DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.8755#0028
Knossos Excavations, 1903.
17
§ 4.—Early Minoan Basement with Monolithic Pillars.
About fourteen metres North of the South-East House.excavations com-
pleted this season have brought to light some very early basements with
bays and pillars belonging to an extremely early period of the Minoan
civilisation. Ahead)' in 1900 a trial pit sunk here to a depth of about 4'6o
metres below the surface level had shown the existence of early walls to
this depth and had been productive throughout the lowest two metres of
early polychrome ware, including a curious vase in the form of a
dove.
The walls, which at this spot began about 50 centimetres below the
original surface of the ground, show a triple stratification, answering to
three different periods. Of the walls of the highest stratum a height of
about 1-30 metre is preserved. On a floor level answering to this layer
rested a ' streaked' pithos, apparently belonging to the Latest Palace
Period. In this stratum were also found fragments of good painted
pottery of the 'Palace Style' and the two cups with ink-written inscrip-
tions described in the preceding Report.
Another wall-layer, 65 centimetres in depth, leads down to the earliest
and best preserved remains (see Eig. 7). These form what seems to
have been a basement chamber, the roof of which was supported by two
squared monolithic pillars of limestone resting on broad bases of the same
material. The Western of these is 2 02 metres in height, the other,
slightly broken at top, 1-90. The North Wall of the chamber has three
projecting walls forming, with the side walls of the room, four bays or
niches. Near the South Wall, opposite the space between the two
pillars, was a shallow circular pit, about half a metre in depth and i-30
metre in diameter. The walls where best preserved go up 2-iO
metres. The small rough masonry and the deep character of the
chamber much recall the deep walled pits of the North Ouarter
of the Palace. Pillars made out of a single block are not found in the
Later Palace, though the Northern Pillar Hall shows a return to a similar
system. There is no trace of a doorway, and it is probable that access to
this basement was by means of a trap-door and ladder.
From its upper wall level downwards the pottery found in this
chamber was of the early kind with polychrome decoration on a dark
c
17
§ 4.—Early Minoan Basement with Monolithic Pillars.
About fourteen metres North of the South-East House.excavations com-
pleted this season have brought to light some very early basements with
bays and pillars belonging to an extremely early period of the Minoan
civilisation. Ahead)' in 1900 a trial pit sunk here to a depth of about 4'6o
metres below the surface level had shown the existence of early walls to
this depth and had been productive throughout the lowest two metres of
early polychrome ware, including a curious vase in the form of a
dove.
The walls, which at this spot began about 50 centimetres below the
original surface of the ground, show a triple stratification, answering to
three different periods. Of the walls of the highest stratum a height of
about 1-30 metre is preserved. On a floor level answering to this layer
rested a ' streaked' pithos, apparently belonging to the Latest Palace
Period. In this stratum were also found fragments of good painted
pottery of the 'Palace Style' and the two cups with ink-written inscrip-
tions described in the preceding Report.
Another wall-layer, 65 centimetres in depth, leads down to the earliest
and best preserved remains (see Eig. 7). These form what seems to
have been a basement chamber, the roof of which was supported by two
squared monolithic pillars of limestone resting on broad bases of the same
material. The Western of these is 2 02 metres in height, the other,
slightly broken at top, 1-90. The North Wall of the chamber has three
projecting walls forming, with the side walls of the room, four bays or
niches. Near the South Wall, opposite the space between the two
pillars, was a shallow circular pit, about half a metre in depth and i-30
metre in diameter. The walls where best preserved go up 2-iO
metres. The small rough masonry and the deep character of the
chamber much recall the deep walled pits of the North Ouarter
of the Palace. Pillars made out of a single block are not found in the
Later Palace, though the Northern Pillar Hall shows a return to a similar
system. There is no trace of a doorway, and it is probable that access to
this basement was by means of a trap-door and ladder.
From its upper wall level downwards the pottery found in this
chamber was of the early kind with polychrome decoration on a dark
c