DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.811#0299
254 FOUNTAIN FRESCO, AND M. M. I a WELL WITH PITCHER
seen in the actual representation of a. jet d'eau and part of another brought
to light in the ' House of the Frescoes '} These painted designs, showing
the central column of water and falling drops, are of such interest that it has
been thought well to reproduce them here with their original hues in the
Coloured Plate XXII. The boulder, apparently, sketched to the right above
suggests an artificial fountain of an English rock garden. It is hard, how-
ever, to explain the forked or curved outline of the foot of the column of
water, unless it be intended to represent its upward spring.
Minora ]n t]le proto-palatial stage wells were largely in use for securing a
supply of drinking water. On the terrace above the wall with the stone
spout one of these was excavated to the depth of twenty-two and a half
metres, at which it became too dangerous from the falling in of the sides for
further excavation. A great amount of M. M. la pottery was brought out
from its lower level. Another well with a similar ceramic association was
found beneath the lower section of the Stepped Portico to the South-West;
this, however, was never completed owing to its excavators striking hard
rock. A third, of the same epoch, was hit on in a curious way in the Vine-
yard by our head-quarters house, the Villa Ariadne, above the ' Little
Palace' somewhat to the North-West. Owing to shortness of water it
Dls" , was thought desirable to open out a new source. The native workmen
covery of ° L - . ,
M. M.la wanted to sink a well at a somewhat more remote spot in the vineyard, but,
Vil]a y acting on some vague inference from the contour of the hill-side above, I
Ariadne, drew a cross in the earth surface beside a large block that happened to be
standing at that spot and bade them dig there. Returning a few days later
from an exploration up country I found all the world agog. On removing
about a foot of superficial soil the men had exposed the choked opening of
a Minoan well as nearly as possible a metre in diameter, at the bottom of
which 124 metres down—about 42 feet—in the ' kouskouras ' formation,
was an abundant spring of water which proved to be of better quality than
any for miles round, and still supplies the house. In it there still stood
a pair of two-handled pitchers of a characteristic M.M.I a class—c. 2100 b. c.
(Fig. 174). To the workmen the + mark (a-ravpo's) was a sign of supernatural
guidance, and I found myself suddenly hailed as a miracle-worker!
The practical knowledge of the fact that water finds its own level—
evidenced by the water supply of the Palace by means of pipes and conduits
fed by sources in the neighbouring hills—made the construction of wells for
drinking water less necessary. At the same time the ready access to sprin
water, cool and fresh, such as a well alone could supply, made the construc-
1 P. ofM., ii, Pt. II, pp. 460, 461, and Fig. 272.
cr
seen in the actual representation of a. jet d'eau and part of another brought
to light in the ' House of the Frescoes '} These painted designs, showing
the central column of water and falling drops, are of such interest that it has
been thought well to reproduce them here with their original hues in the
Coloured Plate XXII. The boulder, apparently, sketched to the right above
suggests an artificial fountain of an English rock garden. It is hard, how-
ever, to explain the forked or curved outline of the foot of the column of
water, unless it be intended to represent its upward spring.
Minora ]n t]le proto-palatial stage wells were largely in use for securing a
supply of drinking water. On the terrace above the wall with the stone
spout one of these was excavated to the depth of twenty-two and a half
metres, at which it became too dangerous from the falling in of the sides for
further excavation. A great amount of M. M. la pottery was brought out
from its lower level. Another well with a similar ceramic association was
found beneath the lower section of the Stepped Portico to the South-West;
this, however, was never completed owing to its excavators striking hard
rock. A third, of the same epoch, was hit on in a curious way in the Vine-
yard by our head-quarters house, the Villa Ariadne, above the ' Little
Palace' somewhat to the North-West. Owing to shortness of water it
Dls" , was thought desirable to open out a new source. The native workmen
covery of ° L - . ,
M. M.la wanted to sink a well at a somewhat more remote spot in the vineyard, but,
Vil]a y acting on some vague inference from the contour of the hill-side above, I
Ariadne, drew a cross in the earth surface beside a large block that happened to be
standing at that spot and bade them dig there. Returning a few days later
from an exploration up country I found all the world agog. On removing
about a foot of superficial soil the men had exposed the choked opening of
a Minoan well as nearly as possible a metre in diameter, at the bottom of
which 124 metres down—about 42 feet—in the ' kouskouras ' formation,
was an abundant spring of water which proved to be of better quality than
any for miles round, and still supplies the house. In it there still stood
a pair of two-handled pitchers of a characteristic M.M.I a class—c. 2100 b. c.
(Fig. 174). To the workmen the + mark (a-ravpo's) was a sign of supernatural
guidance, and I found myself suddenly hailed as a miracle-worker!
The practical knowledge of the fact that water finds its own level—
evidenced by the water supply of the Palace by means of pipes and conduits
fed by sources in the neighbouring hills—made the construction of wells for
drinking water less necessary. At the same time the ready access to sprin
water, cool and fresh, such as a well alone could supply, made the construc-
1 P. ofM., ii, Pt. II, pp. 460, 461, and Fig. 272.
cr