Regional variation in protopalatial Crete?: a comparison of Minoan domestic and funerary architecture in Eastern and Central Crete

Abstract

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This study investigates the existence and extent of regional variation in Crete in the Protopalatial period (Middle Minoan IB-II) as reflected in the material record besides pottery. It examines funerary and domestic architecture, as well as burial practice in eastern and central Crete. Examining both domestic and funerary architecture along with mortuary ritual and burial practice leads to a more thorough understanding of the extent of regional variation in Protopalatial Crete than an examination of any of these aspects alone. This study describes the excavated and published remains of two settlements in each region, considering the floor plan and number of storeys of the houses themselves as well as their arrangement within the settlement and the influence of the landscape on the layout of the settlements in order to establish the basic characteristics of the settlements in that region. This study also makes use of the typology of Minoan houses developed by John McEnroe in his 1979 Ph.D. dissertation and an article published in 1982. This study describes one cemetery in each region to act as a representative of cemeteries in that region. The survey includes the main type of tombs, and evidence of burial practice as shown by grave goods, number of burials per tomb, treatment of the area around the door of the tomb, and other aspects of burial practice. The same aspects of this cemetery are then briefly compared to those of others in the region in order to help further establish the characteristics of the region.