Kastri culture

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Kastri culture
Age : Bronze Age - Early Cycladic
Absolutely : 2400 BC BC - 2100 BC Chr.

Relative : FK II - FK III ( Arthur Evans )

expansion
Cyclades

The Kastri culture (also called Lefkandi I culture by some researchers ) is a pre-Greek , Bronze Age society in the area of ​​the Cyclades , Evia , Attica and Boeotia . It is based on the period between the 24th and 21st centuries BC. BC and is therefore in the transition between phases II and III of the early Helladic period within the Cycladic culture . It is named after the fortified settlement Kastrί in the northeast of the island of Syros .

Due to the spatial proximity to finds from the previous Keros-Syros culture , both are sometimes summarized under the name "Keros culture" or the Kastri culture is generally assigned to the Keros Syros culture. French and German representations often do not distinguish, while the more recent literature of the English-speaking world usually makes a distinction.

Settlements

In the Kastri culture, the settlements are compacted and for the first time they have clearly recognizable fortifications. This is seen as an indication of increasing conflicts between population groups.

Kastrί on Syros

The most important of the settlements from the middle epoch of the early Cycladic period is the eponymous fortress Kastrί on Syros. It is about 40 m below the summit of a steep and rugged mountain on the route between the Attic mainland and the only good port on the island, today the capital of Ermoupoli . It was discovered and excavated in 1898 by Christos Tsountas , the "father of Cycladic research". In the 1960s, further excavations were carried out using modern methods by the German archaeologist Eva-Maria Fischer-Bossert from the German Archaeological Institute in Athens.

The settlement is on the only accessible side of the summit and its walls block it from the sea. The wall has been preserved to a length of a little over 70 m, an extension in the east by almost ten more meters to the next rock face is considered safe. The height of the fortification walls between 1 and 1.30 m has been preserved, about the original height can only be speculated, 2–2.50 m are considered likely. The thickness of the wall varies between 1.30 and 1.80 m; five bastions protrude from it, the side walls of which are somewhat thinner, but the fronts are up to 2.50 m thick. These fronts of the bastions facing the attacker are also the only structures built with earth mortar for reinforcement, all other walls of the settlement are made of dry, stacked limestone.

The main wall was preceded by a weak wall at a distance of only 80 cm to 2.30 m, so that an intruder had to overcome a dangerous kennel .

Three entrances led through the walls. They were provided with double gates, the outer one led into a small lockable room, only the door opened the way into the settlement.

The settlement behind the wall probably covered the entire summit in its heyday. However, the buildings in the highest part are not even preserved in the foundation. A little more than 40 rooms in dense development behind the wall can still be reconstructed. One or two rooms each formed a house. Three isolated buildings are used as storage facilities . A complex with three rooms, which are located around a courtyard screened off by a wall, were occasionally viewed as a sanctuary. There is no evidence for this.

One of the buildings was identified as a metal foundry through finds of slag, fragments of crucibles and metal workpieces. The remains of herds could still be found in several .

The defensive wall was strengthened once over the course of time, but the settlement buildings show no traces of alterations. From this it can be concluded that the Kastrί settlement only existed for a short time. One or two generations are assumed to last. The small number of graves of the epoch fits this. There is evidence of a large fire in the settlement. Whether it was the reason to give it up, or whether life on the mountain, away from water sources and the harsh living conditions even in the milder and more fertile climate of the time, caused the residents to move away, can no longer be answered.

Pánormos on Naxos

Several other small settlements are assigned to the Kastri culture. No systematic excavations have been carried out on Syros itself, in the south of Naxos or near Pyrgos on Paros .

Little was released Placed castle Korfari ton Amygdalion the Cape Pánormos in the southeast of the island of Naxos. It is only 18 by 24 meters in size and consists of twenty small rooms that are crowded together within a 1 m thick wall with bastion-like bulges. There is only one access via an 80 cm wide staircase.

On Mount Kynthos on Delos

On Mount Kynthos on the island of Delos , the uneven terrain of the summit plateau determines the type of settlement; the buildings here consist of only one room and some have round walls. However, these are sometimes so thick that they have to be viewed as a fastening.

Archaeological finds

In the Kastri culture, ceramic vessels appear for the first time , which are no longer just dark or light fired, but whose tone has a strong red hue. Typical of the era are jugs with handles, cups with two graceful handles and depas amphikypellon , slender cylindrical vessels with long, narrow handles. In addition, flat bowls and pans continue to appear, new features are inwardly curved edges and three-dimensional ornaments in geometric shapes.

The greatest innovation is the potter's wheel . Even if it is seldom used, it enables a more precise and much easier handling of ceramic forms.

The few marble finds do not differ from those of the previous Keros-Syros culture.

However, metal finds are much more common than before. A bronze saw blade made of Kastrί is the oldest in the region. In addition, awls and chisels were found. The bronze alloy is identical to that found in Troy II; the ores probably came mainly from Asia Minor. Also jewelry pieces were made of metal: From Kastrί comes a diadem of silver , consisting of plates, in the abstract, circular pattern, four-footed animals and a human figure probably driven were.

Cultural connections

A settlement with such elaborate defenses as Kastri must have had predecessors, but they have not yet been found. The walls were directed against enemies who certainly did not come from the island of Syros itself, but were expected across the sea. The settlement was not designed for longer sieges, in particular there was a lack of water supplies, so that the threat could only have consisted of short, violent attacks. In the literature there is speculation about pirates as a danger to the Cycladic settlements.

Stylistically, many finds of the Kastri culture correspond to those made on Euboea ( Lefkandi ), Aegina (Kolonna), in eastern Attica ( Rafina ) and Boeotia ( Eutresis , Orchomenos , Thebes ), so that here for the first time a noteworthy exchange between the Aegean islands and mainland Greece can be accepted. Some authors therefore summarize the Kastri culture with that of the mainland under the name "Lefkandi I culture".

Trade relations to Crete and Asia Minor are known from the Kastri era . The ratio of the Cycladic goods in the target areas to the goods of the mainland in the Cyclades gives a clear indication that it was the islanders who had the trade firmly in their hands. They exported considerably more goods and, for their part, bought only a few high-quality products.

Break in settlement continuity

At the end of the Kastri culture (shortly after 2200 BC), settlement activity ceases. There has been no known settlement on the Cyclades for 100–150 years. There is also a large gap in continuity in places like Agia Irini on Kea , which were settled from the beginning of the early Cycladic period and also later. The reasons are unknown. Only in the 20th century BC There are again evidence of settlements in the Cyclades, then the ascent of Phylakopi on Milos begins .

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