Pottery Production, Distribution and Consumption in Early Minoan West Crete: An analytical perspective

Description

This study investigates the provenance and technology of pottery during the earlier Prepalatial period (EM I-EM IIB) in west Crete, using an integrated approach involving stylistic examination and archaeometric analysis. Although the stylistic particularities of the west Cretan Early Minoan assemblages have been acknowledged since the 1960s, there has been no attempt to assess and interpret the differences, and integrate this part of Crete into the broader picture of the Prepalatial period. Due to the lack of publications and analyses, west Crete remained estranged from the new developments that have changed the way the Prepalatial period is considered. As part of the GEOPRO TMR Network, this project applies an integrated methodology to the ceramic material from selected sites and investigates issues of pottery provenance and technology. The analytical techniques used comprise thin section petrography, neutron activation analysis and scanning electron microcopy. Possible locations of production for the various fabrics are suggested and technological issues, such as clay recipes, firing practices and pottery manufacturing traditions, are discussed. As the research revealed no imports from outside Crete, and this contrasts with central and eastern Crete, the position and role of west Crete in the southern Aegean during the Early Bronze Age is re-assessed. Appendices include a catalogue of samples, petrographic descriptions, and NAA data. The final section features collection of 38 colour plates, including micrographs. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES LIST OF PLATES ABBREVIATIONS Abbreviations in text: EBA Early Bronze Age Abbreviations in bibliography: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CHAPTER 1 1.2 Chronological and geographical limits of the study 1.3 Book outline Psathi Kydonias 4.4 Sedimentation 4.5 Geology of the study area 4.6 The sites 4.7 Geological variation and ancient ceramics 4.10 Discussion Stratigraphic info Material Site Chania Group 1 Chania Group 2 Chania Group 3 Chania Group 4 Nopigeia Pair 1 Location The wares 5.4 Comment Petrographic Analysis 6.1 Introduction The descriptive system introduced by Whitbread (1989; 1995b) is adopted. The terminology used is based on existing work on soil micromorphology (Bullock et al. 1985; Kemp 1985). The main difference with other systems is that, along with the non-plasti... 6.2 Fabric groups Mitatoulia (A) Fabric group A1. Red with grog and white mica (Pl. 21a-c) This is a semi-coarse to semi-fine red-firing fabric. The colour of the matrix ranges from yellowish-red to orange-grey and the groundmass from optically active to moderately active, which is indicative of a low firing temperature. The non-plastic inc... This fabric group incorporates the majority of the Mitatoulia samples, with the exception of a single sample of scored ware which is similar to a fabric group from Kastelli-Chania. It is not feasible with petrology alone to decide whether the latter a... Fabric group A2: Red with grog and organic temper (Pl. 21d-f) This fabric is very similar to the previous one (A1) in terms of composition and texture. It is also red-firing and the dominant components are white mica laths, tcf’s and grog. The difference from A1 lies in the smaller amount of non-plastics and the... The majority of the samples in this group belong to the Mitatoulia assemblage. The shapes represented are all coarse, mainly red or black slipped and burnished bowls, a dark grey burnished ware chalice, an incised pyxis and two pithoi. The pattern see... Fabric group A3: Phyllite and mica (Pl. 22a) MIT 00/17 This is a coarse, highly micaceous fabric containing large fragments of phyllite. It reflects an environment with low-grade, chloritised, metamorphic rocks. The white mica links this fabric to Fabric groups A1 and A2. The shape represented is a coarse... Related Fabric groups Fabric group A4: Red high-fired with metamorphic rocks (Pl. 22b) MIT 00/ 18, 20 This is a coarse, red-firing fabric. The groundmass ranges from orange-brown and optically active (sample MIT 00/18) to dark red-brown and inactive (sample MIT 00/20). It is composed of metamorphic rock fragments, namely phyllite and quartzite. The ma... Fabric group A5: Red with mica (Pl. 22c) MIT 00/ 1 This is also a semi-coarse, red-firing fabric containing white mica, small quartz, metamorphic rock fragments and a few tcf’s. There is no grog but the voids indicate the use of organic tempering. This fabric is very close to the main Mitatoulia Fabri... Nopigeia (B) Fabric group B1: Coarse with phyllite fragments (Pl. 22d) This is a coarse fabric characterised by the presence of low-grade metamorphic rock fragments, i.e. phyllite, quartzite and schist. Its origin lies in the Phyllite-Quartzite series of west Crete. It is relatively homogeneous in composition and texture... All the samples derive from the site of Nopigeia and are dated to EM II/EB II. The shapes include domestic coarse wares, mainly baking plates, one deep bowl and one collared jar. It is of importance that the same fabric is used for cooking ware and st... Fabric group B2: Coarse quartz-rich with metamorphic rocks This is a coarse, red-firing fabric characterised by the presence of quartz and low-grade metamorphic rock fragments. There are two subgroups representing different firing atmospheres, but compositionally and texturally they are very similar. This Fab... All the samples derive from the Nopigeia assemblage. They belong to domestic coarse wares, the shapes represented being baking plates, jars (one incised), collar-necked jars, deep bowls, pithoi, and two hearth rims. The pattern is similar to Fabric gr... Fabric group B3: Semi-coarse, quartz-rich with metamorphic rocks (Pl. 23a-b) This is a semi-coarse, grey-firing fabric characterised by the presence of medium to small quartz and metamorphic rock fragments. It is a fine version of Fabric group B2, the composition and texture being the same. All the samples belong to the Nopigeia assemblage. The shapes include smaller vessels than Fabric group B2, namely two pyxides, two dark grey burnished pedestalled chalices, a closed vessel, and a jar. The two Minoan-style pedestalled vessels are of E... Fabric group B4: Coarse phyllite with micrite and fossils (Pl. 23c-d) This is a coarse fabric characterised by the presence of metamorphic rock fragments, micritic limestone, biotite mica and fossils. The raw material used is connected to the Phyllite-Quartzite series, whereas the micrite and fossils are connected to th... Fabric group B5: Semi-coarse with micrite (Pl. 23e) This is a semi-coarse fabric characterised by the presence of micrite, quartz and metamorphic rock fragments. It is considered to be a finer version of Fabric group B4 due to similarity in composition and texture. The main difference is the absence of... All the samples of this group derive from Nopigeia and are compatible with the local geology (see comment on Fabric group B4). Except for the EM I dark grey burnished pedestalled chalice, the other shapes are EB II in date and include domestic vessels... Fabric group B6: Semi-coarse with siltstone (Pl. 23f) This is a semi-coarse, red-firing fabric, characterised by the presence of coarse inclusions of siltstone set in a fine-grained micaceous matrix. The fine-grained chert occasionally grading into mudstone characterises the Nopigeia fabrics and is compa... This fabric occurs in a variety of shapes including large vessels, mainly domestic coarse wares, such as bowls, a basin, pithoi, jars and also two Helladic-/Cycladic-style hearths. As was the case with the phyllite fabric, it is of significance that t... Siltstone has been added to the clay paste as temper and this constitutes a common practice in Neopalatial Crete and is also known from ethnographic studies (Day 1991: 195). It is mainly used for large storage jars, one reason being probably functiona... Fabric group B7: Fine with pellets and grog (Pl. 24a-b) This is a fine, micaceous, red-firing fabric characterised by the presence of quartz, clay pellets and grog. The composition and clay matrix are similar to those of Fabric groups B2 and B3. The latter were demonstrated to be local at Nopigeia (mainly ... Fabric group B8: Calcite-/Dolomite-tempered (Pl. 24c) This is a semi-coarse non-calcareous fabric characterised by the presence of angular fragments of calcite and dolomite in frequencies varying from common to very few. The other constituents are quartz, some metamorphic rock fragments, little chert, an... The shape represented is the baking plate, which occurs rather frequently in a calcite-tempered fabric in west Crete and the rest of the island (Day 1995: 164). However, it is not possible to suggest exclusive use of this fabric for baking plates and ... Fabric group B9: Chert-rich (Pl. 24d-f) This is a coarse, micaceous fabric characterised by the presence of large angular chert fragments along with quartz and low-grade metamorphic rock fragments. The type of chert is the one encountered in many samples from Nopigeia, which leaves little d... Fabric group B10: Fine to very fine with quartz and mica (Pl. 25a-d) Debla (C) This is a coarse to semi-coarse, red-firing fabric characterised by the presence of grog, tcf’s, quartz, biotite mica, and few low grade metamorphic rock fragments. A range of firing conditions is represented, with the micromass ranging from optically... With regard to provenance, the non-plastics are not diagnostic of origin but the base clay seems connected to a red non-calcareous raw material probably of alluvial origin. Clay samples S10A/2001 and S11A/2001 from Varypetro and Debla respectively are... With a single exception, all the samples of this Fabric group come from Debla and are of EM I-IIA date. The shapes consist of pedestalled chalices (EM I), incised pyxides, jugs, jars, bowls, and pithoi. For the most part they are red/black slipped, da... Fabric group C2: Fine with quartz and mica (Pl. 26e-f) Fabric group D10: Coarse with metamorphics Fabric group D11: Coarse phyllite, micrite and fossils (Pl. 33a-c) Psathi (E) Fabric group E1: Red with quartz and some mica Platyvola (F) Fabric group F1: Red with quartz, grog and pellets (Pl. 35c-d) Related fabrics 6.3 Discussion Petrographic analysis of ca. 420 archaeological and geological samples from six sites in west Crete provided interesting results regarding the provenance and distribution of the fabric groups as well as the technology of manufacture of the EM pottery.... Distribution of fabrics The fabrics identified are mostly site-specific but not unrelated to each other. In most cases there are compositional similarities between sites but variation in one or two components does not allow the establishment of large intra-site groups. This ... Fabric distribution presents particular interest in the three main compositional categories: (1) fossiliferous fabrics, (2) fabrics with metamorphics and (3) red-firing fabrics, all three reflecting the geological background of west Crete. The geology... Technology of manufacture Clays The petrographic examination of the EM material from west Crete and the clay prospection provided information on the raw materials used in pottery manufacture. There are three main types of clay identified by the study of the thin sections: i) red clay: it derives mainly from Quaternary alluvial deposits occurring along the north coast, in the form of pockets of terra rossa soil, or weathered limestone deposits. It is non-calcareous and contains a variety of inclusions in different combi... ii) white clay: it derives from the deposits of Miocene marls that occur along the north coast. It is finer than the red clay, calcareous and contains medium to small-sized inclusions, mainly quartz, biotite mica, and, in Chania, micrite, and fossils.... iii) grey/black clay: it derives from deposits of shale and is connected to the Phyllite-Quartzite series. Its main constituent is phyllite/shale and is always used mixed with other clays for the manufacture of coarse and semi-coarse vessels. Archaeological and ethnographic studies have shown that these types of clay were also used throughout Cretan prehistory until modern times (e.g. Blitzer 1990; Day 1991; 2004). These clays have different properties and through clay mixing the optimum r... Clay recipes The main paste recipes identified by thin section petrography in the EM pottery from west Crete involve manipulation of the raw materials prior to vessel construction. The practices identifiable in the thin sections are clay levigation or sieving, cla... Clay levigation/sieving Levigation and/or sieving are carried out in order to purify the clay by removing the coarse fraction (pebbles and granules) and thus make it more plastic. This practice is often recorded in ethnographic studies. In Crete the dry-sieve is mentioned at... The red clay samples display compositional homogeneity, the main constituents being quartz and biotite mica with rare fragments of metamorphic rocks and chert. In the archaeological samples manufactured with red-firing fabrics the amount and size of c... Clay mixing and tempering Clay mixing constitutes a common practice in many potting traditions (Rice 1987: 121-4). It is fairly securely identified in thin section due to specific textural features connected with this practice, namely clay pellets, striations and porphyroclast... Tempering constitutes a practice closely connected to clay mixing since it is carried out for the same purpose, i.e. to enhance the properties of the clay during manufacture, as well as the properties of the finished product. The term temper refers to... It should be noted, however, that the functional requirements of the ceramic vessels are not the only factor influencing the selection of raw materials and the preparation of clay recipes. These are also affected by long-lived traditions of manufactur... The petrographic examination of the EM pottery from west Crete has demonstrated that both practices (clay mixing and tempering) are widely applied in pottery manufacture. Clay pellets, striations and porphyroclasts are very common in the west Cretan s... All types of clay pastes occurring in EM west Crete involve red clays. In several cases it is possible that a single raw material was used. As demonstrated by the clay sampling and the experimental briquettes, all the clays collected were successful i... Most fabrics are red firing, non-calcareous and contain quartz, clay pellets and grog. Argillaceous inclusions help to rectify specific imperfections of the original clay and enhance the raw materials’ performance. Grog in particular is stable during ... After grog, the second most frequently occurring tempering material is calcite. Its use spreads throughout the Prepalatial but most of the vessels belong to the EM II period. Tempering with calcite is very common practice throughout the Bronze Age. Th... A third type of tempering material is siltstone, used for locally made fabrics at Chania and Nopigeia (Fabric groups D6-D7 and B6 respectively). The vessels of the Chania assemblage are mainly small-sized whereas at Nopigeia it is used in domestic coa... Finally, the use of organic temper is quite frequent from EM I, mainly for large storage vessels (pithoi). Plant remains improve the plasticity of clays and reduce shrinkage. The voids resulting after the vessels have been fired impede the propagation... The same effect is achieved with the mixing of fossiliferous calcareous clays with non-calcareous red clays, since the contained microfossils and shells serve as natural organic temper. Experimental work has demonstrated that the optimum temper for ef... Beyond tempering and clay mixing, surface treatment may affect not only the aesthetic but also the functional properties of a vessel. By burnishing the surface the clay particles become oriented and permeability is reduced. The same effect is also ach... 6.4 Discussion The petrographic examination of EM pottery from west Crete provided significant information in terms of provenance and technology. Before summarising the main points of the study, it is worth discussing briefly the limitations of the method in the spe... Despite the impediments deriving from the geology of the area and the chronology of the material, petrographic analysis demonstrated that the pottery fabrics are in most cases site-specific and that the different fabrics are local. This means that dur... When examining the relation between fabrics, wares and vessel shapes through time, the emerging pattern is that in the EM I period there is no differentiation between the clay recipes used for large-, medium- and small-sized vessels. The main fabrics ... In the subsequent period (EM IIA) there is differentiation in the fabrics used for large and small vessels. The most complete assemblages for this period are those of Nopigeia and Chania and the difference between the coarse and the semi-coarse versio... It is noteworthy that the fossiliferous fabrics were used almost exclusively for the Helladic-style fine pottery, which is not the case with the coarse wares. Hearths and collared jars, i.e. the main types of Helladic/Cycladic coarse ware vessels in w... Another characteristic of the EM IIA period is that there is no differentiation between fabrics used for storage and cooking vessels. This must be due to the fact that the natural properties of the west Cretan clays, such as good workability and natur... It seems, therefore, that except for the Helladic-style fine black slipped wares which are manufactured according to a specific recipe, the dominant pattern for the EM pottery in west Crete for the coarse wares is that the fabrics are not directly rel... Chania Group 3 (Fig. 11) Chania Group 4 (Fig. 10) Debla Groups 1 and 2 Debla Group 3 Mitatoulia Group (Fig. 17) Table X. Dark Grey Burnished ware Table XI. Red-Brown / Black Burnished ware Table XII. Red Slipped and Burnished ware Table XIII. Black Slipped ware Table XIV. Mottled ware Table XV. Vessels with creamy slip CHAPTER 9 DEBLA FABRIC GROUP A1: Red with grog and white mica Samples Microstructure Inclusions Samples Samples Inclusions Inclusions Samples Samples Coarse Fraction Fine Fraction Microstructure Groundmass Inclusions Coarse Fraction Fine Fraction FABRIC GROUP D1: Very fine to semi-coarse with fossils Sample PLT 00/16 Soles, J. F. 1988 Social ranking in Prepalatial cemeteries, in E. B. French and K. A. Wardle (eds.) Problems in Greek Prehistory: 49-61. Bristol Nodarou front matter.pdf An Analytical Perspective Eleni Nodarou Romans 9: 21 Front Cover Title Page Copyright Dedication Opening Quotations Table of Contents LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF TABLES LIST OF PLATES ABBREVIATIONS ABSTRACT ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS CHAPTER 1 CHAPTER 2 The Prepalatial period in west Crete and the sitesincluded in the study CHAPTER 3 Methodology CHAPTER 4 The geology of west Crete CHAPTER 5 Early Bronze Age pottery from west Crete CHAPTER 6 Petrographic Analysis CHAPTER 7 Neutron Activation Analysis CHAPTER 8 Scanning Electron Microscopy CHAPTER 9 Pottery production, distribution and consumption in Early Minoan west Crete APPENDIX I CATALOGUE OF SAMPLES APPENDIX II PETROGRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS APPENDIX III THE NAA DATA REFERENCES CITED PLATES