DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.807#0340
THE PALACE OF MINOS, ETC.
on the plaques. What perhaps is a still more important point is the
appearance in the case of the masonry reproduced in the Terra-cotta Shrine
of distinct interstices between the blocks. The method of laying the
limestone blocks on a bedding of clay mortar, which gives rise to these
well-marked intervals, is itself, as illus-
trated above in the case of the South
light-area of the Oueen's Megaron, a
characteristic feature of the earlier type
of Middle Minoan architecture as com-
pared with the finely compacted blocks
of the fully developed M. M. Ill style.
But this earlier form of construction is
clearly reproduced in the isodomic
masonry of the tower-houses seen in
Fig. 226, S, T, U.
That some constructive features
such as the wooden framework were to a
certain extent common to the developed
M. M. Ill style is not surprising when
we remember that masonry encased in
wooden timbering is already illustrated
by the Early Minoan buildings of
Vasiliki. But the architectural forms
displayed by the House Tablets really
represent the traditions of the earlier
part of the Middle Minoan Age. They
cannot as a whole be taken to reflect
the architectural fashions that emerge
to view in the existing remains of the
Domestic Quarter, which indeed were
largely taken over by the Late Minoan
builders. The ' Town Mosaic ' must in
Fig. 225. Specimens of Structures short be placed in the same M. M. II b
from Terra-cotta Shrine. context as the Terra-cotta Shrine.
In spite, however, of their early elate and archaic tradition the effect
produced by the facades of these Minoan town-houses is on the whole
surprisingly modern. Though in some cases details of the restoration are
necessarily conjectural, the general accuracy of their presentment, as seen
in Fig. 220, can hardly be contested. Of the types of building there shown,
on the plaques. What perhaps is a still more important point is the
appearance in the case of the masonry reproduced in the Terra-cotta Shrine
of distinct interstices between the blocks. The method of laying the
limestone blocks on a bedding of clay mortar, which gives rise to these
well-marked intervals, is itself, as illus-
trated above in the case of the South
light-area of the Oueen's Megaron, a
characteristic feature of the earlier type
of Middle Minoan architecture as com-
pared with the finely compacted blocks
of the fully developed M. M. Ill style.
But this earlier form of construction is
clearly reproduced in the isodomic
masonry of the tower-houses seen in
Fig. 226, S, T, U.
That some constructive features
such as the wooden framework were to a
certain extent common to the developed
M. M. Ill style is not surprising when
we remember that masonry encased in
wooden timbering is already illustrated
by the Early Minoan buildings of
Vasiliki. But the architectural forms
displayed by the House Tablets really
represent the traditions of the earlier
part of the Middle Minoan Age. They
cannot as a whole be taken to reflect
the architectural fashions that emerge
to view in the existing remains of the
Domestic Quarter, which indeed were
largely taken over by the Late Minoan
builders. The ' Town Mosaic ' must in
Fig. 225. Specimens of Structures short be placed in the same M. M. II b
from Terra-cotta Shrine. context as the Terra-cotta Shrine.
In spite, however, of their early elate and archaic tradition the effect
produced by the facades of these Minoan town-houses is on the whole
surprisingly modern. Though in some cases details of the restoration are
necessarily conjectural, the general accuracy of their presentment, as seen
in Fig. 220, can hardly be contested. Of the types of building there shown,