DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.807#0054
THE MINOAN AGE
29
inces.
Court of the Knossian Palace is given in Fie. 4.1 It shows how great Section
a relative depth is occupied by the Neolithic deposit, though in a neighbour- West
inpf pit it was even greater. The three Early Minoan Periods were represented C°urt at
& 1 0 J 1 Knossos.
by distinct layers. Above these was a definite flooring, and at this point
occurred one of the lacunae in the evidence referred to above. The First
Middle Minoan Period was not represented, the floor having probably been
in continuous use. In a contiguous area, however, this gap is fully supplied.
Otherwise the succession of the Minoan Periods is here complete up to the
pavement of the Court, laid down in L. M. I. Above this point the deposit
was of a more unstratified nature, containing remains of the L. M. II and
L. M. Ill Periods.
The evidence supplied by the stratification of the successive cultural
deposits at Knossos is more complete than that on any other Cretan site. Its
general results, however, have been corroborated by the careful researches
of fellow explorers on other Cretan sites, though special allowances have in
these cases to be made for local conditions. Thus in great residential centres Palatial
like Knossos or Phaestos changes in fashion had a tendency to set in somewhat ahead of
earlier than in more remote provincial localities and to attain a more charac- Pro
. . v,n(
teristic development. In the East of Crete the First Middle Minoan style
shows a tendency to persist, while, on the other hand the mature class of
polychrome ware in what may be called the earlier ' Palace Style ' becomes
decidedly sparser away from the great centres. At Palaikastro, for instance,
there was a tendency, as Mr. Dawkins has observed, for the older M. M. I
traditions to survive to the borders of M. M. III. So, too, the later ' Palace
Style' of L. M. II is the special product of Knossos, and its place else-
where is not infrequently taken by somewhat degenerate versions of L. M. I
types. These considerations must always be borne in mind, but the best
standard of classification is clearly to be sought on the site which supplies the
most complete succession of links in the long chain of evolution.
To take one important centre like Knossos as the norm for such a strati- Best
ficatory classification of the Minoan Periods is advisable for another reason, ciassifica-
Regarded as a whole, the successive human strata on a given site show in each tl,on,s[1P"
to plied by
case a certain uniformity wherever struck. Knossian
This is notably the case at Knossos, where we repeatedly find floor levels stlclta-
exposed in various parts of the site which exhibit a parallel series of ceramic
or other remains. Such uniformity of deposit must be taken to mark a wide- Land"0
spread change or catastrophe at the epoch to which it belongs, and recurring marks.
1 See p. 33.
29
inces.
Court of the Knossian Palace is given in Fie. 4.1 It shows how great Section
a relative depth is occupied by the Neolithic deposit, though in a neighbour- West
inpf pit it was even greater. The three Early Minoan Periods were represented C°urt at
& 1 0 J 1 Knossos.
by distinct layers. Above these was a definite flooring, and at this point
occurred one of the lacunae in the evidence referred to above. The First
Middle Minoan Period was not represented, the floor having probably been
in continuous use. In a contiguous area, however, this gap is fully supplied.
Otherwise the succession of the Minoan Periods is here complete up to the
pavement of the Court, laid down in L. M. I. Above this point the deposit
was of a more unstratified nature, containing remains of the L. M. II and
L. M. Ill Periods.
The evidence supplied by the stratification of the successive cultural
deposits at Knossos is more complete than that on any other Cretan site. Its
general results, however, have been corroborated by the careful researches
of fellow explorers on other Cretan sites, though special allowances have in
these cases to be made for local conditions. Thus in great residential centres Palatial
like Knossos or Phaestos changes in fashion had a tendency to set in somewhat ahead of
earlier than in more remote provincial localities and to attain a more charac- Pro
. . v,n(
teristic development. In the East of Crete the First Middle Minoan style
shows a tendency to persist, while, on the other hand the mature class of
polychrome ware in what may be called the earlier ' Palace Style ' becomes
decidedly sparser away from the great centres. At Palaikastro, for instance,
there was a tendency, as Mr. Dawkins has observed, for the older M. M. I
traditions to survive to the borders of M. M. III. So, too, the later ' Palace
Style' of L. M. II is the special product of Knossos, and its place else-
where is not infrequently taken by somewhat degenerate versions of L. M. I
types. These considerations must always be borne in mind, but the best
standard of classification is clearly to be sought on the site which supplies the
most complete succession of links in the long chain of evolution.
To take one important centre like Knossos as the norm for such a strati- Best
ficatory classification of the Minoan Periods is advisable for another reason, ciassifica-
Regarded as a whole, the successive human strata on a given site show in each tl,on,s[1P"
to plied by
case a certain uniformity wherever struck. Knossian
This is notably the case at Knossos, where we repeatedly find floor levels stlclta-
exposed in various parts of the site which exhibit a parallel series of ceramic
or other remains. Such uniformity of deposit must be taken to mark a wide- Land"0
spread change or catastrophe at the epoch to which it belongs, and recurring marks.
1 See p. 33.