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The Neolithic Pottery of Knossos

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 October 2013

A. Furness
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Extract

This article is the result of several months' study of the neolithic pottery of the Stratigraphical Museum at Knossos, which I undertook in the hope of adding more detail to the descriptions published by Sir Arthur Evans and Dr. D. Mackenzie. Evidence obtained from such a study is not, of course, so valuable as it would have been if these excavators themselves had had the opportunity to deal with their neolithic collections with the greater attention that they devoted, for obvious reasons, to the Minoan material. But it is hoped that the present account may make the results of their discoveries available for use in connection with future excavation of the site.

The presence of neolithic pottery at Knossos was realised in the first years of excavation, and received a certain amount of attention in summary and provisional reports, concerned as these were necessarily with the startling importance of what later came to be known as the Minoan levels. Evans understood at once the nature of the mound on which his ‘Mycenaean Palace’ stood, and made soundings to virgin soil at several different points. In dealing with the pottery he was assisted by Mackenzie, who made a careful analysis of the material from two Test Pits, and was able to recognise three stages within the neolithic period, an arrangement which was followed in the definitive publication. The somewhat later discovery of neolithic houses beneath the Central Court reinforced the conclusions already reached. Subsequent discussions of the material have been based on the work of Evans and Mackenzie rather than on independent observation, with the exception of some notes in an article by Professor V. G. Childe.

Type
Research Article
Information
Annual of the British School at Athens , Volume 48 , November 1953 , pp. 94 - 134
Copyright
Copyright © The Council, British School at Athens 1953

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References

List of Special Abbreviations.

E.M., M.M., L.M.: Early Minoan, Middle Minoan, Late Minoan.

E.N., M.N., L.N.: Early Neolithic, Middle Neolithic, Late Neolithic.

BASPR: Bulletin of the American School of Prehistoric Research.

Belleten: Türk Tarih Kurumu, Belleten (Ankara).

Dhimini and Sesklo: Tsountas, C., Αἱ προϊστορικαὶ ἀκροπόλεις Διμηνίου καὶ Σέσκλου (Athens, 1908).Google Scholar

Festos: L. Pernier, Il Palazzo Minoico di Festos.

Forschungen auf Kreta: Matz, Fr. (ed.), Forschungen auf Kreta 1942 (Deutsch. Arch. Inst. Berlin, 1951).Google Scholar

OIP: University of Chicago. Oriental Institute Publications.

P.Mac.: Heurtley, W. A., Prehistoric Macedonia (Cambridge, 1939).Google Scholar

PT: Wace, A. J. B. and Thompson, M. S., Prehistoric Thessaly (Cambridge, 1912).Google Scholar

Studies: Frankfort, H., Studies in the Early Pottery of the Near East (London, 1924, 1927).Google Scholar

Thermi: Lamb, W., Excavations at Thermi in Lesbos (Cambridge, 1936).Google Scholar

1 BSA VI 6, 17, 27, 64, 78, 86; VII 2, 36, 103; Man I 184, no. 146; BSA VIII 23, 121; IX 2, 40, 51, 94, 116; X 2, 18 f., 22 f., 25 f., 30, 48 and figs. 7, 8; XI 20.

2 JHS XXIII 157 ff.; PM I 32 ff.

3 PM II 1 ff.

4 BSA XXXVII 31.

5 In the Library of the British School of Archaeology at Athens.

6 Pendlebury, J. D. S., Guide to the Stratigraphical Museum in the Palace at Knossos (1933).Google ScholarDating of the Pottery in the Stratigraphical Museum (1935).

7 The exact situation is not marked on Pendlebury's plan. There is, however, reason to suppose that it was the same pit as B I 3, also near the centre of the West Court. The boxes marked B I 1 contain material excavated in 1901, in separate metres toa depth of eight metres. After the fourth metre there is a sudden decrease of 75 per cent in the actual number of sherds found. The boxes marked B I 3 contain material excavated in 1902 from levels five to eight metres down, while the upper strata are apparently non-existent. I suggest that B I 1 was dug with a step in the trench at the five-metre line, and that in the next season the step was taken out. This theory, hypothetical as it must remain, is the only one which will account for the facts of the extant material as it is labelled.

8 E.M. fine wares are omitted as beyond the scope of the present study.

9 PM I 36.

10 These conclusions are reinforced by the evidence from deep soundings in Area C, i.e. Test Pits C I 1 and C IV 3 (Dating of the Pottery in the Stratigraphical Museum I 7); but since the exact situation of G I 1 is not known, and for various other reasons, these pits are not so suitable for detailed analysis as those in Area B.

11 BSA IX 94.

12 In Pendlebury's catalogue a seventh metre is not mentioned. But Mackenzie's label from inside one of the boxes reads ‘3rd m. from below and 5th from above’, which implies seven metres. Fortunately, in a box which Pendlebury must have overlooked, one or two of the sherds are marked ‘7th m.’, which is sufficient to identify the collection.

13 There were also other deep soundings at E III 6 and E III 7; but, since occasional M.M. sherds occur here at a depth of as much as 6 m., the neolithic levels cannot be regarded as undisturbed, and so are not described here in detail (cf. Dating of the Pottery in the Stratigraphkal Museum II 6).

14 All the boxes containing material from the Test Pit are marked I II 9. Pendlebury catalogues all or most of them as I II 10, but shows the position of I II 9 only in his plans (Guide to the Stratigraphical Museum in the Palace at Knossos 16, Dating of the Pottery in the Stratigraphical Museum II 8, III, plan 13).

15 See Pendlebury's analysis of the contents of the boxes from this area, Dating of the Pottery in the Stratigraphical Museum II 9.

16 The source of the clay also was probably in the immediate vicinity.

17 PM I 37, II 12, MA XIX 151.

18 B I 10, 7th m.; D IV 1, 5th m.

19 There appear to have been no rounded bases.

20 Festos, fig. 36, bottom centre.

21 L III 13.

22 E III 14, 2nd m., I II 9 ‘5th Day’, N II 19, 1st and 2nd m., L III 13, L III 20, L IV 3, 2nd m.

23 L III 13; illustrated also in PM I, fig. 7, 7.

24 I II 9, 4th m.

25 E III 11, S V ‘Area of Wagers’ (Buildings South of the Palace).

26 Thermi, fig. 27, Troy I, pl. 245, 7, pl. 249, 1, 2.

27 P.Mac., fig. 52, fig. 71d. P.T., fig. 134. Dhimini and Sesklo, figs. 186–196.

28 M III 3, 4th m., N II 20, I II 9, 4th m., M III 3, 4th m., G I 5, M III 3, 4th m., N V 3 respectively.

29 M III 3, 2nd m.; there are only five other examples of this type.

30 Professor Childe has already drawn attention to the presence of red and light-coloured sherds from the lowest levels at Knossos, , in his article ‘Neolithic Black Ware in Greece and on the Danube’, BSA XXXVII 31.Google Scholar

31 For a detailed account of the burnishing process see Fewkes' article ‘Neolithic Sites in the Moravo-Danubian Area’ in BASPR XII 28.

32 E III 17, 2·20–5·70 m.

33 E I 4, 6th m., E I 5, 7th m.

34 Fig. 5a. 10 from M III 3, 1st m., Plate 29, a, 6–10 all from I II 9, 4th m.

35 It is obviously impossible to draw sections of vessels from sherds with wishbone handles, since the rising of the handle from the rim prevents the determination of the correct angle.

36 L III 16.

37 I II 9, 4th m., E I 4, 5th m., I II 9, 4th m., E I 5, 6th m., D IV 1, 3rd m., O I 1, 1st m., E I 5, 7th m.

38 I II 9, ‘3rd Day’, L III 13.

39 From a mixed M.N.–L.N. context. Illustrated also by Evans in PM I, fig. 7, 8 b.

40 From E III 15, B I 3, 8th m. There are also ten other examples from E.N. I contexts.

41 From contexts including D IV 1, 4th and 5th m., D VII 3, 6th m., E I 5, 6th m., E III 8, 7th m., I II 9 ‘6th Day’, K II 5, 7th m., N II 20, N III 1, N IV 20.

42 Belleten XII, pl. XCV, fig. 29, pl. CVII, fig. 47, top.

43 Cf. PM I 36, Pendlebury, J. D. S., Archaeology of Crete, 37, note 2.Google Scholar

44 C IV 3, 3rd m.

45 E I 5, 5th m., D IV 1, 3rd m.

46 L III 20.

47 PM I, fig. 9.

48 From B II 6; cf. Belleten XII, pl. XCIII, fig. 25, bottom right, pl. CV, fig. 45, bottom right, pl. CVIII, fig. 48. 24, 27. Compare also ibid., pl. XC, fig. 17. 202 with the pattern illustrated by Evans in PM I, fig. 8. 3.

49 I II 7.

50 PM II 10.

51 Festos, fig. 42.

52 K II 4, 0–1·10 m.

53 Compare PM I, fig. 7, 3, 6.

54 E III 11.

55 E I 4, 3rd m., E III 17, 0–2·20 m., L III 19, L IV 3, K II 4, 1·10–2·10 m.

56 Forschungen auf Kreta, pl. 12, G 1.

57 Including E II 6, E III 3, K II 5, 4th m. etc.

58 G II 5, 0–3 m. (probably mixed M.N. and L.N.).

59 Forschungen auf Kreta, pl. 11, B2.

60 Cf. PM I 37, fig. 6. 4, 6, 7.

61 MA XIX 159 ff., fig. 22.

62 The prolific third metre of Test Pit K II 5 illustrates many of these points, and shows also the rarity of incised as against rippled ornament when both were at their height.

63 PM I, fig. 6, 2.

64 Cf. PM I, fig. 7, 14.

65 F II 8, L I 2, 0–1·60 m., L III 19.

66 BSA XXXVI 28 ff.

67 Cf. Troy I 53.

68 BSA XXXVII 31.

69 I II 3, I I 9, E III 3 (3 examples); cf. PM II, fig. 3x.

70 I I 13, E III 21, 1st m., B I I, 1st m.

71 From B I 13, 2·60–3·60 m.

72 From E III 21, 1st m.

73 From C III 1, 1st m.

74 PAE 1930, 95, fig. 5.

75 There are only three examples of the particular type shown in Fig. 5a. 20, Plate 32, a, 14; only one, Plate 32, a, 14 is from a certain L.N. context, I II 7; Fig. 5a. 20 (illustrated also by Evans, PM I, fig. 7, 1) and the third example are from mixed contexts of uncertain date.

76 From K II 4, 0–1·10 m., F I 9.

77 F II 8.

78 The illustrated pieces are from mixed contexts: but of the five other examples of the type at least three are certainly L.N.

79 See p. 114, note 39.

80 From G II 2, 0·25–0·55 m., a mixed L.N. and E.M. context, but the fabric appears neolithic rather than E.M.; for the context of Fig. 5b. 10 see p. 123, note 58; there is also a third example of the type in a neolithic fabric from an uncertain context.

81 Troy I, pl. 237, 30, pl. 246, 26.

82 From D XIII, 1st m., I II 7; there are five other examples all from certain L.N. contexts.

83 From L III 9, L III 3, (both mixed contexts), F I 3, 0–0·45 m. (L.N.); of fifteen other examples, fourteen are from L.N. contexts.

84 Troy I pl. 247, 3, 6, pl. 249, 31; Thermi pl. IX 505, pl. XIII 565, pl. XIV 2.

85 From I II 3, a L.N. context.

86 Plate 31, b, 8, 20 from contexts of uncertain date; Plate 31, b, 7, 21, Plate 32, a, 12 from L.N. contexts (C III 1, 1st m., D XVI 2, I II 5); often other examples, six are from L.N. and four from uncertain contexts.

87 PM I, fig. 11, 2a, 2b.

88 B II 6 (intrusive L.N. with M.M.); B I 13, 2·6–3·6 m., I II 3.

89 AJA LV 121 ff.

90 Belleten XII, pl. XCII, fig. 22. 8. Les fouilles de Etiyokusu 105, fig. 96. PZ XXIII 112 ff., fig. 2. 14, 15, from Hanay Tepe in the Troad.

91 Including B I 13, 2·6–3·6 m., E III 1, 1st m., K I 2, 0·20–1 m., K I 4, 1st m., K II 4, 0–1·1 m.

92 Festos, fig. 36 centre, fig. 45.

93 D IV 1 ‘Tunnel part of Test Pit’.

94 L III 9, L III 5, E III 1, 1st m.

95 BSA X 18 ff.

96 Festos, pl. XII, top left; PAE 1929, 96, fig. 1. ADelt IV 136 ff., figs. 5, 6, 8, 10, 11, pl. B. BSA XIX 35 ff., fig. 3.

97 PM I, 42 ff.

98 AJA LV 121 ff.

99 B I 1, 2nd m., E III 7, 5th m., M III 3, 3rd and 4th m.

100 M III 3, 2nd m. (E.N. levels are close beneath the Palace floors in this area; see p. 100 and Fig. 1).

101 S.V. ‘Area of Wagers’ (Buildings South of the Palace).

102 I I 13, L III 5, C II 2, 1st m. respectively.

103 K II 4, 1st m.

104 PT fig. 142 f. Studies II, pl. IV 7.

105 L IV ‘General’.

106 Cf. PT, fig. 140 f. Dhimini and Sesklo, figs. 280–282.

107 L III 13.

108 K II 5, 2nd m.

109 PM I, fig. 6, 11 a–c.

110 PM I, 37, 57.

111 S.V. ‘Area of Wagers’ (Buildings South of the Palace), L IV ‘General’, E III 3.

112 BSA XI 264 f., fig. 3c.

113 Cf. Forschungen auf Kreta, pl. XI, H2.

114 The date of the contexts of some of the examples was not studied in detail by Mackenzie, who found no raised bases in the lowest levels of the major Test Pits (JHS XXIII 158; see also PM I 58).

115 L III 19; L III 18, 0·80–1·25 m., has two small fragments which may be from the same object.

116 Troy I, pl. 236, 34, PT fig. 6, AM LXII, pl. 33, Antiquity XXVII 35 ff.

117 K II 5, 4th m.

118 PM I 14, Archaeology of Crete 42.

119 This conclusion has been reached after a careful study of the relevant publications. It would be wrong, however, to omit the mention of a small group of sherds discovered at Byblos by T. E. Lawrence in 1912, which constitute a notable and entirely inexplicable exception. These pieces, now in the Ashmolean Museum, are in no way distinguishable from Knossian incised sherds of the usual E.N. II or M.N. style (LAAA X 39, pl. IX 2); the rest of Lawrence's collection, like that made by Sir Leonard Woolley in 1921, comprised Bronze Age sherds of the usual Syrian styles. It is to be hoped that the present excavations at Byblos may throw light on the problem.