Analysis of Select Reconstructions at Knossos. Jason Stewart. December 7, GSI: Hima Bindu Mallampati. Professor Margaretha Theodora Kramer-Hajos

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1 Analysis of Select Reconstructions at Knossos Jason Stewart December 7, 2005 GSI: Hima Bindu Mallampati Professor Margaretha Theodora Kramer-Hajos 1

2 INTRODUCTION Archaeological artifacts shape the manner in which we interpret the past. Unfortunately, these artifacts are rarely preserved in their original state and in order for archeologists to fully understand their significance they may require reconstruction. Due to the broken state of these archaeological artifacts it is not always clear how the original may have looked. Thus, the reconstructed product of these artifacts may not be one hundred percent accurate. Take, for example, the site of Knossos. The poor present state of this site (compared to its probable original state, not just other sites) has prompted archaeologists to reconstruct some of the salvageable finds. The resulting reconstructions have lead archaeologists to make educated inferences about the life of the people that lived at Knossos. Through the analysis of structures, building materials, various objects represented in frescos and architectural styles found at these sites archeologists can begin to paint a picture of the appearance of city of Knossos during its prime. However, due to the inherent nature of reconstruction from partial or even complete artifacts, we can not be certain that the present state of reconstruction accurately represents the original. If the errors from the reconstruction itself are not properly accounted for, this may lead to an incorrect interpretation of the history at Knossos. Through the analysis of various reconstructions done from archaeological artifacts at the site, I will show how different reconstructions can paint different pictures of the history of Knossos. Specifically, I will be examining the reconstruction of the Town Mosaic, the Floral Fresco and Arthur Evans structural reconstructions at Knossos. 2

3 KNOSSOS Knossos is located in the north-central sector of the island of Crete just five kilometers southeast of Heraklion (see fig. 1). 1 While initially inhabited in the Neolithic period (7000 B.C.E.), the Palace at Knossos, which is considered to be the most monumental find at the site, dates to c B.C.E. 2 The palace consists mainly of many long and narrow hallways, narrow rooms, a central court and other rooms that may have been used for ceremonial or ritual purposes (see fig. 2). 3 Some of these rooms contain frescos, such as the Town MOSAIC located in the Loomweight area of the east wing. 4 The now inappropriately named Unexplored Mansion at Knossos, which is located NW of the palace, contains another fresco whose reconstruction will be analyzed in this paper: The Floral Fresco 5. TOWN MOSAIC The Town Mosaic was excavated in 1902 by Arthur Evans and his excavation team. About forty faience pieces were found, most of which depicted architectural façades although there were some pieces in which figural fragments can be seen (see fig. 3). It is thought that initially these fragments were colorful and vibrant however, due to years of the effect of nature, the fragments retain little of their original coloring. The dating of these pieces is questionable as archeological evidence contradicts Evans s initial interpretation. Evans dated the pieces to the MMII period due to the presence of consistent pottery found nearby; however, there is substantial evidence to show that the 1 Papadopoulos, John K. Knossos in The Preservation of Archeological Sites in the Mediterranean Region p Knossos. Hellenic Ministry of Culture. 3 Papadopoulos. P Waterhouse, Helen. The Knossos Town Mosaic reconsidered in Cretan Studies p Chapin, Ann P. A Re-examination of the Floral Fresco From the Unexplored Mansion at Knossos in Annual of the British at Athens p 1. 3

4 final resting place of these pieces in a basement room in the east wing was due to the pieces falling through a crack in the floor during an earthquake 6. Evans reconstructed the mosaic and described it as a picture with tall houses standing in rows and further suggested that it is certain that the craftsmen who designed it in the palace faience factory intended to reproduce the contemporary architectural features that were familiar to them 7. However, there are a few problematic issues with Evan s interpretation. What Evans interpreted as contemporary architecture might not have been so common or contemporary after all. The attic shown on the roof of several structures in the town mosaic faience façade is presumably why Evans thought that the houses were tall. This could simply be explained as the protective hood over the top of the stairway as seen in the MMIIA House Model from Arkhanes (see fig. 4). Also, excavations, conducted after Evans wrote his initial interpretation of the town mosaic, have shown that very few MM houses were more than one storey tall 8. Granted, Evans would have probably discredited his own interpretations of the town mosaic as being a contemporary depiction of houses at the time if he had been alive during the excavations of other MM houses. Nevertheless, assuming that multi-story houses at Knossos during the MM period were commonplace would have misrepresented the culture at Knossos at that time. Multi-storey houses were mostly inhabited by those in a position of power and/or wealth. This was probably due to the rise in costs as the difficulty to construct increased. Therefore, to say that the town mosaic represented a 6 Waterhouse, Helen. p Waterhouse, Helen. p Please see Lembessi, A. ό οίκίσκος των 'Αρχάνων, Arch. Eph. 1976, for information about these MM house excavations. The particulars of this excavation are not important to this paper, just the fact that they exist is the important thing 4

5 contemporary image of Knossos could imply a number of things: most that lived in Knossos were in a position of power and/or wealth; housing at Knossos represented a break down in the traditional socio-economic structure, as everyone was able to live in multi-story houses. Discovering houses from the MM period at Knossos laid to rest Evans s claim that multi-story homes were typical of that period at this site. The tall houses standing in rows was probably just for decorative purposes since there is no evidence that these types of structures existed during the time period the mosaic was produced. It is also possible that these houses appeared taller in the context of the landscape and depth in which they were presented. THE FLORAL FRESCO The floral fresco is located in room P in the unexplored mansion at Knossos 9 and the structure itself dates to approximately the 14 th -12 th century B.C.E. 10 The scene consists of a variety of flowering plants (Cameron s reconstruction: fig. 5). M.A.S. Cameron catalogued and reconstructed the fifty-seven fragments found at the site and first recognized the rarity of this depiction as well as the style used to produce it. 11 Cameron s reconstruction, however, misplaced and omitted a number of fragments that may be contextually important to the overall Fresco. Eight of the catalogued fragments were not included in Cameron s reconstruction. These eight fragments represented some sort of frilled flower (Figure 6, nos. 12b 20b, 20c, 21, 23, 24b, 38, 39). In addition, a ninth fragment is oddly placed out of context on 9 AR 19 ( ), 50-61; M. R. Popham et al, The Minoan Unexplored Mansion at Knossos (Oxford, 1984). 10 Knossos. Hellenic Ministry of Culture M.A.S. Cameron, The Frescos, in M.R. Popham et al, The Minoan Unexplored Mansion at Knossos (Oxford, 1984),

6 the far right side of the fresco (Figure 6, no. 33). Cameron also somewhat neglects the background and landscape information in his representation of the reconstruction for which the pieces provide clues as to its composition. Three pieces that contain textured, multicolor rock (See figure 6, nos. 36, 38, 39) are also omitted from his reconstruction which shows how Cameron failed to properly account for the background of some of these pieces. The combination of these misplaced and omitted pieces gives an overall misleading image of the Floral Fresco. In A Re-examination of the Floral Fresco from the Unexplored Mansion at Knossos Ann P. Chapin addresses these concerns and creates a new reconstruction of the Floral Fresco giving more attention to Cameron s omitted and misplaced fragments (see fig. 6). She notes that the fragments containing landscape information may be important in analyzing the fresco in the broader context of religious character in Aegean wall painting 12. With the preserved fragments of the Floral Mosaic reorganized and newly reconstructed, archeologists are better able to analyze the scene in terms of its symbolic or religious meaning. Some have argued that Aegean nature landscape frescos suggest an overall concept of fertility and fecundity by offering a space in which Minoan goddesses may appear 13. An example of this can be seen in the LMIA frescoes in room fourteen at Ayia Triada. Cameron s reconstruction gave little attention to the landscape within the scene and the symbolic significance was therefore ambiguous. With Chapin s reconstruction, however, the flowers are a part of a broader landscape; only by correcting the misplaced 12 Chapin, Ann P. A Re-examination of the Floral Fresco from the Unexplored Mansion at Knossos in The Annual at the British School in Athens. No. 92, P Marinatos, N. Art and Relgion in Thera (Athens, 1984), 96. 6

7 and including previously omitted fragments does this become clear. Accounting for the landscape and not just the flowers frames the fresco as more of a nature scene than simply a portrait of specific flowers. By establishing this element the fresco is now subject to religious interpretation; something that may have not been appropriate given the Cameron s lack of landscape in his reconstruction. Of course, floral presentations by themselves could be religiously interpreted but not knowing if this fresco was only an image of flowers or an image of flowers within landscape setting hinders this interpretation; context is key. However, even Chapin s reconstruction and presentation of the Floral Fresco is not free from scrutiny. When examining Chapin s reconstruction one might think that the floral designs were outlined in black as this is the manner in which the Floral Fresco is presented; this is not the case. The original Floral Fresco had no such black outlines 14. Since black outlining is not seen in other frescoes at Knossos, this may be misleading and imply significance that is merely the manifestation of the reconstructor. Chapin does, however, acknowledge this in her paper 15 citing that this method was appropriate in the amount of time she had to complete the reconstruction. Since this discrepancy is noted, it should therefore be acknowledged by the reader but recognized as a necessary measure for reconstruction. ARTHUR EVANS STRUCTURAL RECONSTRUCTION AT KNOSSOS Arthur Evans was one of the first archeologists to take interest in the archeological artifacts at Knossos. His full scale excavations started in the year 1900 and continued 14 Chapin, Ann P. P Chapin, Ann P. P 9. 7

8 under his supervision until the late 1930s 16. Evans was not only interested in excavating the site but also in opening the site to the public and presenting what he thought the site may have looked like in its heyday. He thus set out to reconstruct the buildings and structures he excavated and, unfortunately, some of his reconstructions still stand today. It is unfortunate because his reconstructions were often based on fragmentary or misunderstood Minoan iconography 17. The resulting structures influence the perception of those that view or study this site and thus perpetuate the misleading nature of the reconstructed buildings or structures. Particularly in the case of Evans reconstruction at Knossos, the reconstructions themselves often become to the focus of future reconstructions. Figure 3 shows the detail of exposed and decaying iron supports in the roof of the Domestic Quarter. The iron supports are not, of course, part of the original structure but instead were used to reconstruct the roof in this part of the palace. The roof was reconstructed by Evans and his team in the late 1920s and has since been subject to the same sources of degradation as the original, non-reconstructed, structures from Knossos. Efforts have thus shifted to maintaining and reconstructing Evans reconstruction 18. This presents an inherent danger to the validity of these structures. To reconstruct the already reconstructed artifacts that were produced using an early interpretation of Minoan iconography and architecture would most likely further obscure the original context of those elements. Thus, Evans structural reconstruction at Knossos, while intended to give 16 Papadopoulos, John K. Knossos in The Preservation of Archeological Sites in the Mediterranean Region P Papadopoulos, John K. P Papadopoulos, John K. P 113 8

9 a better idea of what the palace at Knossos may have been like, may inadvertently misrepresent the original structures as the need to maintain them increases. CONCLUSION Reconstruction is a tricky business. You can almost never make everyone happy with the reconstruction you have produced. However, this is precisely the beauty of science; if you have a theory, present it, and if you have a better theory than someone else show how they may have been wrong. The end product is a refined, focused and proven interpretation that involved more work and study than any one person could have done in a lifetime. The goal of this paper was not to put a negative light on the reconstructive abilities of those aforementioned, but rather to illustrate the inherent flaws in reconstruction and artistic interpretation. Through the analysis of the various reconstructive efforts at Knossos, it is easy to see how these flaws influence our interpretation of the history there. What is not so obvious is how one can accurately reconstruct an archeological site. However, until such a method is conceived, artistic and personal interpretation during the reconstruction process seems like a small price to pay for the broader understanding of Greek history. 9

10 Appendix of Figures Figure 1. Location of Knossos on the island of Crete. Figure 2. Site plan of Knossos. 10

11 Figure 3. Town Mosaic fragments. Figure 4. House Model from Arkhanes. 11

12 Figure 5. Cameron s reconstruction of the Floral Fresco. Figure 6. Chapin s reconstruction of the Floral Fresco. 12

13 Bibliography AR 19 ( ), 50-61; M. R. Popham et al, The Minoan Unexplored Mansion at Knossos (Oxford, 1984). Cameron, M.A.S. The Frescos, in M.R. Popham et al, The Minoan Unexplored Mansion at Knossos (Oxford, 1984), Chapin, Ann P. A Re-examination of the Floral Fresco From the Unexplored Mansion at Knossos in Annual of the British at Athens p 1. Knossos. Hellenic Ministry of Culture. Accessed Dec Lembessi, A. ό οίκίσκος των 'Αρχάνων, Arch. Eph. 1976, Marinatos, N. Art and Relgion in Thera (Athens, 1984), 96. Papadopoulos, John K. Knossos in The Preservation of Archeological Sites in the Mediterranean Region p 93. Waterhouse, Helen. The Knossos Town Mosaic reconsidered in Cretan Studies p