Crete in Transition : Pottery Styles and Island History in the Archaic and Classical Periods

This work presents a classification system and absolute chronology for black-gloss wares from Crete, establishing the first local and regional ceramic sequences during the period from 600 to 400 B.C. This new chronological foundation of datable pottery from excavated sites fills in the so-called 6th-/5th-century gap and dispels the prevailing view that this was a period of decline in population and one of artistic and cultural impoverishment. The 6th century heralded important changes in Cretan society, reflected in the reorganization of burial grounds, new patterns of sanctuary dedication, and the circulation of exotica among the elite. The study reveals unsuspected connections with mainland Greece, especially Sparta and Athens. Historians and archaeologists will find the author’s conclusions, and their implications, to be of considerable interest. PREFACE 8 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 13 CONTENTS 16 ILLUSTRATIONS 18 TABLES 24 ABBREVIATIONS 26 CHAPTER 1: Archaic and Classical Crete: The "Period of Silence" 27 ARTISTIC AND DEMOGRAPHIC DECLINE 32 LITERARY TESTIMONY AND CRETAN ISOLATION 41 NEW DIRECTIONS 46 CHAPTER 2: Methods of Ceramic Analysis 49 CHRONOLOGY 54 PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION 57 LOCAL AND REGIONAL STYLES 63 CRETAN CERAMIC SEQUENCES 67 CHAPTER 3: Eleutherna 69 ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT 69 IMPORTED POTTERY 77 Corinthian 77 Lakonian 82 Argive(?) 88 Attic 89 Archaic 90 Fourth Century 98 Cretan Imports 103 Knossian 103 Kydonian(?) 104 Aphrati(?) 105 Gortynian 106 LOCAL POTTERY 112 High-Necked Cup 112 Late Archaic and Classical 121 Fourth-Century and Hellenistic 127 Low-Necked Cup 130 Deep Cup with Offset Rim 134 Small Hemispherical Cup 135 Krater 135 Tray, Bowl, and “Skyphos” 137 CHAPTER 4: Knossos 141 ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXT 142 Royal Road, Well H 142 Unexplored Mansion 142 Stratigraphical Museum Excavations 142 Sanctuary of Demeter 142 “Shrine of Glaukos” 144 Area of the Southwest Houses 144 KW (Wells) 145 Chronological Implications of Imports 145 ARCHAIC POTTERY 147 Imports and Imitations 148 Early Cup Bases 149 Deep Cup with Offset Rim 151 Small Hemispherical Cup 153 Cup Base with a Stepped-Profile Underfoot 154 Jug Base with a Ring Foot 158 LATE ARCHAIC AND CLASSICAL POTTERY 159 High-Necked Cup 159 Late Archaic 161 Classical 166 Fourth Century 171 Low-Necked Cup 173 Kantharos 178 Tulip Cup 181 “Bellied” Cup, “Skyphos,” Lekane, and Household Krater 184 “Bellied” Cup 184 “Skyphos” and Lekane 186 Household Krater 189 Jug Nozzles 189 CHAPTER 5: Lamps: Eleutherna and Knossos 191 ARCHAIC TYPES 192 CLASSICAL TYPES 197 FOURTH-CENTURY TYPES 200 CHAPTER 6: Gortyn 203 Archaic Cups 204 High-Necked Cups 206 Other Shapes 210 Imports and Exports 210 CHAPTER 7: Isthmus of Ierapytna 215 IERAPYTNA 215 Classical Lekythos 216 VROKASTRO AND GOURNIA 216 Archaic Cup Bases 218 Jug Bases 219 Imports 222 CHAPTER 8: Praisos and Its Territory 225 EARLY JUG 231 ARCHAIC JUGS AND HIGH-NECKED CUPS, SURVEY SITE 14 231 ARCHAIC AND CLASSICAL HIGH-NECKED CUPS 242 HELLENISTIC CUPS 243 ATTICIZING EXAMPLES 246 CHAPTER 9: Pottery Styles and Influences 247 LOCAL STYLES 247 REGIONAL STYLES 250 OVERSEAS INFLUENCE 254 CHAPTER 10: Internal Transformations 261 THE KNOSSIAN RECESSION 261 DEMOGRAPHIC VARIABLES 271 BURIALS 275 SANCTUARIES 283 CHAPTER 11: Overseas Trade and Cretan Society 299 OVERSEAS IMPORTS AT ELEUTHERNA 299 ECONOMIC MODELS 301 CRETE AS TRANSSHIPMENT POINT 305 CRETE AND PELOPONNESIAN TRADE 307 Kydonia and Peloponnesian Trade 317 OVERSEAS TRADE AND ORIENTALIZING SOCIETY 324 CHAPTER 12: Archaic Cretan Austerity and the Spartan Connection 335 FEASTING AND CRETAN INSTITUTIONS 337 THE ELUSIVE ANDREION 339 FROM INSTITUTIONS TO IDEOLOGY 346 CENTRAL CRETAN AUSTERITY 357 CENTRAL CRETE, SPARTA, AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL AUSTERITY 360 REFRENCES 373 INDEX 395