Peak Sanctuary Research Articles

A Mason’s Mark from the Stelida Peak Sanctuary, Naxos

A Mason’s Mark from the Stelida Peak Sanctuary, Naxos

ON THE STRUCTURE OF RITUAL ACTIVITY AND THE COLLECTIVE DIMENSION OF FIGURINE USE AT MINOAN PEAK SANCTUARIES

SummaryDespite the regular appearance of peak sanctuaries, for over a century, in discussions on the organization of Cretan Bronze Age society, uncertainty still looms over the precise position these places of congregation held in the island’s complex network of sites. One of the causes behind this academic situation is their methodological treatment. Particularly problematic is the customary scholarly practice of defining the sites’ political affiliation, and their visitors’ economic status, according to dichotomizing and somewhat reductive criteria such as ‘palatial’/‘non‐palatial’ or ‘elite’/‘non‐elite’. Seeking to incorporate more nuance into the investigatory trajectory, this paper therefore encourages the implementation of more localized and materially‐founded analyses on the structure of the ritual activities held at these mysterious mountain‐tops. The efficiency of the proposed approach is demonstrated through a re‐examination of the ceramic figurines from Petsophas and the subsequent articulation of the existence of a communal dimension to their use and function. The study concludes that closer consideration of the simultaneously personal and collective significance of peak sanctuary ritual can yield further clues on their socio‐political role.

Thinking through and about anthropomorphic figurines. A cognitive and neuroarchaeological approach to the study of peak sanctuary practices

One of the defining characteristics of Cretan peak sanctuaries are the clay anthropomorphic figurines, which are observable in large quantities on nearly all such sites, and which are seldom associated with other contexts. The exclusivity and omnipresence of these artefacts renders them one of the most suitable areas of research with a view to re-examining the practices and performances taking place on these sites. This study focuses on the clay anthropomorphic figurines, following a neuroarchaeological and cognitive approach, drawing on neurological studies regarding the function and neurological and mental sequalae of mirror neuron activation, as well as concepts of material engagement, and the use of the figurines as a form of shared exographic memory system. The figurines are thereby seen as vital active constituents of the cognitive processes taking place in these sites, facilitating and enhancing the cognitive preparation for –and participation in– the peak sanctuary performances. Through this approach, the role of these objects as part of a larger cognitive network, shared by the participants of the peak sanctuaries throughout Crete, is proposed, and the potential socio-political and economic significance of this role is highlighted.

Chemical analysis of bronze votives from the Minoan peak sanctuary at Ayios Yeoryios Sto Vouno, Kythera

The Minoan peak sanctuary at Ayios Yeoryios sto Vouno, Kythera, was founded in the MMIB period and reached its acme in the MMIIIB-LMIA period. Its special character is confirmed by the number and the variety of its bronze finds, which outnumber all similar finds made on Minoan peak sanctuaries. For this reason, a systematic study of the techniques used for their construction is being carried out, aiming at clarifying issues of bronze provenance, circulation and use during the apogee of Minoan civilization.The paper presents the preliminary results of micro-XRF and SEM-EDS techniques applied on two categories of bronze finds from the sanctuary, namely 48 figurines and 59 blade cut-outs, in order to clarify their chemical composition and the type of the alloy used for their manufacturing, and also to examine possible particularities of their technological characteristics. It was revealed that alloys with a high copper content or pure copper with a small amount of impurities had been used in the production of bronze votives. Although copper is the dominant component, tin, lead, arsenic and iron are also present in various concentrations; elements such as nickel, cobalt, zinc, selenium, bismuth, silver and antimony are recorded in minor or trace amounts, as detected in areal or linear analyses. Different alloys depending on the manufacturing technique had been used. Leaded copper and ternary copper alloys of Cu-Sn-Pb were identified in the figurine category, while in the blade category the examined objects were mostly manufactured of pure copper, of about 98%wt and above. Binary copper-tin alloy has been used only in few objects. Copper containing minor constituents may be due either to recycling or to their initial presence in the ore.

The Obstetric Connection: Midwives and Weasels within and beyond Minoan Crete

The Minoan peak sanctuaries call for systematic comparative research as an island-bound phenomenon whose significance to the (pre)history of medicine far transcends the Cretan context: they yield clay anatomical offerings attesting to the earliest known healing cult in the Aegean. The peak sanctuary of Petsophas produced figurines of weasels, which are usually interpreted as pests, ignoring their association with votives that express concerns about childbirth, traditionally the first single cause of death for women. The paper draws from primary sources to examine the weasel’s puzzling bond with birth and midwives, concluding that it stems from the animal’s pharmacological role in ancient obstetrics. This novel interpretation then steers the analysis of archaeological evidence for rituals involving mustelids beyond and within Bronze Age Crete, revealing the existence of a midwifery koine across the Near East and the Mediterranean; a net of interconnections relevant to female therapeutics which brings to light a package of animals and plants bespeaking of a Minoan healing tradition likely linked to the cult of the midwife goddess Eileithyia. Challenging mainstream accounts of the beginnings of Western medicine as a male accomplishment, this overlooked midwifery tradition characterises Minoan Crete as a unique crucible of healing knowledge, ideas, and practices.

A New Minoan-Type Peak Sanctuary on Stelida, Naxos

A long-recognised characteristic of Crete’s later Bronze Age [BA] state-level society – the ‘Minoan civilization’ of the 2nd millennium cal. BC – was the establishment of socio-economic connections with off-island populations. The nature of these relationships has been interpreted in various ways, from the establishment of overseas colonies to a more mutually beneficial relationship between local political agents and their Cretan partners, not least Knossos. Minoan influence has been documented throughout the southern Aegean in the form of material culture, iconography, metrological systems and socio-religious practices. It is the latter theme that concerns us here, specifically in the form of ‘peak sanctuaries’, i.e. upland foci of ritual activity associated with settlements and palatial centres throughout Crete, a handful of which are claimed to have been established overseas, on Kythera, Kea, Naxos, Rhodes and possibly Andros (Figure 1). We report here on what we claim to be a new example from Stelida on Naxos, whose southern peak dominates the skyline of nearby Grotta, the island’s main harbour and BA centre (Figures 1-3). The argument is based upon (i) the character of the finds, (ii) the presence of architecture and (iii), the site’s location and the vistas afforded from it, all of which have excellent comparanda from recognised peak sanctuaries in Crete (Table 1). We start by providing a brief overview of peak sanctuaries, followed by a presentation of the new excavations at Stelida, after which we discuss the site’s larger significance, arguing that these new discoveries suggest that Naxos was a much more dynamic participant in relations with communities in Neopalatial Crete – not least Knossos ­than hitherto suggested.

Power Ranges

During the Aegean Bronze Age, the island of Crete was home to Minoan civilisation (3100–1300 BCE). The Cretan landscape is characterised by prominent mountain ranges. During the Middle Bronze Age (c. 2000 BCE) cult sites began to proliferate on mountain peaks in response to climatic changes. Peak sanctuaries were locations of popular religious expression focussed on human, animal, and environmental health and fertility. In the Neopalatial period (1750–1490 BCE) peak sanctuary cults were appropriated by palatial elites and the Minoan cosmological framework, oriented toward mountains, was institutionalised. Analysis of the Minoan landscape, palatial art, architecture, and ritual performance demonstrates a close association between elite figures and real and symbolic mountains. The metaphysical terrain of Crete was politicised as mountain symbolism was used to naturalise Neopalatial elite status and identity. The mountain form signified and symbolised power relations functioning as an instrument of elite ideology.

Solid items made to break, or breakable items made to last? The case of Minoan peak sanctuary figurines

The thousands of figurines found at peak sanctuaries across Crete have been widely understood as votive offerings. Owing to their fragmentary condition, it also has been suggested that they were broken as part of the rituals performed at these sites by being thrown into bonfires or to the ground. This hypothesis was further strengthened by the perception of some archaeologists of the figurines as poorly made. Upon a closer material examination of these artefacts, however, it appears that they were modelled and assembled with techniques ensuring their solidity. I therefore propose here that the figurines may not have been broken as immediately as is usually assumed, and that they may have been placed on display at peak sanctuaries for some time, before fragmentation took place. Keywords

Recent research into Minoan extra-urban sanctuaries

In keeping with the new format of Archaeological Reports, this contribution takes a thematic approach. It seeks to draw wider attention to some of the diverse new primary research that has taken place since 2000 on Minoan (here glossed as Proto- and Neopalatial) extra-urban sanctuaries. For many years, discussion of these sites has largely involved synthesis. No example of a Minoan extra-urban sanctuary has ever progressed all the way from systematic excavation to full publication. Some of the best reported examples, such as the Psychro Cave (Watrous 1996) or the peak sanctuary of Petsophas (Rutkowski 1991), were excavated at the beginning of the 20th century. Until the period covered by this review, there were only one or two cases where sites excavated more recently had benefited from extended preliminary publications. This has meant that synthetic treatments have been highly dependent, in the majority of cases, on extremely brief notices of excavations or on scholars' impressions from simply visiting sites. The last 15 years have witnessed a marked change of pace. New sites have been discovered and excavated, extensive studies of old material have been produced and, most importantly, the first comprehensive studies of some of the assemblages of objects from these sites have come into the public domain. As a result, this is an opportune time to highlight a dynamically evolving field of research.

Developing an Inclusive Framework for Research on Minoan Peak Sanctuary Anthropomorphic Figurines

Currently under completion as a doctoral thesis (University of Kent), this study investigates the benefits of applying a multifaceted and holistic framework to research on Minoan peak sanctuary anthropomorphic figurines. Stemming from an interest in these artefacts’ material properties it seeks to reconcile some too frequently divided or opposed theoretical and methodological aspects of this field. The intention is to more deeply explore some of the material processes these figurines underwen...

Cretan Peak Sanctuary Figurines: 3D Scanning Project.

The largest corpus of terracotta figurines from the Cretan Bronze Age comes from the class of ritual mountain sites, known as peak sanctuaries. Thousands of figurines – anthropomorphic, animal, votive body parts, and more elaborate (but largely fragmentary) models – were deposited on these mountain sites during the Minoan palatial periods (second millennium B.C.). Our work with these handmade figurines encompasses the material from our excavation of the Atsipadhes peak sanctuary in western Cr...

Stylistic Diversity and Diacritical Feasting at Protopalatial Petras: A Preliminary Analysis of the Lakkos Deposit

This paper presents an overview of an assemblage of Middle Minoan (MM) IB pottery from a closed deposit known as the “Lakkos” at the Minoan palace of Petras in eastern Crete. The various ware groups are discussed with the aim of improving our understanding of the Protopalatial ceramic sequence in this part of Crete and the function of stylistic variation in a palatial context. Recent studies of the earliest palaces have shifted discussion away from the traditional view of the palace as an economic center by emphasizing evidence for regionally diverse sociopolitical configurations during the period. The MM IB–IIB palace is viewed not as a monolithic institution controlling contiguous territories but as a venue for the articulation of dominant ideologies in contexts suggesting a wide range of sociopolitical interactions within and outside the palace. Current approaches consider various forms of data, including elite or distinctly palatial styles of pottery, which are taken as symbolic referents in public rituals. My analysis of the Petras Lakkos pottery is informed by this paradigm shift: I argue that styles of pottery and stylistic relationships between pottery, seals, hieroglyphic documents, and peak sanctuary figurines are related to the visual expression of the identities of competing corporate groups. Drinking sets in different ware groups identify distinct social units or ritual roles in a phase immediately prior to the foundation of the palace.*

Making mountains out of molehills in the Bronze Age Aegean: visibility, ritual kits, and the idea of a peak sanctuary

Cretan peak sanctuaries have long attracted interest for their topographical characteristics, and several studies have emphasized the inter-visibility of groups of peak sanctuaries, and their location within sight of settlements and upland pastures. By contrast, it is argued here that, while the prominence of peak sanctuaries within the landscape clearly contributed to their wide and rapid spread as a type of ritual space, the location on a mountain peak may have been secondary to the cult objects and equipment used in structuring and transmitting the ritual practices that took place there. Using polythetic classification to determine the basic range of artefacts that constitutes a peak sanctuary-like assemblage, several non-mountain locations are identified at which ‘peak sanctuary’ rituals appear to have taken place, indicating that the idea of a peak sanctuary was locally adaptable and that visibility and landscape location were perhaps less important to peak sanctuary cult than traditionally supposed.

Minoan religious influence in the Aegean: the case of Kythera

This article presents conclusions drawn from the results of surface survey and excavation at Agios Georgios, Vouno (Kythera), the peak sanctuary of the nearby Minoan colony at Kastri. Small finds included a black steatite ladle inscribed in Linear A with a name reminiscent of ‘Demeter’, libation tables, some clay and numerous bronze figurines (both anthropomorphic and animal), jewellery, bronze votive offerings in the shape of human limbs, miniature clay horns of consecration, and a small bronze double axe. The pottery includes some MM I B–MM II but is richest in MM III–LM I/I B, particularly fine wares. The finds suggest that the importance of Kastri was greater than hitherto supposed, but they exhibit significant contrasts with assemblages at Cretan peak sanctuaries. The site's proximity to the metallurgical resources of Laconia, and its strategic location overlooking sea passages, are considered. It is suggested that cult activity here was dependent not on West Crete but on Knossos. Parallels are drawn with the sites of Troullos (Kea), Trianta (Ialysos, Rhodes), and Mikri Vigla (Naxos), and possible Minoan elements in later Laconian cult are noted.

Cities and sanctuaries of the archaic period in Chalkidike

This paper summarizes recent excavations in Chalkidike. The ancient city of Mende has yielded evidence of houses and other structures, an archaic cemetery, and Mycenaean to late classical finds. At Polychrono (ancient Neapolis or Aige?) there are archaic and classical structures on terraces, and a cemetery with early infant burials. Three archaic–classical sanctuaries have also been found: (1) at Poseidi, a temple of Poseidon (identified from inscribed votives), robbed and reused in hellenistic and Roman times; (2) at Nea Roda-Sane, a temple to a female deity, with sculptures; and (3) at Parthenonas, a peak sanctuary of Zeus with evidence of animal sacrifice. The implications for Chalkidian relationships with other parts of the Greek world and for the strength of local culture are briefly examined.

(B.) Rutkowski Petsophas: a Cretan peak sanctuary.Warsaw: Art and Archaeology, 1991. Pp. 136 + illus. $48.

(B.) Rutkowski Petsophas: a Cretan peak sanctuary.Warsaw: Art and Archaeology, 1991. Pp. 136 + illus. $48.

Hands Up for the Individual! The Role of Attribution Studies in Aegean Prehistory

Attribution studies, the identification of the work of individual artists, are a familiar aspect of art history, and have also been used to isolate individuals and workshops of the Aegean Bronze Age. This paper examines the methodological issues involved and argues that attribution is feasible for prehistoric material, albeit in only a limited way in comparison, for example, with Classical vase painting. It is further suggested that attribution should be viewed not as an isolated aesthetic pursuit, but be approached contextually, as an integral part of artefact analysis. In this way attribution studies can contribute towards the better understanding of the formation and development of style, the definition of closely contemporary groups of material, and the spatial distribution (and its significance) of the products of individuals. Two case studies are presented to illustrate this approach: Mycenaean pictorial pottery of the fourteenth-thirteenth centuries BC, and a contrasting group of material, clay figurines from the Minoan peak sanctuary of Atsipadhes.

Rural Ritual in Bronze Age Crete: The Peak Sanctuary at Atsipadhes

The Minoan mountain peak sanctuary of Atsipadhes Korakias (Rethymnon, Crete) was excavated by the author in 1989. This article presents the first published account of that excavation and addresses its contribution to broader issues, methodological and interpretative, of Cretan Bronze Age religion. The spatial distribution of over 7500 finds was recorded, enabling the detailed reconstruction of the use and function of the sanctuary. This reconstruction is compared with other approaches to the identification of prehistoric cult places in Greece. Of the other excavated peak sanctuaries, the best known are élite sanctuaries associated with palatial centres; Atsipadhes Korakias is a poor, rural sanctuary, and offers a counterbalanced perspective on Minoan peak sanctuaries.

A Minoan Beetle-Rhyton From Prinias Siteias

A terracotta Minoan figurine of a horned beetle from the Peak Sanctuary on Mt Prinias is discussed. It is shown to be a rhyton, and presumably made for cult purposes. The reasons for offerings of such beetles is investigated, and the connection with Egyptian scarabs is raised.

The Topography of Minoan Peak Sanctuaries

Minoan peak sanctuaries share certain topographic features. They are usually situated on or close to the summits of prominent mountains throughout Crete. Each peak sanctuary is closely associated with the surrounding settlement area, the relevant mountain being chosen for its domination of the local landscape. It is notable that the shrine sites are not always on the actual highest point of the massif, but on what appears to be the highest, most visible point from the valley below. Equally striking is the view from the sanctuary: it seems to have been important to be able to see the local settlements from the shrine itself. Significant too are the numbers of other peak sanctuaries visible from each site; perhaps this network united the country via a common peak sanctuary festival night (given the evidence for bonfires).Accepting the close association between peak sanctuaries and settlements, it is argued that the apparent decline of those sanctuaries after LM I is a decline of numbers, not of cult importance. Evidence for this is quoted from the Iouktas shrine. Further, it is suggested that the ‘Mountain Mother’ sealing from Knossos was produced as a piece of religious propaganda to justify a change of rule there.