Late Minoan IIIB pottery at Malia and Sissi. Assessing local ceramic sequence, regional traditions and interaction networks

Langohr, Charlotte [UCL]

Both during the 1989-1993 campaigns in Quartier Nu at Malia and the more recent 2007-2011 excavations on the Kefali Hill at Sissi, large architectural complexes with extensive evidence for Late Minoan IIIB occupation were revealed. In both cases, primary deposits with a large number of restorable pots specifically date to this phase. Although the study of these assemblages is still ongoing, some impressions of the respective local ceramic sequences, the degree of common regional traditions and the involvement of both Malia and Sissi in interregional ceramic distribution networks can already be given. Architectural and stratigraphical data allow the recognition of at least two different stages within the LM IIIB occupation of both building complexes even if a typo-stylistic analysis of the respective pottery assemblages does not seem to indicate a contemporary sequence. Moreover, some rather remarkable similarities but also differences exist between the two repertoires which raise questions as to the reconstruction of micro-regional consumption patterns, their nature and development. Finally, the identification of a number of finely decorated imported vessels from distant Cretan and Aegean regions adds evidence for interregional synchronisms and the development of new important nodes in the Aegean exchange network during the 13th c. BC.