Gorogianni, E. 2016. “Keian, Kei-noanised, Kei-cenaeanised? Interregional Contact and Identity in Ayia Irini, Kea.” In Beyond Thalassocracies. Understanding Processes of Minoanisation and Mycenaeanisation in the Aegean, edited by E. Gorogianni, P. Pavúk, and L. Girella, 136-154. (original) (raw)
Related papers
Site in Transition: John L. Caskey, Ayia Irini and Archaeological Practice in Greek Archaeology
Aegean Archaeology , 2013
practice is an interpretive exercise rather than mere recovery of artifacts and data. It is influenced by a range of factors including the questions that motivate the primary investigator in their research, the nature of the site, and the general zeitgeist (not to mention unforeseen circumstances). Since archaeological practice influences and conditions archaeological data by favoring certain questions, sites, or datasets more than others, it also conditions the trajectory of archaeological knowledge. Reference to fieldwork techniques and methodologies that Caskey employed mainly during the Ayia Irini excavations on the island of Kea, the last excavation project of his illustrious career, are used to delineate the theoretical underpinnings of his research agenda (and by extension also his generation of Greek archaeologists). It also highlights his dialectical relationship with the intellectual and collegial environment in Greek archaeology, which not only influenced him in designing his research strategy, but also effected changes over time in its implementation and the resulting publication program. The contribution of such a study, especially of a prominent figure in Greek archaeology, constitutes a foray into the history of archaeological thought and knowledge in Classical archaeology, a history so poorly discussed (especially after the 1930s onwards) in otherwise excellent treatises on Anglo-American traditions in the discipline, often positing as histories of world-wide archaeological thought.
has presented, in more than one of his publications, the central point of the economic and political "coexistence" between Crete and the islands of the Aegaean, especially the Cyclades. 1 As a metaphor, the present study sails together with the problems he raises. It touches upon a "different", a more "kin" group of islands: the real isles of Crete; those which surround it directly and form its own geographical periphery. Our approach does not claim to be exhaustive. It has been kindled through our work at Gavdos, and it also started when trying to sort out a methodology of how to study the isles of Crete.2 This paper, therefore, aims mainly to stress the need for more systematic discussion on the specific topic of Cretan insular archaeology.
Minoan Architecture and Urbanism
Since its excavation by John Caskey and the University of Cincinnati from 1960 to 1976, Ayia Irini has served as one of the principal catalysts for investigations into the spread of Minoan culture throughout the Aegean in the later Middle and early Late Bronze Age (Fig. 14.1). Indeed, the abundance, concentration, and range of ceramic, architectural, iconographic, technological, and administrative evidence at the site that was inspired by, adapted, and/or adopted from the Cretan cultural package suggests that it functioned as one of the key nodes in the complex web of exchange networks that facilitated the dissemination of non-local traits across the region throughout this period (Abell 2014; Berg 2006, 2007; Davis 1979; Davis and Gorogianni 2008; Dietz 1998; Graziadio 1998; Knappett and Nikolakopoulou 2005; Knappett, Evans, and Rivers 2008; Knappett 2011; Nikolakopoulou 2007; Papagiannopoulou 1991; Schofield 1982a, 1982b, 1983, 1984a). Despite the quantity, quality, and variety of ...
Communication Uneven. Acceptance and Resistance to Foreign Influences in the Connected Ancient Mediterranean , 2020
In a landmark article published in 1996, L. Vagnetti argued that Crete in the Final Neolithic period (4500-3000 BC) ended a seclusion lasting two millennia, and entered the wider Aegean world in the context of “a new trend of establishing long-distant communications, urged by the introduction of new technologies, such as metallurgy”. The basis for this statement was provided by the pottery found at Nerokourou, in west Crete, which linked more strongly with sites located in other Aegean islands, than with sites located in Crete itself. Subsequent research into the Final Neolithic of Crete confirmed its importance as a period of major socio-economic reconfiguration, but opened up a debate regarding the trigger that initiated these changes, because some scholars interpret them as the result of the arrival of new groups from overseas late in the Final Neolithic (henceforth FN) (Nowicki 2002; 2014), and others as the outcome of an increase in long-distance connectivity originating from Crete (Papadatos &Tomkins 2013). In the first scenario, based on the appearance of new types of sites with new ceramic types, the Cretan population had a rather passive role in the process of reconfiguration; in the second, based on the results of analytical studies conducted on pottery from old and newly excavated sites, the change started from Crete thanks to sites like Kephala-Petras that established long-distance relationships with areas as remote as Attica to get products and raw materials that were not locally available (Papadatos 2008; Papadatos & Tomkins 2013). The results of recent geological and archaeological research conducted at Phaistos, an elevated site located in south-central Crete, permits the reconsideration of some of these issues because it has been shown that the site, until the very end of the 4th millennium BC, was on the coast and, after sporadic frequentations that occurred during the 5th millennium BC, was settled by people who shared the same material culture as the extremely mobile groups that colonised most of the Aegean islands between the end of the 6th and the end of the 4th millennium BC. Phaistos therefore provides a good opportunity for ascertaining whether and to what extent substantial changes in material culture could have been triggered by human mobility, and also allows questions of where, and why people moved, to be addressed while also providing important insights for interpreting the uneven nature of the relationship between Crete and the southern Aegean between the 5th and 3rd millennia BC.
Beyond Thalassocracies aims to evaluate and rethink the manner in which archaeologists approach, understand, and analyse the various processes associated with culture change connected to interregional contact, using as a test case the world of the Aegean during the Late Bronze Age (c. 1600–1100 BC). The 14 chapters compare and contrast various aspects of the phenomena of Minoanisation and Mycenaeanisation, both of which share the basic underlying defining feature of material culture change in communities around the Aegean. This change was driven by trends manifesting themselves in the dominant palatial communities of each period of the Bronze Age. Over the past decade, our understanding of how these processes developed and functioned has changed considerably. Whereas current discussions on Minoanisation have already been informed by more recent theoretical trends, especially in material culture studies and post‐colonial theory, the process of Mycenaeanisation is still very much conceptualised along traditional lines of explanation. Since these phenomena occurred in chronological sequence, it makes sense that any reappraisal of their nature and significance should target those regions of the Aegean basin that were affected by both processes, highlighting their similarities and differences. Thus, in the present volume we focus on the southern and eastern Aegean, in particular the Cyclades, Dodecanese, and the north-eastern Aegean islands.
Neglected or Negligible? Dealing with the Minoan and Mycenaean Presence in the Northeast Aegean
A Mycenaean presence in the Northeast (NE)Aegean, especially at Troy, has been the topic of a number of scholarlypapers for many years. A Minoan presence, in contrast,especially on the littoral islands, has been acknowledged only recently and sheds new light on the whole region. Whereas even a permanent physical presence of Mycenaeans istaken almost for granted, the emerging picture of the degree and nature of Minoan involvement in the NE Aegean, as well as recent developments in the field of post-colonial studies, urges us to take a fresh look not only at how we deal with “Minoans” abroad, but also with “Mycenaeans” abroad, especially in consideration of the differing core-regions from which these groups began.Thispaper considers the interaction of the NE Aegean with Crete and the Greek Mainland as a process comprising several stages that reflect different degrees of involvement in Aegean networks. By commenting on the composite material culture assemblages, we approach the question of cultural dynamics fromseveral perspectives: from the consideration ofdirect interaction bya given community to a central-core area of the Aegean (and the consequent adoption and limitation of certain aspects of the foreign material culture), to the exploration of active selection, adoption, and adaptation of innovations. The incorporation of such innovations into the local landscape is evaluated along two lines: 1) to what extent thisis a “simple” adoption (emulation), and 2) to what extent it generates new (hybrid) material and social constructs with its own coherence (transculturation).
A.L. D’Agata, L. Girella, E. Papadopoulou, D.G. Aquini (eds), One State, Many Worlds. Crete in the Late Minoan II-IIIA2 Early Period, Proceedings of an International Conference, Khania, Μεγάλο Αρσενάλι, 21st-23rd November 2019 (Studi Micenei ed Egeo-Anatolici. Nuove Serie-SMEA), 251-271., 2022
Based on a diachronic analysis of the typology and style of ceramic assemblages from several East Cretan sites (from Sissi to Palaikastro), this paper explores the different cultural processes at work within these communities during the LM II-IIIA2 early period. The degree of regional connectivity and variation in pottery consumption is assessed, and aspects of change and continuity with regard to the end of the Neopalatial period considered. In particular, the existence of a common pottery tradition – a distinctive drinking set treated in the typical dipped decoration style and technique – shared by several East Cretan sites and reminiscent of LM IB practices, is stressed. This paper also pays attention to the identification of more particular networks of interaction and this at the intra- and inter-regional level, examining specific connections with, or the absence/rejection of Knossian and Central Cretan practices. Finally, the nature of the interactions with Knossos, and with the Greek mainland, is discussed through the analysis of the ceramic category of fine medium-sized vessels decorated with various abstract motifs, and a discussion of the inception of this stylistic tradition in East Crete in LM IB. The more precise definition and chronological characterisation of distinct regional processes in pottery consumption may eventually offer a better understanding of the wider context of the socio-political changes that occurred on the island during this thorny period and, in particular, their relation to the developments that took place at Knossos.