DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.809#0040
Fragment
of large
bowl.
Plan of
Neo-
lithic
Houses.
16 LATE NEOLITHIC HOUSES BENEATH CENTRAL COURT
though on a smaller scale than is usual, a typical class of late pre-dynastic
and proto-dynastic Egyptian pots which during the early historic period were
gradually rendered more elegant by the slight incurving of their sides.
In the well-preserved N.E. angle of the upper structure were
also found two fragments of stone vessels executed in hard stones of
variegated texture. The larger of these, Fig. 7,
a i, 2, belonged to a vessel of considerable size,
having a circumference of n*8 m. (46^ in.). Its
greatest thickness is 5 cm. and this gradually
decreases to 3 cm. at a point where the section
appears of a tubular perforation, 2-5 cm. in diam.
The original vessel may have been a massive
bowl with a round hole at its bottom, like the
basin of a modern wash-stand; its exact form,
however, must be as much a matter of con-
jecture as the purpose that it may have served.
The stone itself seems to be essentially the .same
as that used for the mace-head. Fig. 3, /, though
the quartzite veins are here white. In this case,
too, particles of ore are visible which in places
display a glittering surface recalling iron pyrites.
The lesser fragment, Fig. 7, c, belongs to
a much smaller vessel and is only 1.3 to 1.5 cm.
thick. To judge from the section preserved it may
have been part of a bowl of the early fiat collared
class. The main material is dark, containing
what looks like iron ore, and well contrasting with
the pale green veins that traverse it horizontally.
From these examples we see that the research for variegated and beautiful
stones as the material of vases, so characteristic of the prehistoric Egyptian
lapidaries, is already exemplified in Crete by the closing Neolithic period.
With the exception of the wall foundations at the N.E. corner of the
excavated area which, as the plan, Fig. 8, shows, were superposed on the
earlier lines at a slightly different angle, the main structural remains belong
to the earlier of the two Neolithic strata. The whole forms an agglomera-
tion of more than one building, with spurs traceable in places running out
from the border lines, which imply an uninterrupted extension in certain
directions. We have here indeed a microcosm of the town of Knossos
as it existed at the close of the Neolithic Age.
Fig. 6. Limestone Pot
(restored (I)) and Inside
View.
of large
bowl.
Plan of
Neo-
lithic
Houses.
16 LATE NEOLITHIC HOUSES BENEATH CENTRAL COURT
though on a smaller scale than is usual, a typical class of late pre-dynastic
and proto-dynastic Egyptian pots which during the early historic period were
gradually rendered more elegant by the slight incurving of their sides.
In the well-preserved N.E. angle of the upper structure were
also found two fragments of stone vessels executed in hard stones of
variegated texture. The larger of these, Fig. 7,
a i, 2, belonged to a vessel of considerable size,
having a circumference of n*8 m. (46^ in.). Its
greatest thickness is 5 cm. and this gradually
decreases to 3 cm. at a point where the section
appears of a tubular perforation, 2-5 cm. in diam.
The original vessel may have been a massive
bowl with a round hole at its bottom, like the
basin of a modern wash-stand; its exact form,
however, must be as much a matter of con-
jecture as the purpose that it may have served.
The stone itself seems to be essentially the .same
as that used for the mace-head. Fig. 3, /, though
the quartzite veins are here white. In this case,
too, particles of ore are visible which in places
display a glittering surface recalling iron pyrites.
The lesser fragment, Fig. 7, c, belongs to
a much smaller vessel and is only 1.3 to 1.5 cm.
thick. To judge from the section preserved it may
have been part of a bowl of the early fiat collared
class. The main material is dark, containing
what looks like iron ore, and well contrasting with
the pale green veins that traverse it horizontally.
From these examples we see that the research for variegated and beautiful
stones as the material of vases, so characteristic of the prehistoric Egyptian
lapidaries, is already exemplified in Crete by the closing Neolithic period.
With the exception of the wall foundations at the N.E. corner of the
excavated area which, as the plan, Fig. 8, shows, were superposed on the
earlier lines at a slightly different angle, the main structural remains belong
to the earlier of the two Neolithic strata. The whole forms an agglomera-
tion of more than one building, with spurs traceable in places running out
from the border lines, which imply an uninterrupted extension in certain
directions. We have here indeed a microcosm of the town of Knossos
as it existed at the close of the Neolithic Age.
Fig. 6. Limestone Pot
(restored (I)) and Inside
View.