Agia Photia

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Agia Photia ( Greek Αγία Φωτιά Agia Fotia , also transcribed Hagia Photia or Ayia Photia ) is an archaeological site from the Minoan period on Crete ( Greece ). Both a Minoan settlement and a burial ground were discovered.

location

Agia Photia is located on the north coast in the east of the island near the small town of Sitia on a small hill in the immediate vicinity of the sea.

Minoan burial ground

Coordinates of the site: 35 ° 11 ′ 41.4 ″ N, 26 ° 09 ′ 01.9 ″ E

Grave goods from Agia Photia

A total of 252 graves were found. Most of the graves were dated to FM I, although a few were dated to FM II. With 252 graves, Agia Photia appears to have been an important necropolis. However, there is a strong difference to the FM I grave types in other regions of Crete. In contrast to the Tholos tombs , circular domed tombs, which mainly occurred in the south of Crete, the tombs in Agia Photia are dug into the rock and therefore come very close to artificial caves. Comparable graves are known from Agrilia on the Cycladic island of Pano Koufonisi . In addition, the grave goods found show a very strong Cycladic influence. It can therefore even be assumed that it is a Cycladic colony.

Minoan settlement

Coordinates of the site: 35 ° 11 ′ 45.4 ″ N, 26 ° 08 ′ 52.1 ″ E

Foundation walls of the country house

Not far from the burial ground, a complex of several houses was uncovered on a headland, which, in contrast to the necropolis, dates from a much later time, from MM IA (around 2000 BC). The excavation site shows the foundation walls of a large rectangular, originally fortified building with a central courtyard. This building, which probably serves agricultural purposes and has 37 rooms, can already be interpreted as a prototype of the Minoan palace due to these features. Due to the arrangement of the rooms , it is assumed that the building complex was inhabited by several Minoan families who together formed a clan.

literature

  • Costis Davaras, Philip P. Betancourt: The Hagia Photia Cemetery I: The Tomb Groups and Architecture . INSTAP Academic Press, 2004, ISBN 1-931534-13-6 .
  • Peter M. Day, David E. Wilson, Evangelia Kiriatzi: Pots, Labels and People: Burying Ethnicity in the Cemetery of Aghia Photia, Siteias . In: Keith Branigan (Ed.): Cemetery and Society in the Aegean Bronze Age . Sheffield Academic Press, Sheffield 1998, ISBN 1-85075-822-0 , pp. 133-149 ( online [accessed August 17, 2014]).
  • J. Wilson Myers, Eleanor Emlen Myers, Gerald Cadogan (Eds.): An Aerial Atlas of Ancient Crete . University of California Press, Los Angeles 1992, ISBN 0-520-07382-7 , Ayia Photia.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ J. Lesley Fitton: The Minoans . Konrad Theiss, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8062-1862-5 , Crete before the palace period, p. 38/39 (English: Peoples of the Past - Minoans . 2002. Translated by Tanja Ohlsen).
  2. ^ J. Lesley Fitton: The Minoans . Konrad Theiss, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8062-1862-5 , Crete before the palace period, p. 48/49 (English: Peoples of the Past - Minoans . 2002. Translated by Tanja Ohlsen).

Web links

Commons : Agia Photia  - collection of images, videos and audio files