Prehistory Monographs
3 primary works
Book 28
This book is the tenth volume in the series of excavation reports about the harbor town of Pseira, which is located on the island of the same name, just off the northeast coast of Crete. The book focuses on the excavation and interpretation of the architecture and material culture in Block AF. This southern group of buildings is one of the most important areas in the settlement because of its long succession of building phases. Block AF provides the fullest sequence of building phases from any one area at Pseira, with habitation extending from before MM II to LM III. It has examples of complex architectural details including a "pillar crypt," elaborate upstairs floors, a well-preserved U-shaped staircase, and a well-designed kitchen, all of which contribute significantly to our knowledge of East Cretan building practices. In addition to domestic pottery, the houses furnish examples of stone tools, stone vessels, loom weights, inscriptions in Linear A, cult objects, animal bones, marine shells, and a wide range of material recovered from water sieving.
This latter category, with burned grain, fish bones, shells, and other categories of materials, fills many gaps in our knowledge of Pseiran life.
This latter category, with burned grain, fish bones, shells, and other categories of materials, fills many gaps in our knowledge of Pseiran life.
Book 34
The publication of the Hagia Photia Cemetery is planned in three volumes. The first volume, which has already been published (Davaras and Betancourt 2004), presented the tomb groups and the architecture. The second volume about the excavation of the Hagia Photia cemetery focuses on the pottery. The third volume will present the obsidian, stone finds, metal objects, and other discoveries. The Early Minoan I tombs at Hagia Photia included the largest assemblage of vessels in Cycladic style known from Crete as well as vases from production workshops in Crete. The pottery is extremely important for several reasons, including the definition of the EM I ceramic styles that were being used as funerary offerings in this part of Crete, the establishment of the chronological synchronisms between Crete and the Cyclades, and information on the history of the Minoan pottery industry. When compared with other deposits from EM I Crete, the pottery helps to establish a better understanding of the ceramic development within the first Minoan time period.
Book 41
The small site of Aphrodite's Kephali, among several other Minoan and later sites, took advantage of the valley topography in the Isthmus of Ierapetra in eastern Crete by establishing themselves along the nearby hills, resulting in easy access to the natural trade route between the Aegean and the Libyan Seas. A discussion of the architecture, artifacts, and ecofacts are presented from the excavation of this Early Minoan I watchtower. The conclusions challenge some of the commonly held views about Crete in the third millennium B.C. It is suggested that rather than being a precursor to a socially complex state that would arise later, early polities involving several communities probably already existed in the isthmus during the EM I period. Social and economic differentiation existed on a regional, not just a local level, and decisions for mutual defense could involve collaboration by groups of workers, including the building of the watchtower that is the focus of this volume.