DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.809#0128
§37- 'Caravanserai' by Road-Head : Pavilion and Partridge
Frieze, Baths, and Spring-Chamber.
Terrace level above Minoan Road-head—named from Vlychia (' brackish')
Spring: Stone basin struck, leading to discovery of large building; Novel
character of building: Basements with cobbled floor s and corn-bins ; Cement floors
and roof of upper story : Stepped Pavilion with painted decoration ; Frieze
with Partridges and Hoopoes—delicacies of the table: Round-leaved plant,
perhaps Dittany ; Dark background of second group ; Conventionalised foliage,
contrasting with ' House of Frescoes', of same L. M. la. date ; Stone bath for
washingfeet—elaboratewater-system ; Painted decoration of Bath Compartment;
Chamber with Clay Bath-tubs; Indications of hot-water supply; Under-
ground Spring-Chamber ; Steatite lamps and stone candlestick ; Spring basin
and Niche for lamp ; Re-use of Chamber as shrine after interval of time;
Offertory vessels: Hut-urn with Goddess—1 sub-Minoan' character ; Hut-urn
from Phaestos ; Italian and Saxon htit-u,rns compared— Temple of Vesta and
Casa Romuli; Cylindrical stands with openings—example imitating Round
Tower; Bowls with food offerings, including grains of olives; Incense-
burners and ' Stirrup Vase'; Group of vessels with linear decoration: Com-
parisons with contemporary Cretan, &c, Tomb Groups ; Represent 'proto-
Geometric' stage; Disuse and natural sealing up of Spring-Chamber;
Building as a whole for public use; A Caravanserai or Hostel at terminus
of Great South Road.
Almost directly above the spot where the remains of the Middle Terrace
Minoan houses underlay the later road foundations, its course must Minoan
have reached the level of the narrow Vlychia terrace already mentioned, ">ad-head
, named
the Northern edge of which is bordered by the steep bank leading to the from
alluvial flat below. This terrace level had been sown with corn, but its sprfooJ.a
stunted growth and premature straw colour gave the impression that there
was here only the scantiest coating of soil above the ' kouskouras' rock. At
one point only there showed a narrow green patch of taller corn, and we
found on inquiry that the Beys, who formerly owned the property, had at
this spot on two occasions extracted wrought blocks. A little beyond this
an irrigation runnel crossed the narrow plateau, plunging down to the left,
through a thicket of reeds on the edge of the declivity, to the garden flat
below. Its water came from a copious source that issues from the flank
Frieze, Baths, and Spring-Chamber.
Terrace level above Minoan Road-head—named from Vlychia (' brackish')
Spring: Stone basin struck, leading to discovery of large building; Novel
character of building: Basements with cobbled floor s and corn-bins ; Cement floors
and roof of upper story : Stepped Pavilion with painted decoration ; Frieze
with Partridges and Hoopoes—delicacies of the table: Round-leaved plant,
perhaps Dittany ; Dark background of second group ; Conventionalised foliage,
contrasting with ' House of Frescoes', of same L. M. la. date ; Stone bath for
washingfeet—elaboratewater-system ; Painted decoration of Bath Compartment;
Chamber with Clay Bath-tubs; Indications of hot-water supply; Under-
ground Spring-Chamber ; Steatite lamps and stone candlestick ; Spring basin
and Niche for lamp ; Re-use of Chamber as shrine after interval of time;
Offertory vessels: Hut-urn with Goddess—1 sub-Minoan' character ; Hut-urn
from Phaestos ; Italian and Saxon htit-u,rns compared— Temple of Vesta and
Casa Romuli; Cylindrical stands with openings—example imitating Round
Tower; Bowls with food offerings, including grains of olives; Incense-
burners and ' Stirrup Vase'; Group of vessels with linear decoration: Com-
parisons with contemporary Cretan, &c, Tomb Groups ; Represent 'proto-
Geometric' stage; Disuse and natural sealing up of Spring-Chamber;
Building as a whole for public use; A Caravanserai or Hostel at terminus
of Great South Road.
Almost directly above the spot where the remains of the Middle Terrace
Minoan houses underlay the later road foundations, its course must Minoan
have reached the level of the narrow Vlychia terrace already mentioned, ">ad-head
, named
the Northern edge of which is bordered by the steep bank leading to the from
alluvial flat below. This terrace level had been sown with corn, but its sprfooJ.a
stunted growth and premature straw colour gave the impression that there
was here only the scantiest coating of soil above the ' kouskouras' rock. At
one point only there showed a narrow green patch of taller corn, and we
found on inquiry that the Beys, who formerly owned the property, had at
this spot on two occasions extracted wrought blocks. A little beyond this
an irrigation runnel crossed the narrow plateau, plunging down to the left,
through a thicket of reeds on the edge of the declivity, to the garden flat
below. Its water came from a copious source that issues from the flank