On the Household Structure of Neopalatial Society

Although socio-political organization has been a principal topic in the history of Cretan Bronze Age research, its direct relation to the basic unit of society, i.e. the household, has been hitherto disregarded. Focusing on the Neopalatial period, this paper discusses the theories proposed in recent studies, which nevertheless employed evidence from domestic contexts to explore social organization in different regions of the island. The paper reviews the relevant evidence and re-addresses the..

On the Household Structure of Neopalatial Society

Although socio-political organization has been a principal topic in the history of Cretan Bronze Age research, its direct relation to the basic unit of society, i.e. the household, has been hitherto disregarded. Focusing on the Neopalatial period, this paper discusses the theories proposed in recent studies, which nevertheless employed evidence from domestic contexts to explore social organization in different regions of the island. The paper reviews the relevant evidence and re-addresses the..

The dynamics of domestic space: examples of households from the neopalatial society of Crete

This thesis explores the dynamics of domestic space in prehistoric, Neopalatial, Crete. It adopts a household perspective, because of the importance of this analytical unit for the understanding of the way a society functions and due to the research gap that exists in the field of prehistoric archaeology of Crete, which has been oriented towards the study of the palatial and elite environments.The theoretical standpoint of the research is the concept of social complexity as currently defined, namely as a condition that favors the development of complex social behaviors, or the development of various levels of social relations among the population of an urban network.With synthetic view and the use of all existing evidence, as opposed to one line of it only, and with account of methodological parameters, such as the degree of excavation and documentation of the houses, it analyses a case study, House 2 at Galatas, Pediada and 147 domestic buildings from the towns of the Golf of Mirabello. The former serves as a test case for the methodology of exploration of the prehistoric household in general, while the latter are selected for their suitability to approach daily living of the non-elite population of the period. The analysis is based on three fundamental parameters of the definition of the household, those of household form, domestic architecture and household activities.The final conclusions reached are: 1) the understanding of the nature of the household in prehistoric Crete requires synthetic interpretation of the material remains at the micro-level, 2) the definition of household structure in prehistory is complex. Neopalatial household units may have been variable, 3) simple form houses are products of a well defined architectural tradition, equivalent to that of the elite. They reflect practical conditions, socio-cultural principles and personal preferences, 4) the domestic space in Neopalatial Crete covers not only subsistence needs, but others too. Its function presupposes the co-operation between household members and the interdependence of households within the urban network at the level of daily living.Η διατριβή αυτή διερευνά τη δυναμική του οικιακού χώρου στην προϊστορική, Νεοανακτορική, Κρήτη. Υιοθετεί τη μονάδα του νοικοκυριού, εξαιτίας της σημασίας της για την ερμηνεία της λειτουργίας μιας κοινωνίας, αλλά και λόγω του μεγάλου κενού στην έρευνα της κρητικής προϊστορίας στον τομέα αυτόν, που επί δεκαετίες επικεντρώθηκε στη μελέτη του περιβάλλοντος των ανακτόρων και της ελίτ.Θεωρητική σκέπη της έρευνας αποτελεί η έννοια της κοινωνικής πολυπλοκότητας όπως ορίζεται στο σύγχρονο αρχαιολογικό διάλογο, ως μια συνθήκη δηλαδή, που δημιουργεί τις προϋποθέσεις για την εκδήλωση σύνθετων κοινωνικών συμπεριφορών ή, διαφορετικά, που ευνοεί την ανάπτυξη πολυεπίπεδων σχέσεων μεταξύ του πληθυσμού. Τα υπό μελέτη υλικά κατάλοιπα υποβάλλονται σε τέτοιου είδους ανάλυση, ώστε να είναι δυνατή η ανασύνθεση του δικτύου επαφών μεταξύ των ανθρώπων στην καθημερινή ζωή των αστικών κέντρων της περιόδου.Με συνθετική θεώρηση, χρησιμοποιώντας το σύνολο των διαθέσιμων, αντί μιας κατηγορίας μόνο, ενδείξεων, καθώς και μεθοδολογικές παραμέτρους, όπως το ποσοστό διερεύνησης και αρχαιολογικής τεκμηρίωσης των σπιτιών, εξετάζονται μια μελέτη περίπτωσης, το Κτήριο 2 στο Γαλατά Πεδιάδας και 147 οικιστικές μονάδες απ’ τις πόλεις του Μεραμβέλλου. Το πρώτο λειτουργεί ως παράδειγμα ελέγχου της μεθοδολογίας διερεύνησης του προϊστορικού νοικοκυριού εν γένει, ενώ τα δεύτερα επιλέγονται λόγω των επιμέρους χαρακτηριστικών τους ως κατάλληλα για το ερευνητικό ζητούμενο, την προσέγγιση της καθημερινότητας του μη-ελίτ πληθυσμού. Η ανάπτυξη γίνεται πάνω σε κοινούς θεματικούς άξονες, που συνιστούν πρωταρχικές παραμέτρους του ορισμού του νοικοκυριού: το ζήτημα της πληθυσμιακής σύνθεσης/ έκτασης και γενικής φυσιογνωμίας του, το ζήτημα της στέγασης και αυτό της άσκησης οικιακών δραστηριοτήτων.Τα τελικά συμπεράσματα που εξάγονται είναι ότι: 1) η κατανόηση της φύσης του νοικοκυριού στην προϊστορική Κρήτη απαιτεί συνθετική μελέτη των υλικών καταλοίπων στο μικρο-επίπεδο, 2) η προσέγγιση της οικιακής δομής σε περιβάλλον προϊστορίας είναι σύνθετο ζήτημα. Ενδέχεται η νεοανακτορική οικιακή δομή να ήταν ποικιλόμορφη, 3) το αρχιτεκτονικό κέλυφος του απλού σπιτιού αποτελεί προϊόν μιας διαμορφωμένης παράδοσης εφάμιλλης με αυτήν της ελίτ. Ανακλά πρακτικές συνθήκες, κοινωνικοπολιτισμικές αρχές και προσωπικές προτιμήσεις, 4) ο οικιακός χώρος της Νεοανακτορικής περιόδου δεν καλύπτει μόνο βιοποριστικές ανάγκες, αλλά και πλήθος άλλων. Η λειτουργία του προϋποθέτει συνεργασία των μελών του νοικοκυριού και συνδιαλλαγή με άλλα νοικοκυριά στο επίπεδο της ροής της καθημερινότητας

Minoan Archaeology

More than 100 years ago Sir Arthur Evans' spade made the first cut into the earth above the now well-known Palace at Knossos. His research at the Kephala hill as well as contemporary fieldwork at further sites on Crete saw the birth of a new discipline: Minoan Archaeology. Since these beginnings in the first decades of the 20th century, the investigation of Bronze Age Crete has experienced fundamental progress. The impressive wealth of new data relating to the sites and material culture of this Bronze Age society and its impact beyond the island's shores, the refinement of its chronology, the constant development of hermeneutical approaches to social, religious or political issues, and new methods and instruments employed for the exploration and conservation of the archaeological remains have shaped the dynamic trajectory of this discipline for more than a century. In March 2011 - exactly 111 years after the beginning of Evans' work at Knossos - a conference on Minoan Archaeology took place at Heidelberg with the aim to outline current trends and prospects of this scientific field, by setting up an open dialogue between renowned scholars and the young generation of researchers. The present volume brings together most of the papers presented during the conference. They are subsumed under six chapters highlighting current key issues in the study of Bronze Age Crete with a pronounced focus on the broad subject of society

Minoan Archaeology

More than 100 years ago Sir Arthur Evans' spade made the first cut into the earth above the now well-known Palace at Knossos. His research at the Kephala hill as well as contemporary fieldwork at further sites on Crete saw the birth of a new discipline: Minoan Archaeology. Since these beginnings in the first decades of the 20th century, the investigation of Bronze Age Crete has experienced fundamental progress. The impressive wealth of new data relating to the sites and material culture of this Bronze Age society and its impact beyond the island's shores, the refinement of its chronology, the constant development of hermeneutical approaches to social, religious or political issues, and new methods and instruments employed for the exploration and conservation of the archaeological remains have shaped the dynamic trajectory of this discipline for more than a century. In March 2011 - exactly 111 years after the beginning of Evans' work at Knossos - a conference on Minoan Archaeology took place at Heidelberg with the aim to outline current trends and prospects of this scientific field, by setting up an open dialogue between renowned scholars and the young generation of researchers. The present volume brings together most of the papers presented during the conference. They are subsumed under six chapters highlighting current key issues in the study of Bronze Age Crete with a pronounced focus on the broad subject of society