DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.809#0118
§ 36. The Minoan Viaduct South of the Palace.
Traces of Southern Road of approach at Kuossos ; Remains brought to
light beneath petrified surface; Quarrying by means of ' Wager' system ;
Massive piers unearthed of Minoan Viaduct; Stepped intervals between piers
for passage of water; Corbelled arches probably above intervals ; Restored
elevation; West Pier abutting on altered course of Viaduct towards bridge
over torrent—Leading to Stepped Portico and road beyond; Character of
Masonry ; Conjectural breadth of Roadivay ; Trunk line of Transit Route;
Traces of Continuation of Road S. E. of Viaduct, beneath Vlychia terrace ;
Middle Minoan Houses used as road foundations; L. M. I-II pottery
associated with upper part of Viaduct; Presumption that original elements
date from foundation of Palace.
The appearance of traces of what subsequently proved to have been Traces of
a monumental portico, stepping up the Southern slope to the Palace, led to appr0ach
the search for a Minoan road of approach on the opposite side of the ravine. at Knos-
A small excavation was accordingly made here above the farther bank of the
Vlychia torrent-bed, in a line approximately corresponding with that to which
the lower course of this great entrance avenue pointed, the result of which was
to bring to light the remains of the base blocks—a good deal tumbled about
in places—of what seemed to be the abutment of a Minoan paved way.
These blocks had been thought themselves to rest on the natural rock
surface, but the exceptionally heavy winter rains of 1923-4 brought out
certain features which suggested the advisability of further probing. The Remains
results of this were truly dramatic. The whole surface of the ground be"r^e^
bordering this paved area proved not to be rock at all, but an accumulation surface,
of earth, indurated, as it afterwards appeared, by water strongly impregnated
with gypsum, a fact easily accounted for by the gypsum formation of a large
part of the hill above, which gives it its name Gypsades. The earth
indeed rather resembled cement and was distinctly harder than the soft local
rock, or ' kouskouras', from which it was otherwise indistinguishable.
The excavation of this was really like quarrying work, and the full ^"a^y"
extent of the task before us only gradually revealed itself. A trench, 'Wager'
however, was begun along the outer edge of the construction by means of
the system of ' wagers', according to which workmen arranged in groups of
five dig out contiguous pits as staked out, competing against each other;
Traces of Southern Road of approach at Kuossos ; Remains brought to
light beneath petrified surface; Quarrying by means of ' Wager' system ;
Massive piers unearthed of Minoan Viaduct; Stepped intervals between piers
for passage of water; Corbelled arches probably above intervals ; Restored
elevation; West Pier abutting on altered course of Viaduct towards bridge
over torrent—Leading to Stepped Portico and road beyond; Character of
Masonry ; Conjectural breadth of Roadivay ; Trunk line of Transit Route;
Traces of Continuation of Road S. E. of Viaduct, beneath Vlychia terrace ;
Middle Minoan Houses used as road foundations; L. M. I-II pottery
associated with upper part of Viaduct; Presumption that original elements
date from foundation of Palace.
The appearance of traces of what subsequently proved to have been Traces of
a monumental portico, stepping up the Southern slope to the Palace, led to appr0ach
the search for a Minoan road of approach on the opposite side of the ravine. at Knos-
A small excavation was accordingly made here above the farther bank of the
Vlychia torrent-bed, in a line approximately corresponding with that to which
the lower course of this great entrance avenue pointed, the result of which was
to bring to light the remains of the base blocks—a good deal tumbled about
in places—of what seemed to be the abutment of a Minoan paved way.
These blocks had been thought themselves to rest on the natural rock
surface, but the exceptionally heavy winter rains of 1923-4 brought out
certain features which suggested the advisability of further probing. The Remains
results of this were truly dramatic. The whole surface of the ground be"r^e^
bordering this paved area proved not to be rock at all, but an accumulation surface,
of earth, indurated, as it afterwards appeared, by water strongly impregnated
with gypsum, a fact easily accounted for by the gypsum formation of a large
part of the hill above, which gives it its name Gypsades. The earth
indeed rather resembled cement and was distinctly harder than the soft local
rock, or ' kouskouras', from which it was otherwise indistinguishable.
The excavation of this was really like quarrying work, and the full ^"a^y"
extent of the task before us only gradually revealed itself. A trench, 'Wager'
however, was begun along the outer edge of the construction by means of
the system of ' wagers', according to which workmen arranged in groups of
five dig out contiguous pits as staked out, competing against each other;