Cretan Bronze Age Pithoi: Traditions and Trends in the Production and Consumption of Storage Containers in Bronze Age Crete (Prehistory Monographs) (Prehistory Monographs)

The pithos is one of the most distinctive utilitarian forms of the Cretan Bronze Age ceramic repertoire. Because of its use as a storage container, a pithos is the foremost parameter for the evaluation of the economic organization of palatial and domestic sectors of Cretan Bronze Age society. The pithoi as pottery and their significance for the understanding of the Cretan Bronze Age economy has been the focus of a research project carried out from 1989 to 1999. This book is not a pithos handbook in the narrow sense, although the study offers a typological division of the data with comments on chronology and spatial distribution. It integrates stylistic considerations with broad fabric and technological observations in order to understand the production and consumption of pithoi. The pithos is one of the most distinctive utilitarian forms of the Cretan Bronze Age ceramic repertoire. Because of its use as a storage container, a pithos is the foremost parameter for the evaluation of the economic organisation of palatial and domestic sectors of Cretan Bronze Age society. The pithoi as pottery and their significance for the understanding of the Cretan Bronze Age economy has been the focus of a research project carried out from 1989 to 1999. This book is not a pithos handbook in the narrow sense-although the study offers a typological division of the data with comments on chronology and spatial distribution-it integrates stylistic considerations with broad fabric and technological observations in order to understand the production and consumption of pithoi. List of Table and Figures 10 List of Plates 12 Acknowledgments 14 Abbreviations 16 Introduction 18 1 A Formal Typology for Pithoi 22 2 Decorative Patterns and Style 40 3 The Use of Pithoi 62 4 Traditions and Trends in the Production and Consumption of Pithoi 88 Bibliography 104 Index 120