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The University of Pennsylvania owns the largest collection of Minoan artifacts outside of Europe. The objects were acquired legally from the nation of Crete after it became independent from the Ottoman Empire and before its request was accepted to become a part of Greece, whose laws forbade such gifts to institutions that had sponsored archaeological expeditions. This third volume about the Cretan Collection in the Penn Museum presents the Minoan metal artifacts. They provide primary evidence for the early history of metallurgy in southeastern Europe during the second millennium B.C. This is a rich and varied assemblage of objects, with a large number of different classes. It is especially rich in items from the preliminary stages of metalwork (including oxhide ingot fragments, cut preliminary strips, and small cast strips used as early stages in the manufacture of artifacts). The study using modern techniques of examination-including scientific analyses-both documents the museum's holdings and provides new information on Minoan metalworking. Two important metallurgical techniques are documented: eutectic bonding of silver-capped rivets on daggers and'casting on'repairs to an existing object, which has not been noted previously in Minoan metalwork. The assemblage is remarkable for the light its objects shed on the history of technology.

This volume is a catalog of the ancient Egyptian imports and Egyptianizing artifacts found in 1962 during the excavation of a cave near Tsoutsouros (ancient Inatos), Crete, Greece. The cave was a sanctuary dedicated to the Minoan and Greek goddess Eileithyia. The Aegyptiaca of the Minoan and Mycenaean eras on Crete signify the political and economic relations between the Aegean rulers and the Egyptian royal court. Several of the objects are Egyptian scarabs, and they certainly represent official Egyptian-Cretan affairs, especially those dating from the reign of Amenophis III to the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Much of the cataloged objects come from the 10th to 7th centuries B.C., and they are appropriate for venerating the goddess of childbirth and motherhood. The statuettes, seals, and vessels are lavishly illustrated with plates of color photographs.

In 1962, after a period of secret looting, the location of a shrine for the Greek Goddess Eileithyia was discovered by the police in south-central Crete at the modern town of Tsoutsouros, ancient Inatos. The cave dedicated to this ancient goddess of childbirth and motherhood was excavated that year by Nikolaos Platon and Costis Davaras on behalf of the Archaeological Museum in Herakleion. It was filled with remarkable votive gifts including over 100 items of gold along with Egyptian figurines and seal stones, bronze objects, and hundreds of clay figurines. The dates of the shrine's use extended from before 2000 B.C. to the Roman Imperial period. Many of the clay images are especially appropriate for this deity because they include pregnant women, embracing couples, figures in preparation for childbirth, mothers holding babies, and a young child in its crib. A Greek language book highlighting the shrine and its major discoveries is now translated into English. It provides images, catalog entries, and explanatory texts for the most important discoveries from this unique shrine.

Excavation of an important site for the early history of dyeing in Minoan Crete revealed a Middle Bronze Age natural dye workshop with several basins carved into bedrock, pottery and stone vessels, stone tools, and animal and plant remains. The evidence contributes new information on the Minoan trade in textiles during the Old Palace period.

This handsome volume describes and illustrates the excavation of an artificial rock shelter in Crete, Greece. Minoan pottery and small finds such as stone tools, loomweights, and ecofactual remains were recovered. The ceramics elucidate the style and chronology of East Cretan White-on-Dark Ware, which dates to the end of the Early Bronze Age.

The Temple University Aegean Symposium was an annual event from 1976 until 1985 sponsored by the Department of Art History at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA. Each year, the symposium focused on a specific theme in Aegean Bronze Age art and archaeology. This book is a collection of the 10 volumes of articles that were published. Aside from incorporating errata, the articles are unchanged from the original publications. A new Preface and page numbering system are included in this compendium.

This is the fourth volume in a series of final publications on the joint American-Greek archaeological excavations at Pseira in northeast Crete. The site is a seaport dating from the end of the Final Neolithic until the Late Minoan period. Pseira IV publishes the architecture and associated finds from 39 locations in Areas B, C, D, and F in the Minoan town of Pseira. The Bronze Age settlement is located on Pseira Island, off the coast of Crete in the Gulf of Mirabello.Pseira, IV

The Pseira project began in 1985. Excavations were conducted from 1986 to 1991 as an American-Greek collaboration directed by Philip P. Betancourt and Costis Davaras. The Plateia Building (Building BS/BV) is located at the north of the Town Square or Plateia. It occupies the entire northern side of the square, with one room built on the eastern side as well. The structure is the largest building excavated at Pseira. The building was discovered by small tests made in 1986, and it was excavated in subsequent seasons. From the beginning, the building was recognized as an important structure in the town. Its excavation was conducted slowly and meticulously, with careful attention to the proper recovery and recording of its data.University Museum Monograph, 102

This is the first of five planned volumes to present the primary archaeological report about the excavation of the cave of Hagios Charalambos in eastern Crete. The Minoans used this small cavern as an ossuary for the secondary burial of human remains and grave goods, primarily during the Early and Middle Bronze Age. The geography and geology surrounding the cave is discussed along with the methodology of the excavation. A portion of the pottery and all of the small finds are presented with many illustrations.

The small site of Aphrodite's Kephali, among several other Minoan and later sites, took advantage of the valley topography in the Isthmus of Ierapetra in eastern Crete by establishing themselves along the nearby hills, resulting in easy access to the natural trade route between the Aegean and the Libyan Seas. A discussion of the architecture, artifacts, and ecofacts are presented from the excavation of this Early Minoan I watchtower. The conclusions challenge some of the commonly held views about Crete in the third millennium B.C. It is suggested that rather than being a precursor to a socially complex state that would arise later, early polities involving several communities probably already existed in the isthmus during the EM I period. Social and economic differentiation existed on a regional, not just a local level, and decisions for mutual defense could involve collaboration by groups of workers, including the building of the watchtower that is the focus of this volume.

Excavations at the Bronze Age seaport on Pseira Island uncovered the remains of sophisticated water retention systems that included the addition of retaining walls to prevent erosion, massive dams with associated reservoirs, and small check-dams to ravines that reached over one hundred meters in length in order to control water runoff and make it available for human use. Agriculture was one of the cornerstones of the Bronze Age Cretan economy, and it is no surprise that the ancient inhabitants of the island went to great lengths to control water runoff and make it available for human use. Despite the application of traditional archaeological survey methods, the full extent of the water management systems was not understood fully as the island's rugged topography prevented intensive and thorough survey of many places. The use of a differential Global Positioning System (dGPS) unit provided the opportunity to take a fresh look at the evidence for water management on the island. The results of this study contribute substantial amounts of new information on the little known subject of Minoan water conservation and control.

Contributions by 37 scholars are brought together here to create a volume in honor of the long and fruitful career of Costis Davaras, former Ephor of Crete and Professor Emeritus of Minoan Archaeology at the University of Athens. Articles pertain to Bronze Age Crete and include mortuary studies, experimental archaeology, numerous artifactual studies, and discussions on the greater Minoan civilization.

Prof. James D. Muhly has enjoyed a distinguished career in the study of ancient history, archaeology, and metallurgy that includes an emeritus professorship at the University of Pennsylvania and a term as director of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens as well as receiving the Archaeological Institute of America's Pomerance Award for Scientific Contributions to Archaeology. In Muhly's honor, a total of 38 eminent scholars have contributed 30 articles that include topics on Bronze and Iron Age metallurgy around the Eastern Mediterranean in such places as Crete, the Cyclades, Cyprus, and Turkey.

This book is the tenth volume in the series of excavation reports about the harbor town of Pseira, which is located on the island of the same name, just off the northeast coast of Crete. The book focuses on the excavation and interpretation of the architecture and material culture in Block AF. This southern group of buildings is one of the most important areas in the settlement because of its long succession of building phases. Block AF provides the fullest sequence of building phases from any one area at Pseira, with habitation extending from before MM II to LM III. It has examples of complex architectural details including a'pillar crypt,'elaborate upstairs floors, a well-preserved U-shaped staircase, and a well-designed kitchen, all of which contribute significantly to our knowledge of East Cretan building practices. In addition to domestic pottery, the houses furnish examples of stone tools, stone vessels, loom weights, inscriptions in Linear A, cult objects, animal bones, marine shells, and a wide range of material recovered from water sieving. This latter category, with burned grain, fish bones, shells, and other categories of materials, fills many gaps in our knowledge of Pseiran life.

This book focuses on economic and social changes, particularly during the opening phase of the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete. New developments in ceramics that reached Crete at the end of the Neolithic period greatly contributed to the creation of economic, technological, social, and religious advancements we call the Early Bronze Age. The arguments are two-fold: a detailed explanation of the ceramics we call Early Minoan I and the differences that set it apart from its predecessors, and an explanation of how these new and highly superior containers changed the storage, transport, and accumulation of a new form of wealth consisting primarily of processed agricultural and animal products like wine, olive oil, and various foods preserved in wine, vinegar, honey, and other liquids. The increased stability and security provided by an improved ability to store food from one year to the next would have a profound effect on the society.

Joseph and Maria Shaw received the Archaeological Institute of America's Gold Medal for a lifetime of outstanding achievement in January of 2006. This volume is a collection of the papers presented at the Gold Medal Colloquium held in their honor during the 2006 Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America in Montreal, Quebec. Additional articles have also been written for this volume. Many of the articles pertain to different aspects of Aegean Bronze Age architecture, harbors, frescoes, and trade, which are all keen interests of the Shaws.

This textbook is a compilation of the author's more than 35 years of teaching and excavation experience in the field of Aegean Bronze Age art history and archaeology. It is geared toward an audience of undergraduate and graduate students as an introduction to the Bronze Age art objects and architecture that have been uncovered on Crete, the Greek peninsula, and the Cycladic Islands.

Richard B. Seager excavated the Minoan town and cemetery at Pseira in 1906-1907, but the work was not fully published. The Temple University excavations (1985-1994) under the direction of Philip P. Betancourt and Costis Davaras conducted an intensive surface survey of the island. The results of the survey on the small island off the northeast coast of Crete are published in two volumes. Pseira VIII presents the results from the corollary studies that accompany the surface survey. Pseira IX presents the results from the intensive surface survey.

Richard B. Seager excavated the Minoan cemetery at Pseira in 1907, but the work was never published. The Temple University excavations (1985-1994) under the direction of Philip P. Betancourt and Costis Davaras conducted an intensive surface survey of the cemetery area, cleaned and drew plans of all visible tombs, and excavated tombs that had not been previously excavated. The results of the cemetery excavations on the small island off the northeast coast of Crete are published in two volumes. Pseira VII presents the results from the excavation and cleaning of the 19 tombs that still exist at the Pseira cemetery. The cemetery is remarkable for the diversity of its tomb types. Burials were in cist graves built of vertical slabs (a class with Cycladic parallels), in small tombs constructed of fieldstones, in house tombs, and in jars. Burials were communal, as is usual in Minoan cemeteries. Artifacts included clay vases, stone vessels, obsidian, bronze tools, jewelry, and other objects.

Richard B. Seager excavated the Minoan cemetery at Pseira in 1907, but the work was never published. The Temple University excavations (1985-1994) under the direction of Philip P. Betancourt and Costis Davaras conducted an intensive surface survey of the cemetery area, cleaned and drew plans of all visible tombs, and excavated tombs that had not been previously excavated. The results of the cemetery excavations on the small island off the northeast coast of Crete are published in two volumes. Pseira VI publishes the methodology that was employed for the investigation, the topography of the cemetery area, the little that can be reconstructed of Seager's campaign, the ceramic petrography for the cemetery pottery, and the results of the intensive surface survey. The survey shows that the cemetery was first used in the Neolithic period, and it was abandoned in Middle Minoan II, before the expansion of the nearby town in LM I. It also demonstrates that the cemetery was larger than the area suggested by the 33 tombs found by Seager, and it shows that the customs included burial in jars, even though no examples have been excavated.