Table Of ContentARCHAEOLOGICAL SURVEY
OF THE
KNOSSOS AREA
(second edition,r eviseda nd expanded)
SINCLAIR HOOD and DAVID SMYTH
witha sectiono n the PhysicalE nvironmenotf theK nossos Area by Neil Roberts
The text largelyc ompiledb y SinclairH ood, the SurveyM ap draftedb y David
Smytha nd traced by PatriciaC larke, the Map of the Knossos region( FIG. 1)
plannedb y Neil Robertsa nd tracedb y PatriciaC larke,t he PeriodM aps (FIGS.
2-6) devised by SinclairH ood on the basis of the SurveyM ap and tracedb y
PatriciaC larke.
SUPPLEMENTARY VOLUME No. 14
Publishedb y
THE BRITISH SCHOOL AT ATHENS
THAMES AND HUDSON
1981
1981 © The BritishS chool at Athens
ISBN 0 500 690 151
Printedi n GreatB ritaina t the Alden Press
OxfordL ondon and Northampton
To theM emoryof
SpiroV asilakis
1907-1980
CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS vii
ABBREVIATIONS ix
INTRODUCTION (SinclairH ood and David Smyth) 1
THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT OF THE KNOSSOS AREA (Neil Roberts) 5
HISTORY OF THE KNOSSOS AREA (SinclairH ood) 6
Neolithica nd BronzeA ge (Minoan) Knossos (c. 6000-1000 B.C.) 6
NeolithicK nossos (c. 6000-3000 B.C.) 6
MinoanK nossos from( c. 3000-1450 B.C.) 6
MinoanK nossos from( c. 1450-1000 B.C.) 1 1
Shrinesa nd sanctuaries 14
Roads 14
15
Quarries
GreekK nossos fromt he beginningo f the earlyI ron Age untilt he Roman
conquest( c. 1000-67 B.C.) 16
EarlyI ron Age Knossos (c. 1000-500 B.C.) 16
Classicala nd HellenisticK nossos (c. 500-67 B.C.) 18
Defences 19
Temples,s hrinesa nd sanctuaries 20
Roman and laterK nossos (from6 7 B.C. onwards) 22
Roman Knossos (67 B.C.-c. 400 A.D.) 22
Roman aqueduct 23
Roman tombsa nd cemeteries 24
EarlyB yzantineK nossos (c. 400-827 A.D.) 26
ArabK nossos (c. 827-960 A.D.) 26
Greco-Romanq uarries 26
CONCLUSION (SinclairH ood and Neil Roberts) 27
NOTES 30
CATALOGUE 34
CONCORDANCE OF MINOAN TOMBS WITH PINI (1968) 62
INDEXES 63
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This second edition of the Knossos Surveyl ike the firsto wes much to the long and
retentivem emorya nd active help of the doyen of Cretane xcavators,S piro Vasilakis.W e
are deeplyg ratefutl o him,a nd to all those othersw ho have assistedw itht he task of provid-
ing and checking information:e specially to the School's foremena t Knossos, Antoni
Zidianakisa nd the late ManoliM arkoyiannakist:o the memberso f the GreekA rchaeological
Service,a nd notablyt o the two formerD irectorso f Antiquitiesf orC rete,P rofessorNs icolas
Platona nd StylianosA lexiou,w hoh avek indlya nsweredr epeatede nquiriesw ithi nformation,
referencesa nd advice: to Dr Manolis Borboudhakis,t o Dr AngelikiL ebesis, and to Mrs
Alexandra Karetsou who togetherw ith ProfessorA lexiou looked throught he text and
added valuablei nformationto the Catalogue.
The guardr esponsiblef ort he supervisiono f the Knossos area, DemetriosV avouranakis,
has givenm uchu sefuli nformationab out happeningsin the past ten years.
We are indebtedf ord etailso f excavationsw ith whicht heyh ave been associated to the
presentD irectoro f the School, Dr Hector Catling,a nd to the Knossos Fellows,M r Roger
Howell and Dr Jill CaringtonS mith;a lso to ProfessorG erald Cadogan,M r PeterC allaghan,
ProfessorM ark Cameron, ProfessorN icolas Coldstream,t he Hon. Mrs VronwyH ankey,
ProfessorG eorge Huxley, Dr A. H. S. Megaw, Miss Sara Paton, Mr MervynP opham, the
Hon. Mrs Cressida Ridley, and ProfessorP eterW arrenT. he late Dr Ian Sandersw as most
helpfula bout Roman Knossos, and had undertakent o check the sectionso n it; but his
untimelyd eath preventedt his.W e have been able to consulta nd refert o his unpublished
thesiso n Roman Crete,h owever,a nd are gratefutl o his widow,M rsJ anetS anders,f orh er
assistance.D r Lilian Jefferyan d Dr Ingo Pini have been good enought o answerq uestions
about Greek inscriptionasn d Minoans eal-stonesP, rofessorNs icolas Coldstreama nd Ronald
F. Willettso nes about problemso f EarlyI ron Age and ClassicalK nossos.M r PeterC allaghan
has added importantin formationab out the Classical and Hellenisticp eriodsa t Knossos. Dr
Reynold Higginsh as answerede nquiriesa bout the gold Victorye arringf roma tomb near
the Tomb of Caiaphas at Teke. Dr MartinP riceh as kindlya llowed us to see and refert o an
unpublishedp aper on the date of the earliestc oinage in Crete.M rs Diana Wardlep rovided
a xerox of an account of St Myronb earingu pon the situationo f the RiverT riton.M iss
Lesley Fittonc heckedt he Catalogue and the referenceisn it at an earlys tagei n the prep-
arationo f the text;b ut errorsm ayh ave crepti nto the referencessi ncet hen.
Mr Neil Roberts,w ho spent some time at Knossos helpingw ith the Survey,h as contri-
buted the section on the Physical Environmento f the Knossos Area. He has also read
throught he draft of the History of the Knossos Area and made a numbero f valuable
suggestionsin connectionw ith it. Mr Andrew Grainges pent a day withM r Neil Roberts
examiningt he geology of the region. In the autumn of 1976 Dr Susan Walkera nd Dr
RichardJ onesi nvestigatetdh e remainso f Roman aqueducts,a nd Dr Jonesb egana magneto-
meters urveyo f the area of the Classical or Hellenisticf ort( 37 and 38). Dr Susan Walker
and ProfessoJr ohnW ilkesk indlyg lanceda t the Roman sectiono f the text.
We are most gratefutl o the WhittleseyF oundationa nd to ProfessorJ . WilsonM yersf or
a fines erieso f balloon photos of the Palace and the area roundi t takeni n June,1 976.
vii
ABBREVIATIONS
AA ArchäologischerA nzeiger in Jahrbuch des deutschen ArchäologischenI nstituts
AAA Athens Annals of Archaeology
ADelt .. Chron. 'hpx&ioXoryuibAve Xrfov.. Xpovuiá
AM Mitteilungend es deutschena rchäologischenI nstituts,A thenischeA bteilung
AntJ An tiquariesJ ournal
AR .. ArchaeologicalR eportsf or ..
AS Anatolian Studies
BCH Bulletin de CorrespondanceH ellénique
Brock,F ortetsa J. K. Brock,F ortetsa: Early Greek Tombs near Knossos (Cambridge,1 957)
BSA Annual of the BritishS chool at A thens
CMS Corpus der minoischenu nd myk enischenS iegel, ed. by F. Matz and H. Biesantz
(Berlin, 1964- )
CODE Abbreviationsf or test pits and excavations made since the publication of S trat
Mus and DP StratM us
DP StratM us J. D. S. Pendlebury and others, Dating of the Pottery in the Stratigraphical
Museumi -iii (1933-35)
Ergon .. "Epyov tt'ç ApxoaoXojuifiç' Eratpeíaç Kara tó ..
HM Cat of Chance Finds Catalogue of Chance Finds kept by HerakleionM useum (unpublished)
IC M. Guarducci,I nscriptionesC reticae i- iv (Rome, 1935-50)
ILN IllustratedL ondon News
JHS Journalo f Hellenic Studies
JRIBA Journalo f the Royal Instituteo f BritishA rchitects
KCh KpriTiKà Xpovuiá
KS M. S. F. Hood, ArchaeologicalS urveyo f the Knossos Area (firste dition) (London,
1958)
Knossos Logbook Logbook (Villa Logbook in KS1) for miscellaneous archaeological findsm ade in
the Knossos area since the Second WorldW ar (unpublished)
KSD J. N. Coldstream,K nossos: the Sanctuaryo f Demeter (London, 1973)
MA Monumentia ntichi
OKT L. R. Palmer and J. Boardman, On the Knossos Tablets: i The Find-Placeso f the
Knossos Tablets, by L. R. Palmer; ii The Date of the Knossos Tablets, by J.
Boardman; index
PAE UpocKTLKàTfi<'A: pxaioXoyucfi'çE rmpeíaç
Pashley R. Pashley, Travelsi n Crete (London, 1837)
Pendlebury,A C J. D. S. Pendlebury,T he Archaeologyo f Crete (London, 1939)
Pini I. Pini,B eiträgez ur minoischenG räberkunde( Wiesbaden,1 958)
PK Her M ProvisionalC atalogue of HerakleionM useum (unpublished)
PM A. J. Evans, The Palace of Minos at Knossos i- iv with index (London, 1921-36)
PPS Proceedingso f the PrehistoricS ociety
ix
Renfrew,E mergence C. Renfrew,T he Emergence of Civilisation:t he Cyclades and the Aegean in the
ThirdM illenniumB . C. (London, 1972)
RWH Diary Diary (unpublished) of archaeological findsi n the Knossos area from 1938-40,
kept by R. W. Hutchinson
RWH Notebook (1935) Notebook (unpublished) kept by R. W. Hutchinson,w ith a list at the back of test
pits in the Knossos area between 1935-49 (Library of the BritishS chool at
Athens,K nossos no. 292)
Sanders,R oman Crete Ian F. Sanders, Roman Crete to the Arab Conquest (unpublishedO xford D. Phil.
Thesis, submitted1 977)
SM i A. J. Evans, ScriptaM inoa i (Oxford, 1909)
Spratt T. A. B. Spratt,T ravelsa nd Researchesi n Crete (London, 1865)
StratM us J. D. S. Pendlebury,A Guide to the StratigraphicalM useum in the Palace at
Knossos (1931)
Test Pit Plan Copy of Fyfe's plan in BSA vi (1899-1900) pl. xii, showingp osition of various
test pits made between 1903 and 1947 (unpublished)
TPH Book Telegraph Pole Hole Book (unpublished) with reports on various trials and
excavationsb etween 1968 and 1976
WarrenM, ino an Stone PeterW arrenM, inoan Stone Vases (Cambridge,1 969)
Vases
x
INTRODUCTION
SinclairH ood and David Smyth
The archaeologicaalr ea of Knossosi s just under5 kilometrelos ngf romn ortht o south
anda maximumof 3 kilometriens widthf romw estt o east.I t stretchefsr omt her oad-bridge
overt hes treamb ed northo fA yiosI oannisi n then ortht o Spiliai n thes outha, ndf romt he
summiotf A ilias( AyiosE lias)o n thee astt o Fortetsian thew est.I n thisa rea,w hichi ncludes
the site of Knossosi tselfa nd mosto f the outlyingce meterieosf all periodst, heB ritish
School at Athense njoysa priorityof interesats regardasr chaeologicwal orka ccordingto
thea greemenmt adew itht heG reekg overnmenbty Sir ArthuErv answ henh e handedo ver
hisp ropertayn dc oncessionast Knossost o theS chooli n 1924.
Perhapsn o otherr egiono f ancients ettlemenint Greeceh asb eens o thoroughleyx plored
as thisa reao fs ome1 0 squarek ilometreTsh. isi sl argelydu et o thes pateo f chanced iscoveries,
especiallyin thel ast 25 yearsa s a resulto ft hed evelopmenotf m echaniseadg riculturwei th
deep-ploughianngd b ulldozinogf s lopesa, ndo ft hei ntensivbeu ildingw hichh ast ransformed
then ortherpna rto f the areab etweenA mbelokip(iT eke) and AyiosI oannisi ntoa suburb
of the cityo f HerakleionT. he timea nd resourceos f theG reeka rchaeologicaalu thorities
and of theB ritishSc hoola t Athenhs aveb eent axedt o theu ttermostto keepp ace witht he
rescuew orki nvolvedM. ucht hath as comet o lightr emainvs irtualluyn exploredin, cluding
a numbero f BronzeA ge tombsa nd cemeterieLs.i ttles ystematiecf forht as beenm adet o
look forr emainosf t heC lassicaal ndH ellenistipce riodsw, henf orm ucho ft het imeK nossos
was thel eadingc ityo f Crete;a nd thereh as beenn o seriousa ttemptto explorea nyo ft he
publicb uildingosf t heR omanc olony.
The destructioonf the siteo f Knossosi tselfb eganl onga go. The BronzeA gep alacea nd
thea rea of theG reeka nd Romanc itiesw ereh eavilyq uarriedf ors toneb y theT urksa ndb y
the Venetiansb eforet hem.1T he buildingasn d moree speciallyth eg reatd efencew allso f
VenetianC ândia( them odernH erakleionw) ere' formedin largep arto f stonest akenf rom
ther uinso' f Knossosa ccordingto HalbherrH. e visitedt he sitei n 1885 andd escribehd ow
theR omanC ivilB asilica1 12 was 'ofl atey earsu' seda s a quarryf ort hec onstructioonf the
newl argeT urkishb arrackisn Herakleion.2
Knossosh as attractedth e noticeo f travellerssi ncet he MiddleA ges.T he maint ourist
attractionth ena nd as late as the 18thc enturyw as thes upposedT ombo f Caiaphas5 7, a
largeb uiltt ombo ft heR omanp eriodw esto ft heV enizeleionh ospitailn them ainn orthern
cemeteryar ea of the Greeka nd Romanc ities.T his was shownt o the Florentinper iest,
Buondelmontwi,h enh e visitedt hes itee arlyi n the 15thc enturyb,u th e wasu nawaret hat
the ruinsh e saw weret hoseo f ancientK nossosw hichh e locateda t GortynaL. atera nd
betteri nformetdr avellerhs,o weverk, newt hata ncientK nossosw as here;3b ut theB ronze
Age palace was not identifieudn tilM inosK alokairinoms ade soundingisn it duringt he
wintero f 1878-9, only a fewy earsa fterS chliemannp'si oneere xcavationisn 1876 at
Tirynasn dM ycenae.4
The firsts eriousa rchaeologicaslu rveyo f the Knossosa rea was in a shorta rticleb y
5
Halbherrp ublishedin 1893. Halbherrst udiedt he visibleG reeka nd Romani nscriptions,
and in November1,8 85, madea soundingin ther egiono f theR omanC ivilB asilica1 12 in
an attemptto findm oreo f an earlyG reekw all-inscriptioofnw hichh e had seena fragment
builti ntoa housei n Makritikhovsi llageH. e also cleareda Romanr ock-cutto mba t Spilia
(361). In 1893, they earb eforeE vansm adeh is firsjto urneyi n Cretew henh e acquireda n
interesitn thes iteo ft heB ronzeA gep alacea t KnossosM, arianvi isitedt heK nossosa reaa nd
twoy earsl aterp ublisheda sketchm apo f it withs omeh ighlyf ancifuslu ggestions.6
Evansc ompletedh is acquisitiono f theB ronzeA ge palaces itee arlyi n 1900 ands tarted
excavationst hereo n March2 3rd. Ten days earliert he Directoro f the BritishS chool,
1
D. G. Hogarth,h ad begun a three-month-locnagm paigno f soundingsin the area aroundt he
palace witht he aim of complementintgh e worko f Evansb y the locationo f the BronzeA ge
cemeteries.7B ut in the evento nly two Bronze Age tombs were discovered,a Late Minoan
chambert omb at 39 and a small tholos tomb at 27. A numbero f Hogarth'ss oundings
proved to be inside the limitso f the Bronze Age settlementa, nd he cleared a couple of
importanth ouses at 297 on its southerne dge. A map preparedb y the architectD . T. Fyfe,
who drew the firstp lans of the Bronze Age palace forE vans, indicatest he positiono f 235
of Hogarth'ss oundingsa nd test pits,b ut the total numberm ay have been well over 300.
Thus Hogarths ays he made 25 pits in the area of Knossos (Metochi)v illage,w hereo nly 13
are markedo n Fyfe'sm ap, and he mentionss ome 60 round the Acropolish ill whereF yfe
only shows1 7.
In the yearsw hichf ollowedE vans made a numbero f furtherte stsa s well as excavating
variousi mportantb uildingsa nd tombs in the Knossos area. Over 35 testsa re listedb y the
year witha serialn umberf ollowingi t in Pendlebury'sS tratM us and DP StratM us, and the
roughp ositionso f 32 of these are indicatedo n a sketchm ap (DP StratM us iii fig.2 0). A
list of testsm ade between 1935 and 1949 (also recordedb y the year witha serialn umber
followingi t) was kept by R. W. Hutchinson( RWH Notebook (1935) list at end). This list
has 33 entries( 7 for 1935, 9 for 1936, 6 for1 937, 3 for1 938, 3 for1 939, 2 for1 940, and
one each fort he years 1945, 1947, and 1949); but severalo f these in fact developedi nto
excavations.T he approximatep ositionso f many of these later tests were recordedo n a
copy of Fyfe'sm ap of 1900 kept at the Villa Ariadne( Test Pit Plan). This also had marked
on it the positionso f a numbero f the earliert estsi ncorporatedb y Pendleburyin StratM us
and DP StratM us. In some cases the positionso f these on the Test Pit Plan do not corres-
pond witht hosei ndicatedo n the sketchm ap in DP StratM us iii fig.2 0.
Since 1950 the various soundingsa nd excavationsu ndertakenb y the BritishS chool at
Athensi n the Knossos area have been designatedb y a groupo f letters( usuallya n abbrevi-
ation of the descriptiono r name of the site) sometimesf ollowedb y the year.
Fyfe's map of 1900 covered the whole extent of the Bronze Age and laterG reek and
Roman cities fromt he site of the Temple Tomb 323 on the south to the bank withE arly
Iron Age tombs (39) on the north,a nd fromt he Acropolish ill on the west to the slopes
of Ailias beyond the Kairatos on the east. This excellentm ap servedi ts purposew ell for
over 50 years. The plan publishedb y Evans in PM ii opp. 547 was essentiallya re- issue
of it withs ome additions.
There have been great changesi n the Knossos area, however,s ince 1900. Old buildings
have disappeareda nd many new ones have been constructedT. he course of the mainr oad
has been altereda t the crossingo f the Vlikhia south of Knossos village,a nd the present
road-bridgies some 75 metrest o the west of wherei t was in Fyfe's time.T he positionso f
the old road and of the new are shown togethero n the plan in PM ii 140 fig. 71. More
radical than this is the diversiono f the stream,w hich apparentlyf ormedt he northern
boundaryo f the Roman city,t o run in an artificiacl uttings ome 100 metresf urthesro uth
at the time the hospital (Venizeleion) was built in the early 1950s. MoreoverF yfe's map
only covered a fractiono f the area whichE vans exploredr ound Knossos, and only a part
of the archaeologicalz one of Knossos as this was definedi n the agreementm ade witht he
Greekg overnmenitn 1924.
An up-to-datem ap coveringt his largera rea was clearlyd esirable,a nd the scheme for
makingo ne was initiatedb yJ ohnC ook whenD irectoro f the School. The map was surveyed
on a scale of 1:2500 by David Smollettw ith the assistanceo f Basil Wilson duringt he
autumno f 1952. The elegantf inalt racingo f it was the work of Piet de Jong. It was pub-
lishedi n 1958 to a scale of 1:5000 witha text and catalogueb y SinclairH ood. No infor-
mation after 1957 was incorporatedin this firste ditiono f the Knossos Survey.I n the 20
2
1. The Palace from the Ailias cemetery (257) in 1953, looking west with the Acropolis hill and Mt. Ida
behind
2. The southernp art of the Knossos area withM t. Juktasi n the distance,l ooking south-westf romt he first
tomb excavated in the Ailias cemetery( 257) in 1951. GrigoriK ritzalakisa nd Spiro Vasilakis behind him
