The present publication of the Minoan site of Bramiana in Crete demonstrates the potential of petrographic analysis, conducted on a highly disturbed ceramic assemblage, as a major tool for documenting diachronic activities at a long-lived site in the Ierapetra area, a region still little known archaeologically. In addition to highlighting Bramiana’s extensive interactions with other regions, this book constitutes a benchmark of the main petrographically characterised fabrics, and associated artisanal practices, of the north and south coasts of eastern Crete from the Prepalatial to the Neopalatial periods.
The hamlet of Bramiana, located close to the isthmus connecting the north and south coasts, was settled from the Early Minoan [EM] I-II, but the main occupation occurred in the Middle Minoan [MM] IIB to Late Minoan [LM] IA periods, with few attestations of LM IB material. The archaeological remains were discovered by chance, then surveyed and excavated by Vili Apostolakou in 2011 and 2012. The site suffered a complete destruction prior to the 1980s due to intensive agricultural terracing and the creation of a dam. This led to important fragmentation, disturbance and redeposition of the archaeological material, and the total disappearance of the architectural structures.
In order to compensate for these gaps, an innovative methodological approach has been implemented to address questions relative to the chronology, functions, and interconnections pertaining to this site. Although petrographic analysis has become a common tool for the characterisation of fabric groups in Minoan pottery studies, its application here is innovative due to the substantial number (184) of samples analysed. Moreover, the authors use the respective fabric groups identified to structure the book and organise the presentation of the results, rather than following the more conventional stratigraphic, chronological or typo-stylistic divisions in the presentation of the material. By providing a great deal of information on the unsuspected wealth and importance of the trade and interactions between Bramiana and the surrounding regions between MM IIB and LM IA, this book sheds light on a still largely unknown area of Prehistoric Crete whose production, consumption and exchange networks had previously only been documented petrographically for the Prepalatial period.
After a brief introduction on the challenging nature of the site and the reasoning behind their methodological choices (Chapter 1 – Apostolakou, Betancourt, Brogan), the book provides a very detailed presentation (Chapter 2 – Nodarou) of the various petrographically identified fabric groups and sub-groups. Six main groups were identified: the Cretan South Coast Fabrics (coarse), the Cretan South Coast Fabrics (fine), the Mirabello Fabrics, some metamorphic fabrics of unknown origin, a Metamorphic Fabric with Silvery Phyllite from the region of Palaikastro, and a Calcite-tempered Fabric of unknown provenance typical of the Prepalatial period, in addition to several loners. For each group, an extensive description and thin-section illustrations are provided. The ceramic material is then presented comprehensively in several chapters dedicated to each of these different fabrics respectively and through an analytical text, a catalogue, and illustrations. Additional chapters focus on particular styles or classes of pottery that sometimes concern more than one fabric group.
The production in coarse Cretan South Coast Fabrics (Chapter 3 – Betancourt) (pale calcareous clay with inclusions from the ophiolite series and the Flysch mélange, which occurs from the Messara to east of Ierapetra), relates to various workshops producing — between MM II and LM IA — mostly utilitarian (basins, bowls, scored basins) and storage vessels (hole-mouthed jars, large closed containers, pithoi) either plain or decorated with dark-painted bands, drips, monochrome coating, or with relief or incision. It comprises also cooking ware (bowls, tripod cooking pots and trays). However, Bramiana itself does not seem to be a production centre.
Several fine-textured Cretan South Coast Fabrics are also encountered. A first group (Chapter 4 – Gluckman) can be subdivided in two chronological sub-groups: MM IIB–III shallow bowl, straight-sided cups, carinated cups, hole-mouthed jar in Monochrome, Light-on-Dark and Polychrome Wares (the latter being Messara imports); and MM III–LM IA straight-sided cups, semiglobular cups, jugs in Lustrous Dark-on-Light Ware, similar to the production of Myrtos Pyrgos, and very few plain conical cups. These fine decorated vessels — from both groups — are considered as the most elaborate of the whole Bramiana pottery assemblage. A variant with clay pellets (Chapter 5 – Gluckman and Betancourt) concerns a range of small vessels dating from MM II to LM IA, testifying to another specialised production making use of different raw materials and preparations techniques.
In-and-out bowls decorated in Lustrous Dark-on-Light Ware are covered in a separate chapter (Chapter 6 – Hsu). The examples from Bramiana are numerous: they are subdivided into five typo-morphological groups that date from the end of the MM II to LM IA and comprise several sub-groups of the fine Cretan South Coast Fabrics and numerous loners. They therefore attest that various production centres were sharing this common style, which strongly suggests its invention in this south coast region. The chronology, technological aspects (clay recipes, pigments and decoration, polishing, firing) and distribution of the in-and-out bowls are discussed in more general terms in Chapter 17.
The Coarse Granitic-Dioritic Fabrics group, or ‘Mirabello Fabrics’ (Chapter 7 – Sarasin) relates to two sources originating from Gournia and Priniatikos Pyrgos on the north coast and represents one third of the assemblage. These vessels must have been exchanged for their contents (as evidenced by some overfired vases that circulate despite their flaw), but ritual, utilitarian and cooking vessels were also traded for themselves. The production concerns mainly pithoi, jars, and closed vessels (jugs and amphorae decorated with Dark-on-Light painted and relief/rope decoration), rare drinking or finer vases (one MM IB polychrome closed vessel), some cooking vessels (cooking dishes, tripod cooking trays and cooking pots), trays and basins. Two closed vessels bear potter’s marks, whose signs were previously unknown.
The Cretan Metamorphic Fabric concerns an array of coarse to semi-coarse red fabrics with phyllite inclusions, common along the north-eastern coast (especially around Mochlos). The production (Chapter 8 – Bonga) comprises utilitarian and serving vessels (shallow bowls, a basin, jugs — including some decorated in Light-on-Dark), cooking ware (dishes and cooking pots — including some of MM I–II date), and some vitrified and overfired closed storage and transport vessels. A sub-group originating from the area of Palaikastro contains silver phyllite and silver mica inclusions and is mostly used for cooking vessels, including tripod bowls and tripod pots (Chapter 9 – Bonga).
A chapter is dedicated to ritual vessels, all imported from the north coast (Chapter 10 – Bonga). The group made in the Mirabello fabric includes undecorated miniature tripod shallow bowls, and tripod offering bowls decorated with relief impressions or red painted motifs; these vessels were used to burn offerings inside. The latter appear as a production from Gournia and were also imported at Pseira, Pefka and Myrtos Pyrgos. A second group of vessels made in metamorphic fabrics comprises a MM IIB red slipped and burnished brasero/tripod kalathos, but also a fenestrated stand of a type common at LM I Myrtos Pyrgos.
Finally, Chapters 11 and 12 (Betancourt and Nodarou) deal respectively with EM I–II fabrics, including a calcite-tempered group typical of the Early Minoan period (EM IIA) and especially used for low-fired ceramics to prevent shrinkage; and with loners, which probably represent personal possessions that travelled as gifts, part of a dowry, or heirlooms.
The following chapters (Chapters 13–16) consider other categories of material which makes it possible not only to reconstruct some of the ancient domestic and agricultural activities, but also to document the destroyed ancient buildings. A few ground stone tools (Chapter 15 – Dierckx) were recovered but no metal or obsidian artefacts. Two fragments of vitrified clay indicate the possibility that a kiln was present on the site (Chapter 14 – Stamos, Nodarou, Betancourt). The architecture is approached via the remains of building materials (Chapter 15 – Betancourt and Nodarou): local unworked stones, mudbrick made of local marl, which was petrographically analysed, mud mortar, and wood (through negatives traces). The remains attest to a simple and by no means elite architecture and document at least one large fire destruction of the structures. Of interest is a weight and a drain produced in Mirabello fabric (Chapter 16 – Betancourt).
The documentation of both raw materials and production practices (clay mixing, addition of tempers, firing) has allowed the authors to identify (and hypothetically locate) different pottery workshops and the multiplicity of supply systems. Moreover, the study and characterisation of the different ceramic fabrics proposed in this volume provide some significant results (Chapter 17 – Betancourt). First, different south coast workshops seem to produce a similar pottery style. Second, specialised vessels are mostly imported and have different origins: while the ritual vases all come from the north coast, the non-local character of the majority of cooking pottery (coming largely from the Mirabello and Palaikastro areas) is demonstrated for the first time petrographically. Finally, the diachronic approach to the study of Bramiana’s trade patterns leads to a better contextualization of its social and cultural implications. One example is the interruption of imports of Kamares Ware from the Messara after MM IIB, while the Lustrous Dark-on-Light south coast production became the new elite pottery consumed at Bramiana and on sites in its vicinity. This suggests the existence of a highly integrated network of producers and consumers linked to a likely administrative centre most likely located in the region of Ierapetra during the Neopalatial period.
Various aspects of trade are additionally considered in order to put Bramiana in perspective with other sites from both the south and the north coasts (Chapter 18 – Brogan). One striking fact, for instance, is the total absence of pottery imported from Malia at Bramiana. Moreover, while the location of Bramiana outside of the main routes suggests that the site was not a priori a hub of exchange or a network node in the region, the high number of imported vases would nevertheless indicate that long-distance relationships had been developed by nearby centres (Myrtos, Ierapetra), and that the inhabitants of Bramiana were taking advantage of those relationships. The analysis of these imports especially shows that different families or groups from Bramiana had their preferential sources of supply concerning domestic, cooking or cultic items.
All the aforementioned elements are summed up in a final chapter (Chapter 19 – Betancourt and Brogan) with a view to tentatively reconstruct a comprehensive and synthetic history of the site. This discussion is articulated through the questions of elite consumption, domestic economy, storage, ritual activities, and trade. A last chapter (Chapter 20 – Chalikias) is dedicated to the reconstruction of the ancient and modern landscape — with the help of aerial imagery — and aims to better define the geography and topography of the region and the available resources that existed in ancient times. Throughout this book, the opportunity is taken to stress the rapid archaeological losses suffered by the area during the last decades due to mass cultivation practices.
The present monograph on Bramiana follows the high standards expected of INSTAP Press publications. Through a series of concise but complete chapters by various specialists it offers a detailed presentation of the collected data supported by catalogues, drawings, and photos, and numerous colour illustrations of thin sections, which definitely represents a key reference for the pottery and petrographic studies of Minoan Crete. Moreover, it throws new light on the interactions and complex dynamics that characterised several regions of Crete (south coast, Mirabello, east Crete) over a large timespan (EM I–LM IB) through the combination of various analytical methods, such as the investigation of excavation data, petrography, typo-stylistic analysis, and landscape archaeology. Finally, it proves the enormous potential of employing large-scale petrographic analysis, still too often considered as an ‘auxiliary-method’; and demonstrates how this approach has provided a great deal of new knowledge from an entirely destroyed small rural site.