DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.9804#0080
CHAPTER IV
THE BUILDING OF THE PALACES, AND THE GREAT
MIDDLE MINOAN PERIODS
It will naturally be asked at this point whether we have
yet reached any connected system of walls or floor levels.
Are there traces of anything that we can call a palace
connected with the remains of these first four periods ?
Now it goes without saying that habitations of some
kind or another do not constitute a palace. That there
were habitations on the hill of Knossos, not only during
these four epochs, but during the Neolithic Age behind
them, is certain from the existence of the remains them-
selves. The character of the habitations is another
matter, and it is probable that even the excavators
themselves will need further testing and trial pits before
they really make up their minds. Dr. Dorpfeld has
recently 1 tried to draw far-reaching inferences from the
character of the construction and ground plan as shown
at different stages of the stratification ; but experienced
archaeologist and practical architect as he is, he has
been shown by Dr. Mackenzie ! to have misunderstood
the nature of the evidence. In view of his mistakes the
following interpretation of the evidence as to the succes-
sive buildings on the site is given with some diffidence.
For the Neolithic period no houses, or remains of
houses, have been discovered at Knossos, but the whole
hill, like a " Tell " in Mesopotamia, is itself largely
1 Alh. Mitt. xxx. 1905, pp. 257-97.
2 B.S.A. xi. pp. 181-223. Sec below, Chap. V.
55
THE BUILDING OF THE PALACES, AND THE GREAT
MIDDLE MINOAN PERIODS
It will naturally be asked at this point whether we have
yet reached any connected system of walls or floor levels.
Are there traces of anything that we can call a palace
connected with the remains of these first four periods ?
Now it goes without saying that habitations of some
kind or another do not constitute a palace. That there
were habitations on the hill of Knossos, not only during
these four epochs, but during the Neolithic Age behind
them, is certain from the existence of the remains them-
selves. The character of the habitations is another
matter, and it is probable that even the excavators
themselves will need further testing and trial pits before
they really make up their minds. Dr. Dorpfeld has
recently 1 tried to draw far-reaching inferences from the
character of the construction and ground plan as shown
at different stages of the stratification ; but experienced
archaeologist and practical architect as he is, he has
been shown by Dr. Mackenzie ! to have misunderstood
the nature of the evidence. In view of his mistakes the
following interpretation of the evidence as to the succes-
sive buildings on the site is given with some diffidence.
For the Neolithic period no houses, or remains of
houses, have been discovered at Knossos, but the whole
hill, like a " Tell " in Mesopotamia, is itself largely
1 Alh. Mitt. xxx. 1905, pp. 257-97.
2 B.S.A. xi. pp. 181-223. Sec below, Chap. V.
55