Colin Macdonald | British School at Athens (original) (raw)
Books by Colin Macdonald
PROCESSIONS: Studies of Bronze Age Ritual and Ceremony Presented to Robert B. Koehl, 2023
A discussion of the stratigraphy and architectural development of the Theatral Area of Knossos.
Supplementary Volume 52, Published by The British School at Athens, 2023
This volume presents the pottery from a series of deposits excavated by Sir Arthur Evans in the p... more This volume presents the pottery from a series of deposits excavated by Sir Arthur Evans in the palace at Knossos and assigned by him to the last part of the Middle Bronze Age or Middle Minoan III.The substantial architectural modifications seen in this period are examined along with stratigraphy, where it exists, to give some context to the pottery deposits.
https://books.google.be/books?id=TkZoAAAAMAAJ&q=jan+driessen&dq=jan+driessen&hl=fr&sa=X&redir\_esc=y
First full report on excavations conducted under the direction of Macdonald in the area of the SW... more First full report on excavations conducted under the direction of Macdonald in the area of the SW Houses, Knossos (1992-93), as well as in Early Magazine A (1987, under M.S.F. Hood and Macdonald)
On-line review by Donald Haggis:
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2008/2008-05-32.html
The only full-length book (apart from guides and a coffee-table book) about the archaeology of Br... more The only full-length book (apart from guides and a coffee-table book) about the archaeology of Bronze Age Knossos and its palace. For archaeologists and interested amateurs.
Written to form part of the Folio Society Series: Lost Cities of the Ancient World ( Troy - Carl Blegen; Pompeii - Michael Grant; Babylon - Joan Oates; Petra - Jane Taylor)
Papers by Colin Macdonald
Πολυμήχανος, Man of Many Ways: Papers in Honour of Professor Jan Driessen. C. Langohr & Q. Letesson (eds)., 2023
It may seem strange to present a paper on a much-discussed aspect of the palace of Knossos, namel... more It may seem strange to present a paper on a much-discussed aspect of the palace of Knossos, namely the West Façade (Figs 9.1, 9.4), yet I do so in part to clarify some of the assertions I have made in the past that were not adequately supported by the archaeological evidence. The matter is dealt with briefly in a recent publication of Middle Minoan III deposits from the palace (Knappett et al. 2023: 17). I offer this short paper as a tribute to Jan Driessen who has done so much for prehistoric Cretan archaeology, particularly in the field of architecture.
American Journal of Archaeology, 2001
The Annual of the British School at Athens, 1993
This paper is a summary of the results of a workshop held at Knossos in August 1992. The aims of ... more This paper is a summary of the results of a workshop held at Knossos in August 1992. The aims of the workshop were to examine the most coherent and reliable deposits, place them in a chronological sequence, and decide on common terminologies and definitions. This brief paper provides a framework and serves as a common introduction to various detailed studies of Knossian EM–MM pottery by the various authors which have appeared, are in press, or are forthcoming.
American Journal of Archaeology, 2001
The Annual of the British School at Athens, 1988
A second season of new excavations was undertaken at Palaikastro in 1987 in the area of Building ... more A second season of new excavations was undertaken at Palaikastro in 1987 in the area of Building 1, partially revealed last year, and in the adjacent fields to the south. Two new structures were denned, Buildings 3 and 4, and most of the plan of Building 1 traced. Features suggesting that Building 1 was public and played a role in the religious life of the town in LM I are the high quality of its construction, a possible grandstand with stone horns of consecration, a large well-built drain at the entrance, its unique orientation, and the discovery of the torso and arms of a male chryselephantine statuette fallen from an upper storey into an open area near the building. The other buildings are not yet well-defined. Building 3 was constructed in LM I and re-occupied in LM III, but no inner partition walls have been found. An area with pier-and-door partitions and mudbrick walls was built against the southwest wall of the building and destroyed in LM IB. Building 4 seems to belong to t...
The Annual of the British …, 1993
This paper is a summary of the results of a workshop held at Knossos in August 1992. The aims of ... more This paper is a summary of the results of a workshop held at Knossos in August 1992. The aims of the workshop were to examine the most coherent and reliable deposits, place them in a chronological sequence, and decide on common terminologies and definitions. This brief paper provides a framework and serves as a common introduction to various detailed studies of Knossian EM–MM pottery by the various authors which have appeared, are in press, or are forthcoming.
The crucial earliest phases of palatial Knossos are not well known, in part due to over-building ... more The crucial earliest phases of palatial Knossos are not well known, in part due to over-building by Neopalatial structures and floors. This volume represents the first complete publication of substantial deposits dating to this period, specifically the Middle Minoan IB and IIA phases. This is a first not only for Knossos but for Crete as a whole, and will act as a crucial point of reference for future work on these key phases in the islands prehistory. The five Protopalatial deposits in question, excavated in 1973, 1987 and 199293, are fully published with their contexts, the stratified pottery and small finds including the earliest inscribed clay document from Crete, clay sealings, horn-cores and chipped stone; radiocarbon dates are also presented. The deposits come from the south-west of the palace area, and provide evidence for a range of activities such as ceremonial feasting, workshop production and administration, as well as showing the early development of individual town dwellings on terraces just a few metres from the palace. The volume concludes with a full discussion of the form and function of the Old Palace, stressing that the plans laid down in the first 150 years were far more closely followed over the next 400 years than has hitherto been suspected.
The Annual of the British …, 1993
This paper is a summary of the results of a workshop held at Knossos in August 1992. The aims of ... more This paper is a summary of the results of a workshop held at Knossos in August 1992. The aims of the workshop were to examine the most coherent and reliable deposits, place them in a chronological sequence, and decide on common terminologies and definitions. This brief paper provides a framework and serves as a common introduction to various detailed studies of Knossian EM–MM pottery by the various authors which have appeared, are in press, or are forthcoming.
Annual of the British School at Athens, 1997
In 1992–93 excavations were conducted in central Knossos, among the Minoan houses south-west of t... more In 1992–93 excavations were conducted in central Knossos, among the Minoan houses south-west of the Palace. This article describes the unexpectedly large amount of post-Minoan occupation there, casting new light on the extent to which the Hellenic town encroached upon the allegedly deserted Palace area. One Minoan house, much ruined, proved to have been reoccupied in the tenth century BC and again in the seventh. Nearby, a well-preserved pottery kiln of the early seventh century was discovered, and also a paved road of the fifth century which apparently ran across the ruins of the Minoan houses.The pottery and other finds are presented in fourteen stratified deposits, mainly of the Early Protogeometric, Early Orientalizing, Late Archaic, and Classical periods. These are supplemented by important unpublished pieces from Evans's soundings in the immediate neighbourhood, confirming the extensive seventh-century reoccupation of the site.
The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 2003
PROCESSIONS: Studies of Bronze Age Ritual and Ceremony Presented to Robert B. Koehl, 2023
A discussion of the stratigraphy and architectural development of the Theatral Area of Knossos.
Supplementary Volume 52, Published by The British School at Athens, 2023
This volume presents the pottery from a series of deposits excavated by Sir Arthur Evans in the p... more This volume presents the pottery from a series of deposits excavated by Sir Arthur Evans in the palace at Knossos and assigned by him to the last part of the Middle Bronze Age or Middle Minoan III.The substantial architectural modifications seen in this period are examined along with stratigraphy, where it exists, to give some context to the pottery deposits.
https://books.google.be/books?id=TkZoAAAAMAAJ&q=jan+driessen&dq=jan+driessen&hl=fr&sa=X&redir\_esc=y
First full report on excavations conducted under the direction of Macdonald in the area of the SW... more First full report on excavations conducted under the direction of Macdonald in the area of the SW Houses, Knossos (1992-93), as well as in Early Magazine A (1987, under M.S.F. Hood and Macdonald)
On-line review by Donald Haggis:
http://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2008/2008-05-32.html
The only full-length book (apart from guides and a coffee-table book) about the archaeology of Br... more The only full-length book (apart from guides and a coffee-table book) about the archaeology of Bronze Age Knossos and its palace. For archaeologists and interested amateurs.
Written to form part of the Folio Society Series: Lost Cities of the Ancient World ( Troy - Carl Blegen; Pompeii - Michael Grant; Babylon - Joan Oates; Petra - Jane Taylor)
Πολυμήχανος, Man of Many Ways: Papers in Honour of Professor Jan Driessen. C. Langohr & Q. Letesson (eds)., 2023
It may seem strange to present a paper on a much-discussed aspect of the palace of Knossos, namel... more It may seem strange to present a paper on a much-discussed aspect of the palace of Knossos, namely the West Façade (Figs 9.1, 9.4), yet I do so in part to clarify some of the assertions I have made in the past that were not adequately supported by the archaeological evidence. The matter is dealt with briefly in a recent publication of Middle Minoan III deposits from the palace (Knappett et al. 2023: 17). I offer this short paper as a tribute to Jan Driessen who has done so much for prehistoric Cretan archaeology, particularly in the field of architecture.
American Journal of Archaeology, 2001
The Annual of the British School at Athens, 1993
This paper is a summary of the results of a workshop held at Knossos in August 1992. The aims of ... more This paper is a summary of the results of a workshop held at Knossos in August 1992. The aims of the workshop were to examine the most coherent and reliable deposits, place them in a chronological sequence, and decide on common terminologies and definitions. This brief paper provides a framework and serves as a common introduction to various detailed studies of Knossian EM–MM pottery by the various authors which have appeared, are in press, or are forthcoming.
American Journal of Archaeology, 2001
The Annual of the British School at Athens, 1988
A second season of new excavations was undertaken at Palaikastro in 1987 in the area of Building ... more A second season of new excavations was undertaken at Palaikastro in 1987 in the area of Building 1, partially revealed last year, and in the adjacent fields to the south. Two new structures were denned, Buildings 3 and 4, and most of the plan of Building 1 traced. Features suggesting that Building 1 was public and played a role in the religious life of the town in LM I are the high quality of its construction, a possible grandstand with stone horns of consecration, a large well-built drain at the entrance, its unique orientation, and the discovery of the torso and arms of a male chryselephantine statuette fallen from an upper storey into an open area near the building. The other buildings are not yet well-defined. Building 3 was constructed in LM I and re-occupied in LM III, but no inner partition walls have been found. An area with pier-and-door partitions and mudbrick walls was built against the southwest wall of the building and destroyed in LM IB. Building 4 seems to belong to t...
The Annual of the British …, 1993
This paper is a summary of the results of a workshop held at Knossos in August 1992. The aims of ... more This paper is a summary of the results of a workshop held at Knossos in August 1992. The aims of the workshop were to examine the most coherent and reliable deposits, place them in a chronological sequence, and decide on common terminologies and definitions. This brief paper provides a framework and serves as a common introduction to various detailed studies of Knossian EM–MM pottery by the various authors which have appeared, are in press, or are forthcoming.
The crucial earliest phases of palatial Knossos are not well known, in part due to over-building ... more The crucial earliest phases of palatial Knossos are not well known, in part due to over-building by Neopalatial structures and floors. This volume represents the first complete publication of substantial deposits dating to this period, specifically the Middle Minoan IB and IIA phases. This is a first not only for Knossos but for Crete as a whole, and will act as a crucial point of reference for future work on these key phases in the islands prehistory. The five Protopalatial deposits in question, excavated in 1973, 1987 and 199293, are fully published with their contexts, the stratified pottery and small finds including the earliest inscribed clay document from Crete, clay sealings, horn-cores and chipped stone; radiocarbon dates are also presented. The deposits come from the south-west of the palace area, and provide evidence for a range of activities such as ceremonial feasting, workshop production and administration, as well as showing the early development of individual town dwellings on terraces just a few metres from the palace. The volume concludes with a full discussion of the form and function of the Old Palace, stressing that the plans laid down in the first 150 years were far more closely followed over the next 400 years than has hitherto been suspected.
The Annual of the British …, 1993
This paper is a summary of the results of a workshop held at Knossos in August 1992. The aims of ... more This paper is a summary of the results of a workshop held at Knossos in August 1992. The aims of the workshop were to examine the most coherent and reliable deposits, place them in a chronological sequence, and decide on common terminologies and definitions. This brief paper provides a framework and serves as a common introduction to various detailed studies of Knossian EM–MM pottery by the various authors which have appeared, are in press, or are forthcoming.
Annual of the British School at Athens, 1997
In 1992–93 excavations were conducted in central Knossos, among the Minoan houses south-west of t... more In 1992–93 excavations were conducted in central Knossos, among the Minoan houses south-west of the Palace. This article describes the unexpectedly large amount of post-Minoan occupation there, casting new light on the extent to which the Hellenic town encroached upon the allegedly deserted Palace area. One Minoan house, much ruined, proved to have been reoccupied in the tenth century BC and again in the seventh. Nearby, a well-preserved pottery kiln of the early seventh century was discovered, and also a paved road of the fifth century which apparently ran across the ruins of the Minoan houses.The pottery and other finds are presented in fourteen stratified deposits, mainly of the Early Protogeometric, Early Orientalizing, Late Archaic, and Classical periods. These are supplemented by important unpublished pieces from Evans's soundings in the immediate neighbourhood, confirming the extensive seventh-century reoccupation of the site.
The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 2003
The Annual of the British School at Athens, 1984
Part 1 (Driessen) discusses the evidence in the Linear B tablets for a military organization and ... more Part 1 (Driessen) discusses the evidence in the Linear B tablets for a military organization and the use of mercenaries at Mycenaean Knossos. First, the Pylian evidence for foreign troops is discussed. At Knossos, there is also evidence for relatively large groups of men who may be of non-Cretan origin in the Linear B tablets. It is asked whether these may be foreigners, as in the Pylian tablets, who rendered military service in return for fiefs of land. It is suggested that eqeta were military commanders responsible for groups of men and specific geographical areas. Keseno are identified as ‘foreign warriors’ who were of lower rank than eqeta, namely mercenaries in the service of the Mycenaean wanaka of Knossos.Part 2 (Macdonald) reviews the latest evidence for warrior burials in LM II–IIIA2. The term is confined to burials with swords, since they are more likely to have had a purely military function as well as being the weapon of prestige. The evidence for a major Knossian worksh...
Minoan Earthquakes. Breaking the myth through interdisciplinarity. Simon Jussarret and Manuel Sintubin (eds). Studies in Archaeological Sciences, 2017
A discussion of the problems involved in identifying evidence of earthquakes in the archaeologica... more A discussion of the problems involved in identifying evidence of earthquakes in the archaeological record of Bronze Age Minoan Crete illustrated by specific examples. The importance or otherwise of such events is examined in terms of stratigraphy and chronology, and socio-economic development. This paper supersedes another, unpublished paper uploaded on Academia, which will be removed shortly.
1. MM IB noduli, sealings, and a weight from Deposits A and E. 2. MM IIA sealings and an unfinish... more 1. MM IB noduli, sealings, and a weight from Deposits A and E.
2. MM IIA sealings and an unfinished seal from Deposit E.
Geological Society, London, Special Publications, 2000
... Geological Society, London, Special Publications Jan Driessen and Colin F. MacDonald Crete Th... more ... Geological Society, London, Special Publications Jan Driessen and Colin F. MacDonald Crete The eruption of the Santorini volcano and its effects on Minoan ... The eruption of the Santorini volcano and its effects on Minoan Crete JAN DRIESSEN 1 & COLIN F. MACDONALD 2 ...
The Annual of the British School at Athens, 1988
'IN the whole structure of the Palace, nothing is more remarkable than the elaborate... more 'IN the whole structure of the Palace, nothing is more remarkable than the elaborate drainage system that runs throughout the Domestic Quarter, and adjoining halls.'" Though well known to students of Minoan architecture, the drains have not been given detailed consideration ...