describe roughly concentric curves. Presumably these were intended to add texture to the depiction of the rocky ground, unless some kind of vegetation was implied, as discussed below in more detail by Chapin. There is also a series of undulating multicolored bands. Most of the fragments depicting the latter were located in Trench 73A/117, at a level some 0.100–0.150 m higher than the the lily fragments, again as if they had been dumped. Fragments associated with the Stems Fresco (Fr 3) may belong to a separate composition. The area occupied by the fragments attached to one panel (Col. Pl. 2A) is ca. 0.570 m x 0.420 m. Appearing at what must be the lowest part of the composition are fragments that are thicker than the rest, some of which curve slightly outward, in the way wall plaster often does at the point where it reaches the floor. Pieces of similar shape were found in situ at the bottom of the walls of Space X4. The most recognizable iconography in Fr 3 consists of what look like stalks or stems painted a brownish color. Some preserve pointed lower ends, as displayed on the fragments in our panel (Col. Pl. 2A, bottom left). Oddly, there is hardly any foliage associated with these reed-like forms, and while one might object that it could have occurred farther up in part of the tableau that is now lost, the preserved stems nevertheless seem tall enough to have been shown with foliage attached. Another mysterious detail is a form painted a solid purplish-brown or sepia color, restored by conservator Elise Alloin as part of the lower central part of the tableau. The form is likely part of a plant, but it is unidentifiable, in part because it is incompletely preserved and perhaps also because it was badly rendered. The overall size of the tableau of stems is difficult to reconstruct, as the fragments found in X1 probably represent only a fraction of the total painting. As in the case of the Lily Fresco, most of the pieces must have been dumped elsewhere, possibly outside the house.

Technical Comments Technical aspects of Fr 3 point to shoddy workmanship. For instance, several of the stems, particularly on

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fragments we positioned at the left edge of the panel, were painted directly on a surface characterized by diagonal grooves (Pl. 2.1A) that resulted from a rough smoothing of the plaster. Normally the latter would next have been covered by a fine slip of plaster that served as the surface for the final painting. Discussions of the process and the need for a slip have been offered by Cameron (1977) and, more recently, by Evely, who illustrates the layered application of plaster on a wall prior to painting (1999, ed., 139–163, 256). At Kommos such evidence is preserved in strips of plaster still adhering to the base of some of the walls in X4. It is particularly clear in one on the west wall (Pl. 2.1B), but it is missing from at least the left area of the Stems Fresco. A very thin slip appears farther to the right of the rough area, reassuring us that the painters were aware of its standard use; they simply did not use it enough or consistently in this painting. The slipped surface serving as the background was painted yellow, which was given a warmer hue by adding thin streaks of diluted red color over it. The irregular and thin application of the sepia-like color for the motifs themselves has been commented on already. Additional colors were lacking. The Stems Fresco thus contrasts dramatically with the Lily Fresco, both in terms of the latter’s polychromy and in the way the various pigments still adhere on the plaster surface, including the white impasto used to render buds and flowers. While the Lily Fresco’s surface was well polished, that of the Stems Fresco was left rather rough. There are further indications that this tableau was not taken seriously; the plaster surface is marked at several places by scratches, and there are intentionally made incised lines—some horizontal, some slanted. In one case a group of them outlined a roughly rectangular area, raising the question of whether this may have been a graffito-like sign (Fig. 2.2). The yellow pigment on the Stems Fresco was very thinly applied, almost like a wash. Its pinkish hue approximately matches Pantone color 8 C/OLZB-C/9.5 C/OMWO-C in the color guide of that name.2 The background of the Lily Fresco was painted more consistently in a purer yellow color (7.5 C/OENO.C). The sepia color used in the rendering of the stems and other designs varies from 56.5 C/OHIG-C to the lighter 56.5 C/OJKIC. The sepia/brown color of the enigmatic form discussed above varies in intensity from 55 C/USZO-C in the darker parts to 47 C/OEFN-C. The stems of the lilies of the Lily Fresco are a soft sepia or taupe color (91 C/730 C), and the anthers are orange red, the lighter ones 12 C/OMRO-C, the rest ORZJ-C. The rocky terrain is rendered a deeper red (12 C/ORJ-C), as attested in the better preserved spots, and its color is thus somewhat different from that of both the

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anthers and the rocks that appear above and to the right of the lily plant. The color of this rockery matches better colors 12 C/ORZJ-C–13 C/OSUL-C. The greenish basal leaves of the lily plant are too faded for the color to be defined more specifically. The multicolored bands that define the lower part of the Red Rock of the Lily Fresco are separated from each other by narrower black bands painted over the already colored broader bands. Of these bands, the one at the top was further subdivided by rough vertical black lines, the resulting segments painted in yellow ocher, red, blue, and white. The last one is marked by short black lines. The next band is solid yellow and is succeeded by one in solid white. Two more bands are preserved, one a grayish blue, with short black designs floating in it, like those in the white segment of the top band. The final band, scarcely preserved, is red, its color almost the same as that of the rock. The hue of the yellow band is more vivid and somewhat different in hue (7.5 C/OHUO-C) than the yellow of the background of the lily plant. The gray blue in the bands is not encountered anywhere else in the two panels; it comes close to 80 C/EAOO-C. In the Stems Fresco, only two colors were used in addition to the yellow of the background. The stems were painted in sepia that varies in intensity from place to place (from the lighter 56.5 C/OHIG-C to 56.5 C/4705 C). The enigmatic design at the central location of the lower part of the panel uses the same diluted color seen in the stems, but it is more of a grayish-brown tone, the color varying in intensity from 55 C/USZO-C (in the darker parts) to 47 C/OEFN-C. With regard to the possible graffito in the Stems Fresco, mentioned above, it may be noted that its lines were engraved before the ocher background color was painted on the plaster surface. It could well be a doodle, but graffiti appear on at least two other examples of plas3 tered and sometimes painted Minoan walls. The first and more chronologically secure instance occurs at Hagia Triada, where a graffito was engraved on the walls of Portico 54. The signs have been identified as belonging to the Minoan Linear A Script (Cameron 1965; Militello 1992; 1998, 75–77). The portico is part of the famous Villa Reale, and it was destroyed in LM IB (Militello 1998, 88), which is also the approximate date of discard of the related plaster fragment from House X. As with the engraved designs of the Stems Fresco, the signs from the portico were executed before the wall was painted. The background color in the portico has been described by Cameron as “rust,” but whether this was similar to the ruddy/yellow ocher color of the Stems Fresco is unknown.4 The second example of a Minoan graffito consists of a single sign engraved underneath a painting depicting myrtles, found in plaster fragments in the Royal Road Excavations at Knossos. This sign was made after

the wall had been painted, although Cameron argues that the painting and the sign could be contemporary and dates them both to MM III–LM IB, expressing a preference for MM III (Cameron 1968a). There are apparently no known parallels for this sign, but Cameron suggests that it could have been a mark inscribed by the craftsman as some kind of a signature (Cameron 1968a, 97 n. 3).

Space X4 Description and Context of the Plasters The plasters from X4 were mainly preserved in narrow strips found in situ along the bases of nearly all the walls of this space. There were also loose fragments on the ground and alongside the walls. The first plaster found in situ in X4 was discovered along the south wall in the room’s southwest corner, with some loose fragments retrieved from fill nearby. This was a strip of two adjoining pieces, 0.060 m x 0.050 m. It was located in Trench 73A/62 and is now cataloged as Fr 4 (inventoried as P 191). The 0.001 m thick slip covering the surface was painted blue, marked by pale or faded ruddy spots scattered here and there. It was not dissimilar to Fr 5. The surface of the plaster at this level was somewhat concave and the fabric of the plaster, where exposed, looked gritty. Fr 5 was found, again in situ, at the base of the north end of the west wall (Trench 86B/11, P 188; Col. Pl. 2B). The strip preserved was ca. 1.00 m long and 0.070–0.10 m high. The plaster, too fragile and poorly preserved for us to retrieve, was left on the wall. The patterns on it were again abstract. The north end of this strip stopped exactly at the entrance leading from X4 into closet X1 (Pl. 2.1C). This makes it clear that the walls of X1 were not themselves painted, and the painted decoration was limited to large Space X4. Similarly enigmatic motifs occurred in X4 on strips preserved at the bases of the north and northeast walls. Visible at the west end of the short north wall are traces of blue, a color that also occurs on the west wall of X4. In the case of the north wall, the color of the background changes to red starting on the right (or east) part of it, but shown against it, again, are small abstract forms and spots, in one case multicolored (blue, black, yellow, and, in another portion, white). The area with the red background (Fr 6, P 189) is illustrated here in a watercolor (Col. Pl. 2C). The red background continued around the corner of the east wall (P 190), where it is barely visible on the few courses underlying the window set above them and looking into Space X5, which was equipped with a light-well. The latter would have helped illuminate any paintings on the walls of X4.

THE FRESCOES

The painted motifs on the strips just discussed are not easy to interpret since only their lower ends are preserved. Some seem to belong to short vertical forms pointing down. Others are more like spots that could represent a terrain or variegated stone like conglomerate. One thinks of a possible dado or decorated strip of plaster running above the base of the wall. An example of a landscape fresco rising above a dado is the famous floral fresco at the Villa of Amnisos, though the dado there was simply painted a solid gray (Evely, ed., 1999, 183). The motifs at the base of the walls in X4 were intended to simulate a pebbly or rocky ground with part of a floral fresco rising above it. There is a parallel on Thera, where papyrus plants rise from a rocky terrain also starting at a wall’s base (Doumas 1992, 36–37, figs. 1–5). There appears to have been a systematic alternation of two background colors against which the scattered abstract motifs occurred. Blue seems to have occurred on the south and west walls, while red was found on the east part of the north wall and on the east wall below the window. Traces of yellow that appeared partly on the area of the north wall between the areas painted blue and red could have represented a piece of wood, imitating a wooden divider of dado panels. This detail is not decisive, however, as the fugitive yellow might have been transferred to the north wall by a building block set next to it. An example of a vertical yellow band separating veined stone can be seen in the painted dado of the frieze of ikria (or cabins) in the Late Cycladic IA West House at Akrotiri on Thera (Doumas 1992, 86–87, pls. 50–51). Painted imitations of variegated stones abound in Minoan frescoes, and examples depicting conglomerate are also represented in Building T at Kommos (M.C. Shaw 2006, pl. 31:a, b). Of course, the spots observed in House X are hardly realistic renditions. Perhaps they belong more to a class of decorative patterns rendered in a very casual way. One case that comes to mind is a painting at Hagia Eirene on Keos, in which the decorative pattern seems to have been made merely by splashing paint of various colors on the wall (Davis 2007, 145–147), The subject that rose above the blue and red areas in X4 also remains a matter of speculation. The best candidate is the landscape or landscapes represented by some of the plaster fragments found in the nearby closet, X1. The Stems Fresco would have to be excluded since the fragments come from the bottom of the composition , and the stems continued all the way down with no dado under them. If the owners of the house were ambitious, the painting could have extended on all three walls of X4, north, west, and south, perhaps showing other plants besides lilies, including the one with the long leafless stems (Fr 3; Col. Pl. 2A), which I like to believe could have been relegated to a less important wall, given it was not rendered by the best artist. This may be arbitrary, but

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I am tempted to assign the Lily composition (Fr 1 and Fr 2; Frontispiece; Col. Pl. 1B) to the room’s long west wall and to the west part of the south wall. That grand composition, consisting perhaps of several types of plants along with lilies, would have been immediately visible upon entering the room, especially from the east, the direction from which visitors from outside the house would have arrived. People could also have glimpsed the painted decoration from Space X5, looking west through the window and the door at the southeast corner of X4. A model for a fresco with multiple kinds of plants may be found in the painted decoration of a long room in the Minoan Villa at Amnisos, as seen in a fine restoration by Cameron (conveniently reproduced in Evely, ed., 1999, 183).

Technical Comments Though several plaster pieces were found in situ in X4, the best technical information was provided by the plaster at the base of the space’s west wall (Fr 5). The thickness of the main part of the plaster is ca. 0.015 m, and this was covered by a slip of ca. 0.002 m. The plaster was applied on another, thicker layer, apparently a mixture of mud and lime that was applied on the rough surface of the rubble walls. This treatment is clearly visible in the view of the base of the room’s west wall (Pl. 2.1B). The color of the blue painted surfaces of this plaster is very light (its hue approximately 66.5 C/COOE-C), but one notices tiny specks in darker blue color that could be the remains of the original color; the wall surface may have been exposed for a very long time, as this room’s floor did not rise as rapidly as those in other rooms for reasons suggested in Chapter 1.

Spaces X13 and X7 Description and Context of the Plasters Plasters found at the bottom of the north flight of Staircase X13 in the northwest part of X7 are few and very poorly preserved, as are some found farther south, in the west and east parts of X7. The only reason to include them in this survey is that their stratigraphic contexts add to our understanding of when plaster debris accumulated and where the plasters may have belonged originally. One interesting accumulation was found in an investigation of the landing, a raised part at the eastern end of the lower flight of Staircase X13. This area was remodeled when the southwest wall of Space X14 was shortened to create a doorway, west of the old one, leading south to X7 and X13 (Fig. 1.12:C; Pl. 1.3D). The excavation (Trench 86B/32) involved lifting (and subsequently replacing) some slabs that were added in

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the process of remodeling. A mass of ca. 100 pieces of plaster (P 297) painted a faded blue color, not unlike the blue of the plasters found on the west and south walls of X4, was found in soil fill between stones and under the slabs. The few associated sherds were not datable, but the deposition of the plaster may well be ascribed to a time just prior to the architectural remodeling in LM II, when X7, once a corridor, was converted into a room to be used as a shrine. In that remodeling the original entrance from X4 to X13 and X7 was moved farther west, necessitating the rebuilding of the southwest wall of X4, and it is possible that the fragments came from the partial demolition of that wall. Another group (inventoried as P 299) consisting of some eight pieces must be similarly early in date. The largest piece measured 0.020 m x 0.015 m and had a maximum thickness of 0.006–0.007 m. The surfaces of these fragments were red with occasional traces of white impasto added on top, perhaps indicating that pictorial elements were added over the red background. The deposition of the pieces is difficult to date ceramically, except for the presence in the fill of some LM I sherds (Trench 73A/65). Contrasting with the above two groups are plasters (inventoried as P 298) found in the northeast part of X7 at higher levels and in a context (Trench 73A/84) dated ceramically to LM IIIA:1. They consist of some 30 small to tiny pieces, their surfaces generally badly worn and crumbly, some bearing traces of peach or pink color. It is possible that they had fallen from an upstairs room. It is possible, in view of their contextual associations, that groups P 297 and P 299 derived from the earlier period of the building’s use. This date is also suggested by the application of white impasto over a red surface, a technique witnessed also in the Red Rock part of the Lily Fresco. Playing with possibilities, admittedly remote, we might suggest that plasters from the composition once located above the possible dado in X4 may have found their way into dumps in X7 and, in greater numbers, in X1.

Technical Comments The poor condition of the pieces inventoried as P 298 limits the observations that can be made about them. Their peach/pink color approximates 10.5 C/OEIO-C. On the plasters of the two groups inventoried as P 297 and P 299, the surfaces were flat but generally worn, so it is not certain how well they had been polished. The hue of the blue in P 297 may be likened to 66.5 C/COOE-C (where lighter) and 66.5 C/NCOK-C (where darker). Some pieces are flat at the back. The red in P 299 is a deep Venetian red, with traces of white impasto.

Spaces X14a and X14b Description and Context of the Plasters Spaces X14a and X14b seem to have been used as a single large room during the greater part of their history, after the wall that divided them was leveled. The main plaster discovery was made in X14a, the eastern of the original two rooms. Plasters in higher, mixed Greek and Minoan strata were few and very fragmentary. The pieces, small and varying in thickness from 0.003 m to 0.005 m, started to appear at +6.00 m (Trench 80A/10, 11). Of approximately five pieces, the largest one had a flat but not a polished surface. Another piece, painted red (12 C/ORZJ-C), was polished. Other insignificant pieces were found in Trench 73A/10, 14, 17, 21, 30, 34, and 36. The last pail represented material on a floor of soil with some pebbles. A sizable fragment assigned the catalog number Fr 7 (P 182) measured 0.120 m x 0.125 m and depicted a spiral frieze (Col. Pl. 3A). It was found atop a post-primary surface of use dating to LM IB (80A/36), abandoned in LM II (Trench 80A/34). Near it was found a collection of holed Glycymeris and other types of shells lying next to one another on the ground. From their positions these appeared to belong to a necklace that was still strung when it was deposited. Whether the plaster came down from the walls of X14 or was dumped there along with the necklace when the entrances into this space were blocked remains uncertain, though its occurrence as a single piece was more probably the result of dumping. The iconography of the spiral and its possible reconstruction will be discussed in Part 3 of this chapter, where comparanda will also be considered.

Technical Comments The preserved thickness of Fr 7, without any backing, is only ca. 0.0050–0.006 m. Its surface is too worn for us to know whether it was ever polished, but the colors are sufficiently preserved for us to follow the lines of the design. Where the painted slip had worn off, one sees the main layer of plaster, which is white with a slightly blue tinge. What is technically most interesting is the evidence for the use of a compass to help draw the spiral frieze. Two impressed antithetical curves can be seen in the close-up photograph of the piece (Col. Pl. 3A), and they are also indicated in green in our reconstruction of the spiral (Col. Pl. 3B). In other spirals from Crete, the central disk was also occasionally incised using a compass (Evely, ed., 1999, 156), but not here. In the Kommos example the outlines of the central disk as well as of the coils were

THE FRESCOES

hand drawn in black lines, evidently using a fine brush. Here and there the black appears diluted, turning to gray. The coils themselves remained white, which is typical in Aegean painting. The central disk was painted ocher yellow (7.5 C/OKZJ-C), while the bands on either of the long side of the frieze were painted orange red (11 C/OQZO-C). The latter color was also used for the filling ornaments, i.e., the small triangles with incurved sides set between successive spirals. One of these triangles is fully preserved (Col. Pl. 3A, top right).

Space X2 Description and Contexts of the Plasters Space X2 was excavated in three trenches, reaching down to the space’s pebble surface, continuing with a sounding under the floor and down to bedrock (see Ch. 1, Pottery Groups X2:1 and X2:2). Found in the sounding, in fill dating essentially to LM IA (Advanced), were a few crumbly plaster pieces, some of which preserved a pink color, but the more substantial remains were higher up, mostly in fill associated with the earliest use of the pebble floor. Some pieces found mostly in the west part of the space were painted blue (Trench 66A/28); others were too worn for their colors to be discernible (Trench 80A/41). More revealing were plasters (inventoried as P 295a–P 295d) found in LM IB Late contexts over the first floor of pebbles in the east part and especially the southeast corner of the space (Trench 74A/77A and 78, Pottery Groups X2:4 and X2:5). Though their surfaces were much destroyed, elements of a landscape are nonetheless recognizable. P 295c (ca. 0.130 m x 0.090 m) was painted solid red, while two of the other pieces, P 295b (0.185 m x 0.115 m) and P 295a (0.085 m x 0.055 m), featured parts of plants (stems and/or broad leaves) rendered in blue against a red background. The hue in P 295c is similar to the red color of the background of the other pieces and must come from the same composition. On P 295d and P 295 (Trench 80A/41) the red paint has flaked off in places, revealing the color of the underlying plaster surface, which is white with a bluish tinge. The latter detail is worth mentioning as it is encountered in other painted plasters in House X, including the spiral painting from X14b. Another set of sturdier but smaller fragments may or not belong to the same composition as the one described above. These fragments represent a greater range of colors, including tones of an ocher yellow that we have called “salmon” because of its pinkish tinge. A large and much damaged fragment clearly comes from the base of a composition, given its thickness, the crude

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treatment of the surface, and the fact that it is somewhat concave like the pieces found in situ at the bases of the walls in X4. The surfaces of the fragments in this group were generally well polished, including those of a number of small pieces with traces of white impasto added over the red surface, reminiscent of the white dashes in the lower part of the Lily Fresco in X1. In some examples there are occasional black strokes on a red ground. One fragment preserves three consecutive bands, of which two were light blue, while the one between them was a bluish-black color, the black added after the surface of the piece was painted light blue. The bands clearly acted as a border, suggesting a painted frieze. In other such friezes in Minoan painting, multicolor borders mark the top of the composition only. The circumstances in which this material ended up in Space X2 are unknown. It could have fallen from its walls, although this seems unlikely in view of the space’s apparent utilitarian functions. A possible alternative is that the plasters were brought and dumped here at some point, perhaps as part of a leveling operation or to raise the floor. It may not be an accident that most fragments were found at or close to the space’s single door. A third possible scenario—that the plasters fell from a collapsed upper story—seems unlikely since most of them were at the level of the pebble floor rather than atop fallen debris. The LM IB date of the associated pottery may mark the time when a serious event befell the house.

Technical Comments Because of the poor preservation of the pieces with the plant motifs, which were very thin and had to be backed immediately to preserve them, it is not now possible to say much about the make up of the plaster. The technique of the painting, with the blue color representing the stems and leaves having been added over white impasto, itself applied directly over the red background, is interesting, however. Such careful work perhaps attests to an early date, similar to that of the paintings found in X1. The thin layer of plaster was flat at the back and would have been applied on a layer that adhered directly to the walls, but no traces of the base layer remain on the walls of X2. Its absence does not mean that X2 was never plastered, as there are only a few cases where plaster has been found in situ in Minoan buildings, even when painting fragments have been found lying on the floor and near the walls. The evidence from Space X4, where plaster was found still adhering at the bases of its walls, is more definite, however. The salmon color of the sturdy fragments described above corresponds to 10.5 C/OEIO-C to 10.5 C/OIMOC. The same color but with more of an ocher yellow

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tinge resembles 10.5 C/OIMO-C to 10 C/OEKO-C. Ocher yellow is close to 7.5 C/OHUO-C, red to 12 C/ORZJ-C, and blue to 27.8 C/IBOO-C.

Space X5 In view of the practical use of X5 as a room with a drain and a light-well, it is not surprising that hardly any painted plasters were found in it. It is of interest, however, that bits of uncolored plaster were found at two levels, both related to earlier use of the room, as if some plastering was done in this space, even if the plaster was not painted. In one instance, unpainted plaster was discovered in a shallow sounding made under a slab that presumably hid the sump for the drain in X5. The latest sherd found here dated to LM II (Ch. 1, Pottery Group X5:4). The other context was fill over the original slab floor, which was exposed to later use. The ceramic finds associated with the plaster were thus mixed, ranging from LM IB to LM IIIA:2 Early (Ch. 1, Pottery Group X5:4). Further discoveries came from even higher strata dating into LM IIIA:2 (Ch. 1, Pottery Groups X5:6).

Space X8 Description and Contexts of the Plasters In X8 some bits of plaster were found in the higher levels, but the most substantial fragments came from the lowest stratum of use, mostly along the west wall and atop a north–south line of slabs that paved the otherwise earthen floor (excavated with Trench 80A/29a). Thus, a reasonable conclusion is that the plasters had fallen from that wall. There is little LM IA pottery preserved in this space partly because, as argued in Chapter 1, in rooms with floor features such as a slab pavement, the floors were reused (and kept clean) for as long as possible. Between LM IA and LM II, the fill rose some 0.30 m over the slab floor, i.e., to ca. +4.90 m, most of the buildup occurring in LM II. It is in this fill that the noteworthy plasters were found, their context dated by the associated Pottery Group X8:1. The pieces have been inventoried as P 183a–c , the first one cataloged as Fr 8, and others found slightly farther east (in Trench 80A/29) were inventoried as P 296. The surfaces of P 296 and associated small fragments were nicely polished and bear traces of ocher yellow and red colors. Since these colors merge, they are clearly not part of multicolored bands. They could be areas of a background on which no other diagnostic details were

preserved. Given the presence of other landscape paintings in House X, the red could be part of a rocky area, the yellow a background. Remains of what look like bands are preserved on some of the smaller fragments. The next group of fragments—Fr 8 (Col. Pl. 3C) and inventoried pieces P183b and P 183c—provide new information about special painting techniques such as preliminary sketches (Figs. 2.3, 2.4) used by the Minoan artists, which will be discussed in some detail in Part 2 of this chapter.

Technical Comments The slip of Fr 8 is not quite white, but rather has a light blue tinge, as seen in other examples of plaster from House X. Clearly it was applied when the preceding plaster layer was rather dry, which would explain why, in one case, it flaked off almost entirely (Col. Pl. 3C). The slip was no thicker than 0.001–0.002 m as preserved on the bits atop the underlying surface, which had a drawing. The grooves on the surface of the main layer (Col. Pl. 3C) are comparable to those visible in the upper left corner of the Stems Fresco (Pl. 2.1A), on which hardly any slip was used, as discussed earlier. The design revealed under the slip was monochromatic, drawn in a vivid orange-red color. The colors found on other, related pieces from the same context preserved the slip. In the case of P 296 the surface was colored red (12 C/ORZ-C) and yellow (9.5 C/OJTO-C). An undulating border separated the two colors, which may have represented a scenic element. These pieces were very fine (0.003–0.006 m thick) and flat at the back. They were clearly detached from a plaster backing.

Space X9 Only scattered bits of plaster, a few preserving some color, were found in X9. Their subject matter is not preserved, and their interest lies merely in their stratigraphic contexts. The fragments were found in a shallow sounding (Pottery Group X9:1) in fill of LM IB Final to LM II date, part of the initial floor, at ca. +4.45/4.50 m. The level above dates to LM III (Pottery Group X9:3) and may represent a time when, as suggested in Chapter 1, sherds perhaps washed down from the north.

Space X3 The few plaster finds from X3 (Pottery Group X3:2) were plain white and rather disintegrated. A small mass

THE FRESCOES

was found in the space’s southwest corner (at level ca. +5.10 m), where it may have fallen. It was later covered by gradual accumulation through the ongoing use of the floor. The fill associated with the plaster dates to LM IB Late.

Space X6 Description and Contexts of the Plasters In X6 pieces from the same painted plaster molding were found in two different locations. One of these (P 176) consists of two joining pieces found in the northwest part of the space (Trench 66A/34, at +5.10–5.20 m). A third and smaller piece (P 294) was found later in the room’s southeast area in higher strata (Trench 73B/99, at ca. +5.40 m.). All three pieces joined, forming a piece that measures 0.085 m x 0.037 m, now cataloged as Fr 9 (Col. Pl. 3D). A few more plaster pieces were found in the northwest corner upon removing a fragmentary wall built against the original west wall of the space. Fill under it (Trench 81C/40, at +5.03–5.26 m) contained plaster fragments inventoried as P 293a–c. The context yielded mixed pottery including LM IIIA Early sherds (Pottery Group X6:5). Rutter has suggested that this fill was a dump that may have originated in LM II. After restorative work on the plasters, there emerged two larger pieces with the bigger one likely depicting stems. These were painted gray blue or black on a background that shifts from yellow to white with a bluish tinge. Some of the stems were painted against the yellow area. Another piece of plaster was found lying flat and face up on the ground in the central part of the room. It was so cracked and thin that we were not able to retrieve it, but it was photographed and a tracing of the design was made. It measured 0.110 m x 0.070 m and was apparently decorated with a floral composition, with plant-like forms seen against a very light blue background. The vegetal motifs were slim, curved forms, some painted black, others red. One of them occurs next to a straight line impressed with a string against the bluish-white background. This piece may have come from near the edge of the painting, perhaps near the top, since we do not know of string-impressed lines having marked the vertical edges of Minoan wall paintings. The level at which this fragment was found was ca. +4.91 m (Trench 66A/37), in a context dated ceramically to LM IB. The fragments may have fallen from a wall in this space at an early date rather than having been been dumped there.

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Technical Comments The line impressed with a string is a well-attested device in Minoan painting. It is mainly used to divide successive multicolor bands that acted as a composition’s upper border or frame. It is unclear as to why the color remains a bluish-white on either side of the impressed line in this case. On the other fragments discussed above (P 293a–c), the gray-blue plants were painted sometimes over the yellow color that served as part of the background and sometimes over the white background. The yellow is Pantone 7.5 C/OHUO-C to 7.5 C/OJTO-C with ruddy areas. The gray-blue color of the plants resembles 50 C/COOQ-C. A small piece preserves traces of Venetian red. The surfaces of these pieces were quite polished.

Space X10 No plasters were found in X10. This semihypaethral area may not have received any painted decoration, although comparable spaces in Minoan architecture, such as porches, seem to have been painted at times. One example, restored by Evans, is the relief of a bull in a landscape in the west portico above the north entrance to the Palace at Knossos (Evans 1930, 162, fig. 107).

Spaces X11/X12 Description and Contexts of the Plasters Like Space X10, X11/X12 was used as a dumping place already by LM II. Two noteworthy pieces of plaster were found in fill dating to LM II. Fr 10 (P 291), which measured ca. 0.080 m x 0.040 m, was found in Trench 81C/32. As can be seen in a color photograph (Col. Pl. 4A), its decoration consists of blue and white bands separated by somewhat thick blue-gray lines. The broadest (blue) band is 0.018 m wide, the gray ones ca. 0.006–0.007 m. The other piece (P 292), found in Trench 81C/33, measured 0.062 m x 0.040 m and was too poorly preserved to be illustrated here. It has irregular areas in orange red and gray black, some times overlapping, and more expansive areas in white. It could well have been part of a landscape, possibly related to Fr 10. It might depict rockwork, which sometimes provides the setting for a floral composition.

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Technical Comments The pieces were supported with a backing upon discovery. Where visible, the thickness of the plaster is 0.004–0.005 m. The surface of Fr 10 was rather polished. Some of the blue bands had darker blue or black dots that were visible in the surface, somewhat like the blue specks in the painting in situ on the west wall of X4. These may represent the mixing of pigments of somewhat different tones. The Pantone equivalent for the blue gray is 34 C/EOBO-C. The dark dots are close to 66 C/ZLOL-C or 66 C/ZMOR-C. The red color of P 292 corresponds to 13 C/OSUL-C, with areas in lighter red resembling 13 C/OTVC-C.

In the second part of this chapter, the authors examine the individual frescoes as decoration and visual portrayals of cultural message, and they also consider painting manners and techniques. A.P. Chapin deals with the Lily Fresco from Space X1, while M.C. Shaw discusses the composition from X8 and paintings from the remaining spaces of the house. General conclusions, some of which will be revisited in Chapter 5, are provided by M.C. Shaw.

Lily Fresco from Space X1 Anne P. Chapin

Space X16 and Staircase X15 Hardly any plasters were found in X15 and X16. A few bits were found over the original slab floor of X16, but given its continued use and the likely cleaning of the slabs to keep them from being covered by use fill, the date of their deposition cannot be determined.

The Lily Fresco (Frontispiece; Col. Pl. 1B) is composed of three groups of joining fragments and three smaller, non-joining fragments. The first and second fragment groups (Fr 1a, Fr 1b) depict white Madonna lily flowers on a yellow ocher ground with traces of red rockwork; the third group of fragments preserves lily leaves and undulating bands on a red ground (Fr 2).

Lily Flower Fragments (Fr 1a, Fr 1b)

2.3. Interpretation Maria C. Shaw and Anne P. Chapin

General Observations M.C. Shaw The occurrence of painted plasters is widespread throughout House X, and they appear to derive mainly from spaces on the ground floor. A number of general observations emerge from the preceding survey of the plasters, their contexts, and their technical attributes. 1. The favorite theme in the House X frescoes was the landscape. 2. Given the absence of pictorial or decorative paintings in other houses found at Kommos so far, the frescoes of House X attest to the elite status of this building. 3. Most of the plasters collapsed or were taken down from the walls and dumped in the period spanning LM IB Late–LM II. 4. Since frescoes are an integral part of the architecture, their destruction may signal an event that also affected the building itself in the same time period.

1. Joining fragments preserve portions of three white Madonna lily flowers and the red stamens of a fourth flower, all set against a yellow ocher ground with knobby red rockery above. The lilies consist of one bud, one partially open flower, and one blossom in full bloom. Only a small portion of a flower stem, a soft sepia in color, is preserved. 2. Another small fragment preserves a knob of red rockery against yellow ocher ground and should be placed near the fragments described above. 3. Joining fragments depict two lily stems painted a soft sepia color, parts of five white Madonna lily blossoms, two flower buds, and possibly part of a sixth flower. The bright red stamens of a lily placed on the left side of the fragment group likely belong to a flower growing from a third stem. 4. A small fragment shows a white lily flower with red stamens.

Red Rock Fragments (Fr 2) 5. Joining fragments preserve three basal leaves of a Madonna lily, a portion of a flower stem, striped undulating bands, and white spots painted over a dark red ground.

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6. A group of joining fragments are painted with undulating bands that match those of fragment 5, but pieces of fragment 6 have additional black and white bands. A small section of red could belong either to a red band or to the fragment’s dark red ground.

Discussion LILIES The fresco fragments from House X preserve classic Minoan Madonna lilies, creamy white in color painted over the rich yellow ground. The placement of the flowers and bud suggest that fragment 1 described above preserves the top of a flower stalk. While Minoan artists usually paint a cluster of three to four lily buds at the top of a stem (e.g., Hagia Triada lilies, Amnisos lilies), stems ending in an open or partially open flower can occasionally be found. In the Spring Fresco from Akrotiri, a few lily stems end in a partially open red lily flower (Doumas 1992, pl. 69). From the West House at Akrotiri, the frescoes depicting red lilies in flower jars preserve at least one lily stem ending in an open flower (Doumas 1992, pl. 63). Stylistically, the Kommos lilies closely resemble red lilies found in House 1 at Ialysos (modern Trianda) on Rhodes, also dated to the early LM IA period (Col. Pl. 4B, right). Both groups of lilies present deeply bifurcated flowers defined by two painted petals that meet near the flower’s base. Additionally, fragments from Kommos and Ialysos preserve a few T-shaped stamens made from two strokes of the brush. That these details are not immediately visible in other Neopalatial lily frescoes highlights the idiosyncratic nature of this stylistic formula and suggests the possibility that the same artist, or perhaps the same workshop, is responsible for the frescoes at both Kommos and Ialysos. If this were the case, then the Kommos Lily Fresco offers new evidence for traveling workshops of artists. KNOBBY ROCKERY The dark red knobby rockery, partially preserved on fragments 1 and 2, preserves a well-known Neopalatial artistic motif—the bifid stalk, often used by Neopalatial artists to depict the rocky borders of streams and seas, the knobby growth of seaweed, and even the sprouts of young palms (Morgan 1988, 13–14, 35–38). Frequently identified as a “water sign,” the bifid stalk might be more correctly understood as comprising a rocky margin. Bifid stalks colored red, yellow ocher, and blue, for example, are used in the LC I Monkey Fresco from Akrotiri, Thera, to depict a craggy, interlocking rock formation upon which the monkeys climb and hang (Doumas 1992, pls.

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85, 86; Chapin 1995, 157–178). On a smaller scale, red bifid stalks similar to those in the Lily Fresco depict a solution cavity (a natural hollow created from erosion in cliffs and steep hillsides) above a blue stream in the Departure Town segment of the Flotilla Fresco from the West House at Akrotiri, Thera (Doumas 1992, pl. 36; Chapin 1995, 178). Similar knobby rockwork can be found partially preserved in the frescoes of monkeys and swallows from Xeste 3 (Doumas 1992, pls. 96–98) and on Crete in the nature fresco from the Royal Villa at Hagia Triada, where it is richly veined and covered with cascading ivies (Militello 1998, pl. G). The undulating contour of the rocky landscape on the Sanctuary Rhyton from Kato Zakros, Crete, offers a further illustration of the bifid form in Aegean landscape art (Platon 1971, 167, 168). With these parallels in mind, it becomes clear that the red bifid stalks of the Lily Fresco represent rocky terrain rather than water. Their placement in the Lily Fresco, angled down above the lilies, suggests that this portion of the fresco may depict a solution cavity similar to that painted behind the Departure Town in the Flotilla Fresco of Akrotiri’s West House. LILY LEAVES The basal leaves are characteristically Minoan lily leaves, arching upward and outward from the left side of the lily’s base. Parallels can be found in many Aegean representations of Madonna lilies, though the small scale of the leaves relative to the larger flowers can best be paralleled by the Amnisos lilies (Marinatos and Hirmer 1960, pl. XXII) and by the Knossos Lily Jar (Marinatos and Hirmer 1960, pl. XXV). The leaves of the House X lilies were painted over the dark red ground, and their color is poorly preserved. While one might expect them to have been painted blue (analogous to the pancratium lily leaves and other lily-like leaves from the Monkeys and Birds Fresco from the House of the Frescoes at Knossos; Evans 1928, 2, figs. 268, 275:h), the Kommos lily leaves may preserve an ochreous color that is now damaged and faded, similar to worn sections of the yellow ocher leaves and stems of the Spring Fresco from Building Delta, Akrotiri, Thera (Doumas 1992, pl. 70). UNDULATING BANDS The striped bands of fragments 5 and 6 offer important new insights into Minoan conventions for landscape painting. From left to right, the bands are painted white, black, blue, black, white, black, yellow ocher, black, multicolored, and black. The blue band appears to preserve a few small black marks painted within its contour. A bit of dark red preserved on 6 could belong either to a red band or to a resumption of the dark red ground found on 5. The black bands are narrow and frame the wider bands of

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white, blue, and yellow. The last black band, though poorly preserved, appears to have been irregular in contour (see below). The multicolored band is exceptional. Undulating bands are not uncommon in Neopalatial art, yet their function in Aegean painting often confounds the modern observer, especially in artworks surviving in fragmentary condition. Detailed study reveals, however, that Aegean artists used undulating bands in a flexible manner and that the motif acquired meaning and significance through its relationship with other compositional elements. In the LM IA Crocus Panel from the House of the Frescoes at Knossos, for example, undulating bands function as abstract elements of landscape through their association with crocus flowers and an olive tree (Chapin and Shaw 2006). In the LC I frescoes from the House of the Ladies at Akrotiri, Thera, however, undulating bands appear with a geometric lattice of four-pointed stars and thus become the border of a wall hanging (Doumas 1992, pls. 6, 7). The meaning and function of undulating bands in Aegean art therefore depends on their placement in a composition and on the accompanying iconographic motifs. In the frescoes from House X, the undulating bands appear in association with lily leaves, identifying them as pictorial elements of a landscape. A useful illustration of the relation between undulating bands and landscape art can be found in the representation of a hillside rising behind the Departure Town in the Flotilla Fresco from Room 5 of the West House at Akrotiri, Thera (Doumas 1992, pl. 36). Undulating bands in the Theran fresco are painted black, blue, red, and yellow, and they are embellished with added details in black and red to suggest the rocks and boulders of a stony hillside. The bands are painted with thin, overlapping washes of color, so that the individual lines of color are not as clearly separated from one another as in the Lily Fresco, where each is outlined in black. The Theran fresco includes the depiction of a stream or rivulet, identifiable as an undulating blue band framed in black and articulated by the Aegean “water motif ” of black bifid stalks (Morgan 1988, 35–38). In this instance, the blue color signifies water, and the bifid stalks probably represent the rocky stream banks. Without the bifid stalks, the stream would be difficult to differentiate from an ordinary blue undulating band, but with them, the intended meaning becomes clear. The Nilotic Fresco, painted on an adjacent wall in Room 5 of the West House, depicts a similar blue stream framed by undulating yellow bands that probably signify the stream’s sandy embankments (Col. Pl. 4C; Doumas 1992, pls. 30–34). Facilitating this identification are a variety of red marks painted on the yellow bands, including bifid stalks, squiggles, and round, pebble-like shapes. The undulating yellow bands support a variety of plants, animals, and banded pebbles that enhance the suggestion

of a riverine environment. The composition’s lower margins are filled with additional (though plain) undulating bands covered with plants, animals, and pebbles. Together, these pictorial elements create a rich and lively landscape painting. The Lily Fresco, in comparison, features an undulating blue band framed by thin black bands and articulated by a few dark marks faintly preserved within its interior. Fragment 5 preserves a cluster of three small dots, and fragment 6 has two dashes and a dot. Small projections from the undulating black border band on fragment 6 could represent tiny bifid stalks, though admittedly not enough survives to be sure that the marks were painted intentionally. They raise the possibility, however, that the blue band was intended to represent a stream. Indeed, blue bands of any sort are often identified (or misidentified) as streams in Aegean art. In the case of the Lily Fresco, however, the combination of pictorial elements does not support a riverine identification. First, the interior dark marks are poorly preserved and show little resemblance to bifid stalks in other artistic media. Second, one might expect yellow bands to frame a blue stream, but the Lily Fresco preserves bands of white. Third, the Lily Fresco’s single yellow band is out of place if it is to mark the sandy boundary of a stream. Lastly, the yellow band lacks the painted rocky details that transform the Nilotic Fresco’s yellow undulating bands into sandy shores. Instead, the undulating bands of the Lily Fresco more closely recall the sequences of plain undulating bands found in the lower margins of the Nilotic Fresco, where the addition of plant, animal, and pebble motifs identifiies them as elements of landscape. The undulating bands of the Lily Fresco therefore more likely represent abstractly rendered elements of terrain rather than a stream. The small dark details painted within the Lily Fresco’s blue band recall similar marks found in another important LM IA landscape, the Partridge and Hoopoe Fresco from the Caravanserai at Knossos, however (Evans 1928, 1, frontispiece; Shaw 2005). This fresco preserves undulating bands of dark and light blue, white, and yellow that partially encircle a pair of partridges. Farther to the right, the bands acquire “fronds” of finely hatched lines and clusters of dots that were perhaps inspired by embroidery and could represent highly abstracted flowers (Evans 1928, 1, 111; Shaw 2005, 104). The three dots found on fragment 5 of the Lily Fresco could preserve a similar “flower” motif, though when viewed in relation to the dark marks of fragment 6, there is little consistency in these features. The ambiguity of these features suggests that they are not well enough preserved to interpret their meaning and function within the Lily Fresco. The multicolored undulating band is perhaps the Lily Fresco’s most striking addition to Aegean landscape

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iconography. This exceptional iconographic motif is created from a series of roughly rounded forms colored (from left to right on fragment 5) yellow ocher, red, blue, yellow ocher, white, red, white, and (on fragment 6) yellow ocher. Each is at least partially and irregularly outlined in black in a manner suggestive of colorful rock veining. At least two rounded forms (red and white) preserve additional black lines embellishing their interiors, further enhancing this impression. One infers that the undulating band represents a series of multicolored, veined pebbles or rocks painted in a line, rather like beads strung on a necklace. There appears to be an important iconographic connection between undulating bands and the depiction of rocky terrain. Even so, the simple, repetitive sequence of rounded forms bears little resemblance to the colorful, irregular stony formations that enliven many Neopalatial landscapes (e.g., the Monkeys and Birds Fresco from the House of the Frescoes at Knossos; Evans 1928, 2, 444–467; Cameron 1968c). Rather, the abstract, pebble-like shapes look forward to the monotonous depictions of rockwork that characterize later Mycenaean frescoes (e.g., the Late Helladic [LH] IIIB Bluebird Frieze from Pylos; Lang 1969, pl. R). They also recall the lines of rockwork that frame the margins of some signet rings and seals of the Neopalatial era (e.g., the Stag Hunt Ring from Mycenae; Sakellariou 1964, 26, 27 [CMS I, no. 15]), thereby raising the possibility of cross-craft interaction in the creation and adoption of this motif at Kommos. Even though the multicolored rocky band finds no exact parallel in contemporary Aegean painting, a number of Neopalatial frescoes preserve landscape motifs that offer multiple points of similarity. The miniature frescoes from the West House at Akrotiri, Thera, for example, preserve a line of rounded rocky shapes outlined in black that define the hillcrest above the Arrival Town of the Flotilla Fresco (Doumas 1992, pl. 35). Behind the Departure Town, details of rocks and boulders are painted over a succession of thinly applied colored bands (Doumas 1992, pl. 36). The hillcrest in the Coastal Raid segment of the north frieze depicts brightly colored rocks arranged in a line, each partially outlined and veined in black; the left end of this formation gives way to a solid blue band outlined in black (Doumas 1992, pls. 26, 28). Lastly, the Nilotic frieze features “Easter egg” pebbles resting atop undulating bands (Col. Pl. 4C; Doumas 1992, pl. 30). These landscape vignettes each preserve pictorial motifs that can be compared to the multicolored band of the Lily Fresco, but none is a precise replica. Indeed, the Theran miniature fresco preserves such variety as to suggest that its painter(s) followed no set formula for describing features of rocky landscape. Rather, the frescoes seem to offer evidence for artistic experimentation.

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Similar diversity is evidenced by landscapes from Crete, most prominently in the Partridge and Hoopoe Fresco from the Caravanserai at Knossos (Evans 1921, 1, pl. VIII, frontispiece) and in the Monkeys and Birds Fresco from the House of the Frescoes at Knossos (Cameron 1968c). In the latter composition, two fragments from the Nilotic scene (and two others published by Cameron) preserve undulating bands (green, yellow, blue, and white) characterized as rocky by details of veining (Evans 1928, 2, fig. 264; Cameron 1967, 47, fig. 2:a; 1968c, 5, fig. 1:c; Morgan, ed., 2005, pl. 5:2). These undulating bands, moreover, are painted with striped “Easter egg” pebbles within their contours. The effect created—an undulating band painted with pebbles— recalls the bolder, more abstract variation of this theme evidenced by the Lily Fresco. These comparisons with landscapes from Thera and Knossos demonstrate that the Kommos artist worked within an established Neopalatial artistic idiom that embraced a significant degree of artistic experimentation. This impression is reinforced by another innovative motif characterized as irregularly shaped black marks— bifid stalks perhaps—painted at the point of transition between the undulating bands and the adjacent red ground. Although much of the black paint has either worn away or flaked off, the uneven contours and knobby shapes of these motifs are just discernible, as is the manner in which they were created. A parallel can be drawn with irregular black marks, many of them resembling bifid stalks, painted across red rocky forms on a fresco fragment from the House of the Frescoes (Evans 1928, 2, fig. 305, bottom). A second fragment from the same deposit preserves sketchy black marks used in the transition between yellow rockwork and a blue ground; the similarity of this motif to that used in the Lily Fresco, if not to its color scheme, is striking (Evans 1928, 2, fig. 305, top left). Fresco fragments from a lustral basin at Chania suggest the marbled effect of gypsum with parallel rocky bands of veining accentuated by loose forms that also recall the dark marks on the Lily Fresco (Evely, ed., 1999, 133–134; my thanks to Maria Shaw for making this observation). In the Lily Fresco, as in no other composition known to the author, however, the artist creates a dynamic opposition between the hard-edged, crisply outlined undulating bands of solid color and the loosely painted forms of the dark marks. RED ROCK The dashes and teardrops of white painted in slightly arching rows against the dark red ground of the Lily Fresco (Frontispiece) provide yet another interesting and innovative pictorial element. Indeed, this design is so unusual that it calls to mind the old guessing-game

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question: animal, vegetable, or mineral? It seems unlikely that the white marks could belong to an animal—even one with spots—given that no animal parts can be detected. Likewise, evidence is lacking for the stems or leaves that would characterize a plant. Rock motifs are therefore the most probable identification. The white teardrops convey an impressionistic quality that recalls the light-on-dark imitations of stone preserved on the MM III(?) Sponge Fresco from Knossos (Evans 1930, 361–364, fig. 238). They can also be likened to the newly published Splash Pattern Fresco from Hagia Eirene, Keos, dating to LC I, in which paint was splashed and dribbled onto the plaster to create innovative artistic effects (Davis 2007, 145–147, pl. 17.1:A–D). Yet, on inspection, the white marks on the Lily Fresco seem to have been painted purposefully with individual brushstrokes rather than dabbed or dripped. Only a few tiny flecks of white paint fell (accidentally) from the paintbrush onto the still damp plaster, showing only that the artist was working rapidly. Another comparison can be made to depictions of rocks in the Monkeys and Birds Fresco from the House of the Frescoes at Knossos. In that famous composition, details of rock veining include the occasional spot of white, along with many other painterly forms (e.g., Evans 1928, 2, pl. XI; Cameron 1968c, fig. 8:d). Finally, the blue “waterfalls” also found in this composition employ small teardrop-shaped spots of blue and white to indicate the spray of water (Evans 1928, 2, 460–461, fig. 272; Cameron 1968c, fig. 4:c). Though the formal similarities with the “red rock” are striking, it is highly unlikely that the meaning is shared. It would seem, then, that the artist of the Lily Fresco was familiar with a variety of brushwork techniques and used them to create unusual renderings of rocks.

Reconstruction and Artistic Impression The reconstruction shown in the Frontispiece restores the six fragments and fragment groups as one Madonna lily plant with three stems of white flowers. While it cannot be confirmed through joins that each fragment belongs to the same plant, and even though the placement of the individual fragments remains somewhat conjectural, the consistency of the representation of Madonna lilies within the Aegean idiom makes it probable that the original composition resembled this proposed reconstruction. Cameron (1976) argued for more imaginative reconstructions—what he sometimes called artistic impressions—for their value as visual tools that assist the viewer in understanding highly fragmentary compositions. As a response, a more expansive reconstruction of the Lily Fresco is offered in Color Plate 1B, with the admission that the more involved and detailed the reconstruction offered, the less likely it is to reflect prehistoric reality.

Nevertheless, each pictorial element in the artistic impression is based on evidence gleaned from the surviving fresco fragments and is supported by parallels from contemporary paintings. The knobby rockwork at the top is modeled after similar examples of rocky landscape preserved in Theran paintings. Its arrangement across the upper border of the composition is hypothetical, and it is also possible that it encircled the lily plant. The lily’s three stems are reconstructed following the model of contemporary representations of Madonna lilies, with the basal leaves arranged symmetrically about the flower stems. Because fragment 3 with the basal leaves preserves a dark red ground, it seems likely that the background changes from yellow ocher to red somewhere in the composition, probably along an undulating line, as is typical of Aegean painting (e.g., the Adorant Fresco from Hagia Triada; Militello 1998, pl. 2). The undulating bands, with their unique multicolored rocky band, are more interpretive, but the restored drawing suggests the undulating movement of wavy bands evidenced by similar contemporary Aegean landscapes. A red zone is restored beneath and to the side of the wavy bands in the interests of compositional balance.

Conclusions Like a variety of landscape frescoes recovered from houses in the area of Knossos, the Lily Fresco of Kommos seems to be pushing artistic boundaries with new pictorial designs created from innovative combinations of established artistic motifs. The red rockwork painted with bifid stalks above the lily flowers marks a rare appearance of this motif in a landscape fresco from Crete. The multicolored undulating band painted with rocky rounded forms remains singular, the only known illustration of this motif in Aegean art. Its outer contour, made up of irregularly shaped black marks, surprises the viewer with its loose and almost impressionistic approach to brushwork. This is succeeded by the “red rock,” identified as such by a dynamic array of white spots. Together, this evidence suggests the work of a highly accomplished artist of considerable creativity— a master of landscape who painted lilies and undulating bands with smooth confidence but who experimented with decorative forms of rocks in daring ways. The presence of such an artist in Kommos, the leading port of the Mesara Plain but quite some distance from Knossos, is significant. When viewed in relation to the remarkable paintings of the Royal Villa at nearby Hagia Triada (Militello 1998), it would seem that the explosion of artistic creativity evidenced by Knossian landscape painting—the “Neopalatial Renaissance” of LM IA (Chapin 1997, 22–23)—was a more widespread

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phenomenon than previously recognized, reflecting an expansion of both supply and demand for landscape painting across central and southern Crete in the LM IA period.

Spiral Fresco from Space X14a: Parallels and Reconstruction Maria C. Shaw While the technical aspects in the rendering of the Spiral Fresco have already been considered in Part 1 of this chapter, the considerations that led us to restore it as we did, given its fragmentary preservation (Col. Pl. 3A), remain to be considered here. By definition, a spiral runs in a frieze, but friezes can be arranged in one or more rows, as known from better-preserved paintings (cf. Fyfe 1902, figs. 43, 44; Doumas 1992, 132–133, pls. 93, 94). In this case we opted for the simpler solution, a one-row frieze (Col. Pl. 3B). In our restoration, we opted to indicate the engraved, compass-drawn curves in green to distinguish them from the painted part of the frieze. The curves were made to achieve the correct placement of adjacent spirals. The rest of the colors in the restoration are those actually present on the preserved plaster fragment. Black was used to outline the coils of the spirals, with the spirals remaining white (Col. Pl. 3A). Orange red was used for the center of each spiral as well as for the small filling ornaments in the form of small triangles with incurved sides, which occurred between adjacent spirals. There appears to have been a red wavy band, outlined in black, running horizontally above the row of spirals, and we restored another such band below it. We also restored two similarly colored red bands on the outer sides of the wavy bands to complete the design conventionally. A number of spiral friezes are marked by a top and a bottom band. An example occurs in a painting from Thera, although, in that example, the bands at top and bottom were painted a different color, and the frieze consisted of two rows of spirals (Doumas 1992, 132–133, pls. 93, 94). The simpler, single-row spiral frieze assumed here has many parallels in Minoan painting, for instance in a painted frieze from the Palace at Knossos, restored by Fyfe (1902, 119, 120, fig. 44). The Knossos example differs in its width, which is about twice that of the one from Kommos, and also in the use of an elaborate rosette instead of a solid disk to fill each spiral’s core. Similar in the two cases are the solid triangles filling the triangular spaces created between successive spirals and the outer bands defining the top and bottom sides of the frieze. The larger Knossian spiral frieze adorned the ample Hall of the Double Axes (Evans 1930, 345, fig. 229).

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The depiction of spirals with white coils outlined in black lines was a rather common practice on Crete. One example, from Knossos, was illustrated by Evely (ed., 1999, 156), who did not specify its date. The other, according to its excavator, Andreadaki-Vlasaki (1993, 66, col. pl. B') was painted on the walls of a Lustral Basin at Chania in MM IIIB (Evely, ed.,1999, 134). In both of these, as in the sample from House X, the spirals are marked by a central core painted a solid color. The frieze at Chania is rendered without any apparent use of a compass; those at Knossos and Kommos make partial use of a compass, but in different ways. While the coils in the Knossian spiral are rendered freehand, the circular core of the spiral is outlined twice, using a compass in both cases. The painted outlines of the coils themselves, visible in both the Knossian and the Chania spirals, are crisper than the corresponding ones in the Kommos spiral, perhaps as a result of the tool used. While at Kommos a brush seems to have been employed, betterdefined spirals, many familiar from examples at Knossos, may have been drawn using some kind of a stylus, perhaps a reed with a sharpened end or simply a stiffer and narrower brush. In the Kommos spiral, the central disk, painted a solid yellow, was not outlined in black at all, at least in the fragment preserved. The height of the spiral on the wall in House X can only be conjectured. At Knossos Fyfe restored the heights of two friezes. One was in the Hall of the Double Axes, where it was set at the level of the door lintel, as most such friezes must have been. The other was in the so-called Bathroom in the Queen’s Megaron, where Fyfe states it was 1.98 m from the ground, set just above a horizontal wooden beam in the masonry. This spiral consisted of a single row but was supplemented by multicolored bands above and below it. The width of the spiral proper was ca. 0.30 m (Fyfe 1902, 111, fig. 7). If only a single row, the Kommos spiral frieze would have been much narrower, unless it was bordered by further straight bands above and below like a number of examples from the Palace of Knossos that were illustrated and sometimes restored by Fyfe (1902, 111).

Evidence for Drafting and Other Artists’ Devices in the Painted Plasters from X8 and X1 Maria C. Shaw

Plasters Found in Space X8 Historically, the word “cartoon” did not connote parody; during the Renaissance, it referred to full-scale drawings made to be transferred to a large surface: a

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wall, a floor, or a ceiling surface.5 The term “preliminary sketch lines,” first used by Cameron with reference to Minoan wall paintings from the House of the Frescoes at Knossos, stands for a similar notion. It refers to orange-red lines that he detected after parts of a top slip of plaster, which normally carries the final painted representation, flaked off from small areas of the Monkeys and Birds Fresco from Knossos, exposing the coarser primary layer on the rough surface of which these lines had been drawn. Examples can be seen in a number of photographs and drawings that Cameron published (1968b, figs. 3–6, pls. III–VIII; 1968c, in nearly all drawings of fragments illustrated there).6 One example with undulating bands, reproduced here in Figure 2.3, shows the preliminary orange lines exposed where the top plaster slip has flaked off . As noted above, it is generally believed that Minoan wall painting was executed in the “true fresco” technique, or buon fresco, which was quite similar to that used in fresco painting during the Italian Renaissance. There are variations, however, as discussed by Cameron (1977, 167–169) and Militello (1998, 227–236, with fur7 ther references). The term arriciato refers to what Cameron calls the surface of the primary layer of plaster, which was marked with “sketch lines,” while intonaco names the slip that ultimately covered sketch lines in orange red (the sinopia) drawn on the arriciato. In Renaissance murals, the intonaco was so thin as to be nearly transparent, allowing the artist to see the sketch it covered and be guided by it. Whether the Minoan intonaco was sufficiently transparent is now difficult to tell, since it was normally covered by the painting itself. Judging from what we know of the top slip at Kommos, however, and taking into consideration the overall color added as a background before the motifs were drawn, it is difficult to believe the artist could make out the preliminary sketch under the slip. The slip itself, as used in the House of the Frescoes, was reportedly 0.0005–0.001 m thick (Cameron 1968c, 3), and thus it was quite similar to that used at Kommos. Cameron investigated the mystery of the sinopia lines because Evans had earlier singled out two groups of fragments from the House of the Frescoes that he treated separately from his iconographic discussion of the famous Monkeys and Birds Fresco itself. Evans labeled the lines or designs Group A signs and Group B signs. As he was unable to see any identifiable motifs, he suggested that they were either part of an ancient linear script or that they were cultic forms, possibly talismanic in purpose, although he conceded that some elements in Group A could be pictorial (Evans 1928, 440–443). Cameron’s later investigation of the two sets showed that the Group B signs (Evans 1928, 441, fig. 258, fragments 1–4) were sinopia lines, hidden under the top slip, bits of which

were still preserved on Evans’s fragments. Cameron then pursued this knowledge, locating further examples of sinopia lines in the Monkeys and Birds Fresco (1968b, fig. 13), where, as noted earlier, small areas of the top slip had come off. To my knowledge, House X offers the first extensive new evidence since Cameron’s breakthrough for these and other painting processes occurring outside Knossos. The evidence for sinopia lines occurs on much worn fragments found on the floor in Space X8, where they may have collapsed from the nearby west wall. The wear on the fragments, the result of erosion from fills that accumulated in X8 when the latter was no longer roofed, was variable. In one case, the damage caused the top slip to disappear almost entirely, an accident that allowed us to see the underlying surface and the drawings in sinopia painted on it. Of these fragments, three proved to us the most instructive. The surface of P 183c is so badly destroyed that it is not worth illustrating here. It consists of two adjoining fragments (0.170 m x 0.130 m and 0.080 m x 0.070 m), of which the left one is the more informative. Visible on much of the surface are traces of red that was applied overall and is thus the color of a background. Barely recognizable forms that were visible where the pigment came off, leaving a slight depression in the plaster surface, suggest that the composition may have involved floral motifs. The plaster had evidently not dried entirely when the color of the motifs was added. From the depressed area under the now lost paint and from traces of intensified red color preserved along a plant’s outline, one can just make out shapes that look like stems and leaves. Indeed, one form that looks like a long, slim leaf still preserves some of its color. The leaf curved along an area painted a deep red that could represent rocky terrain. It may have resembled that in the lower part of the Lily Fresco, where higher up the flowers rise against a yellow background, while the basal leaves are seen against a red background (Frontispiece). In P 183c, the top slip had flaked off, revealing the telltale orange-red sinopia lines, though because of their limited exposure and the worn upper surface, the relationship between the sketches and the final design could not be determined. The surface of P 183b (0.120 m x 0.100 m) was also very worn like the previous piece, but it preserved more of the deep red background color, although with no apparent additional designs. Sinopia lines appeared along the edges of the fragment where the intonaco had flaked off, prompting the question of what their use may have been if no design appeared directly next to them on the visible surface. Cameron may have been confronted by a similar issue, as reflected in his use of different expressions when referring to the functions of the sinopia lines. He described these variously as “guiding lines” or

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“pictorial marks,” which, to paraphrase him, were meant to indicate the approximate locations of the pictorial subject matter or to help set the appropriate proportions (Cameron 1968b, 56). The top plaster slip in both P 183b and P 183c has a bluish-white tint, one encountered sometimes at the top of the backing plaster of other pieces found in House X. The slip in the above examples is rather uniform, ca. 0.0010–0.0015 m, thus it is just slightly thicker than the one reported for the slip of the plasters from the House of the Frescoes. Again, slips of such thickness are not thin enough to be transparent and to allow one to see the sinopia sketches beneath them. Cameron proposed that the method used was similar to that of the Renaissance fresco painters, who applied intonaco incrementally (Cameron 1968b, 56). In Renaissance times this process was called giornata, or the incremental execution of the painting on a daily basis.8 One aspect of the giornata system that would have suited Minoan painting was that a day’s work could have been defined in terms of the contour lines of the subject matter. These lines would have disguised the joins between each day’s work and would thus not have interfered with the sweeping background lines so loved by the Minoans. One can only speculate as to how the Minoans dealt with the problem that their intonaco was not always thin enough to be transparent. If they, too, worked incrementally, they would have had to memorize the sketches they covered, a solution that might explain why there are rarely exact correspondences between sketch lines and the final painting. P 183a (Col. Pl. 3C) is the only fragment of the group from X8 preserved sufficiently to merit a catalog number, Fr 8. It is the largest fragment (0.195 m x 0.150 m), and it reveals striking new information on technique. It is the largest known sample of “preliminary sketch lines” so far found on Crete, if the quoted words are indeed the correct phrase to use here. The design was revealed by an accident of preservation, as mentioned earlier; the top slip that once covered the sinopia lines had almost disappeared by the time we found it. When the piece was first discovered, the surface still preserved small patches of slip, but those had already become detached from the underlying surface and were nearly floating above it. As in the related pieces (P 183b, P 183c), the slip was thin and bluish white in color. The sinopia lines in this unique fragment are an intriguing set. The intended theme resists definition except for the possibility that plants may have been part of the subject matter. This interpretation, however, may read too much into the dense network of curving lines and the few solid forms, none of which makes sense as part of a representational painting either individually or as a group. No matter how many attempts were made to determine the correct orientation of the piece, no decision could be

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reached. It does not appear to be the sketch of a scene, but it is not a mere doodle either. The explanation I would propose here is that the network of lines may instead represent an exercise in which the artist practiced the rendering of graceful curves like those seen in Minoan paintings of plant forms, which may have been the subject of the composition to which the three pieces belonged. Perhaps it was the work of an apprentice being trained, but the virtuosity and fluency of the lines would seem to point to an already accomplished artist. If so, the lines could represent trials or a warm-up exercise undertaken just prior to the execution of the floral scene itself. The idea of practicing fluent and expressive lines as an ongoing self-training process finds parallels in other traditional arts, especially in Chinese brush painting, in which lines were not used simply to render a verisimilitude of an object. Rather, through the manipulation of the artist’s tool, it was possible to express variances in mood or matters of the spirit brought about by the artist’s immersion in the philosophy of the culture. In both Chinese and Minoan painting, the tool is the paintbrush.9 The practice of brushstrokes as seen in the fragment from X8 (Col. Pl. 3C) need not have resulted in stilted effects, for tradition and innovation often go hand in hand in world arts (Shaw and Shaw 1993, 141). Chapin’s analysis (1997, esp. 21–22) of the Floral Fresco from the Unexplored Mansion at Knossos exemplifies how old visual schemata could have been transformed into new motifs, resulting in stunningly fresh, original art. In this Knossian painting, this process involved not only the invention of new and hybrid forms of flowers, but also a new and imaginative manipulation of the elements of the background.

Stems Fresco from Space X1 Maria C. Shaw The previous insights regarding invention, preliminary sketches, and artists’ exercises may help with the interpretation of another peculiar design among the paintings in House X: the Stems Fresco from Space X1 (Col. Pl. 2A). Unlike the preliminary orange lines encountered in the frescoes of X8, however, the designs on the Stems Fresco were meant to be visible, despite the shoddy draftsmanship. The argument that it was not meant to be a doodle but may instead be the repetition of an experiment tried elsewhere receives support from the close correspondences in technique and colors seen in another set of fresco fragments, again from the House of the Frescoes at Knossos.

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The subject matter, as the nickname of the fresco implies, seems to be a floral representation, yet oddly it displays no indication of any terrain features. It is reasonable to expect that such features should have appeared already at the bottom of the composition, to which most of the fragments found seem to belong. The long vertical bands we call stems have pointed ends, as if they were poised over the ground rather than growing out of it. If papyri were intended, it is odd that the stems grow singly here and not in clusters, as is normally the case. Stems of papyri are leafless, but leaves were often shown as part of a fan-shaped umbel at the top of the plant in Aegean frescoes (Morgan 1988, 21–24). Basal leaves are some times omitted, but they are more often indicated, as in the Monkeys and Birds Fresco from the House of the Frescoes (Cameron 1968b). The seemingly “amateur draftsmanship” of the Stems composition is also evinced in the apparently fumbled rendering of a peculiar motif whose identity remains enigmatic. This is the bulbous purplish-brown form visible on a plaster fragment that we placed in the lower central part of the painting in our display of the preserved fragments (Col. Pl. 2A). I have been unable to find a satisfactory explanation of the design, beyond the likelihood that it depicts a part of the plants. One might venture to say that it shows two overlapping papyrus umbels, but if so, the fragment should belong to an upper part of the composition, contrary to present restoration. There are signs of repeated brushstrokes in diluted sepia color that look like the artist’s failed attempts to render the motif and, if so, this may be the work of a novice. We do not know at what locations within the house such exercises may have taken place. The fact that fragments of the Lily Fresco were found with fragments of the Stems Fresco does not mean that the two compositions once adorned the same space. If they did, and if the Lily Fresco adorned Space X4, I would suggest that the Stems fresco was relegated to the part of the south wall next to the entrance leading into X5. The paintings on the long west wall of X4 would have caught the more immediate attention of the visitor upon entering the room. A distinct and potentially more revealing characteristic of the unusual tableau of stems or papyri is the exclusive use of a single color, sepia, to render the subject matter aside from the yellow background. The latter’s pinkish tone makes it a different yellow than that of the background of the Lily Fresco. This difference indicates that we are not dealing with parts of the same composition. The use of sepia color to render the stems is of particular interest. Used in historic times as an ink, true sepia was the natural secretion obtained from cuttlefish, its hue brown with a purple tinge. It was used in the art of the Mediterranean world at least from Roman times

on. Some type of sepia ink was also used by the Chinese already by the second millennium B.C., but only in minor decorative art and not on murals, where it appears much later, in the fourth century B.C.10 We have no knowledge of the origin of the sepia color used in the Stems Fresco, since no analysis could be made, but it is quite unlikely it was true sepia, as that would have been recognized in the many analyses that Cameron conducted of frescoes from Knossos. Still, it is noteworthy that the color has been used mainly for making drawings, and it may not be an accident that it approximates the rendering of floral motifs in the dark-on-light decoration on Minoan vases. In the case of the composition with the stems, the rendition can be seen as a hybrid form of art—a combination of painting and of drawing. Here I refer to the emphasis on linear definition rather than on mass or in variations in color to render a form, apart from the additional yellow color used for the background. As in Chinese pictorial art, which typically par11 takes of the two approaches, this medium on Crete could have been well served by the use of a brush. Indeed, one can reconstruct the particular brushstroke involved in the rendering of each stem in X1. The artist would have started by poising the tip of the brush on the lower part of the composition, holding the brush perpendicularly to the wall, then dragging it upward uninterruptedly, allowing for the brush to touch the wall and transfer the sepia color to render the stems. The emphasis on a sweeping motion was more important than stopping and adding iconographic details, if any were intended at all. Indeed, the lack of pictorial details makes one wonder if the whole point was to practice the rendering of unbroken, sweeping lines, an exercise not uncommon in Chinese painting. To help us with the comparison of our sepia designs with Evans’s Group A signs (1928, 440–443), we reproduce a fragment with two signs redrawn by Cameron (Fig. 2.4). Their points of similarity include the exclusive use of a sepia color for rendering the motifs and of a plain yellow background with a “rosy” hue (as described by Evans in the Knossos examples) for the background. While I was unable to study directly the particular pieces from Knossos, at least at Kommos it is evident that the stems were painted on a surface that looks as if it was covered, but not throughout, by a rather thin layer of slip. This slip is so thin in certain areas that one can see the grooves left by the scraping tool on the underlying surface (Pl. 2.1A). No slip covered the so-called signs of Group A at Knossos, precluding the explanation that we might be dealing with artists’ preliminary sketches and not the intended final subject matter. In the two sepia compositions at Knossos and at Kommos, brush-drawn bands or strips are among the main elements in the iconography. In the House of the Frescoes at Knossos, they delineate a greater variety of abstract

THE FRESCOES

designs (Evans 1928, 440).12 These are iconographically meaningless, which is one reason why Cameron paid less attention to them than to the preliminary lines or sketches relating to representational painting. He noted, nevertheless, that the surface was rougher than that on which the Monkeys and Birds Fresco was painted. He also commented that the back side of the plaster fragments with the sepia designs had indentations, while the backs of those of the Monkeys and Birds Fresco did not. Cameron rightly concluded that the two sets came from different walls (Cameron 1968b, 50). One must also raise the question, however, of whether they came from different rooms as well, even if they were discarded in the same place.13 It may be relevant that in Kommos House X possible preliminary sketch lines (sinopia) and the sepia “stems” (the latter comparable to what Evans referred to as sepia “signs”) were found in different spaces, the former in X8, the latter in X1. Overall, the general patterns of these two types of paintings at Kommos and Knossos are similar, and only future discoveries may help to determine whether or not this is a coincidence. The resemblances may be attributable to their comparable dates, or perhaps an artist working first at Knossos visited Kommos and contributed to the making of the frescoes in House X, whether directly or by instructing local individuals. Chapin has also noted similarities between the Lily Fresco at Kommos and details in the landscape murals in the House of the Frescoes at Knossos. Another item of comparanda from Knossos is a fragment from the Toreador Fresco on which Cameron spotted preliminary (sinopia) lines as well (Cameron 1968b, 58, fig. 6, pl. VIII). This example differs, however, in that the sketch lines appear mostly on the same surface as the painting and were therefore visible. This could be a chronological development, as this fresco has been variously dated to LM IB–II or even somewhat later (Immerwahr 1989, 175). Preliminary sketches in red that were also covered by a top slip from the LC I settlement at Akrotiri, Thera add to the evidence from the House of the Frescoes that this technique was in use by LC IA/LM IA times.14 If the dating of the construction of the House of the Frescoes to MM IIIB/LM IA is correct, then it probably originated on Crete. The house was finally abandoned in LM IA, a date recently confirmed by Eleni Hatzaki, who examined the pottery (pers. comm.). Preliminary sketches also occur on the final, visible surface of the plaster at Middle Cycladic III Hagia Eirene on Keos (E. Davis, pers. comm. 2008). The same technique continues in LC IA figural paintings from the same site (Coleman 1973, 288). Whether the difference between sketches under and over the painted top slip indicates the degree to which the technique of buon fresco was

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adhered to remains a question, pending the final publication of those paintings by Ellen Davis and Lyvia Morgan.15

2.4. General Remarks Maria C. Shaw To conclude the matter of artistic interconnections, we need to ask the question of whether Knossian painters may have played a role at Kommos. Theories now abound about the initiative undertaken by Knossos in postProtopalatial times to extend its power throughout Crete, including the area of South-Central Crete and especially Galatas and Hagia Triada. In the case of the latter, La Rosa sees the villa as having been built under Knossian direction. This marked a shift in political power, with Phaistos henceforth playing a secondary role in the Mesara, since its first palace was only partially replaced (La Rosa 1995, 889–890). Militello points to Knossian connections mainly with regard to the famous final fresco from Room 14 depicting the Goddess and her Attendant. He also considers the earlier fresco depicting a red lily on a white ground (of which only one fragment was found under the floor of Room 14) to be the work of Knossian artists at work during the construction of the Villa in MM IIIB/LM IA, or LM IA Early in “Kommian” terms. The red lily, Militello points out, has a parallel in the landscape of the later, LM IA Final fresco in Room 14 (Militello 1998, 275–276, 339–341; also pers. comm.). Elsewhere on Crete, at Galatas, Warren (2002, 204) regards the change of a simple building into a complex one—a Minoan palace—as part of an external initiative. Rethemiotakis has recently claimed a connection between Galatas and Knossos on the basis of a fresco fragment with a floral representation was found in a secure MM IIIA context at Galatas. Among the other fresco pieces from the site, but in somewhat later contexts (MM III/LM IA), one has a floral motif, the other a decorative net of red lines against a white background (Rethemiotakis 2002, 57). Such discoveries, especially the earlier fresco, make the dating of floral motifs and landscapes rendered in a naturalistic style more secure. Blakolmer (1997) sees this period as a transition from the repertoire of decorative and abstract designs of the Old Palace period to the genesis of the full-fledged naturalistic wall painting we know from MM IIIB/LM IA. He comments that this development may have been prompted by the need for representational iconography, used in wall painting as a vivid expression of political and social ideology employing a newly formulated pictorial language.

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The art of the landscape reached a high point on Crete in LM IA, but it was established already by MM IIIB/LM IA. This is when the nature scenes in the House of the Frescoes were made, the plasters having been removed subsequently from the walls before the building’s final demise in LM IA (Evans 1928, 435–438; Cameron 1968c, 1). In view of our present knowledge of synchronisms based on pottery, the frescoes in House X may well have been made roughly at the same time or not long after those of the Knossian house. The House X frescoes celebrate nature, as the Minoans typically did. The theme of nature may have had other meanings as well, however. The Kommos elite may have commissioned the paintings, made either by Knossian painters or local painters working under their instruction, as sociopolitical statements that recognized the supremacy of Knossos. The paintings were, in addition, used by the local elite to “reinforce their dominant social standing” as elsewhere on Crete (Chapin 2004, 54). It is significant that at Kommos the only house in which that symbolism was manifested was House X, for representational paintings were not found anywhere else in the town. It is unclear if any other house ever received even the simplest form of mural decoration beyond the use of solid colors or, perhaps, the occasional band (M.C. Shaw 1996f). The painted decoration of Building T, or “Palace,” may not be relevant to the discussion, as this edifice was constructed earlier than House X, and the designers emphasized its status through simulations of fanciful variegated stone in the floors and dados (M.C. Shaw 2006). Their aim was not to bring nature from the ouside to the indoors, as in House X. This contrast exists between the paintings of houses and palaces at other sites, and the difference may in part represent trends characteristic of different periods. In Building T and the earlier Building AA at Kommos, the building materials used in the construction of the ruler’s abode conveyed the importance of the structure, a tradition that goes back to the Protopalatial period. The tradition of decorating houses with floral compositions preceded the construction of House X. By following the trends set at Knossos, the occupants of House X could be seen as partaking of the glories of the great metropolis.

Chapter 2 Endnotes 1. Fragments found in Trench 81A were much fewer. They were recorded by their excavator, Josée Sabourin, in a sketch plan in the excavation daybook (Sabourin 1992, available on the Kommos T-Space Web site). A drawing of the findspots for Trench 73A was made by Giuliana Bianco at the time of the excavation (6 August 1991). These drawings suggest that the

plasters were dumped in X1 rather than having fallen from the surrounding walls. 2. The same Pantone Guide was used to specify the hues of colors used in frescoes from palatial Building T (M.C. Shaw 2006, 121–122). The references are to colors in the Solid to Process PANTONE Process Color Imaging Guide (1992) that seem to match best the ancient colors. The matches were made with reference to the color samples shown in the “4/C Process” column of the guide reproduced below (abbreviations for the pigments are: C: Cyan; M: Magenta; Y: Yellow; K: Black).

4/C Process Color 7.5 C/OENO-C 7.5 C/OHUO-C 7.5 C/OJTO-C 7.5 C/OKZJ-C 8 C/OLZB-C 9.5 C/OMZJ-C 9.5 C/OJTO-C 10 C/OEKO-C 10.5 C/OEIO-C 10.5 C/OIMO-C 11 C/OQZO-C 12 C/OMRO-C 12 C/ORZJ-C 13 C/OSUL-C 13 C/OTVC-C 27.8 C/IBOO-C 34 C/EOBO-C 47 C/OEFN-C 50 C/COOQ-C 55 C/USZO-C 56.5 C/OHIG-C 56.5 C/OPSL-C 66 C/ZLOL-C 66 C/ZMOR-C 66.5 C/COOE-C 66.5 C/NCOK-C 80 C/EAOO-C 91 C/OITH-C

Modern Pigments Used to Produce Color C:0.0; M:18.5; Y:56.0; K:0.0 C:0.0; M:30.5; Y:79.0; K:0.0 C:0.0; M:38.0; Y:76.0; K:0.0 C:0.0; M:43.0; Y:100.0; K:38.0 C:0.0; M:47.0; Y:100.0; K:8.5 C:0.0; M:51.0; Y:100.0; K:38.0 C:0.0; M: 38.0; Y:76.0; K:0.0 C:0.0; M:18.5; Y:43.0; K:0.0 C:0.0; M:18.5; Y:34.0; K:0.0 C:0.0; M:34.0; Y:51.0; K:0.0 C:0.0; M:65.0; Y:100.0; K:0.0 C:0.0; M:51.0; Y:69.0; K:0.0 C:0.0; M:69.0; Y:100.0; K:38.0 C:0.0; M:72.0; Y:79.0; K:47.0 C:0.0; M:76.0; Y:83.0; K:11.5 C:34.0; M:8.5; Y:0.0; K:0.0 C:18.5; M:0.0; Y:8.5; K0.0 C:0.0; M:18.5; Y:23.5; K:56.0 C:11.5; M:0.0; Y:0.0; K:65.0 C:79.0; M:72.0; Y:100.0; K:0.0 C:0.0; M:30.5; Y:34.0; K:27.5 C:0.0; M:60.0; Y:72.0; K:47.0 C:100.0; M:47.0; Y:0.0; K:47.0 C:100.0; M:51.0; Y:0.0; K:69.0 C:11.5; M:0.0; Y:0.0; K:18.5 C:56.0; M:11.5; Y:0.0; K:43.0 C:18.5; M:6.0; Y:0.0; K:0.0 C:0.0; M:34.0; Y:76.0; K:30.5

3. Discussion of a third case is omitted because the incised design was made after the painting was finished (Cameron 1979). Chapin calls my attention to the detail of an incised fish in the painting of the fishermen from Thera (Doumas 1992, fig. 21), which might be some kind of signature. 4. The plaster fragments with the graffiti are not accessible today. Neither the author nor Pietro Militello (pers. comm. 2007) has been able to see them. 5. For this and connected terms, see The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th ed., Macropaedia 3, s.v. “Caricature, Cartoon, and Comic Strip,” 909. 6. Painting is not the only art form in which the Minoans appear to have used preliminary sketches. For their use on seals, see Younger 1974, 1981.

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7. Briefer and perhaps more easily accessible accounts of buon fresco, encompassing areas beyond the Aegean, can be found in The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th ed., Micropaedia 4, s.v. “Fresco Painting,” 316–317; Macropaedia 5, s.v. “Technique of Sinopia,” 1001–1003. See also Cameron 1977, 167–169. 8. The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th ed., Micropaedia 4, s.v. “Fresco Painting,” 317. 9. As a short-time student in a course of Chinese painting, I was astonished by the inordinate amount of time had to be devoted to practicing even the simplest of brushstrokes to render a leaf, a stalk, or the petal of a flower. The character of the line is highly instrumental in conveying variance in mood, for instance, in rendering a passive bird as opposed to a nervous and aggressive one. Though the literature on Chinese brush painting is immense, I limit my references to one publication that I found revealing: Da-Wei 1981. 10. The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th ed., Macropaedia 5, s.v. “Drawing” [Chinese], 1009–1010. 11. The New Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th ed., Macropaedia 5, s.v. “Drawing” [Chinese], 1009–1010. 12. Additional information that Evans offered about the sepia signs at Knossos may be of some interest in the present

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discussion. He noted that there was a band painted a slate blue next to the sepia bands. 13. This thought led me to propose that the plaster stack in Space E in the House of the Frescoes likely included pieces collected from more than one composition and from more than one room, contrary to Cameron’s surmise that they had all fallen from a collapsed upper story and a single room (Chapin and Shaw 2006, 62). 14. I am grateful to Andreas Vlachopoulos and Elisabet Chryssikopoulou (who is preparing a doctoral dissertation on the technique of the paintings at Akrotiri) for this information. 15. Tempera is the traditional painting technique used in Egypt, where the plaster was made of gypsum and the pigments were mixed with adhesive agents to allow them to bond with the surface (Lucas 1989, 351–352). It is interesting, for this reason, that the paintings with Minoan and other Aegean themes from Tell el Dabca in northeastern Egypt utilize the buon fresco technique. Indeed, in this case, the artists also used what the writer calls “underpaintings” in sinopia, but it is difficult to tell if these were sketches from the description of sinopie, which mentions that “red and yellow paint became visible” under the top painted surface but does not specify if any lines or motifs were involved (Brysbaert 2007, 160).

3

Miscellaneous Finds Joseph W. Shaw, Maria C. Shaw, and John G. Younger

3.1. Introduction Joseph W. Shaw The catalog of finds presented in this chapter is structured by the categories of non-pottery artifacts from the monumental buildings and the houses of the Minoan town described in previous Kommos publications (Shaw and Shaw, eds., 1996, 2006). The well-preserved occupational strata of House X, however, yielded a wider variety of objects related to food preparation and artisanal activities relative to those of the large civic buildings that had major storage functions. Since House X lay at the lower edge of a hillside affected by erosion and slope wash, the archaeological deposits were particularly dense. The longevity of the house (LM IA through LM IIIA:2 and possible partial use in LM IIIB), with its many floor and fill levels, also contributed to the number of objects represented. A summary of the artifact types, quantities, and find spots is presented in Table 3.1. The following catalog offers a selection of the types of objects found. Each entry identifies the object by catalog number (in boldface), Kommos excavation number, trench provenience, and, in a few cases, by Herakleion 1 Museum number. All measurements pertaining to the

description of the objects are given in centimeters (cm). In addition to the comparanda cited for many of the catalog entries, the reader is urged to look at the relevant citations in other Kommos volumes, which often include similar finds.2

3.2. Selected Objects of Metal: Copper, Bronze, and Lead Joseph W. Shaw Among the variety of copper, bronze, and lead objects recovered from House X, there were several instruments with blades (knives Me 14–Me 16), a sickle (Me 17), a possible small anvil (Me 20), a possible “pendant” (Me 18), a possible trowel (Me 19), two needles (Me 21, Me 22), two Minoan-type “tweezers” (Me 23, Me 24), 10 fishhooks (Me 25–Me 28), two lead balance weights (Me 29, Me 30), and numerous copper or bronze rod and wire fragments (Me 1–Me 13). The metal finds were isolated rather than gathered in hoards, giving the impression that they were the remnants of continued use

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JOSEPH W. SHAW, MARIA C. SHAW, AND JOHN G. YOUNGER

and were not abandoned, for instance, as a result of a destruction. No digging instruments such as picks or major carpentry tools such as chisels and saws were recovered, suggesting that if such items had once been part of the household equipment, they were removed when the inhabitants moved on. Most of the metal instruments (blades, tweezers, and balance weights) were probably employed in the house, although some, such as the sickle and the fishhooks, were obviously used in the surrounding fields and the sea. The rods and metal strips, common to numerous contexts on the Kommos site and elsewhere (see Blitzer 1995), were most likely associated with secondary metalworking activity. With regard to the contexts of the finds, the unlit Spaces X1 (with items Me 16, Me 17, and Me 30) and X2 (with Me 18 and Me 20) could have functioned for storage, while the implements themselves may actually have been used in open, lit areas where other metal objects were found (e.g., Me 14, Me 15, and Me 21, and metal strips from light-well X5; Me 19, Me 24, and Me 28 from X9). From a chronological perspective, the blades seem confined to LM I/II, while the metal rods and strips and the fishhooks seem to be fairly evenly divided between LM I/II and LM III contexts. Both needles (Me 21, Me 22) are from Postpalatial contexts (after LM II).

Strips/Wires Me 6 (B 173; 11A/17, X10; Pl. 3.1). Four (of nine) strip fragments and a nail illustrated. Max. pres. L. 4.3 (largest fragment), max. pres. w. (of same) 0.55, max. pres. th. 0.2. Wt. 8 g. Part of nail corroded and broken off. Nail round in section with a flat disk head. Pottery Group X10:2. LM IIIA:2 floor. Blitzer 1995, M 135, pls. 8.83, 8.86. Me 7 (B 303; 66A/31, X6; Pl. 3.1). Wire fragment (hook?). Max. pres. L. 8.3, max. pres. d. 2.0. Wt. 4 g. Traces of white metal adhering to surface. Round cross-section, curved wire in the shape of a hook. Pottery Group X6:5. LM IIIA:1 context. Blitzer 1995, M 170, pls. 8.83, 8.85. Me 8 (B 304; 66A/25, X2). Strip, two joining and one nonjoining fragments. Max. pres. L. 4.2, max. pres. w. 0.6, max. pres. th. 0.1. Wt. 2 g. Pottery Group X2:6. LM IB context. Me 9 (B 305; 66A/27, X6; Pl. 3.1). Strip, bent bronze, both ends broken. Max. pres. L. 2.3, max. pres. w. 0.5, max. pres. th. 0.1. Wt. 4 g. Pottery Group X6:5. LM IIIA:2 context. Me 10 (B 330; 73A/63, X4; Pl. 3.1). Strip bent into a ring. Outer end filed at corners; inner end cut straight across. Max. pres. d. 3.0, max. pres. w. 0.4, max. pres. th. 0.1. Wt. 2 g. Pottery Group X4:1E. LM IIIA:1 context. Me 11 (B 369; 87A/38, X10). Wire. Unevenly round in section. Max. pres. L. 0.4, max. pres. d. 0.2. Wt. 2 g. LM II context. Me 12 (B 377; 87A/58, X10). Strip. Tapered strip twisted tightly into “corkscrew.” Max. pres. L. 4.8, max. pres. d. 0.4. Wt. 3 g. LM II fill.

Rods

Me 13 (B395; 93E/103, X6; Pl. 3.1). Strips. Three joining fragments. Max. pres. L. 8.0 (longer piece), max. pres. w. (of same) 0.4. Wt. 3 g. Pottery Group X6:2. LM IB context.

Me 1 (B 44; 11A/18, X11/X12; Pl. 3.1). Rod. Max. pres. L. 4.7, max. pres. d. 0.25. Wt. 1 g. Square cross-section. Pottery Group X11:2. LM II fill. Blitzer 1995, M 84, pls. 8.85, 8.107.

Larger Implements

Me 2 (B 45; 11A/24, X10; Pl. 3.1). Rod. Max. pres. L. 6.8, max. pres. d. 0.55, min. pres. d. 0.4. Wt. 13 g. Wire, thick, four fragments reconstructed from nine original fragments; decayed. Square to rounded cross-section, tapering in diameter from one end to the other. Pottery Group X10:1. LM II fill above LM IB floor. Blitzer 1995, M 85, pls. 8.83, 8.86, 8.107. Me 3 (B 299; 66A/17, X5; Pl. 3.1). Rod or bar, two fragments. Larger fragment max. pres. L. 5.7, max. pres. d. 0.4. Wt. 6 g. Rounded and squared cross-section; tapered at ends but no clear signs of a hammered edge. LM II floor context. Blitzer 1995, M 167, pl. 8.86. Me 4 (B 394; 93A/65, outside House X; Pl. 3.1). Rod, mended from four fragments. Max. pres. L. 6.2, max. pres. d. 0.4. Wt. 3 g. Minoan? Me 5 (B 370; 87A/37, X10; Pl. 3.1). Rods, five non-joining fragments. Largest piece max. pres. L. 5.5, max. pres. d. 0.3. Wt. 4 g. LM II fill.

Me 14 (B 288; 59A/89, X5 light-well; Pl. 3.2). Knife blade. Incomplete, decayed. Max. pres. L. 9.2, max. pres. w. 3.1, max. pres. th. 0.6. Wt. 30 g. Minoan through Archaic, but Minoan is likely. Blitzer 1995, M 166, pl. 8.83. Me 15 (B 300; 66A/20, X5 light-well). Blade fragment. Triangular-shaped piece with broken margin. Made from sheet(?). Max. pres. L. 5.3, max. pres. w. 3.6, max. pres. th. 0.2. Wt. 8 g. Pottery Group X5:6. LM IIIA:2 dump. Blitzer 1995, M 168, pl. 8.83. Me 16 (B 332; 73A/82, toward eastern end of X1; Fig. 3.1; Pl. 3.2). Knife blade. Long, thin single-bladed knife, slightly curved (probably not originally). Two rivets through haft, on either side of which handle pieces were attached. Verdigris preserves the grain of handle material (wood or ivory?) on both sides. Max. pres. L. 20.5, max. pres. w. of blade 2.8. Wt. 44 g. Found not far from sickle blade Me 17 and in same pail

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77

as fragments of frescoes with lilies. Pottery Group X1:7. LM II.

Smaller Implements

Me 17 (B 301; 66A/22, X1; Pl. 3.2). Sickle blade. Double haft perforations at wood-covered squared haft end, opposite end missing, curved non-denticulated cutting edge on interior of blade curve. Max. pres. L. 20.0, max. pres. w. 2.7, max. pres. th. 0.04. Wt. 79 g. found not far from knife Me 16. Pottery Group X1:10. LM IIIA:1 floor fill. Blitzer 1995, M 169, pls. 8.83, 8.108.

Me 21 (B 307; 66A/37, X6; Fig. 3.1; Pl. 3.2). Needle. Complete. Manufactured from wire with a round cross-section. Max. pres. L. 10.3, max. pres. d. 0.4. Wt. 5 g. Pottery Group X5:5. LM II context. See Blitzer 1995, M 171, pl. 8.83.

Me 18 (B 348; 80A/44, X2; Fig. 3.1; Pl. 3.2). Pendant(?). Well preserved. Max. pres. L. 6.8. Wt. 13 g. Slim but sturdy long, rectangular blade on one end, projecting into small crescent points beyond the perpendicular sides. Other end has round shoulders narrowing into a fairly wide tang rolled up to form a loop. By analogy with examples from the Dictaean Cave, the blade may have been used as a pendant (amulet?), but it is based on the shape of a tool or toilet implement popular in the Mesara in EM tombs. For shape, see Boardman 1961, 23, no. 81, also 45–46, pl. 15 for rolled tang. See also Xanthoudides 1924, pl. LVI, no. 1948, which shows a preserved handle (fastened with rivets, however). Xanthoudides and Seager call it a toilet implement (for cutting?). Similar examples are reported from the Unexplored Mansion at Knossos (Popham, ed., 1984, 217, pl. 205:27, 28). Pottery Group X2:4. Found near LM IB pebble floor. Shaw and Shaw 1993, 147, pl. 22:c.

Me 23 (B 42; 11A/27, X11/X12; Pl. 3.2). Tweezers. Max. pres. L. (reconstructed) 6.8, max. pres. w. 1.8, th. (average) 0.35. Wt. 7 g. Pottery Group X11:2. LM II fill. Blitzer 1995, M 82, pls. 8.84, 8.108.

Me 19 (B 405; X9; Fig. 3.1; Pl. 3.2). Trowel(?). Max. pres. L. 6.8 (blade), 8.5 (with tang). Wt. 40 g. Sturdy leaf-shaped blade with rounded point. No sharp edges; thickened central rib. A short tang extends from broad end and is rolled forward to form a hanging loop, hemispherical in section, used as a handle. Somewhat asymmetrical shape. The side of the blade that is up when it is held by the loop is curved and well preserved, while the opposite side is rather straight, with its sharp edge damaged by more use. This suggests that the motion of scraping damaged the straight left edge when the tool was held by a right-handed person. By contrast, any scraping or cutting done with Me 18 utilized the edge opposite the loop handle, which was sturdier than that of Me 19, suggesting that the two tools may have been used for different purposes. It is not a knife; blades similar to Me 19 have been interpreted as possibly having been used to apply plaster to walls, to smooth it after application, or for pointing masonry joints (J.W. Shaw 1973, fig. 239; 2009, 146; Evely 1993, 475, fig. 188, along with similar blades from Gournia, Malia, and Palaikastro). It was found by the excavation architect when she was cleaning the floor of Space X9 near the doorway into X15. Pottery Group X9:2. LM II floor context. Me 20 (B 333; 74B/76, X2; Pl. 3.2). Blade or small anvil for metalworking(?). Max. pres. L. 8.9, max. pres. w. 6.7, max. pres. th. 0.6. Wt. 58 g. Edges nicked and bent in antiquity. Roughly isosceles triangular “blade” with curved sides and rounded angles. Both long edges are sharp; short back edge is blunt and flattened as if hammered. Apex forms a small rounded blade. Section lentoid. One perforation (for hafting or hanging?). Sturdy; undecorated. Pottery Group X2:6. LM IB context.

Me 22 (B 329; 73A/59, X4; Fig. 3.1; Pl. 3.2). Needle. Nearly intact. Max. pres. L. 12.7. Wt. 3 g. Pottery Group X4:2. LM IIIA:2 context.

Me 24 (B 341; 81C/32B, X9; Pl. 3.2). Tweezers fragment. Max. pres. L. 3.0, max. pres. th. 0.175. Wt. 1 g. LM IIIA context above walls. Me 25 (B 331; 73A/79, above House X walls). Fishhook. Entire hook except for tip. No eye. Max. pres. L. 2.8. Wt. 1 g. Mixed Minoan/Archaic context. Me 26 (B 334; 74B/69A, X3). Fishhook? Probably broken at both ends. Max. pres. L. 2.9. Wt. 2 g. Pottery Group X3:6. LM IIIA:2/IIIB, below Archaic floor. Me 27 (B 340; 81C/36, X15; Fig. 3.1; Pl. 3.2). Fishhooks. Six hooks broken off about 1 cm from bend, adhering by corrosion. Two (barbed?) tips missing, one hook missing a small segment. Max. pres. L. 1.9, max. pres. th. of each shaft 0.2. Wt. 2 g. Pottery Group X15:2. LM IIIA:1 context. Me 28 (B 344; 81C/55, X9; Pl. 3.2). Two fishhooks. No barbs visible. Max. pres. L. 2.2, max. pres. d. 0.2, 0.3. Wt. 2 g. Pottery Group X9:2. LM II context.

Lead Me 29 (L 19; 66A/4, above walls X1/2; Pl. 3.2). Circular weight. Complete except for possible bronze attachment. Max. pres. d. 4.1, max. pres. th. 0.7. Wt. 103 g (weighed August 2000). Archaic/Minoan context but object probably Minoan. Dabney 1996b, 270, pl. 4.16. A similar weight with traces of bronze in the center of one side was found at Hagia Eirene, on Keos, in a Late Helladic IIIA context (Petruso 1978, 186, no. 128). Me 30 (L 25; 73A/122, X1; Fig. 3.1; Pl. 3.2). Circular weight with flat surfaces. Two-thirds complete. Max. pres. d. 5.0, max. pres. th., 1.8. Wt. 133 g (incomplete). Pottery Group X1:2. LM IA context. Me 31 (L 26; 11A, surface find; Fig. 3.1). Bronze-sheathed lead object. Max. pres. L. 5.5, max. pres. d. 0.7. Wt. 24 g. Slim drumstick-shaped piece of very heavy black metal with bronze adhering to surface at larger ends and in small pimples throughout. Minoan?

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JOSEPH W. SHAW, MARIA C. SHAW, AND JOHN G. YOUNGER

3.3. Loomweights and Spindle Whorls Joseph W. Shaw Loomweights are well represented in House X (Table 3.1). There are 60 loomweights from this medium-sized house, considerably more than from any other Kommos house.3 This total is also almost equivalent to the number of loomweights recovered from the interiors of the civic buildings to the south, where 64 are reported (in J.W. Shaw 2006b, table 4.2). House X also has a greater variety of loomweight types than any other area of the Kommos site. Groups of loomweights were found in X1 (LM I floor, Lw 1–Lw 8), X6 (LM III dump, Lw 17–Lw 21), and X10 (above the room in the LM II dump, Lw 30–Lw 35, Lw 50, Lw 51, Lw 59, Lw 60). The catalog of selected loomweights and spindle whorls from contexts in House X is presented below. Statistics for those already published by Dabney (1996a) are often adapted from that publication. The inclusion percentages are based on visual percentage estimation following Terry and Chilingar (1955). The dates given are the latest relative date. The items have been entered in the numerical order of the rooms in House X. Those found outside the house or above the preserved house walls are listed at the end of each respective type.

Loomweights Lw 1 (C 9453; 86B/8, X1 west, floor). Discoid loomweight, 100% pres. H. 8.6, w. 7.8, th. 2.2. Wt. 189 g. One hole, d. 1.1. Flattened top. Ext. 7.5 YR 8/3 (pink). 3% inclusions. LM IA. Lw 2 (C 9454; 86B/8, X1 west, floor). Discoid loomweight, 98% pres. H. 9.7, w. 8.1, th. 2.1 . Wt. 224 g. One hole, d. 1.0. Flattened top. Ext. 7.5 YR 8/3 (pink), int. 7.5 YR 7/5. 3% inclusions. LM IA. Lw 3 (C 9455; 86B/8, X1 west, floor). Discoid loomweight, 30% pres. H. 4.3, w. 8.2, th. 2.4. Wt. 73 g. Ext. 8.4 YR 7/8, int. 7.5 YR 6/2. 3% inclusions. LM IA. Lw 4 (C 9456; 86B/9, X1 west, floor). Discoid loomweight, 90% pres. H. 9.4, w. 8.5, th. 2.2. Wt. 190 g. One hole, d. 1.8. Grooved top. Ext. 5 YR 6/6 (reddish yellow), int. 5 YR 6/1 (gray). 10% inclusions. LM IA. Lw 5 (C 9523; 80A/20, X1 west, blocking). Discoid loomweight, 90% pres. H. 9.0, w. 8.2, th. 2.2. Wt. 66 g. One hole, d. 1.1. Grooved top. Ext. 2.5 YR 7/5, int. 5 YR 6/6. 30% inclusions. LM IB. Lw 6 (C 9221; 73B/120, X1, floor). Discoid loomweight, 100% pres. H. 8.7, w. 8.6, th. 2.9. Wt. 201 g. One hole, d. 1.1. Grooved top. Ext. 10 YR 6/4 (light yellowish brown). 3% inclusions. LM IA.

Lw 7 (C 9223; 73A/121, X1, floor). Discoid loomweight, 100% pres. H. 9.3, w. 6.5, th. 7.5. Wt. 148 g. 100% pres. One hole, d. 1.0. Grooved top. Ext. 10 YR 6/4 (light yellowish brown). 5% inclusions. LM IB. Lw 8 (C 9224; 73A/122, X1, floor). Discoid loomweight, 100% pres. H. 8.3, w. 7.9, th. 2.6. Wt. 153 g. One hole, d. 1.0. Grooved top. Ext. 7.5 YR 7/6 (reddish yellow). 5% inclusions. LM IA. Lw 9 (C 9706; 80A/68, X2 north, floor). Discoid loomweight, 98% pres. H. 8.2, w. 8.2, th. 3.2. Wt. 204 g. Two holes, d. 0.6. Flattened top. Ext. 7.5 YR 7/6 (reddish yellow). 1% inclusions. LM IB. Lw 10 (C 9707; 80A/68, X2 north, floor). Discoid loomweight, 30%(?) pres. H. 6.9, w. 4.7, th. 1.5. Wt. 57 g. One(?) hole, d. 1.1. Int. 5 YR 7/4 (pink). 10% inclusions. LM IB. Lw 11 (C 9708; 80A/68, X2 north, floor). Discoid loomweight, 95% pres. H. 6.4, w. 6.6, th. 1.7. Wt. 70 g. One hole, d. 0.8. Flattened top. Ext. 7.5 YR 7/4 (pink). 10% inclusions. LM IB. Lw 12 (C 9530; 80A/46, X2 south, floor). Discoid loomweight, 100% pres. H. 7.6, w. 7.0, th. 2.8. Wt. 140 g. One hole, d. 0.8. Top grooved, flattened, and tabular. Ext. 7.5 YR 7/4 (pink). 3% inclusions. LM IB. Lw 13 (C 9633; 80A/46, X2 south, floor). Discoid loomweight, 10%(?) pres. H. 3.0, w. 3.0, th. 2.6. Wt. 20 g. One hole(?), d. 1. Ext. 7.5 YR 7/4 (pink), int. 5 YR 6/6 (reddish yellow). 5% inclusions. LM IB. Lw 14 (C 9534; 80A/50, X2, floor). Discoid loomweight, 100% pres. H. 7.3, w. 7.2, th. 2.3. Wt. 126 g. One hole, d. 0.6. Grooved top. Ext. 5 YR 6/6 (reddish yellow). 3% inclusions. LM IB. Lw 15 (C 9067; 74B/72A, X3, surface, +5.65 m). Discoid loomweight, 95% pres. H. 8.4, w. 6.3, th. 0.58. Wt. 80 g. One hole, d. 0.7. Flattened top. Ext. 5 YR 5/8 (yellowish red), int. 5 YR 5/8 (yellowish red). 3% inclusions. LM IB. Lw 16 (C 9069; 74B/74A, X 3, floor, +5.25 m). Discoid loomweight, 98% pres. H. 10.0, w. 8.3, th. 2.4. Wt. 182 g. One hole, d.1.6. Grooved top. Ext. 10 YR 8/4 (very pale brown). 3% inclusions. LM IB. Lw 17 (C 8100; 66A/33, X5, LM III dump in light-well). Discoid loomweight, 80% pres. H. 6.0, w. 6.1, th. 3.1. Wt. 94 g. One hole, d. 1.4. Ext. 7.5 YR 5/2 (brown), int. 7.5 YR 5/2 (brown). 30% inclusions. LM IB–IIIA:2. Dabney 1996a, 249–262, no. 94. Lw 18 (C 9222; 73B/116, X6, floor, +4.85 m). Discoid loomweight (disk?), 20% pres. H. 3.4, w. 5.7, th. 1.2. Wt. 29 g. Ext. 5 YR 7/6 (reddish yellow). LM IB. Lw 19 (C 9217; 73B/102, X6, LM III dump). Discoid loomweight, 100% pres. H. 9.4, w. 8.2, th. 2.5. Wt. 189 g. One hole, d. 1.2. Grooved and tabular top. Ext. 7.5 YR 8/6 (reddish yellow). 5% inclusions. LM IIIA:2. Lw 20 (C 9219; 73B/111, X6, LM II dump). Discoid loomweight, 95% pres. H. 9.0, w. 7.0, th. 2.6. Wt. 157 g. One

MISCELLANEOUS FINDS

hole, d. 0.5. Grooved and tabular top. Ext. 7.5 YR 7/4 (pink). 3% inclusions. LM II. Lw 21 (C 7044; 59A1/25, X8, LM III dump). Discoid loomweight, 100% pres. H. 10.2, w. 8.2, th. 2.5. Wt. 195 g. One hole, d. 1.4. Grooved and tabular top. Ext. 7.5 YR 6/6. 10% inclusions. LM IIIA:2. Dabney 1996a, 249–262, no. 98, pl. 4.5. Lw 22 (C 8021; 66A/27, X6, LM II floor?). Discoid loomweight, 30% pres. H. 4.8, w. 6.2, th. 2.0. Wt. 52 g. One hole, d. 0.8. Grooved and tabular top. Ext. 2.5 YR 5/8 (red). 5% inclusions. LM IIIA:2. Dabney 1996a, 249–262, no. 85. Lw 23 (C 8098; 66A/34, X6, LM II floor; Pl. 3.3). Discoid loomweight, 100% pres. H. 10.5, w. 8.2, th. 2.6. Wt. 205 g. One hole, d. 1.2. Grooved and tabular top. Ext. 5 YR 7/6. 5% inclusions. LM IIIA:2. Dabney 1996a, 249–262, no. 87, pl. 4.4. Lw 24 (C 8099; 66A/34, X6, LM II dump). Discoid loomweight, 100% pres. H. 12.7, w. 7.1, th. 1.7. Wt. 161 g. One hole, d. 1.4. Tabular top. Ext. 7.5 YR 7/4 (pink). 5% inclusions. LM IIIA:2. Dabney 1996a, 249–262, no. 88, pl. 4.4. Lw 25 (C 7314; 59A1/44, X8, LM III dump). Discoid loomweight, 65% pres. H. 7.3, w. 9.2, th. 2.5. Wt. 175 g. One hole, d. 1.5. Ext. 5 YR 6/4, int. 5 YR 6/4. 30% inclusions. LM IIIA:2. Dabney 1996a, 249–262, no. 86. Lw 26 (C 7581; 59A1/72, X8, floor?). Discoid loomweight, 100% pres. H. 9.3, w. 7.3, th. 2.4. Wt. 165 g. One hole, d. 0.6. Grooved and tabular top. Ext. 5 YR 6/8 (reddish yellow). 1% inclusions. LM IIIA:1. Dabney 1996a, 249–262, no. 95, pl. 4.4. Lw 27 (C7060; 59A1/37, X8, LM III dump). Discoid loomweight, 40% pres. H. 4.4, w. 7.0, th. 2.7. Wt. 70 g. One hole, d. 1.0. Grooved top. Ext. 5 YR 7/4. 3% inclusions. LM IIIA:2. Dabney 1996a, 249–262, no. 99.

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Lw 34 (C 9797; 87A/57, X10, LM II dump). Discoid loomweight, 85% pres. H. 7.5, w. 7.0, th. 1. Wt. 81 g. One hole, d. 0.7. Flattened top. Ext. 2.5 YR 5/3 (reddish brown). 1% inclusions. LM II. Lw 35 (C 9815; 87A/72, X10, LM II dump). Discoid loomweight, 85% pres. H. 8.5, w. 8.5, th. 1.7. Wt. 138 g. One hole, d. 1.3. Flattened top. Ext. 7.5 YR 7/6 (reddish yellow). 30% inclusions. LM II. Lw 36 (C 9524; 80A/2, X14, mixed fill). Discoid loomweight, 100% pres. H. 8.0, w. 8.2, th. 2.3. Wt. 157 g. One hole, d. 2.3. Grooved top. Ext. 5 YR 7/4 (pink). 3% inclusions. 7th century b.c. Lw 37 (C 9493; 87A/20, north of House X). Discoid loomweight, 100% pres. H. 7.8, w. 8.3, th. 2.5. Wt. 203 g. One hole, d. 1.0. Flattened top. Ext. 7.5YR 7/4 (pink). 3% inclusions. LM I. Lw 38 (C 9502; 87A/22, north of House X, mixed fill). Discoid loomweight, 95% pres. H. 5.9, w. 5.8, th. 1.2. Wt. 66 g. One hole, d. 1.0. Flattened top. Ext. 5 YR 6/6 (reddish yellow). 1% inclusions. 7th century b.c. Dabney 1996a, table 5.3. Lw 39 (C 9028; 74A/44, northwest of House X). Discoid loomweight, 95% pres. H. 10.2, w. 7.6, th. 2.5. Wt. 168 g. One hole, d. 2.8. Flattened top. Ext. 5 YR 6/8 (reddish yellow). 30% inclusions. LM II? Lw 40 (C 7438; 59A1/57, south of House X, above road). Discoid loomweight (disk?), 20% pres. H. 4.1, w. 5.9, th. 2.3. Wt. 82 g. 5 YR 5/4 (reddish brown). 3% inclusions. LM IIIA. Lw 41 (C 9210; 73A/75, above X9, mixed fill). Discoid loomweight, 80% pres. H. 8.6, w. 8.3, th. 2.1. Wt. 120 g. One hole. Ext. 7.5 YR 8/3 (pink). 5% inclusions. LM IIIA.

Lw 28 (C 7135; 59A1/37, X8, LM III dump). Discoid loomweight, 95% pres. H. 7.5, w. 7.4, th. 4.0. Wt. 230 g. One hole, d. 0.9. 5 YR 7/4 (pink). 30% inclusions. LM IIIA:2.

Lw 42 (C 9216; 73B/98, above House X; Pl. 3.3). Discoid loomweight (huge loomweight?), 100% pres. H. 12.5, w. 11, th. 3. Wt. 570 g. One hole, d. 1.4. Grooved top. Ext. 7.5 YR 6/6 (reddish yellow). 10% inclusions. Minoan?

Lw 29 (C 9536; 81C/60, X9, LM II). Discoid loomweight, 98% pres. H. 9.4, w. 8.6, th. 1.7. Wt. 160 g. One hole, d. 1.6. Grooved top. Ext. 5YR 6/4 (light reddish brown). 3% inclusions. LM IB.

Lw 43 (C 10088; 93E/64, north of House X, LM II dump). Discoid loomweight, 100% pres. H. 9.5, w. 7.7, th. 2.0. Wt. 154 g. One hole, d. 0.6. Flattened and tabular top. Ext. 10 YR 8/3 (very pale brown). 3% inclusions. LM II.

Lw 30 (C 309; 11A/19, X10, LM II dump). Discoid loomweight, 50% pres. H. 6.0, w. 7.0, th. 2.7. Wt. 100 g. One hole, d. 1.2. Flattened top. Ext. 5 YR 6/6 (reddish yellow). 30% inclusions. LM II. Dabney 1996a, 249–262, no. 96.

Lw 44 (C 10109; 93E/78, north of House X, LM II dump). Discoid loomweight, 100% pres. H. 6.6, w. 7.0, th. 1.5. Wt. 99 g. Two holes, d. 0.6. Grooved top. Ext. 7.5 YR 6/4 (light brown). 3% inclusions. LM II.

Lw 31 (C 328; 11A/24, X10, LM II dump). Discoid loomweight, 75% pres. H. 7.0, w. 7.0, th. 2.5. Wt. 100 g. One hole? Ext. 10YR 7/4 (very pale brown). LM II. Dabney 1996a, 249–262, no. 89.

Lw 45 (C 10129; 93E/83, north of House X, LM II dump; Pl. 3.3). Discoid loomweight, 100% pres. H. 8.0, w. 8.4, th. 2.5. Wt. 200 g. Two holes, d. 0.8. Grooved top. Painted. Ext. 7.5 YR 8/4 (pink). 5% inclusions. LM II.

Lw 32 (C 338; 11A/26, X10, LM II dump). Discoid loomweight, 80% pres. H. 6.2, w. 6.1, th. 2.1. Wt. 67 g. One hole, d.1.7 cm. Ext. 2.5 YR 4/5. 30% inclusions. LM II. Dabney 1996a, 249–262, no. 102.

Lw 46 (C 10203; 93E/83, north of House X, dump). Discoid loomweight, 10%(?) pres. H. 2.7, w. 2.7, th. 1.4. Wt. 14 g. One(?) hole, d. 0.8. Flattened top. Ext. 7.5 YR 8/4 (pink), int. 5 YR 6/6 (reddish yellow). 3% inclusions. LM II.

Lw 33 (C 9784; 87A/44, X10, LM II dump). Discoid loomweight, 90% pres. H. 10.0, w. 8.1, th. 2.1. Wt. 219 g. One hole, d. 0.8. Grooved and tabular top. Ext. 2.5 YR 5/5. 3% inclusions. LM II.

Lw 47 (C 6954; 59A/5, above X6, LM III dump). Discoid loomweight, 100% pres. H. 9.0, w. 7.5, th. 1.8. Wt. 250 g. One hole, d. 0.8. Ext. 5 YR 6/6 (reddish yellow). 5% inclusions. LM IIIA:2. Dabney 1996a, 249–262, no. 124, pl. 4.5.

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Lw 48 (C 6955; 59A/5, above X6, LM III dump; Pl. 3.3). Discoid loomweight, 100% pres. H. 7.8, w. 7.8, th. 2.3. Wt. 260 g. One hole, d. 0.8. Grooved top. Ext. 10 YR 7/3 (very pale brown). 10% inclusions. LM IIIA:2. Dabney 1996a, 249–262, no. 125, pl. 4.5.

Spindle Whorls

Lw 49 (C 9027; 74A/36A, north of House X). Discoid loomweight, 100% pres. H. 8.5, w. 8.5, th. 2.0. Wt. 103 g. One hole, d. 0.7. Grooved top. Ext. 10 YR 8/3 (very pale brown). 5% inclusions. LM I. Dabney 1996a, 249–262, pl. 4.5.

Sp 2 (S 2163; 73B/98, above X6, upper fill; Pl. 3.3). Spindle whorl, 100% pres. H. 1.0, d. 2.4. Wt. 5 g. Hole d. 0.3. Convex flat shape. Geometric.

Lw 50 (C 202; 11A/19, X10, LM II dump; Pl. 3.3). Half discoid loomweights, 100% pres. H. 5.3, w. 9.7, th. 2.5. Wt. 109 g. Two holes, d. 0.6. Grooved top. Ext. 7.5 YR 7/2 (pinkish gray). 3% inclusions. LM II. Dabney 1996a, 249–262, no. 148, pl. 4.5. Lw 51 (C 10075; 92E/56, north of House X, LM II dump). Half discoid loomweight, 95% pres. H. 6.9, w. 8.5, th. 2.2. Wt. 133 g. Two holes, d. 0.8. Grooved top. Ext. 7.5 YR 7/4 (pink). 20% inclusions. LM II. Lw 52 (C 10249; 93E/100, X3, LM II dump). Cylindrical loomweight, 15% pres. H. 3.0, w. 3.0. Wt. 45 g. One hole, d. 1.1? Ext. 7.5 YR 8/4 (pink), int. 7.5 YR 8/4 (pink). 1% inclusions. LM IB. Lw 53 (C 8789, 66A/31, X6, LM IIIA:2 dump; Pl. 3.3). Cylindrical loomweight, 100% pres. H. 7.1, w. 5.9. Wt. 250 g. One hole, d. 1.1. Ext. 5 YR 5/6 (yellowish red). 30% inclusions. LM IIIA:2. Dabney 1996a, 249–262, no. 160. Lw 54 (C 9066; 74B/72A, X3 north, floor, +5.65 m; Pl. 3.3). Trapezoidal loomweight, 100% pres. H. 6.6, w. 5.5, th. 2.0. Wt. 89 g. One hole, d. 0.6. Flattened top. Ext. 5 YR 5/8 (yellowish red). 3% inclusions. LM IB. Lw 55 (C 9068; 74B/73A, X3 north, floor, +5.65 m). Trapezoidal loomweight, 100% pres. H. 6.1, w. 5.7, th. 2.0. Wt. 79 g. One hole, d. 0.6. Grooved top. Ext. 5 YR 5/8 (yellowish red). 3% inclusions. LM II. Lw 56 (C 10157; 93E/95, X3, LM II dump). Trapezoidal loomweight, 100% pres. H. 6.5, w. 5.6, th. 2.0. Wt. 92 g. One hole, d. 0.6. Flattened top. Ext. 5 YR 6/8 (reddish yellow). 3% inclusions. LM IIIA:1. Lw 57 (C 9227; 73A/60, X4, +5.34 m in deposit). Trapezoidal(?) loomweight, 90% pres. H. 9.5, w. 7.0, th. 1.6. Wt. 127 g. One and one-half holes, d. 0.6. Flattened top. Ext. 5 YR 8/6. 3% inclusions. LM IIIA:2. Lw 58 (C 9207; 73A/63A, X4, floor, +5.07 m). Trapezoidal loomweight, 85% pres. H. 6.6, w. 5.9, th. 1.6. Wt. 92 g. One hole, d. 0.3. Grooved top. Ext. 5 YR 6/8 (reddish yellow). 1% inclusions. LMIIIA:2. Lw 59 (C 308; 11A/19, X10, LM II dump). Trapezoidal loomweight, 95% pres. H. 6.4, w. 5.6 th. 2.3. Wt. 73 g. One hole, d. 0.6. Flattened top. Ext. 5YR 7/7. 1% inclusions. LM II. Dabney 1996a, 249–262, no.154, pl. 4.5. Lw 60 (C 337; 11A/26, X10, LM II dump). Trapezoidal loomweight, 95% pres. H. 7.0, w. 6.2, th. 1.7. Wt. 79 g. One hole, d. 0.6. Flattened top. Ext. 5YR 5/6 (yellowish red). 3% inclusions. LM II. Dabney 1996a, 249–262, no. 155.

Sp 1 (S 2179; 80A/23, X13, fill in sottoscala; Pl. 3.3). Spindle whorl (alabaster?), 95% pres. H. 1.4, d. 2.9. Wt. 4 g. Hole d. 0.3. Conical convex shape. LM I–II.

Sp 3 (C 9401; 80A/11, above House X, upper fill; Pl. 3.3) Spindle whorl, 100% pres. H. 2.0, d. 4.5. Wt. 12 g. Hole d. 0.4. Convex shape. Ext. 10YR 8/1 (white). 1% inclusions. Archaic. Sp 4 (S 1604; 66A/37, X6, floor). Spindle whorl, 100% pres. H. 0.6, d. 3.5. Wt. 15 g. Hole d. 0.5. Reworked jar top. LM II. Sp 5 (C 6243; 54A/3, southwest of Building V, upper fill). Spindle whorl, 100% pres. H. 2.4, d. 4.1. Wt. 105 g. Hole d. 0.5. Lentoid. Incised. 4th century B.C. Greek? Dabney 2000, no. 32, pl. 5.14.

Discussion As in Dabney’s original study of Kommos loomweights (1996a), of which some 17 are republished here, the most common type is the discoid (Lw 1–Lw 49; Pl. 3.3, top row). Over 80% of the loomweights from the house are of this form, which is also the most common type found on Crete. Among these, although from an upper, mixed context, is the largest preserved loomweight from the site (Pl. 3.3:Lw 42), so heavy (570 g, twice the weight of the other large ones) that it may have performed some special function in weaving (or another activity), such as maintaining tension at the selvages.4 Ten weights of the discoid type (e.g., Pl. 3.3:Lw 23) have a raised, tabular projection around a single suspension hole. There are also two half-discoid weights (Lw 50, Lw 51) with a halfmoon shape and a suspension hole at each end (Pl. 3.3:Lw 50). This type may be restricted on Crete to the Mesara (Carrington Smith 1975, 138; Dabney 1996a, 244). Also, there are two cylindrical loomweights (Lw 52, Lw 53) that are pierced horizontally, and seven trapezoidal ones (Lw 54–Lw 60) that are pierced by a single hole at the apex, rather like miniature Classical Greek sea anchors (see Pl. 3.3:Lw 54). As discussed elsewhere in this volume, House X was constructed in LM IA and abandoned in LM IIIA:2. The groups of weights listed in the catalog represent the main phases of the house, with 16 from LM I, 23 from LM II, and 17 from LM III contexts. Of those from the first period, 14 are from Spaces X1 and X2, both of which were used partially for storage. Six examples from LM I to III levels derive from X6, where weaving may have taken place, possibly on an upper story. Those from LM

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II levels may reveal intensive weaving activity dating either to LM I (thrown out in a LM II cleanup?) or LM II itself. No weights were found in Space X7 (the Shrine) or near floor levels in Spaces X11, X12, or X13 (the last not being a surprise since the rooms formed part of the formal entranceway into the house).5 Only two weights, both trapezoidal, were found in Space X4, which was full of mendable pottery. Some of the House X loomweights are so similar in shape and fabric that they are most likely from larger groups fired in the same kilns. With the intention of examining whether this hypothesis was correct, all of the House X loomweights were first spread out on a table so that comparisons could be undertaken without regard for find spot. Fragmentary weights were removed, followed by those that were simply unlike any others. Similar examples were then put next to each other, and the process of elimination continued until there were five groups. One group, the first of the five, is of particular interest, for these two twin discoid weights (Lw 6, Lw 8) are from the first (LM I) floor in Space X1, where a number of restorable pots were also recovered. That such a weight group could be separated into a stylistic family simply by appearance would seem to confirm that, like pottery, loomweights can serve as chronological indicators. The next two fabric groups are both discoidal (first group: Lw 4, Lw 16, Lw 39; second group Lw 5, Lw 13, Lw 14, Lw 36, Lw 37, Lw 48, Lw 49). Of the first group, three weights are from LM I contexts; one is from X1, another is from X3, and the third is from north of House X. In the second group of seven, two are from north of House X, one from X1, two from X2, one from X14, and one from high levels in X6. Five of these were from LM I contexts, one from a LM III (or later) context, and one from a seventh century B.C. context. These two “families” suggest that some loomweights remained within or near their original place of use (House X) and that some continued in use over long timespans, as might be expected.6 In the next two fabric group “families,” two weights with tabular tops (Lw 19, Lw 23) are from LM III levels in Space X6, along with three others of the same type but different fabric (Lw 20, Lw 22, Lw 24). The type is known in earlier House X contexts (Lw 12), and a few examples date to LM II or earlier (Lw 33, Lw 43). Finally, three trapezoidal weights (Lw 54–Lw 56), almost mirror images of each other, are from LM I–III contexts in X3. The presence of two of them on a LM I floor shows that the type, thought to have been restricted to LM IIIA at Kommos (Dabney 1996a, 245), is probably earlier. Dabney (1996a, 248) observes that the average weights for the site were 90 g (the smaller average weight) and 170 g (the larger average weight), with the

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lighter type being four times as numerous as the heavier. Three average weights (in J.W. Shaw 2006b, 738) were proposed for the Southern Area at Kommos: 49–76 g (light), 110–150 g (medium), and 226 g (the heaviest, but represented by only one example). There are 47 complete or almost complete weights from House X.7 The small ones, up to 110 g, include six complete examples of trapezoidal type, one half-discoid, and eight discoid. These make up 32% of the total. Medium-sized weights, ranging from 111 g to 149 g, are less common (13 %), with one half-discoid example and five discoid weights. Large weights ranging from 150 g to 225 g are surprisingly common (43%), with 20 examples, all discoid weights. Even larger ones range from 226 g to 260 g, including the single well-preserved cylindrical weight and four discoid weights, together some 11% of the total. Surprisingly, House X has fewer smaller and more larger weights by percentage than any of the other buildings on the site. Weights below 110 g represent 32% of those found in House X, whereas in the Southern Area the same category represents 70% of the finds. For the entire site (excluding House X), smaller weights make up 61% of the finds (Dabney 1996a, table 4.1). Heavier weights, ranging from 150 g to 260 g, represent 54% of the total found in House X, whereas in the Southern Area they represent about 14%. For the entire site, they account for less than 15% of the total. This disparity suggests that the fabrics being woven in House X were particularly heavy: rugs, hangings, or even sailcloth are possibilities. The 60 loomweights found in the house suggest that at least one loom (equipped with about that many weights) was used during the house’s occupation.8

3.4. Implements and Other Objects of Stone Joseph W. Shaw

Stone Tools As shown in Table 3.1, House X produced numerous examples of stone tools, all belonging to types previously defined at Kommos (Blitzer 1995; J.W. Shaw 2006c). Most of these were found among accumulated debris from walls and floors; only a few (as in the “toolkit” from X2, St 1–St 4, St 24; Pls. 3.4, 3.6) were found on floors where they may have been used. As might be expected, many were found outside the house, and many come from mixed Minoan/Archaic Greek levels above it.9 The catalog presents only a few representative examples.

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The order of the discussion of the ground stone tools follows that of the categories defined in Blitzer’s (1995) study. The objects St 1–St 5 conform to her categories 1–4 (cobbles with varieties of wear patterns), St 6–St 9 to category 5 (whetstones and abrading stones), St 10–St 12 to category 7 (handstones), St 13–St 15 to category 12A (naturally pierced stones), St 16–St 18 to category 13 (intentionally pierced stones), St 19 and St 20 to category 14 (stones with opposite single and multiple depressions), St 21 and St 22 to category 15 (disks), St 23 to category 16A (differentially weathered stones), St 24 to category 17 (querns), St 25–St 32 to categories 18 (mortars) and 19 (basins), and St 33 and St 34 to category 20B (slab/anvils/molds with multiple depressions).10

Ground Stone St 1 (S 2195; 80A/41, X2; Pl. 3.4). Cobble, slightly broken at edges. Max. pres. L. 8.2, max. pres. w. 6.8, max. pres. th 2.5. Wt. 493 g. Roughly square. Polished surfaces. Metamorphosed chert. Pottery Group X2:4. LM IB floor context. Found along with St 2–St 4 and St 24. St 2 (S 2194; 80A/41, X2; Pl. 3.4). Cobble, heavily pecked around circumference. Max. pres. L. 8.2, max. pres. w. 7.1, max. pres. th 3.2. Wt. 459 g. Bifacially abraded at both ends. Both faces smooth and slightly polished from use. Peck marks in center of both faces. Hard, fine-grained bluish gray limestone. Pottery Group X2:4. LM IB floor context. See St 1. St 3 (S 2197; 80A/41, X2; Pl. 3.4). Cobble, roughly square. Max. pres. L. 7.5, max. pres. w. 5.3, max. pres. th. 2.1. Wt. 228 g.Chipped at ends, one surface smooth from use. Gray chert. Pottery Group X2:4. LM IB floor context. See St 1. St 4 (S 2198; 80A/41, X2; Pl. 3.4). Medium-sized oval cobble. Max. pres. L. 7.8, max. pres. w. 6, max. pres. th. 4. Wt. 569 g. Heavily battered at both ends, only slightly along margins. Hard, fine-grained blue-gray limestone. Pottery Group X2:4. LM IB floor context. See St 1. St 5 (S 2282; 93E/99, X3; Pl. 3.4). Cobble used for grinding. Max. pres. d. 7.6, max. pres. th. 3.6. Wt. 249 g. Round smooth cobble pecked into flat circle, one side flattened by heavier pecking; top and bottom worn flat and smooth. Pottery Group X3:4. LM II. Found along with St 27. St 6 (S 1962; 66A/40, X6; Pl. 3.4). Whetstone. Max. pres. L. 5.3, max. pres. w. 1.9, max. pres. th. 0.9. Wt. 12 g. Hard, greenish serpentine. Pottery Group X6:2. LM IB context.

3.0, max. pres. th. 0.7. Wt. 41 g. Bifacially abraded along one edge. Metamorphic. Pottery Group X4:1E. LM II context. St 9 (S 2142; 73A/55, X4 floor deposit; Pl. 3.5). Abrader. Max. pres. L. 5.5, max. pres. w. 3.5, max. pres. th. 3. Wt. 95 g. Oval pebble, surface at one end worn and polished from abrasion. Fine-grained, veined whitish limestone. Pottery Group X4:2. LM IIIA:2 context. St 10 (S 2170; 73B/108, X6; Pl. 3.5). Pestle. Max. pres. L. 9.9, max. pres. w. 6.1, max. pres. th. 4.0. Wt. 843 g. Conoid cobble, heavily ground at both ends. Fine-grained, blue-black igneous stone. Pottery Group X6:5. LM IIIA:2 context. St 11 (S 2192; 81C/60, X9, below LM II floor; Pl. 3.5). Handstone. Max. pres. L. 10.7, max. pres. w. 5.5, max. pres. th. 4.2. Wt. 729 g. Medium-sized oblong cobble, rectangular in cross-section, heavily battered at both ends along margins. Both faces very smooth, highly polished from use. Striation marks. Quartzite. Pottery Group X9:1. St 12 (S 333; 11A/23, X11/X12). Cobble. Max. pres. L. 6.3, max. pres. w. 3.4. Wt. 93 g. Hard, light limestone. Pottery Group X11:2. LM II context. Blitzer 1995, no. GS 25, pl. 8.3. St 13 (S 2219; 81C/79, X16; Pl. 3.5). Pebble pendant(?). See Chapter 3.6, J 9. St 14 (S 2133; 74A/31A, north of House X; Pl. 3.5). Weight. Max. pres. L. 18.2, max. pres. w. 11.5 at base, ca. 3.0 at top, max. pres. th. 6. Wt. 1,656 g. Roughly rectangular with rounded ends. Natural perforation near narrower end. Light to dark gray breccia. St 15 (S 2167; 73B/106, X6; Pl. 3.5). Weight. Max. pres. L. 8.0, max. pres. w. 7.0, max. pres. th. 5.0. Wt. 401 g. Roughly triangular-shaped cobble with rounded edges, thicker at one end, naturally perforated near one edge, pecked through to opposite surface. Hard, light gray limestone. Pottery Group X6:5. LM IIIA:1 fill context. St 16 (S 2208; 80A/65, X2; Pl. 3.5). Drill wedge. Max. pres. L. 7.1, max. pres. w. 6.6, max. pres. th. 6.1. Wt. 536 g. Serpentine. Pottery Group X2:2. LM IA floor and fill. St 17 (S 2173; 74B/74A, X3; Pl. 3.6). Drill wedge. Max. pres. L. 7.0, max. pres. w. 6.5, max. pres. th. 4.0. Wt. 352 g. Round, thick cobble. Green serpentine. Small segment drilled out on one side. Pottery Group X3:4. LM II context. St 18 (S 1714; 59A1/83, X8; Pl. 3.6). Weight, broken at one end. Max. pres. L. 14.0, max. pres. w. 7.0, max. pres. th. 6.0. Wt. 1,020 g. Cylindrical piece with two pecked waists and grooves running around circumference, one toward each end. Probably once pierced at one end and possibly hung. Soft white limestone. Pottery Group X8:1. LM II floor and fill. Blitzer 1995, no. GS 569, pl. 8.71:c.

St 7 (S 1451; 66A/37, X6; Pl. 3.4). Whetstone. Max. pres. L. 7.0, max. pres. w. 2.3, max. pres. th. 0.7. Wt. 19 g. Gray, sandy metamorphic limestone. Pottery Group X6:4. LM II floor context.

St 19 (S 1972; 66A/43, X5; Pl. 3.6). Cylindrical cobble with depressions worn on each side. Max. pres. L. 4.5, max. pres. w. 3.7, max. pres. th. 1.5. Wt. 30 g. Hard, bluish limestone. Found in X5 near drain into postulated bothros. Pottery Group X5:3. LM II context. Cf. Blitzer 1995, 473, no. GS 571, pl. 8.45.

St 8 (S 2152; 73A/63A, X4 floor deposit; Pl. 3.4). Whetstone, broken at one end. Max. pres. L. 5.3, max. pres. w.

St 20 (S 2134; 73A/50, X4). Slab with central depressions on each side. L. 22.2, max. pres. w. 16.0, max. pres. th. 5.0.

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Wt. 1,464 g. Soft, white, sandy limestone. Pottery Group X4:3. Collapsed upper floor deposit(?), possibly contaminated with Archaic material.

entrance to the reused North Stoa of Building T, see J.W. Shaw 1986, n. 45, and Shaw and Shaw, eds., 2006, 748, no. 76. LM II context.

St 21 (S 1712; 59A1/74, X8). Disk. Max. pres. L. 14.0, max. pres. w. 14.0, max. pres. th. 4.0. Wt. 990 g. Soft limestone. Pottery Group X8:2. LM II–IIIA:1 context. Found with St 22. Blitzer 1995, no. GS 600, pl. 8.48:b.

St 31 (S 2242; 87A/60, X10; Pl. 3.7). Mortar. Max. pres. w. 38.0, max. pres. L. 59.0, max. pres. th. 24.0. Angular boulder with shallow bowl, roundish in shape. Part of fallen rubble or possible blocking in X10. Light gray limestone. Pottery Group X10:1. LM II dump.

St 22 (S 1713; 59A1/74, X8). Disk. Max. pres. L. 11.0, max. pres. w. 10.6, max. pres. th 4.5. Wt. 590 g. Soft limestone. Pottery Group X8:2. LM II–IIIA:1 context. Found with St 21. Blitzer 1995, no. GS 601, pl. 8.48:b. St 23 (S 1385; 11A/10, above House X on the east; Pl. 3.6). Differentially weathered stone. Max. pres. L. 4.7, max. pres. w. 2.2. Wt. 66 g. Chert-like in color. Minoan or Iron Age context.

St 32 (S 2243; 87A/60, X10; Pl. 3.7). Mortar in two pieces, more or less complete. Max. pres. w. 53.0–57.0, max. pres. L. 56.0, max. pres. w. of opening 29.0. Part of fallen rubble or possible blocking in X10. Gray and white conglomerate. Pottery Group X10:1. LM II dump.

St 24 (S 2200; 80A/41, X2; Pl. 3.6). Saddle quern. Max. pres. L. 26.0, max. pres. w. 25.5, max. pres. th. 5.0. Wt. 4.2 kg. Exterior carefully finished. Undersurface flattened. Upper surface smooth, slightly polished through use. Pecked repeatedly. Gray to reddish micaceous sandstone. Pottery Group X2:4. LM IB context. Found with St 1–St 4.

St 33 (S 2206; 81C/47, X9; Pl. 3.7). Stamnostatis. Broken; originally with two depressions; part of the second one is preserved. Max. pres. L. 41.0, max. pres. w. 38.5, max. pres. th. 11.0. D. of depression 16.5, depth of depression 5.5. White, sandy limestone. Pottery Group X9:3. In LM IIIA:2 collapse. Left on site. For the type and possible use, see Blitzer 1995, 485, type 20B, although the soft stone of which the slab is made weakens her argument that these were anvils for metalworking.

St 25 (S 2140; 73A/55, X4; Pl. 3.6). Basin or unfinished mortar. Max. pres. L. 16.0, max. pres. w. 12.5, max. pres. th. 6.8. Wt. 1,940 g. Thick, irregularly shaped slab. Shallow central depression (d. 8.5) Pick marks visible. Sandy limestone. Pottery Group X4:2. LM IIIA:2 ground floor deposit.

St 34 (S 2207; 81C/55, X9; Pl. 3.7). Stamnostatis. Max. pres. L. 29.5, max. pres. w. 20.5, max. pres. th. 5.0. D. of depression 12.0, depth of depression 0.5 (very shallow). White, sandy limestone. Pottery Group X9:2. Connected with LM II floor and fill. Left on site. See also St 33.

St 26 (S 2141; 73A/59, X4). Shallow mortar. Max. pres. L. 34.0, max. pres. w. 22.0, max. pres. th. 10.0. Wt. 9.4 kg. Boulder shaped with shallow, hollowed oval depression. Rim w. ca. 2.0. Carved so as to form a projecting spout. Exterior and interior worked and smoothed, undersurface slightly flattened. Sandy limestone. Pottery Group X4:2. Part of LM IIIA:2 floor deposit, as is abrader St 9.

St 35 (S 1697E; 59A/3, above House X walls in Minoan/Archaic rubble; Fig. 3.2; Pl. 3.8). Trapezoidal stone 12 axe. Max. pres. L. 8.0, max. pres. w. 5.5, max. pres. th. 3.3. Wt. 220 g. Metamorphic volcanic rock? Dark greenish gray (Munsell gray 1 4/1 5GY). The axe has polished bevels and well-pecked faces, margins, and butt. There are traces of hafting ghosts, indicating that the axe was functional. There is at least one peg scar on the tool. Of interest is the medium. The tool is extensively worked, making petrographic identification difficult, but it appears to be a metamorphosed volcanic rock that outcrops south of Siteia and may only occur east of the Ierapetra Peninsula. This type of axe is common in eastern Crete (e.g., Palaikastro and Magasa) but less so elsewhere. As a working hypothesis Strasser is attributing these axes to an “East Crete Type.” Further geological prospection is necessary to verify the limited occurrence of this rock on Crete. Should this hypothesis be maintained, the Kommos axe was produced in East Crete, south of Siteia near the Etia region. The best parallel for the celt’s shape is Dawkins, Hawes, and Bosanquet 1904–1905, pl. VIII:2.

St 27 (S 2283; 93E/99, X3; Pl. 3.4). Trapezoidal slab with smoothed, hollowed, mortar-like space (d. 10.0) showing marks of circular wear. Max. pres. L. 27.0, max. pres. th. 3.4. Wt. 5.375 kg. Blue-gray limestone. Pottery Group X3:4. LM II context. Found with St 5. St 28 (S 2130; 73A/ 53, X4; Pl. 3.6). Coarse basin or mortar. Max. pres. w. 12.0, max. pres. h. 3.3, max. pres. th. 2.4. Wt. 426 g. Broken, with one (of two) rough handles missing. Sandstone, coarse-grained. Pottery Group X4:3. From possible collapsed LM IIIA:2 upper floor deposit. St 29 (S 2349; House X, uncertain provenance; Pl. 3.7). Mortar of soft limestone, holed through use. Max. pres. w. 28.0, max. pres. L. 49.0, max. pres. th. ca. 20.0. St 30 (S 2350; 591A/86, X9; Pl. 3.7). Rough mortar of soft limestone. Max. pres. w. 34.0, max. pres. L. 43.0, max. pres. th. ca. 40.0. The northeastern corner was broken off and missing, but the gap, according to the trenchmaster, appears to have been 11 patched with a small slab. Found in the northwestern corner of Space X9, where it was set in diagonally. May have been reused as a basin for water, possibly for a domestic animal. Area probably open to the sky. Pottery Group X9:2. See Shaw and Shaw 1993, 140; also see J.W. Shaw 1986, 238. For a similar arrangement with basin set in an open area just outside the

Chipped Stone St 36 (S 2286; 93E/107, X6; Pl. 3.8). Obsidian wedge. Max. pres. L. 4.2, max. pres. th. 1.8. Wt. 15 g. One face is natural crust. Sharp edge broken into rough saw tooth. Pottery Group X6:1. LM IA context. St 37 (S 2225; 86B/16, X1; Pl. 3.8). Obsidian blade. Max. pres. L. 2.1, max. pres. w. 1.3, max. pres. th. 0.2. Wt. 1 g. Part

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JOSEPH W. SHAW, MARIA C. SHAW, AND JOHN G. YOUNGER

of long, slim blade pressure-flaked and delicately retouched at edges. Could be from same core as St 38. MM II–III fill. St 38 (S 2223; 86B/10, X1; Pl. 3.8). Grayish-black obsidian core. Max. pres. L. 4.0, max. pres. w. 3.5. Wt. 28 g. Pottery Group X1:1. Floor deposit. LM IA context. St 39 (S 2238; 87A/29, outside House X; Pl. 3.8). Obsidian blades. Max. pres. L. 2.6, max. pres. w. 1.9. Wt. 2 g.Two slender semitransparent flattish flakes of triangular section. Points broken off.

Stone Vessels St 40 (S 1603; 66A/30, X2; Fig. 3.2; Pl. 3.8). Stone squat alabastron. Max. pres. d. 8.2 (rim: 5.0), max. pres. h. 4.7. Largely intact, but rim and parts of belly chipped. Light and dark gray banded marble or limestone. Pottery Group X2:6. LM IB. See Schwab 1996, no. 1, pls. 4.17, 4.31 for comparative study and other references; also Warren 1969, 4, type 1; J.W. Shaw 1986, 229, fig. 5, pl. 58:d. St 41 (S 2304; 80A/37, X14 area). Kernos bowl fragments; part of rim. Max. pres. L. 5.0, max. pres. th. 1.0–1.4. Wt. 31 g. The shallow, incomplete drill hole may be a preliminary drilling. Possibly broken during manufacture. Greenish phyllite. Pottery Group X14B:1. LM I–II context. Cf. Warren 1969, 11, type 4. St 42 (S 2158; 73A/74, above House X walls; Fig. 3.2; Pl. 3.8). Fragmentary lamp, about half preserved. Max. pres. h. 11.8, max. pres. rim d. 24.0, base d. 13.0. Large, cup-shaped schist lamp with circular base forming a high foot; flares out to circular bowl with shallow standing rim, flat bottom. Hollow indentation through the rim at one point for wick (w. ca. 5.0). Signs of burning, especially in wick area. Minoan, although in mixed fill. Warren 1969, 55, type 24. St 43 (S 2175; 11A/surface, above House X). Stone bowl fragment, about half preserved. Max. pres. d. 7.6, max. pres. th 2.1. Shallow, globular profile. Part of everted, ledge-like rim or lug handle preserved; button-like base. Micaceous black stone. Mixed Minoan/Archaic context. St 44 (S 2182; 80A/29, X8; Fig. 3.2; Pl. 3.8). Stone lid. Three fragments with one preserving most of lid except for chip from edge. Max. pres. d. 8.0, max. pres. th. 0.7. Slate? Pottery Group X8:1. LM II surface. Warren 1969, 80, type 33 (pyxis lid). St 45 (S 2202; 80A/66, X2; Pl. 3.8). Serpentine vase lid, intact aside from a few chips. Max. pres. d. 2.9, max. pres. th. 0.4. Flattish, round top on truncated conical stalk. Upper face engraved with five-pointed star within a circle, the interstices filled with roughly concentric rays. Pottery Group X2:2. LM IA floor and fill. Warren 1969, 80, type 33 (pyxis lid). St 46 (S 2128; 73A/32, X1; Fig. 3.2). Vase lid. Virtually complete except for one-quarter of rim and two small chips from knob. Max. pres. d. 5.8, max. pres. th. 2.0. Wt. 26 g.

Underside flat. Hard, gray-green stone with fine black and white micaceous flecks. Pottery Group X1:11. LM IIIA:2/ Archaic. Warren 1969, 80, type 33 (pyxis lid). St 47 (S 2224; 86B/13, X1; Fig. 3.2). Ribbed chalice or pyxis. Max. pres. d. 2.7. Fine, thin-walled fragment, straightwalled vessel horizontally corrugated on exterior. Interior well smoothed, exterior highly polished. Serpentine? Below LM I pebble floor, with MM pottery. Warren 1969, 36, type 15. St 48 (S 2137; 73A/60, X4). Vase lid. Intact except for minor chips from edge and knob. Max. pres. d. 5.4. Greenishblack disk lid with beveled edge and central knob. Underside flat. Several long scratches on both surfaces. Serpentine. Pottery Group X4:2. LM IIIA:2 floor. Found along with beads J 5 and J 12. Warren 1969, 80, type 33 (pyxis lid).

3.5. Miscellaneous Objects of Clay Joseph W. Shaw Cl 1 (C 9788; 87A/4, north of House X; Fig. 3.3; Pl. 3.9). Potter’s wheel fragment. Max. pres. d. est 37.0, max. pres. th. 3.5. The side profile is like that of a bat (a portable tray on which a pot is formed) illustrated in Evely 1988 (fig. 3, type 2, no. 29); it could also be from a wheelhead (type 3), but the identification remains uncertain since the central part of the wheel (with the socket is on the underside) is missing. The upper surface has three grooves, and the under surface has at least one, all made when the wheel was being formed on a wheel. Coarse pithos clay with numerous inclusions. From north of House X in a mixed Archaic/Minoan context. Cl 2 (C 7704; 59A1/81, X9; Fig. 3.3). Terracotta drain fragment. Max. pres. h. 10.7, max. pres. w. 9.8, max. pres. th. 2.2. Base fragment with beginning of side. Coarse red fabric. Pottery Group X9:2. Floor fill. LM II context. For the type, see J.W. Shaw 2009, 137–139. For possible positioning on the edge of House X’s roof, see J.W. Shaw 2004. Cl 3 (C 7506; 59A1/76, X9; Fig. 3.3). Terracotta drain fragment. Max. pres. L. 10.9, max. pres. h. 6.8. Coarse red fabric. For references, see Cl 2. Cl 4 (C 7491; 59A1/69, X9; Fig. 3.3). Terracotta drain fragment. Max. pres. h. 9.3, max. pres. L. 21.6, max. pres. w. 5.8. For references, see Cl 2. Cl 5 (C 319; 11A/22, 23, above Space X11). Terracotta drain fragment. Max. pres. L. 19.6, max. pres. h. 9.0, max. pres. w. at base 13.7. U-shaped. Finger ridges on interior. Pithos fabric. Pottery Group X11:2. LM II context. Shaw and Shaw, eds., 1996, pl. 5.12. Cl 6 (C 9387; 74B/68A, 69A, X3; Pl. 3.9). Terracotta slab, in fragments. L. of longest sherd 20.0.Pottery Group X3:6. LM IIIA:2/IIIB context below Archaic floor. Possibly used as a floor tile, for which see J.W. Shaw 2009, 139–140.

MISCELLANEOUS FINDS

3.6. Jewelry, Seals, and a Stone Mold Joseph W. Shaw13 and John G. Younger

Beads J 1 (S 58; 11A/32, above X10). Stone bead. One-half preserving complete profile. Max. pres. L. 1.35, d. of base 1.45, d. of top 1.05, d. of perforation 0.15. Wt. 2 g. Circular standard truncated straight cone (Beck I.C.2.d) with single plain perforation (Beck IV) (Beck 1928, 3–5). Green soapstone. LM IIIA:1 fill. Dabney 1996c, no. 24, pl. 4.8. J 2 (S 60; 11A/23, X11). Unfinished stone bead. Max. pres. d. 3.1. Wt. 3 g. Fragment with six abraded facets forming a cone. Green soapstone. Dabney 1996c, no. 36, pl. 4.13. Pottery Group X11:2. LM II fill. J 3 (Mi 6; 11A/24, X10). Glass bead. Complete profile preserved in two joining fragments. Max. pres. L. 1.5; d. restored 1.8, d. of perforation 0.7. Wt.