the modern visitor to Phaistos might be forgiven for thinking that its present situation, far from the sea on an extensive agricultural plain, was a primary factor in its prehistoric settlement. however, this view, which surfaces in many archaeological accounts, is wrong. historical accounts and geomorphological studies instead reveal that the Phaistos hill was actually bordered to the north by deep marine embayment during the neolithic, while to the south lay a marshy area, which between 2100/2050 bc and 1200/1100 bc hosted a freshwater lake. Far from profiting from a benign position in an agricultural plain, activity at Phaistos during prehistory was thus contingent on the need to negotiate a relationship with its particular setting. this paper interrogates the archaeological and faunal evidence from Phaistos in order to trace how this relationship was negotiated through time, from the earliest neolithic use of the hill, in the late sixth millennium bc, down to the formation of the freshwater lake at the end of the early minoan period. in the process, the paper reveals that the distinct nature of the site’s early history and usage only become fully intelligible when understood in terms of the challenges to occupation posed by the natural environment of the west mesara. moreover, it suggests that a dramatic change in the immediate surroundings of the site, at the end of the third millennium bc, is meaningfully linked to a major transformation in the nature of the site. the paper concludes by arguing that the introduction of a series of elite technologies at this time (i.e. centralised redistribution, a ration-bowl system for mobilising and managing large-scale labour, and the reclamation of land for agriculture through the application of specialised hydraulic engineering techniques), not only mark a coherent, new approach to the management of the environment of the site, but also testify to the first emergence of a state-like form of organisation in the region.
The challenges of living in the marshes between the 5th and the 3rd millennium BC: a view From Phaistos
Todaro Simona
2018-01-01
Abstract
the modern visitor to Phaistos might be forgiven for thinking that its present situation, far from the sea on an extensive agricultural plain, was a primary factor in its prehistoric settlement. however, this view, which surfaces in many archaeological accounts, is wrong. historical accounts and geomorphological studies instead reveal that the Phaistos hill was actually bordered to the north by deep marine embayment during the neolithic, while to the south lay a marshy area, which between 2100/2050 bc and 1200/1100 bc hosted a freshwater lake. Far from profiting from a benign position in an agricultural plain, activity at Phaistos during prehistory was thus contingent on the need to negotiate a relationship with its particular setting. this paper interrogates the archaeological and faunal evidence from Phaistos in order to trace how this relationship was negotiated through time, from the earliest neolithic use of the hill, in the late sixth millennium bc, down to the formation of the freshwater lake at the end of the early minoan period. in the process, the paper reveals that the distinct nature of the site’s early history and usage only become fully intelligible when understood in terms of the challenges to occupation posed by the natural environment of the west mesara. moreover, it suggests that a dramatic change in the immediate surroundings of the site, at the end of the third millennium bc, is meaningfully linked to a major transformation in the nature of the site. the paper concludes by arguing that the introduction of a series of elite technologies at this time (i.e. centralised redistribution, a ration-bowl system for mobilising and managing large-scale labour, and the reclamation of land for agriculture through the application of specialised hydraulic engineering techniques), not only mark a coherent, new approach to the management of the environment of the site, but also testify to the first emergence of a state-like form of organisation in the region.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
