From party to ritual to ruin in Minoan Crete : The spatial context of feasting

Letesson, Quentin [UCL] Driessen, Jan [UCL]

Archaeological evidence illustrating different activities that can be described as ‘feasts’, be it iconography, ritual ceramic and stone vase deposits or specially prepared areas, are easily identifiable on Minoan Crete. This paper concentrates on what may be called ‘feasting areas’. Indeed, from Early Minoan times onwards, outside gathering places seem to have played a decisive role in the social dynamics of Bronze Age Crete. As main theater of co-presence and interaction, such areas constituted the main arena of practices contributing to social (re)production. During the Neopalatial period, these ‘spaces of convergence’ are characterized by a remarkable heterogeneity: on the one hand they remain external, ranging from the clearly circumscribed Central Court of the ‘palaces’ to the Plateia of some settlements, or even to some rather shapeless, non distinct area. On the other hand, built space often materializes an internal spatial solidarity. How can we explain this variety of gathering places? Do they imply different levels of practices? Are they part of the same cultural dramaturgy or theaters of different plays? By approaching some of these arenas through an archaeological and spatial analysis, this paper tries to underline some peculiarities of social space and communal activities in the Neopalatial period. At the same time we explore the possibility that Minoan ‘palaces’ were communal constructions rather than elite buildings, hierarchically imposed on society.