Kamares style
The Kamares style is a ceramic style from the early palace period of Crete (around 1900 BC to 1650 BC).
The hallmarks of the Kamares style are linear motifs that are painted on a matt black background with white and red paint and which is therefore also known as the polychrome style. The style is typical of the so-called eggshell ware , i.e. thin-walled clay vessels of the Cretan-Minoan period. The Kamares style was extremely popular throughout the eastern Mediterranean as far as Egypt, as was Chinese porcelain in the 18th century. The Kamares style was named as such after its place of discovery, because archaeologists discovered finds of this ceramic in the Kamares cave to the north above the village of Kamares .
Periodization
Kamares pottery existed during the entire Middle Minoan Period (MM, from approx. 2100 BC to approx. 1600 BC) and was mainly found during archaeological excavations in Central Crete.
At MM IA (2100–1900 BC) the new type of ceramic appeared for the first time at the same time as the slowly rotating potter's wheel . The base was covered with glossy black varnish to imitate metal. The painting was done with bright colors, initially using white and Indian red . In later times, cinnabarite , cherry red and kermes were also used . Orange-red was only used in earlier times. The color scheme was probably influenced by brightly veined black breccia , a stone that was often used to make vessels. Common patterns were garlands and spirals, but they appear very stiff.
During MM IB (1900–1800 BC) the same motifs were popular but appear more realistic. The art of pottery reached its peak in this and the following period and eggshell ware appeared for the first time. Some vessels are wrinkled and shaped as if they were made of beaten metal and are decorated with imaginative applications ( barbotine ) such as spikes and bumps combined with fine polychrome paint.
The transition to MM II A (1st half of the 18th century BC) is fluid and cannot be precisely timed. At this time the representations became more vivid and the coloring refined. A hallmark of this epoch are stamped reliefs to imitate metal vessels.
The introduction of the fast turning potter's wheel for MM II B (2nd half of the 18th century BC) marked the end of the relief decoration. The new technology can be recognized by the elliptical stripes on the bottom of the vessel, which were created when the vessel was cut off from the rotating disk. In the case of vases made on the slowly turning potter's wheel, these strips are less curved. The handles have now also been fastened differently, while the handles were previously inserted into the wall of the vessel, they were now placed on the surface. The patterns were heavily stylized, but the first lifelike depictions of flowers appeared. An octopus appears for the first time on a shard from the Kamares cave . The hallmarks of the epoch are ribbons and rows of red discs composed of leaves and flowers. These motifs seem to have been influenced by the wall paintings, with the red discs originally being the ends of the beams. Vessels with ribbons from crescent moons and spiral rings still come from the palaces of central Crete.
After the destruction of the old palaces, new vase shapes appeared at MM III A (1700–1650 BC), which were probably influenced by metal vessels of the Hyksos in Egypt , such as ostrich eggs with spouts and feet made of faience or metal. Many libation vessels were in the shape of a bull's head and there was a general trend towards slimmer and taller vases. The decorations were painted or mottled with transparent white on a purple-tinted background to imitate white dots painted on the stone. Leaf snails remained a popular motif.
During MM III B (1650–1600 BC) there was a break in the Kamares style, which ultimately meant its end. Apparently influenced by wall painting, reeds and grasses appear and in the background rocks and vegetation appear on the ceramics. However, in contrast to the frescoes, larger animals and people were omitted, only sea animals and birds appeared on the vessels. It is not known whether this was for religious, economic or aesthetic reasons.
Archaeological exploration
Shards of Kamaresware (of the type MM II B) were first discovered in 1885 by the archaeologist Edouard Naville in ancient graves near the Egyptian town of Izbat Al Khatanah . He also found scarabs from the 12th and 13th dynasties in the graves . A scarab bears the throne name of Pharaoh Sobekhotep IV. In 1887/188, Naville acquired further shards in the Kamares style from locals, which were excavated in Tell el-Yahudiya .
Flinders Petrie came across fragments of the same type in a heap of rubble in al-Lahun during the excavation season 1889/90 . Based on the circumstances of the find, Petrie assumed that the pottery must have come from the time of Sesostris II . He also found pottery that imitated Kamaresware and appeared to be of Egyptian origin. His assumption that the pottery originally came from the Aegean region was later confirmed. The finds of Kamares pottery in Egypt are important evidence of the dating of the Middle Minoan period.
In 1890, Josef Hatzidakis received the Ephor of Crete from a farmer from Kamares pottery shards of the pottery that he had picked up in the Kamares cave. Antonio Taramelli was the first scientist to visit the cave in 1894 and to conduct his first research. In 1913 Richard MacGillivray Dawkins and Max LW Laistner carried out systematic excavations and found many other Kamares vessels. The style was finally named after this location. The most beautiful specimens of the Kamares style were found in the palaces of Knossos and especially in Phaistos .
Production site
Traditionally, the Kamaresware was interpreted as a palace production. This interpretation is based on the distribution of Kamaresware; it can be found mainly in large quantities in the palaces such as Knossos and Phaistos. The economic interpretation of the Minoan palaces as production facilities is based on this interpretation.
However, chemical and petrographic analyzes suggest that the Kamaresware comes from south-central Crete. Combined with a spatial style analysis, it was argued that the place of origin of the ceramics was the Mesara plain. The distribution of the goods then reflects the consumption and not the production of the Kamaresware. In the Mesara plain, the ceramics were made in specialized workshops and then delivered to the palaces via exchange systems.
literature
- Peter Day & David Wilson: Consuming Power: Kamaras Ware in Protopalatial Knossos. In: Antiquity . Vol. 72, 1998, pp. 350-358.
- Gisela Walberg: Kamares. A study of the character of palatial middle Minoan potter (= Studies in mediterranean archeology and literature. Pocket Book 49). 2nd, revised edition. Paul Åström, Göteborg 1987, ISBN 91-86098-56-X .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ EJ Forsdyke : Prehistoric Aegean Pottery (= Catalog of the Greek and Etruscan Vases in the British Museum. Volume 1, Part 1). The Trustees of the British Museum, London 1925, pp. XXXIV – XXXVI, online .
- ↑ Naville referred to this pharaoh in 1885 as Sobekhotep III. , in the meantime another pharaoh of this name is known, which is why he is now correctly referred to as Sobekhotep IV.
- ^ Edouard Naville : The mound of the Jew and the city of Onias. Belbeis, Samanood, Abusir, Tukh el Karmus. 1887 (= Memoirs of the Egypt Exploration Fund. Vol. 7, ISSN 0307-5109 ). Paul, Trench, Trübner, London 1890, pp. 39-40, 56-57, panels XI and XIX, online .
- ↑ William M. Flinders Petrie : Illahun, Kahun and Gurob. 1889-1890. Nutt, London 1891, pp. 8-9, panel I, online .
- ^ Antonio Taramelli : Cretan Expedition. A visit to the grotto of Camares on Mount Ida. In: American Journal of Archeology. Series 2, Vol. 5, 1901, ISSN 0002-9114 , pp. 437-451, online .
- ^ RM Dawkins, MLW Laistner: The Excavation of the Kamares Cave in Crete. In: The Annual of the British School at Athens. Vol. 19, 1912/1913, ISSN 0068-2454 , pp. 1-34.
- ↑ Day & David: Consuming Power: Kamaras Ware in Protopalatial Knossos. 1998, p. 352.
- ↑ Day & David: Consuming Power: Kamaras Ware in Protopalatial Knossos. 1998, pp. 355-356.