On the Late Helladic I of Akrotiri, Thera

Needless to say, it is not a definitive presentation of material for which Professor C. Doumas and members of the Akrotiri Excavations are responsible. (Other categories of imported ceramic material found at the site including wares in traditional MH styles and fine LM IA imports have already been dealt with by M. Marthari, 1980 and W-D. Niemeier, 1980). 

The imported LH I style pottery at Akrotiri, chiefly consisting of decorated Keftiu cups or other cup-types, is a small group among the great quantities of wares, local Cycladic or other; its importance, however, for Theran chronology is certainly greater than its size.

In this paper we consider a series of fine decorated LH I vases which have appeared in excavation reports and other publications by the late Spyridon Marinatos and Prof. C. Doumas, 1967-1988, imports of LH I that are on display in the Room of Theran Antiquities in the National Museum of Athens, and also specimens known to me through information from colleagues who work at Akrotiri. The main characteristics of the imported LH I style pots known from the site are discussed, compared with those of specimens of contemporary date from centres outside Thera, in the Aegean and on the Mainland, and set within the general context of LH I ceramic development (for which see O.T.P.K. Dickinson, 1974, 1977; Y.G. Lolos, 1987). Questions concerning their place(s) of origin are also considered.

The great majority of fine LH I imports at the site of Akrotiri, mainly ribbed Keftiu cups of the low broad variety (Type II) bearing lustrous-painted patterns, are seen to be normal LH I and can be shown convincingly to fall within the mature or classic phase of LH I, a stage well represented in pottery deposits of early LH at several sites in the Peloponnesos and east central Greece.

Also, a number of features of the latest Peloponnesian LH I, such as the occurrence of tall funnel-like Keftiu cups of Type III, very often with ripple-decoration, and of squat jugs with 'rackets', are unattested in the known LH I pottery from Akrotiri. These types soon become dominant in the domestic LH IIA on the Mainland; from the point of view of chronology their absence from the Theran deposits may be claimed to be almost as crucial as the absence of the celebrated Minoan Marine Style.

The absence of imported pottery belonging to the latest phase of LH I from the destruction levels at the settlement of Akrotiri may be taken to indicate that the end of the town occurred at some point before the closing stage of Peloponnesian LH I - a useful point, it would appear, as one proceeds to assess all the available evidence in order to date even more precisely the destruction of the settlement at Akrotiri.

My paper to this Third Thera Conference is a brief commentary, not a definitive report, on a comparatively small body of imported Mycenaean material found at the Late Cycladic I settlement of Akrotiri, namely the fine pottery in Late Helladic I style. This pottery, chiefly consisting of finely decorated LH I Keftiu cups and other cup-types (Fig. 1. 1-2), is a small group compared with the amount of Cretan LM IA pottery (for which see Niemeier 1980) and the enormous quantities of local LC I wares present in the destruction deposits at the site of Akrotiri. Its occurrence, however, at the site is considered to have an important bearing on the chronology of Late Bronze Age Thera.

As with other classes of imported pottery at the site, a definition of the Late Helladic I from Akrotiri could prove a useful addition to contributions towards a closer dating of the last phase of the settlement and of Theran events.

In this paper we shall consider a series of fine LH I style vases from Akrotiri which have appeared in excavation reports and other publications by the late Spyridon Marinatos and Professor C. Doumas over the past twenty years, as well as a number of LH I imports now on display in the Room of Theran Antiquities in the National Museum of Athens (these will be referred to below by kind permission of Professor C. Doumas). Included in my treatment of the imported Mycenaean material will be related information either from notes that I kept during my stay at the site in August 1972 and September 1974 or from personal communication with colleagues who work at Akrotiri, especially Mrs Marisa Marthari and Dr Angelia Papagiannopoulou.

The Theran deposits are of considerable value for the relative chronology of the early LBA in the Aegean. More vividly, perhaps, than in other contemporary island deposits in the Cyclades or elsewhere, the concurrence of well-preserved Cretan imports of LM IA, Mainland imports of LH I, and various local wares in the same contexts at Akrotiri, offers a further confirmation of the general LM IA - LH I ceramic synchronism, also well documented from the contents of some of the Shaft Graves at Mycenae, and a good opportunity to correlate closely events in Thera with developments in other parts of the Aegean world (see Hankey and Warren 1974, 143; Dickinson 1974, 111; 1977, 29; Lolos 1987, 6a).

Spyridon Marinatos was quick to draw attention to the importance of the Mycenaean imports at Akrotiri when the first examples of the LH I pottery style, a series of spiral-decorated LH I Keftiu cups turned up in Magazine 3:3 in Arvaniti 1 in 1968 (for two of these see Marinatos 1969, Col. Pl. D7: 1, 3). It is, perhaps, worth citing here some of his original comments (Marinatos 1969, 40, 41): 'The most important of these small vases, however, is a series of imported cups. . . About a dozen of these were found in the store room, but unfortunately all were broken. They are always of the archaic LM IA or Myc. I shape. . . They are the most characteristic vases for the dating of the destruction because not a single one of them shows the features of the Myc. II period. Another interesting problem is that of their place of origin. Generally these cups are thought to be Mycenaean. In Crete they are rare, but not completely unknown. . . The Theran cups show a much greater resemblance to about a dozen such cups found in the excavations at Pylos especially at Tragana (Voroulia). At about the same time similar cups had been found at Lipari in the excavations of Professor Bernabò Brea. Clearly these cups were much in demand and were widely exported, but their centre of production still remains unknown.'

To take Marinatos's observations a step further, it should be stressed that the successive types of the characteristic metallic-looking Keftiu cup-shape, as they are now recognized to be (Coldstream and Huxley 1972, 284-285; Coldstream 1978, 392-396; Niemeier 1980, 43-47, Fig. 22-23; Lolos 1981a; 1987, 249-260), are increasingly being used as evidence for the more precise dating of pottery deposits of the early part of the Late Bronze Age at sites on the Mainland and in the Aegean.

The great majority of certain or probable LH I imports at Akrotiri belong to ribbed Keftiu cups of the low broad variety (Fig. 1.1, Type II; for which see Coldstream and Huxley 1972, 284; 1984, 109, n. 36; Coldstream 1978, 393, 395, Fig. 6b; Lolos 1987, 251-254, Fig. 630-631).

Of the LH I Keftiu cups known from Akrotiri, nine specimens are on show in Case 3 in the Theran Room of the National Museum of Athens and display a set of features typical of LH I Keftiu cups: they are characterized by their heavy mid-ribs (except for NM Th. 26 whose rib has been omitted), markedly or slightly bevelled bases, barred handles (except for NM Th. 25 whose handle is solidly painted inside and out) and unslipped interiors; and they have thick uneven bands of paint at the base, on the plastic rib and inside the rim.

The patterns (in black, brown or red paint) that have been used as main decoration on LH I Keftiu cups of Type II exhibited in Case 3 in the Theran Room of the National Museum of Athens or published in excavation reports include:

-    Forms of tangent-linked framed spiral with blobs (Fig. 2. 1-2): NM Th. 63, 64, 27, 461, 26 (without mid-rib), 65; Th. Inv. Nos. 3972-3978, 3980-3982; and Marinatos 1969, 40-41, Pl. D7.1, 3 (from Arvaniti 1, Magazine 3:3); 1971, 36, Col. Pl. G.b; 1973, 27, Fig. 32; 1974, Col. Pl. 10. 2, 8 (from the West House?); Doumas 1977, 226, Pl. 201, 202 a (from Polythyron Delta 1, South Groundfloor). Cf. Furumark 1941, Motif 46:29; Dickinson 1974, 110, Fig. 1.1; Lolos 1987, 392-396, Fig. 657. 2-8.

-   Thick-framed eye spirals linked to circles enclosing a whirling rosette: Doumas 1979 ,312, Pl. 201c (from Room 5, West House). Cf. Lolos 1987, 419-420, Fig. 146, from Pylos; Mountjoy 1986, 15, Fig. 8.4, in the Nauplion Study Coll.

-   Foliate bands of 'composite' type using rows of small schematic crocus blooms and realistic leaves: NM Th. 67, and here Fig. 2.5 (cf. Taylour 1958, Pl. 8.4, from Lipari; Coldstream and Huxley 1972, Pl. 31: theta 2 ('LM IA'), from Kythera; Lolos 1987, Fig. 665. 5-6, from Nichoria and Koukounara); Th. Inv. No. 3983, and Doumas 1977, 226, Pl. 202b (cf. Taylour 1958, Pl. 8.6a, from Mycenae; Mountjoy 1986, 12, Fig. 3.3, from Prosymna).

-   A simple horizontal foliate band with realistic leaves: NM Th. 66, and here Fig. 2.4 (cf. Lolos 1981b, 54-57, Fig. 1-4, from Pylos; Mountjoy 1986, 15, Fig. 8.2, from Phylakopi).

-   A form of chain pattern made up of two contiguous wavy lines: NM Th. 25, and here Fig. 2.6 (cf. Mountjoy 1986, 15, Fig. 8.7, from Ayios Stephanos; Lolos 1987, 468, Fig. 502a, 671.1, from Kato Samikon).

An imported Keftiu cup from Delta 9 (Marinatos 1972, Pl. 65a.1; Niemeier 1980, Fig. 22.2, 33.18; Lolos 1987, 251, Fig. 627b; and here Fig. 1.3) has a thick exterior rim-band and carries spirals with crossed tangents (for which cf. Coldstream and Huxley 1972, Pl. 29: eta 7 (LM IA), from Kythera). Unlike the ribbed Keftiu cups already mentioned, this specimen belongs to Type I, a Keftiu cup-type that is current only in Kytherian LM IA and Southern Peloponnesian LH I (see Coldstream and Huxley 1972, 284; 1984, 109, n. 36; Coldstream 1978, 393, Fig. 6a; Lolos 1987, 249-251, Fig. 629).

The second LH I shape known to be present among the Mycenaean pottery from Akrotiri is the rounded cup (Furumark 1941, Shape 211; Mountjoy 1986, 14-15, Fig. 7). There are two LH I examples of the shape on display in the National Museum in Athens: the first, of elegant form (NM Th. 1773; Marinatos 1972, Pl. 66b.1; Marthari, in Demakopoulou 1988, 153, No.110; and here Fig. 1.2, 2.7), has as main decoration a chain pattern (for which cf. Keftiu cup NM Th. 25) in two zones; the second is larger and carries linked spirals with blobs (NM Th. 158; here Fig. 2.3; cf. Korres 1984, Pl. 7, from the tholos tomb at Voidokilia).

Among the pottery found in Delta 9.1, there is a series of probably LH I imports including five rounded cups, at least three of which bear interior rim-bands (see Marinatos 1976, Pl. 48.1, 3, 4, 7, 9). The main motifs used on these cups are: loop-linked circles filled with hatching (ibid., Pl. 48.1); loop-linked eye spirals with blobs (ibid., Pl. 48.3; for which cf. Dickinson 1974, 110, Fig. 1.5; Lolos 1987, 400-402, Fig. 658.5-8); tangent-linked eye spirals (ibid., Pl. 48.4; cf. Lolos 1987, 398-400, Fig. 658.4); and simple foliate bands with naturalistic leaves (ibid., Pl. 48.7, 9; cf. Caskey 1957, Pl. 39g, from a grave at Lerna).

Accessorial decoration in added white paint is employed almost invariably on the LH I imports from Akrotiri. It occurs in the form of thin stripes or lines superimposed on bands of dark paint and on the diagonal tangents of spirals; large dots on the solid centre of spirals, on the blobs flanking the linking tangents, or on the linking tangents; dot-rows on the diagonal tangents; and dot-rosettes on the central eye of spirals (e.g. NM Th. 63, NM Th. 64, NM Th. 26; Doumas 1977, Pl. 201 a-c).

To turn now briefly to questions concerning the ultimate provenance of our imported cups. The northeast Peloponnesos seems to be a likely place of origin of several of the fine spiral-decorated Keftiu cups from Akrotiri to judge from their general appearance and orange to reddish fabric, apparently too dark for Messenian or other clays. Messenia's candidacy, however, may well be supported from some specimens: of the Keftiu cups that are on display in the National Museum in Athens, at least one example (NM Th. 27) of dead yellow clay decorated with tangent spirals and blobs in black paint can easily pass for a Messenian product; while the pattern of arc-linked circles filled with hatching appearing on a rounded cup from Delta 9:1 (Marinatos 1976, Pl. 19, 48.1) can only be paralleled on cups from the LH I deposit at Voroulia near Tragana in Messenia (see Lolos 1987, 416-417, Fig. 662.2). There exists also the possibility of Kytherian imports reaching Akrotiri during LM IA, given Kythera's position and role in the production, development and transmission of the Keftiu cup shape to other areas in LM IA.

Certainly, more can be said about the provenance of the LH I style Keftiu cups found at Akrotiri, if these specimens are included in a programme of spectrographic analyses of ribbed Keftiu cups with interior rim bands from sites in the major Mainland provinces, the Cyclades and Kythera.

The great majority of LH I imports at the site of Akrotiri are seen to be more or less canonical LH I and must be attributed to the mature or classic phase of LH I. Of successive stages within LH I, this phase is the most amply represented in pottery deposits at LH I sites in the Peloponnesos and east central Greece, particularly in the Argolid and Messenia (see Lolos 1987, 535-537).

Most salient among the features of the LH I pottery known from Akrotiri are the predominance of ribbed Keftiu cups of Type II (Fig. 1.1), certainly the commonest decorated cup-type current in the mature phase of LH I, and the use of a range of lustrous-painted motifs including forms of linked thick-framed eye spiral, foliate bands of both simple and 'composite' types, filled circles or medallions and certain forms of linear pattern (see Dickinson 1974, 110, Fig. 1) that are most typical of the developed LH I style on the Mainland.

The only exception among the imported Keftiu cups published from Akrotiri is an example of Type I (here Fig. 1.3) from Delta 9 mentioned earlier. It should be noted, however, that this first and arguably earliest version in the sequence of south Peloponnesian (and also Kytherian) Keftiu cup-types has been shown to have continued into the mature phase of the local LH I (see Korres 1978, 275-276, 280; Lolos 1981a, 153, 154; 1987, 259, 260).

Absent from the LH I pottery from Akrotiri are several elements most evident in pottery groups assignable to the latest Peloponnesian LH I (see Lolos 1987, 537-540, for the latest LH I in Messenia and elsewhere): i) particularly striking is the absence of tall funnel-like Keftiu cups of Type III, ripple-decorated or other. Cups of this advanced category appear very late in LH I and become standard in the succeeding LH IIA phase (see Furumark 1941, 55, Shape 224; Coldstream and Huxley 1972, 284-285; Coldstream 1978, 395-396, Fig. 6c; Coldstream and Huxley 1984, 109, n. 36; Mountjoy 1986, 15-16, 33-34, Fig. 9, 34.2-7; Lolos 1987, 254-256, 257-258, Fig. 632, 634b-f); ii) also noticeable is the absence of small closed shapes such as squat jugs decorated with hatched loops ('rackets') or simplified spirals (see Furumark 1941, Shape 87, Motifs 46:33, 63; Mountjoy 1986, 18, 25, Fig. 12.22, 30, 21; Lolos 1987, 405-406, 453-456, Fig. 659.2, 669.1-2); these tend to characterize the most advanced stage of LH I and persist into the next period, LH IIA. For Theran chronology, the absence from the Akrotirian deposits of such characteristic and widely known types as funnel-shaped Keftiu cups with ripple-decoration and squat jugs with 'rackets' may well be claimed to be almost as decisive as the lack of the celebrated Minoan Marine Style; iii) furthermore, a number of dark-on-light lustrous-painted motifs of the LH I repertoire whose currency is largely associated with the most advanced or closing phase of LH I and which similarly survive in strength into LH IIA have yet to make their presence felt on the Mycenaean pottery from Akrotiri. These include small neat types of simple linked spiral such as varieties of hook-spiral or wave-spiral (with or without small dots in the field), forms of the hatched loop and double-axe, and accessorial rows of small dots and single or double wavy lines; iv) the fondness for the ripple pattern on Keftiu cups belonging to the closing years of LH I, at least in the southern Peloponnesos (e.g. in the deposit in Area IV:SW at Nichoria, see also Dickinson 1974, 119), is unmatched on the LH I pottery from Akrotiri. Among the ribbed LH I Keftiu cups recovered from Akrotiri, there are no specimens decorated with the ripple pattern. Two examples of the shape from Polythyron Delta 1, South Groundfloor, painted with vertical ripple-like lines are local products, in imitation of LM IA / LH I (Th. Inv. Nos. 3984, 3985; and Doumas 1977, 226-227, Pl. 202c).

Finally, the use of added white pigment for subsidiary ornament on small decorated shapes, for which there is evidence from deposits in Messenia (e.g. the Area IV:SW deposit at Nichoria) and elsewhere that it wanes towards the end of LH I, is still abundantly documented on most LH I imports at the site of Akrotiri (and easily seen on those exhibited in the Theran Room of the National Museum in Athens).

The absence of imported pottery belonging to the latest phase of LH I from the LC I destruction deposits at the settlement of Akrotiri is rather unlikely to be accidental; the sample of fine LH I pottery that we have from the site is made up of specimens with different find-places in the excavated area of the town.

If we assume that there had been a more or less steady flow of imports into Akrotiri during LC I, it appears that at the time of the destruction, in a mature stage of Evans's LM IA to judge from the style of most Cretan pots found, the last fine Mycenaean imports in circulation in the town were those in the classic LH I style.

On the evidence of these imports, therefore, the destruction of the LC I town at Akrotiri appears to predate the end of Peloponnesian LH I; indeed, it may be claimed to have occurred at some point before the closing phase of that period. This point is of some use, I think, and has to be taken into account when we come to discuss the relative chronology of Late Bronze Age Thera and assess all the available evidence likely to lead us towards a more precise dating of the destruction of Akrotiri.

Addendum

On the LH I pottery from the West House, see also the paper by M. Marthari in this volume.

To the LH I rounded cups cited in my paper must be added a complete example exhibited in the Old Archaeological Museum in Phira: No. 28, from Sp. Marinatos's excavations at Akrotiri; decorated with eye spirals of 'squashed' appearance linked by blob-flanked diagonal tangents, with band at rim and three bands below main zone of decoration; brought to my attention by Professor G.S. Korres.

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