DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.810#0190
ROUGH ESTIMATE OF POPULATION 563
Unfortunately, in the case of Palaikastro, where considerable varia-
tion is observable in the size of the buildings, it is in many cases impossible
to ascertain their individual limits. In the case of Gournia, however, the
blocks convey more precise information. A dozen houses there, which
it has been possible to delimit, range in area from about 120 to 50 square
metres or less, giving an average size of about 80 square metres, to which
only a very small amount need be added for the individual share in the
alley space. In other words these habitations were somewhat less than half
the size estimated for better class houses at Knossos.
Rough Estimate of Population.
If at Knossos, as a basis for calculation, we estimate the poorer out- Denser
lying quarters of the town as having covered three times the area of that ^"of"
occupied by the prosperous bureher class it is clear that, according- to the poorer
Quarters
analogy supplied by Gournia, we must allow for a very large total popula-
tion. The number of occupants in relation to the size of the houses would
certainly have been greater than in the more favoured area. Habitation
may, of course, have been less continuous throughout this poorer zone, but
at the same time there may well have been suburban spurs beyond it,
especially on the routes leading to the harbour town.
It is well known that in any urban community the number of the poorer Over-
inhabitants is apt, even under the most favourable conditions, largely to p,epon- °
out-number that of the well-to-do. In the Zafer Papoura Cemetery, out of prance
' '; of poor
exactly one hundred graves explored, not more than five could with any inter-
probability be attributed to individuals in easy circumstances. These ex- ™aef"rsIn
ceptional cases were the large vault containing a tripod hearth and a fine £aPoura
deposit of bronze vessels (No. 14),1 the Chieftain's Grave (No. 36)2 with its
splendid gold-plated and engraved swords and necklace of gold beads, and
that of another warrior also containing two fine swords (No. 44),3 to which
may be added Grave 7 with its gold ring and necklace and ivory boat,4 and
No. 99, exhibiting a varied group of objects.5 Zafer Papoura being an
outlying Cemetery, this proportion of 5 per cent, for well-to-do tombs may
be considerably below the general average, but it still gives us a true
indication of the existence of a poorer outer zone, relatively more populous.
The poorer quarters of the town have been here estimated as covering
inherited, so far as the main gangways go, from (Archaeologia, lix), p. 34 seqq. and Fig. 33.
the earlier Age. This is the Late Minoan III 2 Ibid., p. 55, Figs. 58, 59.
Plan, distinguished by its Palace of Mycenaean 3 Ibid., p. 62, Fig. 60.
type (= c. 314 square metres). * Ibid., p. 25, Figs. 20-3.
1 A. E., Prehistoric Tombs of Knossos 5 Ibid., p. 87, Figs. 100, 101.
r p 2
Unfortunately, in the case of Palaikastro, where considerable varia-
tion is observable in the size of the buildings, it is in many cases impossible
to ascertain their individual limits. In the case of Gournia, however, the
blocks convey more precise information. A dozen houses there, which
it has been possible to delimit, range in area from about 120 to 50 square
metres or less, giving an average size of about 80 square metres, to which
only a very small amount need be added for the individual share in the
alley space. In other words these habitations were somewhat less than half
the size estimated for better class houses at Knossos.
Rough Estimate of Population.
If at Knossos, as a basis for calculation, we estimate the poorer out- Denser
lying quarters of the town as having covered three times the area of that ^"of"
occupied by the prosperous bureher class it is clear that, according- to the poorer
Quarters
analogy supplied by Gournia, we must allow for a very large total popula-
tion. The number of occupants in relation to the size of the houses would
certainly have been greater than in the more favoured area. Habitation
may, of course, have been less continuous throughout this poorer zone, but
at the same time there may well have been suburban spurs beyond it,
especially on the routes leading to the harbour town.
It is well known that in any urban community the number of the poorer Over-
inhabitants is apt, even under the most favourable conditions, largely to p,epon- °
out-number that of the well-to-do. In the Zafer Papoura Cemetery, out of prance
' '; of poor
exactly one hundred graves explored, not more than five could with any inter-
probability be attributed to individuals in easy circumstances. These ex- ™aef"rsIn
ceptional cases were the large vault containing a tripod hearth and a fine £aPoura
deposit of bronze vessels (No. 14),1 the Chieftain's Grave (No. 36)2 with its
splendid gold-plated and engraved swords and necklace of gold beads, and
that of another warrior also containing two fine swords (No. 44),3 to which
may be added Grave 7 with its gold ring and necklace and ivory boat,4 and
No. 99, exhibiting a varied group of objects.5 Zafer Papoura being an
outlying Cemetery, this proportion of 5 per cent, for well-to-do tombs may
be considerably below the general average, but it still gives us a true
indication of the existence of a poorer outer zone, relatively more populous.
The poorer quarters of the town have been here estimated as covering
inherited, so far as the main gangways go, from (Archaeologia, lix), p. 34 seqq. and Fig. 33.
the earlier Age. This is the Late Minoan III 2 Ibid., p. 55, Figs. 58, 59.
Plan, distinguished by its Palace of Mycenaean 3 Ibid., p. 62, Fig. 60.
type (= c. 314 square metres). * Ibid., p. 25, Figs. 20-3.
1 A. E., Prehistoric Tombs of Knossos 5 Ibid., p. 87, Figs. 100, 101.
r p 2