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Aegeus Society For Aegean Prehistory

ARTICLES | 2008

An ‘Eteocretan’ inscription from Praisos and the homeland of the Sea Peoples

Luuk de Ligt Talanta XL-XLI (2008-2009) [2010]: 151-172.

The whereabouts of the homeland or homelands of the so-called Sea Peoples have been endlessly debated. This article re-examines this problem by looking at one of the ‘Eteocretan’ inscriptions from the town of Praisos. It is argued that this text is written in an Indo-European language belonging to the Oscan-Umbrian branch of the Italic language family.

The distribution of the Late Helladic IIIA-B ivory helmeted heads

Angelos Papadopoulos Talanta XL-XLI (2008-2009) [2010]: 7-24.

Ivory artifacts, produced by the specialized palatial workshops during the Late Helladic IIIA-B (14th-13th century BC) were found in great numbers and in a variety of areas within the Aegean region. A small group of them consists of representations of the head and neck of male individuals that wear the boar’s tusk helmet. This type of helmet was a popular iconographic motif in the Aegean iconographic repertoire of the Late Bronze Age.

Memories of Myrtos

Elizabeth Warren Aegean Archaeology 9, 2007-2008 [2011]: 121-133.

Recently Krzysztof Nowicki, a colleague taking part in an archaeological excavation at Karphi in the mountains of Crete in 2008 directed by his wife, Saro Wallace, made some remarks in an email to my husband, Peter Warren, on running an excavation in Crete.

The Late Minoan II goblet: Some aspects of ceramic change at Early Final Palatial Knossos reconsidered

J. Arvanitakis Aegean Archaeology 9, 2007-2008 [2011]: 105-119.

This paper presents a re-reading of previously published evidence from Kastri on Kythera which compels us to reconsider the mechanisms by which Mycenaean ceramic traits such as the goblet spread to Crete. Possible links between Minoan goblets from the final Neopalatial levels at Kastri and a Marine Style goblet from Knossos are examined and the implications of such links for the date of the initial appearance of this shape on Crete are considered. Attention is drawn to the pronounced indigenous character of salient aspects of the Minoan goblet and the Minoan version of the Ephyraean Style.

A new look at the Mavrospelio “Kourotrophos”

S. Budin Aegean Archaeology 9, 2007-2008 [2011]: 91-103.

A small, LM IIB–IIIA terracotta figural group from the Mavrospelio cemetery near Knossos has long been accepted as the one example of kourotrophic iconography from Bronze Age Crete. This figurine shows a skirted female holding aloft a small male by the knees.

A view of MM IIIA at Phaistos: Pottery production and consumption at the beginning of the Neopalatial Period

L. Girella Aegean Archaeology 9, 2007-2008 [2011]: 49-89.

The article investigates aspects of pottery production and consumption at Phaistos during Middle Minoan (MM) IIIA. After the excavations carried out by Pernier and Levi, our knowledge of MM III has seen significant progress over the last decade helping us to look at the role of the palace in this period as well as allowing the ceramic sequence of MM IIIA and MM IIIB to be distinguished. In particular, owing to the rich series of MM IIB and MM IIIA pottery deposits at the site, it is now possible to differentiate on stratigraphic and stylistic grounds an Early from a Mature MM IIIA phase.

The Alatzomouri Rock Shelter: Defining EM III in Eastern Crete

V. Apostolakou, P.P. Betancourt, T.M. Brogan Aegean Archaeology 9, 2007-2008 [2011]: 35-48.

A small cave filled with pottery and other Minoan artifacts was discovered by road construction near Pacheia Ammos. The small site, excavated by the 24th Ephorate under the direction of Stavroula Apostolakou, yielded a large assemblage of pottery. The assemblage is of great interest for the stylistic development of East Cretan White-on-Dark Ware because it comes from an early stage in the development when the complicated curvilinear motifs of this style had not yet appeared.

Salvage Excavation in the Cave of Antiparos, Cyclades: Prehistoric Pottery and Miscellaneous Finds. A Preliminary Report

F. Mavridis Aegean Archaeology 9, 2007-2008 [2011]: 7-34.

This paper presents the results of a rescue excavation undertaken in the Cave of Antiparos in 2006 that anticipated construction works. This excavation marks the first step towards understanding the general history of the cave' s use. Evidence for the prehistoric use of the cave was found in almost all of the trenches open under disturbed upper layers which contained pottery of the Archaic, Classical and later periods, and modern material.

The Power of Technology in the Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean. The Case of the Painted Plaster

Ann Brysbaert London

The Power of Technology in the Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean. The Case of the Painted Plaster In the past, Bronze Age painted plaster in the Aegean and the Eastern Mediterranean has been studied from a range of different but isolated viewpoints. One of the current questions about this material is its direction of transfer. This volume brings both technological and iconographic (and other) approaches closer together: 1) by completing certain gaps in the literature on technology and 2) by investigating how and why technological transfer has developed and what broader impact this had on the wider social dynamics of the late Middle and Late Bronze Age in the eastern Mediterranean.

The Archaeology of Tomb A1K1 of Orthi Petra in Eleutherna: The Early Iron Age Pottery

Antonis Kotsonas Athens

The Archaeology of Tomb A1K1 of Orthi Petra in Eleutherna: The Early Iron Age Pottery The present volume publishes some of the finds and results of the excavations conducted by Professor N. Stampolidis of the University of Crete in the Early Iron Age necropolis of Orthi Petra in Eleutherna, Crete. The necropolis, which is a palimpsest of intensive human activity, the denser and most legible lines of which pertain to the 9th – 6th centuries BC, lies on the originally rather steep, but now terraced, west slopes of the hill of Prines, 20-40m above the Chalopota stream.

Μουσείο Μπενάκη, vol. 8 (Benaki Museum)

Athens

Μουσείο Μπενάκη, vol. 8 (Benaki Museum) The book is the eight volume of the journal of the Benaki Museum. The two first articles, written in English, focus on a golden Mycenaean kylix of the Benaki Museum. The golden kylix decorated with repoussé runnig hounds was bought by Antoni Benaki himself in 1939; it consists one of the most known prehistoric artefacts of the Museum.

Representations and interpretations of dance in the Aegean Bronze Age. Ritual dances in Cycladic and Minoan religions

Angeliki Liveri Athenische Mitteilungen 123 (2008) [2009]: 1-38.

During the Bronze Age the Aegean cultures (Cycladic, Minoan) developed music and dance which were connected with religious rituals and ceremonies. There is perhaps only one Cycladic representation depicting a dance scene: it is to be found on one marble plaque from Naxos (EC II-III, ca. 2700-2000 BC). In contrast to Cycladic artists, the later Minoans presented dance scenes with one, two or more persons in different art forms: e.g. seals, seal-impressions, wall paintings, idols or vessels. There are Minoan dance representations dated from the Middle Minoan until the post-Minoan period (2000-1100 BC), which show a variety of dances.

The Late Bronze Age Near Eastern cylinder seals from Thebes (Greece) and their historical implications

Konstantinos Kopanias Athenische Mitteilungen 123 (2008) [2009]: 39-96.

The collection of imported Near Eastern lapis lazuli cylinder seals from a palatial room in Thebes still remains a unique find in the Aegean. The heterogeneous lot consists of 7 Old Babylonian seals, 12 Kassite, 8 Mitannian, 4 Cypriote, 4 Cypro-Levantine, 2 Cypro-Aegean, 3 Mycenean, 1 Hittite seal, and 1 of unknown origin.

Holztüren an mykenischen Kammergräbern (Wooden doors at Mycenaean chamber tombs)

loannis Moschos Athenische Mitteilungen 123 (2008) [2009]: 97-150.

Following a burial in a Mycenaean chamber tomb, the stomion was sealed as a rule by means of a dry stone wall and more rarely by a stone dοοr. Generations of archaeologists have grown up with this assertion so that when excavating a chamber tomb we are certain in advance what awaits us at the doorway.