DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.807#0183
M. M. I: PEAK SANCTUARY: 'THE TOMB OF ZEUS' 157
of settle-
ment
within.
The wall runs across the neck of the ridge North and South of the
Sanctuary, and follows close to the edge of the precipice itself. Approaching Remains
this Temenos by the winding- mountain path that leads from the site of
Knossos, an opening is seen in the northern wall line, marking what was
probably the main entrance in ancient times. The rocky steep within the
circuit wall is abundantly strewn with Minoan sherds, many of them
M. M. I, which indicate a considerable habitation of this area. Remains of
large pithoi, indeed, point to something more than temporary settlement,
though intermittent occupation by great pilgrim crowds at festival times may
account for many of the relics found. It seems possible, moreover, that
HOUSE
W/\LL.
RESTORED.
H TERR ACL OF
'OBSTRUCTION.
Fig. 114. Sketch Plan of Early Sanctuary ox Mr. Juktas.
owing to the sanctity of the spot it may have served as a place of asylum,
in other words, as a kind of ' City of Refuge '.
The remains of the actual shrine and \Totive station on the peak itself The great
Ash Altar-
belong to two periods. The earliest stage in the local cult is represented and later
by a grey ash stratum reaching to the bare surface of the rock and filling its shrme-
crevices, the ceramic contents of which were M. M. I and II. Above this
was a reddish stratum of burnt earth containino- sherds of the M. M. Ill
Period, and surrounding- the foundations of a rectangular building; of ashlar
blocks with outer terrace walls of rougher construction. The building-
seems to have been entered by an ascending corridor or stepway A—A on
its South face, but the interior portion on this side had been much disturbed,
of settle-
ment
within.
The wall runs across the neck of the ridge North and South of the
Sanctuary, and follows close to the edge of the precipice itself. Approaching Remains
this Temenos by the winding- mountain path that leads from the site of
Knossos, an opening is seen in the northern wall line, marking what was
probably the main entrance in ancient times. The rocky steep within the
circuit wall is abundantly strewn with Minoan sherds, many of them
M. M. I, which indicate a considerable habitation of this area. Remains of
large pithoi, indeed, point to something more than temporary settlement,
though intermittent occupation by great pilgrim crowds at festival times may
account for many of the relics found. It seems possible, moreover, that
HOUSE
W/\LL.
RESTORED.
H TERR ACL OF
'OBSTRUCTION.
Fig. 114. Sketch Plan of Early Sanctuary ox Mr. Juktas.
owing to the sanctity of the spot it may have served as a place of asylum,
in other words, as a kind of ' City of Refuge '.
The remains of the actual shrine and \Totive station on the peak itself The great
Ash Altar-
belong to two periods. The earliest stage in the local cult is represented and later
by a grey ash stratum reaching to the bare surface of the rock and filling its shrme-
crevices, the ceramic contents of which were M. M. I and II. Above this
was a reddish stratum of burnt earth containino- sherds of the M. M. Ill
Period, and surrounding- the foundations of a rectangular building; of ashlar
blocks with outer terrace walls of rougher construction. The building-
seems to have been entered by an ascending corridor or stepway A—A on
its South face, but the interior portion on this side had been much disturbed,