DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.809#0045
TRADITIONAL ANATOLIAN CONNEXIONS
21
It is important to observe that there is no evidence of the persistence
of the round central hearth in connexion with a square Megaron during the
Middle Helladic stage. That culture in fact largely arose from a fusion
with intrusive ' Minyan ' elements from beyond the Gulf, and the rectangular
house-type itself was mostly displaced, as far as can be learnt from the
archaeological data before us, by houses of apsidal form. The appearance
of the ' isolated' Megara of Mycenae and Tiryns, following the symmetrical
Trojan type, would thus seem to have been due to external influence and to
stand in an Anatolian connexion.
The fact that ad antiquo the use of fixed internal hearths had, as it would
thus seem, been as traditional in Crete—and we may suppose the Cyclades
too—as it was in the Mainland regions on either side of the Aegean, makes
the adoption in Minoan times of the other usage the more significant. The
fixed hearths, which point to the severer conditions of a continental climate,
were the natural inheritance of those who, coming in from the Anatolian
side, seem to have first peopled the island—an inheritance, as we have seen,
handed down at least to the close of the Neolithic Age. Why then was
it abandoned ? Why, even in the case of buildings of the Early Minoan
Age, such as those of Vasiliki, are the traces of such a practice already lost ?
It seems reasonable to conclude that in the introduction of movable in
place of fixed hearths—itself made possible by the milder, marine climate of
the Island—we may recognize a further manifestation of the strong Southern
influence of which we have already an indication in the Late Neolithic
stone vessels.
both sides. The narrow inner compartment Mackenzie, Cretan Palaces, iv (B. S. A., xiv,
here bears an analogy to the back room of the p. 374 seqq.). He lays stress on the influence
Knossian house. On these 'but and ben' of the fixed hearth in isolating the principal
Thessalian houses and the central hearth see room or ' Megaron'.
Inherit-
ance of
contin-
ental
climate.
Introduc-
tion of
movable
Hearths
due to
Southern
influence.
1 2
Fig. 8 b. Hearths of Late Neolithic Houses, Knossos (i, House B; 2, House A).
21
It is important to observe that there is no evidence of the persistence
of the round central hearth in connexion with a square Megaron during the
Middle Helladic stage. That culture in fact largely arose from a fusion
with intrusive ' Minyan ' elements from beyond the Gulf, and the rectangular
house-type itself was mostly displaced, as far as can be learnt from the
archaeological data before us, by houses of apsidal form. The appearance
of the ' isolated' Megara of Mycenae and Tiryns, following the symmetrical
Trojan type, would thus seem to have been due to external influence and to
stand in an Anatolian connexion.
The fact that ad antiquo the use of fixed internal hearths had, as it would
thus seem, been as traditional in Crete—and we may suppose the Cyclades
too—as it was in the Mainland regions on either side of the Aegean, makes
the adoption in Minoan times of the other usage the more significant. The
fixed hearths, which point to the severer conditions of a continental climate,
were the natural inheritance of those who, coming in from the Anatolian
side, seem to have first peopled the island—an inheritance, as we have seen,
handed down at least to the close of the Neolithic Age. Why then was
it abandoned ? Why, even in the case of buildings of the Early Minoan
Age, such as those of Vasiliki, are the traces of such a practice already lost ?
It seems reasonable to conclude that in the introduction of movable in
place of fixed hearths—itself made possible by the milder, marine climate of
the Island—we may recognize a further manifestation of the strong Southern
influence of which we have already an indication in the Late Neolithic
stone vessels.
both sides. The narrow inner compartment Mackenzie, Cretan Palaces, iv (B. S. A., xiv,
here bears an analogy to the back room of the p. 374 seqq.). He lays stress on the influence
Knossian house. On these 'but and ben' of the fixed hearth in isolating the principal
Thessalian houses and the central hearth see room or ' Megaron'.
Inherit-
ance of
contin-
ental
climate.
Introduc-
tion of
movable
Hearths
due to
Southern
influence.
1 2
Fig. 8 b. Hearths of Late Neolithic Houses, Knossos (i, House B; 2, House A).