Books by Santo Privitera
PHAESTIA TELLUS: Immagazzinamento, economia e società nella pianura della Messara a Creta nell'Età del Bronzo, 2025
This volume, number 109 in the series INCUNABULA GRAECA is published by the Italian National Rese... more This volume, number 109 in the series INCUNABULA GRAECA is published by the Italian National Research Council with the contribution of the Department of History and Cultures of the Alma Mater Studiorum - University of Bologna. It presents a comprehensive study of the archaeological evidence for agricultural storage in the Messara Plain (south-central Crete) during the Bronze Age (late 4th to late 2nd millennium BC). The research examines fifty contexts, of both palatial and non-palatial character, that encompass hundreds of large terracotta containers as well as architectural structures specifically designed for the storage of substantial quantities of foodstuffs. These include the proto-palatial kouloures at Phaistos and several Neopalatial and Mycenaean buildings at Hagia Triada. The analysis also incorporates palaeobotanical data and economic information derived from sealed or inscribed administrative documents written in Cretan Hieroglyphic, Linear A, and Linear B. The central idea that inspired this research is that storage is a meaningful societal and cultural marker for comparing cultures at different times and scales and that provides essential information on the production, distribution, and consumption of agricultural staples. Therefore, rather than relying upon established typologies of storage contexts, such as domestic, community, central or palatial, this volume focuses on the wealth of data on food storage in the Messara Plain to highlight the variety of consumption patterns that can influence and shape storage technology and strategies. The integrated, multidisciplinary approach adopted —combining archaeological, botanical, and textual evidence—offers not only a deeper insight into the economic and social dynamics of the Minoan and Mycenaean world, but also provides a valuable point of comparison with contemporary civilizations across the central and eastern Mediterranean.
Despite being explored as early as 1877, just one year after Schliemann’s discovery of Circle A a... more Despite being explored as early as 1877, just one year after Schliemann’s discovery of Circle A at Mycenae, Mycenaean Attica has never been the subject of a general overview. Attention has only been devoted to single outstanding discoveries, such as the monumental tombs and cemeteries of Spata, Menidi, and Perati, or the citadels and settlements of the Acropolis at Athens, Eleusis, and Kiapha Thiti. An undoubted constraint affecting the archaeological research of this region is the illicit character of several excavations carried out between the late 19th c. and early 20th c., as well as a well-established scholarly bias towards cemeteries, rather than their related settlements. For a long while, Mycenaean Attica has only been the focus of ceramic studies, which go back to Stubbings (1947) and Benzi (1975). Beginning with the late 1960s, new excavations in settlements of eastern Attica such as Thorikos, Marathon, Brauron, and Kiapha Thiti have shed new light on a formerly neglected territory that still represents a terra incognita. In this context, this study aims to provide the reader with a thorough survey of Attica’s sites situated to the South of Parnes, as well as with an interpretative essay which traces the major stages in the regional settlement history throughout the Late Bronze Age. For clarity’s sake, the chronological and topographical limits of the book are outlined in the first chapter. These serve to highlight two major points concerning Late Bronze Age Attica: on the one hand, the local transition from a Middle Helladic to a ‘Mycenaean’ material culture, which encompassed the adoption of new elements of a technological, ritual, and symbolic nature; on the other, whether and when Attica, which consists of a series of interconnected plains, represented a cultural and/or political entity.
In the Shaft Graves Period, less than ten sites are known in Attica, only two of which (Eleusis and Vrana - Marathon) were continuously inhabited during the Middle Helladic.West of Hymettus, Athens and Eleusis appear as large settlements, situated within seemingly ‘empty’ plains. In eastern Attica, conversely, the presence of several fortified citadels hint at a high level of competition between peer polities. In LH IIB/IIIA1, however, citadels such as Kiapha Thiti and Brauron were apparently abandoned, whereas new, long-lasting cemeteries were established in the nearby lowlands. At the end of the period, the beginning of the ‘Mycenaeanization’ of Attica is clearly hinted at by the appearance of the first chamber tomb (at Athens) and tholos tombs (Thorikos) in LH IIA.The fact that another tholos tomb was later built (LH IIB) at Marathon leads one to wonder whether the local introduction of corbelled tombs of monumental size could have been considered more ‘fashionable’ by groups who were already used to the Middle Helladic custom of embedding built chamber tombs within earth mounds (tumuli).
In LH IIB, new cemeteries were established on the West coast (Halyki, Varkiza) and in Mesogeia (Vourvatsi, Kopreza, Merenta, Spata, GlykaNera), which lasted until LH IIIC early. Meanwhile, the settlements at Athens and Eleusis kept thriving. In the latter, it is worth stressing the presence of several monumental buildings, as well as the expansion of the Western Cemetery. The cemeteries consisting of more than forty tombs (Athens, Eleusis, Halyki, GlykaNera and Chamolia-Lapoutsi) attest to the largest settlements in Attica. With the exception of Eleusis, they all mainly consist of chamber tombs. At Eleusis, four such tombs were built later, in LH IIIA2 or LH IIIB. Prestige burials are characterized by the deposition of tinned vessels (at Athens and Brauron only), golden objects, and above all by bronze arms (daggers, swords, spearheads, etc.), the latter of which attests to the spread of hunting, rather than warfare, as a widespread elite activity.
During LH IIIB, unlike the majority of settlements in Attica, Athens seemingly underwent a progressive decline, evident in the very low number of burials so far known. Not far from it, at any rate, at Acharnes (ca. 10 km Northward) a monumental tholos tomb was built and used within this very phase, the context of which is still ill-defined. One can wonder whether Acharnes temporarily took over Athens’ function as a central site within the plain of Lekanopedio; at any rate, the latter’s importance seems to have been fully restored at the very end of the LH IIIB2, when the so-called ‘Pelasgian’ fortifi cations on the Acropolis were built. A chamber ‘warrior’s tomb’, dug on the South slope of the Acropolis in LH IIIC early can be easily referred to the very elite, who was in charge of it by this time. In spite of other proposals (Iakovidis, Mountjoy), it seems plausible to date the terraces which were laid out across the eastern sector of the Acropolis plateau to the beginning of LH IIIC early. Indeed, it is the author’s contention that all of the Acropolis terrace system belongs to this phase. Unlike Athens, all over Attica several settlements were abandoned, both on the west coast (Halyki), and inland (Glyka Nera, Vourvatsi). In eastern Attica, conversely, the cemeteries of Chamolia-Lapoutsi attest to the presence of a thriving settlement in the Brauron area; a few kilometers to the South, the impressive cemetery of Perati seems to confirm the key-role played throughout LH IIIC by the harbors of the eastern coast in the context of long term trade routes originating in Cyprus and the Near East.To sum up, no conclusive evidence exists that attests to the palatial character of Athens during LH IIIA-B; in fact, the Acropolis was fortified at a very late stage of LH IIIB2, that is, already on the eve of the mainland’s postpalatial period. If an elite residence actually existed on its top, which could have inspired Homer’s reference to the ‘well-built house of Erechtheus’, it could have possibly been lived in from LH IIIB2 onwards, during which period, at any rate, no political unity of the region is supported by the available evidence.
I granai del re. L'immagazzinamento centralizzato delle derrate a Creta tra il XV e il XIII secolo a.C., Padova: Il Poligrafo, 2010
Papers by Santo Privitera
Looking for a Home in a Houseless Town
STEGA
Nelle tasche dei marinai. Le monete siciliane di Anticitera e il commercio di opere d'arte in età tardo-repubblicana
Annali (Istituto Italiano di Numismatica), 2016
Contabilità e "Staple Finance" nei regni micenei: archeologia e filologia a confronto
Accountability and Staple Finance in the Mycenaean States: Archaeology vs Philology
Hephaestia on Lemnos and the Mycenaean Presence in the Islands of the Northeastern Aegean
Emporia: Aegeans in the Central and Eastern …, 2005
The interpretation of the Linear B term ki-ta-no, which is uniquely attested in the tablets belon... more The interpretation of the Linear B term ki-ta-no, which is uniquely attested in the tablets belonging to the set Ga(5) at Knossos, has been much debated since the decipherment of Linear B and is still contentious. In this paper, the texts registering this term are analyzed anew and their major peculiarities are highlighted. Moreover, drawing on former studies by E. Foster and on a comparative analysis of the Linear B texts from Pylos referring to linen textiles and the SA commodity, a new interpretation is put forward, according to which ki-ta-no would represent the Mycenaean adaptation of the Minoan term for flax, possibly attested on a Linear A inscription incised on a pithos from Petras Sitias. If accepted, this identification would imply that flax bundles were measured by volume in litres at both Knossos and Pylos, rather than being weighed, as was formerly believed
Annuario della Scuola Archeologica Italiana di Atene, 2023
A fragmentary inscription incised after firing on the foot of a black-glazed short-necked cup dat... more A fragmentary inscription incised after firing on the foot of a black-glazed short-necked cup dated to 450-425 BC is interpreted as a dedication to Hermes. This is the first time that the cult of the god is attested at Phaistos; the god also appears on the two earliest silver coins of Phaistos dated to the mid-5th century BC. The local cult probably mirrors the important pan-Cretan sanctuary of Hermes and Aphrodite as Syme Viannou
Kokalos, 2004
In this paper, I put forward a new interpretation of the legend concerning the crown allegedly of... more In this paper, I put forward a new interpretation of the legend concerning the crown allegedly offered to Damarete, king Hieron's wife, by the Carthaginians. The legend probably originated in the years during which king Hieron was in peaceful relationships with the Carthginians, while they both were temporarily facing together the Roman attack to Messana (ca. 268-263 BC). The legendary "crown" (stephanos), rather than being a jewel was a tribute, probably consisting of pieces of metal or coins (what was called aurum coronarium by the Romans, as in the Res Gestae Augusti). A philological analysis of the text of Diodorus (XI.26.3) allows the word for gold (Chrysiou) to be considered a glossa, interpolated by a Byzantine editor; who meant to clarify but misunderstood the original meaning. In fact, whenever Diodorus mentions talents, he defines the value, and not the weight of objects and gifts, and accordingly makes reference to silver. Accordingly, the 100 talents do not represent the weight of the golden crown, but its value expressed in silver talents.
Ocnus, 2023
This paper deals with two domestic buildings located in the proximity of the palace at Phaistos, ... more This paper deals with two domestic buildings located in the proximity of the palace at Phaistos, namely the House to the South of the Ramp (end of MM IIB-MM IIIA) and the LM IB House of Chalara. Both were built at a time when the palace was not in function, having been destroyed at the end of MM IIB, temporarily and partially reoccupied in MM IIIA, and eventually rebuilt as late as LM IB. The two houses can be usefully compared, as they show both storage facilities, comprising large storage jars and doorless spaces, that outnumber the needs of a purely domestic household, and boast ritual and cultic features, such as specialized vessels and/or dedicated ritual spaces (the so-called "lustral basin"). By analyzing the composition of the ceramic assemblages retrieved on the floors and nearby dumps and drawing on comparison with two ceramic deposits recently unearthed at Gournia, the author eventually argues that the House to the South of the Ramp was involved in the organization of empowering or entrepreneurial feasts, aimed at asserting the continuity between the local household and the former palace; conversely, the House of Chalara hosted patron-role feasts, that functioned within a more stable political framework, centred upon the nearby administrative site of Hagia Triada.
Rhadamanthys, BAR S2884, 2018
Ritual bronze double axes are amongst the most renowned, yet rare, artifacts in Neopalatial Crete... more Ritual bronze double axes are amongst the most renowned, yet rare, artifacts in Neopalatial Crete. As such, their ceremonial use, as well as their symbolic connotations, has been widely debated over the years. Against such a backdrop, this paper deals with a limited set of evidence, i.e., the double axes made of a single thin sheet of bronze that were found inside Neopalatial domestic buildings. Their contextual analysis is reviewed. In particular, it is observed that such objects were never found alongside the stone or clay pyramidal bases allegedly claimed to support them on a wooden pole/haft. Rather, by drawing on the representation of individuals carrying double axes on Minoan seals, it is possible to contend that such artifacts were stored separately and were only displayed on occasions such as ritual processions. Furthermore, the lack of bases at settlements (e.g., Gournia) where ritual double axes were discovered and the lack of double axes at settlements (e.g., Palaikastro) where such bases were reported leads one to argue that the two classes had no functional interrelationship .
AEGAEUM 43 Annales liégeoises et PASPiennes d’archéologie égéenne MNHMH / MNEME PAST AND MEMORY IN THE AEGEAN BRONZE AGE, 2018
As is well known, the Athenian Acropolis represents an archaeological palimpsest going back to as... more As is well known, the Athenian Acropolis represents an archaeological palimpsest going back to as early as the Late Neolithic. The bulk of the physical evidence for the occupation of the summit, however, is dated to the Late Bronze Age, between LH I and the Sub-Mycenaean phase: it consists of terracing walls, pottery deposits, tombs and, perhaps most renowned, the fortification walls dubbed “Pelasgic” since the Classical Age. Over more than a century of researches, such an evidence allowed several scholars to identify the rock as a citadel comprising a palace where a local wanax dwelled and administered a Mycenaean state comparable to those of Mycenae and Tiryns. Such a reconstruction essentially depends on the ancient literary sources, beginning with Homer. They attest to the intermingling of different traditions, which seemingly evolved over the centuries and, rather than straightly “recording” the memory of events of the remote past, enable us to envisage the changing representations the Athenians had of their “Sacred Rock” from time to time. Against such a framework, on this occasion I will limit myself to deal with three cases of collective mneme, in order to acknowledge how much the ancient Athenian traditions (the “words”) interacted with the Bronze Age built environment on the Acropolis summit (the “stones”), bringing about the creation of a complex memory landscape centered upon the figures of the Athenian kings. They are, respectively, the “Tomb of Cecrops”, the “House of Erechtheus”, and the “Pelasgic wall”.
Dialoghi sull’Archeologia della Magna Grecia e del Mediterraneo Atti del V Convegno Internazionale di Studi, 2020, 2022
The destruction of the Mycenaean citadels has been a focus of scholarly debate since Schliemann’s... more The destruction of the Mycenaean citadels has been a focus of scholarly debate since Schliemann’s discoveries at Mycenae and Tiryns. After succinctly reviewing the most recent studies on this topic, the author makes reference to the material evidence that supports competition and conflicts among Mycenaean states and within the territories depending on the latter. He concludes that words such as “collapse” and “resilience” fail to describe the dynamic history of state formation in the Aegean world, while stressing the usefulness of the notion of “fragility” recently advocated by Norman Yoffee.
Annuario della Scuola Archeologica Italiana di Atene, 2023
Four decorated storage jars, unearthed in the early excavations at Hagia Triada on Crete, stand o... more Four decorated storage jars, unearthed in the early excavations at Hagia Triada on Crete, stand out as to both shape and decoration amongst the few entire vessels belonging to the LM IIIB abandonment context of this site. Besides their practical function, such vessels indirectly attest to the first-level political role that this site played as a sanctuary-town in Final Palatial Crete, first within the borders of the state run by Knossos and then in the period following the latter’s collapse. One of these vessels, in particular, is characterized by the presence of a group of nine brushstrokes beneath its rim that cannot be interpreted as a motif and most plausibly represents a counting/measuring device. By drawing on recently developed software-based methods of calculation, the capacity of this vessel can be precisely estimated; at the same time, the Linear B evidence related to the Mycenaean capacity measures is reassessed in light of Chadwick’s identification of a unit, called S or T, equal to litres 9.6. The storage jar from
Hagia Triada enables one to put forward that the unit was slightly lower (between litres 9.15 and 9.40), substantially confirming the accuracy of Chadwick’s reasoning and making it possible to support his original assumption that the value of the highest
Mycenaean capacity measure was ca. litres 9.3.
Pelargòs, 2021
The legend of the «Pious Brothers» is documented over many centuries, from the Athenian orator Ly... more The legend of the «Pious Brothers» is documented over many centuries, from the Athenian orator Lycurgus through to the end of the Late Antiquity. The majority of the sources has it that two pious citizens of Catina saved their parents during a volcanic eruption, bringing them on their shoulders, unlike the other inhabitants that were annihilated. However, Lycurgus’ speech Against Leocrates stands apart within such a tradition, as he reports that only a son with his father was spared by the lava flow, while their town was overwhelmed by the eruption. Drawing on these peculiarities, this article argues that the orator attests to an older version of this legend, that represented for him a paradigm of both divine benevolence and punishment. Accordingly, it is proposed to maintain the text of the speech’s manuscript, which makes reference to a «field of the impious» as an allusion to the destruction and abandonment of an unknown Aetnean settlement sometimes in the 5th c. BC. The later version of the legend was probably created in the late 2nd c. B.C., when the city of Catina acquired preeminence in the social and political scenario of the province of Sicily following Etna’s violent eruption of 123 BC. By this time, a public sculpture was exhibited in the city’s forum, which was also represented in the local coins. Since Augustus’ times, the new version of this myth spread all over the Roman empire; being related to the thriving colony of Catina, it mentioned two brothers and a «field of the pious» corresponding with the city centre. As attested by an inscription, such sculpture was restored one last time after a Vandalic raid late in the 5th c. AD.
Uploads
Books by Santo Privitera
In the Shaft Graves Period, less than ten sites are known in Attica, only two of which (Eleusis and Vrana - Marathon) were continuously inhabited during the Middle Helladic.West of Hymettus, Athens and Eleusis appear as large settlements, situated within seemingly ‘empty’ plains. In eastern Attica, conversely, the presence of several fortified citadels hint at a high level of competition between peer polities. In LH IIB/IIIA1, however, citadels such as Kiapha Thiti and Brauron were apparently abandoned, whereas new, long-lasting cemeteries were established in the nearby lowlands. At the end of the period, the beginning of the ‘Mycenaeanization’ of Attica is clearly hinted at by the appearance of the first chamber tomb (at Athens) and tholos tombs (Thorikos) in LH IIA.The fact that another tholos tomb was later built (LH IIB) at Marathon leads one to wonder whether the local introduction of corbelled tombs of monumental size could have been considered more ‘fashionable’ by groups who were already used to the Middle Helladic custom of embedding built chamber tombs within earth mounds (tumuli).
In LH IIB, new cemeteries were established on the West coast (Halyki, Varkiza) and in Mesogeia (Vourvatsi, Kopreza, Merenta, Spata, GlykaNera), which lasted until LH IIIC early. Meanwhile, the settlements at Athens and Eleusis kept thriving. In the latter, it is worth stressing the presence of several monumental buildings, as well as the expansion of the Western Cemetery. The cemeteries consisting of more than forty tombs (Athens, Eleusis, Halyki, GlykaNera and Chamolia-Lapoutsi) attest to the largest settlements in Attica. With the exception of Eleusis, they all mainly consist of chamber tombs. At Eleusis, four such tombs were built later, in LH IIIA2 or LH IIIB. Prestige burials are characterized by the deposition of tinned vessels (at Athens and Brauron only), golden objects, and above all by bronze arms (daggers, swords, spearheads, etc.), the latter of which attests to the spread of hunting, rather than warfare, as a widespread elite activity.
During LH IIIB, unlike the majority of settlements in Attica, Athens seemingly underwent a progressive decline, evident in the very low number of burials so far known. Not far from it, at any rate, at Acharnes (ca. 10 km Northward) a monumental tholos tomb was built and used within this very phase, the context of which is still ill-defined. One can wonder whether Acharnes temporarily took over Athens’ function as a central site within the plain of Lekanopedio; at any rate, the latter’s importance seems to have been fully restored at the very end of the LH IIIB2, when the so-called ‘Pelasgian’ fortifi cations on the Acropolis were built. A chamber ‘warrior’s tomb’, dug on the South slope of the Acropolis in LH IIIC early can be easily referred to the very elite, who was in charge of it by this time. In spite of other proposals (Iakovidis, Mountjoy), it seems plausible to date the terraces which were laid out across the eastern sector of the Acropolis plateau to the beginning of LH IIIC early. Indeed, it is the author’s contention that all of the Acropolis terrace system belongs to this phase. Unlike Athens, all over Attica several settlements were abandoned, both on the west coast (Halyki), and inland (Glyka Nera, Vourvatsi). In eastern Attica, conversely, the cemeteries of Chamolia-Lapoutsi attest to the presence of a thriving settlement in the Brauron area; a few kilometers to the South, the impressive cemetery of Perati seems to confirm the key-role played throughout LH IIIC by the harbors of the eastern coast in the context of long term trade routes originating in Cyprus and the Near East.To sum up, no conclusive evidence exists that attests to the palatial character of Athens during LH IIIA-B; in fact, the Acropolis was fortified at a very late stage of LH IIIB2, that is, already on the eve of the mainland’s postpalatial period. If an elite residence actually existed on its top, which could have inspired Homer’s reference to the ‘well-built house of Erechtheus’, it could have possibly been lived in from LH IIIB2 onwards, during which period, at any rate, no political unity of the region is supported by the available evidence.
Papers by Santo Privitera
Hagia Triada enables one to put forward that the unit was slightly lower (between litres 9.15 and 9.40), substantially confirming the accuracy of Chadwick’s reasoning and making it possible to support his original assumption that the value of the highest
Mycenaean capacity measure was ca. litres 9.3.