DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.7519#0072
THE NEOLITHIC PERIOD 37
North coast as the spot for one of the largest Neolithic settle-
ments in Europe and the Near East is a problem very difficult
of solution. As we shall see, although the early connexions
here with Anatolia were strong, yet the only evidence we have
of direct traffic with the outside world is with Egypt. We
must therefore postulate either the indigenous nature of the
inhabitants, which is impossible in view of the advanced stage
of the earliest strata, or else their immigration or geographical
separation from the rest of their kinsfolk at a very early date.
As we have said, at Knossos alone has a large Neolithic site
been explored. It extends in fact even beyond the borders
of the present Palace area and descends in some places to a
depth of over 7 metres. Thus, when men first settled on this
spot, they settled on a low knoll, overlooked by the surrounding
hills, a knoll on which, so far as we know, there existed no
spring, though the Kairatos stream runs close below. Al-
though the coast nearest to them faces directly towards the
Mainland of Greece and the Islands of the Aegean, their
connexions were with Egypt to the far South and with Asia
to the East.
The Neolithic deposit at Knossos can be divided into Lower,
Middle and Upper Periods.1 That some considerable degree
of culture had been reached before the settlement was founded
is proved by the advanced nature of both pottery and imple-
ments even in the lowest strata.
' Lower Neolithic ' occupied the first z\ metres immediately Lower
above virgin soil in the West Court Test Pit. The pottery NPe0f^c
is hand-made, of coarse brownish clay burnished inside and
out, for the most common shapes are open basins and bowls,
though the presence of handles and fragments of narrower
rims indicates that other shapes were used. No decoration
has been found on any of these sherds. The incised ware
characteristic of the next phase had evidently not come into
use.
The transition to 'Middle Neolithic' is gradual. From Middle
2 2 to 4 metres above virgin soil incision gradually makes its ^ttery
appearance and in the fifth metre a new technique appears,
the filling of the incisions with a white chalky material.2 At
1 P. of M., I, 35; J.H.S., 1903, 158.
2 Mention is also made, P. of M., I, 36, of a red filling. I can at
present only find one example of this. Deep Foundations SE. area
of ' Prisons ' (E. Ill, 6, 7th metre in Palace Museum). It is at any
rate admittedly exceedingly rare.
North coast as the spot for one of the largest Neolithic settle-
ments in Europe and the Near East is a problem very difficult
of solution. As we shall see, although the early connexions
here with Anatolia were strong, yet the only evidence we have
of direct traffic with the outside world is with Egypt. We
must therefore postulate either the indigenous nature of the
inhabitants, which is impossible in view of the advanced stage
of the earliest strata, or else their immigration or geographical
separation from the rest of their kinsfolk at a very early date.
As we have said, at Knossos alone has a large Neolithic site
been explored. It extends in fact even beyond the borders
of the present Palace area and descends in some places to a
depth of over 7 metres. Thus, when men first settled on this
spot, they settled on a low knoll, overlooked by the surrounding
hills, a knoll on which, so far as we know, there existed no
spring, though the Kairatos stream runs close below. Al-
though the coast nearest to them faces directly towards the
Mainland of Greece and the Islands of the Aegean, their
connexions were with Egypt to the far South and with Asia
to the East.
The Neolithic deposit at Knossos can be divided into Lower,
Middle and Upper Periods.1 That some considerable degree
of culture had been reached before the settlement was founded
is proved by the advanced nature of both pottery and imple-
ments even in the lowest strata.
' Lower Neolithic ' occupied the first z\ metres immediately Lower
above virgin soil in the West Court Test Pit. The pottery NPe0f^c
is hand-made, of coarse brownish clay burnished inside and
out, for the most common shapes are open basins and bowls,
though the presence of handles and fragments of narrower
rims indicates that other shapes were used. No decoration
has been found on any of these sherds. The incised ware
characteristic of the next phase had evidently not come into
use.
The transition to 'Middle Neolithic' is gradual. From Middle
2 2 to 4 metres above virgin soil incision gradually makes its ^ttery
appearance and in the fifth metre a new technique appears,
the filling of the incisions with a white chalky material.2 At
1 P. of M., I, 35; J.H.S., 1903, 158.
2 Mention is also made, P. of M., I, 36, of a red filling. I can at
present only find one example of this. Deep Foundations SE. area
of ' Prisons ' (E. Ill, 6, 7th metre in Palace Museum). It is at any
rate admittedly exceedingly rare.