Minoan villa of Zou

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Archaeological site of the Minoan villa

The Minoan Villa of Zou ( Greek Μινωική έπαυλη Ζου Minoiki epavli Zou ) refers to an archaeological excavation site in the east of the Greek island of Crete . It is located in the municipality of Sitia in the Lasithi regional district , about 340 meters northwest of the town of Zou ( Ζου ) directly on the road to Kato Episkopi ( Κάτω Επισκοπή ) and Piskokefalo ( Πισκοκέφαλο ). The generic term "Minoan Villa" describes building which is largely based on the Neupalastzeit theMinoan culture is limited.

Location and history

The "Minoan Villa" of Zou is about 150 meters above sea level on the eastern slope of an elevation where the road to Zou and on to Stavromenos ( Σταυρωμένος ) also runs. The construction of the road destroyed parts of the foundation walls of the lower rooms of the Minoan building. Below the excavation site is the valley of Petrolakkos potamos ( Πετρόλακκος ποταμός ), a not constantly water-bearing brook that flows over the Pedelis potamos ( Πεντέλης ποταμός ) near Sitia into the bay of Sitia . The bay on the north coast of Crete on the Aegean Sea is approximately 4.8 kilometers as the crow flies from the excavation site , the south coast on the Levantine Sea at Makrygialos 17.3 kilometers.

Zeta room (Ζ)

The at least 20 rooms of the Minoan building were built on five levels and, in the opinion of Nikolaos Plato , who excavated the remains of the "villa" in 1955 and 1956 and referred to it as a Minoan country house ( Μινωική αγροικ bezeichnetα ), probably had one storey. Some of the rooms had basements. The excavation site occupies more than 700 m², with a north-south extension of 31 meters and an east-west extension of 23 meters. The public access to the site is in the northeast. Based on ceramic finds , especially in three deposits in the Zeta area (Ζ), the construction of the building is dated to the Middle Minoan phase MM III B. The period of use ended in the subsequent late Minoan phase SM I A.

In many parts of the "Minoan Villa" by Zou, blocks of stone were used. On the west side of space Kappa (Κ) contains such a cuboid stone plug holes that would otherwise not occur further into the building. Here was probably an entrance to the “villa” with a paved floor, two benches and a low window with a wooden frame. Room Kappa (Κ) was also called Anapauterion ( ἀναπαυτήϱιον , relaxation room ') by Nikolaos Plato because of the benches . A double door led further into the Zeta room (Ζ), which was last used as a kitchen and work area. In addition to kitchen utensils, the room also contained weaving weights , stone tools and two trough-like stone objects with spouts on one side, probably oil presses .

Room Theta (Θ) above the Kappa (Κ) and Iota (Ι) rooms was an inner courtyard with a retaining wall and a fireplace. From here you got through the My (Μ) room, in which there was a basin with a drain, into the Eta (Η) room. A part of a rhyton in the shape of an animal head and a low three-legged clay table, possibly for offerings, were found here, so that it is assumed that there might have been a shrine in the room . In the middle of room Eta (Η) there could have been a column or a pillar. In the neighboring Lambda (Λ) room to the west was the head of a clay man with a broad brimmed hat and a central plume. Animals were kept in the three-walled room Xi (Ξ) on the highest level, where a crib was found.

The Minoan building Zou is one of the archaeological sites with closed Fund contexts pure SM IA - ceramic . The excavator Nikolaos Plato assumed that the building in SM I A would be destroyed by an earthquake. This is supported by crooked walls and damage to the brickwork in the Delta (Δ) and Epsilon (Ε) rooms. Other remains of buildings in the area, for example 150 meters below the excavation site in the direction of the bed of the Petrolakkos potamos , indicate that the "Minoan Villa" of Zou was not an isolated building, but probably part of a settlement.

  • Excavation site

  • Northwest side of the Delta area (Δ)

  • Spaces Delta (Δ) and Epsilon (Ε)

  • Kappa room (Κ) with paving and benches

  • Spaces Eta (Η) and Lambda (Λ)

literature

  • Nikolaos Plato : Μινωικὴ ἀγϱοικία Ζοῦ Σητείας. In: Η εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογική Εταιρεία (Ed.): Πρακτικά της εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας. Volume 110, 1955, pp. 288-297 ( PDF file ).
  • Eleni Mantzourani, Giorgos Vavouranakis: Megalithic versus Status: The Architectural Design and Masonry of Exceptional Late Bronze Age I Buildings in East Crete. In: Mediterranean Archeology and Archaeometry. Volume 5, No. 2. MAA, 2005, Zou, pp. 42–45 (English, digital version [PDF; 2.0 MB]).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Sabine Westerburg-Eberl: "Minoan Villas" in the New Palace period on Crete . In: Harald Siebenmorgen (Ed.): In the Labyrinth of Minos: Crete - the first European high culture [Exhibition of the Badisches Landesmuseum, 27.1. until April 29, 2001, Karlsruhe, Schloss] . Biering & Brinkmann, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-930609-26-6 , pp. 87 ( PDF; 1.6 MB ).
  2. ↑ a b c d e f Κρήτη - Μινωικές τοποθεσίες . Τοποθεσία Ζου Σητείας . Ελλήνων Δίκτυο, 2009, accessed February 9, 2017 (Greek).
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g Zou. Minoan Crete, July 12, 2015, accessed February 9, 2017 .
  4. ↑ a b Sabine Westerburg-Eberl: "Minoan Villas" in the New Palace period on Crete . In: Harald Siebenmorgen (Ed.): In the Labyrinth of Minos: Crete - the first European high culture [Exhibition of the Badisches Landesmuseum, 27.1. until April 29, 2001, Karlsruhe, Schloss] . Biering & Brinkmann, Munich 2000, ISBN 3-930609-26-6 , pp. 91 ( PDF; 1.6 MB ).
  5. ↑ Nikolaos Plato: Μινωικὴ ἀγϱοικία Ζοῦ Σητείας. In: Η εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογική Εταιρεία (Ed.): Πρακτικά της εν Αθήναις Αρχαιολογικής Εταιρείας. Volume 110, 1955, plate 109 ( PDF, 870.1 KB ).
  6. ↑ Wolf-Dietrich Niemeier : The catastrophe of Thera and the late Minoan chronology . In: Yearbook of the German Archaeological Institute . tape 95 . De Gruyter, Berlin 1980, ISBN 3-11-008183-0 , p. 18 ( digitized version [accessed February 9, 2017]).

Web links

Commons : Minoan Villa of Zou  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files
  • Zou. In: Digital Crete: Archaeological Atlas of Crete. Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH), Institute for Mediterranean Studies(English).;
  • Zou. Minoan Crete, July 12, 2015, accessed February 9, 2017 .

Coordinates: 35 ° 9 ′ 33 ″  N , 26 ° 6 ′ 18.6 ″  E