Knossos Neolithic, Part II

Knossos Neolithic, Part IIAuthor(s): Peter Warren, M. R. Jarman, H. N. Jarman, N. J. Shackleton, J. D. EvansSource: The Annual of the British School at Athens, Vol. 63 (1968), pp. 239-276Published by: British School at AthensStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30103193Accessed: 24/05/2010 22:35

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KNOSSOS NEOLITHIC, PART II

STONE AXES AND MACEHEADS: MATERIALS

I. AXES

All the axes are of Cretan materials.' The majority, fifty-nine out of seventy-one, are of altered basic igneous rock consisting of various minerals, usually with much chlorite and serpentine. Group A is called serpentine as this mineral is predominant. In appearance the axes are blue/grey/black mottled, sometimes with brown mottling also. Group B is called greenstone since the minerals epidote and chlorite are present in large quantities and the specimens have a distinct greyish-green appearance. Group C is again altered basic rock, including chlorite and serpentine, though neither predominates.

There are a number of outcrops of chlorite and serpentine among the limestones of Crete, especially in the northern and southern foothills of the Mt. Ida massif.z

Two axes appear to be of haematite, which occurs in Crete,3 two of limestone and one of schist. The materials of seven others are not certain, though several are probably of altered basic rock (see The Catalogue).

The materials agree with those of other stone axes from Crete, for serpentiniferous basic rock and greenstone examples have been picked up in various parts of the island.4 Greenstone and haematite were the predominant materials of the Late Neolithic axes from Magasai near Palaikastro.s

Altered Basic Rocks A. Serpentine

57/21 57/22 57/77 57/80 58 D ga 58 D gb 59/8 59/13 59[28 59/66 59/96

Stratum

I I II III II II Unstratified I III IV I

57/108 58/30 58/74 58 C ga

59/105 59/ 108

59/I21 59/164 60of80 60oI89 60/2 19

Stratum

II III III II I I Unstratified VI III V VII

No trends are observable in the materials and chronology of the axes, varieties of basic rock occurring at all levels. The number of axes increases markedly in Late Neolithic. Stratum X produced two examples; IX-VI (E.N. I) nine; V (E.N. I into II) six; IV (E.N. II into M.N.) eight; III (M.N. into L.N.) twelve; II-I (L.N.) thirty four. Two were unstratified.

2 BSA lx (1965), 154-5, for serpentine near Gonies on the N. side of Mt. Ida. BSA lxi (1966), 166, 175, 'Ancient Sites in the Province of Ayios Vasilios, Crete', for deposits near Spili and Ardhaktos in the south part of the Rethymno province. Chlorite occurs on the Zaros-Kamares road on the southern foothills of Mt. Ida, near Gonies on the north side, near Miamou and Krotos in the Asterousia range south of the Mesara plain, and together with excellent

deposits of steatite (talc) in the Sarakina valley in East Crete.

3 Several specimens of haematite on quartz came from the 1957-6I Knossos excavations. It has also been found by Mr. M. Dialinas of Herakleion near Kera, Lasithi, and in the Rogdhia region west of Herakleion.

4 BSA lix (1964), 98 (where steatite should be corrected to serpentine), seven examples. Knossos, 1957-61 excavations, seven examples (greenstone, serpentine, haematite and limestone). 1962-3 Palaikastro excavations, four

examples (greenstone, haematite ?, and dolomite ?). Evans, Palace of Minos i. 54, noted greenstone, serpentine, diorite, jadeite, and haematite as the principal stones of Neolithic implements at Knossos.

s Dawkins, BSA xi (1904-5), 267.

240 PETER WARREN

B. Greenstone 57/54 I 59/58 IV 57/63 I 59/137 III 57 D 6 I 59/145 IV 58 C 8 II 59/146 VI 58 D 8 II 6o0i8i V 58 D Ioa III 6o0224 IV 59/4 II 6o0225 Ii

C. Altered Basic Rock, with Serpentine and Chlorite 57/23 I 59/162 VII 57/57 I 59/067 I 57/79 II 60/o[78 V 57/10o5 I 60179 V

57/I06 I 60/I95 I 58/72 III 6o/205 VI 58/73 III 60/207 IV 58 C 9 II 60/214 IV 58 D 9 II 60/332 IX 59/7 III 60/340 X

59/23 III 60 A I5e V 59/107 I

Haematite 59/124 III 60/243 X

Limestone 58/3 II 59/89 IV

Schist 581IO II

Others 57/27 distinct, hard, compact greyish green stone I 57/39 1) Y1 n n I

57/76 ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, ,, II 59/97 serpentine (?), dark maroon/black IV

6ofI88 jadeite (?), hard green, semi-translucent V

6o/198 serpentine, (?). II 60/337 serpentine (?), green/grey with black patches IX

II. MACEHEADS6 As with the axes all the materials are Cretan. Though serpentine is again predominant

(eleven out of twenty-four examples), harder stones, gabbro and diorite, are also used and there are examples of breccia, dolomitic marble, and limestone.

Basic Rock, including Chlorite and Serpentine 58 C 12 III 59/126 III 59/95 III

Breccia 58/44 II

6 As with axes there are no correlations of materials with dates. Serpentine examples are found in all levels. The maceheads show a fairly even distribution from the end of E.N. I to L.N., with a slight increase in numbers in L.N.: Stratum VI (top of E.N. I) four examples; V (E.N. I into

II) three; IV (E.N. II into M.N.) three; III (M.N. into L.N.) five; II-I (L.N.) nine. The increased popularity of maceheads in Late Neolithic was also observed by Evans, PM i. 54-

KNOSSOS NEOLITHIC, PART II 241

Gabbro, black with white crystals containing fine green veins 59/70 II

Diorite 58/63 II 60/I77 III 59/76 IV 60/249 I

Dolomitic Marble, Grey and White Mottled 58/7 II

Limestone 59/5 white with calcite vein II 59[85 brown V 59/163 white with calcite vein VI

Serpentine 58/8 II 60/I73 V 58/7 (not terracotta) III 60o/86 V 59[60 IV 60/202 VI 59/141 VI 60/203 II 59/147 VI 601/218 IV 59/165 I

PETER WARREN

THE FAUNA AND ECONOMY OF EARLY NEOLITHIC KNOSSOS

Analysis is in progress of the bones from the 'Neolithic' levels at Knossos, Crete.' On 14C

dates the Early Neolithic I period may have lasted as long as 1,500 years. For this reason the bones from this period have been divided into two groups: Early Neolithic Ia (Strata IX-VIII), and Early Neolithic Ib (Strata VII-V). This dividing line was taken because of the change of building material which takes place at this point. All the bones from the earliest, 'Camp', level and the Early Neolithic Ia level, and a sample of the bones from the Early Neolithic Ib level have been studied for this preliminary report.

The Knossos collection is of potential importance for a number of reasons. The 14C dates show the site to have been occupied from about the end of the seventh millennium B.c., a date comparable with that of the occupation of Nea Nikomedeia in North Greece (Rodden 1962). These two sites form a valuable basis for the study of modes of economic organization in a region adjacent to the postulated 'nuclear area' of early domestication, the 'Fertile Crescent'. Furthermore, there is no record of previous habitation on Crete, and this, with the isolation of the island during the Pleistocene means that some of the variables usually inherent in a prehistoric situation need not be taken into consideration.

The majority of the bones are of sheep or goats, pigs, and cattle. A small canid also occurs consistently but in small numbers. In order to discover and interpret any anomalies existing in the relative representation of various anatomical elements, their occurrence was compared with the normal representation in a mammalian body. Cranial elements were omitted, as they are almost always too badly fragmented to furnish reliable numerical data. The results of this analysis are summarized in Table I.

x British Academy/Cambridge University Research Project in the Early History of Agriculture (Paper 2). C 5759 R

Astragalus

(%)

Calcaneum

(%)

Tibia

(%)

Femur

(%)

Pelvis

(%)

Radius/Ulna

(%)

Humerus

(%)

Scapula

(%)

Phalanx

(%)

Metapodial

(%)

Vertebra

(%)

Tooth

(%)

242 M. R. JARMAN AND H. N. JARMAN

Expected percentage 1-7 1-7 1"7 1-7 1-7 3'3 "7 1-"7 20-0 3'3 21-0 40"0 Caprini Camp 5'9 5-6 4-8 2-6 3'5 4"I 8-5 5-9 4'3 4'3 13"2 37'3

(sheep- E.N. Ia 9-8 3'I 3'5 1'5 2'2 5'3 6-8 7-0 7-2 70o 9'2 37'2 goat) E.N. Ib 1.7 1.3 5'5 o08 1-6 5-7 466 5'9 2-1 5'4 3-2 62.2

Bos Camp 18-9 2-7 - - - 5'4 5"4 -- 21-6 2-7 5'4 37-8

(cattle) E.N. Ia 5'3 5"3

105 2-6 4-o 6-6 - 1-3 28-9 9-2 6-6 I9-8 E.N. Ib 2-3 4-I 15 0o8 3'4 3'0 1o 5 0o'4 40I 6-4 7 I 29'3

Sus Camp T- 75 I'9 2-8 2-8 3'8 5'7 2-8 3-8 3-8 7'5 57'6 (pig) E.N. Ia 3-4 6-3 3'4 2'9 4.6 2"3

I1I 10-3 10-3 4-6 50-9 E.N. Ib I.I 2-7 2.I I'I 6-5 5'4 3'2 3-2 2-I 7o0 5'4 6o-2

TABLE I. PERCENTAGE REPRESENTATION OF ANATOMICAL ELEMENTS

Considering the sizes of the samples involved, there appears to be reasonable representation of all the anatomical elements, although certain anomalies occur. Thus, for caprines the percentages of phalanges and vertebrae are consistently low. The low percentages of phalanges may well be a result of their small size, which would increase their chance of being missed in excavation. In this connection it is noticeable that 3rd phalanges are especially rare, but they are also less dense than some of the other bones and sometimes do not preserve well. Vertebrae are prone to damage because of their shape and are commonly fragmented and difficult to recognize; this possibly contributed to their low representation. The percentages of tibiae, humeri, radii/ulnae, and scapulae are correspondingly higher than expected. This may be accounted for by their reciprocal relationship to the percentages of phalanges and vertebrae. For example, if one artificially raises the percentages of phalanges and vertebrae of the Early Neolithic Ia caprines to their expected values, the other percentages fall as follows: tibia 1-5 per cent, humerus 2-9 per cent, radius/ulna 2-6 per cent, and scapula 3-0 per cent. The

patterns for cattle and pig remains are similar: vertebrae are under-represented throughout, while phalanges are high in cattle, low in pig. The high percentages of pig teeth may be due to their common tendency to split, even small fragments of pig teeth being easily recognizable as such.

On the whole the collection may be regarded as a reliable representation of the whole of the skeletons of the animals concerned. There is no apparent evidence of special butchering techniques or of differential use of any elements for economic or other purposes. However, it

may be noted that there were no horn cores of either sheep or goat and only one of cattle; it is

possible that these were removed for the purpose of tool manufacture.

CAMP

The earliest occupation layer, the Camp, is 14C dated to the end of the seventh millennium (610oo B.C. ± I80 years, 5980 B.C. ±1I30 years). Of a total of 510 bones, 445 were identifiable to

genus or species; the quantity of waste was negligible (Table 2). Sheep or goats are the most commonly represented animals comprising 75 per cent. of the

sample; pigs (18-4 per cent.) and cattle (6-5 per cent.) are also numerically important. Canis sp. and Lepus sp. are represented by one specimen each (Table 2).


Caprini Sus Bos Canis Lepus Total Med. Large identified size size

N % N % N % N % % % to genus frags. frags. Total Waste

Camp 332 74.7 82 18-4 29 6-5 I 0-2 I 0-2 445 59 6 510o E.N. Ia 416 64-6 135 20-9 88 i3-6 6 0o9 - - 645 8 2 655 E.N. Ib 575 6I'5 130

13.9 212 22-7 18 I 9 - - 935 4 6 945 400

TABLE 2. SPECIES REPRESENTATION

Lepus sp. Hare is represented by one upper molar. Canis sp. The single Canis specimen is a broken tibia shaft, and it is therefore not possible to

identify it to species. On the basis of its size it is unlikely to be either fox or wolf, and is probably either jackal or domestic dog.

Caprini. The perennially complex problem of dealing with potentially mixed populations of sheep and goats from an archaeological deposit remains only partially solved despite recent work on the subject (Boessneck et al. 1964; Hildebrand 1955; Perkins 1964). At present it must be admitted that few if any single criteria are sufficient of themselves to separate with con- fidence all sheep bones from all goat bones, and one must be content with the fact that only certain bones may allow such a division in some or most cases. The methods and criteria used by Hildebrand are especially difficult to apply to the fragmentary bones usually available to the archaeologist.

In the absence of horn cores and well-preserved crania, only astragali and distal ends of metacarpals permitted a satisfactory estimation of the situation at Knossos. Distal ends of humeri allowed some discrimination but were often too eroded to be used. Using the relationship of width of the trochlea to the thickness of the external condyle of the distal metacarpal and Boessneck's morphological discriminants for the astragalus and humerus, two populations emerge. For the astragalus and metacarpal the goat specimens lie beyond the upper limit of the sheep size-range (FIGS. I-4). The mean for the maximum distal width of 3 goat humeri is greater than that for 16 sheep, but the sheep range encompasses that of the goats. Only 5 out of 34 bones specifically identified were of goat, which is thus seen to have been greatly outnumbered by sheep. However, the small sample size does not warrant more precise inferences.

It is widely held that one of the early responses to domestication of ruminants has been a fall in average size (Herre 1963; Zeuner 1963). In view of this, some discussion of the size of the Camp caprines is necessary. The dearth of available metrical data on caprines of comparable age impedes meaningful comparison of the Knossos bones; in particular there is conspicuously little information on early sheep. The data from La Adam, Rumania, though included here, must be treated with reserve, because of recent doubts thrown on the stratigraphy (CO WA 1966).

Some impression of the relative size of the Knossos sheep may be gained from FIGS. 5-6. The mean for the maximum length of the astragalus of the Knossos sample is slightly larger than the single Preceramic Neolithic specimen from La Adam Cave, Dobrogea (Radulesco and Samson 1961); while a specimen from the La Adam Gumelnitsa Neolithic, 14C dated at other sites to the mid fourth millennium B.C., exceeds the Knossos mean. Both Rumanian specimens fall within the observed range of the Knossos sample (FIG. 5). On the other hand, the Knossos sheep appear to be rather smaller than those at the Roman settlement at Vlaardingen, Holland (Clason 1967). These size relationships correspond broadly with those shown by the maximum width of the distal humerus (FIG. 6). Here again the Knossos mean exceeds slightly the combined La Adam Mesolithic and Preceramic Neolithic mean, but is comparable with the


means of both Eneolithic to Bronze Age and Roman samples in Holland (Clason 1967); a single specimen from the Gumelnitsa Neolithic of La Adam is of similar size. British Iron Age sheep are significantly smaller than those of the Camp; a sample of 20 from Barley (Cra'ster I960) form a distribution whose mean is more than 4 mm. below, and whose highest occurrence is

1'3 mm. below the Knossos mean.

I 10 Ovis

25 30 35 (mm)

1 Capra 10C Ovis

1 0 Capra

10 15 (mm) FIG. I FIG. 2

1 0 Capra

1 E0 Oris

20 25 30 35 (mm)

3 Capra

16 Ovis

25 30 35 (mm) FIG. 3 FIG. 4

FIG. I. CAMP CAPRINE ASTRAGALI (maximum length). Sample size shown to left of bar; mean indicated by vertical line

FIG. 2. CAMP CAPRINE METACARPALS (trochlear width) FIG. 3. CAMP CAPRINE METACARPALS (maximum distal width) FIG. 4. CAMP CAPRINE HUMERI (maximum distal width)

2 Roman, Holland

1 0 La Adam, Gumelnita

1 0 Ia Adam, Preceramic Neolithic

10' Knossos, Camp

25 30 (mm)

lIE

4.

I

4. 16

20

Roman, Holland

3 Eneolithio, Holland

9 Adam, Gumelnita

Ia Adam, Mesolithic & Preoeramio Neolithic

Knossos, Camp

Barley

20 25 30 35 (mm)

FIG. 5 FIG. 6

FIG. 5. SHEEP ASTRAGALI (maximum length). References for measurements: Holland: Clason I1967; La Adam: Radulesco and Samson 1961

FIG. 6. SHEEP HUMERI (maximum distal width). Reference for measurements: Cra'ster 1960

The absence of data on populations of wild sheep in the East Mediterranean area dis-

courages inferences with regard to the economic status of the Camp sheep based on their size alone. It may be noted that Reed (1961) states that the domestic sheep at Zawi Chemi Shanidar were no smaller than local wild populations, a case in which a believed change in the man- animal relationship was not paralleled by an osteological change. In general, the size range of the Camp sheep is comparable with that of other presumably domestic sheep populations in


Europe, with the exception of a British Iron Age sample. In particular, three measurements on the proximal width of calcanea (2oo-2 I 5, mean 20o97 mm.) imply that the Camp caprines may have been similar in size to those at Nea Nikomedeia, which Higgs (1962) has described as likely to be domesticated on grounds of the high percentage of immature individuals. Furthermore, the size range of the measurements on the distal ends of humeri, tibiae, and metacarpals, and the length of the astragalus all correspond closely to those quoted by Boess- neck for the caprines of the Preceramic Neolithic of Argissa Magula. There is no certain evidence of goats here, and the caprines are held by Boessneck to be all or primarily sheep (Boessneck 1962). The material has been dated to the middle of the seventh millenium B.C.

Another criterion customarily used to ascertain whether or not a population is domesticated is its age structure (Higgs 1967; Perkins 1964; Reed 1961). One difficulty in applying this to the present case lies again in the absence of a comparative wild sample from the area. Further- more, the critical age taken by authors to separate juveniles from mature beasts has varied greatly. Perkins (1964) uses the fusion of distal metapodial epiphyses as his criterion, postulating unfused metapodials to demonstrate an age younger than 12 months. Flannery (Hole and Flannery 1968) on the other hand, takes 3 years as his critical age without quoting his ageing criteria. Other authors frequently speak of 'immature individuals' without defining this category.

Before presenting the ageing criteria applied to the Knossos sample, it must be pointed out that as the teeth and some of the long bones of sheep and goats are indistinguishable from each other as yet, the Knossos age data must be considered as coming from a mixed caprine population. However, goats are present only in small numbers and would have little impact on the age structure of the total population. Therefore the age data has been treated as applying primarily to the sheep. Silver (1963) has given approximate ages of fusion of the long bones of domestic animals, and Ewbank et al. (1964) have derived a relative ageing scheme for tooth eruption based on a large population of Iron Age sheep. It is likely that the Knossos sheep conform to the same general pattern, and the ages of fusion and eruption are probably of the same order of magnitude. It is of some importance in this context that the eruption anomaly noted by Ewbank at Barley (that P2 erupts slightly later than, not at the same time as, P3-P4) is also present in the Knossos Camp sheep.

12 24 36 Greater than Age months months months 36 months

N 8 43 63 67 Certainly dead Cumulative

at X months % I 1.9 64- I 94-0 Io00o

TABLE 3. AGE STRUCTURE OF CAMP CAPRINE POPULATION

Of a sample of 67 specimens which gave either maximum ages or age ranges, more than

60 per cent. were dead by the age of 24 months, and more than 90 per cent. by 36 months (Table 3). As this table shows, there appears to have been a preferred killing age range of between 12 and 36 months, at which time the beasts would have neared maximum size but would still be tender. However, there is a built-in weighting of these figures on the 'less than 36 months' side due to the fact that there are relatively few epiphyses which give information on the time range after 24-30 months. For this reason a count was made of those bones which fuse at 36-42 months, and it was found that 60 per cent of these were unfused; that is, only 40 per cent. were definitely over 36 months. Higgs (1967) has recently pointed out that under


rough herding conditions some 70 per cent of the annual crop may be surplus to the requirements of herd maintenance, and the age structure of the Camp sheep approximates to such a situation. Therefore, although the metrical data are inconclusive, the population age structure strongly implies that the Camp sheep were domesticated. It should be noted that in this, as in other archaeological contexts, the animal 'populations' represent economic surplus populations and not breeding populations in a zoological sense.

The goats are too few in number to warrant elaborate comparison, but they are clearly larger than those at Choga Mami, a Samarran site in Kurdistan, which post-dates the Camp by about a millennium (FIGS. 7-8).

1 0 Knossos, Camp

3 Choga Mami

10 15 (mm)

1 3 Knossos, Camp

31 Choga Mami

-r . . V (mm) 25 30

FIG. 7. GOAT METACARPALS (trochlear width) FIG. 8. GOAT ASTRAGALI (maximum length)

Sus scrofa. In spite of the relatively few measurable specimens of Sus, the available evidence is unequivocally in favour of the Knossos Camp pigs being domesticated. There is much published data on wild pigs of Europe in the later prehistoric and early historic periods, and there is little sign of any osteological variation either in size or morphology. Existing data from the Near East concur with this (FIG. 9).

Roman Neolithic

E. Post-glacial

L. Pleistocene

4r

6E 2

501

Magdalensberg

Burgiischisee-Siid I Jarmo, Preceramlio

- Kaar'Akil

30 35 40 45 50 (mm)

FIG. 9. WILD PIG M3 (length). References for measurements: Magdalensberg: Luhmann I965; Burgaischisee-Sud:

Boessneck (in Boessneck et al. 1963); Jarmo, Preceramic: Reed I96I; Ksar'Akil: Hooijer 1961

Evidence has been offered from several areas to suggest that a fall in size, especially clear in the 3rd molars, is a response to domestication (Hartmann-Frick 1960, 1965; Pira I909; Reed i96i). FIGS. IO-I4 demonstrate the relationship between the Knossos Camp specimens and various wild and domestic populations from Europe and the Near East. It is clear from these figures that the Camp specimens are consistently smaller than recorded S. scrofa ferus sizes; in four cases (M3, M2, and the two scapula measurements) the Camp bones fall entirely outside the observed range of the wild pigs. (Note that the wild populations do not include modern wild pigs, which seem possibly to be smaller than their historic and prehistoric counter- parts (Reed I96I).)

In a fifth case (maximum width of the distal end of the humerus) the Camp bones fall just within the lower size limit of one prehistoric population. The Knossos Camp pigs appear to be slightly larger than those from the Preceramic of Argissa Magula (Boessneck 1962), on the basis of measurements of M3 and the distal end of the humerus. The Camp M3 falls within the upper limit of the Argissa Magula domestic pig measurements, but one humerus falls just outside the Argissa Magula range.


20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55(mm)

I Burgtschisee Siid-Ost I Brgischisee-Siid

- Seematte 201

91 Polling

1 T isazaluc-Dankad omb

1 Ulpia Traiana

4 Magdalenaberg

767 1 : Knossos, Camp I Manching

: Ia uriaoum

S2Magdalensberg Ulpia Traiana

Z Ulm-Weinhof

Niederrealta

79 147 t

41 16

51

2 5 3 35 45 50 55(mm) 20 25 30 35 60 45 50 55(mm)

FIG. IO. PIG M3 (length). Black- = wild, white = domestic

References for measurements: Burgischisee Sud-Ost: Josien 1956; Seematte: Hescheler and Rueger 1942 ;Polling: Boessneck 1956; Tiszaluc-Dankadomb: Bok6nyi 1958; Ulpia Traiana: Waldmann 1967; Manching: Nanninga 1963; Lauriacum: Muller 1967; Ulm-Weinhof: Anschutz

1966; Niederrealta: Klumpp 1967

M Polling

r Jarmo, Preceramic 4

12

4

Jarmo, Ceramic

Knossos, Camp

15 20 25 30 (mm)

FIG. I I. PIG M2 (length). Black = wild, white = domestic

Reference for measurements:Jarmo, Ceramic: Reed 1961

The information given by the age structure is as conclusively indicative of domestication as is the metrical evidence. Josien (1956) has noted that the age at which wild pigs were killed in the Swiss Neolithic is very different from that of domestic pigs. At three sites the percentage of immature wild pigs varied from 6 to

I5 per cent, that of immature domestic pigs from 34'4 to 60 per cent. Of 26 Camp specimens giving maximum ages or age ranges, 26-9 per cent were dead by the age of I2 months, the remaining 73-I per cent all being dead by 24 months

Age 12 months 24 months

N 7 26 Certainly dead Cumulative

at X months % 26-9 100oo

TABLE 4. AGE STRUCTURE OF CAMP PIG POPULATION


(Table 4). There were no specimens definitely older than 24 months; all specimens in which fusion indicates an age greater than 24 months were unfused. A similar pattern of mortality

30 35 40 45 5o 55 60 (mm)

6 38 341

10

15 16

I 11

SPolling T Burgaschisee-Siid

Egolzwil 2

Seematte

Kbpenick

Magdalensberg Ulm-Weinhof

Zalavr

2 Knossos, Camp

Bundsa Burgasohisee-Siid

11 1 51

1564 7

125 32

37 t 120

I Tiszaluc-Dankadomb

Y manching 3 Magdalensberg

Laur iacum = Ulm-Weinhof

Niederrealta

30 35 40 45 50 55 60 (mm)

FIG. 12. PIG HUMERI (maximum distal width). Black = wild, white = domestic

References for measurements: Egolzwil 2: Hescheler and Rueger 1942; K6penick: Muller 1962; Zalavar: B6k6nyi I963; Bundso: Degerbol 1939

15 20 25 30 35 40 (mm)

Polling I Burgasohisee-Siid

Magdalensberg lauriacum

1

121

151

4 1 0 Knossos, Camp

1 0 Burgaschisee-Siid

570 c

38

144

41

18

Manching Iaur iacum

Magdalensberg

I Niederrealta

Ulm-Weinhof

i5 20 25 30 35 40 (mnm)

FIG. 13. PIG SCAPULAE (width of glenoid fossa). Black = wild, white = domestic

peaks at one and two years is recorded by Degerbol (1939) at Bundso (Neolithic), by Boessneck (1956) at Altheim (Late Neolithic), and by Clason (1967) in Holland from Eneolithic times to the Middle Ages.


Bos. The scanty remains of cattle from the Camp level are of particular importance, in view of the early date of the material and the isolated position of Crete. Presumably the island was cut off from the mainland during the whole of the Pleistocene. It is at present separated from the nearest island, Antikithira, by a 2o-mile stretch of water, over I o miles of which is greater than 250 fathoms in depth and from the Peloponnesus mainland by over 50 miles. Furthermore, Cyprus, in an analogous position, was apparently without cattle in the Early Neolithic (Zeuner 1963; Dikaios 1953). If it were true that there was no wild B. primigenius on Crete, it would follow that any Neolithic cattle there must be domesticated. However, since the absence of B. primigenius is based solely on circumstantial evidence, it is necessary to consider other features of the Camp cattle to attempt to assess their economic status.

0 25 30 35 40 45 50 55(mm)

12

141

i a Polling IBiirgasohisee-Siid

IMagdalensberg 4 laur iacum

1 0 Knossos, Camp

21

587, 381

145 43 I1

22

Burgaschisee-SUd Manching ] lauriacum

Magdalensberg

Niederrealta

Ulm-Weinhof

20 25 30 35 10 45 50 55(mm)

FIG. 14. PIG SCAPULAE (length glenoid fossa+bicipital tuberosity). Black = wild, white -= domestic

The current hypothesis holds that domestication of cattle may be inferred if a population is significantly smaller in size than the local B. primigenius (Bdkinyi 1962; Degerbol 1963; Jewell 1963; Reed 1961, etc.). It is possible that in certain circumstances domestication may be de- tected before an over-all size change occurs (Herre 1963), but it is generally assumed that where such a size change can be demonstrated domestication may be considered to have taken place.

In discussion of the Camp cattle the difficulty of scarcity of comparative material from the area is again encountered. Herre (1968) and B6kdnyi (1962) have pointed out the necessity of having local comparative material, and Bbk6nyi has suggested that the South-east European B. primigenius was larger than that of Denmark. It is of questionable value to use North-west European populations as a standard of comparison for those from distant areas and different ecologies as Flannery has done (Hole and Flannery, 1968). There exists, to supplement the ample B. primigenius material from West and Central Europe, a large series of measurements of Hungarian populations (B6k6nyi 1962) and a few unpublished Late Palaeolithic specimens from the Kastritsa Cave in North-western Greece (Higgs et al. 1968).

FIGS. 15-18 illustrate the size relationships of the Camp cattle to presumed wild and domestic populations ranging from North-west Europe to Eastern Europe and the Near East. The upper 2nd and 3rd molars of the Camp cattle were below the lower limits of the North Greek


B. primigenius, (FIGS. 15-16) and it may be noted that these seem to have been distinctly smaller than the average for both the North-west European and the Hungarian populations. The Camp teeth fall well within the range of the domestic cattle of Shah Tepe, however. The distal metatarsal width (FIG. 17) again falls outside the recorded range of European B. primigenius, with one exception. The metatarsals from Burgischisee-Stid assigned by Stampfli (Boessneck et al.

4 Kastritas

1 0 Knossos, Camp

41 I Shah TePe

25 30 35 40 (mm) 20 25 30 35 140 (mm)

I Burg'ischisee-Siid 4

II Kastritsa 2

4

3

Knossos, Camp

= Shah Tepe

Burgiasohisee-Siid

FIG. 15. CATTLE M3 (length). Black = wild, white = domestic

Reference for measurements: Shah Tepe: Amschler 1940

FIG. I6. CATTLE M2 (length). Black = wild, white = domestic

Reference for measurements: Burgaischisee-Sud: Stamp- fli (in Boessneck et al. 1963)

40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 65(mm) I I I I I _I I . _ t _ .I

19 6

30 6

121

IStar Carr

I Danish, Mesolithic

Hungarian, Neolithio I Hungarian, Bronze Age

Burgaschisee-Siid 1 0 Kastritsa

I [ Knossos, Camp

5c 6

26r

Burgaschisee-Siid I Obermeilen

Alpenquai

SUtoqual

Regensburg-Purkelgut I Danish, Neolithio

10 2

6 ̀

40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85(mm)

FIG. 17. CATTLE METATARSALS (maximum distal width). Black = wild, white = domestic References for measurements: Star Carr: Fraser and King 1954; Danish:

Degerbol 1942; Hungarian: B6k6nyi 1962; Obermeilen: Kuhn 1935; Alpenquai: Wettstein 1924; Utoquai: Kuhn 1932; Regensburg: Boessneck 1958

1963) to B. primigenius range from 57-0 to 72.0 mm. with a mean of 63.3 mm. This would be an unusually low range for B. primigenius; indeed the mean is so low that it almost excludes the whole range of the approximately contemporary Hungarian wild cattle. Since there are known to be small domestic cattle at Burgischisee-Sfid, it seems possible that some of the metatarsals assigned to B. primigenius in fact derive from domestic animals. Be that as it may, the Camp specimen falls below the other B. primigenius ranges, and inside the upper limit of


variation of several populations of domestic cattle. The astragalus should not be used as the basis of hypotheses involving size-differences, because of the difficulty in excluding immature specimens. However, it has been included in this case (FIG. 18) because it reproduces precisely the evidence supplied by FIGS. 15-17, to which this limitation does not apply. Again the Camp specimens lie outside the range of wild cattle, but well inside that of large domestic cattle. The mean for Knossos is below the lower limits of the claimed earliest domestic cattle from South-west Iran (Hole and Flannery 1968).

55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100(mm)

13 741

121

26 4

Star Carr Hungarian, Neolithic

SHungarian, Bronze Age

BurgAachisee-Sid I Ali Kosh

3

4 2(

Knossos, Camp

Ras al Amiya

Tepe Sabz 8 91

161

Burgischisee-S~d 3 Obermeilen

Utoquai 2 Cj Regensburg-Kumpfmuhl

55 60 65 70 75 80 85 90 95 100(mm)

FIG. 18. CATTLE ASTRAGALI (maximum length). Black = wild, white = domestic References for measurements: Ali Kosh: Flannery (in Hole and

Flannery 1968), Ras al Amiya: Ibid; Tepe Sabz: Ibid.

Hitherto most early recorded occurrences of domestic cattle have been in the Near East. Mallowan and Rose (1935) for cultural reasons, and Reed (1961) on osteological grounds have argued that the Halafian cattle, such as those at Banahilk, were domesticated. Recently Flan- nery (Hole and Flannery 1968) has recorded cattle from the lower level of the Tepe Sabz which could be, as he claims, smaller than the local wild populations, but the fact has not been demonstrated. Even if these claims are accepted, they would place the first domestic cattle in Iraq at no earlier than about 55oo00-5000 B.C. on 14C dates.

It may be thought unlikely, therefore, that Crete would have domestic cattle as early as 6ioo B.C. The Near East and the 'Fertile Crescent' area have for long been accepted by many as the source area of domestication, in spite of the growing evidence for separate nuclear areas (Herre 1963, 1968). If, however, the hypothesis is accepted that a population of cattle consistently and significantly smaller than the local wild population must be domesticated, the conclusion is inescapable that the Camp cattle were domesticated. It is noteworthy that another early Neolithic site in Greece, Nea Nikomedeia, may have had domestic cattle at a comparable period (Higgs 1962). At a possibly earlier date Argissa Magula had cattle which were even smaller than those at the Knossos Camp (Boessneck 1962). Large cattle were also present in the deposit and were identified as B. primigenius. Again, on the hypothesis that equates size decrease with domestication, the smaller Argissa Magula cattle must be accepted as domestic.


There were only ten specimens on which an estimate of age was possible, and these cannot be held either to support or contradict the hypothesis that the Camp cattle were domesticated. One specimen was between 6 and 18 months old at death, one between 15 and 40 months; the remaining eight giving only minimum ages. At least three specimens definitely exceeded 24 months.

EARLY NEOLITHIC IA

The recent 14C date of 5670 B.C. 150 years for the lowest layer of E.N. Ia falls in the expected time-range between the dates for the Camp and E.N. Ib levels. The sample consists of 655 bones, of which 645 were identifiable to genus. Waste was again negligible (Table 2).

The species representation shows a Io per cent fall in the caprines, which remain, however, the most numerous animal. There is little change in the percentage of pigs, while cattle rise from 6-5 to

13.6 per cent (Table 2).

10 Capra

14 Oris

20 25 30 35 (mm)

3' Capra

18E Ovis

25 30 35 (mm) FIG. 19 FIG. 20

FIG. 19. E.N. Ia CAPRINE HUMERI (maximum distal width) FIG. 20. E.N. Ia CAPRINE ASTRAGALI (maximum length)

Canis sp. The Canis remains are clearly too large to be of fox, and are smaller than the size- range given by Zeuner (1958) for C. lupus arabs. Until further comparative analysis has been undertaken, the question of whether the remains should be referred to jackal or domestic dog has been left open.

Caprini. On the basis of the criteria stated above, it was determined that the E.N. Ia caprine population consisted of both sheep and goats. As in the Camp sample, the sheep far out- number the goats. Three out of 21 astragali and one out of I6 humeri were identified as goat; all 8 metacarpals were of sheep. Also duplicating the Camp situation, the goats seem to be considerably larger than the sheep, and the single Capra humerus exceeds the Ovis range by 6 millimetres (FIG. 19). The mean astragalus length of the goats slightly exceeds that of sheep (FIG. 20). It appears from the E.N. Ia astragali that there was considerable size overlap between the two populations. However, it is of course possible that the small goat specimens may be from immature animals.

The evidence for domestication of the Knossos Camp sheep has been discussed above. One may assume that the later sheep populations at Knossos were also domestic. The smaller size (FIGS. 27-30) and the age structure (Table 5) of the E.N. Ia sheep support this hypothesis. The

I2 24 36 Greater than Age months months months 36 months


at X months % 17-2 71.2 98-8 100oo

TABLE 5. AGE STRUCTURE OF E.N. Ia CAPRINE POPULATION


sample from this level shows a slightly higher percentage of individuals dead by the age of two years than the Camp sample. Of those bones whose epiphyses fuse at 36 months, 8o per cent. were younger than three years. This figure corresponds again to the approximate crop surplus over herd maintenance requirements.

There is no evidence of size change in the small sample of Capra. Sus scrofa. The pigs of the Knossos E.N. Ia level show a small but consistent size decrease

relative to the Camp pigs. Accepting the customary assumption that the fall in size is due to domestication, this would indicate a further advance in the development of a close man- animal relationship. A single distal humerus is 5 millimetres smaller than the smaller specimen for the Camp, while M3 and M2 also show small size reductions.

12 24 30 42 Age months months months months

N 5 I8 27 34 Certainly dead Cumulative

at X months % 14'7 52'9 79'4 100oo

TABLE 6. AGE STRUCTURE OF E.N. Ia PIG POPULATION

The population age-structure indicates a preferred slaughtering age of less than 24-30 months (Table 6). Very few specimens come from individuals definitely older than 24 months. Of 15 bones which fuse at 24 months Io are fused; 16 other specimens which fuse at ages greater than 24 months were all unfused.

50 60 70 tO 90 100(mm)

11.

42 9

141

3

Star Carr

-H Hungarian, Neolithio

M IHungarian, Bronse Age

I BurgAichisee-SiU

Kastritsa

5C

4

Knossos, ENIa

Shah Teope

7t 71

3I

Burgaschisee-Siid -

Obearmlen 1 Utoquai

Regensburg-Kumpfmuhl

50 60 70 o0 90 0oo(mm)

FIG. 2 1. CATTLE TIBIAE (maximum distal width). Black = wild, white = domestic

Bos. There is no consistent evidence that the E.N. Ia bovids were any smaller than those of the Camp: for while a single distal metatarsal width of 52'3 mm. is 8-7 mm. smaller than that from the Camp (and far below the lower limits of published B. primigenius), the one M3 (length 32o0 mm.) is slightly larger than the Camp specimen. FIGS. 21-3 demonstrate the relationship between the E.N. Ia cattle and various other cattle populations. Distal tibia width, M3 length, and calcaneum length are all shown to be below B. primigenius ranges, including those from


Kastritsa; while in every case they fall within the range of variation of several domestic populations. One proximal metacarpal from E.N. Ia, and one from E.N. Ib correspond closely in size to those from Nea Nikomedeia (Higgs 1962).

30 35 o40 45 50 55 (mm) I - - - f I t .. .

1 a Star Carr

10 Svaedborg 9

3 13

Birgaschisee-Siid m Ali Kosh - Kastrit sa

3c,

2

6 3

2 [ 10E

Knossoa, ENIa 2 # Bunds#

Shah Tepe 2 Burgiaschisee-Siid

Obermeilen

Regenaburg-Purkelgut

S Regensburg-Kumpfluh1

30 35 40 45 50 55 (mm) FIG. 22. CATTLE M3 (length). Black = wild, white = domestic

Reference for measurements: Svaedborg: Degerbol 1942

100 150 200 (mm) 1 -1

f f t f t 9 0 # #

1 491

3.1 121

m Star Carr

m ungarian, Neolithio

SHungarian, Bronze Age m Burgasohisee-SU d

2 I Kastritas 2 Knosses, 3NIa #,

,Obermeilen Burgamohisee-Siid 7 6

Utoqual 2 j Regenaberg-Kumpfmuhl

I 1 I 2I 1 (mm) 100 150 200(mm)

FIG. 23. CATTLE CALCANEA (maximum length). Black = wild, white = domestic

Only 43 specimens gave information of age. Of these one was 29-35 months old, and two were definitely younger than 42 months. Nineteen (nearly 50 per cent) definitely survived longer than 2 years.

EARLY NEOLITHIC Ib The E.N. Ib phase was first '4C dated to 5050 B.c.-I18o years. More recently dates oi

4260 B.C. +150 and 4190 B.C. + I50 have been obtained. The bones from this level far out-number those of the two preceding levels. A sample of 945 has been studied, of which 935 were identifiable to genus; waste material constituted an additional 400 fragments (Table 2).


The most notable changes in relative percentages of species from E.N. Ia to E.N. Ib are in the pigs and cattle (Table 2). The cattle remains have increased to

22"7 per cent of the total

number of bones, nearly double their E.N. Ia representation. The percentage of pig remains, on the other hand, has fallen to 13'9 per cent. The caprines still comprise more than 60o per cent of the remains.

Canis sp. The E.N. Ib canid specimens must await further comparison for specific identifica- tion; there is no reason to suppose they are different from the canids from E.N. Ia.

2 ED Capra

7rE Ovis

20 25 30 (mrm)

2 Capra

101 Ovis

5 0o 15 (mm)

FIG. 24. E.N. Ib CAPRINE ASTRAGALI (maximum length)

FIG. 25. E.N. Ib CAPRINE METACARPALS

(trochlear width)

3 Capra

13 Ovia

20 25 30 35 (mm)

FIG. 26. E.N. Tb CAPRINE HUMERI (maximum distal width)

Caprini. The E.N. Ib caprine population follows the same pattern as the earlier ones. Both sheep and goats are present, the sheep being far more abundant than the goats. Two out of 9 astragali, 2 out of II distal metacarpals, and 3 out of 16 distal humeri were referred to Capra. All the Capra specimens fall outside the upper limit of the Ovis size range (FIGs. 24-6).

The E.N. Ib sheep are certainly domesticated. The mean size of all measurable specimens is invariably smaller than that of the E.N. Ia sheep. The age structure of the caprine population reproduces very closely that for E.N. Ia (Table 7). Of a total sample of 189, nearly 75 per cent were certainly dead by 24 months, and more than 90 per cent. by 36 months. Of the bones fusing at 36-42 months, only 17'4 per cent were fused, over 8o per cent of the young animals being exploited as surplus.

12 24 36 Greater than Age months months months 36 months


at X months % 19.0 78-7 94'2 000oo

TABLE 7. AGE STRUCTURE OF E.N. Ib CAPRINE POPULATION

As in E.N. Ia there is no evidence of size change in the small Capra population. Sus scrofa. The parameters of the E.N. Ib pigs are sometimes smaller, sometimes larger than

the E.N. Ia specimens; no consistent size change is apparent. The age distribution of specimens is very similar to that of E.N. Ia, showing a slightly greater percentage of individuals dead at 24 months (Table 8). Of 4 specimens which fuse at 24 months, all were fused. However, only


I of 6 specimens which fuse at 27 months was fused, and all 7 specimens fusing at 30 or 42 months were unfused.

12 24 30 42 Age months months months months


at X months % 30-6 69"5

89'9 10ooo

TABLE 8. AGE STRUCTURE OF E.N. Ib PIG POPULATION

Bos. In spite of the larger sample of cattle-bones available from E.N. Ib, there is still no evidence of a decrease in size relative either to the Camp or E.N. Ia. In most parameters the range for E.N. Ib covers all the previous occurrences; and while in several cases the mean slightly exceeds those from the Camp and E.N. Ia, the single distal tibia width is 6 millimetres smaller than the smallest E.N. Ia specimen.

Evidence of age structure came from 104 specimens, but of these 86 gave only minimum ages. Of the 18 giving maximum ages or age ranges, only 3 were dead by 24 months, and 12 by 36 months. Ninety specimens of the 104 were definitely alive at 12 months, and 33 at 24 months. Here, as in previous levels, no evidence can be seen of preferred killing ages; the cattle population seems to have been exploited at a fairly even rate.

ECONOMY

In the millennium or so covered by the Camp and Early Neolithic layers changes and developments are evident in the economy of Knossos. As far as present knowledge extends, the early occupation of Knossos was one of the first on the island, and it is predictable that the colonists would make a relatively rapid series of adjustments in their extractive relationships with their surroundings. The evidence of the animal husbandry presents a picture of a steadily increasing realization of the potentials of local resources. Higham (1968) has documented a series of comparable adjustments in the later prehistory of the Alps.

It will be convenient to consider each of the major food-animals in turn. Sheep and goats. It is necessary for several reasons to consider the caprines together. The

difficulties of distinguishing the two have been outlined above, and it has been pointed out that the age structure must be considered as that of the total caprine population. However, goats never constituted as much as 20 per cent of the sample in any of the levels (Table 9),

Camp E.N. Ia E.N. Ib

Caprines N 34 37 36 Goats N 5 4 7

% 14'7 10-8 19"4

TABLE 9. NUMBER OF GOATS RELATIVE TO TOTAL CAPRINE POPULATION

and their influence on the population characteristics is correspondingly small. An additional reason for discussing sheep and goats together is that their ecological niches overlap, and although they tend to be complementary when both are present, the one easily invades parts of the preferred environment of the other, given the opportunity to do so. An explanation for the predominance of sheep at Knossos may be seen in the local topography, which with gently rolling hills and fairly close vegetation is more suited to sheep than to goats. It is not till further


inland that one meets with more rugged surroundings, the commonly preferred environment of goats.

There is no sign of change in the importance of goats or of an alteration of attitudes towards them. The sheep, however, give evidence of an increasingly close relationship with man. This evidence is expressed in three main ways: their absolute size, range of variation, and population age structure.

Time

13

141

16

ENIb

ENIa

Camp

20 25 30 35(mm)

Time

7

17

101

ENIb

ENIa&

Camp

20 25 30 (mm)

FIG. 27 FIG. 28

9

8

ENIb

ENIa

Slb Camp

Time

20 25 30 (mm)

Time]

22r

9'

6

I EaIb

I ENIa

I Camp

20 25 30 (mm)

FIG. 29 FIG. 30

FIG. 27. SHEEP HUMERI (distal epiphyseal width) FIG. 28. SHEEP ASTRAGALI (maximum length) FIG. 29. SHEEP METACARPALS (distal epiphyseal width) FIG. 30. CAPRINE TIBIAE (distal epiphyseal width)

FIGs. 27-30 illustrate the size relationships of the three successive sheep populations. All four parameters show decreasing size with time. In each case the mean for E.N. Ib is lower than that for E.N. Ia, which in turn is lower than that for the Camp; the one distal metacarpal from the Camp is larger than the mean for E.N. Ia. The ranges shift correspondingly both with regard to upper and lower limits, with a single exception: in that one instance the lower limit of the E.N. Ib distal humerus dimensions is

0"2 mm. above that of E.N. Ia. It is true

that in the case of the distal tibia some goats may be present. However, the sheep are consistently smaller than the goats, and there is no sign of bimodality in the tibia parameters.

Another development visible in the sheep material is a fall in the population variability. This is expressed in the variances (az) and coefficients of variation (V) for distal humerus, distal metacarpal, and distal tibia widths. In all cases V fell within the expected range of variation for linear dimensions of anatomical elements of mammals (Simpson et al. I96o), with the exception of the distal tibia sample from the Camp. The anomaly in this case may probably be attributed to the small sample size, and the sample was excluded from further calculations. F-tests were applied to the variances between levels (Tables o0-12). There is no evidence for

C 5759 S


a significant difference in variability between the Camp and E.N. Ia, but values of P of o0Io (distal tibia), 0-07 (distal humerus), and o-oi (distal metacarpal) imply strongly that a substantial fall in variability occurred between the E.N. Ia and E.N. Ib sheep.

N Range (mm.) X (mm.) a2 V F P

Camp 16 25'7-32-8 29'70 2'135 4'556 7T19 I-o6 0o20 E.N. Ia 14 23-8-30-I 27-81 2-071 4'292 7'45 E.N. Ib 13 24-0-280-o 26-.o

1.200 1.441 460 298 007

TABLE IO. VARIABILITY OF SHEEP HUMERI (DISTAL EPIPHYSEAL WIDTH)

N Range (mm.) X (mm.) a r V F P

Camp 5 22-1-23"8 22"98 0o8349 0o697 3-63

E.N. Ia 9 19"5-24'

21-62 1.5033 2-260 6-95 E.N. Ib 22 19-2-22'9 21I02 o'9670

0'935 4-60 24 OIo

TABLE I I. VARIABILITY OF CAPRINE TIBIAE (DISTAL ARTICULAR WIDTH)

N Range (mm.) X (mm.) a o2 V F P

Camp I 23'5 - -

E.N. Ia 8 21o-27-3

23o10 2-3116 5"343

o00oo 6-14 o0o0 E.N. Ib 9 20-8-23 I 2 I-90 o'9322 0o869 4-26

TABLE 12. VARIABILITY OF SHEEP METACARPALS (DISTAL EPIPHYSEAL WIDTH)

A change in population age-structure appears to have taken place earlier than that of variability. There is a rise from the Camp to E.N. Ia of the percentage of specimens from animals killed in the first and second years, and a fall in the percentage which definitely survive three years. E.N. Ib closely resembles E.N. Ia in this respect. The E.N. Ia and E.N. Ib economies, therefore, operated at a higher level of efficiency than the Camp, evidently being able to extract a greater yield of young sheep without prejudicing herd maintenance.

Thus there is evidence from three separate sources that the nature of the association between man and sheep was rather one of dynamic development than of stable conservatism. The term 'domestication' leads to an attitude which regards animals as either 'wild' or 'domestic' and which blurs the fact that these terms are an arbitrary division of an endlessly varied spectrum. The relationships of 'wild' animals with men are no more constant in time and space than those of 'domestic' animals, and to classify animals in one or the other category does little to define the relationship involved.

The changes in the attributes of the sheep populations allow the construction of some hypotheses regarding their importance to and exploitation by successive human populations. It has been seen that the age structure of the Camp sheep permits the inference that they were sufficiently controlled to allow an age-biased economic surplus to be extracted.

By the Early Neolithic Ia period two changes have occurred: the mean size of the sheep has dropped, and more animals are being slaughtered at earlier ages. It is not possible to assume, as Zeuner (1963) does, that the fall in size is due to deliberate sexual isolation from wild individuals; as Herre (1963) has pointed out the response to such a situation would be increase in range of variation, with both larger and smaller beasts than normal surviving. In order to produce a consistently smaller-sized population there must be a change in the gene pool


through selective pressure for small size and/or against large size for a relatively long period of time. In fact, the size change can be partially explained in terms of the concomitant change in preferred slaughtering ages. Man, like any other predator, affects the gene pool of his prey. By the very fact that a larger percentage of immature beasts, probably predominantly males, was being slaughtered before reaching reproductive age, an unconscious selection was being applied to the range of genes that were transmitted. It is possible that at this early stage there was already conscious selection for small size, it being realized that small beasts would survive periods of shortage more easily. However, there exists at present no basis for preferring this hypothesis to one postulating unconscious selection for small size as a by-product of some other economic practice. For instance the selection of quicker maturing and more productive large animals for earlier slaughter would also tend to cause a gradual decrease in the average size of the herd members. There is little doubt that further and more detailed study will yield the data which will allow a choice to be made between the above alternatives.

Further changes appear in the E.N. Ib sample. There is an additional fall in size and a significant decrease in the variability. One must assume from the former that selective pressure for small average size continued. The age structure remains the same as that of E.N. Ia. If one accepts the premise that a high mortality of immature individuals would be economically advantageous only if it represents primarily the slaughtering of surplus males, then one must conclude that the age distribution pattern bears the same significance for both levels. The decrease in variability could be explained in four different ways. (I) One would expect that an island flock, a small isolated portion of a larger parental population, would possess less genetic variability than the original population, and one might suggest that the flock would tend toward greater uniformity as a result of continued inbreeding. It is difficult to evaluate this hypothesis because of the problem of linking genetic and phenotypic variability, because of the stochastic elements inherent in any genetic system, and because of the presence of the human factor. However, there is evidence (Mayr 1963) that in a situation uncomplicated by human interaction, if a small isolated population survives the initial decrease in genetic variability immediately following separation from the parental population, the variability gradually increases to that of a typical mammalian population. Such a trend is exactly opposite to that demonstrated in the Knossos sheep population. (2) A change in the sex or age composition of the herd may have caused an apparent decrease in variability, in that if the bones represented in the archaeological remains come from a smaller section of the total population, the variability will seem to have fallen. This explanation seems very unlikely; as stated above the age structure does not differ noticeably from that of E.N. Ia and furthermore implies a similarity in sex ratios of the two herds. (3) Selective breeding for a specific size would result in decreased variability. (4) The decrease might represent the by-product of some other practice not specifically directed toward producing uniformity of size. Further study is needed before one or the other of these last two hypotheses can be preferred. While it is tempting to infer selective breeding, it is conceivable that selective slaughtering, an equally effective method of producing a less variable gene pool, was the operative process. It may be that the decrease in variability of the E.N. Ib sheep is a later expression of increased slaughtering of young males first evident in E.N. Ia; this must necessarily have reduced the breeding population and thus the genetic variability. If, as seems likely, the larger beasts of any particular age group were the first to be slaughtered, there would be a built-in tendency to produce a less variable herd of smaller average size.

Pigs. Because of its high reproduction rate and its ability to survive on human refuse and in areas less suited to the ruminants, the pig is a vital constituent of many economies. The small


size of the Camp pigs showed that they had already entered into a close relationship with man, while the high percentage of immature specimens demonstrates that their reproductive potential was exploited. The further decrease of size in E.N. Ia shows a continuing selection against large individuals; as with the sheep, however, there is no positive evidence to suggest that this selection was by human intention. There is evidence from the mortality figures, based on a larger sample than for the Camp, that a few specimens survived 21 years, but none in the excavated sample certainly lived to 31 years. A different situation existed with the E.N. Ib pigs; selection for decrease in size had apparently ceased, and at the same time a fall in the percentage of pigs relative to cattle and sheep occurs. Cattle, which were numerically subordinate to pigs in the Camp and E.N. Ia levels, rise above the percentage of pigs by nearly 9 per cent in E.N. Ib (Table 2).

The trends in the successive pig populations at Knossos are explicable in the light of the particular characteristics of this animal. Its high fertility means that a small basic herd is sufficient to maintain the reproduction rate, and permits the slaughtering of a very large proportion of young animals; this was seen to occur in the Knossos population. Its fertility and low demand on human time and resources make the pig an especially useful animal to societies under high population pressure. When, as in E.N. Ib, there are signs that pig husbandry became less important, it strongly implies that the economy was flourishing in the sense that there was sufficient surplus to concentrate on other lower yield species. Thus it is tempting to see the decrease in importance of pigs to the economy of E.N. Ib and the increase of cattle as resulting from prosperity sufficient to permit concentration on the slower maturing species. In addition, the larger populations of pigs in the Camp and E.N. Ia levels may have contributed to later more successful sheep and cattle husbandry. The natural habitat of the pig, unlike that of the ruminants, includes forested areas. The grazing of pigs in a confined space in a forest soon clears the undergrowth and retards the regeneration of larger trees. As van Bath (1963) has written of medieval Europe: 'The natural balance between wild life and woods was disturbed (by pigs) in a way that might eventually have even led to the extinction of both.' Over a period of I,ooo years the forest would have become grazed out in the areas adjacent to the settlement, and clearings would have been formed which were more suitable for cattle and sheep. At the same time the available natural food supply for pigs would have become less, or at least less in terms of the relationship of unit output of labour per unit intake of production.

Cattle. It is clear from their size that from the earliest level the cattle were already in close relationship with man; that is, according to accepted criteria, they were domesticated. In spite of this it is difficult for a number of reasons to assess more accurately their role in the economy. The long bones were invariably fragmented, and samples were small, thus precluding the estimation of sex ratio. Teeth were not common, and therefore the data on mortality was scanty. There is no sign of size-change with time or of preferred killing periods.

The archaeological evidence shows that the behaviour of the human groups at Knossos changed greatly in the time spanned from the Camp to E.N. Ib deposits. This is clearly seen in the change from the Camp level with no pottery or substantial buildings to the subsequent levels with evidence of increasingly complex material culture. Moreover, the relative percentage of cattle to other species doubles from the Camp to E.N. Ia, and nearly doubles again between E.N. Ia and E.N. Ib. Cattle thus appear to become increasingly important in the economy, a change which would certainly have entailed an adjustment of the man-cattle relationship. Herre (1968) suggests that changes in sexually isolated populations bred under new environmental conditions may be expected to occur fairly rapidly. The early levels at Knossos give a picture of changing human behaviour patterns including those involving cattle. Yet after


I,ooo years of such change and adjustment there is no corresponding change in cattle bone size. The implications of this are of some significance. It is generally agreed that size-change is good evidence of a change in the nature of man-animal relationships; of 'domestication', in fact. It has hitherto been tacitly accepted that the corollary is also true: that where there is no evidence of size-change, no change in man-animal relationships has occurred. The evidence from Knossos gives cause to doubt this second proposition, which is a logical non sequitur of the first. It is obvious that the speed and nature of morphological changes in species undergoing a development of their relationship with man will depend on the nature of the adjustments involved. It is invalid to assume that where changes are gradual they are not due to a change of man-animal relationship; or that where rapid changes are observed they are the first ones related to such an ethological adjustment.

Caprine Pig Cattle N (%) (%) (%)

Camp 443 49'4 19*5 31-1 E.N. Ia 539 32'9 I70o 50-1 E.N. Ib 917 24'9 9o0 66-I

TABLE 13. IMPORTANCE OF SPECIES AS FOOD SOURCES.

RATIOS FOR RELATIVE WEIGHT: CATTLE 9, PIG 2, CAPRINE I'25

In conclusion, some estimate may be made of the relative importance of caprines, pigs and cattle as food sources. It is obvious that one cow is of greater value in this respect than one sheep, and crude percentages thus mask some aspects of relative economic worth. Carter, Phillipson and Higgs (1965), in order to avoid a comparison with existing supposed primitive populations of domestic animals, have quoted modern approximate weights for the common domestic animals today. If the assumption is made that the weight ratio between species is unlikely to have changed much, the same figures are valid. Table 13 illustrates the hypothetical development of importance of species as food sources. The important trends visible here are the steady decrease in the importance of caprines as a food source, and the corresponding rise in the importance of cattle. Cattle are an important food source throughout, in spite of the small number of its bones in the Camp level. In the Early Neolithic layers it has become the dominant animal food source. Pigs are important in the first two levels, but drop sharply in E.N. Ib. Another factor to consider is that nutritionally the pig supplies only meat, whereas cattle and the caprines are also potential suppliers of milk. According to van Bath (1963) in the Middle Ages ten sheep gave in milk the equivalent of one cow.

Table 13 emphasizes the points mentioned previously concerning the increasing importance of cattle in the economy and the relationship between this trend and the features of sheep and pig husbandry. As a speculation the following model might be suggested for the development of the animal economy in early Knossos. If colonists from the mainland arrived in Crete to find an ecological situation undisturbed by man, it is likely that caprines and pigs would be the species favoured by the existing ecology. Pigs are more adaptable in this respect than the ruminants and would be able to live both by scavenging in the human habitations and in the wooded areas. The goats would certainly be at home on the cliff faces and the rockier, more barren hills, while sheep could have colonized any woodless areas of lower-lying ground and piedmont. The probable absence of large areas of vegetation suitable for cattle, which require open vegetation and do not thrive on sour woodland grass or short grass, would tend to keep their numbers low.


A period of adjustment would follow in which the complex relations between man, the environment, and the animals would change. The economy, with its flexible components, is an artefact capable of being closely adapted to those resources in the area which are available within the scope of the technology of the time. As the economy inevitably had repercussions on the environment, and thus on the local resources, so it would adapt itself to the new conditions by a constantly operating feedback mechanism.

The destruction of woodlands through the prevention of regeneration by the action of livestock, particularly pigs, and by clearance for cultivation would have created unintentionally an environment more favourable to cattle husbandry. Thus in E.N. Ia there is a rise in the percentages of cattle with a reciprocal movement in the sheep population. The further destruction of woodlands and the success of the economy might be seen in E.N. Ib with a fall in the importance of pigs and the rise in the importance of cattle as judged by the contribution of food to the human society.

This is, of course, a speculative assessment, for even without the presence of a human factor an environment is not stationary, and the entry of a human economy creates an additional environmental mechanism of its own. Similar complexity and difficulties of interpretation may be seen in the pollen diagram from Lake Ioannina in Epirus (Bottema, in Higgs et al. 1968), where, after the hypothetical entry of agriculture the tree pollen tends to increase rather than to decrease and contrary to other sources of evidence from other techniques, continues at a high level up to the present day. The increase is in part due to the entry into this area of Qu!erus ilex, which may reflect the invasion of Mediterranean flora into an area made available to it by the post-glacial climatic change, or the phenomenon that the tree/grass pollen also was affected by a decrease in the deposition of grass pollen by reason of erosion, rather than an increase in tree cover. However, man is likely to behave in relation to his environment in a way which is governed by the same or similar laws as for other animals. In a changing situation he will tend to develop towards the maximum level of exploitive efficiency possible within the available technology; and in doing this he will automatically enter into an increasingly organized set of relationships with the different elements of his economy and they with the changing environment.

M. R. JARMAN H. N. JARMAN

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welt Mitteleuropas', ibid. 2. 1962. 'Die Tierreste aus der Argissa-Magula vom priikeramischen Neolithikum bis zur mittleren Bronzezeit', in

V. Miloj'id, J. Boessneck, M. Hopf. Die deutschen Ausgrabungen auf der Argissa-Magula in Thessalien, I. Beitriige zur ur- und

friihgeschichtlichen Archdologie des Mittelmeer-Kulturraumes, 2. 27-99- S JEQUIER, J. P., and STAMPFLI, H. R. 1963. 'Seeberg-Burgaischisee-Siid', Teil 3. 'Die Tierreste', Acta Bernensia, ii. 215 pp. S MLLER, H. H., and TEICHERT, M. 1964. 'Osteologische Unterscheidungsmerkmale zwischen Schaf (Ovis aries Linn6)

und Ziege (Capra hircus Linne)', Kiihn-Archiv, 78. i-I29. BOKiNYI, S. I958. 'A Tiszaluc-dankadombi bronzkori telep gerinces faunaija', Ann. Mus. Miskolc. de Herman Otto Nominati,

ii. 19-39.


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Boplads paa Als', Aarb. f. nord. Oldk. og Hist. 1942. In Th. Mathiassen, M. Degerbol, and J. Troels-Smith. 'Dyrholmen. En Stenalderboplads paa Djursland', Kgl.

Dansk. Vid. Selsk. Arkaeol.-kunsthist. Skr., I (I). DIKAIOS, P. 1953. Khirokitia (Oxford). EWBANK, J. M., PHILLIPSON, D. W., WHITEHOUSE, R. D., and HIGGs, E. S. 1964. 'Sheep in the Iron Age: a Method of

Study', Proc. Prehist. Soc. N.s. xxx. 423-6. FRASER, F. C., and KING, J. E. 1954. In J. G. D. Clark, Star Carr (Cambridge University Press). HARTMANN-FRICK, H. I960. 'Die Tierwelt des prahistorischen Siedlungsplatzes auf dem Eschner Lutzengeutle Fiirstentum

Liechtenstein', Jahrb. Hist. Vereinsf. d. Fiirstentum Liechtenstein, lix. 5-223. 1965. 'Die Fauna der befestigten H6hensiedlung auf dem Borscht Fiirstentum Liechtenstein (Neolithikum bis La

Tene)', ibid. lxiii. I89-253. HERRE, W. 1963. 'The Science and History of Domestic Animals.' In (editors) D. Brothwell and E. Higgs, Science in Archaeology

(Thames and Hudson, London), 235-49. - I968. 'Zoologische Betrachtungen zu Aussagen fiber den Domestikationsbeginn', Palaeohistoria, xiv. 283-5- HESCHELER, K., and RUEGER, J., 1942. 'Die Reste der Haustiere aus den neolithischen Pfahlbaud6rfern Egolzwil 2 und

Seematte-Gelfingen', Vjs. d. Naturforsch. Ges. i. Ziirich, lxxxvii. HIGGS, E. S. 1962. In R. J. Rodden, 1962.

1967. 'Environment and Chronology-The Evidence from the Mammalian Fauna and Domestic Animals.' In C. B. M. McBurney, The Haua Fteah (Cyrenaica) (Cambridge University Press), 16-44, 313-23.

VITA-FINZI, C., HARRIS, D. R., and FAGG, A. E. 1968. 'The Climate, Environment and Industries of Stone Age Greece: Part III', Proc. Prehist. Soc. xxxiii (1967), N.s. 1-29.

HIGHAM, C. W. 1968. 'Stock Rearing as a Cultural Factor in Prehistoric Europe,' ibid. xxxiii (1967), N.s. 84-1o6. HILDEBRAND, M. 1955. 'Skeletal Differences between Deer, Sheep, and Goats', California Fish and Game, xli. 327-46. HOLE, F., and FLANNERY, K. V. 1968. 'The Prehistory of Southwestern Iran: A Preliminary Report', Proc. Prehist. Soc.

xxxiii (1967), N.S. 147-206. HOOIJER, D. A. 1961. 'The Fossil Vertebrates of Ksar'Akil, a Palaeolithic Rock Shelter in the Lebanon', Zool. Verhand. xlix.

1-67. JEWELL, P. A. 1963. 'Cattle from British Archaeological Sites', in A. E. Mourant and F. E. Zeuner, Man and Cattle, J. Roy.

Anth. Inst. Occasional Paper, no. 18. 8o-I o I. JOSIEN, TH. 1956. 'Faunal Remains from Burgischi Siid-Ost', Arch. suisses d'Anthrop. gdn. KLUMPP, G. 1967. 'Die Tierknochenfunde aus der mittelalterlichen Burgruine Niederrealta, Gemeinde Cazis/Graubtinden

(Schweiz)', Inst.f. Palaeoanat. Domest. u. Gesch. d. Tiermedizin d. Univ. Miinchen, 1-174. KUHN, E. 1932. 'Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Saugetierfauna der Schweiz seit dem Neolithikum', Rev. suisse de zool. xxxix.

531-768. - 1935. 'Die Fauna des Pfahlbaues Obermeilen am Zurichsee', Vierteljahrschr. Naturforsch. Ges. Zirich. lxxx, 65-154. LUHMANN, F. 1965. Tierknochenfunde aus der Stadt auf dem Magdalensberg bei Klagenfurt in Kiirnten. III. Die Schweineknochen.

Diss. Miinchen. Karntner Museumsschriften 39, Naturkundliche Forschungen zu den Grabungen auf dem Magdalensberg 4, Klagenfurt. MALLOWAN, M. E. L., and ROSE, J. C. 1935. 'Excavations at Tall Arpachiyah, 1933', Iraq, ii. 1-178. MAYR, E. I963. Animal Species and Evolution (Oxford University Press, London). MOLLER, H. H. I962. 'Die Saiugetierreste aus der Burg Berlin-K6penick nach den Grabungen von 1955 bis 1958', Deutsche

Akad. d. Wiss. zu Berlin. Schr. d. Sekt.f. Vor- u. Friihgesch. xii. 81-97. MOLLER, R. I967. I. Die Tierknochenfunde aus den spitrimischen Siedlungsschichten von Lauriacum. II. Wild- und Haustierknochen

ohne die Rinder. Diss. Miinchen. Inst. f. Palaeoanat. Domestikationsf. u. Gesch. d. Tiermedizin d. Univ. Miinchen, 1-143. NANNINGA, 0. 1963. 'Neue Funde des Schweines aus dem keltischen Oppidum von Manching', Studien an vor- undfriih-

geschichtlichen Tierresten Bayerns xv. 1-25. PERKINS, D. 1964. 'Prehistoric Fauna from Shanidar, Iraq', Science, no. 3626, I565-6. PIRA, A. I9o9. 'Studien der Geschichte der Schweinerassen usw', Zool. Jahrb., Suppl. 10, 233-46. RADULESCU, C., and SAMSON, P. I96I. 'Sur un centre de domestication du mouton dans le mesolithique de la grotte "La

Adam" en Dobrogea', in 'Zur Domestikation und Fruhgeschichte der Haustiere', Z. Tierzuchtung u. Zuchtungsbiologie lxxvi. 282-320.

REED, C. A. 196I. 'Osteological Evidences for Prehistoric Domestication in Southwestern Asia', in 'Zur Domestikation und Friuhgeschichte der Haustiere', ibid., lxxvi 31-8.

RODDEN, R. J. 1962. 'Excavations at the Early Neolithic Site at Nea Nikomedeia, Greek Macedonia (1961 season)', Proc. Prehist. Soc. xxviii (I962), N.S. 267-88.


SILVER, I. A. 1963. 'The Aging of Domestic Animals.' In D. Brothwell and E. Higgs (eds.), Science in Archaeology, 250-68. SIMPSON, G. G., ROE, A., LEWONTIN, R. C. I960. Quantitative Zoology (revised edition) (Harcourt, Brace and Co., New York). VAN BATH, B. H. S. 1963. The Agrarian History of Western Europe, A.D. 5oo-1850. (London). WALDMANN, K. 1967. 'Die Knochenfunde aus der Colonia Ulpia Traiana, einer r6mischen Stadt bei Xanten am Nieder-

rhein', Archaeo-Physika iii. 1-79. WETTSTEIN, E. I924. 'Tierreste a. d. Pfahlbau am Alpenquai in Ziirich', Vierteljahrschr. Naturforsch. Ges. Ziirich, 78-127. ZEUNER, F. E. 1958. 'Dog and Cat in the Neolithic of Jericho', Palestine Explor. Quart. 52-5. - 1963. A History of Domesticated Animals (London).

KNOSSOS MARINE MOLLUSCA (NEOLITHIC)

The shells described below were examined at Knossos in the summer of 1966. The author has examined mollusca from several Greek excavation sites, in the hope that the information gathered will eventually add up to significant contribution. This report summarizes only the Knossos material; for details of the method of study, and for some information about the more important species, readers are referred to the report on the Mollusca in Evans and Renfrew, Saliagos (1968).

BIVALVIA

Arca noae Linne No specimens, which is remarkable, especially as this is a well-known species found in most

excavations; it is abundant in Minoan levels.

Arca barbata Linn6

Eight specimens, emphasizing the enigmatic result for the last species, which is usually more abundant.

Arca diluvii Lamarck One specimen.

Glycimeris spp. Sixteen whole specimens and many fragments. One large individual, probably G. pilosus Lamarck, had a hole in the umbo, and the shell

margins ground smooth by rubbing on a stone. The remaining whole specimens were of smaller species, probably G. violescans Lamarck. Nearly

all had been pierced, by poking the umbo with a pointed object. These may have been used in a necklace, cf. the collection illustrated by Biggs (1963).

Perhaps most interesting are the fragments, which might also be tentatively assigned to G. violescans. They are all so worn as to bear no resemblance to the original shell shape. If there were one or two, it might be surmised that these were fragments from a stony beach; in such numbers this does not seem to be a very good explanation. A very real possibility is that these fragments were reduced to their present state while being used to burnish pottery. It is intended that this possibility should be tested experimentally; certainly the Glycimeris shell is tough enough to withstand this kind of usage. They are distributed through Strata IX to II.

Ostrea edulis Linne Oyster One specimen; this species seems to have been eaten in Middle Minoan times.


Mytilus galloprovincalis Lamarck Mussel None found at Knossos.

Pinna nobilis Linn6 Fan shell Seven fragments, enough of this very fragile shell to suggest that it was a source of food.

Spondylus gaederopus Linn6 Three specimens only, more popular in Minoan times. Also a figurine, 6o/19o, illustrated

in Evans 1964-

Cerastoderma spp. Cockle

637 specimens, by far the most abundant shells in the Neolithic deposits. The majority probably belong to the species C. Lamarcki Reeve.

Holes have been pierced in the umbo of 130 shells; these were examined to determine how they were formed. About a quarter have been ground on stone at the umbo to produce the hole, and about a third simply pierced by poking with a sharp object. The latter, as far as could be determined, had been poked from the inside, which precludes their having been pierced in order to extract the animal for food. Note that Biggs (1963) suggests that this species was used in Neolithic Jericho in a necklace.

More work is required to find the full significance of this species. Certainly the numbers involved suggest that it was a source of food. A histogram of the dimensions of all the 230 unpierced individuals from the 1957 excavations looks markedly bimodal, and it is possible that cockles were a significant part of the diet only for a small part of the year. However, as the histogram may relate to a mixture of more than one species, and since variations in rate of growth through the year could produce a similar effect, this remains a suggestion. It is intended that a micro-examination of the growth rings of a sample of shells be made, since this will probably show conclusively the season of collection of each individual.

Mactra corallina Linn6 Two specimens.

Donax trunculus Linnd Two specimens.

Venerupis aureus (Gmelin) Golden carpet shell One specimen, with two pierced holes.

GASTEROPODA

Patella spp. Limpets Forty-six specimens, a few of which have pierced holes; it is quite possible that many of

these arose accidentally, although at least one is ground. Probably a source of food.

Monodonta turbinata (Born) Top shell

Forty-nine specimens, again probably a minor source of food.

Cymatium parthenopium (Von Salis) Seven specimens, suggesting either that it was more abundant than it is today, or that it

was specially sought for some reason.

266 N. J. SHACKLETON

Tonna galea (Linnd) Dolium shell Five fragments, though they may represent less individuals of this fragile and beautiful shell.

Murex trunculus Linne One specimen.

Murex brandaris Linne One specimen.

Charonia lampas (Linnd) and Charonia variegata (Phil.) Conch Nine fragments, none identifiable to species. One fragment (Stratum IX) is a cut and

smoothed piece which could have served as the handle of a cup cut from a conch shell. Another (Stratum V) has a cut and smoothed edge. Cassis undulata (Gmelin)

Three fragments.

Luria lurida (Linn6) Little cowrie Five specimens, all of them pierced. This species must have attracted people in Neolithic

times as it does today. One (Stratum IIIB) has a hole generated by filing a groove across the end with sharp edge, (cf. plate xlix in Evans and Renfrew (1968) for a Conus similarly filed). Two others have similar holes for which a less sharp implement was used; the others have been pierced less neatly. It seems likely that all these specimens were used as pendants.

Conus mediterraneus Bruguieres Three specimens, of which one (Stratum V) has a hole ground in the side.

SCAPHOPODA

Dentalium dentale Linn6

Eighteen specimens. At some sites Dentalium has been reported in connection with necklaces or head-dresses; as it does not require any drilling, being in the form of a tube, it is very suitable for this purpose. Eight of the examples found here were in Stratum IX, seven in Stratum IV, one in IIIB, one in VI and one without provenance.

CRUSTACEA

Two crab claws were examined, but neither was identifiable. N.J. SHACKLETON

REFERENCES

BIGGs, H. E. J. 1963. 'On the Mollusca collected during the Excavations at Jericho 1952-58, and their archaeological Significance', Man, no. 153 (1963) 125-8.

EVANS, J. D. 1964. 'Excavations in the Neolithic Settlement of Knossos 1957-60', BSA lix. 132-240. - and RENFREW, A. C. 1968. Excavations at Saliagos near Antiparos.


SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

THE KNOSSOS CULTURE

The excavations described in Part I of this report (Evans i964b) were carried out on a small scale with only limited funds, but they nevertheless represented the first attempt to explore the Neolithic settlement of Knossos with modern methods of excavation and over an area larger than that of a test pit. The objectives with which they were undertaken have been amply fulfilled, and we now know considerably more about the history and character of the site, and the economy and way of life of the inhabitants than before. New problems have been raised, however, especially by the series of radiocarbon determinations (see below, p. 271) which indicate that habitation began on Kephala Hill as early as c. 6000 B.C. This dating, and its implications are discussed in a later section; but first some attempt will be made to summarize the other main findings.

THE SETTLEMENT

The lowest stratum, X, was found to rest directly on the rock. The character of this shallow deposit, with its abundance of pits and post- and stake-holes, and absence of evidence for much in the way of solid structures, was exactly what might be expected to result from the activities of a community just arrived on a new site and preoccupied with organizing the means of sub- sistence there. At the same time it must be remembered that the total area uncovered was relatively small, only II m. x 5 m., so that it would be premature to accept that this necessarily reflects the situation obtaining over the whole of the site, even at this early stage. The earliest houses or other shelters erected on the hill may have covered only a small area, and what we lighted on could be a working area outside the embryo settlement. Only further excavation can be expected to throw fresh light on this.

Recognizable remains of solid structures were first found in Stratum IX. These were chiefly composed of mudbrick, and, on the western side of the area explored, the walls formed part of a roughly rectangular room with a regular beaten earth floor (Evans I964b, fig. 9). Stones, including old quernstones, had been used alongside the mudbrick in the fabric of the walls, but there was no regular stone foundation. The bricks themselves had been fired to a variety of colours, though whether this was intentionally or accidentally was not clear. The multi- coloured debris of similar bricks was found to be the main constituent of the deposit which formed this stratum and the one above. This bright colouring contrasted sharply with the predominantly very dark material of Stratum X, no less than with the khaki streaked with black bands which made up the rest of the deposit from Stratum VII upwards. Stratum VII contained the poorly preserved remains of part of a room (House D), which seems to have had one wall of fired brick, the other of unfired clay (though very little remained of either). It was notable, however, that these walls were aligned in a direction which remained constant for the buildings in all the later levels.

From Stratum VII upwards the houses were regularly constructed of pise on a stone or kouskouras foundation, and their walls were normally faced with a smooth mud plaster. One of the houses found (House C, in Stratum VII itself) consisted of at least two rooms, side by side; while another, House A in Stratum IIIB, appeared to have had a plan which in certain respects strongly resembled that of the 'but and ben' structure found by Dawkins at Magasi (Evans I964b, 174). In Stratum IIIA a portion of what seems to have been an extensive structure was explored by means of a southward extension of Area AC (Evans I964b, figs. 2 and 18). The whole must have been a relatively complex arrangement of rooms and corridors,

268 J. D. EVANS

and was perhaps somewhat similar in plan to the two Late Neolithic houses explored by Sir Arthur Evans in 1923/4 just below the surface of the middle of the Central Court.

As with Evans's Late Neolithic houses, the floors of all the houses found in the I957-6o work were of beaten clay, and there was evidence that they were periodically renewed. Rela- tively few internal features were noted in the rooms which we cleared. On the floor of House D in Stratum VIII there were traces of two small sub-rectangular structures, quite close together, and having hard plaster floors (Evans 1964b, fig. Io and p. I48). Broken pieces of fired clay which were found heaped above these suggested that they might originally have been domed ovens. Nothing similar was found in any other building, but several of the later houses were provided with small 'cupboards' or enclosures formed by low slabs of stone (occasionally old quernstones were used) or slate. These were either built out from the wall, or set in a corner (in one case in House A a small internal buttress was also utilized), and sometimes they contained the remains of a storage jar (e.g. Evans I964b, fig. I4A). From Stratum VIII onwards small cup-shaped hollows, usually showing traces of the action of fire, were found in the floors, those of House C containing more than those of any other structure investigated. They were scattered at random over the floor, and the later ones sometimes overlapped the earlier, which had been concealed by a local application of fresh mud (Evans, I964b, pl. 33, i). No trace of a fixed hearth was found in any house.'

Similar hollows were also found in the open areas between the structures. Some of these in Stratum V were of more complex construction than the rest (Evans I964b, figs. I2, 13, and

pl. 39, 3). Traces of fire were found in and around these, and it was noted that the clay had a slightly greasy appearance (Evans 1964b, 159), so that they might perhaps be thought to have been connected with cooking activities. Irregular patches of 'pebble paving' were common at all levels from Stratum VII upwards in the areas between houses. Sometimes these were at the foot of walls, but often appeared to be completely unattached to any structure. Some were found strewn with broken bones of animals. They could have provided useful working areas in the sea of mud to which the ground between the houses must quickly have been reduced after even a little rain.

Hardly any finds were made on the floors of the houses themselves, which seem to have been completely cleaned out in all cases before their demolition. Whether they were always kept as tidy as this is a matter for conjecture. The thorough cleaning before destruction might have been due to the desire to rescue all usable equipment, but it might also have had a ceremonial aspect. The apparently votive 'pottery pits' in the top of the destruction level of House A (Evans 1 964b, 174, 176) may perhaps be relevant to this question, and possibly also the smashed pot containing animal bones from the destruction level of House C (Evans 1964b, 153). Rubbish and refuse of all kinds were dumped in the areas between the buildings, and most of the material recovered came from these dark deposits.

The houses were in all likelihood single storey structures. The roofs were probably flat and perhaps made of wattle and daub. However, actual lumps of clay with impressions of sticks or canes were found only in Stratum VII and below (Evans 1964b, pl. 59, I), so that it is possible that some other kind of construction was used for the roofing in later times. As already noted, the buildings found in all strata from VIII upwards had virtually the same orientation, and it was observed that this held good also for the structures located in the small trench XY which was cut near the northern limit of the settlement. This strongly suggests that there was an over-all regularity in the layout of the village which persisted virtually unaltered for several millennia. New buildings were not always erected on exactly the same spot as those below,

SCf. the two fixed rectangular hearths reported by Evans in his Late Neolithic house (Evans 1928, I8 and fig. 8B).


nor did they necessarily have the same plan or dimensions; but they generally stood above or at least overlapped the ones below, and the relation of built areas and open spaces seems to have changed only occasionally.

The evidence from Trench XY further indicates that the settlement must have grown larger with the passage of time. Though this cutting was carried down to the rock, no levels belonging to the E.N. I period were found (though a few stray sherds of E.N. I. type were found in the lowest levels). The buildings identified were all assignable to the E.N. II period (Evans 1964b, figs. 6 and I5). The M.N. period was poorly represented and L.N. was entirely absent, but this could well be due to the removal of deposit in later building operations rather than to any contraction of the settled area (though the latter possibility cannot be entirely ruled out at the moment).

ECONOMY

The people who made the first settlement on Kephala Hill brought with them a fully developed mixed farming economy. This is proved by the evidence of the animal bones found in quantity in all levels, and by a fortunate find of a fairly large sample of carbonized grain preserved in Stratum X. Since the latter was the only find of its kind made in the course of the excavations, there is no possibility at present of tracing the development of agricultural practice during the life of the settlement, but it does demonstrate the kind of cultivation practised by the first settlers. It will therefore be convenient to deal with this evidence first.

AGRICULTURE

A sample of the grain found in Stratum X has been studied by Dr. Hans Helbaek in Copen- hagen. He reports that it consists almost entirely of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum). In the sample studied there were 2,900 grains of Triticum aestivum to only Io certain grains of Emmer and ten of Einkorn. Barley was represented only by I I grains of hulled and another 15 of naked barley (the latter presumably the six-row variety). Two hundred and ten lentil seeds were found and also traces of some weeds, chiefly mallow, of which there were 52 seeds. The crop of which this grain was a part seems, therefore, to have come from a relatively pure field of bread wheat. As already mentioned, this is at present the only direct evidence for the agricultural activities of the Neolithic Knossians; but there is indirect testimony, in the form of the regular occurrence of querns and rubbers throughout the deposit, that agriculture continued to be important.

ANIMAL HUSBANDRY

The animal bones will ultimately give a full picture of the development of animal husbandry at Knossos throughout the life of the Neolithic settlement. For the moment only the bones from the E.N. I levels have been thoroughly investigated, but these are in some respects the most interesting levels, and on the evidence of the latest radiocarbon dates they should account for about two-thirds of the life of the settlement. The results of this study are given in full in the paper by M. R. and H. N. Jarman above (p. 241 f.), but a rapid summary of the main findings will be attempted here.

Already in Stratum X bones of sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle are all present in appreciable quantities. Sheep and goats together account for about three-quarters of the bones. Although distinguishing the two still presents difficulties, it seems that sheep were about four times as numerous as goats. Bones of pig amounted to just under 20 per cent. of the finds in this stratum,

270 J. D. EVANS

those of cattle to less than 7 per cent. Despite the relatively small number of bones, cattle were obviously already of importance in the economy. Because of the small dimensions of the Knossos 'Camp' and E.N. I cattle, and since there is in any case no evidence as yet for the presence of wild cattle in Crete, it must be assumed that they were domesticated. One individual would, of course, supply considerably more milk or meat than an individual sheep or goat, so that it can be concluded that they were already an important food source.

The percentage of cattle is found to have gone up steadily during the course of the E.N. I period. It had doubled by Stratum VIII, and doubled again by Stratum V. Surprisingly, though, there is no evidence of any appreciable physical change in the cattle themselves during the course of this long period of nearly 2,000 years. By the end of the E.N. I period pigs (which supply only meat) had become less important, perhaps because of deforestation in the area around the settlement. In turn deforestation of this kind would have provided more grazing for cattle and sheep. This interpretation of the evidence certainly seems a very plausible one, and the presence in Stratum X of a stake made from the wood of a species of deciduous oak (Evans i964b, p. 239) might be taken as supporting it. Such oaks are now found only far away in the high mountainous areas of Crete, but the use of an insignificant branch of one in this way surely implies that they were growing quite near at the time of the first settlement. Thus during the Early Neolithic at Knossos animal husbandry can be shown to have undergone a development which was probably partly or entirely geared to changes in the environment, though whether these were caused chiefly by human activities or by climatic change is still a matter of debate.

RAW MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGY

Apart from obsidian, all the materials used by the Neolithic inhabitants of Knossos were of local Cretan origin. The obsidian was imported from Melos (Evans I964b, 239), which is not far away, and it is at present the only certain evidence we have that the Neolithic inhabitants of Knossos had contacts with any other area.

Stone axes were relatively rare in Stratum X and also in the remaining E.N. I strata, but they increased in numbers in the M.N. and much more sharply in the L.N. levels. The chief materials used in their manufacture were serpentine, green-stone and chlorite. There was one example made of haematite from Stratum X, and one each of limestone and schist from Stratum II. Maceheads were not found below Stratum VI (the later part of the E.N. I period), and they also increased in frequency of occurrence, like the axes, in the M.N. and L.N. strata. Though serpentine and limestone are both used for making maceheads, the range of materials employed was greater than for axes, and included breccia, gabbro, diorite, and dolomitic marbles. Some of these variegated stones were evidently chosen with an eye to their decorative qualities. A full list of the materials used for each axe and macehead is given in Dr. Warren's report on p. 239 ff-

The chipped stone industry was extremely poor in both quantity and quality. There were hardly any recognizable implements, and those which did exist were very small. Obsidian was most common in the early levels, and various kinds of chert occurred right through. Rock-

crystal, however, appeared for the first time only in Stratum IV, but then became fairly common throughout the M.N. and L.N. layers. All the chipped stone material found could have been obtained from only a few small cores of the various materials. On present evidence it would certainly seem as though it played only a very minor part in the technology of Neolithic Knossos.

Bone tools were very numerous (over a thousand were found in all), and they increased in

KNOSSOS NEOLITHIC, PART II 27I

frequency in the later strata. The great majority were points of various kinds, but there were also numerous pins and needles of this material. Three bone spatulae were found, all of them in Stratum X. Tubular bones with a chisel- or gouge-shaped cutting edge were also found regularly, but they could not have been of use in woodworking. Indeed, the chief problem posed by the tool-kit of the Neolithic Knossians as it revealed itself in these excavations is the notable lack of efficient cutting tools. Some of the stone axes are quite small, and so might have been of some use in the finer work, but, as already mentioned, axes do not become really numerous until the Late Neolithic. Animal teeth, of which a large number were found in the excavations, might have served to some extent as small chisels and borers. However, none of these suggestions completely explains the extraordinary poverty of the chipped stone industry.

Pumice was no doubt used for various abrasive purposes; many small pieces were found throughout all the strata. For polishing and burnishing, stones and sometimes pieces of shell (p. 264) were employed. Querns and rubbing-stones occurred in all levels of the deposit, and were no doubt chiefly used for the grinding of grain. No certain traces of spinning and weav- ing equipment were found before the middle of the E.N. II period, but in the M.N. and L.N. periods clay spindle-whorls, loom-weights, and shuttles became common. This does not necessarily mean that these arts were previously unknown to the inhabitants of Knossos; it may mean simply that any equipment found necessary in earlier times was made of perishable materials.

The first containers used on the site must have been of perishable materials also, of wood, basketry, or leather. But the production of pottery on a small scale had begun already by the time Stratum IX was formed, and thereafter the importance of pottery vessels increased rapidly. Very large quantities of sherds were found in all strata from VII onwards (Evans i964b, fig. 44). A considerable range of shapes was produced, but open shapes (bowls of various kinds) were many times more common than closed ones throughout the deposit (see the figures of frequency of occurrence of individual shapes in Evans 1964b, 196-229). It is quite evident that the earliest pottery produced (or at least broken) at Knossos, that found in Strata VIII and IX, belongs to a well-developed tradition of potting. These wares have been skilfully made and fired; the shapes are relatively complex and the pots feature much arbitrary detail, such as carinations and bead-rims, decoration which makes use of applied strips and knobs of clay or incised and pointille' patterns filled with white (or very occasionally red) paste, and varied handling devices which include flap and wish-bone handles, paired triangular ears set on the rim, and perforated and unperforated trumpet lugs. Thus it seems that the absence of pottery in Stratum X is to be interpreted as representing some delay in organizing pottery production on the new site rather than ignorance of how to make it.

From the first appearance of pottery in Stratum IX, no appreciable change of style can be seen until the beginning of Stratum IV. Stratum III and Stratum II witnessed further marked changes of style. Though there is no break in the sequence at any point, the changes, when they come, all take place quite rapidly. The most remarkable circumstance is the long duration of the E.N. I style, which seems to have persisted more or less unaltered for between ,500oo and 2,000 years.

ABSOLUTE CHRONOLOGY AND AFFINITIES

Since the publication of the first part of this report six new radiocarbon determinations have become available for various strata of the Neolithic settlement, making eight in all. They are set out in tabular form below:

272 J. D. EVANS

Lab. No. Stratum Tears B.C. Material Method (on 5,570 half-life)

B.M. 124 X 6ioo I8o Oak stake Acetylene. B.M. 278 X 5960o130 Oak stake Scintillation counting.

(new sample) B.M. 436 X 5790130 Carbonized wheat Scintillation counting. B.M. 272 IX 5620150 Charcoal Carbon dioxide. B.M. 273 VI 4620150 Charcoal Carbon dioxide. B.M. I26 V 5050 i 8o Charcoal Acetylene. B.M. 274 V 4190150 Charcoal Carbon dioxide. B.M. 279 IV 3730 1 5o Charcoal Carbon dioxide.

Apart from B.M. 126 these dates are admirably consistent. B.M. I26, however, conflicts strongly with the three new dates for Strata VI, V, and IV, which are all mutually consistent. The new dates offer a very reasonable chronology, and it seems likely that B.M. 126 must be discounted. When this date first became available I pointed out (Evans 1964a, 58) that it raised very considerable difficulties of interpretation, since Strata X to V inclusive account for over half the entire depth of Neolithic deposit. This would therefore have accumulated in about i,ooo years, leaving 2,000 years to be accounted for by the lesser accumulation above. Taking into account that no changes could be observed in the later deposits which might suggest that they accumulated more slowly than the earlier ones, it appeared difficult not to suppose that there had been a considerable gap between the end of the Neolithic settlement and the beginning of Bronze Age habitation on the site. On general grounds this seemed unlikely, and it is therefore satisfactory that the new dates suggest a chronology which would allow the ten Neolithic strata to be spread over the whole of the three millennia or so from c. 6000 B.C.

until the beginning of the Bronze Age. B.M. 436 was obtained by agreement with Dr. Helbaek, who was worried by the apparently

excessively high date suggested by B.M. 124 for the hexaploid wheat found in Stratum X, which was obtained on the sample of a stake apparently found in close association with the grain. The British Museum Radiocarbon Laboratory kindly ran a sample of the wheat on their new scintillation counter together with a fresh sample of wood from the stake (B.M. 278). As can be seen from the table, the latter produced a date slightly lower than the first sample (B.M. 124), but statistically indistinguishable from it,z while the grain sample produced an even lower date, though still within two standard deviations of B.M. 278. It is also earlier than the date for Stratum IX. All dates so far obtained for Stratum X agree in indicating that the beginning of the settlement at Knossos was in the earlier part of the first half of the sixth millennium, or perhaps even in the late seventh millennium B.C.3

Acceptance of such an early start for the Cretan Neolithic raises important, but at the present time, largely insoluble problems. There is nothing to suggest that the Knossos culture represents a local development in Crete, since there is at present no satisfactory evidence for any earlier human inhabitants there, nor is there anything to suggest that the species of wild animals and grasses necessary for the independent development of such a food-producing economy were present. On the other hand, no archaeological material closely comparable to

2 The original sample of wood from the stake had previously been re-run by the carbon dioxide method, when it also gave a date statistically indistinguishable from B.M. 124.

3 Subsequent measurement of the C-I3/C-I2 ratios for B.M. 278 and B.M. 436 has given values for e C-13 of -27-67-1-0o.. and -24-32. ..0.. relative to P.D.B. re- spectively. If applied, these results would change B.M. 278

to 5940.. 115 B.c. and B.M. 436 to 5830..I I5 B.C. While not materially affecting the interpretation of the determinations, they suggest that the dates of these two samples may be even closer than the original measurements indicated. The above information was kindly communicated to me verbally by Mr. Richard Burleigh of the British Museum Radiocarbon Laboratory for inclusion in this report.


that found in the earliest levels of the Knossos settlement is known elsewhere, to which anything like such a high date can be assigned. While, therefore, it is not at the moment possible to give a satisfactory account of the origins of the Knossos culture, it must be added that the material from the lowest strata does offer strong hints as to where a solution to the problem must be sought.

The most distinctive material found in the E.N. I levels is of course the pottery, and there can be no doubt that the closest parallels to these wares are to be found among pottery from the coastal areas of West Anatolia and some of the East Aegean islands. This material, however, though not always closely datable, does all certainly belong to a much later period than the first appearance of pottery of the E.N. I style in Stratum IX at Knossos. It is classified as Late Neolithic or Late Chalcolithic (according to whether it is found in Greek islands or on the Turkish mainland) and Early Bronze Age. It may be helpful at this point to cite some of the most obvious parallels:

Trumpet lugs (Evans I964b, fig. 25, 5-7; II, I2; pl. 59, 4, 6). These are found in the Upper Cave at Agia Gala in Chios (Furness 1956, pl. xxii, 23), Tigani in Samos (Furness 1956, fig. 5, 56), Saliagos in Antiparos (Evans and Renfrew, 1968, fig. 44, 6, 7), Poliochni in Lemnos (Bernab6 Brea, 1964, pl. xxix, b, c, f), Thermi (Phase B on) in Lesbos (Lamb 1936, 79, 82, fig. 28, Bowls, 3, 4; pls. xi, 322, xxxi), Troy I (Blegen et al. 1950, 244, 1-6, 9, Io; 246, 10-20).

They are also common in Macedonia in the Early Bronze Age. Flap and wish-bone handles (Evans 1964b, fig. 25, 13, 14, 20; pl. 45, 3, I, 3, 6; 46, I, 1-3). Similar examples come from Kalymnos (Furness 1956, pl. xix, 5), the Upper Cave at Agia

Gala (Furness 1956, pl. xxii, 9), and Troy I (Blegen et al. 1950, 245, 7, 9, 17, 26). Triangular 'ears' on rim (Evans 1964b, fig. 26, 1-7; pl. 4I, 2 and pl. 45, 4). This is found at

Tigani (Furness 1956, fig. 2, 5; fig. 5, 56) and in a more knobbed form also (Furness 1956, fig. 2, 1-4); it also occurs at Thermi (Lamb 1936, pl. xxxii, 2, 3, 5, 6), Poliochni (Bernab6 Brea, 1964, pl. xxviii, d and pl. cvii, g), and Troy I (Blegen et al. 1950, 243, 19-21, 23, 24, 26). Similar 'ears' are also found in Macedonia in the Early Bronze Age.

Plastic cordon decoration (Evans 1964b, fig. 26, 18-22; pl. 46, 2, 7 and pl. 49, 2). Plastic decoration with something the same character is found in the Upper Cave, Agia Gala (Furness 1956, pl. xxii, 25-34), also in the Lower Cave (Furness 1956, pl. xxi, 5, 6, 9), at Poliochni (Bernab6 Brea 1964, pl. lxii, a, c, e-g; lxiii, d, e, 1-i), Troy I (Blegen, etc. 1950, 237, 14, 15, I9; 241, 5), Thermi, (Lamb 1936, pl. xiv, 2, middle). It is also present in Macedonia in the Early Bronze Age.

Plastic blob decoration is also found both at Knossos and at various other Aegean and Anatolian sites.

Pointilli decoration (Evans 1964b, fig. 27, 1-13, 15-17, 19-26; pl. 46, 3, 4). In the Aegean this decoration is found at Tigani (Furness 1956, fig. 2, I6; pl. xvi, 6), the Upper Cave at Agia Gala (Furness 1956, pl. xxiii, 1-6), Kalymnos (Furness, 1956, pl. xx, 2, 3), Saliagos (where it is very rare, though some at least is locally made) (Evans and Renfrew 1968, pl. xxv), Thermi (Lamb 1936, pl. xiv, I, bottom row; 3, second from right), Troy I (Blegen, et al. 230, 35. 648, 33. 159; 235, 18, 22; 236, 18-20; 237, 7; 241, 2, 7). Furness (1956, 186) also cites examples of pointilli decoration from Yortan in Anatolia, Macedonia, Cilicia, Cyprus, and other areas much further away, and in view of this wide distribution is inclined to consider the trait un- diagnostic. This is true, certainly, if it is taken in isolation, though not necessarily when it is taken in combination with a number of other equally arbitrary features. She also makes the point that the Knossos pointilli is much neater and better finished than that found at Tigani,

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274 J. D. EVANS

Thermi, or Troy (and one might now add Saliagos to this list). The Knossos variety is, in effect, much more like that found on some of the fine wares of the Vinva culture.

Bowls with internally thickened rim (Evans I964b, fig. 23, 8; fig. 30, 1o, I I-the last two belonging to the E.N. II period). These are common in Kumtepe (Kosay and Sperling 1936, 41, Type a), Troy I (Blegen et al. 1950, 254, 255, i f-g); Thermi (Lamb 1936, fig. 28, 5, 6), Poliochni

(Bernabb Brea 1964, pl. xxviii, 1, m). Rough clay lids (Evans 1964b, pl. 58, 3). Closely similar objects serving the same function,

though mostly rather better made, come from Thermi (Lamb 1936, pl. xxxviii, iib and id), Troy I (Blegen et al. 1950, esp. 232, 36. 690 and 33. I259), and Poliochni (Bernab6 Brea I964, pl. lxxxi, especially d and g).

Pottery discs (Evans I964b, pl. 58, I, 2). Almost identical objects were found at Poliochni

(Bernabb Brea 1964, pl. lxxxiv, a-1). While any one of these, and other, similarities can, if taken separately, be easily discounted,

it is more difficult to brush them aside collectively as being meaningless. The general character of the Knossos pottery, a dark-faced ware generally finished by burnishing, links it definitely to the East Aegean and coastal West Anatolian tradition, as also does the fondness for 'scribble' burnishing, an imperfect burnishing which may have been considered decorative. The idea of pattern burnishing, though it was not used at all at Knossos until the Late Neolithic, could have developed quite easily out of this at any time. Taking these characteristics together with the various resemblances of detail mentioned above, I believe that a reasonable case can be made out for the existence of a meaningful relationship.

No similar array of parallels can be found with any of the early pottery assemblages of the Levant, or of other parts of Anatolia. Apart from general similarities in the ware and finish, the Late Chalcolithic pottery of Beycesultan type (Lloyd and Mellaart I962, fig. PI-PI2) is not in any way closely comparable to the Knossos material. Further East, the dark-faced pottery of Mersin Chalcolithic, Sakce Gtizii, and other sites on the North Syrian and Lebanese coasts is even less so.

The evidence, so far as it goes, then, would seem to indicate that the earliest pottery of Knossos belongs to a tradition of potting of which various later manifestations are known at sites in a number of islands in the Eastern Aegean and in the Troad. These naturally also have many features which are unrepresented at Knossos, often because, like the jugs which are so common on the Early Bronze Age sites, they were later developments. The early dates for Strata IX and X at Knossos, and the clear evidence that the earliest pottery found there must be the product of an industry developed before the Knossos site was first settled, are indications of how much has still to be learned about the history of this tradition and the people who developed it. They were folk who by 6000 B.c. already had an efficient mixed farming economy, with advanced types of grain, and including among the domesticated livestock cattle, as well as sheep, goats, and pigs. It seems difficult to doubt that their territory must have been in West Anatolia and the adjacent islands, and it may be hoped that future archaeological exploration of these regions will throw further light on the matter.

The early levels at Knossos have produced a few objects which can be linked with sites of roughly comparable date in Greece and Anatolia. Bone spatulae like those from Stratum X (Evans I964b, pl. 60, 3) are also known from Hacilar (Mellaart 1961, pl. v, c), and Thessaly (Childe 1957, 60). Stone studs (e.g. Evans I964b, fig. 58, 23, 25, 32) somewhat resemble the well-known examples from Hacilar (Mellaart 1965, I I6), Nea Nikomedia (Rodden I962, SF 3 and 4) and Thessaly (Theocharis 1968, pl. xi, C3, top row, y, top right and bottom left and middle; pl. xii, A, top row, L). The chrysocolla stud found by Sir Arthur Evans in a Neolithic


sounding at a depth of 5'75 m. (Evans 1921, 55, fig. I5b) is also relevant here. The curved nail-like object from Stratum IX (Evans 1964, fig. 58, 31) may perhaps be related to the straight ones from Nea Nikomedia (Rodden 1964, pl. 4B, upper half).

All this is little enough, but it provides some slight corroboration of the C-I4 dates. Professor Weinberg's suggestion (1965, 56 f.) that there might have been a cultural break and a longish chronological gap between Stratum X and Stratum IX finds no support either in the new C-I4 date for Stratum IX or in the material itself. The stone studs mentioned above occur not only in Stratum X, but also in later strata; a few obsidian chips are found already in Stratum X, and so is a bone 'chisel' of a type which occurs regularly later, as well as a number of the more ordinary bone points. The proportions of animal bones show a development from Stratum X through the E.N. I strata, but there is no evidence of a sharp break. It may be added that nothing was observed in excavating the deposit itself which might indicate a break between Stratum X and the later strata.

Despite the apparent insularity of the later developments at Knossos, there may have been more contact with the outside world than is immediately apparent from the material. The continuing occurrence of obsidian, though in very small quantities, shows contact with Melos, at least. There may also be some indirect testimony to sporadic contact with places further afield. Stone mace-heads, which first appear at Knossos in Stratum VI, could have been adopted as a result of such contact. They are certainly characteristic of Anatolia in the Early Bronze Age and might have been known there earlier. They are, of course, also known in predynastic Egypt, but the comparable examples are of much later date. Part of a clay figurine, also from Stratum VI (Evans I964b, fig. 63, 20; pl. 67, I) is somewhat similar in shape and colouring to examples from the Middle Neolithic in Mainland Greece, while a schematized bone figurine from Stratum IV (Evans i964b, pl. 66, 2) has very close parallels from Troy II and III (Blegen, et al. 1950, 360, 37.49, 35.60). The sudden popularity of the carinated bowl (Shape 3B) in the Middle Neolithic and Late Neolithic strata might conceivably be connected with the popularity of the carinated bowl in mainland Greece during the Late Neolithic there. A bridge-spout from Thermi (Lamb 1936, pl. 47, 7) very closely resembles the type which became popular on bowls at Knossos in the Late Neolithic (Evans 1928, fig. 3, x I, 2; Evans 1964b, fig. 37, 38, 39; pl. 53, 3, 3). But it is all very tenuous, and the general impression remains one of a rather isolated community.4

Within Crete itself the culture represented in Strata X to V at Knossos remains almost equally isolated. There are no other sites known which can be assigned to this period, though Dawkins, in his report on the Magasa excavations illustrates fragments of two wish-bone handles with knobbed ends (I906, pl. viii, 27, 28) which would be of E.N. date at Knossos (Evans 1964b, fig. 45, middle, right). He also illustrates a fragment of pointille decoration which might be of similar date (1906, pl. viii, 25). A few pointille' sherds were also found in the house excavated by Alexiou at Katsambats (1954, 369-76). However, pointilli decoration is not confined to E.N. levels at Knossos.

Pottery identical with that characteristic of the M.N. period at Knossos has been found by the Italian School at Mitropolis, near Gortyna, in the Mesani, but the other known Neo- lithic sites all seem to belong to a later phase. Even the material from the Kumaro Cave in the Akrotiri peninsula of Western Crete is probably of late date. A bowl from this site has a decoration of lines bordered with dots (Jantzen in Matz 1951, pl. 8, I) which closely resembles the

4 The profiles of some of the Neolithic sherds found during the recent survey of Euboea (e.g. Sackett, etc. 1966, fig. i8, 4-7, 14, i6-18) are strikingly reminiscent of

those of Knossian E. N. sherds. The colouring and surface finish of some of these, which were shown to me by Mr. Popham, are a so very similar to Knossos Neolithic wares.

276 J. D. EVANS

'sewn' decoration which only appears in the L.N. period at Knossos (Evans 1964, pl. 53, (2), 7, (3), 5). The Phaistos Neolithic would seem to represent a later phase still and one which is not represented at Knossos. Several of the most important features of the Phaistos ceramics, such as the jugs (e.g. Pernier, I935, ii, figs. 38-40), the horned handles (e.g. Pernier 1935, i, figs. 44, 47), and crusted decoration (Levi 1965, Table B), are not found at all at Knossos. Possibly this may imply, as Pernier suggested (1935, 107) that the Phaestos Neolithic is partly or wholly contemporary with E.M. at Knossos. The Knossos Neolithic settlement lasts into a time when metal was already in use, to judge by the two axes found by Evans in his L. N. House A (Evans 1928, fig. 3f), but the top of the Neolithic mound was certainly levelled in Minoan times and the latest deposits in the Central Court area may have been removed then.

J. D. EVANS

REFERENCES

ALEXIOU, S. 1953. -AVaaKagal tvKarv Krapr, II, ITpaKTIK6, 1953, 305. BLEGEN, C., CASKEY, J., RAWSON, M., and SPERLING, J. 1950. Troy I, The First and Second Settlements, Part 2, Plates. CHILDE, V. G. 1957. The Dawn of European Civilization6. DAWKINS, R. M. 19O6. 'Excavations at Palaikastro IV, 2. Neolithic Settlement at Magasi', BSA xi. 260-8. EVANS, A. J. 1921. The Palace of Minos at Knossos, i. - 1928. The Palace of Minos at Knossos, ii. EVANS, J. D. I964a. 'Excavations in the Neolithic Mound of Knossos 1958-60', Bulletin of the University of London Institute of

Archaeology, no. 4, 35-60. - 964b. 'Excavations in the Neolithic Settlement of Knossos 1957-60', BSA lix (1964) I32-240.

- and RENFREW, C. 1968. Excavations at Saliagos near Antiparos. FURNESS, A. 1956. 'Some Early Pottery of Samos, Kalimnos and Chios', Proc. Prehist. Soc. N.s. xxii (1956) 173-212. KoSAY, H., and SPERLING, J. 1936. ' "Troad" da dirtyerlesmeyeri'. LAMB, W. 1936. Excavations at Thermi in Lesbos. LEVI, D. 1965. 'La varieta della primitiva ceramica cretese', Studi in onore di Luisa Banti 223-39. LLOYD, S., and MELLAART, J. 1962. Beycesultan, i. MATZ, F. 1951. Forschungen auf Kreta 1942. MELLAART, J. 1961. 'Excavations at Hacilar', Anat. Studies, xi. - 1965. The Earliest Civilisations of the Near East. PERNIER, L. 1935. Il palazzo minoico di Festos i. RODDEN, R. J. 1962. 'Excavations at the Early Neolithic Site at Nea Nikomedia, Greek Macedonia (1961 season)', Proc.

Prehist. Soc. N.s. xxviii (1962) 267-88. - 1964. 'Recent Discoveries from Prehistoric Macedonia', Balkan Studies v. o9-24. SACKETT, L. H., HANKEY, V., HOWELL, R. J., JACOBSEN, T. W., and POPHAM, M. R. 'Prehistoric Euboea: Contributions

toward a Survey', BSA lxi. THEOCHARIS, D. I967. 'H ao0yi' -ri EEaaAX1K5 TflpoiorTopias. WEINBERG, S. 1965. The Stone Age in the Aegean.

Documents

Knossos Neolithic, Part II