Ceramic production and distribution in protopalatial Crete : technological, economic and social perspectives.
type: CreativeWork
description: Excavations twenty five years ago at the sites of Quartier Mu (Mallia), and Myrtos Pyrgos revealed extensive pottery deposits datable to the Middle Minoan IIB phase of the Protopalatial period. The fine ceramics of the village site of Myrtos Pyrgos are very similar to those at the palatial site of Mallia. Other sites in East Crete, such as Gournia and Vasiliki, also share the same fine pottery styles. These patterns of ceramic stylistic regionalism have been interpreted by various scholars as evidence for an early state centred on the palatial site of Mallia. Yet basing such political interpretations almost exclusively on ceramic stylistic regionalism is a problematic process; ethnoarchaeological work suggests that cultural units thus reconstructed need not tally with units of economic or political activity. As such they do not tell us a great deal about the dynamic economic workings of an early state. Using pottery as a source of information on such economic processes (production and distribution) requires a fresh analytical perspective. As technology is here differently perceived than in most Minoan ceramic studies, I consider it an impo1tant part of this thesis to build up a detailed picture of the nature of technology, and how one might go about understanding past technological choices and activities when faced with the finished products alone. The traditional use of typological and stylistic data is in itself inadequate, and has to be supplemented by, and integrated with, technological and compositional data. In terms of methodology this involves detailed analyses of vessel size and shape, fabric (using thin section petrography), construction technique, surface treatment and decoration. Technical variants in different stages of production are thereby identified. Moreover, assessments are made of the skill, standardisation and labour input in the execution of these production steps. Before -the main data from Mallia and My1tos Pyrgos are presented, various Middl…
abstract: Excavations twenty five years ago at the sites of Quartier Mu (Mallia), and Myrtos Pyrgos revealed extensive pottery deposits datable to the Middle Minoan IIB phase of the Protopalatial period. The fine ceramics of the village site of Myrtos Pyrgos are very similar to those at the palatial site of Mallia. Other sites in East Crete, such as Gournia and Vasiliki, also share the same fine pottery styles. These patterns of ceramic stylistic regionalism have been interpreted by various scholars as evidence for an early state centred on the palatial site of Mallia. Yet basing such political interpretations almost exclusively on ceramic stylistic regionalism is a problematic process; ethnoarchaeological work suggests that cultural units thus reconstructed need not tally with units of economic or political activity. As such they do not tell us a great deal about the dynamic economic workings of an early state. Using pottery as a source of information on such economic processes (production and distribution) requires a fresh analytical perspective. As technology is here differently perceived than in most Minoan ceramic studies, I consider it an impo1tant part of this thesis to build up a detailed picture of the nature of technology, and how one might go about understanding past technological choices and activities when faced with the finished products alone. The traditional use of typological and stylistic data is in itself inadequate, and has to be supplemented by, and integrated with, technological and compositional data. In terms of methodology this involves detailed analyses of vessel size and shape, fabric (using thin section petrography), construction technique, surface treatment and decoration. Technical variants in different stages of production are thereby identified. Moreover, assessments are made of the skill, standardisation and labour input in the execution of these production steps. Before -the main data from Mallia and My1tos Pyrgos are presented, various Middl…
author: Knappett, Carl James
language: eng
license: https://apollo8-f-pro.lib.cam.ac.uk/bitstreams/72895af2-5cad-46e8-b7f1-3d9e6131ac0a/download
license: https://www.rioxx.net/licenses/all-rights-reserved/
date published: 1997-07-11
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:23:56Z
provider: Cambridge University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Cambridge

PropertyValue
property ID: DOI
value: 10.17863/CAM.11599