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AKROTIRI OF THERA
It
is one of the most important prehistoric settlements of the Aegean.
The first habitation at the site dates from the Late Neolithic times
(at least the 4th millenium B.C.). During the Early Bronze Age (3rd
millenium B.C.), a sizeable settlement was founded and in the Middle
and early Late Bronze Age (ca. 20th-17th centuries B.C.) it was
extended and gradually developed into one of the main urban centres
and ports of the Aegean. The large extent of the settlement (ca. 20
hectares), the elaborate drainage system, the sophisticated multi-storeyed
buildings with the magnificent wall-paintings, furniture and
vessels, show its great development and prosperity. The various
imported objects found in the buildings indicate the wide network of
its external relations. Akrotiri was in contact with Crete but also
communicated with the Greek Mainland, the Dodecanese, Cyprus, Syria
and Egypt. The town's life came to an abrupt end in the last quarter
of the 17th century B.C. when the inhabitants were obliged to
abandon it as a result of severe earthquakes. The erruption
followed. The volcanic materials covered the entire island and the
town itself. These materials, however, have protected up to date the
buildings and their contents, just like in Pompei.
Evidence
of habitation at Akrotiri first came to light in the second half of
the 19th century. However, systematic excavations were begun much
later, in 1967, by Professor Spyridon Marinatos under the auspices
of the Archaeological Society at Athens. He decided to excavate at
Akrotiri in the hope of verifying an old theory of his, published in
the 1930's, that the eruption of the Thera volcano was responsible
for the collapse of the Minoan civilization. Since his death in
1974, the excavations have been continued under the direction of
Professor Christos Doumas. No interventions are made on
the
uncovered monuments unless it is necessary for their
consolidation or for the preservation of any kind of evidence,
mostly information concerning the destruction of the settlement.
The
most important buildings of the site are:
Xeste 3: Large edifice, at least two-storeys high, with
fourteen rooms on each floor. Some of rooms were connected by
multiple doors and decorated with magnificent wall-paintings. In one
of them there was a "Lustral basin", which is considered a sacred
area. The most interesting of the frescoes are the ones of the Altar
and of the
Saffron Gatherers. The former depicts three women in a field
with bloomed crocuses and an altar, and the latter, female figures
engaged in collecting crocuses which they offer to a
seated goddess, flanked by a blue monkey and a griffin. Judging
from the architectural peculiarities of the building and the themes
of the frescoes, one may conclude that Xeste 3 was used for the
performance of some kind of ritual.
Sector B possibly comprises two separate buildings, the one
attached to the other. From the first floor of the western building,
came the famous
wall
paintings of the Antelopes and the
Boxing Children. The eastern building yielded the “fresco of the
Monkeys”, a composition of monkeys climbing on rocks at the side of
a river.
The West House is a relatively small, but well-organized
building. In the ground floor there are storerooms, workshops, a
kitchen and a mill-installation. The first floor is occupied by a
spacious chamber used for weaving activities, a room for the storage
mainly of clay vessels, a lavatory and two rooms, the one next to
the other, embellished with magnificent murals. The first was
decorated with the two
frescoes of the Fishermen, the fresco of the Young Priestess and
the famous
Flotilla miniature frieze. The latter ran around all the four
walls and depicted a major overseas voyage, in the course of which,
the fleet visited several harbours and towns. The rocky landscape,
the configuration of the harbour and the multi-storeyed buildings
identify the port, which is the fleet's final destination, as the
prehistoric settlement at Akrotiri. The walls of the second room
were decorated with a single motif which was repeated eight times.
This motif is identified as the cabin at the stern of the ships
depicted in the miniature frieze.
Complex Delta includes four houses. A room of the eastern
building is decorated with the
Spring fresco: the artist represented with special sensitivity a
rocky landscape, planted with blossoming lilies, between which
swallows fly in a variety of positions. Tablets of the Linear A
script have recently been found in the same building. All four
buildings yielded interesting finds such as abundant imported
pottery and precious stone and bronze objects.
House of the Ladies. The large, two-storeyed building was
named after the fresco with the Ladies and the Papyruses, which
decorated the interior. The most interesting architectural feature
of the building is a light-well constructed at its centre.
Xeste 4. It is a
magnificent three-storeyed building, the largest excavated up to
now. All its facades are revetted with rectangular ashlar blocks of
tuff. The fragments of frescoes that have so far come to light
belong to a composition which adorned the walls on either side of
the staircase at the entrance of the building, depicting life-size
male figures ascending the steps in procession. It was in all
probability a public building, judging from its unusually large
dimensions, the impressive exterior and the decoration of the walls.
Finds from the excavations at Akrotiri are exhibited in the
Museum
of Prehistoric Thera.
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