Azoria
Encyclopedia
Azoria is an archaeological site on a double-peaked hill overlooking the Gulf of Mirabello in eastern Crete in the Greek Aegean. "Azoria" (o Αζοριάς or (ca. 1900) Μουρί τ' Αζωργιά) is a local toponym, not apparently an ancient place name or epigraphically-attested Greek city. Located about 1 km southeast of the modern village of Kavousi
, and 3 km from the sea, the site occupies a topographically strategic position (ca. 365 meters above sea level) between the north Isthmus of Ierapetra
and the Siteia Mountains.
, in 1900, as part of an extensive campaign of excavations conducted in eastern Crete by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens
, including work at the sites of Vronda, Kastro, Tholos, Kephalolimnos (Khordakia), Avgo, Skala, and Skouriasmenos. At Azoria, Boyd excavated a single trench on the summit of the southernmost peak, finding a puzzling series of circular structures superimposed on a large rectangular building. In her 1901 article, she reported finding "latest Mycenaean" and "early Geometric" pottery associated with the earliest levels of the trench, as well as material she attributed to Orientalizing and Hellenistic periods.
Two aims of recent excavations at Azoria have been to understand the early history of the site and to explore stratigraphically the changes in the form of the settlement in the transition from the Early Iron Age (or Greek Dark Age) (Late Minoan IIIC-Late Geometric; ca. 1200-700 B.C.) and Orientalizing (ca. 700-600 B.C.) to Archaic
periods (ca. 600-500 B.C.). Excavation has identified stratification (archaeology) showing a distinct phase of architectural renovation involving significant changes in the way that the settlement was used and how public and private space was organized. This transition appears to have occurred sometime in the early 6th century B.C. In foundation deposits of buildings it is difficult to identify material later than 600 B.C., suggesting that changes to the settlement had occurred by the end of Late Orientalizing (ca. 640-600 B.C.). In this phase transition, there is evidence for broad-sweeping alterations to the landscape of the site, the construction of monumental buildings, and the reorganization of both civic and domestic space, suggesting aspects of town planning.
The current work at the site is conducted by the Department of Classics of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
and the Program in Classical Studies at Iowa State University
in collaboration with the Institute for Aegean Prehistory Study Center for East Crete
, under the auspices of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens
and the Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities of the Greek Archaeological Service (General Directorate of Antiquities of the Greek Ministry of Culture).
The Azoria Project excavations have been funded with grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society, Loeb Classical Library Foundation, American Philosophical Society, Institute for Aegean Prehistory, and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research.
Among the Archaic remains is a multi-room structure called the Communal Dining Building, which the excavators have interpreted as a possible andreion--a dining hall used for corporate syssitia
, the communal mess of the city's male citizenry organized in hetairiai; and the Monumental Civic Building, a large hall, about 200 square meters in internal area, with a stepped bench built against the walls on the interior, and an adjoining two-room shrine.
Both the Communal Dining Building and Monumental Civic Building were supplied by adjacent service complexes, comprising multiple store rooms (with food provisions stored in decorated pithoi) and kitchens equipped with large stone-lined hearths. The Service Building of the Monumental Civic Building also contained a well-preserved olive press facility—the earliest documented lever-and-weights press, or beam press, in the post-Bronze Age Aegean. Although an Archaic beam press has been reported from excavations at the Greek city of Klazomenai, the evidence for olive pressing at Azoria includes a press bench, press beds, sockets for wooden beams, a press weight, roller-crusher and mortar block, a collection basin, a small trapetum mortarium, a hearth and cooking stand, oil-separation vessels, and quantities of press cake (crushed olive pits, collected after grinding and pressing for use as fuel for hearths).
Pots inscribed in Greek (both inscriptions and graffiti) are found within the building. An interesting find from the olive-press room is a reused pithos rim with its handles inscribed with the Eteocretan inscription ΞΡΤΑΚ.
The Communal Dining Building had at least three store rooms (with remains of grapes, olives and grains), three kitchens, and three dining rooms (extant). The floor of the building is littered with food debris, drinking and dining wares, and large decorated krater
stands, and bronze armor. A separate room had a ground altar with burned food debris, evidently used for regular chthonic
sacrifices. It has been argued that in Cretan cities, the activities of the domestic or private symposium
, typical of Archaic Athenian contexts, were transferred to supra-household communal but segregated feasting venues such as the andreion.
The shrine of the Monumental Civic Building is equipped with a curbed hearth and altar on which were found a variety of terracotta votive female figurines (stylistically dated to 8th and 7th centuries B.C.), votive stands and vessels, and food offerings. The finds from the main hall of the Monumental Civic Building—roasted leg joints of sheep and goat; chick peas and legumes (found preserved in pots on the floor); drinking and dining wares; stone kernoi (offering tables) carved into the top step of the bench, and a Minoan
-style kernos
lying face down on top of the bench—indicate that it was used for public banquets and formal cult activities; it may have had ceremonial functions similar to those associated with magistrates' buildings (prytaneion
) commonly identified in Greek city-states such as the neighboring poleis of Lato
and Dreros
.
Kavousi
Kavousi is a historic village in the municipality of Ierapetra in the prefecture of Lasithi in eastern Crete. It is situated 19 kilometers northeast of Ierapetra, 26 km east of Agios Nikolaos and 42 km west of Sitia. The village is located in the northern foothills of the Thripti...
, and 3 km from the sea, the site occupies a topographically strategic position (ca. 365 meters above sea level) between the north Isthmus of Ierapetra
Ierapetra
Ierapetra is a town in the southeast of the Greek island of Crete and a municipality of Crete region.-History:The town of Ierapetra is located on the southeast coast of Crete, along the beach of Ierapetra Bay. It lies south of Agios Nikolaos and southwest of Sitia and is an important regional...
and the Siteia Mountains.
History
The Azoria Project excavations have recovered evidence of an Archaic Greek city, established ca. 600 B.C., following a long period of continuous occupation throughout the Early Iron Age or Greek Dark Age (1200-700 B.C.) and Early Archaic (700-600 B.C.) (or Orientalizing) periods. The city was destroyed by fire early in the 5th century B.C., to be subsequently reoccupied on a limited scale ca. 200 B.C.--probably a single tower constructed on the peak of the South Acropolis.Excavation
The location was originally explored by the American archaeologist, Harriet Boyd-HawesHarriet Boyd-Hawes
Harriet Boyd Hawes was a pioneering American archaeologist, nurse and relief worker. She is best known as the first director of an archaeological excavation to discover and excavate a Minoan settlement and palace site on the Aegean island of Crete.Born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States,...
, in 1900, as part of an extensive campaign of excavations conducted in eastern Crete by the American School of Classical Studies at Athens
American School of Classical Studies at Athens
The American School of Classical Studies at Athens is one of 17 foreign archaeological institutes in Athens, Greece.-General information:...
, including work at the sites of Vronda, Kastro, Tholos, Kephalolimnos (Khordakia), Avgo, Skala, and Skouriasmenos. At Azoria, Boyd excavated a single trench on the summit of the southernmost peak, finding a puzzling series of circular structures superimposed on a large rectangular building. In her 1901 article, she reported finding "latest Mycenaean" and "early Geometric" pottery associated with the earliest levels of the trench, as well as material she attributed to Orientalizing and Hellenistic periods.
Azoria Project
Work of the American School of Classical Studies resumed at the site in 2002, beginning an initial five-year excavation campaign, called the Azoria Project. Tracing the growth of the Azoria settlement from the Bronze Age until its establishment as a regional center in the Early Iron Age, the focus of the project has been the study of the 6th- century B.C. urban center.Two aims of recent excavations at Azoria have been to understand the early history of the site and to explore stratigraphically the changes in the form of the settlement in the transition from the Early Iron Age (or Greek Dark Age) (Late Minoan IIIC-Late Geometric; ca. 1200-700 B.C.) and Orientalizing (ca. 700-600 B.C.) to Archaic
Archaic
Archaic may refer to a period of time preceding a "classical period":*List of archaeological periods**Archaic Greece**Archaic period in the Americas**Early Dynastic Period of Egypt*Archaic Homo sapiens, people who lived about 300,000 to 30,000 B.P...
periods (ca. 600-500 B.C.). Excavation has identified stratification (archaeology) showing a distinct phase of architectural renovation involving significant changes in the way that the settlement was used and how public and private space was organized. This transition appears to have occurred sometime in the early 6th century B.C. In foundation deposits of buildings it is difficult to identify material later than 600 B.C., suggesting that changes to the settlement had occurred by the end of Late Orientalizing (ca. 640-600 B.C.). In this phase transition, there is evidence for broad-sweeping alterations to the landscape of the site, the construction of monumental buildings, and the reorganization of both civic and domestic space, suggesting aspects of town planning.
The current work at the site is conducted by the Department of Classics of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
and the Program in Classical Studies at Iowa State University
Iowa State University
Iowa State University of Science and Technology, more commonly known as Iowa State University , is a public land-grant and space-grant research university located in Ames, Iowa, United States. Iowa State has produced astronauts, scientists, and Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners, along with a host of...
in collaboration with the Institute for Aegean Prehistory Study Center for East Crete
Institute for Aegean Prehistory Study Center for East Crete
The Institute for Aegean Prehistory Study Center for East Crete is a research institution based at Pacheia Ammos in East Crete, Greece.-General information, mission:...
, under the auspices of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens
American School of Classical Studies at Athens
The American School of Classical Studies at Athens is one of 17 foreign archaeological institutes in Athens, Greece.-General information:...
and the Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities of the Greek Archaeological Service (General Directorate of Antiquities of the Greek Ministry of Culture).
The Azoria Project excavations have been funded with grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities, National Science Foundation, National Geographic Society, Loeb Classical Library Foundation, American Philosophical Society, Institute for Aegean Prehistory, and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research.
Remains
Although the site has a long history of use--occupied in the Final Neolithic, Bronze Age, and Early Iron Age--the most visible remains are the houses and communal buildings of Archaic date (600-500 B.C.). The public buildings of Archaic date cluster close to the peak on the west and south sides of the South Acropolis and cover a total area of over 0.60 hectares. Each produced evidence of destruction and abandonment in the early 5th century B.C. This destruction marks the end of the city's life and a long period of occupation. The Archaic rebuilding expanded the settlement to its maximum size (ca. 15 hectares), created a zone of communal buildings on the upper west slope of the South Acropolis, and formalized what can be called civic architecture—generally supra-household communal spaces accommodating a variety of possible activities and configurations of groups.Among the Archaic remains is a multi-room structure called the Communal Dining Building, which the excavators have interpreted as a possible andreion--a dining hall used for corporate syssitia
Syssitia
The syssitia was, in Ancient Greece, a common meal for men and youths in social or religious groups, especially in Crete and Sparta, though also in Megara in the time of Theognis and Corinth in the time of Periander .The banquets spoken of by Homer relate to this tradition...
, the communal mess of the city's male citizenry organized in hetairiai; and the Monumental Civic Building, a large hall, about 200 square meters in internal area, with a stepped bench built against the walls on the interior, and an adjoining two-room shrine.
Both the Communal Dining Building and Monumental Civic Building were supplied by adjacent service complexes, comprising multiple store rooms (with food provisions stored in decorated pithoi) and kitchens equipped with large stone-lined hearths. The Service Building of the Monumental Civic Building also contained a well-preserved olive press facility—the earliest documented lever-and-weights press, or beam press, in the post-Bronze Age Aegean. Although an Archaic beam press has been reported from excavations at the Greek city of Klazomenai, the evidence for olive pressing at Azoria includes a press bench, press beds, sockets for wooden beams, a press weight, roller-crusher and mortar block, a collection basin, a small trapetum mortarium, a hearth and cooking stand, oil-separation vessels, and quantities of press cake (crushed olive pits, collected after grinding and pressing for use as fuel for hearths).
Pots inscribed in Greek (both inscriptions and graffiti) are found within the building. An interesting find from the olive-press room is a reused pithos rim with its handles inscribed with the Eteocretan inscription ΞΡΤΑΚ.
The Communal Dining Building had at least three store rooms (with remains of grapes, olives and grains), three kitchens, and three dining rooms (extant). The floor of the building is littered with food debris, drinking and dining wares, and large decorated krater
Krater
A krater was a large vase used to mix wine and water in Ancient Greece.-Form and function:...
stands, and bronze armor. A separate room had a ground altar with burned food debris, evidently used for regular chthonic
Chthonic
Chthonic designates, or pertains to, deities or spirits of the underworld, especially in relation to Greek religion. The Greek word khthon is one of several for "earth"; it typically refers to the interior of the soil, rather than the living surface of the land or the land as territory...
sacrifices. It has been argued that in Cretan cities, the activities of the domestic or private symposium
Symposium
In ancient Greece, the symposium was a drinking party. Literary works that describe or take place at a symposium include two Socratic dialogues, Plato's Symposium and Xenophon's Symposium, as well as a number of Greek poems such as the elegies of Theognis of Megara...
, typical of Archaic Athenian contexts, were transferred to supra-household communal but segregated feasting venues such as the andreion.
The shrine of the Monumental Civic Building is equipped with a curbed hearth and altar on which were found a variety of terracotta votive female figurines (stylistically dated to 8th and 7th centuries B.C.), votive stands and vessels, and food offerings. The finds from the main hall of the Monumental Civic Building—roasted leg joints of sheep and goat; chick peas and legumes (found preserved in pots on the floor); drinking and dining wares; stone kernoi (offering tables) carved into the top step of the bench, and a Minoan
Minoan
Minoan may refer to the following:*The Minoan civilization**The Eteocretan language**The script known as Linear A**Minoan pottery*Minoa, name of several bronze-age settlements in the Aegean....
-style kernos
Kernos
In the typology of ancient Greek pottery, the kernos is a pottery ring or stone tray to which are attached several small vessels for holding offerings. Its unusual design is described in literary sources, which also list the ritual ingredients it might contain...
lying face down on top of the bench—indicate that it was used for public banquets and formal cult activities; it may have had ceremonial functions similar to those associated with magistrates' buildings (prytaneion
Prytaneion
A Prytaneion was seat of the Prytaneis , and so the seat of government in ancient Greece. The term is used to describe any of a range of ancient structures where officials met but the term is also used to refer to the building where the officials and winners of the Olympic games met at Olympia...
) commonly identified in Greek city-states such as the neighboring poleis of Lato
Lato
Lato was an ancient city of Crete, the ruins of which are located approximately 3 km from the small town of Kritsa. The Dorian city-state was built in a defensible position overlooking Mirabello Bay between two peaks, both of which became acropolises to the city...
and Dreros
Dreros
Dreros , also Driros, near Neapolis in the district of Lassithi, Crete, is a post-Minoan archaeological site, 16 km. northwest of Aghios Nikolaos...
.