The Prepalatial Cemeteries at Mochlos and Gournia and the House Tombs of Bronze Age Crete (Hesperia Supplement 24)

The Prepalatial Cemeteries at Mochlos and Gournia and the House Tombs of Bronze Age Crete Author(s): Jeffrey S. Soles So...

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The Prepalatial Cemeteries at Mochlos and Gournia and the House Tombs of Bronze Age Crete Author(s): Jeffrey S. Soles Source: Hesperia Supplements, Vol. 24, The Prepalatial Cemeteries at Mochlos and Gournia and the House Tombs of Bronze Age Crete, (1992), pp. i-314 Published by: American School of Classical Studies at Athens Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1353994 Accessed: 19/07/2008 10:15 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. Please contact the publisher regarding any further use of this work. Publisher contact information may be obtained at http://www.jstor.org/action/showPublisher?publisherCode=ascsa. Each copy of any part of a JSTOR transmission must contain the same copyright notice that appears on the screen or printed page of such transmission.

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KNOSSOS

153

the tomb is concealedunderground,much stoodaboveground,includingthe easternportion and the secondstoryto the west. In this respectit resemblesotherbuildingsin the immediate area, including the High Priest's House, and although it has sometimesbeen comparedto Egyptiantombsmany times its size, or describedas a built chambertomb,87its architectural details and over-all plan have good parallels in other domesticbuildings at Knossos. The tomb stands at the end of a long traditionof tombs built in imitationof houses. At the same time it is somethingof a hybrid:it includesa rock-cutchamberat one end that served,in the contemporaryfashion, as a chambertomb. The exposed, built structurehas an east-west measurementof ca. 22.40 m. and is one of four monumentalhouse tombs. The tomb has two entrancesfrom the north, one giving access to the ground level and the other to the upper story. The ground-levelentranceleads througha walled corridorto a portico at the east end of the tomb and to an enclosed paved court; in plan it recalls the walled entrancecorridorthat leads to an enclosedcourt in the High Priest's House.88The corridoraxis, which bends at right angles in the porticoand then continueson an east-west line, dominatesthe ground-floorplan: the porticoopens upon the court, the court upon an alcoveflankedby twin bastions,the alcoveupon the main doorwayto the tomb,the doorway inner hall, and the hanl upon a pillar crypt. Only the rock-cutburial chamberlies upon an off this axis. Such axial arrangementsare not uncommonin Neopalatial domesticarchitecture, especially in the Minoan Hall complex, and one need not turn to Egypt for parallels. The secondstory, which may be reachedby a flight of stairs from the inner hall or from the outer north entrance,consistsof an upper columnarroom over the pillar crypt and two roof terraces,one on the west above te inner hall and bastions, and one on the east above the portico, both overlookingthe paved court below. Needless to say, upper columnar rooms and roof terracesare also commonfeaturesin contemporarydomesticarchitecture. One of the most intriguing features of the architectureis the locking system of its ground-floorrooms. Each of the four doorways on this level is providedwith monolithic gypsumjambs and, with the exceptionof the one leading into the inner sepulchralchamber, each is carefullyprovidedwith a double lockingsystem. The main outer door, leading from the paved court to the inner hall, could be bolted shut from both inside and outside. The inner side may be shut by two large crossbeamsset in rectangularsocketsin verticalpiers on either side of the door,one restingon the other,presumablyin a metal bracketon the backof the door. From the outside this door could be closed by sliding a bolt that fastened to the outer face of the door and slid into a slot in the northjamb; it could easily have been moved back and forth on the outside, preventing someone only from opening the door from the inside, and a small square cutting adjacentto the bolt slot on the northjamb was probably used for a sealing which, attachedby string to the bolt, would have been brokenif the door were tamperedwith. The doorleading into the pillar cryptfromthe inner hall could also be locked from inside and outside by a similar system;89here, however, a bolt with bronze locking pin was substitutedfor the inner crossbeamson the inside of the door.90The door 87 A. Persson,New Tombsat Dendra Near Midea, Lund 1942, p. 166; G. Mylonas, "The Cult of the Dead in Helladic Times," in StudiesPresentedto D. M. RobinsonI, St. Louis 1951 (pp. 64-105), pp. 101-102.

88 89 90

Evans, PM IV, p. 203, fig. 155.

Evans, PM IV, pp. 994-995, figs. 945 and 947. For a discussionof this door, see Graham, Palaces of Crete,pp. 177-178.

154

A CATALOGUE OF HOUSE TOMBS

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FIG. 64. Knossos,the Temple Tomb:jambs of the south doorwayin the inner hall FIG.

leadingfromthe innerhall to the innerstaircase(Fig. 64) couldalsobe lockedby meansof the usualbolt-and-slotsystem,at leaston the inside,buta differentsystemwas usedon the outside,wherecircularcuttingsat the tops of bothjambsare locatedfor a crossbar and anothercircularcuttingat the baseof the westjambfor a transversebar.This door,then, couldbe used tomb after after bolting fromwithin. could usedfor forleaving thetomb the outer outerfront frontdoor doorfrom within. boltingthe leavingthe Ritualrequirements seemto havedetermined features,includmanyof thearchitectural the corridor the court and roof terraces with horns of thedoubleaxes axis, consecration, ing incisedonthefaCade, andthepillarcrypts;thedouble-locking systemsof its doors,whichare three were also some ritual meet three were also to meet some ritualneed. need. times, probably designed repeated times, probably designed repeated Burialsand and Chronology Burials Chronology Burialswere discoveredin the pillarcryptand the sepulchralchamber.In the pillar cryptthe spacesbetweenthetwopillarsandbetweenthe westpillarandthe southandwest walls were were subdivided subdividedby rough walls andthe two two areas areaswere wereused usedfor forburials; walls,91and rough partition burials; partitionwalls,91 in In were apparently uncovered each. lower strata two strata two stratawere each. the the lower strataonly boneswere werediscovdiscovapparentlyuncovered onlybones II material Ia and some in LM LM in the LM and some LM material strata, ered; upper reported pottery ered; Pendleburyreported upperstrata,Pendlebury pottery the southeastpart of the room.The skeletalmaterialis reportedto have been largely In one but to have have belonged least a score scoreof individuals." "atleast individuals." oneor two two cases casesparts belongedto "at destroyed parts destroyedbut of the sameskeletonhad been placedon the sameslabs.In the northwestern part of the room,outsidethe entranceto the sepulchralchamber,a skull and a smallheap of bones that were were thought and an elderly were found found that were childand man.A small smallquantity belong to a child quantityof thoughtto belong elderlyman. boneswas also foundin the northeastcornerof the chamber.Both these depositswere 91

Evans, PM IV, p. 991, fig. 943.

THE KOUMASA CEMETERY

155

associatedwith the potteryfound in a pit dug in the floorat the entranceto the chamberand were believedto representthe last burials in the tomb. The pottery from the pit was dated LM II by Evans and has been redatedLM IIIa by Popham. At least two separate periods of use may be distinguished,one belongingto the earlier part of the Neopalatial period and the other to the Mycenaean. MM III potterywas found in the sepulchralchamber,and the constructionof the tomb probablydates to this time. No skeletal material was found with this pottery,and Popham has suggestedthat the building was originally a shrine, later convertedto a tomb. Evans suggested,however,that the MM III pottery was originally associatedwith burials that were later removed.In the LM Ia phase the tomb suffered considerabledamage, probably caused by an earthquake. Evans noted that the evidenceof this destructionwas to be seen in the re-used northjamb of the main outer door of the tomb and the re-used schist plaques laashlarand masonry in the partitions thrown up in the pillar crypt. He interpretedthe skeletal material in the pillar crypt as the remains of devotees present in the tomb at the actual moment of the LM Ia catastrophe.It would be consistentwith Minoan burial practice,however,if these were instead remains of previous intermentsin the tomb, heaped here during a cleaning made in preparationfor further use sometimeafter its partial destruction.In this case, some of the skeletal materialmay have belongedto the MM III phase as well as the LM Ia phase. It is unclear whether there is a break in use after the LM Ia destruction.The tomb continued, however, to be used in the LM II phase. Evans believed that the last burials belongedto this phase and that LM IIIa deposits,foundby the entranceplatformleadingto the building and the entranceto the sepulchralchamber,were the remainsof offeringsof a memorial cult made after these burials. Since the skeletal material by the entranceto the sepulchral chamber is now associatedwith this same LM IIIa phase, the other LM IIIa potterydepositsmay be interpretedsimply as the usual offeringsplaced with the dead. THE KOUMASA CEMETERY The Koumasa cemetery,one of several excavatedin the Mesara by Stephanos Xanthoudides, is situatedon a low rise in the foothills of the Asterousiamountainsjust southwestof the modernvillage of Koumasa (Fig. 65). Below it, to the north,the Mesara Plain stretches out towards the east and west. Overlookingit to the south rises what Xanthoudides describedas the "two-peakedhill" of Korakieswhere the remainsof MM and LM III houses were found and where an earlier town contemporarywith the cemeterymay also have been located. The cemeterywas used first in the EM II phase when two tholos tombs,A and B, and a rectangularbuilt tomb, F, were constructed.Only Tholos B seems to have continuedin use in the EM III and MM Ia phases, and a new tholos, E, was constructedat the end of the Prepalatialperiod.A numberof smaller and contemporaryrectangularbuildingsappearto have stoodoutsidethe main tombs in Areas Z, AB, and A. While the four large tombswere partly intact at the time of excavation, the smaller buildings were destroyed,and only a large numberof collapsedstonesremainedto indicatetheir originalpresence.Xanthoudides suggestedthat these buildingswere "lightlybuilt"structuresresting entirely aboveground, "someto be used as tombs, others as store-roomsfor the gifts made by the living to the

156


AB

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FIG.65. The Koumasacemetery(Xanthoudides,VTM, pi. LXI)

In Area Z Xanthoudides noted layers of ash and charred wood that may have dead.""92 belongedto the roofsof these small buildings.Just southeastof Area Z and east of Tholos E,

he uncovered remainsof a pavedcourt,ca. 6.50 m. wideat thesouth,thatwasborderedby a wall on the west. 18. KOUMASA,Tomb F (Fig. 65, P1. 38:b) Xanthoudides,VTM, pp. 32-40; Zois, "EpEvva.

Location and Excavation

Tomb r, which Xanthoudidesexcavatedin 1904, is located north of Tholoi A and E (equidistantfromthem and not adjacentto Tomb E as shown on Xanthoudides'plan) on the 92

Xanthoudides, VTM, p. 33; see also Pelon, Tholoi, tumuli et cerclesfuneraires, pp. 23-25.

THE KOUMASA CEMETERY

157

northern edge of the rise that the cemeteryoccupies. As a result of its position at a point where groundfalls away to the north,a large part of the tombon this side has been destroyed: the entire northwestwall, as well as adjoiningparts of the northeastand southwestwalls, is missing. The tomb appears originally to have formeda simple square, orientednortheastsouthwest, with an outside measurementof ca. 5.10 m. on the southeast.The floor level of the tomb is lower than that of the neighboringTholoi A and E; apparentlya large pit was dug out of the north slope, similar to that at Gournia (p. 4 above) but shallower and somewhat larger, in order to constructthe tomb. The southeast and the adjoiningparts of the northeastand southwestwalls were built againstthe sidesof the pit, and the preservedupper surfaces of these walls today are flush with the ground level outside the tomb. Unlike the walls of Gournia Tomb I, however,the walls of this tomb are built in usual rubble fashion with inner and outer facingsof stone. The constructionis not nearly so regular as that indicatedon the plan (Fig. 65), and the drawingof the stonesthere is schematic. The southwest wall of the tomb, the highest preserved,curves inwards towards the northwest end. Apparently, as is the case along the southern side of the pit of Gournia Tomb I the side of the pit at this point was not cutt in a straightline, and the sectionof wall built against the side curves in with it. Only the southeast wall is preservedfor its whole length. Its coursesbondwith those of the adjoiningwalls at right angles. The northeastwall is the most poorly preserved of the three remaining walls and less well preservedthan indicatedon the plan. Most of the northwesternsection is destroyedwhere the wall would originallyhave been freestanding.93 The entranceto the tomb is not apparent;it may have comeat some point in the missing sectionsof wall, or abovethe preservedremains of the walls, or from the roof. The interior of the tomb, which ca. 4.10 m. northeast-southwe and wa. measures me. 4.20 southeastseems to have of one consisted since no trace of an internal northwest, large space, dividing wall was found. Xanthoudides suggestedthat the tomb may have resembledthe Mochlos tombs and "it is possible that it had a wooden roof of beams with reeds or branches laid across them, but no of anything of the kind was brought to light. ..." He suggested therace that the tomb may thereforehave been an open burial enclosure"likethose at Palaikastro and Gournes."94 Burials and Chronology The burials in the tomb, like those in the neighboringtholoi, were disturbedand mixed with other finds. None of the skeletal material was well preserved.Four vases are published, includingsphericalpyxides of gray burnishedware, one a kernoswith three pyxides on pedestal foot (Her.Mus. 4194 and 4187) which should be dated to the EM IIa phase, and a one-handledcup and a bowl (Her.Mus. 4248 and 4283), both painted in the Koumasa style of the EM IIa phase.95Other finds includedstone vases that may be datedto the 93 Northeast wall: p.L. ca. 2.84 m.; W. 0.60-0.64 m.; H. ca. 0.46 m. Southeast wall: L. ca. 4.50 m.; W. 0.58-0.66 m.; H. ca. 0.45 m. Southwest wall: p.L. ca. 5.10 m.; W. ca. 0.65 m.; H. ca. 0.98 m. Xanthoudides reported 1.35 m. as the maximum height of the walls, in which case they rose above the surrounding outside ground level. 94 Xanthoudides, VTM, p. 32. 95 For these vases see Zois, Kamares-Stil,pp. 77-78, 80; Zois, "Epevva,pp. 719-720.

158


same phase.96Vasilike ware, which is foundelsewherein the Mesara region,is not reported in the Koumasacemetery,and the initial building and use of Tomb F as well as the tholoi falls in the EM IIa phase alone. After this it seems likely that the cemeterywas abandoned for a period.Tomb r was not re-usedand, like Tholos A, representsa closedEM IIa deposit. In the areas AB, A, and Z, where the small rectangularbuildingswere located,EM IIa materialwas foundtogetherwith EM III/MM I material,includingmany objectsof ritual use. The same areas were used for burials, but it is unclear to which phases these burials belonged. Apparently the deposits were mixed and too badly disturbedto report precise associations.Zois has suggestedthat these areas were used for burials only in the EM IIa phase. The burials here, however,mayjust as well have belongedto the later phases, especially since Tomb r and the tholoi were being used for burial in the EM II phase, or the burials may have belongedto all phases. The presenceof MM vases outside the tombswas regardedas evidenceof a memorialcult by Xanthoudides,who noted that ". . . even if the Middle Minoan descendantsof the builders of the tombs did not continueto use them, at least they went on for a long time paying honourto their dead forbears,and perhapsburied Such an inferenceis possible,however,only if the burialsoutside their own dead outside.""97 the main tombswere confinedto the EM IIa phase. LINARES

19. LINARES (Fig. 66, PI. 39:a) Davaras, 'A,uaAOEla3, 1972, pp. 45-46; Davaras, AEAr 27, 1972, pp. 650-651; Davaras, "Une tombe a

voute,"p. 308, note 63; Davaras, BCH 109, 1985, pp. 625-628, fig. 4.


Linares, the locationof a small churchof St. John, lies in the mountainsto the northof Chamaizi. A short distance below the church, to the south, a built rectangulartomb was uncoveredby Costis Davaras in 1971.98The L-shaped structure built around irregular outcroppingsof bedrock at its northeast corner is located in a level area on the hillside between these outcroppingsand a larger one rising on the south. To the east and south the hill slopes away to a narrow rivulet that leads to the sea. No settlementhas been locatedin the neighborhood,but just south of the excavated tomb are traces of an unexcavated building, a house or another house tomb somewhat more substantially constructed.The whole area commandsa spectacularview of the sea, and in the distanceCape Phaneromenis is visible, with its sheer rock sides and level summit. Architecture

The tomb is built with rubble walls, the outer using large stones for the faces with smaller stones set between and against them on the inside. It is a distinctivetype of rubble construction that foreshadows the later form of Minoan ashlar masonry.99 It is best seen in the west and south walls of the tomb, which are the best preserved. The west wall has seven 96

Warren, MSV, p. 83.

42. I am indebtedto the excavatorfor permissionto study this tomb and publish a plan of it here. 99For this type of constructionsee p. 208 below. 97 Xanthoudides, VTM, p. 98

159

LINARES

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large stones in its face and the south wall nine; in each case several are wedge shaped, like later Minoan ashlar blocks.The south wall, which rests on exposed bedrockfor most of its length, bonds with the west wall at right angles, but at the east it narrows somewhat and joins the east wall at a diagonal. The latter, which does not run in a straight line, is not so well preservedas those on the west and south, and it is unclear if it was constructedin a similar fashion. 00 The entrance to the tomb is not evident. The excavatorhas suggested an entry from above, presumablyfrom the roof, but it may also have come at the southeastcorner,where the south wall contractsand a large flat stonewas set inside the tomb;it couldhave servedas a step down from a doorwaylocatedin the wall at the level of the stone foundation.Such an entry would give access to the east room of the tomb, a small irregular room with a 100West wall: L. ca. 4.87 m.; W. 0.50-0.72 m.; H. ca. 0.87 m. South wall: L. ca. 5.41 m.; W. 0.51-0.68 m.; H. ca. 0.78 m.

160


maximum east-west length of 2.17 m. and a width at the west of ca. 1.40 m.10' Its north wall, constructedsomewhat differently than the outer west, south, and east walls, is set against the bedrockoutcroppingand follows its line, slanting inwards towards the west. Unlike the other walls of the tomb, it is constructedof relativelylarge stones on the inside and terminatesat the west in a large upright block. This block,over one meter high, serves as a pier or jamb flankingthe north side of a doorwayleading to the inner, southwestroom of the tomb.A short spur wall, running north-south at right angles to the south wall across from this pier, bordersthe room on the west. The inner doorway,ca. 0.60 m. wide, gives accessto a rectangularroom measuringca. 2.50 m. east-west and ca. 2.07 m. north-south, the floorof which is brokenalong the south side by a bedrockoutcropping.102 The north wall lies somewhatnorth of the east room and does not bond with the walls at its east and west. Much narrowerthan the other walls and constructedwith inner and outer faces of small stones, it is clearly an inner partitionwall, and a third, unexcavatedroommust lie behindit to the north. Indeed,the outer west wall of the tomb extendsnorth well beyondthis inner partitionwall, and tracesof anotherunexcavated wall may be seen behind the north pier of the inner door, also running north. Originally, then, the tomb consistedof at least three rooms.Were it not for the outcroppingsat its northeastcorner,it might have been roughly square. Burials and Chronology skeletalremainsof "manytens"of containedthe The tomb is reported to have ae conid scattereporte in found their none burials, apparently original position. The pottery from the tomb is as yet unpublished, but it is reported to be "Early Minoan". A cylinder seal that has been published'03and a stone "egg-cup"reportedamongthe finds are apparentlyEM II in date. MALLIA: CHRYSOLAKKOS AND THE NECROPOLE DES PIERRES MEULIERES The majorcemeteryat Mallia is locatednorthof the palace,on the promontorydominatedby the Chrysolakkoscomplexand extendingabout 100 metersalong the coastfrom La Plage de l'Escalieron the east to the area of Les PierresMeulieres on the west (Fig. 67). It is here that the earliestburialsat Mallia were madeat the beginningof the EM II phase, as well as some of the latest, duringthe Mycenaeanoccupationof the site. While other areas, such as L'Ilot du Christ,were also used for burialsfromtime to time, this promontoryappearsto havebeen used as a cemeteryfor the durationof the BronzeAge occupationat Mallia.104 The promontorywas most popular as a burial place, however, during the Prepalatial and Old Palace periods,when differenttypes of graveswere used, apparently,as the French 101 102 103

Davaras, ACAr 27, 1972, pl. 606:a. Davaras, ACAr27, 1972, pl. 605. Davaras, 'ApX'E4. 1973, pp. 81-82.

For a plan of the area see Effenterre,Mallia, NecropolesII, plan II; for a generalsummaryof the Mallia cemeteriessee Effenterre,Palais de Mallia, pp. 214-247 and Baurain,Aegaeum 1, 1987, pp. 61-72. 104

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excavatorshave suggested,for differentsocial classes.105Directly on the coast with its conglomerateoutcroppingsa numberof natural crevicesin the rocks,charniers,were used for burials from the beginningof the EM II phase. Some appear to have continuedin use into the LM I phase and thus to have spanned the entire period of Minoan occupation.It has also been suggestedthat they were used only by the poorest inhabitantsof the site.106At approximatelythe same time that these crevicescameinto use, a small rectangulartomb,the Western Ossuary, was built on the coast overlookingthe small bay at the west of the Chrysolakkospromontory.It is unclear if this tomb was used in the following EM III phase, when the first of a series of tombs was built at Chrysolakkos.In the MM Ia phase, when numerouspithos cemeterieswere openedalong the coastand pithos burialbecamethe most commonform of burial at Mallia, at least three additionaltombs were constructedin the Necropole des Pierres Meulieres (the Eastern Ossuaries and the House of the Dead). Finally, at the beginningof the Old Palace period,the second,monumentaltombat Chrysolakkoswas built. This tomb has often been describedas a "royal"tomb,while the Necropole des Pierres Meulieres has been describedas the burial place of the commonpeople.107Since all the tombs in the necropolis,however, antedatethe monumentaltomb at Chrysolakkos and few appear to have been used extensivelyafter its construction,it may be that the built tombs in the necropolis were used in the Prepalatial period by the same element of the populationthat used Chrysolakkosin the Old Palace period. In additionto the tombs on the promontory,remains of a long wall of uncertainfunction survive in its southwesternpart. Although it is now interruptedby a series of gaps, originally this wall was probablycontinuousand stretchedfor more than 100 meters in a straight line, broken only by a series of setbacks,from the vicinity of Chrysolakkoson the east along the north side of the Necropole des Pierres Meulieres to the sea on the west. At the coastit makesa sharpturn south and runs some 18 metersalong the coastbeforeending. It is solidly constructedwith boulders of local limestone conglomeratelaid in irregular courseswith loose earth and stones in the interstices.The sectionalong the coast is the best preservedand stands with a single face of boulders, four courses high, against the rising 105 Demargne and H. and M. van Effenterrehave been the chief proponentsof the view that differencesin burial types at Mallia reflectdifferencesin social rankingwithin the community(Demargne,Mallia, Necropoles I, pp. 1-69 and Effenterre,Mallia, NecropolesII, pp. 85-102; Effenterre,Palais de Mallia, pp. 214247); recentlyBaurain and Pierponthave taken a more cautiousapproachand stressedinsteadthe limitations of the evidence(Baurain,Aegaeum 1, 1987, pp. 61-72; Pierpont,Aegaeum 1, 1987, pp. 79-93). 106 Demargne (Mallia, NecropolesI, p. 2) refersto them as the "cimetierede pauvres",and Effenterre(Palais de Mallia, pp. 233-234) calls them the "modele plus primitif d'enterrement". 107 Among those identifyingChyrsolakkosas a royal tomb are Demargne (Mallia, NecropolesI, p. 56), who believedthe famousbee pendantto be a symbolof royal authority;Effenterre(Palais de Mallia, pp. 246-247), who prefersthe terms "noble","seigneurial",or "princier";Hood (The Minoans, pp. 145-146), who suggests that it was "theburial place for the royal family of Mallia";F. Matz (The Art of Creteand Early Greece,New York 1962, p. 115), who describesit as a "sepulchralpalace"for the "courtnobility";P. Warren(AegeanCivilizations, London 1975, p. 70), who calls it a "royalburial place";and Davaras (CretanAntiquities,p. 35), Hutchinson (PrehistoricCrete, p. 188), Picard (Religions prehelleniques,pp. 162-166), R. Higgins (The Archaeologyof Minoan Crete, New York 1973, p. 69), and F. Schachermeyr(Die minoischeKulturdes alten Kreta, 2nd ed., Stuttgart 1979, p. 71). For the description of the Necropole des Pierres Meulieres, see Effenterre,Mallia, NecropolesII, pp. 59-60.

MALLIA, CHRYSOLAKKOS I

163

groundto the east.108The original circuitof the wall is unclear;it may have surroundedthe Necropole des Pierres Meulieres or, as Effenterre has suggested, simply delineated the boundarybetween the necropolisand the cemeteryof rockcrevicesthat lies to the north. Its date is also unclear, although several MM Ia structuresare built against the wall and provide a terminusante quem for its construction. A stonekernos,similarto that at GourniaTomb II (p. 20 above),lies by the northfaceof this wall near the west end.109The stone is not in situ but had apparentlyfallen from the cemeteryarea behindthe wall and is clearlyassociatedwith the necropolis,perhapswith the House of the Dead, which lies some ten metersto the east. Partiallybroken,it consistsof an oblongslab of sideropetra,smoothon top with a rectangularpatternof hollows curvedat the edges (P1. 39:b). Eighteen of about 30 original hollows are preserved,each quite shallow, probablyformedby a hammerstone;one in the corneris somewhatlargerthan the rest.110 I (Fig. 68) 20. MALLIA, CHRYSOLAKKOS Demargne, Mallia, NecropolesI, pp. 25-69; Effenterre,Palais de Mallia, pp. 214-247; Zois, HpoA&71,uara, pp. 53-74.

Locationand Excavation Chrysolakkosis locatedabout 500 metersnorth of the palace at Mallia, in the middleof the promontorythat served as its main cemetery during the Prepalatial and Old Palace periods.The site was excavatedin 1921 by Louis Renaudinand again from 1930 to 1933 by Pierre Demargne.Two structureswere uncovered,and evidencefor as many as three building stages was revealed.The first building on the site, which is designatedhere as Chrysolakkos I, lies beneath and is partly incorporatedinto the monumentalrectangularbuilding, here called ChrysolakkosII. The clearestremains of the first building were uncoveredbeneath the east and west terracesof the later structure;only those on the west are still visible. Architecture The over-all plan of ChrysolakkosI is lost because ChrysolakkosII was built in its midst. It includedan open court on the west, however, and a numberof rectangularrooms on the east; both areas were designed to accommodatevisitors. The court was uncovered beneath the western terrace of the later tomb.111It too is paved with irregular limestone slabs, but they are set on the natural slope of the terrain and not on an artificialhorizontal level of sand, as is the later terrace. The extent of this court to the east and south is unknown. It extendedat least as far as the west wall of the later tomb and perhaps originally stretchedfarthereast. It extendsnorth somewhatbeyondthe northwall of the later tomb. It is boundedon the west by an irregularwall interruptedby gaps at three points and broken by angularjogs and setbacksat others.Visible today, the differentparts of the wall are constructedin varying fashionsand orientedslightly differently.The wall runs along the western side of the court and clearly servednot to supporta roof but simply to borderthe court. 108

Wall at coast: W. 0.75-1.20 m.; H. ca. 1.90 m.

109 Just east of the point marked4 on plan III, Effenterre,Mallia, NecropolesII. Kernos ring: ca. 0.24 by 0.40 m. 111Demargne, Mallia, NecropolesI, pl. LIII:1. 110


164

N

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/

....' 'i,

r.....

.::

L$t i .Ifozi

tc73CJ Y^^^^^

^

J

.^^

^

&" 0

5lm

FIG.68. Mallia, ChrysolakkosI (after Demargne,Mallia, NecropolesI, pis. XXXVIII:2, LII:2)

Numerous half-roundedsandstoneblocks plasteredonly on the upper surfaceswere found behind this wall.112They were identified as capping stones and surely served the wall; its upper parts were presumably constructedin mud brick and required such stones for 112

Demargne,Mallia, NecropolesI, pl. LIII:3.

I MALLIA,CHRYSOLAKKOS

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protectionagainst rain.113The central gap in the wall is paved with a stone thresholdand servedas the main entranceto the court. Further remains of the same complex were uncoveredbeneath the east terrace of the later tomb. They are locatedat approximatelythe same level as those beneaththe later west the walls, like those of the early western court, are oriented more truly northterrace;114 sout than are those of the later tomb. The remains consist of a long narrow corridor(a) giving access through a sectional wall to the west to the later burial compartmentsand throughtwo separatedoorwaysto the east to two sets of rooms(h and g to the north;j, k, and e to the south). All these rooms are providedwith low plasteredbenchesalong the walls115 and with plasteredor paved floors,and they appear to have accommodatedfrequentgatherings of people. Fixed furnitureincludes a terracottadisk imbeddedin the floor of Room h, which has been identifiedas a hearth,116a plaster bin locatedbetween Rooms h and g, and an important structurelocatedjust outside the southwest corner of Room a, identified as Structure b.117Although the excavators made little of it, calling it simply "un curieux massif",it providesthe key to interpretingthese rooms and deservesa closer examination. The structureconsistsof a mass of earth and small stonesca. 1.10 m. squareand ca. 0.43 m. high, coveredtop and sides with hard stucco and crownedwith a raised stucco border ca. 0.05 m. high. It backsagainstthe western wall of Room a and opens onto the large room (or court) that flanks Room a on the west.118Its exposed face on this side appearsto have been partly lined with sandstoneblocks,still visible today.A stone kernoslies in situ immediately against the structureon the south, fixed in the pavementof Room d. It is an irregularstone, ca. 0.62 by 0.45 by 0.42 m., markedwith a centraldepressionand a ring of 31 hollows.119 The kernosidentifiesStructureb as an altar belongingto the same class of raised altar with juxtaposed offering receptacleas that at Gournia Tomb II (pp. 19-20 above). It is paralleled in the later Chrysolakkostomb by the hollow stucco altar with kernosjuxtaposed in the plaster floor. Indeed,the later altar complex, locatednear this earlier altar and oriented in the same direction,with kernosand paving slabs to the south, may have been intendedto reproducethe earlier altar complexwhen it went out of use and the new tomb was erected. Throughout their investigationof the interior of the later rectangulartomb the excavators found tracesof two building levels, the earlier of which belongsto the same complex as the remainsfound beneaththe east and west terracesof the later tomb.These remainsare not sufficient,however,to reconstructthe plan of this part of the earlier complexor even to 113 The parts of the wall built in sandstonemeasure ca. 0.29-0.32 m. in width, those in rubble ca. 0.500.59 m.; the capping stones are ca. 0.25 m. wide. It is most unlikely that these stones could have belonged,as Shaw suggested ("The ChrysolakkosFacades,"p. 329), to the monumentaltomb at Chrysolakkoswith its massiveexteriorwalls; their findspotand relativelynarrow width indicateotherwise. 114 Demargne,Mallia, NecropolesI, pl. XXXIX:1. 115 Demargne, Mallia, NecropolesI, pls. LV:3 and LVI:3. Benches:W. ca. 0.35 m.; H. 0.12-0.15 m. 116 Demargne, Mallia, NecropolesI, pls. LVII:3 and LVIII:2; idem, BCH 56, 1932, pp. 76-88. 117 Demargne, Mallia, NecropolesI, pl. LVII:1. 118 This is erroneouslyrepresentedin the plan (Demargne, Mallia, Necropoles I, pl. XXXVIII:2) but is clearly stated in the text (ibid., p. 41) and visible in the plates. 119 Demargne, Mallia, NecropolesI, pl. LVII:1 and 2.

166


tell whether it had the same cellular arrangementas the later tomb. The earlier remains include the small walls in Room c of the later tomb, found ca. 0.50 m. below the base of the large wall AB, and certainsectionsof smallerwalls underneaththe later wall CD (Fig. 69). The only roomof the earlier complexthat may be identifiedwith some certaintyappearsas Room g in the later structure.Its north wall is still partly exposedjust below and south of wall CD, which bordersit, and its south wall may be identifiedas the small wall lying just south of wall EF.120All these walls have a width of 0.60-0.65 m., similar to that of the earlier walls under the east and west terracesand contrastingwith the greaterwidth of the later walls. The floor of Room g is stuccoedlike those of the earlier roomsto the east; wall EF was later built on top of this floor, cuttingthroughthe middleof the room. Burials and Chronology No burials are reportedfrom the areas beneath the east and west terracesof the later tomb, and these areas were clearly not intendedto be so used. It has been suggestedrecently that the early remains at Chrysolakkosbelong to a house or complex of houses and should not be associatedwith a tomb at all.121The fixed featuresand the findsof the easternrooms, however, indicate that the remains belong to no ordinary house. The numerous benches, Structureb with its fixed kernos, and the small conical offering vessels found both in the eastern rooms and on the west terracesuggest that these rooms were used as a shrine, and the presenceof benches,a very similar altar complex,and identicalofferingvesselsin ChrysolakkosII122 suggeststhat the early shrine servedthe same funerarycult that was servedin the later tomb. The identificationof ChrysolakkosI as a tombrests on the presumptionthat the interveningarea beneaththe later tomb was used for burials as it was in the later tomb. Skeletalremains,though not abundant,were not confinedto any one stratumin the interior of the later tomb, and some may have belongedto the earlierbuilding. The potteryfrom Chrysolakkosincludesspecimensrangingin date from the EM III to the MM III phase. All depositswere mixed, and the dating of the differentbuildingphases dependslargelyon the date assignedto the monumentaltomb, ChrysolakkosII: on the basis of its architecturalrefinementsand the pottery deposits of the north trenches, it may be datedto the Protopalatialperiod.The earlier structure,ChrysolakkosI, then belongsto the EM III/MM Ia phases.123 II (Fig. 69) 21. MALLIA, CHRYSOLAKKOS Demargne,Mallia, NecropolesI, pp. 25-69; Effenterre,Palais de Mallia, pp. 241-247; Shaw, "The ChrysolakkosFaCades,"pp. 319-331; Shaw, Minoan Architecture,pp. 222-229; Zois, Hpo,SAjlara, pp. 74-77.

Architecture The secondof the tombs that occupy the site of Chrysolakkosis the largest of its class. Monumental in scale, it forms a vast rectangularenclosuremeasuringca. 38.80 m. northsouth and ca. 29.80 m. east-west. It is still visible today, although its original faCadehas Demargne,Mallia, NecropolesI, pl. XXXIX:1; SectionAB. Muhly, AJA 88, 1984, pp. 114-115; Pierpont,Aegaeum 1, 1987, pp. 79-93. 122 Demargne,Mallia, NecropolesI, pl. XXXIX:3. 123 For the identificationof some of this earlier pottery,see Walberg,Middle Minoan Pottery,p. 111. 120 121

MALLIA, CHRYSOLAKKOS

167

II

2m

0

C~' -,Q

0 I

5I

10 I

15I

20 m

FIG.69. Mallia, ChrysolakkosII (after Demargne, Mallia, Nicropoles I, pls. XXXVIII:l1, LI:1)


168

been altered in part by a third building phase and its interiorhas been damagedby earthquake, rebuilding,and looting. The tomb is surroundedon all sides by a pavedterraceand was frontedon the east by a colonnadeof which seven rectangularbases of green schist are still preserved.124 The original faCadeof the tomb is partly preservedon the south and east, where severallarge orthostate blocks still stand, set back ca. 0.35 m. on a plinth 0.20-0.40 m. high. The orthostates are badly preservedlimestoneblocksthat were originallycut flat in frontand dressedon top and sides,125while bases and inner sides are irregularlyshaped.Only two of the blocksthat stand in situ have intact upper surfaces;they measureca. 0.87 m. and ca. 0.91 m. in height. The projectingplinth is constructedof medium-sizedstonesset in earth mortarand of large, roughly shaped blocks. Some of the orthostatesrest directly on the plinth, and others are raised slightly above it on a fill of stones and earth, presumablyin order to create an even horizontalbedding along all the upper surfaces.The irregular constructionat the base of the orthostateswould have been partly concealedby a series of thin slabs placed upright The againstthe plinth face, forminga kind of dadobetween it and the terracepavement.126 two orthostateswith partly intact upper surfaces,the fourth and seventhfrom the north in the east faCade,127 both preservecirculardowel holes at their outeredges.The outer edgesof the other orthostatesare largely destroyedbut would also have had such dowel holes, and those re-used in the north and west facadesin a third building phase demonstratethat all the orthostatesin the originalfaCadewere providedwith such dowel holes along the edgesof their upper surfaces.They were designedfor the erectionof verticalor horizontaltimbersin a mud-brickor rubble superstructure,and the total height of the wall, including plinth, orthostates,and superstructures,is estimatedat 2.5 to 3.5 meters.128It is clear that at least one large doorwaywas located in the facade, for Shaw has identifiedtwo bases for jambs Like the re-usedorthoamongthe re-usedlimestoneblocksin the northand west faCades.129 states,they apparentlycame fromthe originalfaCadesof the tomb;they would have been set on either side of a stone threshold,and their dowel holes would have held the pins that fixed the woodenjambs of a doorway. Although the tomb is largely destroyedat the south, its internal arrangementis Iluch clearerthan that of its predecessor.It consistsof severalwide walls running parallel to the outer faces of the tomb, north-south and east-west, intersectingat right angles to form a number of isolated, cell-like divisions. These divisions are usually rectangular(Rooms a and f), but at least one (b) is dividedinto two parts by a spur wall. The roomsrange in size from ca. 2 m. square (in the northeastcorner)to ca. 4 m. square (f). They often have plastered floors and walls, and as fragmentsof both red and white plaster were collected,they were apparentlydecoratedwith zones of differentcolors. Two rooms have been identified as shrines. Sunk into the floor of Room f, a nearly square room near the center of the tomb but isolated from the surroundingchambers,is a 124Demargne,Mallia, NecropolesI, pl. XLVII. 125

Demargne,Mallia, NecropolesI, pls. XLIII:2 and XLIV:1.

126 Demargne,Mallia, NecropolesI, pl. XLIV:2.

127

Shaw, "The ChrysolakkosFaCades,"pls. 99 and 100. 329; Effenterre,Palais de Mallia, p. 246. 129 Shaw, Minoan Architecture,figs. 272-274. 128 Shaw, "The ChrysolakkosFaCades," p.

MALLIA, CHRYSOLAKKOS II

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circularstuccodisk with a centralcavity.'30The disk resemblesthe terracottadisksfoundin Roomsf and h of the earlierbuilding and like them showedsigns of burning.It is constructed differently,however,simply a stuccocoveringoverhard earth, and since it is centrallylocated in Room f between the walls CD on the north and EF on the south it is probablypart of the later tomb. A bench is set against wall EF in the southeastcornerof the room.13'Demargne suggestedthat a lamp burned some "aromaticsubstance"in this room, perhaps in honor of the dead, and that the bench was designedto receiveofferingsor to seat pilgrims who came to pay their respects to the dead. If such were the case, access may have been providedby the long corridorimmediately to the west between walls EF and CD. This corridoris also providedwith a long benchalong the whole of its south side and leadsdirectly to the west facadeof the tomb. Another shrine was identified in a rectangularroom measuring ca. 2.20 by 6.70 m., located midway along the eastern side of the tomb. A circular structure was discovered against its eastern wall.'32 It consists of a stucco cylinder with serratededges, resting directlyon the stuccofloor,without a base;since it containeda loose fill of earth and pebbles,it was thought to have been hollow originally.'33The excavatorscomparedit to a libation table from Palaikastrowith similar serratededges and a circulardepressionin the center.134 Both are thought to have been used for libations, and the Palaikastrotable, which dates to the Neopalatial period,may have been inspiredby the Chrysolakkosaltar. Remainsof three or four small circularhollows were discoveredin the stucco floor immediatelysouth of the A large part of the stucco floor at this point is destroyed,but the curvedarrangealtar.'135 ment of those extant suggeststhat originally a circleof hollows formeda kernosin the floor at the base of the altar. The area is thus identifiedby the excavatorsas a place where libations and offeringsof first fruits might be made. Demargne identifiedthe cult centeredhere as the same as that located in the palaces and speculated that the Minoan Goddess "extended her empire over the dead"as well as the living.136Three superimposedlayers of stucco flooring preservedsouth of the altar suggest that the room remained open for repeated use. There is no clear entry into this room, but as it seems unlikely that pilgrims would have climbedinto it by means of a ladder, passage may have been providedthrough the south wall from the small alcove immediatelyto the south and from there through an opening in the outer wall of the tomb from the east terrace.The east porticoitself suggestsa majorentry into the tomb somewherealong this side, and furtherevidenceof a door in the east facadeis providedby the bronzepivot cap found somewhereagainstthe exteriorface of the east wall.137 130

Demargne, Mallia, NecropolesI, pl. XLVIII:2; idem, BCH 56, 1932, p. 64, fig. 2.

131Demargne, BCH 56, 1932, p. 63, fig. 3. Bench:p.L. ca. 2.00 m.; W. ca. 0.70 m.; H. ca. 0.35 m.

132 Demargne,Mallia, NecropolesI, pl. L. 133Altar: D. ca. 1.12 D. of inner circle ca.

1.08 m.; H. ca. 0.36 m. m.; 134Bosanquetand Dawkins, PKU, p. 137, fig. 119:A, pl. XXXI:a. 135Demargne,Mallia, NecropolesI, pl. LI:2. 136 Demargne, BCH 56, 1932, p. 75; Pierpont (Aegaeum1, 1987, pp. 79-93) questionsthe identificationof all shrines at Chrysolakkosbut is now refutedby Pelon (Aegaeum2, 1988, pp. 41-43). 137 Demargne,Mallia, NecropolesI, LXIV: 1 and 2. For otherexamples,two in situ, see F. Chapouthierand J. Charbonneaux,Fouilles executeesa Mallia, premier rapport (1922-1924) (EtudescretoisesI), Paris 1928, pp. 32, 59, pl. XX: 1; F. Chapouthierand R. Joly, Fouilles executeesa Mallia, deuxiemerapport,explorations

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While there is evidencefor some doorwaysin the tomb, it is clear that not all the rooms could be enteredfrom ground level, and it may be that only those that had to be accessible for funeraryrituals couldbe so entered.The majority,cut off fromthe outsideby the faades and isolated from one another by thick walls, and which appear to have been the burial chambersthemselves,were accessibleonly from the roof. While both Shaw and Effenterre have maintainedthat the tomb was hypaethral,the easterncolonnade,the doors (including one with a locking pin), the interior theer room divisions, d and painted stucco decorationall indicate that it was roofed. Wood was presumablyused in combinationwith large stone slabs like that found in Room d138or those in situ over the tholos side chamberand dromos of ArchanesTomb B. These heavy and cumbersomeslabs could be movedaside when new burials were deposited.Although no staircaseleading to the roof was reported,what may have been the remains of a well for a U-shaped staircaseof wood are visible on the plan outside the northwest corner of the tomb. They consist of two narrow, parallel compartments, each 1 to 2 m. wide and ca. 5 m. long, of the shape and dimensionsrequiredfor such a staircase. Burials and Chronology A "certainquantity"of bones is reportedto have been found mixed with the debris of the tomb. Only at one point (Fig. 69: X) did they seem to be in situ. Here the bones of a leg were foundtogetherwith two skulls on a layer of greenishclay. They originallybelongedto a contractedburial that rested on its left side; a conical cup lay with the bones.139Details concerningthe other remainsare not given, but apparentlythe quantityof skeletalmaterial was not great, since the tomb was initially identifiedas a shrine.140 There is good ceramic and architecturalevidence for dating ChrysolakkosII to the Protopalatialperiod. The ceramicevidencecomes from the two trenchesexcavatedoutside the north faCade.141 They extend ca. 14.50 m. north, flush with the foundationsof the faas not do underlie it,142it may be concludedthat they were dug sometimeafterthe Cade; they constructionof the wall, apparentlywhen the tomb was cleanedin contemplationof further use. While there is some MM Ia material in the trenches,Zois has demonstratedthat the majorityof the potterybelongsto the MM Ib/II phases, and it was apparentlyat the end of the Protopalatialperiod or the beginningof the Neopalatial that the trencheswere dug.143 The architecturalevidence for dating the constructionof the tomb to the MM Ib phase includesthe orthostateblocksof the faCade,the dadocourseat the base of the east and south facades, and perhaps the green schist column bases of the east colonnade.Each of these du palais (1925-1926) (Etudes cre'toisesIV), Paris 1936, p. 42, fig. 12; Festos II, pp. 69-71, figs. 32 and 33, p. 407, note 34. 138 Demargne,Mallia, NecropolesI, pp. 32, 64, pl. XXXIX:2. 139 Demargne,Mallia, NecropolesI, pl. XXXIX:2. 140Chapouthier,BCH 45, 1921, p. 537, note 3. 141 Demargne,Mallia, NecropolesI, pp.XXXVIII:1. 142 Demargne,Mallia, NecropolesI, pl. XXXIX:1. 143 Zois, npopArI7ara, pp. 74-77; see also Walberg,Middle Minoan Pottery,pp. 111-112.

III MALLIA,CHRYSOLAKKOS

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architecturalfeatureshas its closestor only parallel in the Protopalatialperiod,and similar dado slabs and columnbases are used elsewhereat Mallia at the beginningof this period.144 The tomb was erectedat the same time as the first palace at Mallia, and its scale and architecturalrefinementsare a productof the same forcesthat broughtthe palace into being. III 22. MALLIA, CHRYSOLAKKOS

Architecture Remains of a third building phase, here designatedChrysolakkosIII, are to be found in the north and west facades. Orthostateblocks from ChrysolakkosII have been re-used on the original foundationsor the old plinths of that structureto providethe base courseor new plinths for walls constructedin a totally different fashion. The old orthostateshave been placedon their sides, their original outer faces placedupwardto providethe beddingfor the new wall and, with one exception, their original upper surfaces (with dowel holes) placed outward to provide a smooth, even face for the base of the new wall.145The excavators founddressedsandstoneblocksagainst the northwall of the building,which they believedto belong to its superstructure.Some 30 separatepieces are still preservedon the site, including three intact blocks.With outer faces cut flat, upper and lower surfacesroughly dressed, sides and rear faces brokenobliquely forminga wedgelikeshape, they are the typical ashlar blocksused in other Neopalatial walls at Mallia.146The new tomb then was designedwith walls of newly cut sandstoneblockssitting on a plinth of re-used limestoneblocks. Burials and Chronology The new tomb was designed to follow the lines of the old one, but the reconstruction work was never completed,and it is doubtfulthat ChrysolakkosIII receivedmany burials, if any. A very small amount of MM III pottery is reportedfrom the interior, however,147 and the attempt at reconstructionbelongs to the beginning of the Neopalatial period when just such ashlarblocksas those intendedfor the new facadeswere in widespreaduse. Reconstruction work ceased, and the tomb itself was abandoned,probably because of the new burial methodsthat becamefashionableat this time. 144

For the orthostates,comparethose at Knossosand Phaistos (Evans, PM I, pp. 127-128; E. Fiandra, "I periodistruttividel primopalazzo di Festos,"KprlrXpov15-16, A', 1961-1962 [pp. 112-126], p. 125); for the dado, comparethat in the Agora at Mallia (H. and M. van Effenterre,Fouilles executeesa Mallia, le centre politique, I, L'agora (1960-1966) [Etudescre'toisesXVII], Paris 1969, pp. 28-33, pls. XXXI, XXXII); for the green schist bases, comparethe re-used bases from the palace at Mallia (Chapouthierand Joly [footnote 137 above, p. 169], pp. 13-14, fig. 3; F. Chapouthierand P. Demargne, Achevementde la fouille au sud du palais et complementsdivers,quatriemerapport[EtudescretoisesXII], Paris 1962, pp. 26-29, pls. XXVII, L; Chapouthierand Charbonneaux[footnote137 above, p. 169], p. 35, fig. 8). 145 Demargne, Mallia, Necropoles I, pls. XL and XLI. Shaw, Minoan Architecture,pp. 221-226; idem, "The ChrysolakkosFacades,"pp. 322-329. Shaw, overlookingChrysolakkosI, has confusedthis third building stage on the site with the second,and his datingfor the orthostatesof ChrysolakkosII to EM III/MM Ia is erroneous. 146Ashlar blocks:L. of Block 1 ca. 1.04 m.; W. ca. 0.47 m.; H. ca. 0.39 m. L. of Block 2 ca. 0.90 m.; W. ca. 0.54 m.; H. ca. 0.43 m. 147 Demargne, Mallia, NecropolesI, p. 45, pl. XII:1, n; and see Walberg, Middle Minoan Pottery,p. 112.

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23, 24.

MALLIA, NECROPOLEDES PIERRESMEULIERES:THE EASTERNOSSUARIES(Fig. 67)

Demargne,Mallia, NecropolesI, pp. 61-62.

Locationand Excavation Two tombs are locatedjust north of the east end of the precinctwall in the Necropole des Pierres Meulieres, some 40 meters west of Chrysolakkos.Both were excavatedby Demargnein 1930 and reburiedin such a way that only parts are visible today. Architecture The northernand betterpreservedof the two tombsis a rectangularbuildingwith overall measurementsof ca. 4.40 by 5.20 m.148 It is constructedin ordinaryrubblefashionwith the long walls running north-south. The interioris dividednear the centerby a spur wall, preservedto a height of five irregularcourses,into two rooms, the northernmeasuringca. 1.20 by 3.60 m. and the southern ca. 1.60 by 3.60 m. They are connectedby an interior doorwayon the west ca. 0.80 m. wide. The floor consistedof a thick layer of sand. Although the tomb resemblesTomb II at Gournia in plan and size, it does not appear to have been providedwith an exterior doorway; at least none is reported, and none is visible in the publishedphotographof the tomb. The secondtomb,locatedsome six meterssouthwest,is not specificallymentionedin the publication,although it is includedin the plan of the site. It lies alongsidethe north face of the precinctwall, just east of a retainingwall running north-south at right angles and reinforcingthe terraceon which the tomb stands. The tomb is a rectangularbuilding approximatelythe same size as the northerntomb,orientedeast-west. Its southwall appearsto have been formedby the face of the precinctwall againstwhich it is built, and its otherwalls were constructedin ordinaryrubble.Traces of an internaldividingwall remainand suggestthat the tombwas originallya two-roombuilding similar in plan to the northerntomb. Burials and Chronology Remains of skulls and bones were found on the floor of the northern tomb. In the northwestcornerof the southern room, against the spur wall and by the doorway,the remains of two skeletonswere found in situ. These were placed on a layer of hard earth ca. 0.30 m. abovefloor level and apparentlyrepresentedthe latest burials in the tomb. The potteryfrom the tombs in this area is not publishedbut is reportedto be MM I.

25.

MALLIA, NECROPOLEDES PIERRESMEULIERES:THE WESTERNOSSUARY(Fig. 67,

P1. 39:c) Effenterre,Mallia, NecropolesII, pp. 70-72; Effenterre,Palais de Mallia, pp. 238-239.

Locationand Excavation The westernmosttomb in the Necropolisis situatedon the coast,overlookingthe bay of PierresMeulieres. It is built into an outercornerof the precinctwall at a pointwhere, having turnedsouth, the wall again projectswestwardtowardsthe sea. The tombwas excavatedby Louis Renaudinin 1921 and is sometimesreferredto as the ossuaireRenaudin. 148

Demargne, Mallia, Necropoles I, pl. LXIX:1.

MALLIA, NECROPOLE DES PIERRES MEULIERES

173

Architecture The tomb is nearly square, its south and east walls formedby the precinct wall that creates a terracerising above the rocky seashore.The east wall has caved in at the center, while the south is preservedto a height of three irregularcourses.'49 Only one courseof the north and west walls, both built in the usual rubble fashion, is preserved.The west wall is buttressedby a boulderset midway againstits outerface and terminatesat the northwestcorner in anotherboulder,which forms an importantcornerstone.'50The north wall is largely destroyed,and it is unclearwhetherthe tombwas enteredthrougha dooron the lower levelor throughthe roof fromthe terraceabove.The tombappearsto have consistedof a single room measuringca. 3.50 by 3.80 m. that was not subdividedas were the easterntombs. Burials and Chronology Heaps of human bones, with at least one skull still intact, are reportedfrom the tomb. These remains are similar to those from the rock fissures to the north and like them are thoughtto belong to primaryburials. Five vases fromthe tombwere inventoriedand published.15'They includetwo vasesthat Effenterredatedto the EM IIb phase in his latest discussionof the pottery,as well as three cups of the MM I phase. Becauseof the early vases, Effenterresuggestedthat the tombwas in use as early as the rock fissures. He has also suggestedthat the tomb is earlier than the precinctwall against which it is built and that the peculiar indentationalong the coast that the wall follows is due to the presenceof the pre-existingtombon the site. In addition to the pottery from inside the tomb, a number of deposits were found in natural cavities on all sides of the tomb and at the foot of the precinctwall to the south.'52 These depositsdate to the MM I phase and are distinctivefor the numerousclay imitations of stone-vaseshapes. Becausethe largervases were brokenand scattered,the depositswere interpretedas dumps of unwanted material from the surroundingburials, but it is also possible, especially because of their distinctivenature, that the vases originally belongedto votivedepositsassociatedwith the tomb and were brokenand scatteredby the sea.

26.

MALLIA, NECROPOLE DES PIERRES MEULIERES: THE HOUSE OF THE DEAD(Figs.67

and 70)

Effenterre,Mallia, NecropolesII, pp. 85-102; Effenterre,Palais de Mallia, pp. 236-237.

Locationand Excavation The House of the Dead is locatedalong the south side of the precinctwall ca. 25 meters east of the Western Ossuary and ca. 100 meters west of Chrysolakkos.It was excavatedin 1928 by Jean Charbonneauxand Charles Picard and reburied;it is not visible today. Because the building was re-used in the Mycenaean period-and is destroyedin part, there is some doubt about its original appearanceand function. 149

South wall: W. ca. 0.80 m.; H. ca. 1.30 m.

150 West wall: L.

ca. 4.20 m.; W. ca. 0.55 m.; H. ca. 0.35 m. 51Effenterre,Mallia, NecropolesII, pl. XXIX. 152 Effenterre,Mallia, NecropolesII, pls. XXV-XXVIII.

174


a. Plan (Effenterre,Mallia, NecropolesII, plan III)

b. Detail of room III (Effenterre,Mallia, NecropolesII, pi. XXXV) FIG.70. Mallia, The House of the Dead

MALLIA,NECROPOLEDES PIERRESMEULIERES

175

Architecture The building is constructedagainst the inner, south face of the precinctwall at a point where Effenterresuggestedthat a break in the wall and an entranceto the Necropoliswere located.Most of the centerof the building and its southernlimits are destroyed,but the remains suggest an essentially rectangularoriginal structureincluding Rooms I throughVII and measuringca. 12 m. east-west, so that the north wall, the precinctwall now partly destroyed,would have been continuous.The southern limits may be markedby sections of a wall preservedin Rooms III and V that lie on a line. The west wall is an additionto the precinctwall, which runs at right angles to the latter alongside Effenterre'sentrance,and the east wall is the east wall of Rooms V, VI, and VII running parallel to the west wall and to which an additionalroom, VIII, is appendedon the east. The interioris dividedby two walls running north-south, parallel to the outer east and west walls and set nearly equidistant from them and from each other. They form three parallel compartmentsthat are further dividedinto rooms and burial cells by shorterwalls running for the most part east-west. RoomsV, VI, and VII are locatedin the easterncompartment,each ca. 1.60 m. wide and ca. 2.40-2.80 m. long. Only Room IV is preservedin the central compartment,measuring ca. 1 by 1.35 m., but two more rooms correspondingto Rooms VI and VII may have been locatedin the space to the north. Rooms I, II, and III in the western compartmentappear to have been more carefully constructedthan the other rooms and to have serveda special function.The only clear accessto the building from the outside is through Room III, where a "probable"threshold was noted in the south wall. This room, measuringca. 1.80 by 3.40-3.70 m., is providedwith stuccoedwalls decorated with a painted red band and a stuccoedfloor. It gives accessthrough a doorwayin its north wall to Rooms I and II, each measuringca. 1.60 by 4.80 m. and connectingthrougha doorway at the south. These rooms alone containedritual objectsand, providedwith easy access and architecturallyenriched,were probablydesignedas a cult center. Burials and Chronology Burials in the building includedsimple inhumations,bone dumps,and burials in pithoi and in cists of both the MM I and LM IIIc phases. It is not clearlystatedin the publication which pithoi containedburials, but the general impressiongiven is that most, if not all, did. The pithoi are inverted,sometimesranged in rows along the sides of the rooms, and their tops are brokento place the burials in the jars more easily. Only some of the cists contained burials;most were found empty. All the cists are built well above floor level, in most cases abovethe preservedlevel of the walls, and some are locatedoutside the building. They are constructedwith sides of sandstoneblocksand coveringslabs of sandstoneor limestone. Room I containedan empty cist (6) locatedagainst the spur wall near the centerof the room, a jar containing an infant burial in the southwest corner, and fragmentsof pithoi, thickestalong the south wall. Anotherempty cist (7) was found in Room II, and fragments of bones beneath sandstoneblocks against the east wall. Room III yielded an invertedjar with the skeletonof an infant inside and an inhumationbeside it locatedca. 0.50 m. above floor level; "severalskeletons"were found on the stucco floor of the room. Room IV contained another empty cist (3) in the southeast corner and, directly below, an inhumation. In Room VI were found an empty cist (9) in the middle of the room and a pithos in the

176


northeast corner. Room VII contained an empty cist (11) located above the walls at the northwestcornerand, beneathit and rangedalong the northwall to the east, remainsof five pithoi togetherwith a sixth against the south wall. The potteryfrom the tomb is datedto the MM I and LM IIIc phases. That foundwith the inhumation in Room IV, mostly one-handledand handlelessconical cups,153includes some paintedin MM Ia styles. Other finds of special interestincludea libationvase and an offeringtable stampedwith a doubleaxe on its base, both found in Room III and belonging to the MM I phase.154 Two interpretationsof the finds and the functionof the building have been suggested, one by the original excavators,Charbonneauxand Picard,'55the other by Effenterre,who preparedits publication.The excavatorsidentifiedthe buildingas a tomboriginallyused in the MM I phase for the burials and rediscoveredby the LM IIIc occupantsof Mallia, who establisheda memorialcult of the dead by buildingcists abovethe earlierburialsto serveas bothroi.Theories of memorialcults of the deadhave gone out of vogue, however,and Effenterre has arguedthat the buildingwas a house, perhapsa guardhouse at the entranceto the Necropolis, that was abandonedat the end of the MM I phase and rediscoveredby the LM IIIc occupantsof the site, who used it and its pithoi for their own burials, building bothroi in the form of cists for cult purposes. Effenterrehas pointed to the discoveryof a LM IIIc pyxis inside a MM I pithos in Room IX as particularevidencein supportof Mycenaeanre-use of the original pithoi and his interpretationas a whole. Neither interpretationseems wholly satisfactory.The identificationof the building as a house ignores its location in a cemetery,the location of burial pithoi and inhumationsdirectly on the floor of the building, the MM I finds associatedwith these burials, and the popularityof just such tombsat this time. Both interpretations,in their identificationof the cists as bothroiused for libations in a cult of the dead, disregardthe cists found outside the tomb (1, 2, 4, 5, 10), those found with coverslabs (10, 11), and those containingburials (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). All these cists were probablyintendedto serve as graves, and the House of the Dead is simply a MM I house tomb that was partly re-used in the LM IIIc phase for furtherburials. MYRTOS, PYRGOS 27. MYRTOS,PYRGOS(Fig. 71) Cadogan,ArchReportsfor 1971-1972, pp. 24-25; Cadogan,ArchReportsfor 1973-1974, pp. 37-38; Cadogan, ArchReportsfor1977-1978, pp. 70-74; Hankey, BICS 33, 1986, pp. 135-137.

Locationand Excavation Pyrgos, the first of several hills that lie along the coast east of Myrtos, is the site of a small settlement with an imposing villa and tomb complex. The tomb is located directly next Effenterre,Mallia, NecropolesII, pl. XXXVIII:EFH XIII. Effenterre,Mallia, Necropoles II, pl. XXXV, Her.Mus. 8513, 8516; pl. XI. For a discussion of the offeringtable, see pp. 234-235 below. 155 F. Chapouthier, "Chroniquesdes fouilles et decouvertesarcheologiquesdans l'orient hellenique novembre 1927-novembre 1928," BCH 52, 1928 [pp. 466-510], p. 503; see also Pini, Minoischen Graberkunde,pp. 8, 51, 87. 153

154

177

MYRTOS, PYRGOS

+

0 Im -

1

2 I

3

4 ' -

FIG.71. Myrtos, Pyrgos tomb (Cadogan,ArchReportsfor1977-1978, fig. 5)

5 Mt

tcS

178


to the settlementon the western slope of the hill, just below the summit that the villa occupies andjust outsidethe fortificationsthat protectedthe settlementin the Old Palaceperiod. It was reachedfrom the settlementby a flight of steps that appearsto have descendedfrom the top of the hill to the north end of a paved road,which in turn runs northeast-southwest along the westernslope, ending at the south in a small courtyardin frontof the tomb.156The tomb and its approachwere excavatedby Gerald Cadoganand the British Schoolat Athens in the summersof 1970, 1971, and 1973.157 Architecture The approachto the tomb, like that to Mochlos Tomb Complex IV/V/VI (pp. 56-57 above), is an integral part of its over-all plan. The paved road and court lead nowhereelse and were designedto play an importantpart in the funeraryritual. Both road and courtare pavedwith slabs of sandstoneand show few of the colorcontrastsso popularelsewhere.One e northcornerof the court (now partlybroken)is markedwith a ring of holof the slabs at the lows forminga kernos.The court,which lies open at the northeastand northwest,is flanked by a terracewall at the southeast,and a bench is locatedhere at the foot of this wall. The tombitself lies at the southwestside of the courtand is enteredfrom its west corner. It is a rectangularbuilding with ordinaryrubble walls. Only its outer northeastand northwest walls were entirely freestanding,however,and its southeastwall, which appearsto be largelyintact,is built in the formof a high retainingwall againstthe slope of the hill. A doorway set back at the north cornerof the tomb leads down by three steps to the original floor level of the main chamber.This room is describedby the excavatoras an irregularpolygon measuringabout 3 by 5 meters.A large pillar, its base built of rubblemasonry,is locatedin it supportedan upper floorof wood. Two ossuarieswere attached the centerof the room;158 to the tomb. One, an oval space measuringca. 1 I y 1.50 m. that rose at least as high as the lower story, was built at the south cornerof the tomb. The other, a rectangularroom, was locatedbetween the northeastwall of the main chamberand the court and was apparently providedwith its own doorwayopening at the northwestadjacentto the main doorway. Burials and Chronology In the space between the court and the tomb, below the level of the courtand alongside the northeastwall, a depositof potteryincluding EM III and MM Ia cups and an EM III dove rhyton159was uncovered.The excavator identifiedthe deposit as a "foundationdeposit",and it seems that the building of the tomb and the original approachfrom the north date to the EM III/MM Ia phases, what the excavatoridentifiesas Pyrgos Phase II. Later in this phase, perhaps in the MM Ib potteryphase, the court and road were coveredwith a gravel spread, and the tomb itself may have ceased to be used. In Pyrgos Phase III, which spans most of the Old Palace period, and in Phase IV, which includes most of the New Palace Period,burialswere again made in the tomb. In Phase IV some 300 LM I terracotta 156

Cadogan,ArchReportsfor 1977-1978, p. 71, fig. 4. am indebted to the excavatorfor permission to study this tomb and reproduceits plan published in Cadogan, ArchReportsfor 1977-1978; my descriptionfollows that of the excavator closely but should be consideredtentativeuntil the final publicationof the tomb appears. 158 Cadogan,ArchReportsfor1971-1972, p. 24, fig. 39. 159 Cadogan,ArchReportsfor1977-1978, p. 73, figs. 6, 7. 157

THE PALAIKASTRO CEMETERIES

179

vases,160 as well as stone vases and triton shells, were depositedin the upper story of the

tomb abovethe pillar crypt (where they later fell), and the excavatorhas suggestedthat the upper level of the tomb was used as a place for offeringsto the dead. Remains of about 65 individuals were found in the tomb and its ossuaries. In the south ossuary the excavator reports a large pithos full of bones. "Skulls were set around the base of

the pithos and other skulls and bones packed into the remaining space. They were all so tight that the flesh had to have rottedbeforethey were put in."161In the actual tomb chamber burials were found in two strata, the lower belonging to Phase III and the upper to Phase IV. Several appear to have been intact and clearly belonged to primary burials.162 What is most startling about the burials is that all those in the tomb chamber,and apparently in the ossuariesas well, appearto be male ("oneof them as tall as 1.75-1.76 m.").The excavatorhas describedthe tomb as a "communal"grave, but it appears to have been used by one small element of the population. THE PALAIKASTRO CEMETERIES The earliest burials at Palaikastroare located in two differentcemeterieson either side of the main settlement at Roussolakkos:the Gravel Ridge, lying some 100 meters northeast of Roussolakkos,and Ta Hellenika lying about 300 metersto its north on the south slope of Kastri.163At the beginning of the EM II phase a small tomb (I) was built on the Gravel Ridge, a narrow peninsulajutting into the sea, its top ca. 100 m. long and no more than 15 meterswide. Somewhatlater, in the EM IIb phase, a tomb (II) was built at Ta Hellenika, a much larger area than the Gravel Ridge but without its spectacularview; a third tomb (III) followed here in the EM III phase. At the beginning of the MM I phase four additional tombs were built in these areas, one at Ta Hellenika (VI) and at least three more on the Gravel Ridge (VII, VIIbis, and VIII). At the same time two additionalsites came into use: one at Patema, the locationof at least one tomb (V), lying ca. 500 m. southwestof Roussolakkos on the northernmostslopes of Petsofa; and another at Sarantari, a small hill ca. 350 m. northwestof Roussolakkos,where two tombs (IV a, IV b) were uncovered.While only Tomb II of the early tombsappearsto have been used in the MM I phases, all the later MM Ia tombs continuedin use into the Protopalatialperiod, and the site of Sarantariwas re-used in the LM III phase for larnax burials. A total of ten tombsand part of an eleventh have been excavated,then, in these cemeteries,and all are small built tombs "with houselike walls."'164 By the Protopalatialperiod the main settlementat Roussolakkoswas nearly encircledby its cemeteries. 28. PALAIKASTRO, TOMB I Bosanquet,PK I, pp. 290-292; Dawkins and Bosanquet,PK IV, p. 272. 160

Cadogan,ArchReportsfor1971-1972, p. 24, fig. 40. Cadogan,ArchReportsfor1977-1978, p. 74, fig. 9. 162 Cadogan,ArchReportsfor1977-1978, p. 74, fig. 8. 163 For a map of the site see Sackettand Popham, PK VI, pl. 64. 164 C. H. Hawes in Dawkins and Bosanquet,PK IV, p. 293. The numbersused to identify the tombs are providedby Dawkins in his brief summaryin PK IV, p. 269. 161

180


Locationand Excavation Tomb I, locatedat the northwestend of the Gravel Ridge, is the northernmostand the earliestof the tombs locatedon it. It was excavatedin 1902 by Robert C. Bosanquetand is totally destroyedtoday. Architecture Lying on the western slope of the ridge near the water's edge, the tomb was already badly destroyedat the time of excavation.Its walls had slid downwards,and no plan of the remainswas attempted.The tombis reported,however,to have subdividedthe west slope of the ridge with low walls of "dry-stone"masonry,and it is comparedto the much later Tomb VII on the center of the same ridge, characterizedby parallel subdivisionsand cell-like compartments. Burials and Chronology The burials from the tomb are not described.The finds includedclay vases and incised stonevases of the EM II phase;there is no evidencefor datingthe tombas early as the EM I phase, as Dawkins does. The two publishedclay vases are describedbelow.165 Catalogueof Objects Pottery P I-1 (Her.Mus. 4707). Sphericalpyxis PK I, p. 290, fig. 3; Zervos, L'art de la Crete, pl. 100. Collar neck and lug handles restored, otherwise complete. H. 0.125 m. Fine gray clay. Flat base, globularbody. Decorationin alternatingconcentricbands of impressedtrianglesand incised parallel lines. Compare the pyxides from Gournia, Tombs I and III, G 1-14 and G III-1-4 (pp. 13, 31-33 above). For the decorationsee also Warren, MSV, p. 81. P I-2 (Her.Mus. 2851). Beakedjug PK I, p. 290, fig. 4. Complete.

H. 0.255 m., D. at shoulder0. 11 m. Reddish clay, brown paint outside and inside neck, burnished. Low ring foot, globular body, broad cylindrical neck cut away at back forming elongatedbeak in front. Compare the jugs from Myrtos (Warren, Myrtos, p. 132, note 1). A number of beakedjugs are reported from the tomb and are probablythe same shape as this example. It is a commonVasilike-ware shape, and while Warren has suggestedthat the tomb should be considereda closed EM IIa depositbecauseof the pyxis of fine gray ware and the incised stone vases, the beakedjugs suggest that it continued in use to the end of the EM II phase.

29. PALAIKASTRO, TOMBII (Fig. 72) Dawkins, PK III, pp. 196-198; Dawkins and Bosanquet,PK IV, p. 272; Bosanquet and Dawkins, PKU, pp. 5-7; Bosanquet,PalaikastroExcavationNotebookfor 1904.

Locationand Excavation Tomb II at Palaikastrois the most northerlyand the earliest of the three excavatedat the southern foot of Kastri. It was excavatedin 1904 by Bosanquet and was apparently reburied.It is not visible today, but its locationis markedwith a heap of stones. 165For the stone vases from the tomb, see Warren, Kpq1rXpov 19, 1965, pp.

10-14.


181

L

III

0 L

10 I

20m. _

FIG.72. Palaikastro,Ta Hellenika: Tombs II, III, and VI (after Dawkins and Bosanquet,PK IV, p. 270, fig. 4 and Sackettand Popham, PK VI, pl. 64)

182


Architecture The tomb is a rectangularbuilding of two rooms.As preserved,it measuresca. 7.30 by 9.10 m. on the outside.166Its walls are apparentlybuilt in ordinaryrubblefashion,standing "abouta foot high,"the outer averaging0.50 m. in width and the inner 0.40 m. The whole outer northwestwall of the tomb is destroyed,167 and the westernend of the northeastwall is incomplete. The southwest wall is partly destroyedat both west and east ends, and the southeast wall is partly destroyedat the south. No entry to the tomb is noted by the excavators,but it may have been locatedin any of these destroyedsections. The inside of the tomb is dividedinto an L-shapedroom that runs the whole length of the southwest and southeast sides of the tomb, ca. 6 by 6.30 m. as preserved,somewhat wider on the southwestthan on the southeast,ca. 2.55 m. and ca. 2.10 m. respectively,and a smaller,rectangularroomin the north corner,measuringca. 3 by 5.60 m. as preserved.The southwest wall of the smaller room, which runs parallel to the outer northeastand southwest walls of the tomb, is preservedfarther to the west than either of them; the published plan of the tomb suggeststhat it is preservedfor its entire length and that its west end marks the western limit of the tomb. The southeastwall of the smaller chamber,which runs parallel to the outer southeastwall of the tomb, is brokenby a doorwayca. 1 m. wide between the inner and outer rooms. Burials and Chronology No burials were found in the larger chamber."A few bones and a fragmentof a skull" are reportedfrom the smaller north chamber.168The small number of bones suggestedto the excavatorsthat the tomb may have been that of a single individual.Since such a burial would be unusual, however, if not unique, it is more likely that additionalburials in the tomb were lost along with the western side. Twenty-five vases were found nearly complete,and while a numberof MM vases are reportedamong them, the published examples belong entirelyto the EM IIb phase.169No fine gray ware or Koumasa-styleware is reported,and it seems that the tomb came into use somewhatlater than Tomb I. The MM pottery,which is unpublished,is reportedto be like that fromthe othertombsat Palaikastroand is thereforepresumablyMM I. All potteryand reportedfinds, including the fragment of a triton shell and a model boat, came from the larger room and from its southwesternsection, leaving the space before the inner doorway free; Dawkins thereforesuggestedthat after the burial in the smaller room was made, the larger "was left open as a sort of mortuarychapel for offerings,and the vases used for this 166

All measurementsgiven for this tomb are taken from Bosanquet,PalaikastroExcavationNotebookfor 1904, for the use of which I am indebtedto Peter Warren, formerlyAssistantDirectorof the BritishSchoolat Athens. This particularmeasurementdiffers from that given by Dawkins in PK III but not from that of the plan publishedin Dawkins and Bosanquet,PK IV, fig. 4:1. 167 This is stated in both Dawkins, PK III and Bosanquet,PalaikastroExcavationNotebookfor 1904, and the sectiondrawn in the publishedplan (PK IV, fig. 4:1) is apparentlyrestored. 168Dawkins, PK III, p. 197. 169 All are made of fine buff clay, and all but one are paintedwith a red slip, flakedoff and badly preserved, which displaysonly tracesof mottling,if any, never so brilliant as on the best examplesof Vasilike ware. The major shapes include teapots (Dawkins, PK III, fig. 1:h), pedestaledgoblets (fig. 1:f), beakedjugs (fig. 1:a), and straight-sidedbowls with rim spout. One example of importedMyrtos ware may also be noted (figs. 1:i, 3:b).


183

If indeed the tomb were used for only one burial, it purpose allowed to accumulate."170 would have to be concludedbecause of the presence of MM vases that the building continued to be used for cult purposeslong after its initial use as a tomb. On the other hand, the tomb may have been re-used for burials in the MM phase and the MM vases deposited with these. 30. PALAIKASTRO, TOMBIII (Fig. 72) DawkinsandBosanquet,PK IV, pp. 268-272.

Locationand Excavation Tomb III is the lowest of the tombs at Ta Hellenika, locatedat the bottomof the southern slope of Kastri, ca. 60 meters south of tomb II. It was excavatedin 1905 by Dawkins, and like Tomb II it is no longer visible, although its locationis markedby a heap of stones. The land here at the bottom of Kastri is flat enough so that the hillside does not interfere with the placementof the long side walls of the tomb, and the tomb is orientednortheastsouthwest. Architecture Little is publishedabout the architectureof the tomb except that it consistsof six rooms enclosed by low walls and "doesnot differ essentially from the others."A few additional observationsmay be made on the basis of the publishedplan.171The tomb is a rectangular building ca. 4.80 by 10 m. on the outside.172It is divided into three consecutivecompartments with two roomsin each. The northerncompartment,containingRooms 5 and 6, and the central compartment,containing Rooms 3 and 4, are nearly identical in size and plan. The northernone is entered from its southeastcornerthrough an opening giving access to two adjacentroomsdividedby a short spur wall and connectedby an internaldoorway.The centralcompartmentwas originallyenteredthroughan openingat its southwestcornerthat providedaccessto two rooms arrangedexactly like those in the northerncompartment.On the plan, each of these four roomsmeasuresca. 1.80 by 3.30 m. The southern compartment,containing Rooms 1 and 2, appears to have been a later addition;on the plan, its walls do not continuefrom those to the north and do notjoin them. The west or rear wall is set back from the west walls of the two northerncompartments, marking the break and reflectingthe internal division of rooms. The additionof this compartmentshut off the entranceto the centralone. The southerncompartmenthas no visible entrance,unless a narrow breakin the east wall leading into Room 2 representsa doorway. It is composedof smaller, cell-like rooms that do not interconnect,Room 1 measuringca. 1.80 by 2.40 m., and Room 2 ca. 0.90 by 1.80 m. The fragment of another wall over three meters long is shown on the plan running parallel to the southeastwall of Tomb III. The wall is brokenmidway by a doorway,apparentlywith thresholdintact, and at its north end the wall continuesto the southeast.It is most likely the remainsof a fourth tomb at Ta Hellenika. 170

Dawkins, PK III, pp. 197-198. Dawkins, PK IV, fig. 4:3. 172All measurements here are taken from the 171

given

plan and should be consideredapproximate.

184


Burials and Chronology Rooms 3 and 4 of the centralcompartmentwere "filledwith the usual confusedmass of re-interredbones mixed with potteryand other objects."The four remainingroomsyielded few finds. In the adjacentcorridorto the east, however, additionalpotterywas uncovered, including three hole-mouthedjars and four cups with slightly contractedmouths "a little differentin style"fromthe potteryinside the tomb. The potteryincluded41 completevases, which are describedin the publication.73With only a few exceptionsthey are decoratedin EM III white-on-darkstyles. The most commonshape consistsof handlelesscups, including some 20 straight-sidedconicalcups. The tomb appearsto have been used mainly in the EM III phase and only briefly, if at all, thereafter. TOMBSIV a ANDIV b (Fig. 73) 31, 32. PALAIKASTRO, Hawes in Dawkins and Bosanquet,PK IV, p. 293.

Locationand Excavation The two tombs are locatedon top of the hill of Sarantari,at its northwestside; immediately below them, LM III larnax burials were found. They were excavatedin 1905 by Charles H. Hawes and re destroyedtoday. Architecture The summit of Sarantariis flat bedrocktoday, and the tombs were alreadybadly preservedat the time of excavation;very little informationis available about them. The excavatorremarkedthat they were built with "house-likewalls,"presumablyof ordinaryrubble construction,and contained compartmentsdistinguishablefrom those of ordinary houses only becauseof the skeletalremainsand funeralgoodsfound inside. In the publishedsketch they are roughly rectangularand orientednorth-south. plan of the tombs as preserved,174 The northerntomb, measuringca. 5 by 6 m. on the outside, containstwo adjacentrooms; the southern,measuringca. 5.25 by 7 m. on the outside,containsthree, two to the north and one to the south,with interconnectingdoorways.The fragmentof what appearsto be a third tomb lies just to the southeastand suggeststhat originallythe summitof Sarantariwas built up with a numberof tombs. Burials and Chronology The burials are not described.The pottery, which is unpublished, is reportedto be MM, and the tombs are dated by the excavatorto the same period as those on the Gravel Ridge and Kastri,which is presumablyMM I. 33. PALAIKASTRO, TOMB V (Fig. 74) Duckworth in Bosanquetand Dawkins, PK II, pp. 350-355; Bosanquet,PalaikastroExcavationNotebooks for 1902 and 1905; Dawkins, PK IV, p. 272, fig. 4:5. pp. 7-9 and Betancourt,White-on-DarkWare,pp. 15-16, 36. Walbergemphasizesthe presenceof some MM Ia material (Middle Minoan Pottery,pp. 133-134). 174 Dawkins, PK IV, fig. 4:4. 173See also Bosanquetand Dawkins, PKU,


185

IVa

I IVb

0

5

lOm.

FIG.73. Palaikastro,Sarantari:Tombs IV a and IV b (Dawkins and Bosanquet,PK IV, p. 270, fig. 4)


Tomb V is located some 600 meters southeast of the Gravel Ridge, low on the north slope of Petsofa in the area known as Patemaoverlookingthe Bay of Palaikastro.The tomb was excavatedin two separate seasons, in 1903 by W. L. H. Duckworth and in 1905 by Bosanquet.It is apparentlydestroyedtoday. Architecture

No architecturalinformationabout this tomb is available other than that providedby two ratherdissimilarplans, one drawn in the Notebookand reproducedhere with measurements (Fig. 74:a), the other published in PK IV (Fig. 74:b), which may be a reconstruction based on the Notebookdrawing. The building representedin the Notebookis an irregular structure, perhaps originally rectangular,with over-all measurementsnorth-south of ca. 7.90 m. It containsthree parallel roomsin a compartmentat the east side of the buildingand three or four additionalrooms in a compartmentto the west. Burials and Chronology

Scatteredskeletal remainsand one burial in situ were reportedfrom the earlierexcavations. The skeletonlay on its left side in contractedposition,orientednortheastby southwest,

186


.65'

2.75 0 (1)

\,j

(2)

1.70

o' IO010

1.20 , ' _--

(3)(4)

N S N

_

L

2.15

0

0

2.00

cSt: i

a. Bosanquet,ExcavationNotebookfor 1904, sketchplan

V

0

5

10m.

b. Dawkins and Bosanquet,PK IV, p. 270, fig. 4 FIG.74. Palaikastro,Patema:Tomb V

with the head originallyto the east.175The skull was missing. Further skeletalremainsare describedin the Notebookand locatedon the plan. They includetwo skeletonslocatedin the northeastroom of the tomb against the south wall (Fig. 74:a, 1, 3) lying in contractedposition on their left sides with the skulls to the east. A skull was found directly above and crushedinto the pelvis of Burial 3; another (4) was found among a heap of bonesjust to the east. In addition,one vase "fromthe same neighborhood"(P 1419) containedbones.Another skull (2) was found in the east centralroomagainstthe northwall. The dateof the tomb,like its plan, is a matterof someconfusion.In the initial reportsthe tomb was datedto the MM I phase, and the only vase publishedat this time is a miniature 175Bosanquetand Dawkins, PK

II, p. 354, figs. 5, 6.


187

jug of the MM Ia style.176Someyears later, however,Bosanquetand Dawkins notedthat the Patema tomb was "alreadyin use in the EM period,"and in the chronologicalsummaryof the site of Palaikastropublished in 1965 the tomb was cited as evidence that occupation began with the EM I phase.177Only one of the "EM" vases has been published. It is a cylindrical pyxis without handles or feet, decoratedwith incised vertical bands of chevrons.178Dawkins datedthis vase to the EM I phase, and Renfrewhas comparedit to Cycladic vases of the Grotta-Pelosculture.179 It has severalparallelsin shape with MM Ia pyxides, however,and it is by no means clear that it should be datedto the EM phase.180In any case the potterysketchedand inventoriedin the Notebookis without exceptionMM I. The entries are reproducedhere with additionalcomparanda. Catalogueof Objects Pottery P V-1 (P 1400). Bowl with hole in bottom Compare from Apesokari, Schorgendorfer, ForschungenaufKreta, pl. 22:3. P V-2 (P 1401). Squat black "Schnabelkanne" Comparefrom Palaikastro,PK II, p. 322, fig. 21:2. P V-3 (P 1402). Vapheio cup D. at rim 0.093 m. Handle missing. Compare from Palaikastro,PK II, p. 302, fig. 1:11. Two other Vapheio cups are noted without inventory numbersor description. P V-4 (P 1404). One-handledcup Found under Burial 3. Comparefrom Palaikastro,PK II, p. 302, fig. 1:la. P V-5 (P 1406). One-handledcup H. 0.06 m.; D. at rim 0.09 m. Found near skull 2. Comparefrom Palaikastro,PK II, p. 302, fig. 1:8. P V-6 (P 1407). Handleless cup D. at rim 0.083 m. Compare from Palaikastro,PK II, p. 302, fig. 1:6.

Six othercups of "handlelesstype"are notedwithout inventorynumbersor descriptions. P V-7 (P 1408). Cup Half missing. Comparefrom Palaikastro,PK II, p. 302, fig. 1:6a. P V-8 (P 1412). One-handledcup Broken. Decoration in "white festoons on poor glaze ground." See Zois, Kamares-Stil,p. 232 and M XI-2, p. 96 above. P V-9 (P 1415). One-handledcup D. at rim 0.075 m. Comparefrom Palaikastro,PK II, p. 305, fig. 4:3. P V-10 (P 1419). "Very rotten vase, containing bones." Incisedornament. This appears to be the incised pyxis mentioned above. P V-11 (P 1430). One-handled cup with spout at right angles to handle.

Bosanquetand Dawkins, PK II, p. 322, fig. 21:11. Comparethejugs from Gournes (Zois, nIpo,3AhiarTa, pls. 3, 5); elsewhere at Palaikastro the shape is found in association with Chamaizi jugs (Bosanquet and Dawkins, PK II, p. 323). 177 Bosanquetand Dawkins, PKU, p. 116; Sackettand Popham, PK VI, p. 249. 178 C. Renfrew, "Creteand the CycladesbeforeRhadamanthus,"Kp7rrXpov18, 1964, pp. 107-141, pl. T:1. 179 Bosanquetand Dawkins, PKU, p. 5, fig. 2; Renfrew, op. cit., p. 116. 180 For parallels in shape, comparethe MM Ia pyxis from Vasilike (G. Maragiannis, Antiquitescretoises, ser. 2, Candie 1911, pl. 24:13; Seager, VasilikeII, pp. 127-128, fig. 12); and for fabric, comparevase no. 40 from PalaikastroTomb VII (Bosanquet, PK I, p. 293, note 1). J. A. MacGillivray, P. M. Day, and R. E. Jones now date it MM Ia ("Dark-faced Incised Pyxides and Lids from Knossos: Problems of Date and Origin,"in Problemsin GreekPrehistory,E. French and K. Wardle, edd., Bristol 1988, pp. 91-93). 176

188


TOMB VI (Fig. 72) 34. PALAIKASTRO, Dawkins, PK III, p. 202; Bosanquet,PalaikastroExcavationNotebookfor 1904.

Locationand Excavation This tomb is locateda shortdistancesouth of Tomb II at Ta Hellenika. It was excavated in 1904 by Bosanquet.and was apparentlyreburied.Like Tomb II it is not visible today, but its locationis markedwith a heap of stones. Architecture Only a little informationis publishedabout the architecture,but some additionalfacts, includingmeasurements,are providedin the Notebook.The tomb is a rectangularbuilding with a but-and-benplan. It is constructedwith "low"rubble walls, the north wall parallel to the south but a meter longer, and the east and west walls convergingtowardsthe south. The east wall does notjoin the south wall but turns west at a right angle, runningparallelto it and ending before reaching the west wall.181The tomb thus consists of two rooms, the main entranceat the southeastcornerthrough the space between the east and south walls, and the inner room reachedthrough the space at the northwestcornerof the outer.182The southern, outer room forms a vestibule ca. 1.10 by 1.90 m. in size, and the larger, inner roomappearsto have servedas the main burial chamber,measuringca. 2.40 by 3.80 m. Burials and Chronology The outer room containedthe remains of only one burial, which rested on a layer of small roundsea pebbleslike those mixed with plasterin the laterhouse floorson the site. In contrast,the inner room was full of bones packedclosely togetherin an irregulararrangement including a number of skulls: 12 listed in the Notebookwere for the most part badly crushed. Dawkins noted that "the intermentswere certainly not all secondary,for there were two clear cases of contractedburials."These, like those at Patema, lay on their left sides with heads to the east. The pottery,which is unpublished,is reportedto be MM, all of it unpainted.Twentythree completevases were found. Eleven are plain handlelesscups of PalaikastroTypes 6, 6a, and 6b,183which are the tumblers and conical cups typical of the MM I phase. In addition,the Notebookrecordsin sketchesthe find of two jugs, one like PalaikastroType 7 with round instead of trefoil mouth.184At least one of the jugs is wheelmadewith a stringmarkedbase and belongsto the MM Ib phase. 35. PALAIKASTRO,TOMB VII (Figs. 75 and 76, Pl. 40:a) Bosanquet,PK I, pp. 290-297; Duckworth in Bosanquetand Dawkins, PK II, pp. 350-355. 181 L. of north wall ca. 3.40 m., of south wall ca. 2.40 m., of west wall ca. 4.80 m., of east wall ca. 6.50 m.; W. ca. 0.50 m.

182 In Bosanquet,PalaikastroExcavationNotebookfor1904, the orientationwith doorto the east is given in three separateentries;in Dawkins and Bosanquet,PK IV, p. 270, fig. 4:2, the directionis reversed. 183 Bosanquetand Dawkins, PK II, p. 302, fig. 1. 184 Bosanquetand Dawkins, PK II, p. 322, fig. 21.

189


0

15

30m.

FIG.75. Palaikastro,the Gravel Ridge: Tombs VII and VIII (after Bosanquetand Dawkins, PK II, p. 352, fig. 4)

Locationand Excavation Tomb VII is locatedon the central peak of the Gravel Ridge, about 70 meters south of Tomb I. It was excavatedin 1902 by Bosanquetand in 1903 by Duckworth. Becauseof its locationon a peak of the ridge, much of the tomb, includingits entire northeastcorner,was alreadydestroyedat this time. In recentyears the remainderhas been largely demolishedby a shepherdwho has used the stonesof the tombto constructa small hut at its north side. The north and south walls of this hut appear to rest on the ancient foundationsof the tomb, however,and the hut itself, with its low walls and flat earthenroof, gives an idea of how one

190


----

50

- ?e G

I ,

"

Iet, 1

0 FIG.

1

2

3

4

--

`i

--

--N.

5m.

76. Palaikastro,the Gravel Ridge: Tomb VII with detail of northwestcell (Bosanquet,PK I, pp. 291292, figs. 5 and 6)


191

part or cell of the tomb originally appeared.Parts of the outer west and south walls of the tomb remainvisible today at groundlevel. Architecture The tomb consists of a roughly rectangularbuilding ca. 8.25 by 9.70 m. Its walls are constructedin ordinaryrubble,occasionallywith a single stone filling the entire width. The outer walls on the west, south, and east are somewhatwider than those on the interiorand on the north, and the preservednorthwall may be anotherinteriorwall and not the original north facadeof the tomb. The interioris dividedby four long, parallel east-west walls. All are brokenoff at the east, but in the view of the excavators toouter they originallyjoined the east and west walls and createdfive long, narrow compartmentsthat did not interconnect (Fig. 76, bottom). This reconstructionis somewhat misleading,however, since these compartmentswere further subdividedinto small cells by short, non-continuouswalls running north-south betweenthe longer dividingwalls. Only one of these shortnorth-south walls is illustrated (Fig. 76, top), and they are omitted entirely from the plan,185although their locationsseem to correspondwith the gaps between the finds plottedon it. A photographof the tomb taken in the 1940's shows these internal dividingwalls quite clearly (PI. 40:a).186 At least three cells were locatedin Compartments1, 2, and 3, and at least two in Compartment 4. The cells vary in size; some are rectangular some square. The cell in the northan. andry west cornerof the tomb (Fig. 76, top) measuresca. 1.15 m. square. No entranceto the tomb is reported,and while one or more may have existed in the destroyednortheastcorner,most of the cells were probablyenteredfrom the roof. Burials and Chronology With the exception of an infant burial inside a tall, two-handledvase, no burials were found in situ inside the tomb, and Bosanquetconcludedthat only "theskulls and principal bones of bodies skeletonisedby previous interment elsewhere were depositedin this final resting place."Severalskulls togetherwith other bones and accompanyingfuneralofferings were locatedin each cell, and no cell appearsto have been reservedfor only one individual. Some 97 skulls were recoveredin all. In addition,a primaryburial, consistingof a skeleton stretchedat full length, was found outside the southeastcornerof the tomb. Over 140 vases were collectedin the 1902 excavationalone. They includedmany cups and plates that were found inverted.Twenty-four of the vases are illustrated;187 they belong to the MM Ia and Ib phases and are characteristicof the MM I potteryfrom Palaikastro.188 36. PALAIKASTRO, TOMB VIIBIS Bosanquet,PK I, p. 294; Bosanquetand Dawkins, PKU, p. 12, note 2. Bosanquet,PK I, p. 291, fig. 5. At that time a maximum of three courses of the south interior wall was still preserved;only the lower courseof the others remained. 187 Bosanquet,PK I, p. 293, fig. 7. 188 For a discussionof the potterysee Walberg, Middle Minoan Pottery,p. 131. 185

186

192


Locationand Excavation This buildingis one of two tombslocatedon the Gravel Ridge not includedin Dawkins' summaryof the Palaikastrotombs.189It is reportedto have been locatednear Tomb VII "on the opposite slope of the ridge,"apparentlyon the eastern slope, since Tomb VII lies towards the western side of the ridge. It was excavatedby Bosanquetin 1902. Architecture Only part of one wall was found intact; the rest of the building had already been destroyed.The part preservedis describedas a "fragmentof good ashlar wall three courses high."190The blocksof the top two coursesmeasuredca. 0.22 by 0.53 by 0.20 m. Bosanquet suggestedthat the wall had been carriedhigher in mud brickand plasteredover and that it representedthe remainsof "anossuary-enclosurebuilt with more than usual care." Burials and Chronology No burials are reported,and only two vases were found alongsidethe survivingwall. These are a coarse red bowl containingfine lime and the famous bowl with shepherdand flockthat belongsto the MM Ib style.191 37. PALAIKASTRO, TOMBVIII (Fig. 75) Duckworthin Bosanquetand Dawkins, PK II, pp. 352-353, fig. 4.

Locationand Excavation This tomb is the second of the two on the Gravel Ridge not included in Dawkins' summary.192It lies some 15 meters south of Tomb VII on the southernmostpeak of the ridge and like Tomb VII is only partially visible today. It was excavatedby Duckworthin 1903. Architecture Little informationabout the appearanceof the tomb is available. It is built with ordinaryrubblewalls, and the part excavatedseems to have been a roundedbuildingof irregular plan. The roundedwalls may be due to their locationaroundthe side of a conglomerate outcroppingto the north, however, and the part that once lay to the south may have been constructedmore regularly. The excavatornoted that "suggestionsof compartmentswere met with." Only the one illustratedin the plan (Fig. 75), which containedskeletalmaterial, appearsto be complete.It measuresca. 1.20 by 3 m. and is enteredthrougha doorwayat the northeast,just outsideof which a large flat flagstoneof uncertainuse was uncovered. Burials and Chronology "Ten skulls and many limb bones"are reportedfrom the one completeroom. Apparently no skeletal remains were found in situ. The pottery from the tomb is not mentioned, IV, p. 269. By "ashlar"Bosanquetcould not mean true ashlar, which does not appear beforethe MM Ib phase;for the type of constructionto which he may refer, see p. 208 below. 191For the date of the bowl, discussion,and bibliography,see Zois, Kamares-Stil, pp. 243, 262. 189 Dawkins, PK

190

192

Dawkins, PK IV, p. 269.

PORTI

193

and no date is given; Duckworth, however, describesthe tomb together with the MM I tomb at Patema, and the implicationis that the two are contemporary. THE PLATANOS CEMETERY The cemetery of Platanos, lying just west of the modern village on level ground in the Mesara Plain, contains several majortombs, includingthree large tholoi. In many ways it resemblesthe Koumasacemetery.It too was first used in the EM II phase and then re-used after some interval in the EM III/MM Ia phases. It continued in use longer than the Koumasa cemetery,however, lasting into the Protopalatialand Neopalatial eras. Like the Koumasa cemeteryit is providedwith a paved court, also flanked by a precinctwall, and with a numberof smaller built rectangulartombs in additionto the tholoi. 38, 39. PLATANOS,TOMBSa AND y Xanthoudides, VTM,p. 93.

Locationand Excavation The rectangulartombs are in the field north of the two tholoi A and B, near the largely destroyedTholos F. They were excavatedin 1914 and 1915 by StephanosXanthoudides, who providesvery little informationabout them. The field is cultivatedtoday, and nothing remainsof them. Architecture Xanthoudides describes the tombs as "small buildings square in plan arranged in groups,"each building consistingof several chambers.Tomb a is actually a group of three rectangularbuildings, each from ca. 3 to 4 m. long. Pieces of clay with reed impressions found with the buildings caused Xanthoudidesto concludethat the tombs had been roofed with timber and clay. Burials and Chronology The burials are not describedexcept for the note that a mass of half-burnt bones was found in Tomb y. The buildings are reported to be the burial places of "poorpersons", presumablybecauseof the paucity of funerarygifts. Sherdsof the LM I phase were recovered, and the tombs were used at that time. Somewhat enigmatic objectsof unbaked clay describedas "phalloi"were also recovered,however, and since these are identicalto "phalloi" found in MM I contexts in Trench 8 and at Koumasa,the tombs may date to a much earlier period. PORTI 40. PORTI,TOMB8 Xanthoudides, VTM, pp. 54-69.

Locationand Excavation The site of Porti is easily accessibletoday a short distancebeyond Kantela,just to the easternside of the road leading south towardsVasilike in the Mesara Plain. The hill where

194


the cemeteryis locatedis as Xanthoudidesdescribesit, and Tholos nI may still be seen at its northwestcorner.On the same plateau, apparentlysomewhereto the east of the tholossince the acropolisrises almostimmediatelyaboveit to the south, Xanthoudidesuncovereda built rectangulartomb, 8, which is not visible today. Architecture Xanthoudidesreportsthat the tomb was built partlyby cuttinginto bedrock,that it had a wall length of ca. 2.60 m., and that an entrance "hole"ca. 1 m. wide was located on its south side. Since he does not provideany additionalinformation,the appearanceof the tomb is somewhatunclear. Burialsand Chronology A pithos, inverted and containing human bones, was found in one corner. Other inverted pithoi with bones found "a few meters farther on" together with remains of walls suggestedto Xanthoudidesthat they too had been placedin small tombslike 8 "lyingcloseto the surface." No potteryis reportedfromTomb 8 otherthan the burial pithos, which is said to belong to the Kamaresstyle. The burials in pithoi and small tombs elsewhere at Porti are datedto the MM phase, although none of the potteryfrom these areas is published.The MM pottery from the tholos and its annexes includesexamplesof the MM Ia and Ib phases,193and it is likely that the adjacentMM tombs, including8, are contemporary. VASILIKE, IERAPETRAS IERAPETRAS 41. VASILIKE, I Seager, Vasilike II, p. 115; Seager, Pachyammos,p. 20; Hall, Sphoungaras,pp. 71, 73; Zois, Bao-L)LK7 r7^ ev 'AOBjvaLs'ApXaLoAoyKijo'Eratpdasv 83), Athens 1976, p. 22. (BL,AXLO0OK71

Locationand Excavation The tomb at Vasilike is locatedon a slope south of the Kephala,where the settlementis situated, apparentlynear the remains of walls connectedwith a small Roman conduit. It was excavatedby Seagerin 1906. The area aroundthe Kephala is heavily cultivatedtoday; while parts of the conduitmay still be traced,there are no tracesof the tomb itself, and it is probablydestroyed. Architecture Seagerdescribedthe tombsimply as a "boneenclosure"without furthercomment.Hall, who presumablyhad firsthandknowledgeof it, provideda few more details. She compared it to the tombs at Palaikastroand Gournia and noted that it belongedto a class of tombs built abovegroundwith long, narrow burial chambers.She reportedthat it had more than one roombut did not say how many. 'ApX'E4P1965, p. 67, note 2; Zois, HpoSAXhtara,pp. 32-33, 97; Walberg, Middle Minoan Pot100. tery, p. 193Zois,

THE ZAKROS CEMETERY

195

Burials and Chronology Four undecoratedlarnakes, compared to one from Pachyammos,194were recovered from the tomb. Their contentsare not described.One small black MM cup is also reported, and Seagerdatedthe tomb to the MM I phase. The earliestof the MM houses in the settlement on the Kephala appearsto have been built in the MM Ia phase, and both houses were used in the Old Palace period. It is likely that the tomb was used at the same time. THE ZAKROS CEMETERY In the Prepalatial and Protopalatialeras the mountain slopes that surroundthe plain of and as well as the gorgeformedby the Zakrosriverto Kato Zakroson its nor westsouth,,, the northwestof the plain, were used as burial sites. Some 15 graveshave been investigated and reportedto date.195Most are simple burials in the rock sheltersand caves that abound in the rockyslopes to the north and in the precipitouscliffs of the gorge.Two exceptionsare the house tombslocatedlow on the easterlyslopes of the hills lying to the west of the plain at Pezoules Kephalas near the modernroad leading to Epano Zakros.The slope is gentler at this point, extending some distance to the north and south, and may have accommodated other built tombs in additionto those that have been exposed.The area overlooksthe plain, includingthe site of the palace to the northeastand the sea beyond. 42. ZAKROS,TOMBA (Fig. 77, P1.40:b and c) Platon, rIpaKTLKa 1967, pp. 190-194; Platon, "Epyov1967, pp. 113-115; Becker,AJA 79, 1975.

Locationand Excavation The larger of the tombs, lying higher up the slope alongsidethe modernroad, Tomb A is set against the east face of a large outcroppingof gray limestonewhich forms a natural L-shapednook against which the tomb is built. Its steep faces shelter the western walls of the tomb and are used for part of the wall. The tomb was excavatedin 1966 by Nicholas Platon196and reinvestigatedin 1973 by Marshall Becker. Architecture Tomb A is a three-roomrectangularstructuremeasuringca. 4.28 by 6.56 m. (irregular) on the outside. It is orientednortheastby southwest,as the locationrequires.197Its east wall runs more or less parallel to the face of the cliff on the west, and two lateralwalls run at right angles from the east wall to the cliff face. The east wall, the most stronglyconstructed because of its position on the outside of the slope, is composedof large stones that run the 194

Seager, Pachyammos, pl. XII:X a.

For a plan of the general area, see N. Platon, Zakros,the Discoveryof a Lost Palace of Ancient Crete, New York 1971, p. 25; for the tombs see Hogarth, "Excavationat Zakro,Crete"BSA 7, 1900-1901, pp. 142145; Platon, nIpaKTIKa1962, p. 165; Platon, IIpaKruca1963, p. 187. 196 I am indebtedto the excavatorand the Greek ArchaeologicalServicefor permissionto study the Zakros tombs. 197 For conveniencein the following discussion,southeastwill be called east and southwest,south;northeast will be called north and northwest,west. 195

196

B

0.00

+ 2.0 7

A

+0O3

0 FIo.

77. Zakros,TombA

1

2m.

THE ZAKROS CEMETERY

197

whole width of the wall. Only three remainin place, however,to the height of one course,in the northernhalf of the wall; the southernhalf has been largely destroyedby erosion.The lateral walls are constructedin usual rubble fashion. The outer north wall, preservedto a height of two courses near the face of the cliff, is partly destroyedat the east. At the west, where it joins the face of the cliff, a bedding cut in the cliff face extends about 0.70 meters fartherwest and may have servedto support an extensionof the wall. The south wall, also preservedto a height of two courses, has been destroyedat the east, where it apparently joined the vanished section of the east wall. The west end joins the face of the cliff, which juts out to the east at this point so that the built sectionof the south wall is shorterthan the north wall. The interiorface of the wall, however,is carriedfartherwest in an even line by an extension consistingof a single face of stones, preservedto a height of four courses, set against an indentationin the cliff face.198 The tomb has no visible entrance.It may have been enteredthrough an opening at the destroyedsoutheastcorneror from above,perhapsfromthe level of the cliff to the west. The interior is dividedin half by a central partition wall running east from the face of the cliff parallel to the lateral walls. Built in the same manner as the lateral walls but somewhat narrower, it is preservedfor six irregular courses, nearly one meter high. It ends before reachingthe east wall, leaving space for a doorwayca. 0.62 m. wide along the easternside of the tomb. The largest room, B, lies north of this wall and the smallerrooms,A and F, to the south. Originallythe southerncompartmentseemsto have been as large as the northern,but at some point it was dividedinto two rooms by a short wall running north-south between the centralpartitionand the south wall.199Although the two upper coursesof this wall are constructedin normal rubble fashion, the base consistsof two faces of large flat stones laid on edge against rubble fill, a technique not found in the other walls. At the south the wall curveseast, and it does not bond at either end with the walls running east-west. The erection of this wall isolated the small room r in the southwestcornerof the tomb;it measures ca. 1.96 m. north-south and widens from ca. 0.64 m. at the northto ca. 1.04 m. at the south. It is flanked on the west by a retaining wall, preservedto a height of three courses, set against rubble fill in front of the cliff. Like the east wall of the room,the west wall does not bondwith the north and south walls, and it may have been addedat the same time. Since the room has no entry at floor level, the fill at the west side may have been designedto providea solid platformfor enteringthe room from above. Room A, the southeasternlimits of which are lost, probablydid not extend much farthereast than Room B to its north. The preserved south end of the east wall reachesinside Room A and probablycarriedstraightacrossto the outer south wall of the tomb. The room measuresca. 1.72 m. in length and ca. 1.44 m. in width at the north. As noted, it may have servedas an antechamber,for it providesaccessto Room B through an opening at the northeast.Room B, which occupiesthe northernhalf of the tomb, is roughly rectangular,but because of the slanting line that the face of the cliff follows in this room it is ca. 3.12 m. long at the south and only ca. 2.08 m. long at the north. 198Exterior walls: p.L. of north wall ca. 2.32 m.; W. 0.68-0.76 m.; H. ca. 0.45 m. P.L. of east wall ca. 3.16 m.; W. 0.68-1.04 m.; H. ca. 0.42 m. Total p.L. of south wall ca. 1.12 m.; W. at east 0.68-0.84 m.; H. ca. 0.64 m. 199Interior walls: L. of central partition ca. 2.64 m.; W. 0.48-0.52 m.; H. ca. 0.98 m. L. of added northsouth wall ca. 2.02 m.; W. 0.40-0.48 m.; H. ca. 0.66 m.

198


Its width, on the other hand, is fairly uniform:ca. 1.76 m. The west wall is formedby the face of the cliff at the south and by a supplementarywall, preservedto a height of two courses, at the north where the natural rock is indented.200The floors of all three rooms appearto have been formedof packedearth abovebedrock. Since no traces of roofingwere found, the excavatorconcludedthat the tomb was unroofedand consistedsimply of a walled burial precinctor rTadLKos 7rEp'oAos. Accordingto this view, each burial, a true inhumation,would have been placed in a hole dug inside the enclosure;the hole would then be filled in and the area leveled.The presenceof an interior doorway,however,and the dispositionof skeletalmaterialwithin the tomb suggestthat one could move aroundinside. It is more likely that the walls were finishedoff in mud brickand that the buildingwas roofed.Roof beamscouldhave been laid north-southacrossthe lateral walls. The tracesof a beddingfor an upper wall in the cliff face at the northwestcornerof the tomb may thus best be explained by the need to extend the north wall in orderto bring the west end into line with that of the central dividing wall. The fill on the west side of Room r, which establishesthe even line for this side of the roomnot providedby the irregular cliff, may also have aided in the supportof a roof. Burials and Chronology The excavatorestimatedthat there had been as many as 600 burials in the tomb. Most of the remains consistedof scatteredbones, including a large number belonging to skulls, limbs, and pelvises. The missing pieces were thought to have been thrown away during cleaningsof the tomb. Some 45 completeskulls were reported.Most of these, as well as the other skeletal material erand the accompanyinggrave goods, were locatedat the sides of the rooms,and much of the materialwas found lying in successivestrata. In additionto skeletal remains, Rooms A and r yielded fragmentsof larnakes.Room B containedan undisturbed burial inside a narrow rectangular larnax in the center of the room, oriented northsouth.20 The head of the skeletonlay to the north and the contractedlimbs to the south. A secondskull, which the excavatorbelievedto have belongedto an earlier burial in the larnax, had been placed at the foot of the preservedskeleton.Pieces of two lids and three other larnakeswere foundat the foot of this larnax, and remainsof two or morewere foundin the eastern and northernparts of the room. Remains of pithos burials were found along the easternside. In the excavator'sview all the potteryfrom the tomb belongsto the MM Ia phase.202It has recentlybeen examinedby Walberg, however,and shown to include examples of MM Ib/II styles as well.203Among the most common shapes are cups, some conical, with or without handles,others carinatedwith one handle. 43. ZAKROS, TOMBB (Fig. 78, PI. 40:d) For bibliographicalreferences,see No. 42, p. 195 above. 200 Western walls: L. of wall in B ca. 1.24 m.; W. 0.32-0.40 m.; H. ca. 0.38 m. L. of wall in F ca. 1.98 m.; H. ca. 0.54 m. 201 Platon, HpaKTiKac1967, pl. 167:a and /. 202 Platon, HpaKrWKa1967, pls. 168, 169. 203 Walberg, Middle Minoan Pottery,p. 134.

THE ZAKROS CEMETERY

6a\^

199

+0.00

1.43

0

1

2m. En

FIG.78. Zakros,Tomb B

ii

200


Locationand Excavation The smallerof the tombslies just southeastof the larger,fartherdown the slope. It is set among large outcroppingsof gray limestonethat fill part of the wall space on its south and west sides. They do not rise so high, however, as the outcroppingswest of Tomb A. The tomb was excavatedby Platon at the same time as A. Architecture The tombis a one-roomrectangularbuilding,orientedin approximatelythe samedirection as Tomb A, with internal measurementsof ca. 2.24 by 3.32 m. None of its walls is completelypreserved.The eastern wall has been largely destroyed,most of it apparently washeddown the slope, exceptfor a few oddstonesstill in place providingits insideface. It is boundedat the northby a single large stone and at the south by a limestoneoutcroppingthat acts as a cornerstonefor the east and south walls. The south wall is formedby a row of large stones placed upright in the gap between this outcroppingand the large one to the west. Although unworked,the stones fit tightly togetherwith only a minimum of earth bonding and form a retaining wall against a loose fill of earth and rocks. The west wall is formed largelyby the outcropping.Where the outcroppingslopes backon the northand south, supplementarywalls have been built to maintaina straightside. The north wall, constructedin usual rubblefashion,is the best preservedand standsin placesto a height of two courses.204 No entrancewas visible, and while one may have existedwhere there is now a large gap in the east wall, it may also have taken the formof an openingin the roof.The excavatorhas suggested that there was no entrance and no superstructurebut, like Tomb A, simply a walled area into which holes were dug for each inhumation.The straight lines formedby the interiorfaces of the walls and the right angles at the corners,however,are refinements that usually indicatea more substantialstructure.The bases of the walls all lie at the same level, and the tomb was originally designed for a level floor. Towards the southwest an undulatingoutcroppingof stone formspart of the floor;simple packedearth appearsto have formedthe remainder. Burialsand Chronology As in Tomb A most of the burials and accompanyinggrave goodswere found near the sides of the tomb. The skeletal remains again consisted mainly of the larger bones and skulls, some 20 complete examples of which were reported.A large number of the skulls were found along the north side, where they had apparentlybeen gatheredtogether.Three burials, which were thought to be the latest in the tomb, were undisturbed.One, located midway along the western side of the tomb, was placed inside a narrow rectangularlarnax like that from Room B of Tomb A.205The skeleton was contracted,its head to the north. The other two had been placednear the easternwall of the tombin a small rectangulararea markedoff by small stones. They lay in an east-west directionin contractedposition with their funeral gifts near by.206 204 Walls: p.L. of east wall (excludingoutcropping)ca. 3.72 m.; W. ca. 0.56 m.; H. ca. 0.30 m. L. of south retaining wall ca. 1.88 m.; W. ca. 0.52 m.; H. ca. 0.87 m. L. of north wall ca. 3.24 m.; W. ca. 0.56 m.; H. ca. 0.55 m. 205

206

Platon, HIpaKT-lca1967, pl. 171:,3.

1967, pl. 171:a. Platon, HIpaKTrKa

APPENDIX: CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF HOUSE TOMBS

201

In 1973 Becker re-examinedTomb A and studied the skeletal material that had been saved from both tombs. Seventy-fourindividualsof a total possible numberof 81 saved, no longer identifiableby tomb, are representedin this material. They include both males and females, the greatestnumber,perhaps as many as 40, being females, and representall ages above six years, with the largest percentage,nearly half, belongingto adults in the 18 to 50 year range and the smallest number,only four, belongingto childrenor adolescentsin the 6 to 16 year range. Some 70 completevases were collectedfrom the tomb. Similar in shape and decoration to those from Tomb A, they are also dated by the excavatorto the MM Ia phase. APPENDIX: CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF HOUSE TOMBS EM IIa: Gournia III; KoumasaF EM II: Linares(?);PalaikastroI EM II, III: Mochlos VIII, XVIII, XIX, XXIII, A, B, 0 EM II, III, MM Ia: Mochlos VII, XI, XIII, XVI, XVII, XXII EM II, MM Ia: Archanes6; Mallia, Western Ossuary;PalaikastroII EM II, III, MM III/LM I: Mochlos IV/V/VI, IX, X, XX/XXI EM II, III, MM Ia, MM III: Mochlos I/II/III, XV EM III: Archanes7(?); PalaikastroIII EM III, MM Ia: Mallia, ChrysolakkosI EM III, MM Ia, Ib/II, MM III/LM I: Myrtos, Pyrgos MM Ia: Agios Georgios;Archanes8, 12; Mochlos F(?), A(?), E(?) MM Ia, Ib: Agia Triada, South Building; Archanes 19; Gournes; Gournia II, IV(?), VII, VIII; Mallia, Eastern Ossuaries;PalaikastroIVa, IVb, V, VI, VIII; Vasilike; Zakros A, B MM Ia, Ib/II: Archanes 18; Gournia I; PalaikastroVII; Porti 8 MM Ia, Ib/II, MM III/LMI, LM IIIa: ArchanesB MM Ia, Ib/II, LM IIIc: Mallia, House of the Dead MM Ib/II: Mallia, ChrysolakkosII MM Ib/II, MM III/LM I: Archanes3-5(?) MM MM MM MM

III: Mallia, ChrysolakkosIII III/LM I: Archanes4 III/LM I, LM II/LM IIIa: Knossos,Temple Tomb III/LM I, LM IIIa: Agia Triada 5

LM I: Archanes 17; Platanos a, y LM IIIa: Agia Triada, Tomb of the Painted Sarcophagus

IV ARCHITECTURALFEATURES The tombs at Mochlos and Gournia share fundamentalarchitecturalsimilaritieswith the tombscataloguedin Chapter III. They all have close parallels in domesticarchitectureand were constructedalong the lines of real houses, althoughthey were to have a quite different use. In this respectthey are remarkableamong the built tombs of the period, and both the tholos tombs and cist graves, which appear considerablyearlier at the beginning of the Bronze Age, are distinctlyseparatephenomena,perhaps reflectingthe influenceof foreign contacts.1

PLANS (Fig. 79) Few tombs at Mochlos and Gournia are unique in plan, and all fall into the three broad categoriesthat encompassmost of the tombs of this type: they may simply be describedas tombs with single, double, or compoundrooms (Types A, B, and C). All are introducedas early as the EM II phase and used throughoutthe Prepalatialperiod.The one-roomtombs of Type A are particularlycommonamong the smaller South Slope tombson Mochlos and includeTombs VII, XI, XIII, XV, XXII, B, Z, H, I, and K, or ten of the 26 exposedtombs. Similar one-roomtombs are to be found at the same time at the Mallia Western Ossuary and at Koumasa,Tomb F, and perhapsthe small tombslocatedoutsidethe tholoi. The type continuesin the MM I phase at Gournia IV, Zakros B, Archanes 19, Porti, and the lepoS adKKosat Gournes. It reappearsin the Mycenaean age at Agia Triada in the Tomb of the Painted Sarcophagus.All these tombs are approximatelysquare or rectangularin plan; they vary in size from as little as ca. 2.15 by 2.45 m. to as much as ca. 5.10 by 5.20 m. Many are providedwith doorwayslocatedeither in the centerof one wall or at one corner;others have no apparententrance.Parallelsin domesticarchitecturemay be foundboth at Magasa in eastern Crete and Debla in western Crete. The Late Neolithic rock-shelterhouse at Magasa recalls Mochlos VII and I, as all three structuresare formedby extensionsof walls in front of already existing rock shelters. The house at Magasa appears to have been ca. 4.50 m. deep, somewhatlarger than either Mochlos tomb;its exact plan is lost, and so it is unclearwhether it was any morecomplex.2Dawkins comparedit to modern-daysheepfolds that are also built against pre-existingrockshelters,and that is exactly what the two Mochlos tombs resemble as well. The EM I/II houses at Debla, particularlyHouses 2 and 3, offer clearerparallels. Both are nearly square, about the same size as the smaller one-room See, however, S. Hood ("Cyprusand the Early Bronze Age: Circular Tombs of Crete," IlpaKTrKaB' ALEOvoVKvp&rpLoXoytKov Lvvebplov, To/,uo A', Nicosia 1985, pp. 43-49); he argues that the tholos represents an ancientform of house. There may also be a connectionbetweenthe house tomb and the tholos annex. The earliest annexes, including those at Siva, Lendos, and Agia Kyriaki, which appear to be additions to earlier tholoi, and those at Koumasaand Platanos A are contemporarywith the first house tombs and show some architecturalresemblance. 2 Dawkins and Bosanquet,PK IV, pp. 261-262, fig. 1.

203

PLANS

A

B

D

C

0O~l

...~2 m

.3

.

FIG.79. Plans of house-tombtypes

tombs,and each is providedwith a doorway,either at the centerof one wall or at one corner of the wall.3 Other houses like those at Debla have yet to be reported,but the relativelylarge number of tombs with one room suggests that such a house plan was once commonin the Prepalatialperiod. Tombs with two rooms, Type B, include severalvarietieswith slightly differentinternal arrangements.The most commonare those dividednear the centerby an internal wall that leaves space at one end for passage between the two rooms. The earliest examples are 3

Warren and Tzedakis, BSA 69, 1974, pp. 313-315, figs. 14, 15.

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ARCHITECTURAL FEATURES

found at Mochlos: XVI, XVII, XX/XXI, I (before additions), IX and X, and A and XXIII; later examplesinclude Gournia II, the two EasternOssuariesat Mallia, ZakrosA, where one roomis subdividedby a later wall, Archanes8, and perhapsGourniaVII, which may have been incompletelypreserved.Closely related are the tombs that have continuous internalwalls without any apparentinternaldoorwayfrom one roomto the other:Mochlos A, Archanes 6 in its original plan, Gournia I, and perhaps Agios Georgios. Less common are those with but-and-ben plan (PalaikastroVI and Mochlos IV/V/VI in its original plan) and an internal room reachedthroughan outer vestibule (PalaikastroII). Like Type A tombs, these may or may not be providedwith an external doorway;some are unusual, however, in that each room has its own entrancedespite the internal doorway (Mochlos I, IX-X, A-XXIII). The tombs range in size from ca. 3 by 3.70 m. to as much as ca. 7.30 by 9.10 m., although most fall in the 5-6 m. range. Probably the best parallels in domestic architecturefor the type are House 0 at Mallia in its first stage of development(MM Ib), the North House at Vasilike in its first stage (EM IIa), and the late Neolithic but-and-ben house at Magasa. The northwestwing of House 0, Roomsy and 8, which may have formed a separatehouse with its own entranceat one corner,is especiallysimilar in plan and size to Gournia II and the Eastern Ossuaries at Mallia.4 Unlike the tombs, however, it is not a freestandingbuilding, as it is joined at the southeastby a separateunit of rooms.The North House at Vasilike, on the other hand, is a freestandingstructureand is also similar in size to most of the tombs.5It has no apparentdoorwayson the interioror exteriorand most closely recallsGournia II and Agios Georgios.The but-and-benhouse at Magasa, also a freestanding structure,is identicalto PalaikastroVI and Mochlos IV/VI in plan but is about twice their size.6 Freestanding houses, to which the tombs may be compared,are rare in the Prepalatialand Protopalatialperiods since most, like Mallia House 0, have been addedto and enlargeduntil the originalcoreof the buildingis scarcelyrecognizable.As a result,most of the parallels for Type B tombs are found within larger structuresfrom the time of the EM II phase on.7 While Type A and B tombs are originally built as single units, tombs with compound plans, Type C, seldomare. These tombshave three or morerooms,some of which are likely to be additionsto an original unit. Amongthe early tombsof this type are the large tombson the West Terrace at Mochlos, where original two-room units have been expandedby the additionof one or morerooms;Gournia III, where the tombis simply a seriesof walls added one alongside the other; Archanes 6, where the original unit is nearly lost among later additions;and Archanes7. Among the later examples are Archanes 5, Gournes, probably Vasilike, and the South Building at Agia Triada. With the exceptionof Archanes6, where 4 Effenterre(under AT 5-5, 123 above), p. pp. 13-14, pl. XXI. 4 I (BLfiLOO'iK7rTjS Ev 'AOj1vaLs'ApXaXoAoy&Kis'Erapeias 83), Athens 1976, plan 5A. Zois, BaoLALK XIII. 6 Dawkins and Bosanquet,PK IV, p. 263, fig. 2. See also the MM II shrine at Mallia which is similar to Mochlos IV/V/VI in several respects (Poursat, BCH 90, 1966, pp. 514-551, figs. 3, 4). Its but-and-ben nucleus is about the same size as that of the Mochlos tomb and is also flanked on the outside by a narrow pavement;its Room 2 appearsto be an additionlike Mochlos V. 7 For the evolutionof this type, see D. Mackenzie, "CretanPalaces and the Aegean Civilization,"BSA 14, 1907-1908 (pp. 343-422), pp. 362-369, figs. 4-7.

AGGLUTINATIVEARCHITECTURE

205

the additions seem to have been made long after the constructionof the original unit, and perhapsthe north additionto Mochlos I, the additionsto these buildingsappearto be nearly contemporarywith the original constructionor at least within the same potteryphase. Such tombs again find parallels in contemporaryarchitecture,and the North House at Vasilike, an MM Ia house at Tylissos,8 and Mallia House 0 all illustrate the same sort of agglutinative process where additions are quickly made to a two-room unit resulting in a larger, more complex plan. At the end of the Prepalatial period still a fourth type of tomb appears, Type D, with multiple rooms, which is not, however, representedat either Mochlos or Gournia. These tombs are large rectangularstructureswith a regular external appearancethat are subdividedinto a numberof small roomsby crosswallsusually runningparallel to the outer walls and intersectingat right angles. Often the interior rooms do not connectand appear to be isolated cells entered from the roof. Tombs of this sort include PalaikastroV and VII, the House of the Dead at Mallia, and Archanes3 and 18; the type gives rise to ChrysolakkosII at Mallia in the MM Ib phase. The earliertombsrange in size fromca. 6.50 by 8 m. to ca. 8 by 12 m.; they are dwarfedby the huge ChrysolakkosII, which is nearly five times as large as Archanes3. The same type of plan appearsin domesticarchitecture.Apparentlycontemporarywith the earlier of the tombs is Mallia House B,9which was originallymistakenfor a tomb because of its similarity to ChrysolakkosII.10The Protopalatialhouse Stou Kouse also belongs to this type,11and still others of the same date are reportedat Kalathiana.12 The houses at Mallia and Stou Kouse are not much larger than the earlier tombs, Stou Kouse measuringca. 11 m. square, and each containsa numberof apparentlyisolated,celllike roomsas well as a numberthat connectat groundlevel. AGGLUTINATIVE ARCHITECTURE The tombs at Mochlos and Gournia, as well as many of those catalogued in Chapter III,

illustrate important stages in the evolution of Minoan architecture.Many of the tombs appear to be more fully evolvedthan others. The tombs that are only half built and make use of natural rockcliffs for a large part of their structure(Mochlos X, XX/XXI; Gournia III) or those that are mere extensionsof rock shelters (Mochlos VII, I) suggest a formative stage when men are still experimentingwith built architectureand still take full advantage of the natural terrain in erectingtheir structures.Many of these tombs,with their irregular lines and rockwalls, suggesta stage when men are not quite sure what a house ought to look like, and experimental plans result. Still other tombs illustrate a stage when the idea of something more complex than a simple one-room structure was beginning to emerge. Mochlos IX and X, A and XXIII are all basically one-roomtombs, each providedwith its 8J. Hazzidakis, Les villas minoennes de Tylissos (Etudes cretoises III), Paris 1921, pp. 59-60, pl. XXXIII. 9 Demargne and Gallet de Santerre,Mallia, Maisons I, pp. 19-20, pl. LXI. 10See, however, S. Hood, rev. of Mallia, Maisons I, in Gnomon26, 1954, pp. 347-348. 11S. Marinatos, <MefrolALVoiK71oZ,ca ev KaTro Meoaapa>, AeAr 9, 1924-1925

pp. 53-58, fig. 2. 12Xanthoudides, VTM, pp. 84-85.

(1927; pp. 53-78),

206

ARCHITECTURALFEATURES

own entrance, that have been transformedinto two-room structuresby the opening of a doorway in their party walls. Like Mochlos I they seem to have been designed with interior doorways from the start, but they nevertheless illustrate an important step when the possibility of a plan more complex than that of a simple one-room structure and "the convenience

of directinternal communication,"as Mackenzie put it, havejust been realized.13The next step is the realizationthat two entrancesare not necessaryonce the internal doorway has been created,and a true two-roomstructureemergeswhen one of these externaldoorwaysis closedoff. Such a stage appears in severalof the two-roomtombswhere one room provides the only access to the other. Tombs with compoundplans illustrate a still further step in which the original building, whether a one- or two-room unit, is enlargedby one or more additions.In most cases, these additionsare made without full realizationof their inherent possibilities.Even after all its additions,Mochlos I/II/III, for example, remains basically three separatechamberswithout any means of internal communication.PalaikastroIII, on the other hand, may representa slightly more developedstage in which the possibility of using one of the additionsto reach one of the original units is realized, and a larger, more coherentinteriorresults. The type of agglutinativeconstructionthat characterizesso many of these tombs, especially those with compoundplans, has been thoughtto explain the evolutionboth of the oneroom house into more complicatedhouses and of these into the small villages with closed plans that appearin the EM II phase at sites like Myrtos and Vasilike.14In this respect,the cemeteriesat Mochlos and Gournia representa pre-villagestage in which the characteristic plan of the EM II village has not yet appearedand freestandinghouses are still the fashion. They should be comparedto EM I/II sites like Debla or Elenes, Amariou, each with an open settlement plan.15Mochlos appears slightly more evolved, not because of its deceptively regular layout but because the agglutinativeprocess has begun, and several of the tombs are attachedto one anotherto form small but continuousblocks.The cemeteryplan, however,is still an open plan and contrastswith the contemporarysettlementon the island, a sufficientportionof which was revealedby Seagerin BlockA to suggesta closedplan with many small attachedrooms. While the Prepalatial settlementat Gournia has never been exposed, it probablyresemblednear-by Vasilike, and once again the settlementplan had evolvedto a much greater extent than the cemetery.To this extent the two cemeteriesat G earlier age, and Pendlebury'sobservationthat the and Gournia arrelis of Mochlos and a of houses tombs on Mochlos imitated bygone age is basically correct.It might be more accurate,however,to observethat the cemeteriesillustratean incompletestage in the formation of a Prepalatialsettlement.The cemeteryat Archanes,on the other hand, is considerably more developedthan either Mochlos or Gournia;it illustratesthe way the closedplan of a Prepalatial village might emerge from a number of pre-existing units that are added to again and again until they all join in one agglomeration of buildings and the original units 13

Mackenzie (footnote7 above,p. 204), p. 364. R. Hutchinson, PrehistoricCrete, London 1962, pp. 49-50; Whitelaw, Minoan Society, pp. 324-325, fig. 62. 15 For Elenes, Amariou,see G. Karo, "ArchaologischeFunde vom Sommer1931 bis Mai 1932: Kreta,"AA (JdI 47) 1932 (pp. 174-179), p. 177; S. Hood, P. Warren, and G. Cadogan, "Travelsin Crete, 1962,"BSA 59, 1964 (pp. 50-99), pp. 73-74, fig. 12. 14

WALLS

207

from which the village sprang are obscured. In different circumstancesthe cemeteriesat Mochlos and Gournia might have done the same. That they did not may be the result of population demandsand changingburial customs.In the MM Ia phase, when the greatest growth occurs in the Archanes cemetery, Mochlos appears to have been in decline, and many of its tombs went unused. At Gournia the population at large chose a new type of burial in pithos fields instead of furtherdevelopmentin the North Cemetery. WALLS With few exceptionsthe tomb walls are constructedin rubblemasonryof standardMinoan type. Such masonry consists of inner and outer faces of rough, unworked stones laid in irregularcourseswith earth or mud bonding.Within this standardtype are many variations that have no chronologicalsignificance. In width, the walls average about half a meter, although some may be narrower, especially interior walls, and exterior walls may sometimes exceed one meter. The stones employed, usually ordinaryfieldstonesgathered from the surroundingcountrysidewithout quarrying,averageca. 0.20 by 0.30 m. in size but may also vary from fist-sized stones to boulders.They tend to be irregularin shape, and the flat stones employed in so many of the Mochlos walls are unusual. The laying of the stone coursesvaries in regularity.Usually uneven,on occasionthey appearto have been laid more carefully along roughly parallel lines. Often regularly and irregularlylaid coursesmay be observedin differentwalls of the same tomb. Earth is the standardbondingand is used both as mortar between horizontal layers of stone and as fill in the center of walls. It is always mixed with pebbles or stone chips and occasionallywith pot sherds.The quantity of sherds varies widely, however, and in some walls almost none can be found, while in others large numbers are used, thus providinga convenientmethod for dating the construction.Sometimes the earth also appears to have been mixed with water to form a mud mortar. The amountof bondingvaries from large to small dependingon the size of the stones used in the facings and on the width of the wall itself. The term "dry-stone"masonry, 6r1poX6tasa, sometimesused to describewalls, is misleading, since all Minoan walls in all periods used some bonding, whether earth, mud, or clay, and this practice is often the sole means of distinguishingthem from modernwalls.16 In the majorityof cases these rubble walls serve only as socles for superstructuresof mud brick.There is little directevidencefor such superstructures,but they must be assumed to have existed because of the special care taken to provide proper beddings for them. In many cases, the rubble socles of the tombs are intact and preserveperfectly level surfaces that must have been designedfor the laying of horizontalrows of brick.Occasionally,when walls are built on slopes, they are carefully stepped,like those of Mochlos A or Gournia I, in order to minimize the amount of rubble constructionand still providelevel beddingsfor the mud-bricksuperstructures.The mud-brickfragmentsassociatedwith Mochlos B and Z are importantbecausethey are the only traces of mud brick reportedfrom any of the tombs (PI. 37:a). Mud brick usually survivesonly if bakedby fire, and it is significantthat Mochlos B is one of the few house tombs where traces of fire have been observed.Were there as 16 Shaw, Minoan Architecture,pp. 77-83.

208


many signs of burning in the house tombsas there are in the tholos tombs,more mud-brick fragmentsmight be expectedto have survived. In only a few cases do walls appear to have been constructedentirely in stone. Such instances include the walls of Mochlos IV/V/VI and XVI, the lower-storywalls of ArchanesB, 3, and 19, and a few individualwalls such as the partywall of Mochlos IX and X, the southeasternretainingwall of Myrtos, Pyrgos,and perhapsthe centralpartitionwall of Gournia I, as well as the walls of certain Neopalatial tombs (ChrysolakkosIII at Mallia, Agia Triada 5, the Temple Tomb at Knossos).The walls show a remarkablevarietyof construction.Especially distinctiveare those of the tombs at Mochlos that are built with large slabs, set on end at the base of the wall and filled out aboveand betweenwith flat stoneslaid moreor less horizontally.These slabs are quite large, often a meterin length or width. They comefrom local depositsof purple or green schistas well as a silver-graysideropetraand are extractedalong even lines of fracture;as a result they have a flat, smoothsurfacethat gives them a finishedappearance.They are used decoratively,often with differentcolorsalternating in the same wall, and only in the importantfaces of these walls. With the exceptionof the north wall of IV/V/VI, which is reinforcedwith a separatefoundation,such slabs are used in all the walls that are entirely rockbuilt, as if it was thoughtnecessaryto build such walls with especiallystrong bases. They also appear in a few other walls, where, however, they are seldom as massive as those in the rock-builtwalls. They are used in some South Slope tombs, as well as the West Terrace tombs, but never so extensively as in I and IV, rooms that probablyhad special functions in the West Terrace tombs and perhaps in the cemeteryas a whole. It is noteworthythat the contemporaryhouses at Mochlos exposed in Block A are built of ordinaryrubble, without the same care that went into the construction of the tomb walls, and no precise parallels may be cited for the early walls with their large base slabs.17They are the first, however, of varyingtypes of dadoesthat grow increasingly popular with Minoan builders for their monumentaleffect and foreshadowthe orthostate blocksused at ChrysolakkosII and in MM Ib palatial architecture. The walls of Archanes B and 3 illustrate another distinctivemethod of construction. The stones in these walls are roughly squared and laid in fairly regular courses filled in with vertical and horizontal layers of stone chips. They have parallels in near-by MM Ia walls at Knossos,18and the fragment of "ashlar"wall reported on the Gravel Ridge at Palaikastro(see No. 36, p. 192 above) may belong to the same type. True ashlar masonry, which seems to be restrictedto palatial structures when it appears in the Protopalatial period, is not found in funeraryarchitectureuntil the Neopalatial period,when it appears in such tombs as ChrysolakkosIII and the Temple Tomb. The walls of stone construction,when complete,providethe only availableinformation on the original height of the tombs. The preservedheights are similar and probablyrepresentative. The north wall of Mochlos VI measures ca. 1.93 m. from the top of its inner foundation.The maximumpreservedheight of the east wall of Mochlos XVI is ca. 2.20 m. the bottomcoursesof Bastion 34 at Poliochni,a structurecontombs Mochlos EM with the II Bernabo-Brea,Poliochni,cittapreistoricanell'isoladi Lemnos (L. temporary I, Rome 1964, pp. 274-277, figs. 151-153). The later slab in the facadeof Archanes19 is similarbut lacksthe smooth,almost polished surfaceof the Mochlos examples. 18 Evans, PM I, pp. 148-149, fig. 109. 17 See, however,the upright slabs placed in

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abovebedrock.The west wall of ArchanesB measuresnearly two metersto the floorlevel of the secondstory in the tomb. The west wall of Archanes3 also measuresabout two meters from the original floor level to the breakin the wall markingthe second-floorlevel. A height around two meters is the average and suggests that the tombs with stone walls were built about as high as other contemporarybuildings.19It is, of course, not clear that mud-brick walls rose as high as stone walls, although they certainly rose no higher. The maximum preservedheights of the interior wall of Gournia I and the north central pier of Mochlos XX/XXI are bothjust under 1.40 meters, and the brickwalls of these tombs may not have risen much higher. Few of the tombs, and probablynone of those at Mochlos or Gournia, appear to have been more than a single story high, since the width of their lower-storywalls is usually not sufficientto support a second story. The only actual evidencefor second stories is found at Archanes B and 3, where the levels are actually preserved,at Myrtos, Pyrgos, where the upper floor, supportedby a large pillar, seems to have held a shrine, and at the Neopalatial tombsAgia Triada 5 and the Temple Tomb at Knossos,where the upper floors,also partly supportedby pillars, also seem to have accommodatedshrines. The only other possibility may be ChrysolakkosII with its uniformlywide walls. It may be significantthat only this tomb and ArchanesB used timberin their walls, and in both casesthe timbermay have been designedat least in part to provideextra supportfor an upper story.The height of 2.5 to 3.5 meters that has been estimatedfor ChrysolakkosII would not, however,be sufficientfor a two-story building. The tomb walls are provided with a variety of foundations.In a few cases they rest directlyon bedrock.These include the walls of Mochlos IV/V/VI, ArchanesB and 3, and other walls built entirely of stone and perhapsthought to require solid beddingsbecauseof their great weight. In some cases bedrockwas just below surface,but in others,as in the east room of Archanes 5, it requiredconsiderabledigging to reach. Additionalsupport is sometimes providedby a projectingbase or plinth designed to fill irregularitiesin the natural bedrockand providea level beddingfor the erectionof the wall. They might be quite simple, consisting of only a single row of stones like those supporting the west wall of Mochlos XXIII and the partition wall of Gournia I, or considerablymore substantial, like those th north o and south walls of Arsupporting the north and east walls of Mochlos VI and the chanes 3. In most cases these plinths are peculiar in that they projectonly on one side, the inner side if belongingto an outer wall. In a few cases walls may be built upon earlierwalls and so gain additionalsupport, like the south wall of the ArchanesB pillar crypt and some of the interiorwalls of ChrysolakkosII, or they may be built on a shallow footing of rubble construction,like the exteriorwalls of ChrysolakkosII. In most cases, however,the bedding of walls appears to have been somewhat haphazard. Some walls might rest on bedrock, while others in the same tomb rest on the natural groundlevel or an earth fill, occasionally with the addition of a few loose stones. This seems to have been the case with most of the tombs that have survivedon the South Slope at Mochlos. In still other cases no part of a 19

Comparethe heights of Room 76 at Myrtos (Warren,Myrtos, p. 66) and Room IL at Phaistos (D. Levi, "Attivitadella Scuola ArcheologicaItaliana di Atene nell'anno 1951," BdA, 1952, pp. 320-339, fig. 7), each ca. 2 m.

210


tomb might rest on bedrock.Even when bedrockmight lie only a few centimetersbeneath the walls, as at Mochlos III or Gournia II, no effortwas madeto carrythe stonesoclesdown to that level. The same sort of haphazardbuilding may be noted in the constructionof other Minoan walls where solid bedding was providedwhen thought necessaryor when convenient, but a less substantialbeddingwas thoughtsufficientfor the relativelylight walls built of mud brick above rubble socles.20Normally a sall one-story tomb did not require any substantial bedding, and the natural ground level would be sufficient,particularlyif the tomb rested on level ground, as at Agios Georgios;on the other hand, more of the South Slope tombs on Mochlos would have survivedif they had been built on bedrockinstead of the natural slope. Occasionallysome attempt was made to decoratethe external faces of the tomb walls. One of the most commonmeans was the use of vertical setbacksor recesses such as those built into the walls of Mochlos IV/V/VI, Archanes6, PalaikastroIII, Gournes, Gournia II, and Archanes3 and 5. In the earliest of these, at Mochlos and Palaikastro,the setbacks seem to be the result of the addition of rooms to the original structure.The walls of the additionsare simply set back (or forward)where theyjoin the originalwalls. At Archanes5 and 6 and Gournes setbacksare createdby the same means and also mark actual breaksin the walls. At Archanes3 and Gournia II a secondtype is introducedin which the wall is not structurallybrokenat the point of setback,but instead the internal structureof the tomb is reflectedby the external setback.Here the setbackhas becomechieflya matterof design, no longer a primarily structuralfeature, and serves to break the monotonyof a solid wall. In Archanes3 the processis carriedsomewhatfurther,and the setbacksin the north and south walls of the tomb, while still reflectingthe internal arrangementof the tomb, are less pronouncedand primarilydecorative.The setbackseems to have originatedthen as a result of structuraladditions,but becauseof its decorativeeffect soon becamea commonadornment of Minoan walls.21 Still othertechniqueswere used to decoratethe facadesof Mochlos IV/V/VI, Archanes and B, ChrysolakkosII. Once constructed,the walls of these tombs were underlined,as it were, by string courses, separate from the walls, placed at the bases for adornment.At Mochlos this course consists of a separate line of horizontal slabs, set between wall and terrace.At Archanesand Chrysolakkosthe coursesconsistof a numberof slabs set vertically against the bases of the walls. ORGANIC ARCHITECTURE As a rule, the tombs are set harmoniouslyin the landscape.They are orientedaccordingto the slope of the terrain and are often tucked into its natural contours.At the same time, natural topographicalfeatures are often incorporatedinto the constructionwith the result that the tombsappearto be part of their naturalsurroundings.In this accommodationof the Graham,Palaces of Crete, pp. 149-150. For setbacksin domesticarchitecture,see the notes in Demargne and Gallet de Santerre,Mallia, Maisons I, p. 43, note 1; J. Deshayes and A. Dessenne, Fouilles exe'cuteesa Mallia, Exploration des maisonset quartier d'habitation (1948-1954), deuxiemefascicule (Etudes cretoisesXI), Paris 1959, pp. 8-9; Poursat, BCH 90, 1966, p. 528. 20 21

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architectureto the land and the use of the land as a building material, the natural and the manmadeare integratedin what might be describedas an organicarchitecture.It is a type of architecturethat is particularlywell illustratedby the tombs at Mochlos, where several techniques are used to achieve the integration, but it is also characteristicof much early Minoan building. One techniqueis the use of natural crevicesfor floorsand the positioning of rooms over them, so that burial depositscan accumulatewithout hinderingaccess to the rooms. Both Mochlos II and VI are constructedin such a way, as are many peak sanctuaries, where, however, it is votives and burnt offeringsthat accumulatein the natural rock crevices.Related is the use of natural ledges in the rock like those in Mochlos A, F, and III to form extensionsof the tomb. In each example the natural featuresof the groundbecome an integral part of the building. Another method is the use of a natural outcroppingas a "cornerstone"of two walls, as at the southwest cornersof Mochlos A and XI or the southeast cornerof Mochlos XIII, in orderto ensure the bondingbetween walls. Often a rise in bedrockwill form the base of an entire wall, serving as the socle for mud-brickor stone walling. In each case, the living rock projectsinto the manmadewall, and the two become part of each other. Sometimesthis practiceis carriedstill further, and the rise in the rock cliff, where high and steep enough, is used to form one entire side of the tombor more. Such use is made of the rock cliffs along the west sides of Mochlos I/II/III, the north sides of Mochlos A, XX/XXI, and XXII, and the east sides of Mochlos X and XV. The wall ledge may be partially built where it is necessaryto fill irregularitiesin the rock face, as at the southeastcornerof Mochlos XX/XXI, or to provideadditionalsupport for the roof, as at the north side of the same tomb, but often it is left untouched.This transformationof living rock into walls is found in other tombs such as Gournia III, Zakros A, and Porti 8 and in Elenes, Amariou, Prepalatial domestic architectureat Myrtos, Debla, and particulartialy where one house is reportedto have had an entire wall of living rock.22In this sort of architecturethe buildingsseem to grow out of the ground,and it is often difficultto tell where the ground ends and the buildings begin. It is an economicalmethod of building, requiring relativelylittle labor and a minimumof building materials,and it is also sound engineering, ensuring a solid structure.At the same time, the integrationof natural topographicalfeatures and manmadematerials is so commona feature of early Minoan architecturethat it constitutesan importantaspect of the architecturalaestheticof the period. DOORWAYS (Fig. 80) Doorways are found in a majorityof, but by no means all, the tombs. Unlike the trilithon doorwaysof tholos tombs,they are constructedin ordinaryrubblefashion,that is, with built jambs that presumablysupportedlintels of wood. They range in width from half a meterto a meter; the preservedheight of the doorway from Mochlos IV to VI is ca. 1.73 m. Ordinarilydoorwaysare a simple breakeither in the middleof a wall, with the two ends of the wall formingthe jambs (Mochlos XX/XXI), or at one end of a wall, with the wall running at right angles to the brokenwall forming one of the jambs (Mochlos A, Gournia II). The position of the doorway varies, and there is no indicationthat one position was preferred 22 Warren, Myrtos,p. 257; Warren and Tzedakis, BSA 69, 1974, p. 335; Karo (footnote15 above,p. 206), 177. p.

212


L A D

1OL1 B

E

C

I

O

. 1

2m.

FIG.80. Plans of tomb doorwaytypes

over the others.Often the ends of the walls formingthejambs appearto have been strengthened:they are sometimeswidened like those at Mochlos A and Gournia II (Fig. 80:D), or they might be built with large stones laid more carefullythan usual, like the northjamb at the bottom of the staircase in Archanes 3, which is actually built in rough headers and stretchers.Usually the break in the wall is complete;a separatestone thresholdlike the flat slabs in Mochlos IV and XXIII may be provided,but more often a simple earth threshold, sometimesreinforcedwith stone chips as at Gournia II, sufficed.Sometimes,however,the wall is continuousat the base and only brokensomewhereabove to providea doorway.In such cases the doorwaymay be located0.20 m. to as much as 0.80 m. above floor level, and its threshold is composedof the rubble base of the wall itself. Such doorways are found between Mochlos IV and VI, in the lower-storyrooms of Archanes3, and in the houses at Vasilike and Myrtos. At Mochlos short projectingpiers insteadof the ends of walls are often used to formthe jambs. They may be placed in a variety of positionsbut always in such a way as to form a

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small alcove or sheltered area in front of the doorway. Usually they stand between two parallel walls, narrowingthe space for the door opening (Mochlos I, IV, IX; Fig. 80:C), or opposite the end of a wall, against a wall running at right angles to the doorway (Mochlos B; Fig. 80:B), or outsidea doorway,flankingit and servingnot as jambs but as pure decoration (Mochlos XXIII; Fig. 80:A). In most cases such piers are built in ordinaryrubble and simply attachedto the walls without bonding.The piers at the entrancesof Mochlos I are unusual in being composedof monoliths,at least at the bases. Most of the doors were presumably constructedof wood. The locking system of the Temple Tomb, requiringwooden bolts, the woodenjambs and bronzepivot cap of Chrysolakkos II, and the stone pivots of Gournia II and Mochlos Z suggest wooden doors, and while no direct evidence is available for other tombs, wooden doors revolvingon wooden door posts set in rough pivot stones might be expected.Rarely, a rubblewall like that in the doorwaybetween Mochlos IV and VI might be used to close a doorway,presumablywhen the room behind the doorway had gone out of use. Monolithic slabs are also reportedby Seager to have closed the entrancesof Mochlos III, IV, V, and XII. They are no longer visible on the site, and it is unclear exactly how they were used. If they blockedthe entire doorway,they must have been quite large, perhapsresemblingsome of the monolithicslabs used in the tholos tombs.23The use of such slabs is exceptional,however, and is clearly a feature of funeraryrather than domesticarchitecture.They are used somewhat incongruously together with architecturalforms such as stone thresholdsand built jambs that are normally associatedwith wooden doors and may have been introducedonly at the time the tombs were finally closed. A few of the tombs are not providedwith any apparent entrance. Because walls are often preservedonly to a low level and doorways are sometimesplaced at the level of the stone socle without breakingthe wall, it cannot always be assumedthat doorwaysdid not exist: they may have existed but are simply no longer visible. Sometimesan additionalwall at one corneror end of a room,like that in Gournia I, built to the same height as the external wall it joins, may have servedas an entry platformprovidinglandings for doorwaysplaced abovegroundlevel and no longervisible (Fig. 80:E). In still other cases where the walls are preservedto a considerableheight without door openings or where the tomb is dividedinto numeroussmall rooms,it is clearthat the tombwas enteredfromthe roof, probablythrough a trap door, as rooms frequently were in domestic architecture.24At Mochlos and many other sites the roofs could be reached easily without ladders since the tombs are located against a steep rise in groundlevel.

ROOFING Direct evidencefor the roofing of the tombs, that is, actual remains of roofing material, is slight, a fact that has promptedseveralscholarsto concludethat many, if not all, tombswere unroofed.25Seager, for example, argued that while the West Terrace tombs at Mochlos, See the closing slab from the Kamilari tholos, which is ca. 1.30 m. high (Levi, ASAtene 23-24, 19611962, p. 13, fig. 17). 24 Warren, Myrtos, p. 258. 25 See Preface,p. vi above. 23

214


where he found remainsof roofingmaterial,were roofed,the South Slope tombs,where he believedhe found no such remains,were not. In fact, the Mochlos cemeteryprovidesmore evidenceof roofing,directand indirect,than Seagerrealized.The directevidenceconsistsof the "piecesof white plaster, smooth on one side and showing the impress of reeds on the other"that Seagerfoundbehind Mochlos IV and identifiedas part of the originalroofingof the tomb,which collapsedsometimeafter the last EM III burialswere made and beforethe tombwas re-used in the MM III phase.26In addition,a "fillingof stickywhite clay"foreign to the island was found in all the tombs that Seager excavatedon the South Slope. At the time of the excavation,the clay was identifiedas the same materialthat the workmenused to waterproofthe flat roofs of their own houses.27In 1971 a fairly large quantity of asbestos was found with the EM IIb/III depositbehind the collapsedeast wall of Mochlos VI, and in 1976 still more was found in the northwest corner of Mochlos r. This is probablythe same sticky white clay reportedby Seager, for although it has a sandy texture when dry, it becomessticky when damp or wet and was once again identifiedby the workmen as the substanceused locally to waterproofroofs (and whitewash walls). It is not availableon the island but is currentlymined in great quantitiesin a mountainon Cretedirectlyacrossfrom it.28The same material is reported from Archanes 3, where it was mixed with pebbles and was apparentlyused as a flooringin the secondstory or as a sealing (XaXLKacp-reoTov) in the stone roof of the tomb.29In the Mochlos tombsit may also have been used as a sealing or may representthe decomposedroofingitself. A similar methodof roofing,perhapsusing a differentsealing, is reportedat Platanos a and y, where lumps of clay were found with impressionsof reeds.30 Considerableindirect evidence for the existence of roofing is also to be found in the South Slope tombs on Mochlos, especially Mochlos X, XX/XXI, and XXIII, which were each providedwith special featuresto supporta roof.These includethe two piers of stone in Mochlos XX/XXI, one built against the rock face at the north end of the mud-brickdividing wall, the other restingon a natural ledge in the rockface at the northwestcorner;the pier of stones in Mochlos X that rests on a ledge at the north end of the tomb;and the two sections of walling in Mochlos XXIII that rest on natural ledges in the rock at the north side. In each case these built additionsto the rock walls of the tombs were designedto provide verticalsupportfor horizontaltimbersin the roofs.At ZakrosA the apparentcuttingin the rockface at the northwestcornerof the tomb,which continuesthe line of the northwall, probablyserveda similar functionas a supportfor an importantceiling beam. In addition, the presenceof doorways,often internal and external and occasionallywith closing slabs in place, the dispositionof walls in such a way that no room is too large to be spanned, and occasionalembellishments,such as fixed furnitureor plasteredfloorsand walls, all provide good indirectevidencefor the existenceof roofs in the house tombs. The remains from the EM II and MM I tombs at Mochlos and Platanos probably representthe most commonform of roofingin all the tombs:clay or lime plaster laid on a Seager, MochlosII, p. 46. Seager,MochlosII, p. 16; and see Shaw, Minoan Architecture,p. 225. 28 M. Becker, "SoftStone Sourcesin Crete,"JFA 3, 1976 (pp. 361-374), p. 366. 29 Sakellarakis,FIpaKrTKa 1966, p. 183, from the centralstratumin the centralroom. 30 Xanthoudides, VTM, p. 93. 26

27

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215

bedding of reeds that rested in turn on the rafters spanning the room. Such a method of roofingwas the most commontype in Prepalatialdomesticarchitecture.It is reportedfrom Vasilike using clay and from Myrtos using lime plaster,31and there is evidence that this simple method of roofing persisted into the Neopalatial period.32It is not the only type of roofingused in the house tombs, however, and remains of two other types, one using large stone slabs and the other a combinationof timber supports and stone paving, have been found at Chrysolakkos,Archanes,and the Temple Tomb. A large stone slab uncoveredin ChrysolakkosII and clearly fallen from above was identifiedas a roofing slab by the excavators.33Its dimensionswere not recorded,and it is unclear exactly how it might have been set in the roof or indeed if there were other such slabs. At Archanes B, however, similar slabs may still be observedin situ. They consist of large, limestone slabs obtainedby surface quarryingfrom the local hillside and measuring over two meters in length and nearly one meter in width. Two methods are used for the placing of these slabs. In the north antechamberof the tholos the upper portionsof the walls are corbeledinward slightly to reducethe span of the roof, and in the dromosleading to the tholos the walls have been set back at top leaving a narrow ledge on each side on which the coveringslabs rest.34At Knossos,the gallery leading across from the upper entranceto the Temple Tomb to the roof of the terrace pavilion displays a similar roofing system with limestone slabs measuring as much as ca. 1.30 by 0.50 by 0.30 m. resting on the two side walls of the gallery.35This roofingtechniqe is especiallywell suited to tombs dividedinto many small cells. While the length of the slabs at Archanesis sufficientto span the ceilings of many of the house tombs, their great weight requires either thick and heavy walls for support, quite unlike the modestwalls of most tombs, or else a small, limited area to cover, like a tomb cell. It is therefore unlikely that this method was used in many of the other tombs. It would also seem not to be a commonform of roofingin domesticarchitecture,in which even lintels were customarilywood, and, as Demargne has pointed out, it has its closestparallel in the roofingof cist graves.36 The third methodof roofing,using a combinationof timbersupportsand stone slabs, is found at the Temple Tomb and perhaps at Archanes B and 3, where schist plaques were found fallen from above. Evidencefor the techniqueis preservedmost clearlyin the Temple Tomb. Here, socketsfor the support pashlaof large woodenbeamswere lefttrin the masonry in the upper part of the walls of both the inner hall and the pillar crypt.These beams were 0.40-0.50 m. square and ca. 2.50 m. long in the inner hall and the crypt, where one end of each beam rested on each of the pillars midway across the room. In the pillar crypt they supportedthe transversebeamsof the floorabovewith its schist paving slabs. At ArchanesB and 3 a similar system appears to have been used, with more modest timbers supporting Seager, VasilikeI, p. 209; Warren, Myrtos, pp. 258-259, pl. 82. Graham, Palaces of Crete, p. 149; J. Shaw, "New Evidencefor Aegean Roof Constructionfrom Bronze AJA 81, 1977, pp. 229-233, ill. 1. Thera," Age 33 Demargne, Mallia, NecropolesI, pp. 32, 64, pl. XXXIX:2. 34 Sakellarakis,HpaKTLKCa 1966, pl. 147:/3. 35 Evans, PM IV, pp. 988-999, figs. 949, 950. 36 Demargne, Mallia, NecropolesI, p. 64. The system is also found in later tombs, includingthe forehallsof the tombs at Isopata (Evans, PrehistoricTombs, pp. 163-164) and the Kephala (R. Hutchinson, "A Tholos Tomb on the Kephala,"BSA 51, 1956 [pp. 74-80], p. 76, fig. 1). 31 32

216


schist slabs either in the upper floorsor in the roof.37Schistplaques used as pavingstonesin upper floors or roofs are also commonin Protopalatialand Neopalatial architecture,especially at Phaistos and Knossos, and in the houses on Pseira, where they were frequently found fallen within basements. The intersticesbetween these slabs were generally filled with a waterproofplaster, and Evans believedthat in some cases the entire pavementwas coveredwith such plaster.38 STUCCO REVETMENT AND PAINTED DECORATION Stuccorevetment,which is found in a few of the tombs,is used in Minoan architecturefrom the beginningof the BronzeAge. In the EM I phase red stuccois used as a floorcoveringinside houses, and in the following EM II phase it is used extensivelyon floors and walls as revetmentand at Vasilike structurallyas an outer cement solidifying the interiors of the rubblewalls.39In the EM III/MM Ia phases stuccobecomesespeciallyfashionableand is used both as revetment for every interior architectural detail, including floors, walls, benches,stairs,and ceilings, and as a buildingmaterialformingbins, fixed hearths,and even walls.40It is at this time that stuccofirst appearsto have been used in tombs.It is found first at ChrysolakkosI, where it is used nearly as extensively as in domesticarchitecture,as a flooringin Rooms a, e, f, g, and k, as revetmentfor the capping stones of the west precinct wall, and as cementsolidifyingthe largely earth walls and benchesof the building. In other MM Ia tombsstuccowas employedwith considerablymorerestraint.It is used as revetment for the low bench along the south wall of Gournia I, concealingits haphazardconstruction, partly built and partly bedrock.It was also used in the South Building at Agia Triada as flooringin Rooms 5 and 9, the stuccoflooringin Room 5 consistingof three differentlayers abovean originalfloorof stone slabs, and in the House of the Dead at Mallia in Room III as flooringover earth and bedrockand as revetmenton the walls of the room. During this time, at the closeof the Prepalatialperio, white stuccoappearsto havebeen introducedand quicklybecomeas popularas red. It is still not the fine white plaster,consisting of practicallypure carbonateof lime, that seemsto havebeen introducedat the time of the first palaces,but has a yellowish hue.41Nevertheless,its introductionis probablydue to the same factorthat led to the perfectionof a brilliantwhite plasterin the Protopalatialperiod, namelythe desireto providea surfacesuitablefor decorativetreatment.The firstattemptsat such decorativetreatmentare well illustratedin the House of the Dead at Mallia: along the base of the west wall of Room III a thin band of red was paintedagainstthe yellowish white ground.It is a type of simple geometricdecorationthat enjoysa long vogue at Mallia and is 37

Compare the beam sockets in the rubble walls at Phaistos, Rooms XXVII, IL, L, LI, LIV (Zois,

'ApX'EP 1965, pp. 40-46, pls. 6, 7).

38 See the evidence from Phaistos, where pavement slabs from a second-storylevel were uncoveredwith stucco still adhering to their edges: D. Levi, "Attivitadella Scuola ArcheologicaItaliana di Atene nell'anno 1954,"BdA 1955 (pp. 141-164), pp. 143-144, fig. 4; Zois, 'ApX'E4 1965, pl. 7. 39 D. Levi, "L'archivodi cretule a Festos,"ASAtene,n.s. 19-20, 1957-1958 (pp. 7-192), p. 169, fig. 349; Seager, VasilikeI, p. 209; as revetmentat Knossos(Evans, PM I, p. 533, note 3) and Myrtos (Warren,Myrtos, pp. 305-310). 40 Especially at Mallia; see Demargne and Gallet de Santerre,Mallia, Maisons I, p. 28, note 2. 41 Evans, PM I, pp. 530-533.

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paralleled by what is probably a contemporarystucco fragment from House A at Mallia consistingof a red band, ca. 0.03 m. wide, between blue panels.42Wall decorationat Mallia neverseemsto have reachedthe stage of developmentachievedat Phaistosand Knossos,and during the Protopalatialperiod it may have consisted mainly of contrastingcolors:floors white or blue, walls white, and ceilingsred.43Suchmodestcolorcontrastsalso appearto have been used to decoratethe interiorsof severalroomsat ChrysolakkosII.44 More sophisticatedformsof wall decorationare found in the Neopalatial periodat ArchanesB and 3 and in the Temple Tomb. In each examplethe walls of the upperroomswere adornedwith frescosin rich colors.The most decorativefragments,found in the pillar crypt of Archanes B but apparentlyfallen from the upper columnarroom, includednaturalistic designs. Sakellarakishas reportedfragmentswith white stones on red ground and others with dark papyruslikeleaves on orange groundthat he believesto have belongedto a larger compositionwith human figures. Fragments of a fresco were also preservedin the upper columnarroomof the Temple Tomb, where plaster painteda Venetian red was still adhering to the base of the walls, and Evans'conjecturethat "afriezeof morevariedcharacter"ran abovethis level does not seem far fetchedin the light of the evidencefromArchanes.45 PILLARS While not found in the tombsat Mochlos or Gournia,pillars are presentat four of the other sites: Myrtos, Pyrgos, ArchanesB, Agia Triada 5, and the Temple Tomb. They are found in at least one tholos annex, at Apesokari,which is contemporarywith the earlier of these and in two late chambertombs.46With the exceptionof the rock-cutpillars of the chamber tombs,the tombpillars are constructedin the same manneras those in domesticarchitecture and appearto have servedthe same structuralfunction:as supportsfor ceiling beamsand, in some cases,for columnsin upper floors.47Most of the pillars, includingthose at ArchanesB, Apesokari, and Agia Triada 5, are constructedof several stackedblocks, roughly shaped, alternatingwith thin layers of earth and small stones. Of these examples only the pillar at Archanesis completelypreserved,consistingof six such blocks and standingto a height of ca. 1.60 m. The Myrtos pillar, which is preservedonly at the base, is constructedsomewhat morecrudely,of rough rubblemasonryand probablywith mud brickor morerubbleabove. Only the pillars of the Temple Tomb use true ashlar construction:in the outer pillar crypt, each is constructedof five carefullycut blocks,with only a minimumof clay bonding,standing about two meters high, while in the inner sepulchral chamberthe pillar consists of a 42

Demargne and Gallet de Santerre,Mallia, Maisons I, p. 12; for Neopalatial frescosat Mallia, see 0. Peexecutees a Mallia, exploration des maisons et quartier d'habitation (1963-1966), troisieme Fouilles lon, fascicule (Etudes cretoisesXVI), Paris 1970, pp. 110-111. 43 Effenterre,Mallia, NecropolesII, p. 87, note 2. 44 Demargne,Mallia, NecropolesI, pp. 31, 37. 45 Evans, PM IV, pp. 967-968. 46 ApesokariI (MM I), Schorgendorfer, ForschungenaufKreta,pp. 18-19, pl. 18;the Tomb of the Double Axes (LM II), Evans, Archaeologia65, 1913-1914, p. 36, fig. 49; and Katsamba H (LM IIIa), Alexiou, Karoraji7ra,p. 26, fig. 27. 47 For their function in domesticarchitecture,see Evans, PM II, p. 820 and Platon, KplrXpov 8, 1954, p. 464; they argue that the small size of most crypts rendersthe pillars unnecessarysimply to supportceiling beams.

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monolithicgypsum slab ca. 1.80 m. high. The topmostblocksof the pillars in the outer pillar cryptare cut with dowel holes, and the pillars are alignedwith beam socketsin the north and south walls, so that it is clear that they supportedlarge cross beams in the floor above. The discoveryof a gypsumcolumnbase belongingto this floorindicatesthat the pillars also supportedwooden columnsin the room above. At ArchanesB, where the pillar rises to the level of the second-storyfloor, at Myrtos, where a large numberof vases were fallen from the floorabove,and at Agia Triada 5, where an adjacentU-shapedstaircaseappearsto have led to a room above the crypt, it is clear that the pillars also helped supporta second-story floor.48Like the pillars in the Temple Tomb they may also have been designedto support in as Platon has argued in the case of the domesticcrypts, columns in the upper rooms snce, the rooms could be spanned easily without the aid of additional floor supports at their centers.In this respectit may be significantthat each of the upper-storyroomsappearsfrom the material fallen below to have accommodateda shrine, and although no other column bases are preservedthese shrines may well have been columnar shrines like that in the upper floor of the Temple Tomb. The tombpillars and their cryptsshare a numberof additionalfeaturesthat relatethem directlyto the pillar cryptsof Neopalatial domesticarchitecture.The tombcryptstend to be small in size. Those at ArchanesB and Apesokariare each ca. 3.50 m. square,49and while these dimensionsare never exactly repeatedin the later crypts,they are approachedin the inner sepulchralchamberof the Temple Tomb, which is ca. 3.80 m. square, in the cryptof the SoutheastHouse at Knossos,which is ca. 3.15 by 3.65 m., and in severalother domestic crypts. The tomb crypts never stand alone but are always surroundedby three or more relatedrooms.Those at ArchanesB and Apesokariare again especiallysimilar and include in each case a forehall, a corridorto one side of the crypt, and an antechamber(in one case leading to the tholos, in the other to the roomabovethe crypt). Platon has notedthat domestic crypts are also surroundedby importantsubsidiaryrooms, which he has identifiedas forehall,treasuryor storeroom,sacristy,and upper columnarroom.In two cases,at Myrtos, Pyrgos and ArchanesB, the crypts are also sunk in the ground,below the floor level of the surroundingrooms, and this is still another characteristicfeature of the domesticcrypts. The niches in the walls of the cryptsat ArchanesB and Apesokarialso have parallelsin the domesticcrypts,where they are thought to have servedas cupboards. The tomb crypt that sharesthe greatestnumberof featureswith domesticcrypts, however, is the inner sepulchralchamberof the Temple Tomb. The pillar in this room stands ca. 1.80 m. high, a standardheight in Neopalatialpillar crypts.Its bevelededgesrecallthose of the pillars in the north pillar crypt of Knossos;50the basin in which it standsrecallsthose around the bases of several pillars that Platon has identifiedas impluvia for libations;the cist in the floorto one side of the room is like those foundin many of the subsidiaryroomsof the domesticcrypts;and the blue kyanosused to paint the ceiling is used for the pillar itself 48 The outer of the doublewalls of ApesokariI could also have supporteda second-storywall of mud brick, with the floor beams resting on the inner sectionof the walls and the interiorpartitionwalls. 49 For the domestic cryptsand their characteristicfeatures,see Platon, KprrXpov 8, 1954, pp. 463-471 and Gesell, Town, Palace and House Cult, pp. 26-29. 50 Evans, PM I, p. 401.

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in the crypt of Zakros House A.51 Only the doubleaxes that one might expect incisedon the pillar are missing.52 FIXED ALTARS An altar can be securelyidentifiedby the finds associatedwith it, the remainsof sacrificesor votive offerings, but when such finds are lacking an altar may still be identifiedwith some assuranceby its form and position.53Some nine fixed altars have been identifiedat seven of the house tombs. In additionto those at Mochlos IV/V/VI and Gournia II, there are two examples at ChrysolakkosI, one in the Necropole des Pierres Meulieres, one at Myrtos, Pyrgos,one at PalaikastroVIII, and two at ChrysolakkosII. Only the altar at Mochlos with its fragmentarystone vases and that at Gournia with its conical-cupfragmentpreserveany tracesof associatedvotiveofferings.Five of the altars are identifiedon the basis of their form and position,and two, no longer in situ, on the basis of their form alone. In additionto these altars, four fixed altars have been identifiedby their excavatorsat the tholostombsat Apesokari, Kamilari,and Agia Kyriaki.54Those at Apesokariand Kamilariare especiallyimportant, for they are securelyidentifiedon the basis of associatedvotiveofferings,both stoneand clay vases, and demonstratethat fixed altars shouldnot be unexpectedin funerarycontexts. Two types of fixed altars are represented:seven built altars of stone or stucco and six stone offering tables or kernoi. In four cases, at ChrysolakkosI and II, Gournia, and Myrtos, the two types are associatedin a single complex, and while the built altars sometimes stand alone, no kernosfound in situ at any of the tombs stood apart from a built altar. This sort of compoundaltar, consistingof a raisedplatformandjuxtaposedofferingreceptacle,is a distincttype of altar complexthat persistsin Crete to the very end of the BronzeAge. The most famous example, of course,is the complexwith bench and fixed kernosthat standsby the south entranceto the centralcourtof the palace at Mallia. It is unusual in that it belongs to the Neopalatial period, a time when the kernos has usually been replacedby a portable tripod altar. But the type is so commonthat it may be safely identifiedas an altar complex even when the offerings no longer remain. The locationof the altars is also helpful in their identification.In the majorityof cases, at Mochlos, ChrysolakkosI, Myrtos, Gournia II, PalaikastroVIII, as well as Agia Kyriaki,Apesokari,and Kamilari,the altar standsoutside the tomb at or near its entrance.Only two examples, those at ChrysolakkosII and Apesokari, are locatedinside the tomb,but again probablyat or near the entrance.The locationat entrancesor along passagesof accessis significantand, as FernandChapouthierobserved,is also characteristicof other types of shrines, particularlyin the palaces.55 The built altars are constructedin a variety of fashions. Some are neatly constructedin rubblewith earth mortar,often pavedwith flat slabs on top; some consistof flagstones,often 51 Hogarth (footnote 195 above, p. 195), p. 130, Room 4; blue is also used for the ceiling of Katsamba Tomb H (Alexiou, Karo-ra,ra, pp. 35-36). 52 These are cut on the walls of the outer pillar crypt. 53 For a discussionof the problem,see Nilsson, MMR2, pp. 117-119. 54 Schorgendorfer,Forschungenauf Kreta, pp. 19-21, pls. 16, 17:4; Levi, ASAtene 39-40, 1961-1962, pp. 80-83, fig. 106; Blackmanand Branigan,BSA 77, 1982, pp. 9-10, 54, fig. 15. 55 Chapouthier,BCH 52, 1928, pp. 320-322; Pelon, Mallia, Maisons III, p. 146.

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roughlyjoined, without any great height; others are basically rock altars and only partly masonry,if at all; and those in a fourthgroup are built of stucco,often stuccorevetmentover earth or clay. They vary in height, dependingon the method of construction,from only a few centimetersto nearly a meter;most approachone meter square. There does not seem to be any chronologicalsignificancein the differentbuilding techniques,and each type has a good parallel in a non-funerary,if not always contemporary,context. The Mochlos altar is the earliest;it is also the largestand most carefullybuilt. While it has contemporaryparallels in the settlement at Myrtos and probably outside the tholos tomb at Agia Kyriaki, its closest parallel in form is probablythe MM Ia altar in the peak sanctuary on Mount Juktas. Both structuresare built in rubble, paved on top with flat slabs, and providedwith steps. The Juktas altar, measuringca. 4.70 m. in length, is much largerbut aboutthe same height as the Mochlos altar. Its excavatornotesthat it "constitutes the crown of the terraces(in the sanctuary),and marksthe end of the ascendingceremonial way,"56and in this regardit is also similar to the Mochlos altar that standsat the end of the West Terrace, which was probably also used for ceremonialprocessions.The large flat flagstonenoted outside the entranceto PalaikastroVIII may also be identifiedas an altar, although its identificationis the most dubious of all, partly because so little information about it is available. It has good parallels, however, in the three flagstone altars found outside the tholos tombs at Agia Kyriaki and Kamilari and just inside the entrance at Apesokari,the last two with offeringsor cult statue still in place. The EM II altar at Myrtos with its fallen cult idol also preservesa good parallel for this type, for although it was describedas a "benchaltar"by its excavator,the three or four flat stones from which it was built were not built upon and have little height.57The rock altar at Gournia II also has a good parallel at Apesokari in the rock altar located outside the tomb; it is even about the same size as the Gournia altar. They are built in a similar fashion and differ from other built altars in being constructedprimarilyof one or two large boulderswith only a subsidiary wall of rubble. Rock altars have been reportedin the caves at Psychroand Skoteino,58 but the best parallel for the rockaltars of Gournia II and Apesokariis that picturedin relief on a rhyton fragment from Knossos.59The scene shows a man placing an offering in a basketon a rockaltar in frontof a peak sanctuary.Like those at Gourniaand Apesokari,the picturedaltar stands in the open air to one side of the entranceto the sanctuaryand is built of a large boulderwith smaller stones at the base. While the rhyton was manufacturedin the Neopalatial period, peak sanctuarieswere foundedat the end of the Prepalatialperiod, and the altar depicted,if real, could even be contemporarywith the tomb altars. The stuccoaltars of ChrysolakkosI and II are the productof the taste for stuccorevetment that becamefashionableat Mallia at the end of the Prepalatialperiod and continued throughoutthe Protopalatialperiod, resulting in the stuccoingof floors,walls, and ceilings as well as benchesand altars. The altars of ChrysolakkosI should probablybe classedwith Karetsou, "The Peak Sanctuaryof Mount Juktas," in Sanctuariesand Cults in the Aegean Bronze R. Age, Hagg and N. Marinatos, edd., Stockholm1981 (pp. 137-153), p. 141, figs. 5, 11. 57 Warren, Myrtos, p. 86, pl. 28:A. 58 P. Faure, Fonctionsdes cavernescretoises,Paris 1964, pp. 152, 164. 59S. Alexiou, ?Nea 7raparoraos Aarpelavs erl .lVCOKOV avayXvXov ayyEiov>, KpqrXpov 13, 1959 (pp. 346-352), pp. 350-351, pis. AA, AE. 56 A.

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the bench altars that later becomeso popular in the palace shrines;they are about the ousame the as of bench altars and are also built walls.60 Of bench a need course, height many against not necessarilyserveas an altar, and most of the benchesin ChrysolakkosI, like those in the South Building at Agia Triada, servedas simple seats for people gatheredin the buildings for funerary ceremonies. On the other hand, an ordinary bench becomes an altar when votiveofferingsare placedon top of it or an offeringreceptacleis placedin frontof it. Structure b at ChrysolakkosI and the bench at Myrtos, Pyrgos, may well have served as altars because of the kernoi located near by; similar arrangementswith stuccoedand unstuccoed benches and juxtaposed offering receptacles are found in Prepalatial and Protopalatial shrines at Gournia, Phaistos, and Mallia.61In addition, a bench might be identifiedas an altar on occasionbecauseof specialdecorativefeatures.The raisedmoldingand the rounded cornerof Structureb have close parallelswith the portableofferingtables of the period.62In addition,the sandstonerevetmentsof this structureand that standingat the entranceto the west terrace seem to be a feature of other stucco altars at Mallia, such as that in the early sanctuarysouthwest of the palace encasedon two sides with sandstoneblocks topped with single horns of consecration.63The stucco altar of ChrysolakkosII is unique. A stone libation table with similar serratededges from Palaikastro,belongingto the Neopalatial period, is still the best parallel for the shape.64Ajar locatedin the contemporarysanctuarywest of the palace at Mallia is thought to have serveda similar function.65Locatedat the entrance to the sanctuaryroomand buried in the floor up to its handles,it appearedto have an openbase and wass identifiedas a libationjar at would permit liquid offeringsto flow ing at thethe into the ground. The fixed stone offering table or kernos has by far the most parallels in non-funerary settings and in the Prepalatialand Protopalatialperiods is a ubiquitousfeatureof Minoan civilization.66Well over a hundredexamples may be countedat the settlementsof Myrtos, Vasilike, Gournia, Mochlos, Mallia, Knossos, and Phaistos; seven have been noted above with the tombs at Gournia, Myrtos, Pyrgos, Chrysolakkos,and the Necropolesdes Pierres Meulieres; and two more have been uncoveredat the peak sanctuary on top of Mount Juktas. The one associatedwith the hollow altar at ChrysolakkosII is plaster;all the rest consist of a stone slab, irregular,rectangular,or roundedin shape, usually flat. The type of stone varies widely, but at Mallia, Mochlos, and Gournia sideropetrawas favored. The upper surface, usually polished or worn smooth, is markedwith a series of small circular 60

For these see Banti, ASAtene3-5, 1941-1943, pp. 40-50. Soles, AJA 83, 1979, pp. 152-154, ills. 1, 2; Poursat, BCH 90, 1966, pp. 514-551, fig. 3; L. Pernier,II palazzo minoico di Festos I, Rome 1935, pp. 195-246; Festos II, p. 572; D. Levi, "Attivitadella Scuola ArcheologicaItaliana di Atene nell'anno 1955,"BdA 1956 (pp. 238-270), pp. 243-253, figs. 2, 6, 15. 62 For these see pp. 234-235 below. 63 A. Dessenne in G. Daux, "Chroniquedes fouilles et decouvertesarcheologiquesen Grece en 1956. Mallia,"BCH 81, 1957 (pp. 687-705), p. 695, figs. 15, 18;see also the Neopalatial altar at Zakros(Platon, Zakros [footnote195 above, p. 195], pp. 96-97). For a discussionof altars at Mallia, see Pelon, Aegaeum2, 1988. 64 Bosanquetand Dawkins, PKU, pp. 138-139, fig. 119A, pl. XXXI:1. 65 Poursat, BCH 90, 1966, pp. 521, 537, figs. 3, 8, 9, 29. 66 For a bibliography,see Soles, AJA 83, 1979, p. 154, note 30; and see the examplescitedby Gesell (Town, Palace and House Cult, p. 162 [index])and S. Hood ("Gamesat Knossos?"in Aux originesde I'Hellenisme,la Creteet la Grece,Hommagea Henri van Effenterre,Paris 1984, pp. 39-41). 61

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depressions.They may be shallow hollows cut in the stone or depressionsof irregularshape and often insignificantdepth formedby the repeatedblows of a hammerstone.They vary in size, with diametersranging from as little as half a centimeterto as much as eight centimeters,and occasionallyone, either inside the ring or set to one side of it, is markedout from the rest by its greatersize and more carefulworking. In one case the hollows are cut so close to each otheras to forma continuousgroove,and in a few othersa single grooveis employed in place of hollows. In the majorityof cases the hollows are placed in a circular or oval ring, but many variationsexist. Occasionallythe line of hollows follows the edge of the stone slab, and the ring takes on the irregularoutline of the stone itself. Often the line of hollows is thee product of the creator'simagination:it may be square, horseshoe-shaped,foot-shaped,oblong, or crescent-shaped.In several,an extra line of hollows is addedto the basic design,either down the center of a circle or square, dividing it into two parts, or as an inner circle within the outer circle or an inner square within the outer square. In others,two rings are placed side by side or sometimesoverlap,forminginterlockingrings. The numberof hollows in the ring varies, with as few recordedas nine or as many as one hundredin cases where the inside of the patternis filled with hollows. Both 12 and 13 are recurringnumbersin a large percentage of them, especiallyat Phaistos,and may be intentional.The dimensionsof the ring vary in proportionto the number of hollows, with some as small as 0.10 m. in diameter and others up to nine times as large. In many of the stones a cavity is locatedinside the ring of hollows. It is usually larger than any of the hollows, measuringfrom 0.06 to 0.40 m. in diameter,and like the ring itself may be round,oval, square,oblong,or crescent-shaped.Occasionally,only the centralcavity is cut, and the surroundinghollows are omittedaltogether.In a few, the cavityis clearlythe result of repeatedgrindingor pounding,and at least two of the kernoi from Myrtos, found with numerous stone pounders and grinding stones, should be identified as grinding stones.67Others of the stones may have had the same primaryfunction. Most remarkableis the uniformityin the placementof these slabs, whatevertheir context. They are usually imbeddedin pavements,either flush or projectingslightly above,and are only rarely set alone as at Gournia II. The position of the slabs in nearly every case is either at an entranceto a room or building or along a passage or street. This categoryincludesthose stonesfoundin the west courtsof Vasilike, Phaistos,and Mallia, which may be consideredcourts of access,and it also includesthose on the steps of the "theatralareas"at Knossosand Phaistos, which should be consideredmonumentalentrancesto the early palaces at these sites. The identificationof these stonesas altars or offeringreceptacleshas long been debated, but the find of two stonesin a clear cult contextat the peak sanctuaryon Mount Juktas, one built into the side of the steppedaltar, the other depositedwith a cache of double axes in a pit a short distancesouth of the altar,68and the examples from tombs, sometimesfound in juxtapositionwith built altars, provideample evidencefor the ritual use of these stones and Warren, Myrtos, p. 231, nos. 167 and 169, pi. 78. Karetsou (footnote 56 above, p. 220), pp. 145-146, fig. 13; and Karetsou, HpaKrLKa 1974, p. 233, 173:B. pi. 67

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should put an end to the debate over their identification.Chapouthierfirst identifiedthem as kernoi,69and his comparisonof the stones with their circularpatternsof shallow hollows to terracottaring vases, to circles of conical cups, and to stone vases of similar shape is still valid. The stones were designedto serve as receptaclesfor offerings,if only token offerings. The identificationas grinding stones of some of the earliest examples, which Warren has describedas the prototypes,suggests that the offeringswere food offerings, perhaps offerings of the very grain that had been groundon the stone. The consistencyof their locationat entrancesand along passages may also indicate, as Chapouthiersuggested,that the offerings were apotropaicin nature. PRECINCT WALLS AND PAVEMENTS Areas outside tombs are often delineated by walls or pavements, and are reserved in this way for some special function. Such areas have been identified at Mochlos III and IV/V/VI, ChrysolakkosI, Myrtos, Pyrgos, Archanes6 and B in the Prepalatialperiod, at ChrysolakkosII in the Old Palace period, and at the Temple Tomb, Agia Triada 5, and Archanes4 in the New Palace period. They are also commonin the Prepalatial period at the tholos tombs in southern Crete and have been identifiedat Agia Triada, Agia Kyriaki, Koumasa,Platanos,ApesokariII, and Kamilari.70 In the case of the house tombs, most of these areas are small, carefully defined, and associatedwith one particular tomb. In the earlier examples the areas are bounded and partly definedby independentwalls. They might be built retaining walls like those at Archanes B and Myrtos, Pyrgos, in which case they rise well overtwo metersin height, or they might be mud brickon a stone socle, like those at Mochlos III, ChrysolakkosI, and many of the tholos tombs, in which case they may have been considerably lower. At Mochlos IV/V/VI the solid rock cliff that towers above the tomb on the east serves a similar function. Seldom continuous, these early walls enclose a given area as a result either of the topography, which forms natural boundaries where the wall leaves off, or of being constructedto one side of an existing wall that delimits the space on the other side. At Mochlos or Myrtos a rectangulararea is createdby the cliff or wall that rises on one side and the terrain that falls away steeply on the other; at ChrysolakkosI and Archanes B, areas are enclosed by walls that flank the existing tomb walls. While the open areas at these early tombs are an integral part of the tomb, they are not yet a structuralpart. Only in the Old and New Palace periods are they integratedstructurallyin such a way that the tomb and open area form a single architecturalunit. Porticos are used in each case to achieve this integration,and at the Temple Tomb and apparentlyAgia Triada 5 the side walls of the tomb are extendedbeforethe tomb to createsmall courts.These open areas are often paved. At ChrysolakkosI and Archanes6 irregularlimestoneslabs are used. At Myrtos sandstone predominates,and at Mochlos IV/V/VI differentcolors and types of stone are combined, apparently intentionally, to create a decorativemosaic. They are early examples of the 69

Chapouthier,BCH 52, 1928, pp. 292-323; see also Pelon, Aegaeum2, 1988, pp. 42-43. Laviosa, ASAtene31-32, 1969-1970, pp. 414-415; Blackmanand Branigan,BSA 77, 1982, pp. 11, 54, fig. 15; Xanthoudides, VTM, pp. 34, 90; Davaras, AcAr 19, 1964, p. 441; Levi, ASAtene23-24, 1961-1962, p. 18, fig. 16; and for a discussionof tholos courts, see Branigan, Tombsof Mesara, pp. 132-136. 70

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Minoan interestin decorativefloor patternsthat was to lead to many variationsin the New Palace period,includingthe limestoneand schist slabs set off with red plasterat the Temple Tomb. In everycase these areas appear to have stoodat the entrancesto tombsor at the end of processionalways. Open areas, often pavedand boundedby precinctwalls, are of coursea commonfeature of Minoan architecture,particularlyin the New Palace period, when they are thought to have servedboth a practicalfunctionaccommodatingdaily activitiesand a ceremonialfunction for games, dances,and other spectacles.71They are known fromother contextsas early as the EM II phase at Vasilike, where the same mosaic effect of differentlycoloredstones may be observed,72and in the MM Ia phase at Knossos, Phaistos, and numerous peak sanctuaries.The courts at Vasilike and Phaistos with their numerous fixed kernoi,73the West Court at Knossoswith its two fixed altars, and the peak sanctuarieswith their openair altars and tripartiteshrines are all sacredareas, and the walls that surroundthem are temenoswalls. The areas in frontof the tombsmust also have been regardedas sacredareas reservedfor ceremonieslinked to funeraryrite. Evans suggestedthat the paved courtof the Temple Tomb servedvarious funeraryrituals, including ring dances and funerarygames, and that the roof terracesto the east and west of the court servedas stands for spectators.74 The areas in frontof othertombsmay have servedsimilar functions,but the areas at Mochlos, Myrtos, Pyrgos, and ArchanesB, each providedwith a paved avenueof approach,suggest that they also served as processionalareas. There is a striking similarity between the entry to Mochlos IV/V/VI with its ascending ramp, raised terrace for accommodating spectators,and corner stand and the Theatral Area at Knossoswhere the same three elements, ascendingramp, flanking stand, and corner bastion, set in the same relative positions, are reproducedon a palatial scale. The similarityin form is explainedby a similarity in function,and it is clear that Evans regardedthe Theatral Area at Knossosnot only as an area for dances and games but also as a processionalway that provideda monumentaland ceremonialentranceto the palace. The huge deposit of pottery uncoveredoutside Archanes B providesa glimpse of the kinds of offerings and libations that were made before the tombsat the end of these processions. ORIGINS OF THE HOUSE TOMB To some extent the origin of the house tomb is to be explained by its very imitation of domesticarchitecture.For even beforethe appearanceof the firsttombsin the EM II phase, it had long been the customof the Minoans to bury their dead in sheltersresemblingthose in which they lived. Throughout most of the Neolithic period, caves were a standardform of habitation, and both caves and rock shelters were used for burials. Thus Pendlebury 71

Graham,Palaces of Crete,pp. 73-83.

72S. Sinos, "Eine Untersuchung der sogennantenPalastanlagevon Vasilike,"AA 1970 (pp. 1-24), p. 5,

fig. 2. 73 For the MM Ia courtat Phaistos,see S. Indelicato,"Lapiazza pubblicae il palazzo nella Creta minoica," Annali della ScuolaNormale Superioredi Pisa 12, 1982 (pp. 445-467), pp. 450-467, pl. VI. 74Evans, PM IV, 1000-1001.

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was able to note that in the Lasithi Plain the Neolithic inhabitantsof the Trapeza Cave employed"smallerversionsof their dwelling place for the abodeof the dead,"75in this case the SkaphidiaCave and near-by rock shelters. In one sense the built house tomb is simply a logical extensionof this custom,and when Minoans began to abandoncavesin favorof built houses, they also realizedthe possibilityof buryingtheir dead in built, houselikestructures. The concept of burial in a familiar everyday setting remained unchanged. The transition

between these two types of tombsis illustratedby Tombs VII and I at Mochlos, which are a combinationof the two, consistingof rock shelter or cave in the rear and built house with doorwayin the front. They represent a primitive and transitional type of house like the Magasa rock-shelterhouse, but they also demonstratethe way in which the house tomb, if not the house itself, may have evolvedfrom cave or rock shelter. The transition from one to the other was not made immediately,however. There appears to have been a considerablegap between the widespreadadoptionof built houses in the Final Neolithic and EM I phases and the building of the first house tombsin the EM II phase. This gap might be explained by the continuingoccupationof cavesand the lingering conservatismof burial customs,or it might be that much earlier house tombs, perhaps contemporarywith the earliest tholoi, were located in and around Knossos,where the type is thought to have originated, although the evidence is lacking. These explanations are not wholly satisfactory,however,since both ignorethe continuinguse of cavesand rockshelters for burials alongside the new, built tombs, and both overlookthe momentouscultural and political developmentsof Early BronzeAge Crete. Even if they explain the gap betweenthe adoption of the built house and the introductionof the house tomb, they shed no further light on the origins of the house tomb itself. Ultimately the explanationfor the house tomb should probably be sought in the fundamental changes that were occurring in Minoan society at the time the new type of tomb appeared.At the beginning of the EM II phase, if not before,Minoan societywas being organizedalong increasinglyhierarchicallines.76The largely egalitarianand segmentalsociety of Late Neolithic and EM I Crete, which did not make a distinctionbetween the burials of differentindividualsand thereforehad no need of built tombs, was being replacedby a more complex society,one that made such distinctions and requiredbuilt tombs for its most highly rankedindividuals. 75 76

Pendleburyet al., II, p. 15. Whitelaw, Minoan Society,pp. 337-340; Soles, Problemsin GreekPrehistory,pp. 49-61.

V OFFERINGS AND SHRINES Two kinds of offerings may be distinguishedin the tombs:funeraryofferingsthat accompany the dead;and offeringsof a generally religious nature that may or may not be funerary. Among the funeraryofferings are the numerousobjectsdepositedwith the dead at the time of initial burial, some of which were afterwardsallowed to collect in the tombs or in relatedrooms.Most numerousare the secularobjectsused in daily life, such as the majority of vases depositedin the tombsor the personaleffectsdepositedwith their owners,including weapons, tools, jewelry, seals, and amulets. Although most of the tombs were plundered, there seems to have been a great concentrationof such personalwealth in the house tombs, especially in contrastto the scarcityof effects depositedin other types of graves, and this concentrationis a good indicationthat many of the tombs were used for elite burials. The effectsreportedfrom the Gournia house tombs and from the large tombs on the West Terrace at Mochlos are typical and need no furtherreview here.1It should be noted, however, that such articlesmay be depositedin the tombs for one of two reasons:either becauseof an aversiontowardstheir furtheruse by the living (in which case their presenceneed not indicate a belief in an afterlife),or becausethey are thoughtto be neededby the dead in orderto continuean existencein the afterlife,whether in the tomb or in anotherworld. In this case, amulets that protectedthe possessor in life are providedto protect him in death; tools of one's trade are providedthat the dead may continue his earthly pursuits;weapons may be depositedwith a warrior or hunter so that he may continue to fight; and symbols of rank might be provideda chief or king so that he may rule forever.Thus, objectsof everydaylife would acquirea funeraryfunctionwhich they did not originallypossess. RITUAL OFFERINGS Some articlesthat are not part of the assemblageof everydayobjectsdepositedwith the dead were specially designed for ritual use, and it is their presencein the tombs, as well as the funerary practicesdiscussedin the next chapter, that prove the existence of a belief in an afterlife.A few objectsappearto have been manufacturedsolely for funeraryuse, primarily to hold offeringsto the dead;others serveda religious functionoutside the tombs and were designedto be used as ritual offeringsor ritual implementsin the generalcult. Amongthose designedfor funeraryuse are certain stone and clay vases that held offeringsor constituted offerings in themselves.They include the numerous stone vases of varying shapes (bird'snest bowls, alabastra,cups with straightor hook handles, cylindricalor straight-sidedjars, small pots) that are found predominantlyin tomb contextsor are thought to be too small to have servedany practicalfunctionin everydaylife.2Numerous clay vases, mostlyjugs, such 1Some, identifiableas prestige goods or symbols of authority, are discussedin Chap. VI, pp. 257-258; comparethose from the Mesara discussedby Branigan, TombsofMesara, pp. 56-85. 2 Warren, MSV, p. 166.

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as those fromthe lpbo XAaKKOSat Gournes,are also thoughtto have been speciallymanufactured for the dead,3and the fruitstandsdiscussedin ChapterI (pp. 25-26), found mainly in funerary contexts, may also have been designed for use in tombs. Usually these vases are placed directlywith the dead inside the tombs, but occasionallythey are placed outside the walls of the tombs, as they are at Agios Georgios, ArchanesB, Gournia I, and the Mallia Western Ossuary, and the tholos tombs Apesokari I and Vorou A. Many are thought to have containedofferingsof food to sustain the dead in the afterlife,and severalfrom Lendos are reportedto have held remains of animal bones, olive pits, and shells.4Talismans, especially those inscribedwith the "libationformula"that come mainly from tombs (including three fromArchanes6), may have been used in the same way, and it has been suggestedthat they concealmagicalspells also designedto sustainthe dead.5When offeringsof this sort are made to the dead at the time of burial, they are simply part of the funeraryritual.6If they are made long after burial has been completed,as the excavatorssuggestedat PalaikastroII and the Temple Tomb, they may indicate that the dead were worshipped at their tombs. Many excavatorshave concludedthat this was the case, and they have pointedto the small MM III modelfrom Kamilari,which shows offeringsof food and drinkto the deceased,and to the LM III painted sarcophagusfrom Agia Triada as evidencefor a cult of the dead.7 The evidenceis far from conclusive,however,as the discussionbelow and the descriptionof burial proceduresin Chapter VI will show, and both the Kamilari model and the Agia Triada sarcophagusallow differentinterpretations. Among the objectsfrom the tombs that were used as ritual offeringsin the general cult are certain vases and figurines commonlyused in cave and peak sanctuariesand domestic, particularlylater, palace shrines. It might be assumedthat they were used in the same way at the tombs s in these other contexts, especially when they appear in areas outside the tombs or in rooms that were not used for burials, but that they were also used with some special referenceto the dead. The crude conicalvessels that are found in the courtsof both ChrysolakkosI and II, for example, are also found in the MM II sanctuarywest of the palace at Mallia.8 They are generallythought to have been designedto hold small offerings of grain and were presumablyused in the same fashion at the sanctuaryand the Chrysolakkos tombs.The miniatureChamaizijugs, which are found in the tombsat Archanes,Chrysolakkos,Gournes, Palaikastro,and the Necropoledes Pierres Meulieres, are also found in numerous domesticcult contexts, sometimes inscribed ss id with wh hieroglyphics, , and are thought to have been used for offeringsof perfumesor preciousoils in the general cult.9Miniature 96; Zois, IIpo,8A7ara, p. 23. Daux, "Chroniquedes fouilles et decouvertesarcheologiquesen Grece en 1959, Crete,"BCH 84, 1960 (pp. 819-853), p. 844. 5 E. Grumach, "The Minoan Libation Formula-Again," Kadmos7, 1968, pp. 7-26. 6 For a discussionof funeraryritual, see Chap. VI, pp. 247-251. 7 Levi, ASAtene23-24, 1961-1962, pp. 122-148; Pini, Minoischen Graberkunde,pp. 64-65; Hood, The Minoans, pp. 139, 232; Long, The Ayia TriadhaSarcophagus,pp. 45-46; Nilsson, MMR2, pp. 433-443. 8 Poursat, BCH 90, 1966, p. 535, fig. 24. 9 A. Evans, ScriptaMinoa I, Oxford 1909, pp. 12-13; Demargneand Gallet de Santerre,Mallia, Maisons I, p. 14; G. Daux, "Chroniquedes fouilles et decouvertesarcheologiquesen Greceen 1957, Mallia,"BCH 82, 1958 (pp. 822-830), p. 828; Effenterre(under AT 5-5, p. 123), pp. 49-60. 3 Xanthoudides, VTM, p.

4 G.

228

OFFERINGS AND SHRINES

"milkjugs", which have been found outside Archanes 3 and on the roof of the Temple Tomb, also served in the cult. Suchjugs, usually no more than 0.08 m. high and provided with rudimentaryhandles at one side, are known from the Snake Room at Knossos,where Evans suggestedthat they were used for feedingsnakes in the cult of the Snake Goddess.'? The ritual offerings also include the various vases containingclay applique offerings, which are found at Chrysolakkos,Palaikastro VII, VIIbis, and Myrtos, Pyrgos, but the majority of which come from other cult contexts.11These vases are mostly open bowls, although a few other shapes, includingjars, cups, and kantharoi,are known, with one or more separatelymodeledclay offeringsattachedto the interiorof the vase. Except for a few late examples, nearly all date to the MM I/II phases, and they are thought to be an expressionof the naturalistictendenciesof the Kamaresstyle.'2 Small quadrupeds,often unidentifiable,are among the most commonofferings, accountingfor five of just over twenty cataloguedvases. Rows of small cellular holes, usually made in a continuousstrandof clay wrapped around the interior of the vase, are found in three examples. Flowers, "doughnuts",and breadlikeloaves are each found in two. A flying dove, numerousminiaturekantharoi, and the most famous, a herdsmanand his herd, are still other types of offerings,all unique, that are found inside these vases. The same type of vase is reportedfrom the peak sanctuariesat Gonies Melebiziou and Juktas,13and all the offerings are paralleled most closely by the votiveminiaturesfound in the peak sanctuaries,often in burnedstrata,where miniaturequadrupeds,pots, breadlikeloaves, doughnuts,and even doveswere dedicatedin the cult.14At a later time saluting votariesare introducedto the repertoireof vase offerings, and in one vase the Goddesswith Upraised Arms appears.15 Various anthropomorphic,zoomorphic,and bell figurinesfound in the tombs may also have servedas ritual offerings.The first type, the anthropomorphic,is the largest and most diversecategory.It may be dividedinto schematicfigurines,includingbothfolded-armfigurines and types indigenousto Crete, and naturalisticfigurinesthat makevaryingattemptsat realistic portrayal.With the exception of several from the Archanes tombs and one from Gournes, the schematic figurines are confinedto the Mesara. They have been much discussed,16 and their function is not clearly understood, although it seems likely that it was not

unlike that of the naturalisticfigurines.These, which are much more commonin the house tombs than the schematicfigurines, may be subdividedinto four distinct types on stylistic and chronologicalgrounds. The earliest and least naturalistic, appearing as early as the 10Evans, PM IV, pp. 139-140, 1014-1015; Gesell, Town, Palace and House Cult, p. 64. " For bibliography,see M. Amouretti,Fouilles executeesa Mallia, le centrepolitique, II, La cryptehypostyle (1957-1962) (Etudes cre'toisesXVIII), Paris 1970, p. 63; K. Foster, Minoan CeramicRelief (SIMA 64), Goteborg1982, pp. 80-107. 12

Zois, Kamares-Stil, pp. 262-263.

13

S.

14

J. Myres, "The Sanctuary-Siteof Petsofa,"BSA 9, 1902-1903 (pp. 356-387), pp. 376-380, pl. XIII.

KaL vr7f7lidEa KEVTpLK7jSKaL avaroX. KpjT7T9>, AcAT pp. 480-488), pp. 484-485, pl. 358:y; Karetsou, HpaKTLKa 1974, pp. 236-237.

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