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The Late Minoan Goblet and Kylix1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 September 2013

Mervyn Popham
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Extract

While the development of the Mycenaean goblet and kylix has been studied in some detail, comparatively little work has been done on their Cretan equivalents. We are still, in the main, dependent on the remarks of Evans in Palace of Minos, who was mainly concerned with the L.M. II examples; on brief comparisons made by Furumark, who was basically considering Mycenaean pottery; and on some general observations by Mackeprang. Though in part this is due to neglect of L.M. III pottery as a whole, a main reason is no doubt the scarcity of intact decorated kylikes in Crete. Leaving aside the L.M. III goblet, only thirteen have been illustrated in publications and a similar number of other unpublished decorated kylikes are on display in the various museums of Crete. A list of the published vases and of others is given at the end of this article. Even allowing for unpublished kylikes not on display, this small number is unlikely to be an accident of excavation; it is evident that the decorated kylix was rare in Crete in L.M. III, though plain examples are much more common, particularly in central Crete. In the east of the Island, however, both kinds appear on present evidence to be exceptional.

Type
Research Article
Information
Annual of the British School at Athens , Volume 64 , November 1969 , pp. 299 - 304
Copyright
Copyright © The Council, British School at Athens 1969

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References

2 Evans, PM iv. 359–71; Furumark, MP 56–64; and Mackeprang, AJA xlii (1938) 546–51 (henceforth abbreviated to Mackeprang).

3 It seems as though the Minoans preferred the cup as their normal drinking vessel. The kylix was an introduction from outside which appears to have become most popular, undecorated, in the area which came most strongly under Mycenaean influence, particularly central Crete. But rarity is a comparative term and we do not have a good deposit of late L.M. IIIA and IIIB pottery to give a numerical criterion. Recent excavations at Chania by Mr. Y. Tzedakis have produced several kylikes, whole and fragmentary, including ones with palm, octopus, and floral decoration. (See Addendum.)

4 At Knossos they occur frequently in deposits belonging to the IIIA destruction; they occur also in the Zafer Papoura cemetery and are found in later occupation deposits, Hood, BSA liii–liv (1958–9) 188, fig. 5. In the surrounding area, they have been found for example at Kephala Chondrou (PAE 1957, pl. 70b), at Mallia (Maisons ii, pl. xlvi), and at Stamnioi Pediados (PAE 1952, 628, fig. 8). Few were found at Palaikastro; see Bosanquet's remarks in PKU 85 n. 3. They appear to have been more frequent in West Crete.

5 Cf. for example Marinatos and Hirmer, pl. 83, and Zervos, pls. 509 and 533.

6 See in particular Wace, BSA li (1956) 123–7. Evans (PM iv. 363–4) believed that the L.M. II goblet evolved from the L.M. I cup and Furumark (MP 59) agreed, going so far as to say that ‘neither their shape nor their decoration is of Mainland origin’ (OpArch vi. 257 n. 1).

7 Both kinds are illustrated in BSA xlvii (1952) 263, fig. 9.

8 No. 1 in the list.

9 Kephala Chondrou, PAE 1957, pl. 70b; Katsamba, PAE 1963, pl. 160 and BCH lxxxviii (1964) 846, fig. 4.

10 The one-handled kylix with tall stem was already in use in L.M. IIIA 1 and possibly even earlier; it occurs in Zafer Papoura tomb 66 in an L.M. IIIA 1 or early IIIA 2 context, Prehistoric Tombs fig. 118.

11 From the North-west House, in the Stratigraphical Museum, Knossos.

12 BSA li (1956) 72, fig. 3.

13 See Popham, Last Days of the Palace at Knossos 16–17 for discussion of the type and references.

14 From the Little Palace, in the Stratigraphical Museum, Knossos. One from Milatos seems similar in shape: Prehistoric Tombs 486, fig. 105C.

15 BSA lx (1965) 295, fig. 15 (22) and comments on p. 283.

16 e.g. BSA liii–liv (1958–9) fig. 5 (1 and 2), a deposit which is probably IIIB; Popham, Last Days of the Palace at Knossos 17, fig. 1a; Mallia Maisons ii, pi. xlvi, 4; Hazzidakis, Tylissos à l'époque minoenne 86, fig. 47 and ADelt iv (1918) fig. 19.

17 Nos. 24 and 25 in the list. The Kritsa tomb groups are unpublished but on exhibition in Ayios Nikolaos Museum. Reference to them will be found in Kritika Chronika 1951, 444–5 and Archaeological Reports (1951) 49.

18 Karphi, no. 26 in the list; Dreros, Nécropoles du Mirabello pls. xli and xv, D 30; Subminoan, Vrokastro fig. 48A.