Kommos (Crete)
Kommos (Template:Lang-el) is a Greek prehistoric Bronze Age port and archaeological site in southern Crete. It was a busy port with connections to the Near East that continued into historic periods; the rich finds and elaborate buildings reflect the importance of foreign trade for the Cretan economy.[1] Its ancient name was probably Amyklaion (Template:Lang-el), which would reflect a link with Amyclae; Robin Lane Fox speculates that it is referred to in Odyssey 3.296: "a small rock holds back the great waves."[2] That small rock is likely to have been the natural reef of Papadoplaka and a submerged sandy shore stretching to the coast would have formed a natural harbor.[3] This breakwater was partially degraded by aerial bombing during the Second World War as part of a campaing to deny safe harbours for the Nazi's enemies. The site first attracted the attention of archaeologists in 1924, when Arthur Evans heard about large storage vessels found there and speculated about the existence of a Bronze Age "Customs House"; excavations have been carried on by J.W. and Maria Shaw since 1976.[4]
Nearby is the larger ruined Minoan settlement and palace of Phaistos, which was one of the principal cultural centres of Minoan Crete.[5]
See also
References
- ^ Shaw, Kommos.
- ^ Robin Lane Fox, Travelling Heroes: Greeks and Their Myths in the Epic Age of Homer (London: Allen Lane, 2008, ISBN 978-0713999808), p. 323.
- ^ [1] Amnisos - Harbour town of Minos? by Jorg Schafer, p. 4.
- ^ Kommos Excavation Crete.
- ^ C.Michael Hogan, Phaistos Fieldnotes, The Modern Antiquarian (2007)
Further reading
Shaw, Joseph W. "Excavations at Kommos (Crete) during 1979." Hesperia 49.3 (Jul.-Sep. 1980): 207-250. Plates 53 - 67 (pp. 45 - 59.)
Shaw, Joseph W. "Kommos in Southern Crete: an Aegean barometer for east-west interconnections." In Eastern Mediterranean: Cyprus-Dodecanese-Crete, 16th-6th cent. B.C., Rethymnon Conference of May 1996, Athens, 1998: 13-27. (Editors: Vassos Karageorghis and Nikolaos Stampolidis).
Watrous, L. Vance. "Late Bronze Age Kommos: imported pottery as evidence for foreign contact." Scripta Mediterranea VI (1985): 1-10.
External links
- Kommos Excavation Crete (archeological introduction).
- Kommos Conservancy (Conservation Development and Education).
Bibliography
Joseph W. Shaw, Kommos: A Minoan Harbor Town and Greek Sanctuary in Southern Crete (ASCSA, 2006: ISBN 0876616597).
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