DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.809#0126
MINOAN VIADUCT SOUTH OF THE PALACE 101
About 18 metres beyond this pier an interesting development was M.M.
brought out by an exploratory excavation in the shape of the projecting used as
angles of Middle Minoan houses, the lower part of the walls of which, when f°„n(ja..
already in a ruined condition, were clearly used to support the substructures *"»»•
of the Minoan road. The pottery here found in connexion with house
floors ranged from M. M. II b to the close of M. M. III. The latest class
represented types of the Temple Repositories of the Palace and of the con-
siderable series of deposits contemporary with those found in the East wing.
They attest the widespread ruin that overtook the site of Knossos at that
epoch as to the significance of which, in relation to a great earthquake, more
will be said in a later Section,
The pottery associated with the Viaduct itself seems to have belonged L. M. l«
to rubbish heaps connected with an extensive hostel or ' Caravanserai' asso.
described in the succeeding Section. All the sherds found were of the First or ™ffad
Second Late Minoan Periods.1 The preponderating element was L. M. I a, the Viaduct,
fragments going back to the very beginning of that epoch and presenting good
examples of the new and characteristic use of bright red pigment painted on
the clay slip. This was often associated with reeds and floral motives such
as crocuses, taken over, as we now know,2 from contemporary fresco designs.
Part of a large jar showed the reeds in a close series after the manner of the
thickets in which they grow. Very well represented too was the succeeding
L. M. I b style, the rare occurrence of which on pottery from the house floors
of the Palace was simply due to their continuous use to the end of the
succeeding Period. The designs often show rocks with seaweed gracefully
waving in the water, and sea creatures.3 From the abundance, indeed, of
such fragments here and on many of the house sites, it seems probable that
this the most elegant of all Minoan forms of vase decoration—early known
from the Marseilles aiguiere—was largely distributed from Knossos itself.
In close relation to the examples of this class there also appeared painted
sherds with more formalized designs, typical of the last Palace Period
(L. M. II). But at this point the ceramic remains tailed off, and in Dr.
Mackenzie's opinion not a single sherd occurred ' which could with certainty
be set down as belonging to even the earlier part of the Third Late Minoan
Period (L. M. Ilia)'.
This evidence will be seen to agree with that already given above Disuse
which shows that the road construction passed over the remains of houses juct'a"
1 The pottery found here, as well as that 2 See below, § 53.
associated with the Middle Minoan house 3 On the ' marine ' style of vase decoration,
floors, was carefully studied by Dr. Mackenzie, see below, p. 500 seqq.
About 18 metres beyond this pier an interesting development was M.M.
brought out by an exploratory excavation in the shape of the projecting used as
angles of Middle Minoan houses, the lower part of the walls of which, when f°„n(ja..
already in a ruined condition, were clearly used to support the substructures *"»»•
of the Minoan road. The pottery here found in connexion with house
floors ranged from M. M. II b to the close of M. M. III. The latest class
represented types of the Temple Repositories of the Palace and of the con-
siderable series of deposits contemporary with those found in the East wing.
They attest the widespread ruin that overtook the site of Knossos at that
epoch as to the significance of which, in relation to a great earthquake, more
will be said in a later Section,
The pottery associated with the Viaduct itself seems to have belonged L. M. l«
to rubbish heaps connected with an extensive hostel or ' Caravanserai' asso.
described in the succeeding Section. All the sherds found were of the First or ™ffad
Second Late Minoan Periods.1 The preponderating element was L. M. I a, the Viaduct,
fragments going back to the very beginning of that epoch and presenting good
examples of the new and characteristic use of bright red pigment painted on
the clay slip. This was often associated with reeds and floral motives such
as crocuses, taken over, as we now know,2 from contemporary fresco designs.
Part of a large jar showed the reeds in a close series after the manner of the
thickets in which they grow. Very well represented too was the succeeding
L. M. I b style, the rare occurrence of which on pottery from the house floors
of the Palace was simply due to their continuous use to the end of the
succeeding Period. The designs often show rocks with seaweed gracefully
waving in the water, and sea creatures.3 From the abundance, indeed, of
such fragments here and on many of the house sites, it seems probable that
this the most elegant of all Minoan forms of vase decoration—early known
from the Marseilles aiguiere—was largely distributed from Knossos itself.
In close relation to the examples of this class there also appeared painted
sherds with more formalized designs, typical of the last Palace Period
(L. M. II). But at this point the ceramic remains tailed off, and in Dr.
Mackenzie's opinion not a single sherd occurred ' which could with certainty
be set down as belonging to even the earlier part of the Third Late Minoan
Period (L. M. Ilia)'.
This evidence will be seen to agree with that already given above Disuse
which shows that the road construction passed over the remains of houses juct'a"
1 The pottery found here, as well as that 2 See below, § 53.
associated with the Middle Minoan house 3 On the ' marine ' style of vase decoration,
floors, was carefully studied by Dr. Mackenzie, see below, p. 500 seqq.