Vassiliki Kephala

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vassiliki Kephala archaeological site

Vassiliki Kephala ( Greek Βασιλική Κεφάλα ), also Vasiliki Kefala or Kefala Vasilikis , is an archaeological excavation site in the northeast of the Greek island of Crete . It is located in the municipality of Ierapetra of the Lasithi regional district on the isthmus of Ierapetra, a little over 500 meters southwest of the village of Vasiliki . The remains of the settlement on the hill Kefala (Kephala) , uncovered at a height of about 200 meters, date from the late Minoan period at the end of the 2nd millennium BC. Chr.

Location and history

Vassiliki Kephala is on the southern tip of a hill about 700 meters west of the larger and more famous archaeological site of Vassiliki , after which the Vassiliki style , a Minoan ceramic style, is named. The distance from Vassiliki Kephala to the Cretan Sea in the north at Pachia Ammos is about 3.2 kilometers, to the south to the Levantic Sea at Ierapetra 9.2 kilometers. The excavation site can be reached from Vasiliki on an unpaved road. It is fenced and has two entrances, one in the south and one in the east. Only the foundation walls of the buildings of the prehistoric settlement are preserved. 40 meters north of the excavation site is a sunken Koules (Κούλες), also Ochyroma (Οχύρωμα), is established after 1886 erected in an area of 7 × 7 meters fastening tower Ottoman time.

Figure of a seated goddess with arms raised

In his book The Archeology of Crete , published in 1939, John Pendlebury mentioned a vase and Neolithic sherds from the transition to the early Minoan phase FM I found by him on the Kephala . From 1994 to 1996, Theodoros Eliopoulos carried out excavations on the hill plateau, during which at least 10 buildings were recognized were. On the built-up area of ​​about 220 × 70 meters, he also identified a temple complex, consisting of eight rooms with a cultic function, grouped in three wings. The 17 × 25 meter temple complex, known as the Epsilon Building, was built after 1190 BC. BC in the early and middle phase of the Late Minoan period SM III C and was probably around 1000 BC until the end of the Subminoean period. Used.

Chancel E3 with baitylos

In the center of room E6 in the middle of the temple there was a hearth between two pillars. A stone basin in the northwest corner may have been used for libations . In addition to the entrance in the east, the room had a passage to room E2 in the north and one to room E7 in the west. Both of the latter rooms had access to what is probably the most important room of Temple E3 in the northwest. It had surrounding benches on the walls, a low platform and a hearth in the middle and in the northern part a table-like construction with an upright, unworked stone, which is interpreted as a combination of altar and baitylos . The excavator Eliopoulos designated the rooms E4, E5 and E8 adjoining E6 to the south as Naos for the storage of cult images. Rooms E4 and E5 had a stove and benches. Numerous remains of cult objects in situ come from E4 , including the figure of a seated goddess on a throne.

The settlement around the temple building Epsilon had no facilities for fortification or defense of the place. It can therefore not be called a “refuge”, like Karphi with a comparable temple complex from the late Minoan period. Several tholoi were discovered not far from the settlement, but they do not have to be related to Vassiliki Kephala, including a grave near Agios Theodoros found by Richard Berry Seager in 1906 , which no longer exists today.

  • Excavation site

  • Room E4 of the "Naos"

  • Room E8 (front) and E5

  • Room E6 with stove

  • Eastern settlement remains

literature

  • Theodoros Eliopoulos: A Preliminary Report on the Discovery of a Temple Complex of the Dark Age at Kephala Vasilikis . In: Vassos Karageorghis , Nikolaos Stampolidis (ed.): Eastern Mediterranean: Cyprus - Dodecanese - Crete, 16th - 6th Century BC (Proceedings of the International Symposium held at Rethymnon, 13-16 May 1997) . University of Crete / AG Leventis Foundation, Athens 1998, p. 301-313 (English).
  • Theodoros Eliopoulos: Gournia, Vronda Kavousi, Kephala Vasilikis: A Triad of Interrelated Shrines of the Expiring Minoan Age on the Isthmus of Ierapetra . In: Leslie Preston Day, Margaret S. Mook, James David Muhly (Eds.): Crete Beyond the Palaces. Proceedings of the Crete 2000 Conference held at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, July 11-12, 2000 . INSTAP Academic Press, Philadelphia 2004, pp. 81-90 (English).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Manolis Papathanassiou: Koules of Vasiliki. Kastrologos, accessed on January 7, 2017 .
  2. ^ John Pendlebury : The Archeology of Crete. An Introduction (=  Methuen's Handbooks of Archeology ). Methuen, London 1939, The Neolithic Period, p. 45 (English, digitized version ).
  3. ↑ Dimitra Rousioti, Gregory Stournaras: The Urban Development in Crete at the End of the Bronze Age: Settlements with Shrines . In: A. Mazarakis Ainian (Ed.): The "Dark Ages" Revisited. Acts of an International Symposium in Memory of William DE Coulson. Volos, June 14-17, 2007 . Volos 2011, p. 489 (English, digitized version ).
  4. ↑ a b c d Sebastian Zöller: The society of the early "dark centuries" on Crete. An examination of the archaeological legacies of the population of Crete during the Late Minoan IIIC and Sub-Minoan Periods in terms of their social significance and significance. Master's thesis, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg 2005, pp. 69–70 ( PDF; 1391.54 KB ).
  5. ↑ Sebastian Zöller: The society of the early "dark centuries" on Crete. Master's thesis, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg 2005, plate 25 ( PDF of the plate part ; 8.6 MB ).
  6. ↑ Sebastian Zöller: The society of the early "dark centuries" on Crete. Master's thesis, Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg 2005, plate 26 ( PDF of the plate part ; 8.6 MB ).

Web links

Commons : Vassiliki Kephala Archaeological Dig Site  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 35 ° 4 ′ 50.6 "  N , 25 ° 48 ′ 11.7"  E