Butterflies, Flowers and Aegean Iconography: A Story About Silk and Cotton

INTRODUCTION

Representations of insects, referred to as 'butterflies', are often encountered on Late Minoan I and Mycenaean seals (Betts 1984; Younger 1983). They are also not infrequently encountered at Knossos and Akrotiri on wall paintings (Evans 1928; Doumas 1992). The mythology in terms of the classical myth of Psyche has been discussed by Nilsson (1950), and Warren (1987) has connected their representation on rings with chrysalises from the same scenes. Davies and Kathirithambi (1986) illustratea later example where the 'butterfly' is depicted with its caterpillar and chrysalis.

As L. Morgan (1988, 14) has pointed out, specific plants and animals are depicted in Aegean iconography. Representing objects from life in art inevitably leads to some stylisation or to depiction of the results of poor observation. The curved, thick antennae on a Late Minoan cut gemstone from Knossos are more suggestive of the hairy antennae of a moth than the filiform ones of most butterflies. The fuller body and the distinctive wing markings could also potentially be associated with species of moth. The Akrotiri wall painting examples appear to fall into these groups. Ships 1 and 2 of the flotilla wall painting in the West House are decorated with 'butterflies': ship 1 has one on the prow (Pl. 14), whilst ship 2, the so-called 'flagship', has two on the prow and two more on the mast. All of them are depicted with large ocelli, clearly outlined. The moths on the two ships are of different types, one with wings with a scalloped edge and the other with pointed wings with a smooth contour. The wings are also outlined and folded above the body; the colour of the 'butterflies' was probably yellow. It is not accidental that on seals, too, the animals are usually depicted with one or, in some cases, several 'eyes' on each wing, which are often also clearly bordered (Davies and Kathirithambi 1986, fig. 21; Younger 1983; Betts 1984; Evans 1930).

INTERPRETATION

The butterflies depicted on the flotilla wall painting have been seen up until now as symbols associated with religion and ritual. The wall painting in question shows a flotilla of six large ships with passengers and a cargo ship, which appear to be involved in some sort of festival, travelling from their departure town to a port of arrival. The ships depicted have different kinds of decorations related to their rank. Some of the motifs/emblems that decorate the prows and masts of the ships could be interpreted in a different way from the traditional interpretation. All of the ships carry a 'star emblem', but they also all carry animal emblems related to sea and air and therefore seen as appropriate for transport (Morgan 1988, 133): dolphins, birds and 'butterflies'. The individuals on the flagship are associated with a large number of symbols of power, such as the boars tusk helmets and the Egyptian 'waz' motif (Morgan 1988, 23). If the standard classical interpretation of 'Psyche' is adopted, it is difficult to explain the presence of the Lepidoptera, but if the intention is to provide a symbol of a traded commodity, then the moths depicted may be the larger of the two European moths used in the production of wild silk, Saturnia pyri; a second species, Pachypasa otus, may also be intended. If this is the case, then perhaps also the wild silk moth is seen here as linked to the exotic or special, as an elite symbol. Another symbol from the Ship Procession fresco, that of the star, will be reassessed later.

Other representations of Lepidoptera were depicted with spread wings on gold repoussé plaques from the Shaft Graves of Mycenae. Evans (1930) thought that the balance of thin gold plate with butterflies embossed on the scales, found in the third Shaft Grave together with golden butterflies, was for ritual purposes, specifically for weighing the souls of the departed. Svoronos (1906, cited in Nilsson 1950), however, suggested that they were used for weighing gold used as currency. Perhaps the delicate balance implies a lighter commodity, such as the precious silk thread produced by the silk worm moths depicted on it.

There is a link between insects and the representations of 'tree shaking' ritual. Such scenes belong to a group argued to be the representations of high priestesses in front of shrines (Marinatos 1993, 184-188), having as a common formula one participant bending over a pithos or stone and another pulling down the branches of a tree. In such scenes, the insects referred to as 'butterflies' are sometimes juxtaposed to dragonflies and frequently to shapes which have been interpreted as chrysalises (Warren 1987; 1990). The motifs which are identified as butterflies can be interpreted as religious symbols in the tree shaking scenes, or in the case of the flotilla fresco as symbols linked with spring (Marinatos 1993).

The so called 'tree shaking' ceremonies could also be related to wild silk exploitation. The shaking of the tree might be associated with the collection of cocoons from the wild; the leaves of the tree on the Archanes ring and related representations are similar to oak, upon which the caterpillars of S. pyri and P. otus feed. Such an interpretation would at least partly account for the repeated use of the 'butterfly' and cocoon motifs (Warren 1990) in such scenes. In western India, the tussur silk moth, Antheraea mylitta, was considered a sacred animal with its wing spots seen as the chakra or discus of the god Vishnu, and orchards of 'silk trees' were places of ritual significance (Wardle 1891). The labour involved in the collection and preparation of the thread from the raw cocoons would have kept silk as a high status commodity, and it may be that a combination of such rarity and other qualities of the moth may have led to it being regarded as a sacred animal in early antiquity. This reintepretation of the butterflies is strengthened by the archaeological evidence from the site.

THE COCOON

At the excavation of Akrotiri, beneath the destruction level together with pieces of pottery, bones, charcoal and flints east of Column 17, a Lepidoptera cocoon was recovered (Fig. 1). It is about 4.4 cm. in length and 1.8 cm. wide and is preserved by replacement with calcium carbonate. The cocoon is broken on the upper part as if the moth had emerged. Its shape and size, according to Dr P. Skidmore, identify it possibly as Pachypasa otus, the largest species of Lasiocampidae in Europe. Pachypasa otus is a Mediterranean wild silkworm species and occurs in S. Italy, Sicily, Greece, and from the Dalmatian coast to Romania, north to Armenia and south to Palestine. The larvae breed from July to May on Cypressus or Quercus pubescens, and also on juniper and common oaks. During breeding it requires a cold but not damp place for hibernation (Seitz 1913). It hibernates throughout the winter and forms a thick white cocoon. Until recently it was used for silk production in some parts of the Levant (Kirby 1903).

Saturnia pyri, the second Mediterranean silkworm species, is Europe's largest moth. It feeds on ash, blackthorn and various other trees. S. pyri produces strong and glossy silk, dark brown in colour, while silk from P. otus is paler and finer (Forbes 1956).

P. otus may have been the silkworm described by Aristotle (Historia Animalium v 19.6) and Pliny (Natural History xi 75-78), in their first accounts of wild silk cultivation in Greece, on the island of Cos. Pliny mentions the breeding of silkworms inside earthenware vases that maintained a steady temperature. However, the sensitivity of the silkworms and the high standards of hygiene required, make their breeding in jars impossible.

As silk production was restricted to China at least until the fifth century AD, wild silk (as opposed to true silk, produced from B. mori) was a very marketable commodity in India and around the Mediterranean. Wild silk garments from Cos, Amorgos or Sidon are often referred to in the Classical sources. The discovery of the wild silk cocoon at Akrotiri confirms wild silk production from an early period in the Aegean.

SILK THREADS AND TEXTILES FROM THE MEDITERRANEAN

I. Good (1995) summarised the evidence for the early presence of silk outside China. The earliest known silk in the Mediterranean region is recorded from an Egyptian burial of the Twenty-first Dynasty from Thebes dated to ca. 1000 BC (Lubec et al. 1993); however, its date is debatable (Ryder 1995). In Europe, silk has been claimed from a rich early Iron Age burial in the Hohmichele tumulus in Baden-Wurttemberg, sixth century BC, and burials at Hochdorf-Eberdingen, near Stuttgart (Wild 1984; Good 1995). The oldest surviving material from Greece is from the Kerameikos cemetery in Athens over a century later, and the thread from this find has been identified as imported Chinese silk from the silkworm, Bombyx mori L., not introduced to Europe until the sixth century AD (Wild 1984).

The production of 'wild silk' is discussed by both Aristotle (Historia Animalium v 19.6) and Pliny (Natural History xi 75-78), and they link it with the Aegean island of Cos; wild silk garments from this island (Horace, Satires I ii.101-102; Ovid, Ars Amatoria ii.298), as well as from Amorgos (Aristophanes, Lysistrata 45, 150), find frequent reference in the Classical sources. Pliny (Natural History xi 75), in a rather confused passage, lists the food plants of the caterpillar and it is apparent that the plant hosts of both P.otus and S. pyri are included. His suggestion that silk was obtained by scraping the fibres from trees may be the result of confusion of the collection of bast fibre with the gathering of the cocoons of silk moths in the wild. Similarly, earthenware jars (Natural History xi 78) are unlikely to provide suitable places for the silkworms, as Pliny believed, as they feed on fresh leaf growth on the trees and require conditions where they are not susceptible to mould.

Since the larva breeds in the wild, the only explanation for the existence of the cocoon in an urban context is its exploitation by the inhabitants of the settlement. There is no clear indication that the moths were native to Santorini, rather than imported as cocoons from elsewhere, perhaps Cos or Amorgos. If the orography of the island was no different from that of the present (Rackham 1990), the feeding of the silkworms could only have been achieved by intense coppicing. However, breeding cultures of silkworms is an activity which requires abundant vegetation; the cocoons could have been imported from another Mediterranean centre and processed on the island.

FURTHER ICONOGRAPHICAL EVIDENCE FOR TEXTILES IN THE AEGEAN

The moths, previously referred to as butterflies, on the Ship Procession fresco have formed part of our reinterpretation of the role of silk in the Bronze Age Aegean. Alongside these symbols on ships 1 and 2 occur the star or rosette emblems which are attached to the bowsprits not only of those ships, but of each vessel in the procession (Pl. 14). Morgan (1988, 132), in a full discussion of the star motif, relates it to star designs on LM IB Marine style and other pottery, continuing the nautical connection from the Ship Procession fresco.

Morgan has interpreted the objects on the rigging as pendants of "stylized crocuses" (1987, 29), but suggests that the feature associated with the 'butterfly' on the prow is a 'star', making it virtually the only motif used to decorate the ships which represents an 'abstract' feature. C. Diapoulis (1980) identified these objects as flowers of the lily Pancratium maritimum, although they bear no resemblance to the lilies in other wall paintings (e.g. the Spring fresco). It is suggested here that the flower appears to be rather more similar to cotton, Gossypium sp., an interpretation more in keeping with the other elements in the flotilla wall painting which imply a link with textiles.

The history of cotton in the Mediterranean is as uncertain as that of silk. V.G. Zisis (1955) reports cotton from the site of Trakhones in Attica during the fifth century BC, and E.J.W Barber (1991, 33) suggests that it did not reach the region until early in the Classical period, whilst Arkell (1971) ascribes its arrival to Meroitic Egypt; both Barber and Arkell support an Asiatic origin for the crop. Tree-cotton, Gossypium arboreum, is held sacred by Hindus and it is quoted in the laws of Maru which may go back to 800 BC (Forbes 1956). It appears to have been cultivated by ca. 5000 BC at Mehrgarh on the edge of the Indus plain and a fragment of woven fabric together with a piece of string have been recovered from Mohenjo-Daro (Gulati and Turner 1929) in the area of the Harappan civilisation (Allchin and Allchin 1982), in levels of the mature Harappan period (Mughal 1990) at least as early as the early second millennium (Watson 1983, 163 n.10). At Nevasa further south, cotton fibre probably scraps left on the spinning implement, mixed with a silk thread that was used as string for a necklace, were found in a grave dated to around the second half of the second millennium (Gulati in Clutton-Brock et al. 1961). Also cotton seeds were recovered from the site of Chalcoli dated to the second millennium (Kajale 1991). Betts and others (1994) have also noted cotton from a much earlier, fourth millennium BC context at Dhuweila, in the north Arabian steppe in Jordan.

"Trees bearing wool" are referred to in an inscription of Sennacherib of 694 BC at Nineveh, and these seem likely to have been tree-cotton (King 1909). The Classical sources (Theophrastus, Historia plantarum 4.4.8; Herodotus iii 106; Pliny, Natural History xii 22.39) would also support an origin in India (cf. Potts 1992, 133-134). On genetic grounds, however, C. Wrigley (1960) has speculated that cotton was cultivated in Egypt before 3000 BC, and there is some support for this from the archaeological record. In Upper Egypt, Chowdhury and Buth (1971) have identified the seed of native cotton, Gossypium herbaceum, from dung dated to ca. 2500 BC, and a Sudanese origin for the crop is favoured by Harlan (1992, 72). The Nubian cotton was thought to be used as cattle fodder (Chowdhury and Buth 1971), but in the light of the recent archaeological finds, it is probable that cultivation for its fibres in the Nile valley is of some antiquity.

Whether the scene in the ship procession represents the spring arrival of a trading fleet or, as seems more likely, a celebratory regatta, is beyond the scope of this paper, but the African component of many other Theran and Minoan frescoes may be relevant to the extent of trade and contact with Africa (Vanschoonwinkel 1990).

CONCLUSIONS

Through the identification of the silk moth cocoon, archaeoentomological research at Late Bronze Age Akrotiri has revealed the presence of wild silk in the Aegean earlier than the mid second millennium BC and suggested its use in a variety of contexts. The cocoon, like the range of stored product insect pests recorded from the site (Panagiotakopulu and Buckland 1991), is evidence of the presence of high value commodities probably traded into the island, which might otherwise pass unnoticed in the archaeological record.

Through a link in the iconography of the Thera frescoes and specifically the identification of the 'star' emblem on the Ship Procession fresco as cotton, it has further been suggested that cotton may have been of importance, perhaps as an imported material from Egypt. Such a connection would not be out of place with other evidence of an African and/or western Asiatic connection for Akrotiri and of rhyta made from ostrich eggs (Sakellarakis 1990).

Evidence from the site implies specialisation related to textiles. In the West House alone, 450 loomweights were found (Tzachili 1990), and silk could have been one of the materials used for weaving. The use of Crocus sativus as yellow dye (Tzachili 1987) is also implied by the wall painting of the crocus gatherers. Shells of Murex brandaris L. and Murex trunculus L. found at Akrotiri may indicate use of the above species not only for food but also for the production of scarlet and purple dye (Karali-Yannacopoulou 1990).

To conclude, in view of the discovery of a wild silk cocoon from Akrotiri, the iconographic motif of the butterfly as depicted on the prows and masts of ships from the flotilla fresco could be reinterpreted as silk moth related to the exchange of precious textiles.

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