The Function of Wall Painting and Other Forms of Architectural Decoration in the Aegean Bronze Age

The present study attempts to investigate the problem of the functional significance of Aegean mural imagery, and painted plaster in general, as a supplementary aspect of architectonic 'ambience' from the point of view of architectural context and find circumstances. Other forms of wall and floor decoration will also be included in this study. This approach takes in painted architectural plaster finds from Minoan Crete, the Bronze Age Cyclades and Mycenaean Greece, and aims to outline comparative problems with respect to the functional value of this art and its craft. Finally, a consideration of the find places of Aegean mural paintings also gives us some insight into matters of social status within the political structure and its development.

INTRODUCTION

In the conclusion to the report of his third campaign, Spyridon Marinatos wrote: "It seems in any case fairly sure that Thera will yield much new evidence on the subject of frescoes" (Marinatos 1970, 62). The wall paintings of Thera, with their excellent state of preservation, have indeed been most helpful in providing a conclusive picture of the architectural setting, composition, iconography, style, colour, craftsmanship and function of this Aegean craft and art form (Cameron 1978; Boulotis 1992; Televantou 1992) - not only of hitherto neglected mural paintings from other Cycladic sites (Davis 1990; Morgan 1990), but also of wall painting and other art genres in Minoan Crete and, to a lesser extent, in Mycenaean Greece (Cameron 1978, 590-591; Sapouna-Sakellaraki 1981; Vanschoonwinkel 1986, esp. 7-13, 29-41).

The Repertorium of the Painted Architectural Plaster Decoration in Minoan Crete, a project undertaken by S. Hiller and the author, soon to be published in the form of an annotated catalogue, will present a survey of the material reported up until now, including all forms of painted plaster in Bronze Age architecture in Crete (Figs. 1-2). A synoptic view of this type of craft further enables us to investigate its deeper meaning according to the specific find places and sites in which it occurs. Wall painting, primarily, came under the category of symbolism - not of practical use. As a medium supplementary to architectural forms it has to be treated as a means of achieving certain purposes in a semantic architectonic system.

In the following analysis I will first try to provide a diachronic definition of Minoan wall painting as a medium for the display of representations (Blakolmer 1995). I will then compare these results with the picture we obtain from painted plaster finds on the Cyclades and other Aegean islands and on the Mycenaean mainland - data which are founded less on statistics than on a more general impression. While numerous studies have focused on pictorial programmes and interpretations of room functions by analysing mural iconography (Hägg 1985; Cameron 1987; Marinatos 1985; 1996; Kontorli-Papadopoulou 1996; Shaw 1997), my attempt will take as a primary parameter the character itself of those rooms thought worthy of painted decoration, as defined by architectural forms and associated finds (cf. also Kilian 1984; 1987a; Michailidou 1990; Niemeier 1992; cf. further Moormann 1993).

MINOAN CRETE

Beginning in the Final Neolithic at Phaistos, monochrome painting of walls and floors characterises important building complexes during the prepalatial period in Crete (Blakolmer 1997, 96-97 with further references). At Myrtos-Phournou Koryphi, Vassiliki, Knossos and other sites red painted plaster evidently served as a representative feature of hierarchically dominant 'mansions' regardless of specific room functions (Blakolmer 1995, 469). It is worth remarking here that the south-west area at Phournou Koryphi, probably to be interpreted as a shrine, apparently lacks any painted decoration (Warren 1972, 80-87; Cameron in ibid., 305-314).

In protopalatial Crete, more elaborately painted plaster decoration remains a medium of social communication, though it still seems not to have been related to particular room functions in the Old Palaces, in the buildings surrounding them, or at other sites which are more difficult to classify (Blakolmer 1995, 469-470). An artistic relationship to the Kamares ceramic style can be found exclusively at the palace sites of Phaistos, Knossos and Mallia. In contrast to S.A. Immerwahr (1985), G. Walberg (1986, 58-86) and C. Boulotis (1995, 15-16), I regard the 'Kamares wall painting style' as something of an ephemeral artistic trend in protopalatial Cretan murals, continuing to some extent into MM III, but basically quite separate from the style and imagery of wall painting in the New Palace period (Blakolmer 1997, 100-104).

As far as we can tell, and despite problems in defining specific room functions in protopalatial architecture (Branigan 1987; 1990), the Old Palace at Phaistos, at least, does not appear to show any fundamental contrast with the prepalatial distribution pattern of painted plaster. It still occurs in the rooms of different functional areas, and, though most likely restricted to dominant buildings, is not exclusively confined to what we call palaces (Blakolmer 1995, 469-470).

Whereas the rulers in the Old Palaces of Crete preferred the repertoire of motifs of Kamares pottery as the most desirable wall decoration, the new significance of representation in the neopalatial period required another kind of stylistic language as far as monumental imagery, ornamentation and even simple painted decoration were concerned (Walberg 1992, 114-127; Blakolmer 1997, 97-100). The beginning of the Second Palace era in Crete was not only a turning point in plaster techniques and in the iconographical value of the art of wall painting, but also shows a uniformly standardised distribution of painted plaster in relation to architecture (Fig. 5), which continues until the very end of the Cretan Bronze Age (Blakolmer 1995, 470-472).

It can clearly be seen in 'Quartier Mu' at MM II Mallia that this basic change in the function of wall painting was closely connected with so-called 'palatial' features in architecture, rather than being a question of stylistic evolution in strictly chronological terms: whereas the more conservative architecture of Building B still presents an 'all over distribution' of bluish plaster (Poursat 1992, 27-28, 38), red painted walls in the innovative Building A are concentrated in a more sophisticated way in the ceremonial area with 'lustral basin' and pier-and-door partitions (Poursat 1992, 38, 42).

How do we set about classifying the functions of the hundreds of rooms with fresco decoration of the neopalatial period, in Cretan palaces, 'villas', town houses, as well as in dwellings of 'farmhouse' character (Fig. 2)? In the first place, painted plaster was found in contexts with cultic implements like figurines, offering tables, rhyta and other ceremonial vessels and religious symbols such as double-axes and 'horns of consecration'  (Fernandez 1985; Gesell 1985, esp. 61-67).

A religious context, more generally termed ceremonial, can be assigned to numerous halls with pier-and-door partitions, pillars, elaborate gypsum paving and other 'palatial' architectonic features (McEnroe 1982; Tzedakis and Chrysoulaki 1987; Fotou 1988; Driessen 1989-90), situated on the ground or upper floors, which frequently also reveal painted plaster (Blakolmer 1995, 467). It is worth mentioning that wall paintings do not occur only in ceremonial rooms characteristic of 'palatial' architecture, but also in cult rooms of less specific architectural character. It is also worth bearing in mind that in the 'Room with a central column' and in the tripartite so-called 'Minoan Hall', where no religious function is evident (Driessen 1982, esp. 62; Michailidou 1987; 1990, esp. 299; cf. also Hitchcock 1994), painted decoration is for the most part absent.

As "sign-posts", in the words of M.A.S. Cameron (1970, 165; 1978, 580), or "attention-focussing devices", to quote C. Renfrew (1985, 18-19), coloured walls or floors fulfilled a prominent function in the architectural circulation patterns (cf. Palyvou 1987). Red painted door jamb interstices and painted decoration in corridors, porticoes, and staircases were clearly used as markers leading towards the room types already mentioned. 

In some cases, painted wall plaster also gave a special sense of importance to palace workshops for the production of artificial luxury objects, and to magazines serving communal storage purposes both in palaces and in palatial sub-centres in the countryside (Blakolmer 1995, 468). Though wall painting, as an extension of architectural vitality, cannot be classified in terms of absolute restriction, it was nevertheless generally absent in rooms of less importance.

All this means that, from MM III, plaster painting in the New Palace period in Crete was strictly organised as a specific indicator of religious or, more generally, ceremonial architectural function. This, however, does not rule out a more general category of purely 'palatial' representation which could also have had an independent religious ceremonial connotation.

The nature and quality of mural painting has to be viewed separately from its functional aspect. It is impossible to recognise any difference in the purely functional significance of monochrome, ornamental or representational decoration on painted murals. A good example is the so-called 'lustral basin' or 'adyton' (Marinatos and Hägg 1986, 59-68; Nordfeldt 1987; Platonos 1990): while the example in the 'Queen's Megaron' at Knossos was decorated with a simple spiral frieze (Evans 1930, 380-384, figs. 252-255), the 'lustral basin' in the northern part of the palace at Kato Zakros showed symbolic religious motifs on its walls (Platonos 1990, 146-147, 154, pl. 27), while the 'villa' at Prasa (Platon 1951, 246; Cameron 1976, 6-8, pl. 3c), as well as Xeste 3 on Thera (Marinatos 1976, 22-38; Doumas 1992, 126-175, figs. 93-137), presented figural scenes in their 'adyta'. Furthermore, it is equally difficult to see any differences in functional value between painted floors, stucco dados, relief plaster and straightforward wall paintings.

With this in mind, we can show for all four major palaces of Minoan Crete a reasonably comparable and relatively homogeneous distribution of painted plaster remains according to their size (Fig. 5) (Blakolmer 1995, 464-465, pl. LVa). Instead of the 'all over distribution' of painted decoration in protopalatial and earlier times, in the New Palaces it is concentrated above all in 'residential quarters', halls with 'polythyra', ceremonial areas such as 'pillar crypts' and 'lustral basins', entrances, and to a lesser extent in corridors, palace workshops and magazines (Blakolmer 1995, 465-466). This means that painted decoration, despite regional predilections and stylistic diversities, was intended to 'lead through' the New Palaces, disregarding only spaces of minor importance (cf. Moody 1987; Hood 1995; Melas 1995; Soles 1995).

The periods following LM I do not seem to bring any change in the principles underlying the use of painted plaster decoration on walls and floors (Blakolmer 1995, 471). Let me add another observation: there is an impression that in Minoan architecture the art of wall painting went hand-in-hand with pottery decoration which clearly dominated the mural style during the Old Palace period and, to a certain extent, again after LM I. The large Palace Style jars seem to have been a slightly more dominant decorative component in the architectural space of that time than pottery had ever been before (Niemeier 1985, 191).

Beginning in the prepalatial period, the sepulchral context of Minoan architectural painting was a very traditional one and related, above all, to the meaning of adjoining places of ceremonial function as we can see in tombs in the 'South Building' at Ayia Triada, in the 'nécropole des pierres meulières' at Mallia, at Chrysolakkos, in the necropolis at Phourni Archanon and others (Blakolmer 1995, 466-467).

In strong contrast to their frequent occurrence during the time of the Old Palaces, in the neopalatial period painted plaster floors lose their former popularity in favour of stone slab paved floors, sometimes with painted interstices. Another coloured feature of architecture found less often but at numerous Cretan sites are plaster grid interstices, which possibly framed textile coverings (Hirsch 1977, esp. 44).

We have indirect evidence for richly ornamented, polychrome Aegean textiles already in painted ceilings from the Twelfth Dynasty onwards in Egypt (Matz 1928, 177-195; Shaw 1970; Barber 1991, 338, 345-346). The first figural fresco examples in MM III, which show not only decorated clothes but also a repertoire of framing border ornaments which echo those in representations of costumes, make it clear that we may postulate a flourishing textile art already during the Old Palace period in Crete (Barber 1991, esp. 225; Blakolmer 1994, 3-5). When it comes to the interchangeability of mural painting and textiles as wall coverings (cf. Driessen 1989-90, 8, 11, in relation to Near Eastern examples), we have to proceed with a certain amount of caution. The distribution of painted decoration in ceremonial areas appears highly homogeneous and relatively significant, so that we have to ask: On which walls could textiles have found a place, if the most obviously prominent areas were already covered with painted plaster? The answer can only be that textiles - at least in neopalatial architecture - must have had a different value from that of permanent plaster painting.

THE CYCLADES AND OTHER AEGEAN ISLANDS

Although dominated by the mural iconography, style and technique of neopalatial Crete, the wall painters of Thera and other Aegean islands partly base themselves on endogenous stylistic traits (Davis 1990; Morgan 1990) perhaps going back to Middle Cycladic or even earlier roots which, in my opinion, can probably be found in ceramic decoration (cf. Immerwahr 1990, 241, 243; Mastrapas 1991, esp. 161-169). Apart possibly from some red painted plaster on MM II Samothrace (Matsas 1991, 164, 175), the earliest evidence for mural painting on the Aegean islands to my knowledge comes from the MC III/LC I period at Cycladic sites on Thera (Televantou 1992, 145-146), Naxos (Barber and Hadjianastasiou 1989, 70, 135-136, 140) and Kea (J.L. Davis 1986, 100, 102), as well as Karpathos (Melas 1985, 29) (Fig. 3).

Unfortunately, with the exception of Akrotiri on Thera, it is much more difficult to identify the function of painted rooms and the nature of the dwellings generally at Cycladic and other Aegean island sites than it is in Minoan Crete. However, several finds in Minoanised buildings on Kea and Melos as well as on Samothrace, Naxos and Rhodes suggest a probable distribution pattern of painted plaster decoration similar to that at Cretan sites. Because of the extensive discussions of iconography, hermeneutics and methodology (cf. esp. Marinatos 1985; Morgan 1988; Televantou 1994, 309-349), and owing to our insight into find contexts and architectural settings (Marinatos 1985; Michailidou 1990; Niemeier 1992), conditions for interpreting the function of the frescoed rooms on LM I Thera are unusually good (Fig. 6). These mainly religious ceremonial functions have been well defined by W.-D. Niemeier (1992, esp. 103-104), on the grounds of archaeological context, as 1) permanent shrines, 2) preparatory rooms and repositories of cult paraphernalia, and 3) places of temporary house cult.

An analysis of the compositional structure of the wall painting programme on both floors of Xeste 3 at Akrotiri (Fig. 7) (S. Marinatos 1976, 32-38; Doumas 1992, 126-175, figs. 93-137; N. Marinatos 1985, 222-229) makes clear that Theran mural iconography was strongly related to its exact architectonic position and generally carried a 'signpost' function as in Crete.

With regard to the detailed interpretation of these so-called 'ceremonial places' at Akrotiri, I am in general agreement with C.G. Doumas, who is very cautious in defining these rooms as sacred areas (esp. Doumas 1987, 157-158; and 1992, 28-29, 35, 47; see further Boulotis 1992, 90-92). However, alternative models of function so far suggested, other than ceremonial (cf. Amigues 1988), are unconvincing, though this may well represent an 'over-simplification'. Apart from the fact that religion per se is a social phenomenon rather than a matter of separate metaphysics, in considering the probably attested 'rites de passage' (E.N. Davis 1986; Koehl 1986; Doumas 1987; Karageorghis 1990; see further Doumas here, vol. II; Papageorgiou here, vol. II) we are better thinking of these as 'social ceremonies with a religious background' rather than cult in its narrow sense.

So far, there is no evidence of painted plaster with a sepulchral function on the Aegean islands, with the possible exception of the necropolis at Kastri on Kythera (Huxley, Trik and Coldstream 1972, 223-224, figs. 73-75). Moreover, contrary to what we might expect in the light of the Cretan finds, no evidence for floor painting or plaster grid framing has so far been reported from any Aegean island site, apart from fragmentary examples on Thera (Televantou 1992, 146 n.5) and Kea (Cummer and Schofield 1984, 88, 93, 109, 131).

As I have argued elsewhere (Blakolmer 1994, 16-28; 1996), the mural iconography in the 'House of the Ladies' at Akrotiri seems to reflect more than the ceremonial presentation of clothes. The unusual compositional scheme of these frescoes with upper zone ornaments can also be understood as an artistic allusion to textile wall hangings, regardless of their real existence in this form. Thanks to the well preserved buildings at Akrotiri, we can answer a question previously raised in considering the possible distribution of wall hangings in neopalatial Crete. In the richly painted and particularly prominent rooms of the Theran houses there was no space available for textile wall hangings. Thus, if we postulate textile hangings in Minoan architecture - and I do (Blakolmer 1994, passim) - they must have been used in other types of rooms, and apparently had a less specific meaning than more durable painted plaster decoration.

As regards the so-called symbolism of 'palatial' status (esp. Wiener 1984; Driessen 1989-90) within which mural paintings can be categorised, information about the function of wall paintings on Late Bronze Age islands allows us generally to observe the same principles at work as in neopalatial Crete. The evident scarcity of simpler forms, such as floor paintings and coloured decoration in tombs, suggests that the functional significance of the most representative forms of mural painting was already taken over, along with features of 'palatial' architecture, early in the New Palace period. The astonishing abundance of high quality mural iconography in Akrotiri on Thera (Fig. 6) is, in my view, not only due to the unusual circumstances of preservation, but possibly defines wall painting at this site as an important sign of social wealth in a ceremonial context, sometimes without any relation to the other architectural features of a building - a point I will return to below. As painted plaster finds from the sanctuary at Phylakopi make clear (Renfrew and Cherry in Renfrew 1985, 338-341), the religious significance of wall painting in the Cyclades also lasts until the end of the Bronze Age.

MYCENAEAN GREECE

In contrast to the Minoan world, painted plaster on the Mycenaean mainland was always more or less restricted to palatial sites, as is shown on the map in Fig. 4. Though the earliest examples derive from late Middle Helladic times (Kilian 1987b, 213 with n.45; Boulotis 1995, 16-18), we cannot detect any earlier local tradition of plaster painting on the Helladic mainland before the adoption of Minoan cultural practices. In chronological terms, we have to confess that there is scarcely any evidence for answering questions about the early Mycenaean periods (cf. Barber 1992, 17-18; Kilian 1987b; Boulotis 1992, 84-85). Representational wall paintings from LH II Mycenae (Wace in Wace et al. 1921-23, 157, 159, pl. XXVb:1-2; Shaw 1996) and probably also from Argos (Deilaki 1973, 100-102, pl. 98a-b) are characterised by strong technical, stylistic and thematic Cretan roots.

Because of the problems of dislocation and 'fresco heaps', a functional analysis of plaster painting at Mycenaean mainland sites is most fruitful at the palace of Pylos (Fig. 8), based essentially on studies by K. Kilian (1984, 38, figs. 1-2; 1987a, 23-25, figs. 2a-3a). As in the New Palaces in Crete, the distribution of wall paintings and high quality floor decoration includes spaces with cult functions like the 'megaron complex' (Wright 1994, 54-60) as well as adjacent corridors, rooms for storage directly connected to the most representative palace areas, and workshops intended for the production of prestige objects. Even more remarkable in comparison with Minoan Crete, painted plaster designated entrances into citadels, palace propyla and 'megaron units', and so distinctly marked these most prominent areas of palatial residences. As K. Kilian (1984, 37-38, 43 and figs. 1-2) demonstrated, there was an increase of quality in plaster decoration of walls and floors leading to the throne room as the focal point. As in the Minoan sphere, the emphasis on religious ceremonial areas by means of iconographical or ornamental paintings is clear from the highly standardised architecture of the mainland palaces, and thus proves that religion was also a means of reinforcing the ruling authority in Mycenaean palace society (Carlier 1987; Kilian 1984, 40, 44-45; 1988, 293-294; Wright 1994, 54-63, 74).

The evidence for painted plaster from Mycenae and Tiryns, for instance, also illustrates the existence of rich iconographical mural decoration in houses surrounding the palaces. Here too, the occurrence of painted plaster in Mycenaean cult areas, characterised by platforms, animal rhyta, dedications such as human and animal figures and figurines, miniature vessels, drinking cups and luxury objects such as jewellery (Kilian 1992; Albers 1994, esp. 135-149; Wright 1994), is remarkably abundant. Despite the fact that I. Mylonas Shear (1987, 141), for example, concluded in view of the evidence of mural painting from the Panayia houses at Mycenae that "the very existence of the stucco fragments indicates that even the more modest houses at Mycenae, located some distance from the Citadel, had wall paintings in their rooms", a study of their find spots shows that plaster fragments with painted decoration were concentrated in the area west of House II, and associated with an offering table, kylikes, miniature bowls and a painted rhyton possibly washed down from the hill slope above (Mylonas Shear 1987, 31-35, 64-66).

Though a firm functional attribution for Mycenaean architecture seems to be even more problematic than in Minoan Crete, we get the impression that several hall complexes in the palace at Ano Englianos, for example that on the upper floor above Rooms 30, 31 and 33 in the north-east of the 'megaron unit', the hall above Rooms 43, 46 and 48 in the south-east and that of Rooms 64 and 65 in the so-called 'Neleus palace' (the latter two halls including scenes of warfare and hunting) (Lang 1969, 71-74, 205-212, pls. 121-122, M, 214-215, pls. 123-124, A, M, N), lacked a religious character (Kilian 1987a, 23-24; 1987b, 40-43, 45). Thus, their wall decoration might possibly be interpreted exclusively as a sign of the representation of political power. Nevertheless, it would be very problematic to assign a strictly representative meaning, without any religious ceremonial connotation, to all Mycenaean scenes of war and hunting (cf. Morris 1990); and, certainly, we cannot attribute to the 'megara' at Mycenae and Orchomenos, with their battle friezes (Rodenwaldt 1921, 21-45; Spyropoulos 1974, 319-322, figs. 7-10, col. pl. 11), any such completely secular significance.

Although several studies of iconographical programmes have pointed out a strong contrast between Minoan and mainland mural themes (Rodenwaldt 1921, esp. 58-60; Xenaki-Sakellariou 1985; Boulotis 1995, 24-32; Shaw 1997), in my eyes we would do better to speak of different preferences in the iconographical spectrum of Mycenaean mural painting, which also adopted Minoan religious imagery of nature and animals - though to a lesser extent than procession scenes, for instance. We also have to recognise that, in contrast to Minoanised gold rings, relief vases and other luxury items (cf. Kopcke 1997), mural painting on the Helladic mainland, from an iconological point of view, was clearly always more than an abstract objet d'art right from the beginning.

The sepulchral function of painted plaster on the Mycenaean mainland, already attested in an LH II chamber tomb facade at Kokla (Demakopoulou 1990, 113, fig. 4), appears to have been even more important than in Minoan Crete. Coloured plaster occurs essentially on the stomia of rich tholos and chamber tombs, as for example at Mycenae (see e.g. Tsountas 1891, 1-11 pl. 1), Tiryns (Müller 1975, 2, pl. 2.1), Prosymna (Blegen 1937, 174, Pl. 39) and Thebes (Spyropoulos in Spyropoulos et al. 1972, 310-312 pls. 253-255).

Stucco relief compositions seem to me to have been slightly less rare in Mycenaean Greece than the few examples from Mycenae (Cameron and Mayer 1995, 28), Argos (Deilaki 1973, 100-101) and Gla (de Ritter 1894, 294-295) have hitherto led us to suppose (cf. further Kaiser 1976, 306; 1980, 19, fig. 4, pl. 8:2-3). Although sometimes imitating rectangular stone slabs, painted motifs on Mycenaean floors also have to be seen as indications of carpets. It is an increasing fact that textile motifs were copied only in floor painting, while plastered dados present the standardised patterns of stone veining (Rodenwaldt 1919; Hirsh 1977, esp. 45-48; Blakolmer 1994, 13-14).

In contrast with the find pattern in Minoan Crete, the occurrence of the monochrome and simplest forms of wall and floor painting is remarkably scarce in what we normally call 'Mycenaean Greece' (cf. Hirsch 1977, 23-42; Kritseli-Providi 1987, 285-286). As on the Cycladic islands, one reason for this might be the lack of the early stages of development of plaster painting at the mainland sites, which picked up only the most representative ornamental and figural forms of mural decoration of the fully flourishing Minoan art right from the beginning, and concentrated only on the more exclusive building complexes and rooms in comparison with neopalatial Crete at this early time.

To summarise the evidence of mural paintings currently at our disposal from the early Greek mainland, wall painting was introduced fully developed from the superior civilisation of Crete as a Minoanising 'fashion' or conceptual means of expressing the high level symbolism of cult in palaces and in 'citadel cult centres' (Albers 1994; Wright 1994, esp. 61-63) - in other words, as part of the palatial ceremonial equipment arising from strong Minoan influence - and this function continued until the very end of the Mycenaean Bronze Age. The latest relevant example of painted wall plaster decoration to date is an LH IIIC advanced to Submycenaean fragment from a room with central hearth and 'throne podium' at Kastanas (Hänsel 1989, 176-177, 190, fig. 69). This is not by any means to say that Mycenaean ceremonies concerning cult and rulership were dominated by Minoan traditions (cf. Kilian 1992; Wright 1994), but rather that the symbolic and functional principles of Minoan wall painting were clearly taken over by Mycenaean officials and their imitators. This symbolic character - as in Crete - was further extended to the surrounding areas of more practical purpose in Mycenaean palaces.

On the other hand, there are some possible indications that mural painting in Mycenaean residences had a more general representative significance, which partly made use of indigenous iconographical themes, such as hunting scenes, for which we find no clear predecessors in Minoan wall painting. Further investigations of iconographical programmes in Mycenaean palaces will undoubtedly be very fruitful, but we cannot pursue this here. Nevertheless, as far as the mere existence of painted plaster in Late Helladic monumental architecture and its distribution is concerned, it is impossible to see any fundamental difference in comparison with Minoan Crete.

GENERAL COMPARISON

Minoan Crete appears atypical of eastern Mediterranean Bronze Age civilisation in that the original function of painted plaster during the earliest stages of its cultural development was not of ceremonial character, like that of Anatolia and other Near Eastern areas (Mellaart 1962, esp. 8; Pierre 1987; cf. further Winter here, vol. II), but has to be seen rather as a mark of regional rulership and social distinction. The growth of a ceremonial religious function for wall painting, sometimes reinforced by iconographical means, is a relatively late phenomenon in the Aegean which quite clearly emerged from new needs in architectonic representation in neopalatial Crete itself. What this means is that what we might call the socio-political function of Aegean mural painting is a characteristic of more traditional nature than the ceremonial one.

For whatever reasons (cf. esp. Walberg 1992, 127, 141-148), fundamental changes in the functional use of this medium take place in MM III. Colour per se on plastered surfaces - in architecture as well as on tripod tables and plastered 'megaron' hearths - seems to have been a principal marker of religious ceremonial function throughout the Aegean area. The frequent relationship of painted decoration with sepulchral monuments in both Minoan and Mycenaean spheres proves that the two are connected, at least in this respect. The form of decoration and the dominant colours seem to have mattered less, though, as in most cultures, red was of particular interest (cf. esp. Wunderlich 1925; Schmandt-Besserat 1980; Wreschner 1980).

Other forms of coloured plaster decoration in the Aegean, such as floors and stucco dados, had a function very similar to that of mural painting. The precise location and form of polychrome decorations were of minor importance in relation to their role as functional indicators of architectonic space, in which they contrasted with the usual building materials such as stone, plaster, clay and wood (Shaw 1971; Küpper 1996, esp. 113-115). Richly coloured textiles, in their capacity both as a precious woven material (Korres 1981; Boulotis 1987, esp. 150 and fig. 8; Morgan 1990, 259-261, figs. 8-9; Barber 1991, 319-322, 358-382) and architectural 'signposts', probably had a comparable, but perhaps less significant, symbolic value.

Was there any special Cycladic link, as far as function was concerned, with the later mainland spatial use of frescoes, as M.A.S. Cameron suggested in 1978 (Cameron 1978, esp. 590-591)? One thing they had in common was the timing of the adoption of palatial status symbolism, including mural imagery in architecture. There is no evidence for any basic contrast in the functions of wall painting between the Aegean islands and the Mycenaean mainland, though the process of adoption was most probably due to different reasons in each case. I am fully aware that the mainland palaces - like Mycenaean political structures - were clearly quite different from Minoan ones in many respects (Dabney and Wright 1990). However, the principles of the use of symbolic language in architecture display some strong affinities.

At any rate, it seems safe to conclude that there is no representative evidence for wall paintings in a purely secular context in the Aegean after the eighteenth century, with the one important exception still to be discussed. Buildings of regional importance, such as House B1 at Palaikastro, possibly House X at Kommos, and particularly the so-called 'villa' of Koukou Kephali at Epano Zakros, show exaggerated mural decoration which is combined with relatively humble architectural forms and functions (cf. Blakolmer 1995, 471-472). If we take the distribution of wall paintings as an isolated parameter, we get the impression that the further a building of regional importance but without the standard 'palatial' architectonic features was from a palace centre in Crete, the less standardised was its functional use of painted decoration. This observation strongly suggests the existence of communities, both in outlying settlements and in the vicinity of palatial centres even in LM I, which used the architectural symbolism of painted decoration in a more traditional way. In these cases, the functional value of painted plaster still seems to reflect that current in protopalatial times, despite the fact that these house-owners were clearly part of the neopalatial socio-political system.

This observation, speculative though it is, might nevertheless be helpful in understanding the unusual abundance of decorated spaces in the settlement of Akrotiri on Thera (Fig. 6). With the exception of the Xestes, which are partly constructed of ashlar masonry, the various block complexes of connected rooms or houses and independent buildings, such as the West House, present relatively unsophisticated architectonic features - regardless of the problem of whether we interpret them as Cretan fashions or in terms of regional Cycladic building traditions (see esp. Shaw 1978; Sinos 1987; Hood 1990). The lack of some of the more traditional forms of Minoan mural decoration, such as monochrome plaster floors and walls in red (cf. Blakolmer 1997, 96-100) in the settlement of Akrotiri has been interpreted above in terms of the island's relatively rapid adoption of the most qualitatively significant forms of wall painting along with the 'palatial' architectural vocabulary. Thus, we find rich forms of iconographical mural decoration in official buildings of public character, but we also find representational scenes on wall paintings in dwellings of a sort which would not normally have them in Crete (see esp. Palyvou 1986, 184-190; Sinos 1987, 296-304; cf. also McEnroe 1982; Fotou 1988). We are thus tempted to draw a distinction between more official buildings and less elaborate private houses, both of them reflecting contrasting attitudes towards neopalatial forms of Minoan architecture as well as different degrees of relationship with Crete. It is my opinion that we can conclude cautiously that the settlement of Akrotiri, as known from excavation so far, included official building complexes with a real claim to representation in public religious affairs, like for instance Xeste 3. However, the owners of other dwellings possibly also aspired to a comparable social position, expressed by a prolific use of painted architectural decoration similar in quantity as well as quality (cf. Boulotis 1992, 89).

As far as the occurrence of plaster decoration at Mycenaean sites like Mouriatada (Marinatos 1960, 203), Nichoria (McDonald 1972, 232, 238; Aschenbrenner et al. 1992, 385, 445, 448, 450) and Iklaina (Marinatos 1954, 309) in Messenia, Zygouries (Blegen 1928, 37, pl. III) and Eleusis (Darcque 1981, 600, 604) is concerned (Fig. 4), we also get the impression that mural painting was accepted by these regional centres, along with the 'megara' of the major residences, as part and parcel of palatial representation and a symbol of political power. In some cases, this may have outweighed any religious meaning - and should perhaps be seen as reflections of what M.K. Dabney (in Dabney and Wright 1990, esp. 46-47) has called partly assimilated "local kin groups" (cf. further Wright 1995). These less complex minor palaces and regional 'mansions' which governed smaller territorial units were presumably not dissimilar in political function to the Minoan 'villas' in the 'hinterland' of Crete (Dickinson 1982, 137-138). The above observations on the probable secular character of some of the halls of several Mycenaean palace complexes would also square with this hypothesis. This would mean that on the Helladic mainland, too, we can perhaps see a fundamental dichotomy in the function of painted plaster decoration which is even more substantial than in the Minoan world.

There is as yet no certainty about this interpretation, and the evidence for such differentiation in the function of wall painting remains very modest in comparison with the evidence for its so-called 'palatial', or official religious, use. However, in all three regions discussed in this study, there seems to have been an alternative function for painted plaster decoration beyond the 'palatial' meaning of religious ceremonial symbolism. Let us call it a third dimension of mural function, which may have consisted in the expression of hierarchical socio-political status by means of architectural symbols.

I am aware of the risk of drawing such complex conclusions from distribution patterns of painted plaster finds alone, but the explanations of functional patterns, briefly presented here, seem to me to be among the most plausible. Palatial ideas were transported and communicated through mural iconography and no less through the pure language of colour. Colour in contrast to plainness was part of the representative formulation of religious ceremonial space. As J.C. Wright (in Dabney and Wright 1990, esp. 52; 1994, 74-75) has pointed out, religious ideology was never the prime mover in controlling the population on the Mycenaean mainland, probably in contrast to Minoan Crete. However, the remarkably high frequency of religious mural iconography in Mycenaean palaces, together with the relative scarcity of innovative scenes of warfare and hunting, makes us wonder why Mycenaean wall painting never basically changed its traditional meaning and iconographical value. It was probably for the same reason that the iconography of the ruler is also missing in Mycenaean art (Davis 1995; cf. further Shaw 1997).

Naturally, we must be careful about drawing identical conclusions from similar patterns of evidence. Nevertheless, as far as the functions of mural painting in the Bronze Age Aegean are concerned, we can detect similar conceptual developments and comparable principles of meaning in different regions. In both areas - in the Minoan world and in Mycenaean Greece - mural painting was a characteristic feature of palaces and thus, clearly, not only indicative of the political sphere, but also of the highly religious significance of rulership in these complex societies.

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