Area
| Site |
Crete_Central Crete (Heraklio)_Knossos |
| Area type | settlement |
| Area NR | |
| Period | Crete/Evans, Vagnetti_Early Neolithic I_6500_4900_Crete Crete/Tomkins 2007_Middle Neolithic_5900_5300_Crete |
| Dating method | material culture |
| Radiocarbon dated | None |
| Earliest date: Lab Number | |
| Earliest date: 14C age (BP) | None |
| Earliest date: Calibration | None |
| Earliest date: 14C age calibrated (BC) | None |
| Earliest date: Date of calibration | None |
| Earliest date: Standard deviation | None |
| Earliest date: Delta 13C | None |
| Earliest date: Dated by | |
| Latest date: Lab Number | |
| Latest date: 14C age (BP) | None |
| Latest date: Calibration | None |
| Latest date: 14C age calibrated (BC) | None |
| Latest date: Date of calibration | None |
| Latest date: Standard deviation | None |
| Latest date: Delta 13C | None |
| Latest date: Dated by | |
| Period Reference |
P. Tomkins, Neolithic: Strata IX-VIII, VII-VIB, VIA-V, IV, IIIB, IIIA, IIA, and IC Groups, 2007, London Alram-Stern, Eva, Die Ägäische Frühzeit, 2. Serie,Forschungsbericht 1977-2009. Das neolithische und vorpalastzeitliche Kreta, None, None |
| Comment | Stratum VII - VI B = Middle Neolithic (Tomkins) = Early Neolithic I (Evans); contemporary to the Gerani-Cave. |
| Settlement type | None |
| Settlement structure | |
| Settlement construction type | |
| Settlement building technique |
mud brick pisé |
| Settlement archaeological features |
hearth |
| Cave/rockshelters type | None |
| Cave/rockshelters: Evidence of graves/human remains | |
| Cave/rockshelters: Evidence of occupation | |
| Quarry exploitation type | None |
| Quarry raw material | |
| Cemetery/graves topography | |
| Cemetery/graves mortuary features | |
| Grave: number of graves | |
| Grave type | |
| Grave: type of human remains |
inhumation |
| Grave: estimated number of individuals | |
| Grave: age groups |
adult subadult |
| Grave: sexes | |
| Grave: number of female sex | None |
| Grave: number of male sex | None |
| Grave: number of not specified sex | None |
| Grave: disturbance of graves | |
| Description | In the Middle Neolithic, the settlement grows, but there were probably less than 100 inhabitants. Therefore, the settlement needed other settlements in the neighborhood to survive. In stratum VII, the change from mud brick constructions to the pisé-technique took place. In- and outside of the houses, there were hearths, which indicates private and communal consumption of food. A substantial expansion of Knossos is verified. Building C was built in the Middle Neolithic. A fetus was buried inside a Middle Neolithic construction under a pot. Also, there were human skeletal remains (children and adults) scattered in Middle Neolithic layers. The pottery seems to have been produced collectively; the communal activities (production of goods, feasts, storage) were of a special importance. New decoration on pottery: Pointillé, bordered by incisions, mostly in triangle-form, on a new pottery form (flat based cups). The clay was still calcareous or lime-deficient and was grogged by a variety of materials.. Only few pieces, like two shards with grid pattern-painting, or a spool-like handle indicate relations outside of Crete. The found obsidian was imported from Melos (Adamas and Demenegaki deposit). They cannot be compared to the continental blade industry or the Anatolian, more complicates types of tools. Cattle (mostly female) over the age of 5 were dominant and were used for breeding, milk and as draft animals (only female draft animals in the Neolithic). |
| Reference |
S. Triantaphyllou, Living with the Dead: a Re-Consideration of Mortuary Practices in the Greek Neolithic, 2008, Oxford V. Isaakidou, The Fauna and Economy of Neolithic Knossos´ Revisited, 2008, Oxford N. Efstratiou et al., The Neolithic Settlement of Knossos: New Light on an Old Picture, 2004, London P. Tomkins, Filling in the 'Neolithic Background': Social Life and Social Transformation in the Aegean Before the Bronze Age, 2004, Oxford V. Isaakidou, Ploughing with Cows: Knossos and the Secondary Products Revolution, 2006, Oxford Tomkins, P., Time, Space and the Reinvention of the Cretan Neolithic, 2008, Oxford Alram-Stern, Eva, Die Ägäische Frühzeit, 2. Serie,Forschungsbericht 1977-2009. Das neolithische und vorpalastzeitliche Kreta, None, None M. Katsianis, Stratigraphic Modelling of Multi-period Sites Using GIS: The Case of Neolithic and Early Bronze Age Knossos, 2004, Oxford |
| Comment | |
| Interpretation | |
| Finds |
ID 1369 animal remains ID 1370 botany ID 1371 lithics ID 1372 pottery ID 1373 pottery |