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Professor
Georgios Vavouranakis, PhD
Teaching fellow, Department of History and Archaeology
University of Crete
Course
Description
Architecture has been the main key to
understanding the ways in which society operated in
prehistoric Crete, in other words the time span covering the
Neolithic (before 7000-3650/3500 BC) and the whole of the
Bronze Age (3650/3500-1200/1190 BC). Since the discovery of
the so-called “Palace of Minos” at Knossos by Sir Arthur
Evans in the early 20th century, researchers have
been focusing upon various aspects of architecture in order
to gain insights into Minoan social structures and
processes. For example, the Middle and Late Bronze Age
palaces have been interpreted as centres for the
redistribution of agricultural surplus, as prestige elite
monuments or as gathering areas for the exercise of power
through the conspicuous consumption of food and drink.
This course aims to explore various issues
regarding socio-historical evolution on prehistoric Crete
through a detailed examination of architecture. This
includes a meticulous introduction about the topography of
Crete and its natural resources, as well as the various
foundation and building materials and techniques employed in
Minoan architecture. It is important to understand the ways
in which the landscape was shaped and imbued with meaning
through the medium of architecture in order to become an
active parameter within social discourse.
Introductory lectures are followed by a
systematic survey of sites, architectural forms and their
function in chronological order. Hence, first come the
Neolithic houses at Knossos and other sites and the issue of
cave use. Then follows the Early Bronze Age, with the first
organised settlements at Myrtos – Phournou Koryphi, the
first organised cemeteries and hence the first extensive
communities organised in a complex and, possibly,
hierarchical, manner.
The societies of the Middle Bronze Age are
mainly characterised by the erection of the first palaces,
i.e. court-centred compounds with storage facilities,
residential quarters and areas of public gathering and
ritual activity. At the same time, several mountain peaks
accommodated simple enclosure walls wherein cultic acts took
place and inter-community relationships were forged.
Finally, east Crete, particularly Gournia, Palaikastro and
Zakros, saw the formation of the first communities that came
very close to urban standards in terms of size and
organization.
At the beginning of the Late Bronze Age, the
palaces become much more of a prestige artefact, since
accessibility is restricted, and plans, forms and mural
decoration become more elaborate than ever. Palatial style
monumental architecture is spread through the island. Old
palaces remain in use, while new monumental buildings,
namely smaller palaces and villas, appear. Peak sanctuaries
decrease in number but acquire built annexes. Some
researchers see a centralisation of elite power, with
Knossos being the superpower of the period, and the
periphery emulating Knossian architectural trends. Others
prefer to see an empowerment of peripheral centres, which
are assumed to be able to adopt architectural insignia of
power that had been previously reserved for specific elite
groups.
The volcano eruption on the Cycladic island of
Thera is supposed to be the main reason for the collapse of
most Minoan centres. The few that recovered, such as Knossos
and Chania, seem to have been under the influence of
mainland Mycenean Greece. At the end of the Bronze Age
extensive destructions led to the abandonment of the
Mycenean palatial centres and the gradual relocation of
settlements to the uplands of Crete.
Lectures explore the above themes through the
detail examination of the main Minoan architectural types
(houses, sanctuaries, tombs, palaces, villas), the social
organization and production of space at both intra- and
inter- site level. Lectures are complemented with three
field trips: The first includes visits the Museum at
Herakleion and the Palace of Minos at Knossos, the second
comprises visits to the Palace at Phaistos, the villa at
Hagia Triada and the harbour site of Kommos, while the third
is a visit at the towns of Gournia, Palaikastro and Zakros
in east Crete.
Selected bibliography
BRANIGAN, K.
1970. The foundations of Palatial Crete. A survey of
Crete in the Early Bronze Age. London: Routledge.
Driessen, J. and Macdonald, C.F. 1997.
The troubled island. Minoan Crete before and after the
Santorini eruption. Aegaeum 17.
Liège: Université de Liège.
Hägg, R. 1997.
(Editor)
The Function of
the “Minoan Villa”, Proceedings of the Eighth International
Symposium at the Swedish Institute at Athens, 6-8 June 1992.
SkrAth 4o, 46. Stockholm: Paul
Åströms.
Hägg R. and N. Marinatos 1987.
(Editors) The Function of the Minoan Palaces: Proceedings
of the Fourth International Symposium at the Swedish
Institute in Athens, 10-16 June, 1984. SkrAth 4o, 35.
Stockholm: Paul Åströms.
Myers, J. Wilson, Myers, E.E. and Cadogan, G.
1992. (Editors) The aerial atlas of ancient Crete.
Berkeley / Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Preziosi, D. 1983.
Minoan Architectural Design, Formation and Signification.
Berlin / New York / Amsterdam: Mouton.
Shaw, J. W. 1973.
Minoan architecture: Materials and techniques. ASAtene XLIX.
Roma: Instituto Poligrafico dello Stato.
Zois, A. 1973.
Κρήτη – Εποχή του Λίθου.
Αρχαίες Ελληνικές Πόλεις 18.
Αθήνα: Αθηναϊκό Κέντρο Οικιστικής.
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