Pseira VIII

Pseira VIII
Author: Philip P. Betancourt
Publisher: INSTAP Academic Press
Total Pages: 207
Release: 2004-10-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 162303096X

Richard B. Seager excavated the Minoan town and cemetery at Pseira in 1906-1907, but the work was not fully published. The Temple University excavations (1985-1994) under the direction of Philip P. Betancourt and Costis Davaras conducted an intensive surface survey of the island. The results of the survey on the small island off the northeast coast of Crete are published in two volumes. Pseira VIII presents the results from the corollary studies that accompany the surface survey. Pseira IX presents the results from the intensive surface survey.

Pseira X

Pseira X
Author: Philip P. Betancourt
Publisher: INSTAP Academic Press
Total Pages: 337
Release: 2009-12-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 1623031117

This book is the tenth volume in the series of excavation reports about the harbor town of Pseira, which is located on the island of the same name, just off the northeast coast of Crete. The book focuses on the excavation and interpretation of the architecture and material culture in Block AF. This southern group of buildings is one of the most important areas in the settlement because of its long succession of building phases. Block AF provides the fullest sequence of building phases from any one area at Pseira, with habitation extending from before MM II to LM III. It has examples of complex architectural details including a "pillar crypt," elaborate upstairs floors, a well-preserved U-shaped staircase, and a well-designed kitchen, all of which contribute significantly to our knowledge of East Cretan building practices. In addition to domestic pottery, the houses furnish examples of stone tools, stone vessels, loom weights, inscriptions in Linear A, cult objects, animal bones, marine shells, and a wide range of material recovered from water sieving. This latter category, with burned grain, fish bones, shells, and other categories of materials, fills many gaps in our knowledge of Pseiran life.

Pseira IX

Pseira IX
Author: Philip P. Betancourt
Publisher: INSTAP Academic Press
Total Pages: 457
Release: 2005-06-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1623030994

Richard B. Seager excavated the Minoan town and cemetery at Pseira in 1906-1907, but the work was not fully published. The Temple University excavations (1985-1994) under the direction of Philip P. Betancourt and Costis Davaras conducted an intensive surface survey of the island. The results of the survey on the small island off the northeast coast of Crete are published in two volumes. Pseira VIII presents the results from the corollary studies that accompany the surface survey. Pseira IX presents the results from the intensive surface survey.

The Minoan Shipwreck at Pseira, Crete

The Minoan Shipwreck at Pseira, Crete
Author: Elpida Hadjidaki-Marder
Publisher: INSTAP Academic Press
Total Pages: 165
Release: 2021-06-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1623034345

The excavation of a Minoan shipwreck dated to 1725/1700 BC is described. The cargo includes the largest known corpus of complete and almost complete clay vessels from a single Middle Minoan IIB deposit. The transport boat provides interesting information on a society that revolved around seafaring.

The Dams and Water Management Systems of Minoan Pseira

The Dams and Water Management Systems of Minoan Pseira
Author: Philip P. Betancourt
Publisher: INSTAP Academic Press
Total Pages: 113
Release: 2012-12-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 1623030005

Excavations at the Bronze Age seaport on Pseira Island uncovered the remains of sophisticated water retention systems that included the addition of retaining walls to prevent erosion, massive dams with associated reservoirs, and small check-dams to ravines that reached over one hundred meters in length in order to control water runoff and make it available for human use. Agriculture was one of the cornerstones of the Bronze Age Cretan economy, and it is no surprise that the ancient inhabitants of the island went to great lengths to control water runoff and make it available for human use. Despite the application of traditional archaeological survey methods, the full extent of the water management systems was not understood fully as the island's rugged topography prevented intensive and thorough survey of many places. The use of a differential Global Positioning System (dGPS) unit provided the opportunity to take a fresh look at the evidence for water management on the island. The results of this study contribute substantial amounts of new information on the little known subject of Minoan water conservation and control.

Kavousi I

Kavousi I
Author: Donald C. Haggis
Publisher: INSTAP Academic Press
Total Pages: 409
Release: 2005-12-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1623030366

Kavousi I is the initial volume of the Kavousi Excavation Series, which presents the final report of the Kavousi Project, a program of archaeological investigation near the modern village of Kavousi in eastern Crete. Subsequent volumes will publish the results of the 1987-1992 excavations at the Vronda and Kastro sites in the Siteia Mountains overlooking Kavousi and of the cleaning and new study of the excavations of Harriet Boyd in 1900 and 1901. This volume, Kavousi I: The Archaeological Survey of the Kavousi Region, provides a comprehensive look at the topography of the area, its natural resources, and the way in which the local people interacted with them over time, as shown in the changing pattern of settlement. It sets the stage for the report on the excavations and provides an introduction to the local soils and to the pottery classification used by the excavators.

Philistor

Philistor
Author: Philip P. Betancourt
Publisher: INSTAP Academic Press
Total Pages: 319
Release: 2012-09-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1623030307

Contributions by 37 scholars are brought together here to create a volume in honor of the long and fruitful career of Costis Davaras, former Ephor of Crete and Professor Emeritus of Minoan Archaeology at the University of Athens. Articles pertain to Bronze Age Crete and include mortuary studies, experimental archaeology, numerous artifactual studies, and discussions on the greater Minoan civilization.

Crafting Minoanisation

Crafting Minoanisation
Author: Joanne Elizabeth Cutler
Publisher: Oxbow Books
Total Pages: 544
Release: 2021-10-31
Genre: Crafts & Hobbies
ISBN: 1785709690

The mid second millennium BC material record of the southern Aegean shows evidence of strong Cretan influence. This phenomenon has traditionally been seen in terms of ‘Minoanisation’, but the nature and degree of Cretan influence, and the process/processes by which it was spread and adopted, have been widely debated. This new study addresses the question of ‘Minoanisation’ through a study of the adoption of Cretan technologies in the wider southern Aegean: principally, weaving technology. By the early Late Bronze Age, Cretan-style discoid loom weights had appeared at a number of settlements across the southern Aegean. In most cases, this represents not only the adoption of a particular type of loom weight, but also the introduction of a new weaving technology: the use of the warp-weighted loom. The evidence for, and the implications of, the adoption of this new technology is examined. Drawing upon recent advances in textile experimental archaeology, the types of textiles that are likely to have been produced at a range of sites both on Crete itself and in the wider southern Aegean are discussed, and the likely nature and scale of textile production at the various settlements is assessed. A consideration of the evidence for the timing and extent of the adoption of Cretan weaving technology in the light of additional evidence for the adoption of other Cretan technologies is used to gain insight into the potential social and economic strategies engaged in by various groups across the southern Aegean, as well as the motivations that may have driven the adoption and adaptation of Cretan cultural traits and accompanying behaviors. By examining how technological skills and techniques are learned and considering possible mechanisms for the transmission of such technical knowledge and know-how, new perspectives can be proposed concerning the processes through which Cretan techniques were taken up and imitated abroad.

Aphrodite's Kephali

Aphrodite's Kephali
Author: Philip P. Betancourt
Publisher: INSTAP Academic Press
Total Pages: 271
Release: 2013-10-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1623032830

The small site of Aphrodite's Kephali, among several other Minoan and later sites, took advantage of the valley topography in the Isthmus of Ierapetra in eastern Crete by establishing themselves along the nearby hills, resulting in easy access to the natural trade route between the Aegean and the Libyan Seas. A discussion of the architecture, artifacts, and ecofacts are presented from the excavation of this Early Minoan I watchtower. The conclusions challenge some of the commonly held views about Crete in the third millennium B.C. It is suggested that rather than being a precursor to a socially complex state that would arise later, early polities involving several communities probably already existed in the isthmus during the EM I period. Social and economic differentiation existed on a regional, not just a local level, and decisions for mutual defense could involve collaboration by groups of workers, including the building of the watchtower that is the focus of this volume.

Time's Up! Dating the Minoan Eruption of Santorini

Time's Up! Dating the Minoan Eruption of Santorini
Author: David A Warburton
Publisher: Aarhus Universitetsforlag
Total Pages: 298
Release: 2009-12-31
Genre: History
ISBN: 8779346529

Papers by natural scientists, archaeologists, egyptologists and classicists discussing the newest evidence of the Santorini eruption. The papers fall into two sections. I: Evidence, geology, archaeology & chronology; II: Debate: typology, chronology, methodology. Contributors include: Walter L. Friedrich & Jan Heinemeier, Philip P. Betancourt, Max Bichler, Thomas M. Brogan, Peter M. Fischer, Karen Polinger Foster, Hermann Hunger, Felix Hoflmayer,Rolf Krauss, Bernd Kromer, Alexander R. McBirney, Floyd W. McCoy, J. Alexander MacGillivray, Sturt W. Manning, Robert Merrillees, Raimund Muscheler, Christopher Bronk Ramsey, Nikolaos Sigalas, Chrysa Sofianou, Jeffrey S. Soles, Georg Steinhauser, Johannes H. Sterba, Annette Hen Sensen,Peter Warren, Malcolm H. Wiener.