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22
G. CADOGAN
ET AL.
I Stelios
Andreou, Sinclair Hood, and Peter Warren
were unable to attend; we are grateful for their helpful
comments on this paper. The following special
abbreviations are used:
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EARLY MINOAN
POTTERY AT KNOSSOS
23
be a comprehensive study of the groups and of the problems associated with them. We
should emphasize, too, that many of these groups are single, and not equally spaced, points
on the long line of the ceramic history of the town and palace of Knossos, for which there is
not yet an independent Knossos-based carbon-14 chronology. They cannot fully represent
all the changes in the continuous process of development. We have prepared our scheme
primarilyfor use at Knossos, and have agreed upon it as a framework for further study and
publication. Of course we are aware of the problems of studying Minoan pottery from
Knossos: for example, deposits are often small; some have been heavily selected which
makes the desirable use of quantitative data extremely difficult; and it is not alwayseasy to
determine the nature of deposits from different locations of the site, and hence to relate
them to other deposits. It may be that some of the differences are not chronological but
functional. Nonetheless these caveats should not prevent scholars from trying to construct
sequences that appear reasonable at any one time.
After the latest neolithic pottery, we see the groups listed below in chronological
sequence as defining the pottery sequence of Knossos from Early Minoan I until the end
of the Old Palace period. We have not numbered our sequence, so that it will be easy to
insert new groups defined in the future.
This work is a first step towards any restatement of the Knossos sequence that uses
Evans's long-established and widely utilized terminology in a precise and agreed way.We
have attempted such a restatement in TABLE1.
PALACE WELL
Location:KP 183.
Excavation:Hood 1959.
Hood 1961-2; 1966; 199oa, b.
Bibliography:
Context homogeneous fill of well with debris from destruction by fire, together with a few pots
from the use level.
Previouschronologicalattribution:EM I (Hood 1961-2); EM I A (Hood 1966).
Relateddeposits:trial in Nw corner of Palace (Hood 1987 excavation: D.I).
Plannedpublication:Hood and Cadogan, forthcoming.
Commentthe earliest group of Minoan pottery yet found at Knossos.
WEST COURT,
TRENCH
FF
Location:
(a) Trench FF:West Court.
(b) Magazine XVI: KSMD.XX.2; KP53.
(c) Area of Pictographic Tablets: KSMD.III.1; KP 147.
(d) North-east Quarter: KSMK.II.1; KP 189.
(e) South Propylaeum: KSMG.II.2; KP 32.
Excavation:(a) J. D. Evans 1969; (b) A.J. Evans 1903; (c) A.J. Evans 1904; (d) ibid.; (e) A.J. Evans
1925.
Bibliography:(a) J. D. Evans 1971; Wilson 1985; (b) Wilson 1984, 157-8; (d) ibid. 159-64; (e)
ibid. 158-9.
Context (a) homogeneous fill from a burnt destruction above latest neolithic and beneath EM II
A-MM fill; (b) largely homogeneous fill; (c) mixed fill; (d) homogeneous fill; (e) mixed fill.
Previous chronologicalattributions:(a) EM I B (Wilson 1985, 359-60); (b) EM I B (Wilson 1984,
157-8); (d) EM I B (ibid. 159-64); (e) mainly EM I B (ibid. 158-9).
Plannedpublication:Wilson and Day, forthcoming.
Comments:as these deposits are so small, each has been listed as an integral part of the group.
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G. CADOGAN ET AL.
24
None of them was stratified above a Palace Well group deposit. However, changes in style,
fabric, and ware make a convincing argument that they represent a phase between the Palace
Well and the West Court House groups. The existence of such a phase was suggested by Hood
(1966; 1971, 36-7) and Cadogan (1983, 508).
WEST COURT HOUSE
Location:KP4o.
Excavation:J.D. Evans 1969.
Bibliography:
J. D. Evans 1972; Wilson 1985.
Contexthomogeneous floor deposits and associated fills.
Previouschronologicalattribution:EM II A (J. D. Evans 1972); early EM II A (Wilson
1985).
Related deposits:tests beneath West Court (Wilson 1984, 175-80) and elsewhere in the palace,
including North-east Magazines (KSMK.I.4; KP 184; Wilson 1984, 187-97).
Comments:Hood identified three ceramic phases in Evans's EM II (Hood 1971, 37-8). On stylistic
grounds the West Court House group comes early in EM II A.
NORTH-WEST PORTICO, TEST 2
LOWER DEPOSIT
Location:KP 2.
Excavation:Evans 1908; Hood 1960.
Bibliography:Evans 1921-35, i. 71, 73-5, io8 fig. 40; Wilson 1984, 42-3, 2oo-6; AR 1960-1, 27
and further references in Early Houses, upper deposit group.
Contextfloor deposits partly sealed beneath Early Houses, upper deposit.
EM II (Evans 1921-35, i; Hood 1961-2; 1966); EM II A (Zois 1967, pl.
Previouschronological
attribution:
33); probablyEM II A (Warrenand Hankey 1989, 17); possiblyEM II B (Warren 1980, 490).
Plannedpublication:Hood and Cadogan, forthcoming; Wilson, forthcoming.
Commentdeposits assignable to this group are rare; on stylistic grounds, this group shows stronger
affinities with the next group than with the previous one.
EARLY HOUSES, UPPER DEPOSIT
Location:KP 2.
Excavation:Hood i960.
AR 1960-1, 27; Hood 1961-2; 1966.
Bibliography:
fill between two plaster floors, above deposits of previous group (Early Houses, lower
Context.
deposit).
Previouschronologicalattribution:pre-polychrome MM I A = EM III (Hood 1961-2); EM III (Hood
1966).
Relateddeposits:Upper East Well and other deposits discussed in Andreou 1978; Momigliano 1991
and forthcoming.
Plannedpublication:Hood and Cadogan, forthcoming.
Commentsee Royal Road South, fill group.
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EARLY MINOAN
ROYAL ROAD SOUTH,
POTTERY AT KNOSSOS
25
FILL
Location:KS 214.
Excavation:Hood 1959AR 1959-60, 23; Hood 1961-2; 1966.
Bibliography:
Contextfairly homogeneous fill, below Royal Road South, basements, lower floor deposit.
Previouschronologicalattribution:MM I A early (pre-spiral decoration) (Hood 1961-2; 1966).
Relateddeposits:discussed in Andreou 1978; Momigliano 1991 and forthcoming.
Plannedpublication:Hood.
Comment apart from appearance of polychrome decoration, stylistically close to Early Houses,
upper deposit.
ROYAL ROAD SOUTH,
BASEMENTS,
LOWER FLOOR
BASEMENTS,
MIDDLE FLOOR
Location:KS 214.
Excavation:Hood
1959AR 1959-60, 22; Hood 1961-2, 194; 1966, 110o-11.
Bibliography:
Context floor deposit above Royal Road South, Basements, lower floor and below Royal Road
South, Basements, upper floor.
Previouschronologicalattribution:MM I B (Hood).
Related deposits: Early Magazine A (KP 17; AR 1973-4, 34; AR 1987-8, 68; Macdonald,
forthcoming); Early Chamber beneath West Court (Evans 1921-35, i. 186-9); Aqueduct Well
(KS 290; AR 1958, 21); Hogarth's Houses, rock-cut basement (KS 297; AR 1958, 19 fig. 29).
Planned publication:Hood.
Commentthis group defines the pottery found in the earliest destruction deposits within the Old
Palace.
ROYAL ROAD SOUTH,
BASEMENT,
UPPER FLOOR
Location:KS 214Excavation:Hood 1957-9AR 1957, 22; AR 1958, 19; AR 1959-60, 22; Hood 1961-2, 96; 1966, x11x1.
Bibliography:
Contextfloor deposit above Royal Road South, Basements, middle floor.
Previouschronological
attribution:
MM II A (Hood, AR 1959-60; Hood 1966); MM II B (Hood 1961-2).
Relateddeposits:Royal Pottery Stores, South-west Room (Evans 1921-35, i. 240-4).
Plannedpublication:Hood.
Commentthis group defines the pottery found in the second horizon of destructions in the Old
Palace.
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G. CADOGAN ET AL.
26
KNOSSOS VILLAGE, TRIAL KV
Location:KS 196.
Excavation:Popham 1969.
Bibliography:
Popham 1974.
Context destruction deposit in partially excavated building. Above drain with silt level containing
material of previous group.
Previouschronologicalattribution:MM II B (Popham
1974).
Relateddeposits:Mavro Spilio, tomb XVII, pit (Forsdyke 1927, 281).
Commentthis group probably defines the pottery in use at the time of the final destruction of the
Old Palace, by earthquake. Similar pottery is found in the West Court Kouloures, where it is
mixed with pottery of the next group.
ACROPOLIS HOUSES, GROUPS A AND B
Location:KS 174.
Excavation:Catling 1975Bibliography:Catling et al. 1979Context basement room with primary deposit (A), and fill above it (B), stratified below level with
pottery stylisticallymore advanced.
Previouschronologicalattribution:MM III A (Catling et al.
1979).
Relateddeposits:Early Town Houses (Evans 1i921-35,
ii. 369-70).
Commentthis group defines the earliest pottery of the Neo-palatial period.
EM
PalaceWell
West Court, Trench FF
IA
IB
EarlyHouses,lowerdeposit
II B
III
MM
IA
IB
II A
Knossosvillage,TrialKV
II B
III A
TABLE1. The pottery groups and their possible equivalents in Evans's terms. Lines indicate divisions based
on stratigraphy.
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27
CONCLUSIONS
Although our definitions of the pottery groups and their position in the sequence differ
from what Evans proposed, we have been able to identify deposits that can guide us, and
we hope will guide others, in understanding the ceramic sequence at Knossos, and in
associating Evans's historical terms with specific pottery groups. We assume, for example,
that scholars now understand that the pottery of the West Court House represents only a
single stage in the development of Early Minoan II A.
There is much still to do at Knossos to improve definition of the ceramic sequence
and enlarge our knowledge of the Minoan town. It is clear that deposits in the town,
which is the large and generally unknown counterpart of the Minoan palace, are more
likely to provide fresh insights into the sequence than those still preserved inside the
palace. Stratigraphic excavations, such as those of Hood and Warren, show what a rich
and largely untapped source the deposits in the Minoan town are. By examining more of
these we shall recover a fuller picture of the history of Knossos, and be able to set the
Minoan palace in the local context it deserves.
Our review of the excavated deposits suggests that investigation in the following areas
would be particularly helpful to supplement what we know from the groups already
defined:
the West Court, for the sequence from the latest neolithic to the end of the Old
Palace period;
the north-west corner of the palace, for more information on our first two groups;
the North-east Magazines, for the phasing of Early Minoan II A;
the Early Houses on the South Front, to test the apparent EM II-EM III-MM I A
sequence, and to relate the EarlyHouses to the EarlyPaving and the Hypogaeum; and
on either side of the Royal Road, where we can learn much of the growth of prepalatial Knossos.
We hope that our approach, starting from groups of pottery, will be adopted for other
periods of the Bronze Age at Knossos, and for other sites in Crete, to create the firmer
chronology that the Minoan period needs. We look forward to further analysisand testing of
the ceramic sequence we have proposed for Pre-palatialand Old Palace period Knossos.
Culworth,Banbury
DemokritosNational Centrefor ScientificResearch,Athens/
Universityof Sheffield
BritishSchoolat Athens
ColumbiaUniversityin the Cityof New York
G. CADOGAN
P. M. DAY
C. F. MACDONALD
J. A.
MAC GILLIVRAY
N. MOMIGLIANO
University
of Cambridge
T. M. WHITELAW
Universityof WesternOntario
D. E. WILSON
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28
G. CADOGAN ET AL.
REFERENCES
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