Baskets in the Fresco of the 'Saffron Gatherers' at Akrotiri, Thera: Relevance to the Present

Fresco-and other paintings are one of the few means by which evidence for basketry, which does not survive in Aegean conditions, has come down to us. At Akrotiri on Thera, the specific taphonomic conditions produced by the eruption of the volcano have helped to give us some idea of basketry through carbonised samples of baskets themselves and through impressions of baskets left in the soil. These baskets were evidently used for the collection and transport of goods, as well as providing a unit of measurement for the contents of some vessels. The fresco of the 'Saffron Gatherers' gives us an additional use for the baskets and panniers depicted on it: that of the offering of goods - in this case the valuable crocus - to the 'Great Goddess'. This element is particularly important in showing that objects of apparently limited value may be used in official ceremonies.

INTRODUCTION 

The creator of the 'Saffron Gatherers' fresco was undoubtedly a talented artist who, among other things, succeeded in giving us the largest representation of the 'Nature Goddess' known from the Aegean world. It is particularly fortunate for us that he also turned his hand to depictions of more mundane, functional objects such as examples of basketry - a craft whose existence in prehistory has often been acknowledged, but which has generally inspired little interest among archaeologists.

The east and north walls of the upper storey directly above the 'Lustral Basin' were decorated with murals which represented the everyday activity of gathering the flowers of the crocus, a plant valued for its pigment as well as for its aromatic and pharmaceutical properties. In the fresco, this activity has acquired the status of a major event, a ceremony executed partly in the realm of reality and partly in that of fantasy. These valuable plants are collected by young girls and women dressed in Minoan costumes and bedecked with precious ornaments, and are offered to the 'Great Goddess', the 'Mistress of Animals' πότνια θηρών), who is shown seated on an imposing and monumental throne flanked by exotic and imaginary beasts. The animals represented are a blue monkey on the left, which climbs on its hind legs up the stepped structure to offer the seated female a handful of crocus styles, which she extends her arm to receive. There may also possibly be a snake slithering up the female figure's neck and onto her head as it flicks out its forked tongue.

EAST WALL

The scene of crocus collecting is developed on the eastern wall. It must be spring or autumn, when the crocus plant blooms; and, in a rocky mountainous landscape dotted with clusters of crocuses, two female figures, one of them very young (adolescent) and the other slightly older, are engrossed in collecting this valuable commodity (Pl. 8). The older figure on the left is picking the flowers with the fingertips of her right hand, and will presumably place them in the basket which she holds in her left hand (Pl. 9). At the same time, she turns her head in thoroughly naturalistic manner to answer the call of the other female figure, depicted on the right (Pl. 8). This woman also collects crocus flowers with both hands. She will apparently deposit them in the basket placed on the rock behind her. It is evident that the older woman guides the younger in collecting the crocus flowers. The scene is a simple, charming one of an activity quite common until recent times. In it, the two baskets in which the female figures place the crocus flowers playa very important role.

These baskets are trapezoidal in shape and are characterised by an arched handle rendered in three colours and attached by two red loops at opposite points on the rim (Pl. 9). Five horizontal bands, the smallest corresponding to the base and the largest to the rim, are placed at regular intervals. These bands have curved outer edges which project from the vertical walls of the baskets and are painted in three alternating colours: light yellow, black and red. The weave of the baskets is relatively open and is indicated by thin diagonal lines of red and light yellow colour. Groups of three light yellow lines sloping to the right are interwoven with groups of red lines sloping in the opposite direction.⁽¹⁾

NORTH WALL

The culmination of this activity is shown on the north wall, again in the countryside, but this time in a flat landscape with an abundance of crocuses. On the right of the large window there is a young saffron gatherer, carrying on her left shoulder a basket full of crocuses, which she supports with the fingers of her left hand (Doumas 1992, fig. 129). She steadies it by holding a rope tied to the handle high above her head with her right hand (Pl. 10). On the left of the window another saffron gatherer, stooping slightly, empties the crocuses from her basket into a large pannier which is placed on the ground (Pl. 11). At the same time, she gazes at the figure of the 'Great Goddess' seated on the stepped structure. On the second step of this structure, between the goddess and the blue monkey, there is another pannier from which the monkey has taken the bunch of crocus stamens which he offers to the goddess (Pl. 12).

The baskets on the north wall are identical to those on the east wall. The basket supported on the shoulder of the red-haired figure (Pl. 10) differs little in size from the other baskets (its height, including the handle, is 0.20 m., without the handle 0.12 m.), and achieves a symmetry with the head of the figure.

The panniers, which occur only on the north wall, are of two kinds. The first, into which the young saffron gatherer empties the contents of her basket (Pl. 11), is circular with concave walls and two low, semicircular handles. The pannier is very shallow (0.08 m. high without the handles) in relation to its width (0.48 m.). It has two decorated bands, a narrow one (1 cm. high) corresponding to the base, and a broader one (2 cm. high) corresponding to the rim. Both are rendered in three colours, broad black rectangular shapes alternating with others in light yellow or red. The outturned handles at opposite points on the rim are also rendered in three colours similar to those on the rim and base bands.

The walls of the pannier are relatively densely woven and indicated by thin light yellow and red diagonal lines. The lines that slope upwards to the left are shown in a dense and regular arrangement of three light yellow lines alternating with two red lines. Groups of red lines slope up to the right from the black lines of the base band and are interwoven with the yellow and red lines.

The other pannier is placed in front of the feet of the 'Great Goddess' (Pl. 12), and from this it seems that the blue monkey has taken the crocus stamens which it offers to the female figure. It is biconical in shape, 0.08 m. high without the handles, 0.235 m. wide at the rim and 0.23 m. at the base. Three bands of equal width, one at the base, one at the rim and the third (slightly smaller) in the centre, are shown in exactly the same way as on the baskets and the first pannier. There are handles like those of the first pannier on the rim, turning outwards and thinner at the top.

The weave of this pannier is quite dense, probably in order to protect the delicate contents, and is shown in alternating black and light yellow lines. These lines slope to the right and are interwoven with others in the same colours which start from the base and slope in the opposite direction. According to Televantou (1994, 141), "the absence of red lines is perhaps due to aesthetic reasons, given that the contents of the pannier (crocus stamens) were red in colour".

Cross-hatched patterning is used in the same way to show the weave of the κάνιστρον (pannier) on the carved stone vessel from Gypsades (Fig. 1). This large conical rhyton of black steatite, which was studied by S. Alexiou (1959, 346-352), shows a tripartite shrine on top of a rocky mountain, in front of which a belted male figure bends and places a κάνιστρον with offerings (fruit?). Alexiou (1959, 350) describes it thus: «Τό κάνιστρον, άβαθές καί πλατύ, είναι προφανώς πλεκτόν, ώς δηλούται έκ τών τεμνομένων γραμμών αύτού, είναι δέ γνωστόν ότι ύπήρχον τοιαύτα σκεύη. Δύο λαβαί έκ τής αύτής έλαστικής ύλης δηλούνται έκατέρωθεν.» A little further on he compares the κάνιστρον of the carved stone vessel with the pannier which is shown on the stone sarcophagus from Ayia Triada of LM IIIA date (Fig. 2). This yellowish two-handled vessel with vertical black lines is undoubtedly a pannier, probably containing fruit. It is shown in the background on one of the long sides of the sarcophagus, above the altar on which a priestess offers bloodless sacrifice. However, its weave is not shown in the same way as that of the baskets and panniers of the 'Saffron Gatherers' fresco, or in the same way as that of the κάνιστρον on the carved stone vessel from Gypsades. The vertical black lines used by the artist to depict the weave very probably represent the warps, the passive element in the weave of a basket or pannier.⁽²⁾

On the other hand, the representation of a basket by means of cross-hatched patterning is perhaps shown on the container depicted on the fresco of the 'Gift-bearer procession' of LH IIIB date from the north-east wall of the vestibule of the palace at Pylos (Lang 1969, 66, 192-193, pls. 9, 119-120 no. 9HS), on which a male figure, dressed in a long garment and processing with others, carries what has been described as a wicker tray (Immerwahr 1990, 117-118, 197) in both hands as an offering to the god or goddess.

Finally, it is extremely interesting to note that cross-hatched patterning is shown on the vessel which resembles a basket in ideogram L181 in Linear A. The ideogram L181 is found on two roundels (2006, 2007) which were discovered together with tablets and sealings during the excavation of the Minoan archive at Chania (Papapostolou 1977, 16, fig. 2a). The vessel is conical, with vertical handles on the rim. The base is marked by a horizontal line which continues beyond the body, which narrows downwards.

COMMENTS

We have observed that cross-hatched patterning is used to indicate woven containers shown either on frescoes or elsewhere. What is not certain, however, is whether this patterning is related to a specific technique like that shown on the sherds of Middle Minoan ceramic vessels excavated by J.-C. Poursat in Quartier Mu at Mallia (Poursat 1980, 91098, fig. 132; Fig. 3). It seems that these pots were made by using baskets as moulds. The baskets themselves were woven in a simple twine technique with diagonally crossed warps (Fig. 4). This technique gives a cross-hatched appearance, and was certainly used on the island of Crete for weaving baskets. However, it has so far not been found in examples of basketry at Akrotiri on Thera, whether directly or indirectly preserved. On the other hand, other techniques - simple twine, split twine, diagonal twine, diagonal weave, coiling - have been found there.

This may mean one of two things: either that the cross-hatched pattern does not represent the technique of simple twine with diagonally crossed warps, or that it does, and is used only to indicate baskets and panniers used in specific rituals, such as those used here for the collection of crocuses and their offering to the 'Great Goddess'.

It is of great interest that even today in many Greek villages, women offer their gifts in church in panniers woven in a special way: during wedding ceremonies, memorial services (κόλλυβα, that is wheat boiled together with other ingredients), or in the 'five-bread' offering for prosperity. These panniers, mainly woven from willow rods, remind us very much in their shape, size and technique of the panniers shown in the fresco of the 'Saffron Gatherers' as well as that on the Gypsades vase (Fig. 5).

The five horizontal bands seen on the four baskets of the fresco, the two bands seen on one of the panniers and the three bands seen on the other were possibly not painted simply for decoration. On the contrary, they probably represent the reinforcing wreaths that basket makers invariably put at the base and rim, and often also on the main body of the basket, to make it firm. These wreaths, and possibly also the handle, would be made of wicker rods or rushes. Their three colours (τριχρωμία) - light yellow, black and red - may be due to the combination of natural and dyed rods. The same would apply to the three colours of their sides.

The weave of the sides is open in the baskets, relatively dense in the pannier into which the woman empties the basket of crocuses, and even denser in the pannier from which the blue monkey has taken the crocus stamens to offer them to the 'Great Goddess'. However, there are no indications of the way in which the base of either baskets or panniers was woven. Most probably, it was made by the technique of simple or diagonal twine. This would mean that the weave was dense, necessary for practical reasons.

On the 'Saffron Gatherers' fresco we are fortunate to see, indirectly, six beautiful examples of basketry of the Late Cycladic period. However, basketry was a significant feature at Akrotiri throughout the Bronze Age. The plentiful production of baskets of excellent quality is shown by the direct and indirect evidence for examples found at various places on the site. Among the direct evidence are parts of carbonised baskets found in Rooms 4 and 5 of the West House, especially those found in jars (Fig. 6). Their discovery in the jars indicates a possible use as measures of the products stored in the jars. The carbonised baskets show evidence of two weaving techniques: coiled work and diagonal twine. There are also the remains of mats found in Room 3 of Building Complex Delta and in Room 4 of the West House, which covered bronze objects (Doumas 1983, 117).

Examples for which there is indirect evidence are greater in number. These consist of basket impressions on the soil or on walls, found in various places on the site. A basket found by Professor Marinatos (1970, 14-15, pl. 12) in the Mill House of Sector A had probably been used for the transport of sea urchins from the coast. This basket had an elliptical section and had been woven in diagonal twine technique, like most modern baskets (Fig. 7). In Building Complex Delta, Rooms 1 and 2 and especially areas a and b of Room 18 brought to light a great number of basket and pannier impressions (Figs. 8-9; Doumas 1975, 227, pl. 207; Marinatos 1971, 24). Most of them were found in large jars, and were woven in simple and diagonal twine technique, coiled work and diagonal weave. These baskets must have been used for the collection and transport of products, for storing various objects and of course, for measuring the contents of vessels. A basket impression was also found in Room 5 of the West House. The materials from which these baskets were made were probably rushes, reeds and rods from the chaste tree (Vitex agnus castus). Reeds and chaste tree rods are still used today on the island of Thera.

Indirect evidence also includes the impressions of mats or basket bases found on the bases and sides of EC and MC pots (Figs. 10-11).⁽³⁾

THE USE OF BASKETS AND PANNIERS ON THE FRESCO OF THE 'SAFFRON GATHERERS'

The most common use of baskets is for the collection and transport of goods, for which there is plentiful evidence. However, on the 'Saffron Gatherers' fresco the use of baskets and panniers is not simply confined to the collection and transport of crocuses. It is extended to the presentation and offering of the crocus to the 'Mistress of Animals' (πότνια θηρών). This use elevates the role of baskets, which are of their nature cheap containers, and brings it into connection with formal ceremonies. A similar use is shown in the representation on the carved stone vessel from Gypsades. The baskets and panniers may not have been luxurious, but are the most appropriate containers for certain offerings. That is why the artist does not hesitate to include them in representations of specific rituals. ⁽⁴⁾

The use of a pannier in sacrifice and sacred celebration is known in Homeric and Classical times. A pannier (κάνεον) was used for the placing of ούλαί (the sacred barley), which was a basic element in the sacrifice together with garlands made of flowers and the sacrificial knife (Odyssey iii.440-442; iv.760-761). Very often this κάνεον was carried on the heads of virgin girls (κανηφόροι παρθένοι), mainly in processions included in the great festival of the Panathenaia.

BASKETERY TODAY

Basketry production continues even today on the island of Thera, but with a more limited range than was produced in the period from the Second World War until the beginning of the 1960s. Characteristic types are the κόφινοι, which were used for the transport of tomatoes and grapes (Fig. 12). Other types - baskets (Fig. 13), κοφίνια (Fig. 14), μισοκόφινα, κόφες, ταμιτζάνες, γαλόνια, panniers (Fig. 15), στομόχια, τυροβόλια, etc. - are exhibited in the interesting Folklore Museum of E. Lignos in Kontochori, Thera.

(1).     Information about the detailed representation of the baskets and panniers on the fresco of the 'Saffron Gatherers' is taken from the book by C.A. Televantou (1994, 135-142), to whom I am very grateful.

(2).      Alexiou (1959, 351) believes that panniers are also depicted on the 'Saffron Gatherer' fresco from Knossos. In support of his view is the similarity in proportions between the panniers of this fresco and the κάνιστρον on the carved stone vessel from Gypsades. He also believes that the size of the handles is similar, and that these handles were constructed of pliable material. Platon (1947, 505), on the other hand, believes that stone vases are represented. Finally, Cameron (1975, 77, pl. 84c) suggests that these are clay or metal vessels.

(3).      Photographs of directly and indirectly preserved examples, which demonstrate the importance of basketry in the economy of the island of Thera, were exhibited on the poster which accompanied the presentation of the paper at the Symposium.

(4).      I disagree with A. Sarpaki (this volume) who characterises the baskets of the 'Saffron Gatherers' fresco as "special", arguing that these were used as measures of volume for the collection of crocuses specifically because of the character of the scene. She believes that the everyday collection of crocuses does not take place in baskets, but that in this case baskets were chosen because production was meant to be standardised so as to be easily estimated by a centralised control. We should not forget that the word κάλαθος (ka-ra-to in Mycenae tablet Ge 603 and in ideogram 155) was not simply a kind of transport container but a unit of measurement of the contents, as, for example, were the κόφινος, the΄φορμός and the τάλαρος, which were also used in antiquity. Moreover, several types of woven containers have the same use in Greece today: for example, the μουζουρικάλαθο and the αξάι on the island of Crete, the πινάκι on the islands of Karpathos and Mykonos, the νάπος on the island of Tenos and of course the κοφίνος on the island of Santorini, which is used for the transport of tomatoes and grapes. In conclusion, the baskets on this fresco were not chosen specifically for the measurement of volume of the offered crocus (though it is certain that they comprise a unit of measurement), but for sheer practical reasons. The fact that they are depicted with care (with delicate weave and in multicolour) is due to the peculiarity of the scene. It concerns a specific ritual.

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