Journal ArticleDOI
Last chance to see? Karfi (Crete) in the twenty-first century: presentation of new architectural data and their analysis in the current context of research
TLDR
In this article, the authors present new studies of the architecture at Karfi (12th-11th centuries BC) which has significantly deteriorated since excavation in the 1930s, using 1:50 plans of the best-preserved buildings, a new topographical plan of the whole site area, and an EDM plot of the main visible unexcavated remains to enhance previous commentary on social organization at the site and others of the period.Abstract:
The paper presents new studies of the architecture at Karfi (12th-11th centuries BC) which has significantly deteriorated since excavation in the 1930s. 1:50 plans of the best-preserved buildings, a new topographical plan of the whole site area, and an EDM plot of the main visible unexcavated remains, allow enhancement of previous commentary on social organization at the site and others of the period. It examines in detail and with the use of wide-ranging comparisons (including with sites of the preceding LM III and subsequent PG-A periods) the ways in which new social systems were materially constructed from soon after widespread settlement relocations in Crete c. 1200 BC. It highlights inter-site similarities suggesting regular, deep-rooted interaction between communities during or soon after this horizon of major social change while evaluating subtle differences probably related to differences in size and complexity between the new villages. For example, cooking facility distribution suggests a role for communal cooking, paralleled at other sites, which is here especially pronounced. This limitation on individuals' potential to achieve status through the hosting of exclusive secular feasts/gatherings may relate to particularly volatile factional competition in large settlements. Evidence recently cited in support of such a model for Karfi (the presence of several different large structures, some containing feasting evidence) is used to raise the question of whether all large secular buildings at this period must be seen as residences. The distinctive character of Karfi's eastern excavated zone (previously argued to relate to diachronic development or to ethnic origins/power balance at the sites) is here characterized in terms of its static rather than agglutinative planning, a feature possibly marking a unique social role for the area. The ‘Megarons’ block, located in this zone, is compared with similar buildings at contemporary sites, with the conclusion that Crete saw the emergence soon after 1200 BC of a fairly fixed template for public feasting buildings, drawing deliberately on features which had earlier possessed exotic/prestige associations. Though such buildings may have shared their social role with powerful families' residences, and direct emulation of their form may have been an important element in social competition, they represent a separate, standardized social institution at this period, complementing the new standardization of cult practice in settlement temples. We seem able identify consistently recognized social concepts spanning the Latest Bronze through Archaic periods in Crete, which were nonetheless transformed through their materialization in changing historical circumstances. The paper concludes by discussing future management and research potential at Karfi.read more
Citations
More filters
DissertationDOI
Ain't no mountain high enough. Man and the environment in the uplands of Crete from the Neolithic to the end of the Roman period
TL;DR: In this article, a theory section evaluates methods, geology, flora and fauna of Crete as well as approaches to mountain archaeology, and five geographical and three thematic case studies then analyse, review and synthesize man-environment interactions across the island and over time.
Journal ArticleDOI
Surviving crisis: insights from new excavation at karphi, 2008
Saro Wallace,Dimitra Mylona +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigated the likely complexity of social systems at one of the largest new communities founded in Crete after the collapse of Bronze Age states c.1200 bc.
Journal ArticleDOI
Goddesses Refusing to Appear? Reconsidering the Late Minoan III Figures with Upraised Arms
TL;DR: In this article, the figures with up-raised arms are reconsidered as symbolic representations of votaries within the context of elite competition, rather than as cult images or cult statues.
Journal ArticleDOI
Bridges in the Mountains: Issues of Structure, Multi-vocality, Responsibility and Gain in Filling a Management Gap in Rural Greece
TL;DR: In this article, the authors highlight issues of responsibility and structure in archaeological management and research in Greece: they suggest that a long-established disjunction between the sectors, alongside other social, historical and economic factors operating at regional and national level, has contributed to the situation exemplified in Lasithi.
Journal ArticleDOI
Architectural Biography in Area A at Tell es-Safi/Gath: From Unknown Unknowns to Unknown Knowns and Known Knowns, in Order to Arrive at the Known Unknowns
TL;DR: In this paper , the authors present a building biography of a rectangular structure, probably domestic in nature and located in the early Philistine sector of Area A at Tell es-Safi/Gath.
References
More filters
Book
House and Society in the Ancient Greek World
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a case study of the city of Olynthos and its domestic organization in the ancient Greek world, focusing on domestic space and ancient Greek society.
MonographDOI
Use and Appreciation of Mycenaean Pottery in the Levant, Cyprus and Italy : (ca. 1600-1200 BC)
van Wijngaarden,Gert Jan +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the cultural significance of Mycenaean pottery in the Levant, Cyprus and Italy has been investigated for the three areas with the largest amounts of Mycanaean pots.
Related Papers (5)
From party to ritual to ruin in Minoan Crete : The spatial context of feasting
Quentin Letesson,Jan Driessen +1 more